Background Information:
ROBERTA was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Penn State University she served for three years in Kosovo with The Christian & Missionary Alliance. After completing her term she enrolled in Wheaton College for additional studies in missions.
ROBERT was raised in Texas and is a graduate of Texas A&M University. From 2005-2009 he served in southern Japan with A3. Like Roberta, he returned to the States to study missions at Wheaton College in 2009, which is where their paths converged.
After meeting, dating, and getting married, Robert and Roberta discerned that God was leading them back to Japan with A3. They are currently in Japan through a strategic partnership between A3 and SIM designed to leverage the strengths of both agencies to reach Japanese people and strengthen the Japanese church more effectively.
Ministry Assignments:
Robert has served with A3 since 2001 in a variety of roles.
- A3 Missional Partners Director since September 2019
- A3.Missional Partners - December 2010-present
- j-Teams Coordinator (2009-2012), while pursuing a Masters at Wheaton.
- Church Planting Associate in Kyshu, Japan from 2005-'09.
- j-Teams Leader: 2002, 2003
- j-Teams Member: 2001
Roberta joined A3 in 2010.
- A3.Missional Partners - December 2010-present
- Apprentice Program (Christian & Missionary Alliance) - 2006-2009
Current Assignment:
Robert & Roberta arrived back in Japan in March 2012 after a pre-field assignment, including earning degrees at Wheaton Graduate School. Robert has been the director of A3.Missional Partners since 2019.
They currently serve as Missional Partners in the Tohoku region of Japan (northern Japan). Their ministry consists of coming alongside an existing Japanese church and assisting them in reaching an area where a church does not exist. Specific activities include language study, relational evangelism, teaching English, discipleship, coaching, and doing whatever else is necessary to help build the church in Japan.
ARTICLES RELATED TO ROBERT & ROBERTA
Honshu is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. Aomori is the name of the prefecture at the northern end of Honshu. It is a rural prefecture with a declining population, and its economy relies on farming, forestry, and fishing. In early November, I had the chance to travel there to meet with a group of pastors and discuss ways that A3 could potentially partner with what God is already doing in the region. On Friday morning, Pastor Shibuya picked me up, along with five other people from his church, to make the hour-long drive to the city of Hirakawa (until recently, one of the last cities in Japan without a church). As we drove to the prayer meeting, ...
