A Joyful New Chapter for Church Planting in Tokyo
Japan Church Planting Institute Conference at Mt. Fuji in 1995 (Steve Childers and Dan Iverson on back row center)
Japan is one of the most spiritually resistant and strategically placed nations in the world. With 125 million people and less than 1% Christian, it has long been called “the missionary graveyard.” Missionaries often labor for decades with little visible fruit. Yet Japan remains one of the most strategic nations for the spread of the gospel across Asia. Today, God is opening a remarkable new door.
Nearly forty years ago, when Steve Childers was planting a PCA church in Dallas and Dan Iverson was planting a church in Tokyo, they partnered to launch the Japan Church Planting Institute (JCPI). JCPI became Japan’s largest annual church planter training conference, serving thousands of leaders across denominations. It has provided vision, relationships, and best practices—but it also revealed the limits of event-based training.
Childers teaching at the annual Japan Church Planting Institute in 2003
Now in their early seventies, Steve and Dan reflect on decades of ministry and say they “learned the hard way” that training conferences and traditional classroom models are not enough. Leaders need ongoing mentoring, contextualization, and spiritual formation.
The Tokyo-MBS Project is their answer.
A New Kingdom Partnership: The Tokyo-MBS Project
On September 17, 2025, Dan Iverson (MTW), Craig Garriott (MBS), and Steve Childers met by video conference to reaffirm decades of friendship and launch the Tokyo-MBS Project—a bold new vision to equip church planters and renewal leaders in Japan through a revolutionary model of seminary training.
This month marks an encouraging milestone in Japan. Grace City Church in Tokyo and Metro Baltimore Seminary have announced the launch of a new seminary training cohort in the heart of the city, near the Emperor’s Palace.
Using Pathway Learning’s church planter training, this cohort will equip emerging leaders for gospel ministry in one of the most spiritually challenging places in the world.
This project represents a new kind of seminary model—one that goes far beyond the traditional classroom and conference model. Leaders will learn in small, mentor-guided cohorts using Pathway Learning’s accredited curriculum that integrates knowledge, character, and skills for lasting transformation.
The Critical Need
Traditional seminary education is struggling worldwide. It can inform but rarely transform. Leaders in Japan and Asia urgently need training that is holistic, relational, and contextualized for real-world ministry.
The Tokyo-MBS Project will:
Provide accredited seminary-level training contextualized for Japan.
Equip leaders to plant and renew churches that transform lives and communities.
Establish a reproducible model for affordable seminary training across Asia.
Parter With Us
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. By partnering in the Tokyo-MBS Project, you are helping launch a revolutionary new seminary model that will equip Japanese leaders to plant and grow churches that transform lives and communities in one of the hardest places on earth—and multiply gospel movements across Asia.
Pray: for the launch, partners, and first cohort.
Give: generously to fund translation, technology, and scholarships.
Invest: in a seminary model that can transform Japan and beyond. in a seminary model that can transform Japan and beyond.
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