Who we are Our vision Our vision JCL's vision is to help make a significant difference in the progress of the gospel among the Japanese over the first half of this century. We will seek to do this through educating, encouraging and equipping the Body of Christ so that, more and more, through an expanding network of relationships, the good news of Jesus Christ will be proclaimed clearly, and disciples of Jesus Christ multiplied, among the Japanese people, for his glory. (Matthew 28:19-20) Our Vision is “To help….” because we are aware that JCL will be playing just one part in what God wants to do among Japanese people. It is to “make a significant difference …” because that is what we believe God can bring about. The gospel probably first reached Japan in 1549, but estimates today of the number of true disciples of Jesus Christ in Japan vary between around 0.1% and 0.5% of Japan’s population of 127 million. We long to see a significant increase in the proportion of Japanese who worship God. It is on “… the progress of the gospel …” that we want to focus. We are also aware of and concerned for the many emerging social problems and needs of the Japanese people and we value work done to meet them. But, because we believe that only as individuals respond to the gospel and begin to grow as disciples will the totality of their needs begin to be met, our primary aim will be to bring the good news of the gospel to Japanese people and help them grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. Among all the spiritually needy people of this world, we believe simply that God has called JCL to work “… among the Japanese people …”. We are praying that the difference will be made “… over the first half of this century” because we believe this is realistic. We can pray this in faith and doing so motivates us to act now. In order to realise this vision, we have adopted some key Aims, summarised here. As we plan and work, there are also some Values we will hold in JCL. They will help define who we are, what we do, and how we work. Manage Cookie Preferences