Following our arrival in Japan in 1988, our ministry assignments with A3 have encompassed both local church ministry and national and trans-Asia ministries serving the church and the missionary community.
1988–2002
With our education in church music (Gary) and music therapy (Barbara), our first A3 assignment was with the Song-Rise team serving local Japanese churches and pastors.
For more than a decade, Song-Rise sponsored music evangelism outreaches, organized Christian artist tours, provided worship seminars, and produced print and audio praise and worship resources.
Publishing and recording projects we were involved with during that era included two Japanese Continentals recordings, the bilingual Exalt Him! songbook, the Dickens Christmas Carolers recording, and the bilingual Caroling Collection songbook and recording.
In 2002, the music and worship ministry was passed into the hands of Japanese leadership, and we transitioned to our next ministry assignment.
2003–2018
Gary and Barbara (2003–2005)
For the next three years, from 2003 to 2005, we were team leaders for the East Kanto Church Multiplication Network. We served as liaisons between first-term missionaries still learning Japanese and the parent churches they were partnering with.
Most often these workers taught English classes to build relationships in a new community. The goal was to plant a daughter church together with a church planting team from the mother church.
Gary (2005–2018)
In 2005, the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association asked me to be managing editor of Japan Harvest magazine, which resources English-speaking missionaries in Japan representing over 40 different mission organizations.
I had written articles on worship for the magazine, but had no plans for a focus in journalism. However, despite my lack of training in this area, I sensed this was God’s direction for my next step. Later I learned that the best qualification for an editor is to have a wide variety of interests and a wide range of knowledge in many different fields. With my love of reading, I definitely fit in that category.
During my tenure from 2005 to 2018, I transitioned the magazine from a black-and-white print publication to a full-color print magazine and online digital ministry. Volunteer staff involvement grew from only me and a layout person to a team of nearly a dozen.
While my primary focus was first on music and worship ministry and then on publishing ministry, God had other plans for Barbara.
Barbara (1996–Present)
In my Japan timeline, we need to jump back to the early 90s. While raising our two young children and observing the parenting practices of Japanese mothers, God opened the door to what would become my ministry focus—teaching biblical parenting skills.
This ministry got its start in 1996 when a few mothers gathered around my dining room table to discuss parenting. As I learned about their challenges, in partnership with a Japanese co-worker I developed the principle-based Discovering the Joy of Parenting textbook that was first published it in 2002.
Then, because of our A3 connections, in 2012 it was adapted and published in Mongolian. The materials in Mongolia are used in churches as well as government-endorsed parenting training programs.
By 2017 we had gone through six printings of the Japanese/English edition, with around 10,000 books distributed throughout Japan and in Japanese communities around the world. It was time for an update, so keeping the same principle-based content, we totally revised the book and released a new edition in 2019 with three new lessons on managing money, time, and technology.
2018–Present
Gary and Barbara
Currently, our primary focuses are local as we support the outreaches of our Japanese congregation and together engage in a Bible study and encouragement ministry with young women in their 20s and 30s.
Gary also plays saxophone on the church worship team, is translation editor for Japan Update (the English newsletter of the Japan Evangelical Association), edits online blog posts for A3’s go2japanwebsite, and is involved in ministry coaching.
Barbara leads periodic parenting seminars, serves on the A3 member care team, mentors high school girls, and leads women’s Bible studies.