Kent & Yuko

Picture of Kent & Yuko

MINISTRY FOCUS

Pioneer Church Planting

FRUITS OF OUR LABOR

During their first term the Muhlings served together with a Japanese pastor and his wife to start a church in a community completely unreached with the gospel.  During their second term Kent focused on language learning, completing an intermediate course of study in language school.
Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 3/11/11, Kent traveled to the disaster area with one of the very first volunteer relief teams, the first of several trips into the area.  He and Yuko later felt God’s call to move to the area in order to follow up recovery efforts with gospel ministry.
In 2012 they moved to Sendai, the largest city in the disaster-affected northeast region. Together with a Japanese partner, they have started Grace Center Church, and are focusing their efforts on reaching out to university students and young families.

OUR PRAYERS

That we would remain fervent in our personal devotion to the Lord and that our lives would display the love of Christ to others.

That our family relationships would reflect the love of Christ, and that our family life would display that love to others.

For our newly established church community, that we would grow in grace, in numbers, and in influence here in the heart of Sendai city.

That God would give us many opportunities to build friendships with unbelievers and share the gospel.

For a fruitful outreach and discipleship ministry to the nearly 80,000 university students here in Sendai.

Call to Christ

HIS CALL

I grew up in a Christian home and put my faith in Christ when I was eight. But during college I did not remain connected to Christian fellowship and I wandered from the Lord. It was not until after college, in Navy Flight School, that God drew me back to Himself during a series of trying circumstances and through faithful Christian friends. It was then that my faith in Christ began to really deepen and grow.

HER CALL

 I was born and raised in Saitama, Japan, north of Tokyo. During my teens I began questioning the meaning of life and the reason for my existence. I was unable to find satisfactory answers anywhere. This left me extremely disillusioned about life. A few years later, as an international student at Southern Illinois University, these same questions surfaced again. This time I sought out a Christian woman who had been my English teacher. She shared the gospel and invited me to church. Six months later I gave my life to the Lord.

Call to Missions

HIS CALL

My love for missions was sparked by a three-week mission trip to Russia – so much so that I left my career as a Naval Flight Officer and moved to Ukraine for eighteen months as a missionary team leader. I returned to study at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, where I also met and married Yuko. My dream as a missionary is to see new communities of believers born in places where Christ is not yet known. God has clearly given me the heart of a teacher. I love to open the Scriptures to others and to see their lives transformed by the power of God’s Word.

HER CALL

Since my own conversion to Christ God has given me a longing to reach out to other young Japanese, most of who are lost and disillusioned just as I was. I want to minister to such hurting people. My studies in Counseling at Reformed Theological Seminary taught me the importance of ministering to people’s deepest needs, which are rooted in the heart and soul and in one’s relationship to God.