Owen & Sarah Ames

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WHO ARE THE AMES FAMILY?

Owen

- Owen is a qualified Lawyer who worked in private practice and then worked with the Legal Services Commission of South Australia for 11 years in the Advice and Community Education Section. He specialised in legal issues for older people and people with a disability. Owen completed a Bachelor of Ministry in 2003. Owen enjoys swimming, reading and watching Collingwood win AFL games (He dislikes grand finals!).

Sarah

- Sarah is a qualified High School Japanese teacher. She has also taught Religious Education. She completed a Graduate Diploma in Bible & Ministry, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language in 2003. Sarah enjoys basketball and reading as well as cooking (and eating!) sweet things.

Rachel

- Rachel (17/9/95) enjoys singing, piano, reading, going to school and playing netball.

Jessica

- Jessica (4/4/98) enjoys school, playing with friends, trampolining and eating white chocolate!

The Ames family has been involved at Unley Park Baptist for many years, and also with the Japanese Christian Fellowship of Adelaide (JCFA) since 2001. Owen preached at JCFA once a month through an interpreter prior to leaving for Japan in March 2004.

TAKING THE RISEN SON TO THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN “ WHY JAPAN?

Japan has:

• 9 cities without a church.
• 1,733 towns of between 15,000 to 30,000 with no church.
• Of 3,000,000 tertiary students less than 1% are hearing the gospel.
• Japan has 126 million people, but less than 0.5% of Japanese are Christian.

The Lord gave us a burden for mission in the early 1990s. As a result Owen commenced part time Bible college in 1996. In 1997 we had the opportunity to go to Japan where God gave us a burden for this land surrounded by religion, but without the love of Jesus. Shinto and Buddhism are the main religions of Japan, and Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples abound. Most aspects of life are bound up in Shinto and Buddhist belief, including birth, marriage and even Sumo Wrestling. Most Japanese know nothing about Jesus and don't even have a local church. Our vision is to work alongside the existing Japanese church to start churches where currently none exist. Having started a church we want to disciple local believers, and develop local leaders to continue the work.

TAKAMATSU

The Ames family left for Japan on March 17th 2004 to work as church planters in Takamatsu, a city of 330,000 people on the island of Shikoku. Shikoku is the 4th largest island in Japan. They were learning the language as well as being involved in a church plant at the same time. Teaching English is one of the main tools for outreach. Sarah worked with several women and childrens classes and ministries, whilst Owen preached and worked with adults and a larege University ministry. Rachel and Jessica attended local Japanese schools as well as receiving correspondence schooling from Australia.

In October 2004 they formally commenced the Setouchi Chapel. It was a blessing to see the Lord bring several Japanese to Christ, and to be part of the baptism of several believers. In March 2005 the church has around 30 regular attenders (including about 12 children). This is a healthy size church in Japan. We were able to place the church under the care of a theologically trained Japanese believer, under the supervision of a senior missionary.

KOBE

In late March 2005 we moved to Kobe to work with the Agape Bible Church.. This is a church plant that was really struggling and our co-workers, the Trims, came to rebuild the church. They have been on home assignment since June05, so we are able to ensure the work continues. We are excited by the fact it is located in the middle of several huge apartment blocks, containing thousands of people. It is currently a very small church, but the opportunities to share God's love are enormous. We are continuing to learn the language in Kobe, and also lead the ministry at Agape. The move to Kobe was necesary to follow God's leading to place our girls in an international school.

Kobe means 'God's gateway', or 'God's door'. It is on Japan's main island of Honshu. It is a city of around 1.2million that was devastated by the loss of around 6,000 lifes due to the Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. We pray that God would truly allow this city to become a place were people could enter God's kingdom.

The Ames family's prayer is that the Land of the Rising Sun would know the Risen Son