Apex Tokyo
Tokyo sits at the crossroads of innovation and tradition, with people coming from all over the world to experience all it has to offer. Tokyo presents itself as a city that has it all. Even with all its riches, the Japanese still remain the second largest unreached people group in the world.
Home to more than 37 million people, the city of Tokyo, Japan, is the largest concentration of unreached people in the world. Less than 1% of the population claim to be evangelical Christians. While the majority of Japanese are traditionally Buddhist and Shinto, if you asked the average person if they are religious, they would say no. Despite the agnostic attitude of many, the spiritual warfare in the city is very real. The societal pressures to succeed and fit in are heavy, especially among young people, which leads to Japan having some of the world’s highest rates of suicide and depression.
On this trip you will be joining the ReachGlobal Tokyo City Team and other Christians within Tokyo who are committed seeing the transformative power of the Gospel turn people’s hearts toward treasuring Jesus Christ. You will have the opportunity to experience Japan’s spiritual climate and learn more about what it looks like to serve as a missionary. Then using your gifts, passions and personal story, you will join the work of prayer, outreach and discipleship in cross-cultural ministry.
Because of the nature of Tokyo, we are asking students who are coming on the trip to be in good physical, mental and spiritual health. Not only can adjusting to cross-cultural ministry and Japan’s spiritual climate be exhausting, but Tokyo is also a big city so it’s best to be ready to walk several miles each day. The ministries we engage in might include hiking and other active sports outreach as well.
Tokyo sets the standards and trends for much of the rest of the country and people come from all over Japan just to work and study in the city. While Japan is still very traditional in many ways, the younger generations are making waves in the culture. They are often more open and receptive than their parents and grandparents’ generations. The future of Japan as a whole is in Tokyo right now. They are the students, young adults and young families that the Tokyo City Team and your Apex team will be connecting with. If we want to see Japan transformed by the gospel, they are the ones we need to be reaching.
We think this trip will be an incredible growing experience for you and are looking forward to seeing how God will work through you.
Meet our missionaries
The Tokyo City Team’s vision is for God to transform Tokyo through an ever-increasing presence and influence of people who treasure Jesus above all else.
We are a growing team made up of a couple families and a handful of single adults. We hope that over the course of your six weeks with us you get to meet and spend time with everyone on the team. We are all unified under a common mission to plant churches by developing, empowering and releasing disciplemakers in various ministries.
Your team leader for your trip will be Kim. Kim went on an Apex trip to Asia in 2016 and is passionate about bringing teams to Tokyo. After Kim’s Apex trip, she joined Apex Staff and led trips all over the world. During that time, she led three short-term trips to Tokyo and eventually felt called to join the Tokyo City Team. She works with the team and the partners in Japan to make sure you have the best experience possible in Japan.
Schedule
- May 19-23 – Apex Orientation in Chicago, Illinois
- May 24 – Arrive in Tokyo, Japan
- July 5-7 – Return home
How You'll Serve:
- Connect with the local church – Learn about what it means to host a church in your home, model it with your team, and come alongside our existing churches to help their outreach efforts in the community
- BEST (Bible, English, Sports, Travel) outreach – Connect with kids from the community and students from Waseda in BEST activities such as a weekly Bible study, English conversation opportunities, sports outreach in a park and exploring different areas of the city by doing scavenger hunts or getting out of the city to go on hikes
- Teaching English – Engage the community through teaching simple English classes to kids
- Learn basic Japanese – Practice your Japanese and use it to connect with others your age
- Prayer walking– Learn about prayer, go on prayer walks around the local university and join PrayYamanote, a weekly prayer ministry for the city
- University student outreach – Plan new and join existing outreach events on Waseda University’s campus to connect with students
Housing
Accommodations in Tokyo can be difficult to find for large groups so expect the possibility of a move part way through the trip. Housing also differs year to year, but most likely students will stay in an AirBNB or hotel/hostel together.
Reach out to start the conversation about applying for 2025!