Two energetic couples with experience and training from Wildwood and Uchee Pines joined the Mount Akagi Institute team in 2010, bringing new life and ideas to this mountainside ministry. Working with LIGHT and drawing from their own experience, they are reinstating the training program and lifestyle center to expand the spread of the gospel throughout Japan.
The medical ministry training work at Mount Akagi originated with a group from Madison College in the early ’50s. In 1978 three families accepted the call from Eden Valley to continue this work in central Japan. English schools operated by U.S. and Canadian student missionaries in nearby communities supported the work. For some time an academy in Okinawa also functioned as part of the project. The bakery these families began is still going, reaching nearby cities with unique products such as sprouted wheat burger buns, walnut bread rolls, black sesame crackers, and a variety of other baked goods.
A former student runs a Country Life store in Maebashi and continues to work with Mount Akagi, recommending the lifestyle center to her customers and using her store as a location for English classes and health seminars. The new ministry team is actively building up good connections with the community, preparing for the outreach programs that students will be involved in. The core focus of the ministry is sharing the gospel throughout Japan, and though they face struggles, the Lord continues to sustain Mount Akagi and use it to accomplish His service.
