Our Beginning
Akigawa Baptist Church started in September of 1998 in the home of missionaries Dave and Glenda Carter. They lived in the Amema neighborhood near the Akigawa River. A few years later, their oldest son Steve, his wife Bethany, and their (at the time) two children came to Japan to help with the church. As our church grew, we eventually outgrew the Carter’s home, and transitioned to meet at the Soshia rental Hall on Sundays. We met here for a few years, and in July of 2007, we were able to purchase a small house in Ninomiya. We made some changes to it to help accommodate our church family, and have been meeting here since then.
Our Pastors
In April of 2015, Pastor Dave Carter resigned as pastor of our church to transition to start helping and encouraging other pastors in Japan. We then chose Steve Carter to become our pastor on April 26, 2015.
Our Logo
Our church is named after what was then Akigawa City, (before the city merged and changed its name to Akiruno), as well as the Akigawa river. Our logo reflects not only the river here in our city, but primarily Jesus as our living water (John 4:13-14), and the privilege we have as Christians to come to him, to abide in him, and to drink fully from the grace and mercy that flows from Him.
Our Future
It’s been amazing to see how God has guided and helped our church family through all these years, and we’re excited to see what He will continue to do to help us grow more in the image of His Son in the coming years!
