Picture of Tokyo Station Hotel

Jordan and Nitasha News

December 2023 Update

"For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face." Psalms 11:7 (NLT)

Dear Friends,

Konbonwa (good evening) from Tokyo, Japan! We have been here for almost 2 weeks now, and we’ve had some really fruitful and exciting conversations that have opened some doors to where the Lord might be leading us. We still have quite a few meetings to go before we make any decisions, but it is all good news that’s we’re hearing!

Early on during our first week we met with Damien Grateley, who is Director/CEO of City To City Japan (as well as a Regents Theological College alumni!). City To City Japan is a resource for church planting and renewal in the cities in Japan. It was through Damien that we were introduced to many of the people we will be meeting with this month. Most of those we will be connecting with are pastors, church planters, missionaries and ministry leaders; both Japanese and expats. We are deeply, deeply grateful to Damien for his willingness and enthusiasm to link us up with so many great Christian leaders across Japan! And a HUGE thank you to Geoff Richardson who introduced us to Damien!!

Over the course of the week we’ve had nothing but inspirational and godly conversations with great people. Below is who we met with - but please take a moment to look at their ministry and work, and maybe part for them. It truly is amazing to hear about all that God is up to in Japan.

Pastor Marcel Gadsden, who is the very kind Lead Pastor of Japan Kingdom Church. We spoke with him over zoom and we were all very excited to exchange stories and visions of Christianity in Japan! We also met with Ranzo, an excellent entrepreneur and content creator. Jordan found Ranzo’s story to be encouraging, because Ranzo left Canada for Japan originally, to only stay for a year; but then 1 year turned into 7!! And yesterday we met with Pastor Jay Greer of Mustard Seed Network Japan, who shared some deep and thought-provoking insight into who the Church of Japan is and how we can get involved. We can really see God’s hand in all of these connections, and as a result we believe more and more that we are where we’re supposed to be.

Last Sunday, we experienced our very first church Sunday service in Japan!! And it was sooooo good! We attended Double O Cross Church in Kichijouji, located 30 minutes west from the centre of Tokyo. The pastor is Ryuta Kimura (another RTC alumni!! ??) and Ryuta also works for City To City Japan. We absolutely loved our time there: joining in with worship, hearing the Word in Japanese and English, we even got to meet other missionaries and exchanged details!

This coming month is going to be incredibly busy as we will be travelling to Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, possibly Sapporo, as well as other parts of Tokyo (Tokyo is really, really big!) to meet with more people and learn more about what God wants us to do in Japan. Please would you pray with us for:

• God to reveal more clearly to us, who and where He is calling us to be in Japan. We’ve heard so many stories and a good few opportunities have come our way. But we want to be clear on how Jesus is calling us to serve His church.
• Safe and smooth travelling to all the different places around Japan! We will be flying, riding trains and making car journeys. Please pray for safety and energy to engage with the busyness of our calendar this month.
• Good health during the coming of the winter months. The highest local temperature has fluctuated between 22-16 degrees since we’ve been here. We’ve enjoyed it, but we know winter is coming and travelling can take its toll!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sustaining us with your prayers, everyone! We receive them with grateful hearts and see that our God hears you. We’ve had our share of waves of doubt and discouragement already, but we can really feel that you all hold us up in prayer.

We’ve taken loads of photos and videos that won’t fit here, so please stayed tuned into our social media accounts for all of that.

We love you and thank you for journeying with us!

All our love,

Rev. Jordan & Nitasha Christian
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Our Long Fries at Ueno Park Ninja Festival; In Ginza Next To Hello Kitty Store; Visiting the Expat Expo Last Week; Sunday Service At Double O Cross Church; View From Shibuya Crossing; Meeting With Damien (where we first met Ryuta); After Church With Pastor Ryuta; Coffee With Pastor Jay; Date Night at Metro Plaza in Shibuya