Meet our Staff
Pastor Glenn Phipps
Senior Pastor
Pastor Glenn and his wife, Farah, have been actively serving the Lord on the mission field in Japan since August of 2003. Having been sent out from Living Water Church in California, they started off in Okinawa, Japan serving full time first at Okinawa Christian School International where Glenn served as an assistant pastor under great and spiritual mentor, Pastor Rick Barnett. After 10 years of service in Okinawa, an opportunity arose for Pastor Glenn and his family to move to Iwakuni, Japan to continue a church plant that had been started in November of 2005. Sensing the Lord’s leading and guiding, Pastor Glenn and his family moved to Iwakuni, Japan in September of 2013 to serve the Lord and the body here at Calvary Chapel Iwakuni. Pastor Glenn loves the Body of Christ and finds great joy in serving Christ through the Body. He enjoys studying God’s Word and teaching it systematically verse by verse. He hopes to one day echo the words of the Apostle Payl who declared to the Ephesian elders, “I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27). Pastor Glenn and his wife Farah have been blessed with five sons: Caleb, Jonah, Ethan, Boaz, and Titus.
Zulema Bywater
Children’s Ministry Director
Zulema Bywater first came to Calvary Chapel Iwakuni for a 3-month internship in January of 2019. She had been in a career in the health care industry, and felt God was calling her to change things up. While in Iwakuni, she served with the children’s ministry, women’s ministry, and various administrative tasks. After completing the internship and returning to California, she was asked to pray about taking a full-time position with the church as the Children’s Ministry Director. Sensing God was calling her in that direction, she returned to Japan on a religious activities visa in September of 2019 to serve at the church full time. While here, she met Jacob Bywater, and the two were married in December of 2020.
Andrew Donaldson
Office Administrator
Andrew, Maggie, and James Donaldson arrived in Iwakuni May 2021 on active-duty service with the Marine Corps where Andrew served as a Staff Judge Advocate with H&HS. Shortly after arriving in Japan, the Donaldsons began attending Calvary Chapel Iwakuni.
In 2022, Andrew began serving in the Japanese Ministry and felt a call to share the Gospel with the Japanese community around us. While attending an annual Calvary Chapel conference in Tokyo in 2023, Andrew felt the Holy Spirit guiding him away from his career in the Marine Corps and into a life of ministry here in Japan.
After separating from the Marine Corps, the Donaldsons returned back to Iwakuni in 2024 on Religious Activities Visas as missionaries and helping out at the church. Then, in January 2025, Andrew came onto staff as the Office Administrator and is also leading our Japanese Ministry. Ryan joined the family in June 2025.
Nona Vilela
Office Assistant
Nonalyn “Nona” Vilela first came to Japan in 2018 to work as a healthcare worker in Nagoya. Nona became a Christian in 2021 after attending a Christmas Eve service in Tokyo. While looking for a home church, her friend, Chella, invited her to CCI and Nona attended the Christmas service in 2022. After hearing a lot about the church and experiencing the kindness of the church community, Nona made the decision to move to Iwakuni in April 2023 to attend CCI. While working as a healthcare worker in an elderly care facility in Iwakuni, she also began getting involved at the church and serving in the A/V and Children’s ministry.
After being involved at the church for 3 years, God answered her prayer by allowing her to leave her job as a healthcare worker and opening an opportunity to work full-time at the church to serve as the Office Assistant and Translator. Nona loves Jesus and wants to share Him with everyone she meets. She also enjoys taking photos and videos for all of our events.
Audrey Johnson
Ministry Assistant
Audrey Johnson spent the first 13 years of her life in Okinawa, Japan, where her family met the Phipps Family and served alongside them at Calvary Chapel Okinawa. After serving 13 years there, God called her family to volunteer with the Free Burma Rangers in Chiang Mai, Thailand. There she served the community through teaching a weekly Bible Club and helping out with English classes. In 2025, Audrey interned with Calvary Chapel Iwakuni for 3 months, serving in each of the different ministries and helping with VBS preparation. Upon returning home to Thailand, she was asked to pray about coming back to Calvary Chapel Iwakuni as a full-time staff member. Surprisingly, God called her whole family back to Japan. With her family serving full time at Calvary Chapel Okinawa, Audrey is serving as Ministry Assistant here at Calvary Chapel Iwakuni, with a focus on children’s ministry. Audrey has grown up doing ministry her whole life. She especially enjoys hanging out with children and teaching them the Word. She desires for them to be excited about God’s Word and to discover Jesus through it. Audrey is excited to be in Iwakuni serving at the church.