Ex-entertainers who toured Southeast Asian night clubs before their conversion to Christianity in 1984. Both were born and raised in the Philippines. One century ago, Ken Taylor's grandfather was one of the soldiers who liberated the Philippines
from the Spaniards in the Spanish-American War of 1898. He married a pure Filipina and had 10 children the youngest of whom is Ken's father. Subsequently, Ken is the youngest of 9 children.
Bola on the other hand, comes from a Chinese heritage. As a physical therapist, she comes from a family who are mostly in the medical profession. Her musical talents were discovered at a very early age. She started whistling at the age of 9
months, was a featured soloist at 5 years old, and won her first Television singing contest at 8 years old.
Ken & Bola Taylor are among a new wave of missionaries being sent out from third-world nations having been born in Manila and then migrated to California in 1986 and now going to Japan as church planters. Their passion is to share the Gospel
of Jesus Christ in Japan through music and other creative arts.
Sharing the gospel in Japan through church planting activities with a focus on music Ken and Bola Taylor invited Christ into their lives at the height of their professional careers.Bola was a
jazz-pop singer, Ken a rising musical director/arranger. Before becoming Christians in 1984, both toured Southeast Asian clubs and concert stages. Today, they are among the new wave of missionaries sent out from Third World nations.
Born and raised in the Philippines, the Taylors first emigrated to California, then relocated to Japan after God called them to plant churches there. The unusual ministry God has given them in Japan “church planting activities with a
focus on music and creative arts” has provided them with many evangelistic and ministry opportunities and earned them the descriptive tag of "musicianaries."
During their first term in Japan, the Taylors helped fellow CBI workers John and Eriko Houlette plant the Saikyo Hope Church in Toda, a Tokyo suburb of 100,000 people but with only three churches. Now in its fourth year, the church is
gaining converts slowly but steadily. As Filipino-Americans, the Taylors also found numerous opportunities to witness to their Filipino countrymen living in Japan. And because Black Gospel has become very popular in Japan, Ken has directed several choirs whose
members are 90 percent non-Christian.
However, most of Ken and Bola's music ministry centers on helping Japanese Christians reach their own people through their own musical forms. Currently, there is little indigenous Christian music in Japan; most of the music sung in
churches is Western hymns or American praise song translations. So, as leaders of the Japan Christian Artists' Network (CAN), the Taylors are helping to develop programs that will motivate Japanese Christians to compose and perform original Japanese music. The CAN
Artists' Audition, for instance, was organized for the purpose of producing a high-quality music CD album with God-inspired, Christ-centered, and culturally relevant Japanese songs.
