Ministry Focus
Mana Usui's current ministry involves assisting in planting a Japanese church in University City, San Diego. This includes hosting evangelistic events, Sunday worship services, and weekly Bible studies, particularly tailored for women, youth, and children. Additionally, she provides support to parents by accompanying them to medical appointments, offering counseling, and translating for them. These efforts have been ongoing for over a decade. Her vision is that individuals who engage with their ministry in San Diego will come to know God’s love and the gospel of hope through Jesus Christ. She envisions Japanese individuals who are introduced to her ministry experiencing a new life in Christ, becoming part of God’s family, and returning to Japan to share the good news of Jesus Christ with their families and friends. Through the transformative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, she aims to witness lives being changed and the message of grace and hope being disseminated to all nations, particularly in Japan, where the Christian population has remained below 1 percent for several decades.
Faith Story
Raised in a Christian household, Mana Usui's parents served as pastors in Japan and later as missionaries in Argentina. From a young age, she actively participated in various church activities, including worship team, children’s ministry, translations, and missions. Upon graduating from college, she was guided by God to pursue formal studies in Bible and ministry at the seminary in Buenos Aires. During her time there, she met the dean, who introduced her to her husband, Roberto. Roberto embraced Christianity during his college years through campus ministry and has since been actively involved in various ministries in New York and San Diego. God led her to join Missions Door when she met the Kashiwagura family, who were engaged in church planting in San Diego. She began providing regular assistance to their family’s needs and church activities.
Education
Mana and her husband have 3 children: Kailey, Naomi and Eli, and a cat named Aylee. They love playing tennis and watching soccer, especially when Argentinian national team is playing. Their multilingual family is fluent in Spanish, Japanese, English and Korean, and each member can play different instruments: violin, viola, cello, piano and guitar. Mana studied dentistry at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina.
WAYS TO SUPPORT
Mana by making a financial donation using a Credit Card or by Direct Debit (ACH).
Learn more about where this ministry happens
In colorful communities and along scenic highways, diverse people and landscapes span coast to coast
Iconic American traditions include Thanksgiving dinner, jazz music and the Super Bowl. They meld with eclectic examples of multicultural heritage: numerous local Chinatowns, family-owned taquerias and even cowboy boots, which originated among the nomadic Huns of eastern Europe.
The nation's landscape shows just as many contrasts — sandy beaches and rocky coastlines, open plains and vast deserts, rugged mountains and winding canyons, and abundant rivers and lakes.
The ideals of life and liberty that founded the United States have made the country one of the world's most prosperous, though not without dark chapters and present troubles. Crime, discrimination and ethics violations make regular headlines, and many people live below the national poverty level.
Families view education as essential to the pursuit of happiness, if not also a path to wealth and power for the most ambitious. Yet Americans also demonstrate a charitable spirit of generosity toward neighbors and nations in need.
Freedom of religion grants opportunity for all faiths, but Christianity holds particular influence in country's history and daily life.
Your participation with Missions Door supports ministry in the United States among college students, including many international students, in collaboration local churches. It also enables social outreach, church planting and leadership development in a wide variety of communities — among Native Americans and other cultural groups, and in urban and suburban settings where growing and changing demographics create new opportunities for the Gospel.
Cultural Snapshot
Aside from the Native American, Native Hawaiian and Native Alaskan populations, nearly all Americans and their ancestors immigrated to the United States.
Faith Fact
In a 2013 survey, 56% of Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives” — a larger number than any other wealthy nation.
Country Profile
Population: 320 million
Major Religions: 47% Protestant, 23% unaffiliated, 21% Catholic, 6% other
Languages: 82% English, 11% Spanish, various others
Literacy: 99%
Poverty: 16%
Ministry service area:
City
Ministry location:
California, United States