Megumi Baptist Temple
The Megumi Baptist Temple is an
independent Baptist church affiliated with
Baptist Bible Fellowship International.
The congregation was of mixed ethnicity,
with Nikkei-Brazilians in the majority. There
were Americans (either missionaries or
English teachers), a handful of Peruvians,
a man from South Africa, and Ravi, a man from India. The pastor himself is a non-Nikkei American. Its fifty members attend worship services every Sunday morning.
Although this church was multi-ethnic, it seemed more Japanese than the others I visited. I noticed the difference right away, because as soon as I entered the church, I was asked to remove my shoes and don slippers. This was not the custom in the other two churches I visited. This church, unlike the other two, was originally geared towards non-Nikkei Japanese. The pastor, who spoke only English and Japanese, told me that only in the last three years had Nikkei-Brazilians and Nikkei-Peruvians had begun to attend.
