Japanese Ministry Partnership
Matt Rieniets - Lead Pastor of Rock of Ages Church, Seattle, WA
For the last 35 years or so, Rock of Ages Lutheran Brethren Church in Seattle, Washington, has ministered to the Japanese people in our area. More recently, we have partnered with LBIM to provide an internship experience for missionary candidates preparing to serve in Japan. As a diverse community, Seattle has proven to be a perfect training ground for cross-cultural ministry.
Growing up in Tioga, North Dakota, I knew very few people who didn’t look like me, talk like me, have the same economic status as me, or share the same loyalties as me. While committed believers in Christ were somewhat in the minority, most who didn’t believe still respected the faith I held dear. And yet, given all of those commonalities, I found it surprisingly difficult to talk evangelistically there. (How could I talk about faith with someone who doesn’t even get up before 9 a.m. on a Sunday?)
Today, I am pastor to a multicultural congregation, where many of the people do not share those commonalities. Some of us grew up in America, others did not. Some of us are fluent in Japanese, others not so much. Some of us dance more on one side or another of the political aisle, while others aren’t dancing with any party at all. Some of us are wealthy, while others don’t have a regular roof over our heads. I could go on, but the point is that our church―small as it is―has more diverse elements within it than my entire home town. And all of that diversity brings a lot of uncomfortable moments. We misunderstand each other. We offend each other. And yet, given all of that, I find myself more at home within this community than I did back in Tioga. Why? Because our diversity keeps reminding me what the reason for my inclusion in God’s community is not.
It’s not because of my ethnicity, my politics, my income level, my family, my moral fiber, or anything else that I bring to the table. My inclusion―and my neighbors’―rests entirely on the God who has welcomed us through the cross of Jesus Christ. And that welcome is stronger than anything we could build ourselves.
Scripture tells us that’s how God builds his Church (Col 1:20); and the diversity of our community reminds me it’s true. If we built Rock of Ages on any of those usual bonds, we simply would never be more than a pebble, and our impact wouldn’t make the slightest splash. But because we know we are bound together by the all-encompassing welcome of God, we are regularly reminded that our welcome must extend to all whom God is drawing to himself. We need that reminder.
We live in a city and a region that is clearly and emphatically reminding us that those who hold our beliefs are begrudgingly tolerated, but certainly not welcomed. We are often held with suspicion, spoken of in derision, and made the targets of slander. And it’d be really easy to just take our ball and go home. But we are reminded that these are the people that God has sent us to welcome. If we don’t reach out to them, we are rejecting the very ones that God himself has welcomed (Rom 15:7). And so we sit in this context of being welcomed by God and by each other, while welcoming others who may not welcome us.
That’s our context, and I believe it’s a good context for prospective missionaries as they seek to bring God’s welcome to a people they won’t have much in common with. The diverse experiences of our community of foreigners mirror what many missionaries will experience abroad―especially those going to Japan. They will forever be foreigners in that land. And many of the people in our church know, in their own ways, what that’s like.
We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome wonderful people like Paul and Alexa Fraser (now missionaries to Japan), and Sarah and Mark Undseth (currently serving at Rock of Ages) into our community of foreigners. They serve with us, grow with us, care with us, and are cared for among us. And as much as it breaks our hearts when we see them go, we are more than grateful to play a small role in preparing them as they seek to obey God’s call to bring his welcome to others.
Roger Olson - Pastor of Japanese Ministries, Rock of Ages
After serving with Lutheran Brethren World Missions (now LBIM) for 35 years in Japan, Jim and Evie Olson retired and moved back to Seattle in May 1989. Thanks to their good health, willingness to serve, and God’s leading, they met Japanese people while shopping, or at parks, or in other God-designed encounters. The Olsons invited these new friends to their home. Soon they were asking the Olsons to teach them English, American cooking, and some showed interest in learning the Bible.
As numbers grew, hosting all these events at their home became more difficult. Not only did Rock of Ages Lutheran Brethren Church welcome Jim and Evie to use the church facilities, many from Rock of Ages began assisting in the various events. The first worship service of Japanese Ministries (JM) was in September 1990. It cannot be overemphasized that this was and is still a team ministry, with the unifying goal of reaching Japanese for Christ. The Japan Lutheran Brethren Church even sent one of their own workers, Ms. Kazuko Sasaki, to Seattle to assist in outreach, Bible teaching, and preaching for more than five years. In 2004 Roger and Susan Olson were called to assist in the leadership of Japanese Ministries.
For 35 years God has used JM to befriend many Japanese in the Seattle area, and share the love of Christ through hospitality, offering English, cooking, parenting, and Bible classes. And for many it was their first time to hear the gospel. Although most of the 60 plus people who received baptism here have returned to Japan, many are following Christ faithfully. Some who first heard the gospel here, later believed and were baptized in Japan. A former student from 2019 is just beginning Bible School in Japan, with the hope of ministering to Japanese returnees from abroad.
Rock of Ages (English) church and JM is partnering with LBIM to provide a place where LBIM missionary candidates to Japan can have an internship experience of ministering in a cross-cultural and bilingual context. Along with candidates having to find part-time jobs to support their life here, they are also asked to participate in the various ministries of both the English-speaking church and JM. Fellowshiping with Japanese believers, meeting and hosting Japanese students, joining the JM worship and the weekly Talk Time ministry are some of the ways the candidates get a taste of relating to Japanese. They are also encouraged to acquire as much of the Japanese language as possible as they prepare to go to Japan, through such means as tutoring, taking Japanese classes online or having informal conversations with Japanese.
Paul and Alexa Fraser, who interned with JM from 2021-2023, claim their internship was helpful in their adjusting to life in Japan. For example, being “clueless” of what was being said in the Sunday sermons at JM prepared them for the similar experience that was waiting for them when they first started attending their church in Sendai, Japan. Of course the relationships developed at Rock of Ages with both the American and Japanese believers became a bridge to developing new relationships in Japan.
Dear Lord of the Harvest,
As we ask you to send more laborers, may we be the first to say, “Here I am, Send me! Send us! Not to where and to whom we want to go, but to where and to whom you want us to go.” You are the One with a plan for JM, for Rock of Ages, for the CLB, for the Church universal. I specifically pray that you would move many to heed your call to Japan, and that you would raise up new leaders for the Japanese Ministries here in Seattle.
In Jesus’ powerful name,
Amen.
Matt Rieniets is the Lead Pastor of Rock of Ages Church in Seattle, WA.
Roger Olson is the Pastor of Japanese Ministries at Rock of Ages Church in Seattle, WA.