Hope Center Okayama
Staff
Tom & Olive Kisaki
Pastor
Tomoyuki Kisaki
Born in Kawasaki in 1971, he studied in the UK from the age of 14. During high school, he devoted himself to chess and fencing. At the age of 17, he came to faith in Jesus Christ and his heart was changed, and he began voluntary work with the homeless, drug addicts, abused children, and the mentally disabled. While working with recovering addicts, reintegrating prisoners into society, and creating food pantries and places for children, he became keenly aware of the need to create healthy communities in order for these people to grow healthily, and so he started Hope Center Okayama in 2021. His hobby is all kinds of puzzles, including jigsaw puzzles. His motto is "You are the answer to your own prayers," and words of Jesus: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
He studied Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Bristol in 1992 and received Master of Divinity degree from Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in the Philippines in 1998. In 2001, he was sent to Japan as a missionary from the Assemblies of God Great Britain. In 2005, he founded "Teen Challenge International Japan" and opened drug & alcohol rehabilitation centers in Okinawa and Okayama. He has been involved in disaster relief since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, responding to the Hiroshima Landslide in 2014, the Kumamoto Earthquake in 2016, the Western Japan Heavy Rain Disaster in 2018, and the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in 2024.
Olivia Kisaki
Originally from Benguet, Philippines. Raised in a Christian home, she personally believed in Jesus Christ at a kids' camp at the age of nine. She received a call from God to be a missionary, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education from Bethel Bible College in Manila, before working as a teacher at Luzon Bible College. She then earned Master of Divinity from Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio, where she met her husband, Tomoyuki, and married him in 1996. She moved to Japan in 1998 and has lived there ever since. She has a passion for prayer and intercession. She loves fruits and vegetables.
Ai Okubo
Administration & Public Relations
Her mother is a Christian, and she attended church from a young age, but at the age of 20, she personally encountered God. Her father was an alcoholic, and she learned of the addiction recovery support group "Teen Challenge." Through online counseling with Pastor Kisaki, she was able to break free from her codependency with her father, which became a turning point in her life. In January 2025, she moved from Osaka to Okayama to work as a staff member at Hope Center Okayama. She feels that her work experience in accounting, trade administration, and marketing is being put to good use in her current job at Hope Center, and she is grateful every day to God, who turns every experience into benefit. Her hobbies are photography, traveling, and walking.
