Pastor Nidaira and the Zushi Mission: An Interview

Abstract

Anthony Allard’s 2000 interview with Pastor Nidaira offers a detailed look into the Lutheran Evangelical Christian Church’s (LECC) mission work in Zushi, Japan. Conducted in Japanese and translated into English, the interview explores the challenges and opportunities of ministry in a densely populated, urbanized, and culturally complex region. Topics include the mobility of Japanese Christians, facility limitations, outreach to U.S. military personnel, and the influence of traditional Japanese religious practices such as ancestor worship. Pastor Nidaira discusses evangelism strategies, including correspondence courses, multilingual services, and the use of English classes as outreach tools. The interview also reflects on the broader mission context in Japan, where Christianity is often viewed as a foreign religion. Despite slow growth, the Zushi congregation remains committed to Gospel outreach and has begun saving for a permanent church building. Allard concludes with a call to continue mission work while the door remains open. Abstract generated with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot (GPT-4).