D House offers a true taste of missionary life
Japan needs more long-term missionaries. With less than 0.5 percent of the population of 126 million people known to be evangelical Christians, it is no surprise that many Japanese churches desire more missionaries to assist them in evangelizing the people of Japan.
Many young people seriously considering long-term missionary work want some sort of short-term experience to clarify God's calling on their life or to form clearer vision for reaching Japan with the gospel.
SEND Japan asked my wife and me to design D (Discipleship) House
with the above in mind. Our purpose is to give English speakers a realistic experience of what missionary work in Japan looks like. We invite these interns to live with us for 12 weeks long enough to get beyond the "I love everything about Japan" stage and into the struggles missionaries face. By the end of 12 weeks, our goal is that all of our interns will have a clearer understanding of what next steps they ought to take in their involvement in world missions.
We focus on five specific aspects of missionary life during these 83 days with the D House interns.
1. We teach our interns living skills.
How does a foreigner with limited language ability survive in Japan? Grocery shopping, handling money, getting around on public transportation, house cleaning and meal preparation are just some of the skills we address with interns. We also take them to tutors to learn some basic Japanese language.
2. We introduce our interns to Japanese culture.
I find it interesting to observe how interns emotionally react to the idolatry they see when we visit Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. We take them to naturally beautiful places as well as historical ones. We translate as they interview the Japanese mothers in our neighborhood and learn about marriage, child-rearing, education and the working world. They hear Japanese pastors describe Japan from a Japanese believer's point of view.
3. We make sure our interns spend lots of time with unbelievers.
Some interns come from a sheltered background and have little experience conversing with non-Christians. In this smart phone, social media age, some interns come with limited face-to-face social skills. Almost weekly the interns attend Sendai English Circle, a group of Japanese people who meet for a couple hours every week and just converse in English to maintain or even improve their English ability. Most who attend are not Christians and some know almost nothing about Christianity. Conversations can be about all sorts of subjects like travel, work, studies, relationships, interests, news, politics and even religion. By listening and participating, interns learn to naturally talk about themselves including their experiences and faith with people who have significantly different backgrounds.
4. We help our interns observe and participate in ministry.
They attend Japanese churches. They help with English classes or sports outreach or hospitality. They see Nozomi Project's
jewelry-making business and Megumi Project's
scarf-making business as ministry. They continue to see cafe and visitation ministry in temporary housing (even more than five years after the huge tsunami in March 2011). They meet not just SEND International missionaries but also workers with other organizations, and they learn about the passions and activities of missionaries in Japan.
5. We help our interns learn about SEND as an organization.
They become familiar with our procedures, leadership development and selection, and team dynamics. They experience the SEND Japan culture. At the same time, SEND Japan missionaries see the interns and gain insight in how to encourage them in their faith walk, especially as they consider long-term missionary work.
One of the great things about reading the gospels is observing how Jesus discipled the Twelve. He did so by having them live with him, learn from him and work alongside him. As much as possible, we are using that model with the Tohoku (northeast Japan) D House.
SEND offers another D House opportunity in Tokyo, and several other SEND fields have internships that focus both on practical ministry and on the intern's spiritual growth and discernment. Perhaps God will use one of them to clarify his calling on your life? Click here to start exploring SEND's internships.
Additional Posts
Choosing a Missions Organization: Why SEND International Stands Out “Why should I be a missionary through SEND International?” Jenna, a new missionary in Eastern Europe, shared with us what she appreciates about working with SEND. The highlights for her are: - Devotion to prayer - Diligence in communication - Commitment to development - Intentionality in accountability Prayer “Back in September of 2022, the Lord reconnected me with SEND after I had met them a year prior at the Moody Bible Institute. However, before he would sign me up for anything, my Missions Coach encouraged me to pray. He said something to the effect of, "I know that you've been praying on your own for a long time. But as the Church, we are not called to walk alone. So, you and I won't talk for about a month unless you have questions. I want you to go pray with 5 or 6 others from your church about where God is calling you." That October, more than 10 friends prayed with me and we saw God answer as He directed me to Romania. From February 2024 to November 2025, I had the pleasure of being a part of team meetings in Romania with my SEND colleagues. Our meetings were four hours long, two for prayer and two for business. This has been the minimum for our team. There are also prayer meetings with the local churches we partner with, among smaller groups within our team, of course prayer with many of you across the pond, including those at our US office. The organization was built, has been sustained, and continues to run on prayer. This is my favorite thing about SEND. Communication As I mentioned above, we have a two hour block for business / ministry details in each of our meetings. This provides consistency across our team which works alongside three different churches and in a variety of ministries. It also helps us to communicate about the need for change or growth, alongside what is working well. In addition, my team director also meets with each of us, allowing us to communicate needs, considerations, and prayer requests. I've also enjoyed getting to work with SEND workers outside of my immediate region . We receive emails with the minutes from the Europe leadership team, Friday communications from our international director, and information regarding projects that affect our work among the unreached. In December of 2024, our international director at the time wrote a note to my parents for the first Christmas that I was gone. If nothing else had convinced my mom yet, this did. He took the time to care for me, but also to care well for the parents that were sending me (What it meant to my dad and mom for him to do this well has been one of the greatest ways I've been supported.). I also have some pretty wonderful regional directors. These people have prayed alongside us (while also serving in their own countries of service), they have taken time to come visit and encourage our team, and they have also taken the time to encourage the people in our churches. Development SEND has provided much in the area of development and care (spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally). At our regional conference (every three years), there have been medical check ups available, counseling options, and time for connecting with others on the field with similar experience. At our conference last October, I connected with a missionary who served overseas for many years, and is now serving on the administrative side of SEND. She has met with me since then for mentorship and has also invested much of her time recently in preparing a retreat for the singles across Europe. Accountability Over the years I have read and heard amazing stories of how God has worked through missionaries. God has done great things and great things He is still doing! However, people who have committed their lives to the Lord in this way are not “super Christians”. We are still humans with the same struggle against flesh that others have . A major challenge is in being isolated -- living in areas with little to no presence of other believers to sharpen them can cause many difficulties. SEND has been a great resource in this area too. Through my team, I have an accountability partner that I meet with monthly. When my regional director came to visit, he and his wife spent a day with me and asked intentional questions about how I lead, handle conflict, and how I am growing in general as a Christian. In addition, my teammates share their wisdom with me on a regular basis. These things and more have assured me that SEND International is a highly valuable organization and I'm excited to partner with them in service to, for, and with our great God! Interested in being sent by SEND?
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