Tokyo, Japan, is the largest city in the world.

Among its population of 37.1 million people, only 1% identify as Christian — making it the largest unreached people group on the planet. 

Training Leaders

The Go Experience in Japan is an immersive trip designed intentionally by the International Mission Board (IMB) to introduce people to a country and the team of missionaries on the ground there. Trip participants experience the culture, language, food, and sights of Japan. Participants spend time in a classroom with IMB missionaries — learning about the culture, different religious groups, and the work these missionaries do to share the Gospel. 

“Our goal is to see churches form partnerships with IMB missionaries,” shared Tim Rice, Mission Partnership Director for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. 

Reaching the Lost

In September 2023, a small group of South Carolinian pastors and church leaders participated in the trip to Japan. Brian Spearman and Josh Adams returned passionate about helping IMB missionaries share the Gospel in Japan.

Brian Spearman, Senior Pastor at Marietta First Baptist Church, formed partnerships with two IMB missionaries in Japan. He and his congregation raised an offering to send to those missionaries. Spearman and his church plan to return to Japan and take a team from their church to Yokohama in the next year.

Josh Adams, a former art teacher from Florence, SC, will soon publish a manga of the biblical story of Joseph, featuring the honor-shame culture that Japanese people find familiar. Manga is the term used to describe Japanese comic books and graphic novels. It is especially popular with the youth.

“Japanese people can connect with Joseph’s story because Joseph was dishonored by his brothers, Potiphar’s wife, and a fellow prisoner, then he was restored to a place of honor,” Adams explains. He hopes this manga will become an evangelistic tool to help IMB missionaries in Japan share the Gospel with the younger generation.