Pastor Yukikazu Otomo recently shared a book that we published in Japan. I hope that we can someday produce this for the English speaking world but for now, I want to share with you one of the ideas he presents.
He talked about the history of the church in Japan and how the conservative and liberal streams of the church focused on different elements of the Gospel. The conservative church focused on evangelism while the more liberal-leaning churches focused on social ministry.
Years ago, Dr. Otomo wrote a strategy paper when he graduated from Asian Access leader development process. Previously he shared with me how important that paper ended up being after the disaster of March 11. He said that now he is seeing fruit from the focus of his paper. In this process, he realized the importance of having two wheels of mission. You can see his chart here.
As he explains it, when you only have one wheel, you simply travel in circles. Whether it be a sole focus on evangelism or social ministry, traction really doesn’t fully develop. But, now applying the principles of both sides of mission, he’s seeing progress for the growth of the church in Shiogama. Today, Pastor Otomo leads the Miyagi Mission Networks and they are seeing dozens of churches planted across the region.
When we deploy both wheels of mission, we see far more fruit. And, importantly, the bible as Pastor Otomo shares in his book, teaches both wheels in the growth of the Church.
Pray with me that we can find a way to publish Pastor Otomo’s book in English. We have so much to learn from leaders like him!
How do you apply these two wheels of mission in your life, church and ministry?
Joe Handley
@jwhandley
More Information
- More stories about Dr. Yukikazu Otomo
