top of page
Anchor 1
Global Missions
See where we are headed!
Missionaries
Future short term missions information will be posted when available. Though this virus season has affected travel, we have continued to remain in close contact with our all of our short-term missionary partners, including: Phil and Corenne Smith in Brazil, Mike and Becky Mann in Thailand, and Rifu Oasis Chapel in Japan. Our hearts and prayers have not stopped going out to all the world for the sake of kingdom of God.

Brazil

Corenne and Philip Smith

Corenne and Philip Smith are missionaries with (American Baptist) International Ministries in Brazil. Philip is founder and CEO of Hope Unlimited for Children. Since 1991, this ministry has provided residential and vocational training programs for children living on the streets in Brazil. The ministry has sites in Campinas (City of Youth) and in Vitoria (Hope Mountain). GVBC has sent 3 teams since 2017 to serve alongside the Smiths at Hope Mountain.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

Thailand

Mike and Becky Mann

Mike and Becky Mann have served with (American Baptist) International Ministries in Thailand since 1989. Mike is a global consultant and Becky works with the Integrated Tribal Development Foundation (ITDF) in northern Thailand. Through ITDF they have completed over 300 water projects for hill tribe villages without access to clean water. GVBC has sent teams to partner with them for 5 water projects since 2015.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

Brazil

Ken and Diane Kudo

Ken and Diane Kudo have been missionaries in Brazil with One Challenge (OC) since 1974. Ken is a gifted pastor and disciple-maker, and Diane works in the area of counseling. Their ministries also include church planting, leadership development, training and sending Brazilian missionaries to other countries, and pastoring pastors and missionaries.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

Japan

Fred and Jane Tanaka

Fred and Jane Tanaka have been missionaries with Child Evangelism Fellowship since 1962 in Japan. Their mission over the decades has been to share the Gospel with children, disciple them, and establish them in Bible-believing local churches for Christian living. They also translate, teach English, and serve as needed at the headquarters.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

InterVarsity

James Choung

James Choung has been with InterVarsity since 1996 and currently serves as the Vice President of Strategy and Innovation. InterVarsity currently has witnessing communities on almost 700 U.S. college campuses, but they want to partner with other ministries and churches to reach all 2,500 campuses by the year 2030. James oversees evangelism, planting, discipleship & growth, global engagement & justice, multiethnic initiatives, and the Creative Labs. He is also the author of three books: True Story, Real Life, and Longing for Revival.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

Cru

Jojo and Heather De Guzman

Jojo and Heather DeGuzman have been missionaries with Cru since 2006. They have been at Cru headquarters in Orlando since 2019 when doors closed for them in Asia. Heather works in Digital Strategies, and Jojo does International Staff Care, overseeing the needs of 28 Cru workers in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

Citylights

Tom Demorest

Tom Demorest has been the pastor of Citylights Church in downtown Long Beach since 2005. Tom and his wife, Val, share the type of love that Jesus teaches about in Luke 10 (the Good Samaritan) in their urban ministry. This compassionate love is personal, practical, generous, and compelling. They desire for their church to be known for this love and to bring God’s glory to the city. GVBC has sent youth to serve with Citylights Church as a high school missions project since 2008.

Epic

Tommy Dyo

Tommy Dyo has served with the Epic Movement, a ministry of Cru, since 2006. The Mission of Epic Movement is to win, build, and send Asian American students and faculty to reach the world for Christ. Tommy started as the National Executive Director for the Epic Movement, and since 2015 he has focused his time developing partnerships and networking for Epic Movement and Cru. He has also served as a strategic planning consultant for various organizations, including assisting in relief work in northern Japan.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

JEMS

Minako Fujimoto

Minako Fujimoto has been the Nichigo (Japanese language) Coordinator at Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS) since 2011. She facilitates the networking of many Japanese churches around conferences, training, concerts, and ministry opportunities. She has led short-term teams to Japan through JEMS. Her goal is to expand the JEMS Nichigo network as opportunities present themselves.

InterVarsity

Grace Hayashi

Grace Hayashi has worked for InterVarsity since 2017 and is the Senior Director of Strategy & Innovation. InterVarsity seeks to reach college students and hopes to reach every campus, in partnership with other ministries and churches. The S&I department seeks to provide strategies, resources, and space for innovation for the rest of the movement in evangelism, planting, discipleship & growth, global engagement & justice, and multiethnic initiatives.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

Iwa

Cyril Nishimoto

Cyril Nishimoto has been the Executive Director of Iwa since 1997. Iwa works in partnership with Christian leaders and churches to discover and develop the needed resources that will lead to more effective evangelism, leadership development, church growth, church planting and spiritual renewal among Japanese Americans and Asian Americans. These resources include materials, programs, strategies, and training.

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter

Japan

Tommy Park

Tommy Park is serving as the Serve Asia Facilitator for OMF Japan from 2022 to 2025, discipling and mentoring the 100+ short-term missionaries that are expected to go to Japan each year. He is based in the city of Hirosaki in the Aomori Prefecture and is learning Japanese, taking Bible classes, and use the gift of hospitality, and reaching out to new friends. This was a step of obedience and trust. From the outside, it may seem exciting, but it feels a bit scary for him. He is learning to trust in God’s goodness through the process.


https://partnerhub.omf.org/tp1

Read Latest Letter
Read Latest Letter
Anchor 2
Anchor 3
woodgrain-green.jpg
AC_logo_horizontal-twocolor.png
100% of your donation goes directly into mission projects that spread the good news of Jesus to all the world.

Japan

Oasis Chapel

Oasis Chapel was founded in Rifu in northern Japan in 1932. Their church strategically assisted in relief efforts after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Pastor Makito Matsuda not only oversees this church but has a heart to develop leaders and encourage pastors throughout Japan. 2021 Advent Conspiracy funds were sent to assist with pastoral retreats at their Morigo camp for discipleship and spiritual renewal for 12 pastors and their families. We also assisted with a portion of their need for repainting/waterproofing and sanitizing the exterior of Shalom House, which is the guest house building at their camp. Their camp is mightily used by the Lord for ministry to many!


Thailand

Mike and Becky Mann

The Manns shared that the villages we had worked with in the past with water projects needed assistance with income-generating crops. Our 2021 Advent Conspiracy funds were sent to provide training for crops like coffee, fruit trees, black pepper, chilies, pineapple, and lemon trees, which would subsequently be distributed to the villagers after they complete the training program through ITDF’s Agriculture division. This project would also bless other villages in northern Thailand.

Read Latest Letter!
Read Latest Letter!

Brazil

Corenne and Philip Smith

We sent 2021 Advent Conspiracy funds so that a residential unit at Hope Mountain can be converted into a more home-like environment (with dining area, bedrooms, and bathrooms) rather than stay in its institutional-type original condition. This will greatly enable house parents to model healthy family life and enhance their evangelism and discipleship with the boys residing there. We also were able to sponsor a fun, interactive zoom birthday party with Hope children in Brazil, sharing God’s love and affirmation with them.

bottom of page