Welcome to our Multi-Cultural Ministry
About Us
At The Orchard, we are committed to ministering to communities of people from different languages, cultures, and backgrounds. In the greater Chicago area, more than 200 hundred different languages are spoken. In Arlington Heights alone, more than 50 languages are spoken. Chicago has long been one of the most culturally diverse cities in our country and this trend is sure to continue.
The people of the Orchard feel a strong passion to support, to encourage, and share the good news to these diverse people groups. The Word of God commands to take the Gospel to all nations and to disciple them in the name of Jesus Christ (Matt 28:18-20).
In January 2009, God led us to create programs for two different language groups: Japanese and Polish (including interpretation of the Sunday message, ESL groups, Bible studies, etc.). Now, we are responding to God’s call to extend this ministry into other different cultural groups in thoughtful, biblical ways and asking for God’s grace and wisdom. If you feel passionate or have a heart for different cultural groups, we would love to hear from you.
The Multi-Cultural Ministry’s aim is to create comfortable, inspiring programs for each cultural and language group that facilitate outreach. We also encourage native speakers of English to reach out across cultural lines and barriers with the love of God.
Let’s rejoice and worship the Lord as a diverse church with one voice. And let us experience the new life we have in Jesus with brothers and sisters uniquely created by God to function as the body of Christ together with us and to praise God throughout eternity (Rev 7:9).
The Orchard Multi-Cultural Ministry Blog The Orchard Multi-Cultural Ministry Facebook
Our Leaders
Shohei grew up in Kagoshima prefecture. He spent a lot of time in the beautiful mountains and the Pacific Ocean. His peaceful personality might come from those experiences. He graduated from Meisei University in Tokyo, and while in college he played guitar in a rock band. After college graduation he entered the clothing industry where he started a select clothing store with two close friends. This career allowed him to travel extensively overseas. His big life transition came, however, in June 2000, when he decided to become a Christ follower. In 2004, he entered seminary to get a Master’s Degree in theology in order to become a pastor. He graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He likes to do creative things like web designing. Currently he is an intern at The Orchard trying to develop the multi-cultural ministry. In his private time he likes to read books, listening to the music, and play his acoustic guitar. Shohei and Nami have two kids, Paul and Rayna. Email Shohei, 224-764-4046.
Joy Nevin Axelson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. Her father was a Theology professor at Moody Bible Institute and her mother was a Christian counselor. While attending Christian middle school, Joy began studying French. She loved it and ended up getting a B.A. and an M.A. in French later in life. In the meantime, she studied German, Spanish, Catalan, Creole and Czech. Joy loves going on missions trips and speaking foreign languages. She has visited Haiti, France, Poland, Romania, Guatemala, The D.R. of Congo and Greece, among others. After getting married in 1996 and teaching French for seven years, Joy had two children and now works part-time as a French translator. Joy has had a vision to reach out to internationals most of her life and is ecstatic to see this dream finally come to fruition. Email Joy.
Our multi-cultural communities
The Japanese community started in June 2008 at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church by a group of people deeply interested in Japanese people, culture and life. We have a heart for Japanese people. Currently, we translate every Sunday messgae. Also, we create different kinds of ministry opportunities like English Cafe, Badminton, Playgroups, LIFE Groups, etc. If you would like to know about our Japanese Ministry at The Orchard, please visit the Japanese Ministry page for more detailed information. 
The Polish Community officially started in March 2008 at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church. We are deeply committed to the Triune Lord, his word, his will and to our fellow Poles taking in consideration the specifics and nuances of their Polish Culture and all of the demands of a life of an immigrant. Our community is built on a solid foundation of the truth of GOD revealed in his word which is the Bible and with divine help we strive to implement it in our life. It is Lord’s will and our heart’s desire to share with you the truth of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord while caring, serving and encouraging you in the spirit to the glory and praise of the one and true Triune Lord. Please visit the Polish Ministry page for more detailed information.
For many years there has been a consistent presence of Filipinos worshipping at The Orchard. The Multi-Cultural Team wants to reach out to Filipino’s and people of all cultures within our church. We realize that in a large congregation such as ours getting connected is important to your growth and service. The Filipino community is one of many cultural groups growing at The Orchard. Our team welcomes you, would like to help you connect and answer any questions about The Orchard Evangelical Free Church. Visit the Filipino Ministry page for more detailed information.
We are located in Arlington Heights, which is about 20 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. We are praying and preparing to start our Korean community at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church. We are very new community, but we have a strong commitment and passion to share the gospel of Jesus Christ among nothwestern suburban Korean community. Since 1957, The Orchard has been serving and attracting people from many towns and cities in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago. Please visit the Korean Ministry page for more details. The church belongs to the Evangelical Free Church of America.
I’m New Here
Thank you for visiting to our multi-cultural ministry page. As the world continues to shrink due to technology, travel and government, we stand at the brink of enormous opportunities to share God’s grace with people from every corner of the globe. So many people in the Chicago area would be open to hearing about Jesus and studying the Bible if only they could do it in their language. Many more would attend ESL classes or come to church if they felt loved and included by us.
If you have even the slightest interest in this ministry, we strongly encourage you to get involved with us. We are always available to get to know you and to hear about your cross-cultural experiences or your ideas. We have a variety of ministry opportunities where you could use your gifts and passion. Please contact one of the ministry leaders today.
Volunteers
Language Interpreter
We are looking for individuals to interpret the Sunday sermon from English into their language. You do not need to be a professional interpreter, but we are looking for people who feel called to do this. Contact Shohei.
Cultural Ministry Supporter
For each language group, we are seeking one native speaker of English and one native speaker of the foreign language to be contact people/leaders of cultural groups. If you feel called to start a new cultural group, let’s discuss it together. Contact Joy or Shohei.
Event Coordinator and Supporter
We plan on coordinating future events for the Multi-Cultural Ministry, such as international praise nights, cross-cultural missions speakers and leadership workshops. We need people gifted in administration and event planning as well as helpers for set-up etc. Contact Joy.
Writer and Editor
If you would like to help us write and/or edit flyers, newsletters and our Web site page, please contact Shohei or Joy.
Blog Writer
We are looking for someone who wants to blog about our different cultural groups. If you are interested, please contact Shohei.
Media Links
If you want to know about multi-cultural ministry in general, this website is worth checking out. At this site you can find the Bible in more than 250 different languages. There is also a section called, “Who Lives in Your State?” which links to U.S. census cultural data. Another page links to “people group info” which provides different Christian resources to various cultural groups in their languages. The site also has “various creative ideas” about how to start a multi-cultural ministry in specific and creative ways. Finally, it contains many other helpful resources (books, articles, and church planting) related to multi-cultural ministry.
The Mosaix global network encourages Christians see our earthly church as a reflection of heaven’s diversity. They hold a conference and provide leadership training for those involved in multi-cultural ministry. The co-founder of this network, (and author of Building A Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church), Dr. Mark DeYmaz, comments in his video, “Increasingly, practitioners and pastors, educators and researchers like asking the question, ‘If the kingdom of heaven is not segregated, then, why on the earth is the church?’”
The Ethnic America Network is a ministry coalition that has involved over sixty evangelical denominations and agencies. The focus is on reaching 1st and 2nd generation immigrants in America with the gospel of Jesus Christ (quoted by Ethnic America Network).