John has been the Lead Pastor of Koza Baptist Church since August, 2008. He and his wife Sherry both graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas in May of 1986. They both earned Master of Arts degrees in Religious Education and served as Campus Ministers for four years on a university campus in a suburb of Oklahoma City. Following the Lord’s leadership John applied for and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. They came to serve in Okinawa, Japan in February of 1989 and joined Koza Baptist Church where they served for three years in a variety of roles. John continued to serve in the Marine Corps in a number of duty stations for the next 16 years. Then in 2005, they were once again assigned to Okinawa for a second tour in 2005 and they joined Koza once again. God led the Reimers to work in various positions, including (for John) service as the Chairman of the Relocation Committee working with the staff to plan and fund a new building for Koza Baptist Church. In 2007 Pastor Bo Russell, the Pastor of Koza, asked John to pray about retiring from the Marines and serving as his successor. During that time of prayer, the Lord began to move in John’s heart to leave the Marines and continue serving at Koza as a follower of Christ on mission with God right here in Okinawa as the new Pastor. Since then, the Reimers have been thrilled with the opportunity presented to them to help grow the Kingdom. They continue to look forward in joyful anticipation to seeing God continue to work in the lives of many.
John reimer
lead pastor