Hosanna & Go:

The Lessons Japan’s Missionary Front Teaches Us about Church Planting & Revitalization

Japan is breathtaking—cherry blossoms, beauty, and a culture shaped by centuries of tradition. But beneath the surface is a spiritual reality that should sober the global Church: Japan remains one of the world’s most unreached nations, even though its soil is already stained with the blood of Christian martyrs.  

In the 17th century, Christianity was violently purged.  Thousands of believers were martyred, and the public witness of the Church was nearly erased.  Today, fewer than 1% of Japanese people identify as Christian, despite Japan’s deep and costly Christian history.  

That history matters—not as a relic of the past, but because its effects still shape the present. Christianity is often viewed as foreign, disruptive, or socially inappropriate. Evangelism is perceived as culturally “rude” because it risks inconvenience or discomfort—keeping faith a private matter.  A cultural emphasis on honor and shame keeps people in bondage or leads them to worse (a long standing pattern of shame-related suicides continues to this day in Japan).

Yet, many churches are small, aging, and hesitant to engage their communities. The need in Japan is not only for new churches, but for the revitalization of existing ones—churches that need encouragement, boldness, and renewed confidence in the gospel.  

Sound familiar?  The similarities to other developed countries (such as the U.S.) and the lessons we can all learn about the importance of church planting and revitalization are hopefully not lost on us.  

I refuse to believe the blood of the Japanese martyrs had no impact.  Even now, the sacrifice of our Japanese brothers and sisters in Christ, calls out to us across the centuries to show the people they died trying to reach that the love of Jesus is worth dying for.  

If Others Can Go, So Can We

A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit this incredible country and spend time with the beautiful people of Japan. In a sobering moment: as we visited one of the busiest places in the world—Shibuya Crossing—the ones who seemed unafraid to engage publicly were not the Church, but a well known global cult.  They unabashedly handed out pamphlets and engaged in spiritual conversations regardless of cultural awkwardness… 

And it raised an unavoidable thought:

If groups with a different message can go boldly into resistant cultures, the Church has no excuse to hide the gospel.  If Others Can Go, So Can We.

Hosanna and Go

In Matthew 21:4–10, the crowds shout “Hosanna…” a cry that means, “O Lord, save.” But it’s not just worship language—it’s a public declaration of Jesus’ messianic kingship, which is why they also cry out “...to the son of David” and “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Lk. 19:38). They were saying: Jesus is the King. The Savior. The Messiah.

That is where real church planting and revitalization starts—not with programs, not with branding, not even with strategies—but with a restored proclamation:

Jesus is King here.

We did this both spiritually and practically.  

First, we went to places of spiritual stronghold and intentionally worshiped the one true King.  We interceded for the nation and people of Japan in places of long established idol worship, and we laid claim to the hearts of the Japanese people for Jesus.

But Jesus also said to “Go make disciples” (Matt. 28:19).  So we went: to markets, parking lots, fishing villages, tsunami destroyed towns, and homes, telling people about the love and hope found only in Jesus.  We held worship concerts, prayed for people, hosted children’s ministry outreaches where we did object lessons, painted faces, and all kinds of other practical forms of ministry. 

The Response of the Supported Church 

None of our strategies may sound revolutionary, but our simple obedience to God and support for our Japanese partner churches stirred unprecedented courage in the Japanese churches we had partnered with. 

Church leaders who felt isolated and hopeless, suddenly felt emboldened that they could reach their culture with both boldness and respect.  By coming alongside to support them, they were activated and encouraged in their mission to fearlessly reach the Japanese people with the love of Jesus which sets us free from shame.  

Your Support Goes Further Than You Know

When you support church planting and revitalization — especially in the places that need it the most — you are not just funding a ministry.  You are emboldening a church to reach their community.  You’re encouraging a church that feels isolated and alone that they are not forgotten or without support.  You are empowering them to “Go” and carry out their God given call to fulfill the Great Commission, and you are helping reestablish the gospel witness that “Jesus is King” where it was once nearly silenced.