Answering the call and building sustainability in the church in Mexico by developing and resourcing leaders and cultivating partnerships

Andrew and Julie Murakami are both ordained elders in the Church of the Nazarene who recently married each other and are serving in missions around the world. Previously, Andrew was a local pastor in the United States, and Julie was a global missionary serving in MesoAmerica. Now together, God has merged their lives and their past decade of individual ministry experience to minister as global missionaries in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Andrew grew up a pastor’s kid in California and Hawaii, while Julie grew up internationally as a missionary’s kid in Spain and Argentina. God called them both to ministry at youth events at the age of thirteen (Andrew at a youth camp in Sacramento, California and Julie at a youth conference in Campinas, Brazil). They became friends while pursuing that call and studying at Point Loma Nazarene University. They graduated in 2012 and continued to support each other as colleagues, as Andrew became a local pastor in California and Julie became a local pastor in Colorado.

God rekindled Julie’s missionary call after serving on her district NMI council and attending General Assembly as a delegate. Julie became a global missionary in 2018 and served in Guyana for almost four years. Meanwhile, Andrew ministered as a local lead pastor with an emphasis in church-planting, discipleship, and evangelism. God renewed his missionary call a few years later after serving on his district NMI council and participating in a work and witness trip to Mexico.

In 2021, God reconnected Andrew and Julie through a ministry collaboration. After knowing each other for 12 years, the Lord decided it was finally time to lift the veil from their eyes. They were married in July 2023, and they moved to Mexico as volunteers while God continued to knit their lives and ministries together through the process of becoming global missionaries. Andrew and Julie hope that their testimony of waiting in the Lord and being obedient to His call is an encouragement to others and proclaims God’s faithfulness and goodness. 

Andrew is the Partnership Coordinator for Mexico. He connects churches and individuals in the United States with the churches and the ministry projects in the Mexico field. Julie is the Administrative Assistant for Mexico. She develops, equips and empowers the 15 districts in the Mexico Field through secretarial matters and statistics. Andrew and Julie are both support pastors in the local church and part of the preaching rotation.

The Murakamis are passionate about youth ministry, single’s ministry, and family and marriage ministry. They enjoy hosting youth and families in their home. They love getting to know their neighbors and learning to cook the local cuisine. They enjoy exploring new places and learning new languages and cultures. They are ecstatic to share the testimony of what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will continue to do in this adventurous, faith-filled year. Be sure to subscribe to their email newsletter to be updated on their life and ministry. You can also reach out to them via their Facebook page “Murakami on Mission.” Your ministry partnership, financial support, and continual prayer are invaluable to them.