It all began in Korea. Leaders at the large and influential Onnuri Community Church in Seoul, South Korea, adapted the the U.S.-based “Promise Keepers” men’s program to be relevant to Korean men. The movement spread first among the churches all over Korea, and then to Korean churches all over the world. It soon became an evangelism tool, as the program was offered in offices, prisons, board rooms, and many other secular organizations in Korea.

With many Korean missionaries serving in Japan, it did not take long for the program to be adapted once again for Japanese men. Chichi no Gakko was born. The phrase literally means “Father school” and was first offered in Japan about four or five years ago. Hisashi Tateishi, the missionary pastor of the Japanese Gospel Church in Greenwich, Connecticut, reports that meetings take place once or twice a year in many locations all over Japan.

Last year several Japanese churches in Hawaii got together to offer the Father School program. They invited Pastor Tateishi and Pastor Cho (a Korean minister serving the Shodai Japanese Church in New Jersey) to participate. Those two men, along with Pastor Lee (a Korean minister serving the Bryn Mawr Japanese Church in Pennsylvania) formed a committee to offer the program in the New York metro area.

Although the earthquake and tsunami tragedy last March delayed the event, their work came to fruition during the Presidents' Day Weekend as the first-ever “Father School” was offered in the New York metro area. Ten people from the Japan Father School ministry came to assist the ministry team. Pastor Tateishi said that a half-dozen members of the Korean Father School of Metro New York helped out – even though they don’t speak Japanese!