Mennonite Brethren in Japan began as a mission work of the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (now the US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches). Plans for mission work in Japan were initiated in 1948, and the first missionary arrived in August of 1950. The Mennonite Brethren mission work centered on the Osaka/Kobe area. Since then over 30 Mennonite Brethren missionaries have served in Japan. The first church service took place in May of 1951, and the first baptism was in August of that same year. The work grew and the Nippon Menonaito Burezaren Kyodan was founded in 1964.
Services provided by the Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference include Church Education Ministries, an Evangelism Committee, Overseas Missions Committee, and Publications Committee. The Nosegawa Bible Camp is located in the north part of Osaka, Japan, near the Inagawa River. The Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference operates the Evangelical Biblical Seminary (founded as the Osaka Biblical Seminary in 1965 by the Mennonite Brethren and two Baptist groups) at Ikeda City, Osaka, Japan. Yoki Otuzure is the conference periodical. The conference had 28 churches in 2003.
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