Ministering to the heart of the Lord

Vision for Tokyo

“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” -Habakuk 2:2-3 ESV

Our vision is simple, “Minister to the heart of the Lord.”

From Genesis to Revelation the story is about Him. We believe that He is the risen Lord, He is King, and He is relational. He’s not just some concept or force. He’s a knowable God. His heart is worth knowing and it’s worth giving our all for. We believe intimacy with the Lord is unto fruitfulness. Ministering to His heart means to be yielded vessels, lovers before workers, unapologetically about Jesus.

We seek to fulfill this vision through our 3 core values of Intimacy, Family, and Kingdom. Intimacy with the Lord is often expressed as prayer and worship, both as a community and as individuals. We value having time set aside for Him. Family means living together, being constantly transformed by Christ and loving one another. We value life-speaking and life-thinking, and we want to build people not ministries. Kingdom is about partnering with God for Him to rebuild broken lives. We believe the appointed time will surely come. It will be a day when “…what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready…” (Rev. 19:6-7 ESV). We want to run with a vision that will never fade, to see Japan and the nations be the Bride who has made herself ready for her Bridegroom King.

History of YWAM Tokyo

Our base has existed in Tokyo since 2007. The story begins with a faithful few who chose to move deeper into Tokyo with a Word from the Lord to “build the altar of worship”

A significant part of that was an image one of these team members received from God of these small lights all over the country. Upon seeing it, they asked the Lord, “What are all these lights?”
He replied, “Those are the people who are worshiping me here.”
“But Lord, they are so few.”
“I know. Would you come worship me here?”

So these few came into Tokyo and started with building the altar, just as Ezra did with the rebuilding of the Temple. That small team grew, held its first Discipleship Training School in 2008, eventually did so bilingually as well, and hosted a unique School of Worship called the School of Worship And Transformation (SWAT) in 2018. All the while, building and establishing the Altar of Worship.

Before COVID-19 was even known to the world, 2020 held significant beginnings for us as we launched three new teams to pioneer to both the North and South of Japan as well as in Alaska in the United States. Yet with all of these changes, we continue in our vision of ministering to the Heart of the Lord on the Altar that was built by our predecessors, longing to see Jesus worshipped in this country by every tribe, tongue, and nation.

What is Youth with a Mission?

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) was founded by Loren Cunningham in 1960. He had a vision of waves of young people sharing the Gospel to all Nations. YWAM is a missions movement focused on champing young people and sending them to the nations. Our motto is “Know God, and make Him known”.

For more: https://ywam.org/about-us/values