Bethel Baptist Church

Jeff and Barb Chapman, along with their children Rachael, Caleb and Anna, are serving with Converge Worldwide (BGC), our group of churches.  They are planting Christ Community Church in Ikoma, Japan.  Ikoma is near Osaka, Japan's second largest city (7 million people).

The BGC has been planting churches in Japan since 1948.  We work cooperatively with the Rengo (Japan Baptist Church Association).  Church planting in Japan has been a very slow process, as Japanese people face many time pressures and strong family cultural and religious traditions.

The Chapmans' two older children, Chris and Rachael are attending college in the U.S. Chris is attending Northwestern College in St. Paul and Rachael is at Biola Univeristy in Los Angeles.

Christ Community Church rents a house to use for a Sunday afternoon Celebration Service and a once-a-month Kids Church. The Chapmans also hold English classes and a monthly English worship service at the local Community Center.

This past summer, Jeff led a team of 8 people to work for a week in the disaster zone in Northern Japan. They helped residents clean and repair their homes which were damaged by the earthquake. The Chapmans have seen a new spiritual openness in the Japanese people since the earthquake.