2025 Spring Missions Offering

The Unity of the Cross

Whether we realize it or not, the cross is a symbol of unity. It is a key component in the redemption of all things – the Father, Son, and Spirit working together in unity for the entirety of creation. It is through the cross that this redemption is freely offered by God to all humanity, allowing us to be united with him as part of his family. It is also an invitation to join in the reconciliatory work of Jesus, working in unity with the Spirit to share the Good News in word and deed with a world eager to experience a new way of living.

We invite every NAB church to set aside April 6 as Spring Missions Sunday, with the goal of sharing what God is up to through NAB International Missions and to receive a special offering in support of the NAB Global Missions Fund. Whether it’s through Spring Missions Sunday or not, your gift to the Global Missions Fund of $100, $500, or any other amount helps support the work of NAB missionaries as they proclaim the unity of the cross to a world full of division.

There were quite a few celebratory moments during our days together at the 2024 Triennial Conference, including during the Business Meeting before the first session of Triennial. One of the most poignant moments was when Ms. Kayoko Okura, a representative from the Japan Baptist Conference, took to the stage to share a letter of thanks and appreciation from the JBC Executive Committee Chairman for the decades of collaboration in mission together. Through Ms. Okura, the JBC expressed gratitude for the more than seventy years of partnership in missions work and for the support and prayers of so many in North America who have helped establish the eleven JBC churches that exist today.

There is a special unity among brothers and sisters in Christ, one that cannot be replicated outside of the cross – this symbol of our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cross is also a call for us as believers to invite others to join in this new life found in Christ.

Your gift to the Global Missions Fund is, in part, a gift that helps invite people in far-flung places around the world to be part of God’s family, to be unified under the cross of Christ. Additionally, when you give, you are standing in unity with NAB missionaries and partners, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.

This moment on stage at Triennial was part of an inflection point in the NAB mission in Japan. For decades, NAB missionaries have been serving in Japan under a legal entity, but when circumstances changed in early 2024, that entity needed to be closed. But that did not mean the NAB is done working in Japan, nor is our relationship with the JBC at its end. It just means we now have a new partnership with another mission organization, TEAM Japan.

For a number of months, NAB missionaries Yuri Nakano and Nick and Iris Hung have been serving in Japan alongside this nonprofit entity, allowing them to remain in Japan to continue reaching and teaching the people there.

For the Hungs, everything about this is new. Having only recently arrived in Japan in September, they are still in language learning to help them reach the Chinese diaspora in Japan. Meanwhile, they are eager to learn and absorb valuable experience from former and current missionaries. Shortly after their arrival, they wrote, “The first thing we are eager to pursue for growth is the humility from co-worker missionaries.”

For Yuri, the mission is still the same, even if her teammates have changed a bit, and she is excited to be on a team of more than sixty missionaries serving in Japan together. “Partnering with TEAM Japan is a small part of a larger movement I believe God is stirring to open up more possibilities for his Kingdom to grow here in Japan,” she said.

Since Florence Miller and others started preaching the Gospel in Japan in 1951, the NAB has seen this mission field go through a multitude of changes. But the Gospel message that proclaims unity with Christ through the cross remains constant.

The unity of the cross as found in God’s people and extended to all others is on display in Japan through the work of NAB missionaries. Would you please consider giving in support of efforts such as these? Your gift of $100, $500, or more to the Global Missions Fund allows for the NAB International Office to provide the support crucial to times of transition like we are seeing in the Japan field. As Yuri said, “I am hopeful and glad NAB mission work in Japan is not over!”

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Spring Missions Sunday Resources

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