DALLAS (ABP) — When Yutaka Takarada flew to Vancouver, British Columbia, last year, he found ample salmon, Japanese restaurants and views of the harbor.
But what he didn't see worried him. Even though Vancouver has a sizeable Japanese population, the president of the Japanese Southern Baptist Churches of America couldn't find many Japanese Baptist churches.
“There are 10 times as many Japanese residents living in Vancouver as in Dallas,” said Takarada, pastor of Japanese Baptist Church of North Texas. “We have about 3,000 Japanese in the Dallas-area, but there are 30,000 to 40,000 Japanese residents there. Yet there are few Japanese churches, and those that do exist have only 13-14 members and are struggling.”
Many of the Baptist churches in Vancouver are young churches similar to the church Takarada started 23 years ago. Its first Japanese Baptist church was started only a year ago.
Those numbers have prompted Takarada to action. Most importantly, he wants to let Japanese Baptist leaders in Canada know they are not alone, he said.
“We want them to know we care,” Takarada said. “And that we are praying for them.”
A trip coordinated by the Baptist General Convention of Texas could help spread the message.
Patty Lane, BGCT intercultural ministry director, is planning a trip to Vancouver, along with Southwest Chinese Baptist in Houston; Ethiopian Baptist Evangelical Church in Garland, Texas; Laotian Baptist Church in Dallas; Japanese Baptist Church of North Texas in Dallas; and Iranian Baptist Church in Dallas.
Once in Vancouver, the mission team will share the gospel, help equip church leaders, start new churches, and work on college campuses. Lane expects to take 35-40 workers on the trip, slated for July. It will be the BGCT's first intercultural mission trip.
“The churches [in Vancouver] were extremely eager to partner with others in the states and wanted relationships,” Lane said. “Even though Vancouver is a multicultural city, many ethnic pastors feel isolated from churches of their same background.”
Houmphanh Vongsurith, president of the Laotian National Baptist Fellowship and pastor of Laotian Baptist Church in Dallas, said he is pleased to be on the mission team.
“The Laotian community in Vancouver needs help,” Vongsurith said. “We're recruiting and plan to take at least six graduates from Midwestern [Baptist Theological] Seminary to Vancouver with us.”
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