In Bible study, we share with others what we learn from contemplating the

scriptures and hear directly from God as the Bible teaches (1 John 2:27) as well as study the
ecclesiastical teachings of the Bible.

We balance spirituality with reason to have the whole reality which the Bible

reveals. We believe the Bible study is a manifestation of our praise unto the Lord. And we also
believe the Bible study deepens our faith and understanding of the redemptive work of Christ.

The Bible studies of Kohitsuji no Mure are held on every Wednesday except the

first week of a month in our main church in Ashiya, Japan. They are conducted by Pastor Peter,
Mitsuko and staff workers.

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In addition to regular Bible studies conducted at the church, Kohitsuji no Mure

has a unique way of studying the Bible. Given a specific Bible verse every month, each one goes
to the Lord to be still before Him alone (that is, the wilderness), and meditates upon the verse
(see meditation). Listening to the Lord alone, we write a report on the subject verse, and submit
it to the headquarters. These reports are read by Peter, Mitsuko, staff workers and others, and
selected reports are shared among the participants. Such exercise helps us not only hear the Lord
's voice, but also open our eyes to new perspectives on the living verses of the Bible which we
directly experience in our daily lives.

Kohitsuji no Mure  stands on the faith in praise. Praise is our faith itself.

We believe and confess, "Everything is completed in praise," and "The love of Christ
alone is sufficient." Praise is not mere singing but worshipping God in spirit and truth,
which includes praying, meditating, and studying the Bible. Our existence itself is the
praise to God.

As the Lord says,"Consider the lilies of the field,how they grow,(Matthew 6:28),"

the Lord knows everything about us and provides us with all our needs. Therefore, we
need nothing but the Lord. We go wherever the Lord leads us and wherever the wind
of the Holy Spirit blows.

We believe in God's healing and miracles and appreciate all the gifts from God,

but we are not attached even to them. Because the Lord crucified on the cross
redeemed everything, indeed the love of Christ alone is sufficient.

Faith through Decision, Faith of Decision
（Ketsudan no Shinkou）

Although faith is given by the Lord, there is a time for us to decide on our part

to believe in the Lord's love with all our heart. Mitsuko first came to this faith after
experiencing the Black Hole, the darkness without God, in 1992, which is further
described in "The White Dove: Volume III." Until then, she had only passively received
faith given by God. After the experience, however, she dared to choose to trust and
believe in the Lord alone. A new dimension of faith has been opened to her by
standing on the faith through decision.

Abraham demonstrated what decision by faith meant when he offered his own

son Isaac in the land of Moriah. It was his total commitment to the Lord God,
disregarding all costs. Without this commitment, he would not have seen a new stage
of God's blessing.

Faith is ultimately each one's commitment and decision unto the Lord God. "

And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God
must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrew 11:6)."　

Down the history of Christendom, we meet a number of figures whose lives went

through dramatic transformation because of their commitment to the Lord. "If God
does not exist," Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) once stated, "one will lose nothing by
gambling on Him, while if He does exist, one will lose everything by not gambling."
Pascal used the term "gamble" to mean his faith of commitment.

In "The White Dove," "gambling" is used in a similar sense, denoting man's

commitment, trust or decision by faith unto the Lord. When Mitsuko first heard Peter
saying, "Try God," which was Peter's fundamental faith in the Lord, she was deeply
moved. It eventually triggered Mitsuko to enter the world of the White Dove.

We are to gamble unto the Lord alone and stand on His praise only.

marked the beginning of a new time for Kohitsuji no Mure. Since so many praises are
being born through Mitsuko who has no musical background, they are apparently not

composed by Mitsuko, but given by God. For this reason, we call them Hato praise 
(meaning "dove praise" in Japanese since Mitsuko's baptismal name is "Dove")
instead of "Mitsuko praise." Heavenly praise  and Revelation praise  are both called
Hato praise.

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The headquarters of Kohitsuji no Mure is in a building in Nishinomiya near the

main church. As of August 2005, more than sixty staff workers including trainees work
there. The three-story building has the office rooms for Peter, Mitsuko, the Somu, the
sections such as praise, audio, CD, account, editorial and general affairs, and the
rooms of residence for the staff workers. The headquarters is the base to plan and
organize worldwide house church praise gatherings, regional worships and other
missionary activities through books, CDs, the homepage on the web site and
periodicals such as monthly publication "The Vine," monthly newsletter "Sanbi no
Kaze (Wind of Praise)" and weekly bulletins. It has the regional windows in order to
support the house churches all over the world spiritually.

The building of the headquarters also has the large room called the Yasuko Hall

on the first floor where all the staff workers can gather together to have special
message trainings, worship services, Bible studies and various meetings for the staff
workers, and praise practices. At nine-forty in the morning, the staff workers get
together in the Yasuko Hall to confirm schedules of the day, pray for the prayer
requests sent from all over the world and praise together. Each and every work at
the headquarters is praise and prayer to the Lord.

In the headquarters, house church leaders who heard the calling from the Lord

receive the training to become regional staff workers, and the regional staff workers
return to the headquarters to take the training once every year.

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We believe in the Lord's healing on all creatures, and pray for healing in the

name of Jesus Christ. We are healed because "he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that
made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5)."

We experience a tremendous flow of healing in the midst of praise. People

receive both inner and physical healings as we simply worship the Lord. Some healings
may be visible and others invisible to our eyes, but we are not attached to receiving
healings in our likings because we do believe that the Lord works for the best for each
one of us in praise.

Having experienced far greater healings in heavenly praises, we came to be

convinced that the Lord's healing flows not only to people but also to the wounded
earth. During our monthly 3-day "Praise and Prayer for Peace," which has been held
since November 2001, we pray for healing of the earth and peace in the world.

Celestial praises have been given and is being given to us through Mitsuko since

January 2000. Heavenly praises are born from various books in the Old and New
Testaments such as Revelation, Psalms, Isaiah, Gospels and Epistles, as well as from
the nature such as flowers, stars, rainbows, rain and wind. Every creature of God has
its own tune glorifying the Lord. Mitsuko cannot read musical notes nor has musical
background, but when she attunes herself to the words of the Bible and the nature,
she hears new praises. Those praises are taken into notation just as she hears them
without adding any change. As of April 2005, more than 500 praises are written in
musical notation. We sing them in our worship services.

We believe they are the heavenly praises  that come directly from God and the

Lamb slain. God's will has become clearer to us through heavenly praises. They are
not only to heal and renew us, but also to heal and save the earth at this critical time.
We have held praise concerts in many places in Japan since May 2000 and in New
York City with this faith. We believe that the pure resounding tune of the heavenly
praises will heal the wounded earth and protect the land from disasters such as
terrorist attacks and earthquakes.

Interpretation is one of the charismata (gifts) of the Holy Spirit as Paul

describes in chapters 12 and 14 of First Corinthians. Along with a gift of speaking in
tongues, the gift of interpretation seemed frequently used in the Early Church. We
believe that the Holy Spirit, which is working today, manifests the various gifts in the
Body of Christ. God uses the gift of interpretation primarily to bring God's message to
the congregation "for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation (1

Interpretation in "The White Dove" is Mitsuko's personal dialogue with the Lord.

It helped Mitsuko build up her faith in the early stage of her walk in the Holy Spirit.
Although Mitsuko believed it as the Lord's voice directly speaking to her, she did not
mean to receive it without discretion. Contemplating and interpreting the Lord's
message, she decided by faith whether to share it with others or not.

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Kohitsuji no Mure  literally means a "flock of lambs." This flock is led by the

Lamb of God. The vision of Kohitsuji no Mure was first given to Pastor Peter Shimada
and Mitsuko in 1989.

When Mitsuko first met Pastor Peter in Fort Lee, New Jersey in 1987, he was

a minister of the Japanese Christian Church of Philadelphia (United Presbyterian). He
had been ministering in Philadelphia for over twenty years, and every few years he
would visit Japan at the invitation of churches and seminaries of different
denominations from Catholic, Liberal, Evangelical, to Pentecostal. People were
astonished to see the actual works of the Holy Spirit through his ministry. Mitsuko
joined his ministry for the first time in Tsukuba, Japan in 1989, when a flood of the
Holy Spirit overwhelmed people, and many were saved and received deep healings. On
the way back to the States after the ministry in Japan, however, Peter heard the
Lord's voice, "My child, do you not know My sadness?" When Peter and Mitsuko
prayed together, they saw a vision. Millions of lost sheep were outside the fence,
wandering in the field, and wounded without knowing where to go. They then heard the
voice, "Go outside the fence. Save and heal them."

Thus, the ministry of Kohitsuji no Mure started. The very first Kohitsuji no Mure

house church praise gathering  was held in Nishinomiya in 1989. A year later, a praise
gathering also began in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Peter resigned the minister of the
Japanese Christian Church of Philadelphia in 1991, and came to Japan to start the
Kohitsuji no Mure  Church with Mitsuko. Kohitsuji no Mure  is a house church ministry
with one central church, which is modeled on the Early Church. In November 1993,
the main church was established in Ashiya, Japan. It has the role of unifying hundreds
of house churches throughout the world as one body of Christ. In the main church,
worship services and Bible studies are regularly held. One of the unique styles of our
worship is antiphony, responsive praise.

We are not restricted to any kind of traditional church doctrines or dogmas. We

have no membership based on traditional church structures. We simply worship the
Lord in Spirit and truth.

The Kohitsuji no Mure  headquarters is located near the main church. Currently,

a project for the construction of a new church building on the Ashiya Shore is under
way. It will be called the Church of the Wind. We believe it will have a significant role
as a fortress for heavenly praise  to flow out to the world and to heal the earth and
the whole creation in Christ's redemptive love.

Kohitsuji no Mure  uses meditation in a Biblical context, as it is written, "Let the

words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight (Psalm
19:14)." In our praise gatherings, worships, Bible studies, and personal devotional
times, we sometimes meditate upon certain scriptures and freely contemplate them.
By faith, we create images and participate in a scene of a Bible story. Through the
imaginative meditation in faith, we can bring our honest heart before the Lord, and
the Holy Spirit reveals our inner life through the words of God. We may have direct
conversations with God, and often experience meaningful dialogues with the Lord.
Writing down the contents of our meditations is also encouraged in order to balance
the spiritual life with the intellectual understanding.

Although we receive an abundance of images, visions, and answers from the

Lord in the meditation, we never claim that what we experience through meditation
has the same importance with the Biblical revelations, nor insist, "Thus the Lord says
through me." The Bible alone is the absolute revelation. We simply believe that the
Holy Spirit works through our meditation to quicken our personal spiritual growth,
leading us to have intimate relationships with the Lord, helping us discover our inner
self and hearts' desires, and encouraging us to pray more deeply according to the
Holy Spirit.

Since 2001, Praise and Prayer for Peace is held for three days in the first week

of every month starting at 4:00 p.m. at headquarters. We share a list of praises to
sing on the three days, so that Kohitsuji no Mure house churches all over the world
could be united as one in giving praise and prayer for the peace and healing of the
earth.

Kohitsuji no Mure consists of one main church in Japan and many house church

praise gatherings within Japan and abroad. Those who regularly have a praise
gathering at their houses are called leaders. A leader is only asked to praise the Lord
alone, not depending on anyone or anything but the Lord.

The Lord stands in the midst of our praise as He says, "If two of you agree on

earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For
where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them
(Matthew 18:19)." We worship the Lord in spirit and truth. We praise Him, pray to Him,
read the Bible, and share testimonies. As of April 2005 there are about 480 house
church praise gatherings in the world.

The Kohitsuji no Mure Annual Retreat has been held since 1992. Withdrawing

ourselves from our everyday affairs, we come before the Lord and worship Him for
three days. Since we are scattered all over the world, it is also a valuable time for us
to gather together to worship the Lord and realize oneness as the body of Christ. The
Lord has been revealing to us new direction at each Retreat. The Annual General
Assembly of the house church praise gathering leaders is held one day before the
Retreat.

The heavenly praises  started flooding upon us on January 17, 2000, the fifth

anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. The very first praise was "Holy, Alleluia
" from the book of the Revelation, followed by many more heavenly praises from the
Revelation. The Revelation praises  opened up a new era for us, and became a turning
point of Kohitsuji no Mure.

"Sanbi no Kaze (meaning Wind of Praise)," a newsletter of Kohitsuji

no Mure, is sent monthly to the house churches all over the world. An excerpt of the
English section of "Sanbi no Kaze" is also sent as "Wind of Praise" to the house
churches outside Japan.

"The Vine," a monthly booklet of Kohitsuji no Mure, first started as Pastor

Peter's private periodical in 1971. Subsequently in 1992, it became an official monthly
publication of Kohitsuji no Mure, and is read throughout the world by subscription.

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Mitsuko sometimes refers to the interpretations which she hears as the voices

of the Lord. Some voices are clearly audible, and others inaudible as a thought in her,
which she calls the inner voice. When the voice is used in this context, it is written in
italics.

Weekly bulletins are written by Peter, Mitsuko, staff workers and leaders about

their testimonies of God's love and desire. It is issued each Sunday, and distributed in
the Sunday services of our main church in Ashiya and to the house churches
throughout the world. Weekly bulletins can be also read on website (http://www.
kohitsuji.com), some of which are translated into English.