When God Tells You to Move: How We Ended Up in Obanazawa
My wife and I were just a couple of months away from leaving for home service when the above post from the Operation Japan Prayer Facebook page captured my attention. Around this time, COVID had significantly reduced our ministries with D House interns unable to enter Japan. Most outreach activities in our house and our church were canceled for the foreseeable future.
Obanazawa caught my eye because in August 2018, Susan and I drove to Yamagata Prefecture from our home in Sendai for a short vacation. While there, we learned that the Hanagasa Festival was happening in Obanazawa. It was a joyous event highlighted by the Hanagasa dance. Ginzan, a picturesque onsen village, is also located in Obanazawa. So, we drove about an hour north and spent a day there.
From a Short Vacation to a Ministry Opportunity
Fast forward to 2021, Susan and I drove to Shion (Zion) Christ Church on a Monday morning in March, arriving there shortly before noon. A man was changing light bulbs in the sanctuary.
I introduced myself, “Hello, we’re missionaries in Sendai. We read that this church is doing outreach in Obanazawa, and we’d like to know more about it.”
“I’m not the pastor. Let me call him,” the man replied. I later learned his name is Oyama-san, and he’s a member of the church leadership committee. Mr. Oyama handed me his phone.
“Hello? Who is this?” Pastor Kenichi Sakamoto asked hesitantly.
After introducing myself and my purpose for visiting Shion Christ Church, Pastor Sakamoto said, “I’d really like to meet you in person. Can we meet you at the church tomorrow morning?”
Susan and I had planned a two-day trip, so we agreed to a 10:00 AM meeting. We drove up to Obanazawa. The closer we got, the deeper the snow we saw. We drove around the town. We located the elementary school, middle school, local shops, and a few chain stores. We greeted one man on the street and commented about the deep snow (about two meters). He told us that half of it had already melted!
Knowing and Embracing the Vision
The next morning, we drove back to Shion Christ Church. Expecting to see only the pastor, we entered the church and were greeted by Pastor Sakamoto, Mr. Oyama, and two women—Mika, the pastor’s wife, and Mrs. Wada, a retired elementary school principal and a member of the church leadership committee.
They sat us down and showed us a PowerPoint presentation about the history and vision of the church. The church was started by Dr. Haneda, a Christian medical doctor, who started Bible studies in his clinic. The vision for the church is threefold: to establish local chapels in the area towns, to serve the community through education, social welfare, and medical care, and to contribute to world missions.
We also learned about Dennis Foster, a black American missionary who lived in Obanazawa for 25 years. Three Japanese women who were under his pastoral care when they were in high school were now part of Shion Christ Church. They talked about a few other missionaries who served in Obanazawa from the 1990s up until 2004. None had remained for more than four years.
After the presentation, Pastor Sakamoto turned to us and said, “When you called yesterday, I was thankful but honestly, I was shocked. You see, the day before you came to our church, we had a leaders meeting to talk about how to reach Obanazawa. One of our members said we really needed to find a missionary to live in and assist the believers there. The next day, you walked in!”
Susan and I talked a little bit about ourselves. We shared our faith journey, how we came to Japan, and our ministry experience to date including our ministry with Japanese high school students through the hi-ba ministry and with children. We explained the D House (discipleship house) internship program for English speakers exploring the possibility of becoming missionaries themselves. We promised to talk with our SEND Japan leadership about the possibility of moving to Obanazawa in Spring 2022 after our home service.
Moving and Adjusting to Life in Obanazawa
In June 2021, we returned to Shion Christ Church with two of SEND Japan’s leaders. The same four people met us at the church and served us lunch. They drove us to Obanazawa and showed us the area. After much prayer and encouragement from our supporters during our home service, we moved to a strategically located home in Obanazawa in June 2022. Another first-term missionary, Andrew Phillips, joined us. He settled in an apartment in the middle of the town.
We’ve survived our first winter; shoveling snow is a daily activity and necessary for good relationships with neighbors. Obanazawa is known for three things—snow (3-4 meters every winter), suika (watermelon), and the Hanagasa (a dance created when Tokura Lake was dug up as a reservoir for the rice fields).
Admittedly, the idea of moving to Obanazawa was a little frightening. We had always lived in or near large cities in Japan with plenty of resources for English-speaking foreigners. Moreover, SEND had never had missionaries in Yamagata Prefecture and as an organization did not have established relationships with pastors and churches there.
Most places we’ve lived were easily accessible by public transportation. In Obanazawa, there is no train station, and the trains that come in to neighboring Oishida are infrequent. We get around by walking, bicycling, or by car. We learned that four distinct Japanese dialects in Yamagata Prefecture are impossible to understand with just knowledge of standard Japanese.
We had no friends, and we knew of no foreigners living in Obanazawa or even in neighboring towns. Going here meant leaving established ministries and relationships and facing much that was unknown. We learned later that some of the people as well as the pastor at Shion Christ Church were also anxious having not worked with American missionaries before.
Since moving to Obanazawa, we have found ways to get involved in the community. However, the simplest way is to engage people in regular life activities—grocery shopping, eating at local restaurants, shoveling snow, playing in the park, walking or jogging the streets, and soaking in a local onsen. Andrew and I have also learned the Hanagasa dance and joined a group that dances at the festival.
Bringing the Message and Being the Presence of Jesus
A need we did not foresee is the need for fellowship among rural believers. COVID caused some isolation, but even for others, they rarely saw each other except on Sunday mornings. Shion Christ Church is a fairly long drive for people living in Obanazawa, especially in the winter. Opening up our house for believers once a month and also for anyone weekly has hugely benefitted local believers in their faith walk.
By having a D House in Obanazawa, we expose potential long-term missionaries to the needs and opportunities in rural communities and give Japanese believers an opportunity to share their testimonies and vision for their beloved home communities.
Our relationships with the pastor and believers at Shion Christ Church have been remarkable. Those who live in Obanazawa usually join us for our local events. The church members have told us that our coming has been a great boost to the church. The pastor mentioned that his workload has been cut in half, not because we do much of his work, but because we care for him and his wife and pray with and for them.
We greatly appreciate the frequent presence of Japanese believers with us. Their knowledge and experience with local customs, along with their testimonies as followers of Jesus Christ, are powerful considering that most did not grow up in Christian homes.
God is at work, sometimes in miraculous ways, in lesser-known areas in Japan. There are Japanese churches like Shion Christ Church that want to reach not only their own local community but also neighboring unreached towns and villages. Perhaps they too are praying for harvest workers to assist them. Could you be the answer to those prayers?
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