Even in Hiroshima, where we were working with a church with limited sized facilities and the only place we could consistently house short-term workers for free was our own 340 sq.ft. apartment, we welcomed teams and individuals every year that it was feasible.  We think short term missions is useful both for the ministry and for the person who comes to help, as they gain an understanding of cross-cultural ministry in a way that is not possible while staying home.  Many short term workers catch a vision for missions and come back long term.

Now that we are in Osaka planting a cell church, we have even more opportunity for short-termers to come, and more that they can do. We can house a number of people at the cell church facilities, and might have other options available depending on the situation. We hosted a total of 38 short-termers in 2003! For a glimpse, see Internship: Rachel Starr, Music Outreach: Father's House, Variety: Outsiders, and English and Misc. Although most of those people came in the summertime, we are ready to welcome teams and/or individuals all year round, every year.

What do these people do when they get here?  Depending on the interests and abilities of the people who come, what opportunities are available at the time, and how it fits into what we are trying to accomplish, these are some of the activities that a short-term team or individual might do:

• Distributing evangelistic literature, event announcements, or other materials to passersby in busy areas of town (like near train stations or shopping areas)
• Putting such materials in mailboxes in specific neighborhoods to insure that every house has been contacted (unlike the U.S., stuffing mailboxes is legal in Japan)
• Paired up with a Japanese speaker, going door-to-door to personally greet each house and hand them the above materials
• Teaching English, either as a guest at an ongoing class or at a special "English intensive" conducted only while the team is here
• Drama, music, or other message-bearing entertainment on the street
• Drama, music, or other message-bearing entertainment at a special event like a barbecue in a park
• Giving presentations about life in your home country (which can include how your faith is important to you) at public schools, either in classes with strong English, or with interpretation
• Giving more direct testimonies and/or Gospel talks in Christian-founded private schools
• Helps ministries to homeless or others in need
• Helping us with the day-to-day ministry that we are involved in
• Grunt work, like stamping or folding materials for distribution, setup and teardown for events, etc.

The list goes on, but you get the idea. There is no shortage of things to do to help us get the word out about Jesus!  If you want to join in the fun, contact us or Mission to Unreached Peoples for more details.