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Miriam Davis - Japan

Miriam spent two years (1975-77) as a short-term missionary with the Church Missionary Society teaching English in and around Osaka. Over that time the conviction gradually deepened that God was calling her to a long-term commitment to Japan. From 1977-1980 she studied in the UK. She then taught English in Japanese schools in Nagoya and Osaka. In 1986 her life changed direction when she applied to Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF).

She then moved to Sapporo in Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido (about one third the size of the UK) to work with a church planting team in Wakaba Church. In January 1990 she became Language Advisor for OMF Japan. Her job gave her particular responsibility for helping new missionaries during their two years of full-time language study at OMF's Japanese Language Centre (JLC) in Sapporo [left] and in the rest of their first term of service.

Miriam's work as a language advisor is partly carried out from home, but involves going to JLC two or three days a week for staff meetings, chapel, orientation sessions and to talk with individual students. On Tuesday mornings she has a team meeting with her colleagues from South Africa, Dale and Maude Viljoen, Director of Language and Orientation.

Other aspects of Miriam's Job

Miriam's missionary work also involves a number of other things, these include:

• Curriculum development in co-operation with the Japanese staff at JLC. They have a number of home-developed courses such as a Bible course, a sermon course, a Sunday school course and so on.
• Gathering resource materials to help missionaries who are learning to evangelise, preach, teach, plant churches and administer them, all in the Japanese language.
• Monthly monitoring of first-term missionaries in their ongoing language study after JLC. This is done by email, personal visits, telephone and fax.
• Assessing language levels by means of proficiency tests and oral interviews. From time to time Miriam gives seminars on Japanese at OMF conferences or where opportunities arise.
• Increasingly Miriam is being asked for advice by other missions. This includes writing quarterly articles for Japan Harvest, a magazine serving the 2000 or so missionaries working in Japan.

How can we pray?

• Pray for Miriam to have renewed physical, emotional and spiritual energy.
• Pray for the strengthening of links with churches and prayer partners in the UK.

• Pray for Miriam to be encourager for those who find learning the Japanese tough and discouraging.
• JLC is now one of only two missionary language schools in Japan. Ten years ago there were several more. Pray for wisdom in trying to help non-OMFers struggling to get Japanese without a school where they can learn Biblical language for ministry. We are working on a web page where people can access information about language resources and request help.
• After 15 years in Wakaba Church, Miriam now attends Hokuei church in Sapporo. Since October 2003 she has worked there part-time. This involves preaching and leading Bible studies for seekers. Pastor and Mrs Matsumoto from the church are pictured right.
• Above all pray for breakthrough in Japan where after more than a century of Christian witness still less than one percent know and love the Lord.