Donate to Support Dawn's Ministry
Lead Church Planter in Post-Disaster Iwate Prefecture (Northern Japan) with an unchurched unreached unengaged area focus 
Dawn Birkner has a burden for he remaining unchurched areas of Japan (which are all in rural Japan).
She currently serves in three focus areas:
1) Planting and pastor Kita Sanriku Christ Church, a church plant for the Iwaizumi (including Omoto) Town and adjacent Tanohata, Fudai, and Noda villages in Iwate Prefecture in Northeast Japan.
She has previously led church plants in two countryside towns in Kagawa Prefecture before relocating in 2012 to coastal Iwate, which was impacted by the giant 3/11/2011 tsunami, typhoon Lionrock flood disaster in 2016, and another typhoon disaster in 2019. As part of the Iwate work, she had responsibility for coordinating Christian volunteer recovery activities in the towns of Iwaizumi, Tanohata, Fudai, and Noda. As of June 2020, the recovery activities are complete as the area has finally recovered from the three disasters it faced in less than a decade, but she continues to operate a church-based community service center.
2) Leading the nationwide Rural Japan Church Planting Network (www.ruraljapanchurch.com).
3) Leading Reaching Japan Together Association (RJTA), a receiving missions entity in Japan, and co-leading the closely partnering sending entity Reaching Japan Together (RJT) in the U.S.
Dawn Birkner’s Support Needs
Dawn went to the field with a mix of donor support and tentmaking, then later phased out the tentmaking to focus her efforts fully on ministry. Recently, retirement, death, the pandemic, or similar major changes in life circumstances of some key supporters has reduced support levels to a point that is not sustainable over the long haul so Dawn seeks additional supporters so this 20+-year ministry can continue and thrive for many years yet to come.
To Explore Opportunities for Service with Dawn’s Team: email
Currently, opportunities exist for short-, mid-, and long-term missionaries and rural church planting interns.
Detailed Description of Dawn’s Ministry Main Focus/Ministry Type: Church Planting in unchurched areas.
Dawn has four ministry focusses. These include leading:
- a) planting a church in previously unchurched areas;
- b) coordinating a Christian community service center (tsunami/typhoon/disaster relief work work, then general community service activities, including a volunteer/short-term team program).
- c) Leading RJTA (mission agency);
- d) Leading RJCPN (rural Japan church planting network);
Read more below.
a) Planting Kita Sanriku Christ Church Plant, startng the first congregation in this previously unreached, unchurched, unengaged cluster of four towns and villages.
The bulk of Dawn’s ministry time is focused on direct church planting of Kita Sanriku Christ Church, a single church with multiple weekly worship service locations serving the communities of Iwaizumi Town (including coastal Omoto) and adjoining Tanohata, Fudai, and Noda villages, all without churches prior to this church plant. These towns are in Northeast coastal Iwate Prefecture. The church planting strategy also includes additional evangelistic outreach cell groups that meet at various frequencies-currently in over 20 neighborhoods within these 4 towns, including some of their most remote parts. Most of these are outgrowths of the relief work. Dawn has previously led church plants in two countryside towns in Kagawa Prefecture. Dawn also leads recurrent short-term mission trips to other unchurched areas of Japan, mainly in Tohoku.
b) Coordinating, Planning, and Leading Christian relief work/community service activities and Volunteer Base in tsunami and typhoon impacted as well as recovered and unimpacted areas in the 4 town/village area.
Dawn serves in coastal Iwate in the Northeast part of Japan. This is the area impacted by the giant 3/11/2011 tsunami that impacted 3 of these towns, the even more locally devastating 2016 typhoon flood where Iwaizumi was the primary disaster zone and Noda was also impacted somewhat, and the smaller 2019 typhoon flood which impacted all 4 towns to a lesser degree, but mainly Fudai and Iwaizumi’s Omoto. In addition to leading the church plant, Dawn leads, plans, and coordinates Christian volunteer recovery activities in the same four towns/villages. She founded and leads the relief work base/volunteer center headquartered in Iwaizumi. This was the window for Christian relief work in tsunami impacted zones of Iwaizumi/Tanohata/Fudai/Noda which began in August 2011 in part and was more fully launched in February 2012. It served all 11 temporary housing areas in this region. Just as the area was nearly recovered, the 2016 typhoon flood occurred, and the volunteer center Dawn leads became the window for Protestant Christian relief work related to the 2016 typhoon flood from which the area ijust reached recovery in June of 2020. The base is within a minute’s walk of one of the most impacted areas. Relief work literally started from the day after the typhoon, including mudouts and food kitchens and shelter visits, and later progressed to goods distribution, and then to mobile heart care cafes in all 10 typhoon temporary housing areas. Work included not only downtown Iwaizumi and downtown Omoto, but also remote areas such as Kogawa’s Kado and Horowata, Akka, Nakashima, Nakasato, and Okawa in Iwaizumi and Shimoakka in Noda. The relief work activities after the 2019 typhoon, which caused only minimal local damage, focused on Fudai and Omoto and is now complete. Reovery activites are finally over now that the area has recovered from 3 disasters in less than a decade, but other community service continues.
The majority of Dawn’s contacts/relationships in the four towns where the church is being planted resulted from the relief work. The temp housing mobile cafes consisted of craft, tea time, listening/heart care ministry, and a time of singing hymns and a short Bible message, as well as free relief goods and Christian literature table. Many relationships were formed and many encountered Christianity for the first time in this way. Some of them are now the most open. Visitation and outreach cells at permanent housing they since moved to continues long after recovery. The church planting/evangelism ministry focusses largely on these relationships. Most of the outreach cell or neighborhod groups grew out of the contacts made via the mobile cafes and other relief work.
Over 500 volunteers from 19 countries and over 30 Japan prefectures assisted in the 3 relief work efforts. The area is now moving into a non-disaster post-recovery era, but the volunteer base is continuing long-term both for future disasters, if any, but also to serve the community in ordinary times as well—in Jesus’ name. This includes neighborhood groups at many of the perm housing areas disaster survivors moved into after temp housing was closed, activities at elderly day cares and nursing homes, outreach concerts, activities for the elderly, and activities at preschools, centers for the handicapped, and after school programs for kids with working parents. While focused on Iwaizumi, Tanohata, Fudai, and Noda, Dawn/the center also leads short-term mission trips within Japan recurrently to an unchurched town in Fujisato Akita and a town with a recent church plant underway in Kazuno Akita, and occasionally to other unchurched unengaged towns. Interested short-term individuals or teams should inquire at
c) Leading Reaching Japan Together Association (RJTA), a receiving missions entity in Japan, and co-leading the closely partnering sending entity Reaching Japan Together (RJT) in the U.S. www.reachingjapan.org.
As RJT co-leader and RJTA leader/Japan field director, Dawn is responsible for leading the Japan field, as well as pre-field processes such as communication with missionary inquirers, applicant screening, and candidate placement, RJTA representation to JEMA and others in Japan and abroad, liaison with RJT, and development of relationships with additional sending partners. Her passion is serving missionaries to help them live out their calling. She is also is involved in member care. RJTA works in both urban and rural Japan. Prior to leading RJTA, Dawn was the first missionary in Japan for Commission to Every Nation (CTEN), opening up CTEN's Japan field. She previously served as Japan Field Council Member, Shikoku Local Coordinator, Kagawa Team Leader, and Japan rep on the International Leadership Council of Mission to Unreached Peoples. Prior to becoming a missionary to Japan in 2001, Dawn was involved in project, line, and department management at scientific consulting firms in the U.S. while also reaching out to internationals in the U.S.
d) Leading the nationwide Rural Japan Church Planting Network (www.ruraljapanchurch.com) and co-leading Adopt800Japan.
God has given Dawn a heart to see all rural Japan reached with the gospel, which led to her starting and leading the Rural Japan Church Planting Network to encourage prayer and church planting for the 1,700 unchurched areas remaining in Japan (100% of which are rural) as well as idea exchange and mutual encouragement to decrease isolation among pastors, missionaries, and church planters in Jrural apan. Most missionaries serve in Japan's cities that already have some, ten, or hundreds of churches, but a disproportionately low mere 5% go to the unchurched unengaged areas Rural Japan is in large measure not only an unreached people group, but different to urban Japan, is also largely unengaged and unchurched. . RJCPN aims to change that. Many rural unchurched towns have no local ongoing Christian witness and zero or at most 2 or 3 Christians..
Anyone interested in or already reaching out to or praying for rural Japan is encouraged to be in touch at