Kobe Bible Fellowship was started in the fall of 1990.
Pastor Rob Flaherty
Rob was born and grew up in Yokohama. After high school he went to the U.S. for Bible School and returned to Japan to teach English at Palmore Institute in Kobe. Palmore was founded by missionaries and had a weekly chapel service that Rob was in charge of. Through these chapel services and relationships that Rob and the other Christian teachers formed, many of the students became interested in Jesus and some became believers. The chapel meeting, once small and lifeless, became popular, with many people wanting more. As a result, they began meeting on Sunday evenings as well.
Soon it became apparent that these Bible studies were more than just a fun time together and some of the students who had become Christians wanted to be baptized. At that time, Pastor Ralph Moore of Hope Chapel in Hawaii came to Kobe and encouraged the group to consider calling themselves a church. Thus, Kobe Bible Fellowship was born.
KBF was founded on the biblical idea that people don’t need to change themselves before they can approach God. By asking forgiveness for sin and seeking the Lord, He will do the necessary changes in our hearts.