Odate, O-Chan & Asami

O-Chan and Asami believed in Christ as their Savior through singing Black gospel music at a community choir in Tokyo. They married in 2007. On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake struck Japan triggering a massive tsunami devastating the Northeastern region. The church responded to the disaster and O-Chan quit his job and started working full-time doing disaster relief ministry. Through sharing his faith and ministering to those in the disaster area, he sensed a call to full-time ministry. He enrolled at Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, Mississippi) and served at Redeemer Church Jackson as a musician and ministry intern. He graduated RTS with an M.Div. in 2017.

The Odates returned to Japan in June 2018 as a family of five. Ochan then served for two years at Oyumino Christ Church in Chiba, Japan, as a pastoral intern. In November 2019, he was ordained as a teaching elder in the PCA (Mississippi Valley Presbytery). His heart is to plant a gospel-centered international church (PCJ) in the downtown area of Chiba City with support from MTW Japan.