River Valley Church Tokyo is led by Lead Pastors Kirby and Miwa Sato, and we are honored to be the River Valley location in Japan.
River Valley is an exciting and thriving church founded by Pastors Rob and Becca Ketterling in 1995. Our mission is to lead people into an authentic, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. We believe in a life-giving, positive church culture where people worship God, connect with one another and are launched into their God-given purpose.
WHO WE ARE

Meet Our Pastors
Kirby & Miwa Sato
Kirby and Miwa Sato lead River Valley Tokyo with a passion to see people encounter the presence of God and come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Before launching River Valley Tokyo, Kirby and Miwa served in ministry in Tokyo for over twelve years as part of a nationwide church-planting movement. During that time, they led young adults, served in multiple pastoral roles, and contributed to translating the Old Testament Bible into Japanese.
In 2019, God called their family to River Valley Church in Minnesota, where they served for more than four years in pastoral ministry. Now, following the call of God once again, the Satos have returned to Japan to plant River Valley Tokyo — a new location of River Valley Church with a vision to reach Japan and beyond.
Kirby is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God, and Miwa is a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God. Together, they are sent through AGWM as missionaries to Japan.

Belief
River Valley Church is a part of the Assemblies of God and we hold to the 16 Fundamental Truths of the Assemblies of God.
1. The Scriptures Inspired The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct. 2. The One True God The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I AM," the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 3. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. 4. The Fall of Man Man was created good and upright; for God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness." However, man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. 5. The Salvation of Man Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. 6. The Ordinances of the Church The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded by the Scriptures. All who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized. Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. 7. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. 8. The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance. 9. Sanctification Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God. 10. The Church and its Mission The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven. 11. The Ministry A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for the fourfold purpose of leading the Church. 12. Divine Healing Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers. 13. The Blessed Hope The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope of the church. 14. The Millennial Reign of Christ The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on earth for one thousand years. 15. The Final Judgment There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be consigned to the everlasting punishment in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. 16. The New Heavens and the New Earth "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."
