This month, we continue to examine the unreached people groups within the DFW metroplex. This time, we shifted our focus from South Asian people to East Asian people, specifically the Japanese people.
When Toyota relocated its national headquarters to Frisco, many Japanese, upward to ten thousand Japanese people, also relocated to the Frisco-Little Elm area in the DFW metroplex.
Japanese people, known for their soft-spoken nature and strong family ties, often form close-knit communities. To engage with them, we need to go where they go, such as Asian markets and restaurants. This unique cultural aspect of the Japanese people makes them an intriguing group to reach out to with the Gospel.
Japanese have long treated religion like a buffet. For instance, it is common for the Japanese to have a Shinto wedding, celebrate Christmas, and observe a Buddhist funeral. Over the past several decades, though, materialism has become the pervading ethos of many Japanese, causing the influence of organized religion to diminish tremendously.
Whereas some Japanese on the West Coast (predominantly in Washington state) have become Christians, a large majority of Japanese in the DFW metroplex are nonreligious, even though almost all would claim to be Buddhist. Most religious rituals are only performed at significant life events, such as weddings and funerals.
Let’s start by praying for and reaching out to the Japanese people. Many of them do not fully assimilate into the local cultural environment, creating a need for meaningful relationships with Americans. You could be the one to step forward and build these intentional relationships with the unreached Japanese people in the DFW metroplex.
With the above in mind, we at DBA have prioritized church planting among the multi-ethnic people groups in DFW. We invite you and your church to join us at DBA in this endeavor. We invite you to become:
- EMBRACING CHURCH: Join us in prayer for the multi-ethnic people groups. Contact us at DBA for prayer material on these groups.
- SPONSORING CHURCH. Provide DBA with funds for new multi-ethnic people church planters that we have identified and are training. Contact us to connect you with a multi-ethnic church planter who needs both prayer and financial support.
- HOSTING CHURCH. Provide space within your current church facility for a multi-ethnic church planter and believers to worship and grow in Christ.
Consider for a moment how you and your church can join us in one or more of the above three ways as we reach the nations together, specifically the multi-ethnic people groups in DFW, who are now our neighbors next door.
For more information on how you and your church can get involved in this exciting endeavor among multi-ethnic people groups, contact us at DBA. We are more than willing to help.
This story and the church-planting endeavor among multi-ethnic people groups do not end here. We will share other church-planting endeavors in future newsletters.