By Steve Duhrkoop , OMS Japan Field Director
From its very beginnings in Japan in 1901 , where One Mission Society was founded , OMS has sought to win the nations for Christ through the sons and daughters of those countries . In the early years in Japan , OMS started a Gospel hall and for 3,000
straight evenings led evangelistic services , resulting in many Japanese people coming to Christ . Those individuals were then quickly trained at the Bible Institute to go out and share their newfound faith with others . The number of believers grew during this time .
Over the last 117 years , the church has seen seasons of strong growth , often through campaigns in which the Gospel was shared with the people of Japan . In the years after WWII , Every Community for Christ ( ECC ) workers came to Japan to help rebuild the churches and establish new churches , and God blessed it .
ECC has continued to be involved in Japan through the years . The focus over the last nine years has been to encour-
4 age the national church to implement a program called Train & Multiply , a church multiplication strategy of evangelism , discipleship , and leadership training .
The Japan Holiness Church has sought to create healthy churches and to see growth . They have been praying for revival . But often it takes several years for people to accept the Gospel , and the church is aging . Often the person doing the evangelism is the pastor , who is seminary trained .
The heart of Train & Multiply is that lay people are trained and mobilized to evangelize and disciple using the materials provided . But the goal is abundant sowing of the Gospel with family , friends , and colleagues from work . They seek to