Dede and Haruka Kashiwagura

Ministry Focus

Hideyoshi (Dede) and his wife Haruka have over ten years of fruitful church ministry experience. In 2011-2014, they planted the Kinomi Christ Church in Yamagata, Japan. In 2015 they moved to Australia, where they served at the Melbourne Japanese Christ Church, till 2019. God expanded their ministry as Dede organized the MJCN (Melbourne Japanese Christian Network) and J²ANZ (Jesus for Japanese in Australia and New Zealand). J²ANZ had 45 members in 2017 and grew to over 200 members in 2018. The J²ANZ annual conference in 2018 was the first conference of its kind in the history of Japanese Christians living in the Southern Hemisphere. Dede sensed that these Japanese believers were experiencing revival.

In 2019, while Dede and Haruka were praying for their next steps, they connected with Missions Door. They were officially appointed as church planters in San Diego in 2021 – 13 years after Dede received God’s call to plant a Japanese church there. Dede is confident that the Lord is true to His promises. The Japanese are among the least reached people groups in the world. Roughly 60,000 Japanese live in San Diego, and Dede’s vision is that all will hear the gospel through the work of the Lord.

Faith Story

In 1998, Dede went to California for agricultural training. Experiencing culture shock, he become lonely, missing Japan. His host at his training site gave him a Bible and clearly explained the gospel to him, but he still had many questions. A friend invited him to take a trip to San Diego, where he met Pastor Takao Nakamura who answered all his questions. He soon believed in Christ, and was baptized on April 2, 1999, at Bonita Japanese Bible Church. Later he returned to Japan and entered seminary to become a pastor. After graduating, he received an invitation to work with Pastor Nakamura to do missionary work in San Diego. He told Dede, “If you are to come to San Diego, you must confirm your calling from God.” Dede was hesitant at first, because he did not think he was capable to pastor overseas. However, he read Ephesians 4:11 which states, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,” showing him that it does not matter about one’s ability, as it is Christ Himself who gives. Dede said “I will do this if Christ gives.” Dede also referenced Mark 16:7, which says: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Dede wondered why Jesus told His disciples to go to Galilee after His resurrection when the disciples were in Jerusalem. Then he remembered that Galilee is the place where the disciples first met Jesus. For him, the place he first met his Savior Jesus Christ was San Diego. Those two verses and others, gave him assurance that the Lord had called him to San Diego. In 2008, Dede started to prepare to move to the U.S., but God had another plan. He could not move to San Diego at that time. Since then, Dede and his wife prayed for God’s plan… for 13 years. Then the Lord brought them to Missions Door.

Family

After returning to Japan in 1999, Dede met Haruka at a church English conversation class. Haruka knew about the class from her Christian friend and this is where she was led to faith. Dede and Haruka got married in 2006 and have four children, Naoto, Megumi, Yuki, and Amy (Eimi).

Education

Bachelors of Agriculture Economy, Tokyo University of Agriculture Japan; graduated from Japan Bible Seminary and Revival Biblical Seminary.