St. John Lutheran Church,
Dublin, OH

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Affiliation: St. John Lutheran Church

Official Contact Person for Ministry
Volunteer Leader:  Michelle Pitonyak, (former missionary) Bible Study teacher, childcare volunteer
Address: 6888 Bowerman St. West
Phone: (614) 438-0190
Email: kazepitonyak.org

Type of Ministry
Missionary in US or former missionary in Japan and currently working in Ohio Church based ministry

Ministry size
International Friends offers 2 classes, English Conversation and Bible Class.
40-50 women served yearly in English Class, 8 Volunteers
(meets the 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 5th Wednesday)
10 women served yearly in Bible Class, 4 Volunteers (meets the 2nd & 4th Wednesday)
20 children served in Childcare, 8 Volunteers

Ministry location(s) - St. John Lutheran Church

Ministry Format
95% of our women are Japanese, there are also some Indian women and other nationalities, mostly
temporary residents and mostly women come to our classes. Women bring their families for some bridging events that the church holds (Trunk or Treat, Egg hunt etc. which are nice activities for the church members and English students to interact.)

Primary goal - English help, cultural help, friendship, direct witness.

Conversation/friendship based classes.

Recreation - A lot of our fun activities center around food and crafts, meeting at restaurants, parks and
having potlucks are common activities for our group. Recently because the same volunteer has studied with the same group of women, the volunteers are having the ladies over for special activities.

Childcare is provided, some years it is free, others there is a
small fee.

Individual assistance (crisis, financial, tutoring, etc) handled
on a case by case basis.

Primary witness -relational witness, offer Bible classes, provide Bibles & optional resources, special
Christmas/Easterevents, etc)

Staff and Resources
Charges - We sometimes charge for child care, and registration.  English lessons offered without charge.

Paid staffing -  This year we are hiring someone to provide consistent childcare and coordinate the
childcare volunteers. Everyone else is a volunteer.

Volunteers - We have about 20 volunteers. They are class leaders, table leaders and childcare workers.
Several volunteers function in multiple capacities.

Recommended resources -  I like Dolores Wirz resources. 
This year I am revising and writing some new lessons for Bible Study.
Just started using a Japanese catechism along with the English one.