Your Group — Your Assignment

You already know your team. You’ve been leading them, discipling them, and watching them grow. This trip is not about building a new group — it’s about taking your existing group to the next level.

Before you leave the U.S., you’ll have a virtual meeting with our staff to receive the “wireframe” for the trip — the skeleton plan that includes mandatory events, locations, and times. This is not a suggestion. It is the framework you will work within. You will then assign each participant their day of leadership — the specific date they will be in charge.

We partner with local Japanese churches, business-as-ministry organizations, and non-profits. The goal is mutual benefit: your group serves them, and they impart something of value — whether it’s in leadership, character, business, or servitude. These are not “mission projects.” They are relational, service-oriented partnerships that allow your students to engage with the local church and community in a meaningful way.

Your wireframe might look like this:

Your Assignment: Thursday 2/05
Mandatory Partner Meeting: 1:00 PM at [Local Japanese Church] — Focus: Leadership & Community
Mandatory Group Activity: 7:00 PM at Tokyo Skytree — Reflection & Fellowship

From there, you plan the rest of the day — serving the group’s best interest. You decide how to get there, what to do in between, how to manage the budget, and how to make it meaningful (and FUN).

Japan: Lead, Follow, Learn

When your student’s day arrives, they are the leader. Their job is to brief the group on the mission: where they’re going, what they’ll do, why it matters. They manage the budget and timeline. They balance the pressure of leadership with the reality of being in a foreign country — including the need to make it engaging, not just efficient. They are not expected to be perfect. They are expected to be prepared, decisive, and accountable.

But most of their time in Japan, they will be a follower. And that’s where they’ll learn the most. Good followership is not passive. It’s active, intentional, and demanding. Their job as a follower is to support the leader — not just by doing what they’re told, but by making their job easier, by catching mistakes before they happen, by stepping up when needed, and by holding themselves to the same standard of accountability. They will learn from the leader’s decisions — good and bad — and they will be expected to reflect on what they saw, what they did, and what they’ll do differently next time. This is not about waiting for their turn to lead. It’s about mastering the art of following — because great leaders are great followers first.

The Structure of Rotating Leadership

Group size: 6–15 students.
Trip duration: 14 days.
Each participant leads at least one day. When they’re the leader, they make the decisions. When they’re not, their job is to support the leader and grow as a follower. As the leader, their decisions will have consequences — good or bad. If the group misses a deadline, it’s on the leader. If they go over budget, it’s on the leader. Staff will not step in to fix problems unless safety or legality is at risk. We will let them fail, but we will not let them crash.

Daily Rhythm

Each day starts with a briefing that lasts about 30 minutes. They’ll go over the day’s mission, the budget, the mandatory events (times, locations), and their plan for how they’re going to get everything done. They’re expected to have thought this through before the briefing. They’re not there to wing it. They’re there to show up with a plan and explain it to the group.

At the end of the day, there’s a debriefing — also about 30 minutes. The leader presents what went well, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently next time. Followers each get one chance to speak — not to complain, but to share what they noticed, what they learned, and how they contributed.

They’ll also be given a structured journal to fill out during the day. It’s not a diary. It’s not for poetry. It’s a simple way to track what they’re learning — no fancy language, no pressure to sound deep. Just write what’s real.

Mandatory Reading

They will have mandatory pre-trip reading. These are not optional. They are designed to give them a mental framework for the challenges they’ll face — not to preach, not to convert, but to prepare.

They’ll read:
‍Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink — for leadership under pressure
‍Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson — for pathfinding, purpose, and courage

These books align with the moral and leadership philosophy of the program. They are not required to adopt any religious belief to participate or receive value from this course. The reading is meant to give them a baseline — something to hold onto when things get hard.

Budgets

It’s possible they’ll mess up their day — they might go over budget, miss a deadline, freeze when they’re supposed to make a decision, or just not know what to do. That’s not a reason to quit or feel like they’ve failed the program. This is designed to let them make mistakes and learn from them, not to punish them for not being perfect. They’re not here to impress anyone or get everything right the first time. They’re here to learn how to handle pressure, make decisions under stress, and grow from what doesn’t go well. If they put in the effort, they’ll walk away better than when they started — even if they didn’t get everything right during their day as leader.

Japan

They don’t need to learn Japanese to get through this program, and they’re not required to eat any specific foods or follow any strict cultural rules beyond basic respect — like bowing when it’s appropriate, which they’ll figure out as they go because being a guest in another country means paying attention to how things work there. The reason we run this program in Japan is because the systems work — trains run on time, rules are enforced, and when something goes wrong, there’s no room to blame someone else or make excuses. This environment forces them to focus on their own performance, not because we’re trying to be harsh, but because that’s how they learn to lead under pressure. They’ll see Japan, but not as a tourist snapping pictures — they’ll be moving through it, working in it, and dealing with its rhythms. They’ll learn, but not in a classroom with lectures — they’ll learn by doing, by failing, by figuring it out. It’s not about being comfortable. It’s about being capable.

The Outcome

By the end of the two weeks, they’ll have led, followed, failed, and succeeded under real pressure — not in a simulation, not in a classroom, but in the real world, in a foreign country, with real consequences. They’ll understand their own strengths and weaknesses better than they did before, not because someone told them, but because they lived it. They’ll have a network of other young men who went through the same thing — FEP Alumni — people they can call on for advice, collaboration, or just to talk about what they went through. They’ll have a mentor if they want to keep in touch — someone who saw them lead, saw them fail, and saw them grow. They’ll have a letter of recommendation if they need it — not a generic one, but one that speaks to their character, their decisions, and how they handled pressure. They’ll know themselves better — not in a vague, self-help way, but in a practical, real-world way — because they were tested, and they responded. And they’ll learn how to push themselves past their comfort zone — not because someone told them to, but because they had to, and they did. This isn’t about being comfortable. It’s about being capable. In today’s world, everything is designed to be easy. But they won’t always have a program or a person to push them. Learn to push yourself. Live up to your full potential.

Cost — What You’re Paying For

The program fee is custom quoted based on group size and trip duration. This covers everything you need while you’re in Japan — all international flights, domestic transportation, all meals, all activity fees, lodging accommodations, staff wages, program insurance, program material, and the costs of our partnerships with local organizations. Discretionary spending is not included. We offer payment plans if you need one — just let us know, and we’ll work with you to set up something that fits your situation. This isn’t a luxury trip. It’s not a vacation. It’s an investment in your ability to lead, to follow, and to handle pressure — and the price reflects what it actually costs to run a serious, structured, real-world program in Japan with real consequences.

Christian Values

Statement of Faith
The Far East Project is built upon the foundation of historic, orthodox Christianity. We believe these truths are not just academic, but are the very reality that shapes our lives, our leadership, and our mission. We expect all staff and participants to be in agreement with these core tenets of the faith.

‍1. The Trinity
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equal persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. He is the Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and the source of all truth and goodness.

‍2. God the Father
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of humanity, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

‍3. God the Son
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary and atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal, visible return to earth.

‍4. God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He regenerates the heart of the believer, indwells, guides, instructs, and empowers the believer for godly living and service.

‍5. The Bible
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. It is the supreme and final authority in faith and life, a sufficient guide for all we believe and how we are to live.

‍6. Humanity and Sin
We believe that humanity was created in the image of God, but that through Adam's disobedience, all inherited a sinful nature. This nature has alienated us from God and has left us unable to remedy our lost condition. All are therefore under just condemnation.

‍7. Salvation
We believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It is a free gift of God, not a result of human works. Those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ are declared righteous, forgiven, reconciled to God, and adopted into His family, secured for eternity.

‍8. The Church
We believe in the universal Church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the Head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship.

‍9. The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. These ordinances are to be observed by the church in obedience and as a public testimony of the Gospel, but they are not regarded as means of salvation.

‍10. Last Things
We believe in the personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust—the just to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, and the unjust to everlasting, conscious punishment.