Yuji & Eri Iwata

Since 2023, Yuji and Eri have been serving in the Kaneda district of Kisarazu City, Chiba, where they are establishing Bridge International Church. The Iwatas chose this strategic location to plant an international church because of its growing community of returnees and globally-minded professionals working at nearby hubs, such as the Costco Japan Headquarters and Tokyo Haneda Airport.

When Eri was single, she served for several years as a staff member at an MTW church plant, Oyumino Christ Church. After Yuji and Eri married, Yuji served as a pastor for seven years in Nagoya, Japan, in another evangelical denomination. The Iwatas moved to Canada where Yuji received his Th.M. degree. He then served as pastor to internationals in an Evangelical Free Church in Canada.

During their time in Canada, Yuji became Reformed in his theology through reading R.C. Sproul and others. In 2017, Yuji and Eri returned to Japan to join MTW Japan in their church planting. In 2023, Yuji was officially installed as a teaching elder in the PCA through the Canada West Presbytery.