Mission Partners
Email Miriam at la@omf.or.jp
Let me introduce myself
I spent two years (1975-1977) as a short-term missionary with the Church Missionary Society teaching English in and around Osaka. Over that time the conviction gradually deepened that God was calling me to a long-term commitment to Japan. From 1977-1980 further studies in the UK were followed by five and a half years teaching English in Japanese Schools in Nagoya and later Osaka. In 1986 my life took a change of direction with my application to OMF.
From English teacher to church planter to language advisor I moved to Sapporo in Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido (about one third the size of the UK) to work with a church planting team in Wakaba church. Then in January 1990 I became Language Advisor for OMF Japan with particular responsibility for helping new missionaries during their two years of full time language study at OMF’s Japanese Language Centre (JLC) in Sapporo, and during the remainder of their first term of service.
What does a Language Advisor do?
I work partly from home but go into JLC two or three days a week for staff meetings, talks with individual students, chapel times or orientation sessions.
Other aspects of my job are:
• Curriculum development in co-operation with the Japanese staff at JLC. We have a number of home-developed courses such as a Bible course, a sermon course, a Sunday school course and so on.
• Gathering resource materials to help missionaries learning to evangelise, preach, teach, plant churches and administer them, all in the Japanese language.
• Monthly monitoring of first-term missionaries in their ongoing language study after JLC. This is done by email, personal visits, telephone and fax.
• Assessing language levels by means of proficiency tests and oral interviews.
• From time to time I give seminars on Japanese Language at OMF conferences or where the opportunity arises.
Increasingly I have been asked for advice by other missions. Part of this ministry involves writing quarterly articles for ‘Japan Harvest’, a magazine serving the 2,000 or so missionaries working in Japan.
How can you pray?
• For the strengthening of links with churches and prayer partners in the UK.
• To be an encourager for those who find learning Japanese tough and discouraging.
• JLC is now the principal missionary language school in Japan. 10 years ago there were several more. Pray for wisdom in trying to help workers from missions other than OMF struggling to get Japanese without a school where they can learn Biblical language for ministry. Our website at www.omf.org/jlc provides information about Japanese language resources and the Japanese Language Centre.
• From October 2003 I have been working part-time with Pastor and Mrs Matsumoto in Hokuei church in Sapporo. This involves preaching and leading Bible studies for seekers.
• Above all pray for breakthrough in Japan where after more than a century of Christian witness still less than 1% know and love the Lord.
See the OMF Japan website for more information on mission in Japan
| Based at the OMF Japanese Language Centre (JLC) in Sapporo |  |
| Working with Pete and Janet Dallman (OMF UK), Language and Orientation Coordinators, in the care of new OMFers and their adjustment to Japan |  |
| OMFers from Singapore (left) and Korea (right) with teacher in centre |  |
| Visiting OMFers around Japan for language assessments, practical help and encouragement |  |
| Working with our Japanese Language Centre staff on teacher training, curriculum, material writing etc. |  |
| Teaching seminars, collecting resources, writing articles on Japanese language |  |
| Helping in a local Japanese church – preaching |  |