The youth ministries department and literature ministries department of the Japan Union Conference (JUC) are working together to recruit, train, and inspire young people in Japan.
The following projects are the four pillars of Gideon 300:
1. Setagaya Youth Church is a church located in Tokyo, dedicated to training and empowering young people to be active for Jesus Christ.
2. Youth Rush Japan is a three-week student literature evangelism program conducted every spring and summer vacation (February, March, July, and August). About 10 to 20 young people sleep in sleeping bags for three weeks at a church and have morning and evening worship together everyday. During the day, they go door-to-door sharing the gospel through literature. Throughout the program all the participants receive thorough basic training from the leader in charge about literature evangelism, Bible study, and devotional life. By the end of the program, the participants learn by experience the joy of evangelism and solid identity as Seventh-day Adventists.
2. Youth Rush Japan is a three-week student literature evangelism program conducted every spring and summer vacation (February, March, July, and August). About 10 to 20 young people sleep in sleeping bags for three weeks at a church and have morning and evening worship together everyday. During the day, they go door-to-door sharing the gospel through literature. Throughout the program all the participants receive thorough basic training from the leader in charge about literature evangelism, Bible study, and devotional life. By the end of the program, the participants learn by experience the joy of evangelism and solid identity as Seventh-day Adventists.
3. All Rush Japan is a program for people of all ages. Through the influence and the energy of the young people from Youth Rush, we hope to work together with people of all ages to plan various outreach events together and experience the joy of evangelism all over Japan in local church levels. Through this project we hope to emphasize and implement the TMI (Total Member Involvement) spirit of literature evangelism all over Japan.
4. GiFTS (Gideon Family Training School) will be an online training program based in Setagaya Youth Church for young people to learn how to start and lead small group ministries. The training program will consist of about 100 hours of both intellectual and practical training tailored for full-time high school/college students and young professionals. Young people will be required as part of the training to start small groups as they begin their training. We are scheduled to launch the GiFTS program in October 2017. We will give a Gideon number to each young person who completes the training. For example, the first person to finish the course will be given Gideon #001. The second person to finish the course will be given Gideon #002 and so on. Our goal is to have at least 300 young people finish the course by the year 2020.
4. GiFTS (Gideon Family Training School) will be an online training program based in Setagaya Youth Church for young people to learn how to start and lead small group ministries. The training program will consist of about 100 hours of both intellectual and practical training tailored for full-time high school/college students and young professionals. Young people will be required as part of the training to start small groups as they begin their training. We are scheduled to launch the GiFTS program in October 2017. We will give a Gideon number to each young person who completes the training. For example, the first person to finish the course will be given Gideon #001. The second person to finish the course will be given Gideon #002 and so on. Our goal is to have at least 300 young people finish the course by the year 2020.
There are very few Seventh-day Adventist young people in Japan. Humanly speaking, training 300 young people by the year 2020 seems like too big of a number. But God has big visions, big dreams, and has an infinite amount of love and power. God loves the young people in Japan and wants to save them. Jesus is coming soon! While time still lasts, together with God, we will earnestly pray and work to train and inspire an army of young leaders to lead hundreds, thousands, and millions of precious young souls to receive Jesus Christ and His Three Angels Messages.
As stated in the mission statement of Public Campus Ministries of the General Conference, the Gideon 300 project would like to emphasize the importance of “Following Jesus, Embracing His Mission, and Changing the World!”
Please continue to keep Gideon 300 in your prayers. Please pray that special wisdom and guidance from heaven will be given to each of the JUC leaders and young people who are involved in moving this project forward. Mara
Daniel Fukuda, Youth Rush Japan Staff