The Presbyterian Church USA supports missionaries in many different countries, and each has a unique work that he or she is doing in the name of Christ. This is because each missionary's talents and abilities are different, and the needs of each country are so different.
Being a missionary in a highly developed, rich country like Japan is quite different from being a missionary in a poor country where people's physical needs are so desperate. Here in Japan, our ministries are not geared to community development, or helping the Japanese to grow enough food to keep from starving, or anything else like that. Instead, the needs we try to meet are mostly spiritual in nature, as we help the Church in Japan to witness to Christ in a way that the Japanese can understand. This means not only telling them about Jesus using their own language, but also to put the message in terms of their culture.
For instance, telling them that they are "sinners" who need "forgiveness" simply using the Japanese words that normally are used to translate those English words will likely not communicate the intended message. This is because they use the same word "tsumi" for both "sin" and "crime", and "yurushi" for both "forgiveness" and "permission". Thus, a typical Japanese will likely perceive a "sinner" oriented message as irrelevant since he's not a "criminal". Likewise, "forgiveness of sins" could even be interpreted as "permission for crimes"! Likewise, there are many other ways the message must be adapted to really be understood and seen as truly "Good News".
Within Japan, the work various missionaries do may be quite different from one another. Most PC(USA) missionaries currently in Japan work as teachers in church related schools (teaching in English or Japanese); a smaller number work in specialized ministries (for example, hospital chaplaincy or human rights), and some serve in evangelistic ministry directly with churches.
Tim Boyle