Vision Festa Church Multiplication Conference
The Church in Japan faces a crisis. And Japan’s pastors and church leaders are stepping up to face it head-on.
The crisis?
Unless the Church begins to grow immediately, it is possible that the Christian community in Japan will literally die out within 30 years. It’s stark evidence that illustrates how difficult it has been for the Gospel to impact the Japanese culture.
The encouragement?
Leaders in Japan are collaborating to explore new ways to plant and multiplying churches. In October, over 100 leaders from throughout Japan came together at Vision Festa. They heard from world-class church planters and together sought God’s direction for church growth in Japan.
A3 Japan National Director Yoshiya Hari was one of the participants. He shared his excitement about the Vision Festa experience in this report:
This year’s Vision Festa encouraged me to see how God is working in Japan. I believe that this is the first time this type of conference has been held in Japan.
It was exciting to be with more than 100 fellow pastors and church leaders. It was especially exciting that 60% of the participants were under the age of 50—quite young by Japanese standards. These are the emerging leaders we will need if the Church in Japan is to grow.
One pastor shared how his church, located in a “city at risk” because of decreasing population, has begun to multiply, leading to the planting of three house churches over the last several years.
Another pastor shared how God changed his perspective. He said, “I used to think that church planting was not for me. But God led me to plant a new house church three hours from our home church. Not only has the house church thrived, God is also growing our home church as well.” God seems to be moving in many parts of Japan at the same time.
I feel that God is giving us a vision to plant 50,000 churches in Japan. This is a big vision for us. But we have a big God.
We do have a big God—big enough to empower our Japanese brothers and sisters to meet the big challenges that they face. Thank you for praying for the leaders in Japan as they move forward to reach their country.
Noel Becchetti has been serving as A3's VP for Leader Development since 2012. Noel and his wife Kyle are currently residing in El Cajon, California though he probably spends more time traveling throughout Asia.
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