One Mission Society

In 1901, American missionaries Charles and Lettie Cowman partnered with a Japanese pastor, Juji Nakada, holding Christian evangelistic meetings for 2,000 consecutive nights.

[1] Not long after their arrival in 1902, the group was joined by Charles' former co-worker, first conversion, and best friend, Ernest Kilbourne and his family.

They then decided to dedicate their lives to missionary work and trained at Martin Wells Knapp’s God’s Bible School in Cincinnati.

[5] In 1925, she wrote Streams in the Desert [6] about her work and the hardships she experienced, specifically when Charles' health was rapidly declining.

His decision to enter missionary work was influenced by a life-long mentor, Reverend Yoichi Honda.

An OMS-published book No Guarantee but God writes of Nakada, "It was not surprising that he was sometimes charged with being domineering, even dictatorial.

He was brought up in a Methodist home, but after moving to the US as a teenager to work for the Western Union, his religious upbringing was quickly forgotten.

He moved to New York at age 21 and then traveled to Australia, Europe, and New Zealand, settling for a very short time into a job as a telegraph operator in Nevada.

[9] In November 1902, Kilbourne started Electric Messages, a monthly periodical that detailed what they were accomplishing and encouraged others to donate to the cause.

Mission areas include Japan, Taiwan, Romania, Spain, Colombia, Haiti, Israel and Canada.

[10] The society works with 170 partner organisations in the area of evangelism, church planting and leadership training.