=JCFN Personnel for 2021 (as of June 22nd, 2022)=

1. General Secretary position is abolished and changed to Japan/North America Director positions. 2. Staff Coordinator position is established. That position will be the representative of the organization and convenes and chairs the joint staff meeting. Japan and North American director with take responsibility for the the Staff Coordinator position rotating every two years.

<North America Head Office>

Setsu Shimizu, North America Director

She was raised in a ministerial family in Osaka. Though she believed in God from a young age, until after college, her faith walk was not an active part of her life. At 15, she moved with her family to Hawaii, and has been living the U.S. since then. From her high school years, it became natural for her to be involved in outreach to international students from Japan. At the Urbana ’90 Missions Conference, she re-dedicated her life to the Lord, was led to be a part of JCFN while studying at Fuller Seminary, and then became director in 1994. Her very supportive husband, Mao (himself a former international student who became a Christian in Denver) serves as a minister at Japanese Ministry of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church since May of 2022. She enjoys serving at the church along with her husband.

Yuko Ozeki, Staff

Yuko Ozeki came to know about Jesus Christ at the church she attended with her mother from the time she was in elementary school.After having experienced some of the joy and the hardships of Christian life in Japan during junior high, high school, college and working in an office, she arrived in bitterly cold Chicago on Christmas day 1996 to study at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She came to realize the importance of evangelizing Japanese and equipping them for their return to Japan.In the spring of 1999, the Lord called Yuko to become a full-time JCFN staff worker and she has been working hard since November, 2000.

Daisuke Tsuchida, Staff

When he went to Los Angeles with the Praise Station Worship Band in 2013, the disappointment of not being able to speak English with his host family led him to dream of speaking English. He Moved to South Carolina, to study the Bible in 2015. Learned English at a language school, but struggled greatly. He went on to take theology courses at CIU (Columbia International University) and completed the Biblical Ministry course in 2018. He completed the Missionary Candidacy Training program at Hope Church (Columbia SC) in 2020 and returned to Japan in 2019. He is currently working as a father of three daughters with his wife in Miyagi Prefecture while continuing his fundraising efforts. He is installed on December 1, 2021.

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<Japan Head Office>

Chihiro Okada, Japan Director

Chihiro Nakamura was born in Chiba, and grew up in Tokyo. Since the age of five, she grew up where church was her second home. At the age of twelve, she met Christ personally and confessed her faith. She studied Christian counseling at college. In 2002, she went to the United States to continue her studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in California. However, only two months later, while still in ESL program, God called her to become a pastor in Japan through the book of Jeremiah. While she was at Fuller, through her internship at JCFN, she saw God using her gift and training. She found His calling through JCFN at this point. She completed the degree of Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary in June, 2006. As Christ’s disciple, Chihiro found joy in discipleship training to equip Christ’s disciples. She was installed as a full-time JCFN staff member in April 2007. Since April 2013, she has been serving in Japan.

 Maki Goto, Staff

Maki Goto was born in Hashima-shi, Gifu in 1970 as the second son and sixth child in a pastor’s family.As a child, he did not understand the true meaning of the gospel, but at the age of 15 he came to accept Jesus as his Savior and was baptized.Visiting his sister in the States at age 19 motivated him to study in the U.S.He realized this dream when he was 21 as a student of a junior college in Southern California.Later, he went to a Bible college where he began to care about Japanese returnees and was led to work for JCFN. Maki was blessed by his marriage to Mitsuyo. He now has a son, Mel, and two daughters, Miri and Maya. He has returned to Japan in the spring of 2004 to work in the Japan office and currently living in the west side of Tokyo.

 Shiori Furuya, Staff

Born in Tokyo and raised in Kanagawa. Born to a Japanese father and a Korean mother. Transferred to a church school (international) in the fall of the 6th grade. I was baptized at the end of sixth grade, and at the same time was given a desire for devotion to Jesus. After graduating from high school, I entered Tokyo Christian University. While still in school, I went to the U.S. on an exchange program, and learned of the reality that Japanese students who were saved and returned to their home countries were falling away from God, which gave me a heart for returnee ministry. However, at that time, I was still unaware of JCFN. After graduating from university and working for three years, I went on to study at the graduate school of Tokyo Christian University. While in graduate school, I was led to JCFN, interned, and became staff in April 2021.