Tokyo Bay, Japan

Reclaiming Lives on Reclaimed Land

Best known as the home of Tokyo Disneyland, Urayasu City was once a small fishing village on Tokyo Bay. But a coastal land-reclamation project expanded its area fourfold, bringing rapid growth and an influx of young people and families. When an MTW team moved into the Shin Urayasu target area, there was no church in this new community—not surprising in a country where only 0.3 percent of the population identify as evangelical Christians.

With God’s help, things are beginning to change. The Tokyo Bay Team has recently begun community church-planting efforts. Shin-Urayasu Grace Church had its first worship service in 2012, and the team continues to build the church through Bible studies, outreach events, children’s programs, and community service. Their prayer is that the Shin-Urayasu church will become the first of many, and from within that network of churches young Japanese church planters can be identified, trained, and sent out.