Liberty student takes what he learned in Japan back home to America

Summer break has ended and, with it,  the summer jobs, internships and vacations that many students enjoyed during their academic hiatus. Three months away from school, for many, means a refreshing and relaxing break filled with sun, sleep and plenty of down time. The options are endless to what students can do with their newfound schedule. For one student, the time off meant traveling overseas to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Tanner Yager, a senior majoring in theology and apologetics, went to Nagoya, Japan for two months, immersing himself in a local Japanese church and spreading the love of Christ. 

Working through the global outreach company, Mission to the World, Yager first felt inspired to go to Japan after taking a world religions class with divinity professor Chris Gnanakan.

“Japan has a less than 1 percent Christian population. It’s a first world country. Why is the Christian population so low?” Yager said. “That started making me research. I wanted to do something beneficial.”

Once Yager found the internship to work at the Christ Bible Institute in Japan, he realized his opportunity to make a difference in a country in need of the gospel. According to Yager, the internship focused mainly on building local Japanese churches, seminaries and church planting.

“I want to go into teaching seminary or at a Christian college. It was cool to serve there and see what the inside workings of a seminary look like,” Yager said. 

While Yager has traveled overseas before to Rome and Barcelona, experiencing the Japanese culture was very different. Destinations such as Rome or Barcelona contain elements of a western or American culture, while Japan does not. Due to the deep history of pagan festivals and traditions blending with more Christian ideals, the Japanese religious culture can be described as syncretistic. 

“A lot of people listen to the Bible or go to church, but (they) won’t call themselves a Christian or get baptized. (They) will still want to go to the temple on New Year’s and participate in different festivals,” Yager said. 

Throughout Yager’s time in Japan, the outreach was divided into three categories: muscle, mentoring and ministry. Muscle projects included working in the seminary library, cleaning or as a building assistant. Mentoring projects mainly consisted of meeting with mentors and holding Bible studies together. 

“We did taco Tuesdays which most Japanese people had not had before, and we did a Bible study as a way to reach out to people and encourage the long-term missionaries,” Yager said. 

As a part of his ministry, Yager was placed in a Japanese church where he attended during the two months and helped as needed. This especially is where Yager noticed God’s hand in the mission trip as he prayed for opportunities to share the gospel. 

That prayer came to fruition when Yager shared the gospel with a non-Christian couple who attended a service at the church. The couple’s family attended the church occasionally and they knew he was a missionary. 

“I realized that I had such a passion in Japan to reach people with the gospel, but I felt a language barrier,” Yager said. “When I am back home, even though I speak the same language sometimes I might not feel that same passion. This trip has (given me a) passion for sharing the gospel back home, too.”

Pace is the assistant feature editor for the Liberty Champion.