Motoki Oba has a gentle spirit full of faith and persistence. He is steadfast, diligent and loves his home country of Japan. And his passion for coaches and athletes to find freedom from guilt and shame is unmatched, making him the perfect person to lead his country in sports ministry.
Motoki lives in Tokyo but serves all of Japan, a country in East Asia comprised of thousands of islands. The terrain ranges from mountainous and forested to coastal plains. Its culture is rich, and the main religions are Shinto and Buddhism. Less than 1% of Japanese people are Christian, and most of the population has never heard of Christ.
Growing up playing baseball and basketball in a non-believing family, it wasn’t until high school that Motoki met the only Christian in the school. His new friend invited him to church, and when he started reading the Bible, something clicked that led him to accept Jesus as his Savior.
As he attended church and grew in his faith, he began to focus less on sports. However, God wouldn’t let him leave sports, bringing him back to basketball through Christian friends. Motoki began to see a vision for sports fellowship while he gathered his friends to play basketball.
Through those gatherings, Motoki noticed that his country lacked sports missionaries and began praying about becoming a sports missionary for Japan. In 2007, he enrolled at a Bible college in Canada to pursue a sports ministry degree. When he returned to Japan in 2011, he became a chaplain and assistant club manager for a sports club.
That year, he traveled for a tsunami relief project and met Will Thompson, the then-FCA Japan Director. FCA’s vision to reach coaches and athletes for Christ aligned with how Motoki wanted to support coaches and athletes, so he and Will continued to talk and connect.
He has partnered with FCA since 2015, and when Will took another role within FCA, Motoki became FCA’s leader in Japan, continuing ministry and working to develop and grow it.
Motoki’s heart is to help his communities. “People are struggling in their lives, but they don’t know how to handle it,” he said. “Japanese coaches don’t know about Christ. They put values like love or kindness on their walls, but they don’t have a strategy on how to put them into their programs.”
So, Motoki works through 3Dimensional Coaching, 360 Coach and chaplaincy training, reaching out to local sports communities. Huddles have been developed in a few cities, and many resources have been translated into Japanese to share with coaches and athletes.
Japanese sports culture emphasizes performance and excellence, and coaches and athletes are driven to succeed. Coaches know about mental trainers, but Motoki adds his perspective as a Christian and explains the work of a chaplain to reach a deeper need.
“It means supporting coaches as athletes from the inside and supporting their life, so people accept me and start opening up about their struggles.”
One martial arts athlete reached out and asked if Motoki could get together. When they did, the athlete shared how he was struggling in his life. He is not yet a believer, but he feels comfortable with Motoki and they continue to meet, because he knows Motoki is there to support him.
Motoki is relationship-driven, but it takes time to build those relationships, especially in a culture steeped in deep tradition and where Christianity is not the norm. Currently, there are two full-time FCA leaders to cover the entire country.
“We need to be patient,” said Motoki. “Our culture doesn’t change quickly. Authenticity is quite important. They need to see what we believe, and what we show.
“But, for sure,” he added, “God is moving.”
In Japan, approximately 75 million people play sports. The need is great. Please pray for more FCA Leaders to join Motoki in the work serving coaches and athletes, for financial support and building a leadership board.
Learn more, get involved and support Motoki and his team: FCA Japan
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