What is the Joy of Japan Center?

In 2018 CBI launched the Joy of Japan Center (JOJC) for Church Planting and Development. There were a few big challenges we were seeking to address in this new work. First, despite the fact the Japanese are the second largest unreached people group, very few aspiring ministers were pursuing church planting as a ministry calling. This was largely due to these leaders not feeling equipped for such a risky endeavor in a society that is traditionally risk adverse.

Another challenge is that the evangelical population has been declining in Japan over the past twenty years and churches are gradually shrinking. There are more churches without pastors, and most existing churches that are in need of revitalization. The Joy of Japan Center was formed to equip Japanese leaders for church planting and revitalization. We wanted to come alongside these leaders as they courageously followed Christ.

We chose the name “Joy of Japan” in honor of the Pals Family who were killed in a car accident on their way to serve as missionaries in Japan with CBI. Jamison and Kathryne chronicled their journey of calling and love for the Japanese people on a blog named, “Joy of Japan.” Their vision was to partner with a Japanese pastor and go alongside them to help plant a church. The name JOJC expresses our desire, like Jamison, to go with the leaders we train to encourage and strengthen them in their work.

We hope you will consider partnering with us to go with these pastors for the extension and renewal of the church in joy!