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From virtual reality to face-to-face gospel conversations. A bright purple robot mechanically wobbled past Jill Kane as colorful anime characters and avatars faded into towering buildings and flashing signs. IMB missionaries and a missions team from Calvary Church, Clearwater, Florida, attend Virtual Market Real in Tokyo, Japan. The goal was to take relationships they made in the virtual world to a face-to-face relationship. A bright purple robot mechanically wobbled past Jill Kane as colorful anime characters and avatars faded into towering buildings and flashing signs. It looked like one of the virtual reality worlds she had explored from her church in Clearwater, Florida. Except this time, it was real. Check out more stories on international missions. Kane stood outside a Tokyo convention hall, packed with thousands attending Virtual Market Real (VKET), one of Japan's largest VR gatherings. For two years, she and other short-term mission volunteers from Calvary Church have partnered with International Mission Board missionaries to share the gospel in virtual spaces. This summer marked a new step in IMB's virtual reality ministry as those online connections moved to face-to-face conversations in Japan. "It was particularly cool because for the first time, we were making connections online and then seeing them in person," Kane said. "But it also was vice versa. I met Japanese people in person at VKET Real, and then we followed up with them in VR and Discord, [an online gaming community]." Testing ground. VKET Real was an ideal testing ground for this step. Held both in virtual reality and at a physical venue in Tokyo, the convention attracts thousands of VR enthusiasts, creators, streamers and fans. IMB missionary Daniel Rice explained the idea behind the physical venue is to take a fully digital experience and develop a real-life community to augment it. This step is often the hardest to do when it comes to digital engagement. When Rice and Calvary Church began testing virtual reality as a platform for engaging people with the gospel, being physically present was always the next step. Together they launched Gospel Hope Japan, a ministry that uses VR gatherings, Discord communities and eventually, in-person events to share the gospel. Before VKET Real, the Floridians and IMB missionaries were already meeting Japanese users through VKET's online events. They invited anyone interested into the Gospel Hope Cafe, a custom-built virtual environment designed for ministry conversations. At the two-day convention, they worked to take those online interactions to in-person conversations. Rice admitted it's a lot harder than they thought, but VKET officials encouraged the missionary to keep trying. They even offered assistance since Gospel Hope Japan is the first community to actively invite people into it with open arms. The team distributed stickers with QR codes and NFC cards, physical cards with microchips that transfer data wirelessly. These tools linked users directly to spiritual surveys, gospel presentations and the Gospel Hope Japan Discord server. Every person they engaged connected through friend requests or joined the Discord community, allowing conversations to continue after the event ended. One relationship during the week really stood out to Kane. The team went out in pairs to start gospel conversations. Kane and her partner met a young Japanese woman known online as "Vanilla" and some of her friends. "We met in person and had a really great interaction," Kane said. "Then, we connected with her in our Discord server. Through that, she was excited to hang out with us in VR in the IMB's Gospel Hope Cafe the very next night." New model of ministry? The Gospel Hope Cafe is a virtual world created by the IMB missionary team. For Kane, the experience highlighted a new model of ministry where virtual and physical spaces reinforce one another. This overlap is increasingly important in Japan, according to IMB Journeyman Alex McDonald. He's spent the past year using VR as part of his ministry to students. Whether on the train or at their home, students are always online. "If we want to reach the Japanese people or other people of the world, it has to start online," McDonald said. "Recently, I had a friend who told me that his only outlet for talking to people was actually talking to AI itself. People are looking for community and looking for hope." This is why Rice views virtual reality not as a temporary tool but as an ongoing ministry platform in Japan. The Gospel Hope Community Discord serves as a bridge connecting digital relationships with long-term spiritual conversations, whether those happen in VR or around a table in the real world. "The VR communities live both in VR and Discord," Rice said. "It's the bridge to getting this community to events for more than just VKET. It's a community platform that affords us shared space with Japanese that is designed for conversation, including faith discussions." After posting online and inviting people in person, the team hosted gatherings during VKET and afterward in the Gospel Hope Cafe. Here, not only did visitors hang out with the Floridians and IMB missionaries, but they could also access Bible resources in Japanese and English. Approximately 100 Japanese watched a gospel presentation, and 30 people engaged in gospel conversations. Looking ahead. Rice said the partnership between IMB missionaries, Japanese churches and Southern Baptist churches is what makes this work. "Virtual reality won't replace mission trips or sending missionaries long term." Rice said. "What it will do is help us have more gospel presence in the lives of Japanese or other people groups. Digital communities like VR and Discord increase the frequency we can engage with the lost. It makes us that much sharper and experienced when we are ministering on the field in person." EDITOR'S NOTE - This story was written by Matthew Banther and Sue Sprenkle and originally published by the International Mission Board.

FIRST-PERSON: Southern Baptists, Asian Baptist churches advance gospel in Singapore. When I think about what happens when Southern Baptists pray, give and go together, I am reminded that the gospel can advance farther than any single church could accomplish alone. That truth came to life for me this summer in Singapore, where members of Living Hope Church RVA, the English congregation of Grace Chinese Baptist Church of Richmond, partnered with the International Mission Board (IMB), Asian Baptist churches in Singapore and the Dover Baptist Association to proclaim Christ and strengthen local churches. Its team served alongside IMB missionaries and local congregations through evangelism, church training, women's ministry, community outreach and prayer walking. Singapore is known for its prosperity and global influence, yet it remains a strategic mission field. An IMB team leader reminded Biblical Recorder Inc that only about 19% of Singapore's population identifies as Christian, and the nation is home to 21 unreached people groups. In a city where people from around the world live and work, many still have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel. What made this trip especially meaningful was that Biblical Recorder Inc were not trying to launch its own ministry effort. Instead, Biblical Recorder Inc joined work already taking place through IMB missionaries and faithful local Asian Baptist churches. From the beginning, its goal was to come alongside what God was already doing, serve local believers, encourage them and learn from them. The trip reminded me of Paul's words about the believers' "partnership in the gospel" (Philippians 1:5, NIV). Gospel ministry was never meant to be a solo endeavor. It is a shared calling among believers united in Christ. Throughout its time in Singapore, I saw that partnership lived out through churches, missionaries and volunteers working together to make Christ known. Much of its outreach took place in parks, neighborhoods and other public gathering spaces, including Singapore's "hawker centres," or food courts. Biblical Recorder Inc met Singaporeans, migrant workers, international students and visitors from many nations. Every conversation was different, crossing cultural, linguistic and religious boundaries, yet each encounter pointed to the same reality: People need the hope found in Jesus Christ. By God's grace, its team participated in 127 gospel conversations, and 14 people professed faith in Christ. While those numbers are encouraging, what stays with me most are the individual stories. Every conversation represented a person made in God's image, and every profession of faith reflected God's work in a human heart. Biblical Recorder Inc were privileged to witness what God was doing through the faithful efforts of local believers and missionaries who continue serving long after short-term teams return home. Its ministry extended beyond evangelistic outreach. Biblical Recorder Inc partnered with local churches to provide workshops on evangelism, women's ministry and missions involvement. More than 300 people participated in training designed to strengthen local church ministry and equip believers to share their faith more effectively. Seeing churches invest in discipleship and leadership development reminds me that lasting mission impact comes through strengthening local congregations to reach their own communities. One of the highlights for me was watching my wife, Winnie Wang, current president of the Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia and a member of its mission team, help lead women's ministry outreach and training. Through these gatherings, women encouraged one another, engaged their communities and grew in their confidence as gospel witnesses. The trip also demonstrated the strength of Southern Baptist cooperation. Through the Cooperative Program, churches support IMB missionaries serving around the world, creating opportunities for direct involvement in global missions. The Dover Baptist Association also invested in its effort through a Partnership Missions Scholarship that helped offset evangelism and outreach expenses. These partnerships made its ministry possible and reminded me that shared generosity expands gospel opportunities. Perhaps my greatest takeaway was witnessing the faithfulness of Asian Baptist churches in Singapore. Local believers were already serving their communities, discipling new Christians, equipping leaders and sharing the gospel with their neighbors. Its role was not to replace their ministry but to strengthen it through partnership. I returned home with a deeper appreciation for the growing contribution of Asian Baptists to global missions and a renewed conviction that the church accomplishes its mission best when believers work together. Paul wrote, "We are God's fellow workers" (1 Corinthians 3:9, NIV). I saw that truth on display in Singapore through missionaries, local churches and ministry partners serving side by side. For Grace Chinese Baptist Church and Living Hope Church RVA, this trip was more than a short-term mission experience. It strengthened lasting relationships, deepened its appreciation for Asian Baptist ministry and renewed its commitment to the Great Commission. My prayer is that more Southern Baptist churches will discover the joy of gospel partnership. When Biblical Recorder Inc pray together, give together and serve together, lives are changed, churches are strengthened, and God alone receives the glory. (EDITOR'S NOTE - Carter Tan is English ministries pastor of Grace Chinese Baptist Church in Richmond, Va.)