Rebeca Couto moved from one volcanic archipelago to another, leaving Portugal’s Azores islands to anchor her life in Japan. The percentage of evangelical Christians in the Azores and Japan is similar, with both populations under 1%.
Couto is a fourth-generation Christian, a rarity on the small islands. She is one of few, if any, believers in the Azores with such a long spiritual lineage. This rich legacy shaped her and prepared her for ministry.
“I’ve always understood the Great Commission as a call for all believers and all disciples of Christ to be missionaries, wherever they are, whatever they’re doing, and whatever God has equipped them with,” Couto said.
Couto’s great-grandfather became a Christian through the witness of missionaries from the United Kingdom. Later, missionaries from the Foreign Mission Board, now the International Mission Board, started the first Baptist work in the Azores by planting an English-speaking church near an American military base. A Baptist Brazilian couple planted a Portuguese-speaking church, which became the congregation where Couto grew up and was commissioned as a missionary.
Ministry has been passed down through the generations of her family. Couto’s father has pastored for 20 years, and both of her parents have been involved in ministry for most of their lives.
Couto now serves in Japan as a global missionary partner, a missionary who is financially supported by a sending church or organization in their home country and serves with IMB teams. Close to 400 GMPs currently serve on IMB teams around the world.
Language learning
Couto is immersed in language study in Yokohama, Japan. She had a head start before she even arrived. After graduating from high school, Couto moved from the Azores to Lisbon to pursue a degree in music. She spent hours on public transportation and wanted a challenge to pass the time. She decided to study Japanese because she thought it sounded beautiful.
At the time, she had no intention of becoming a missionary in the traditional sense. However, the more she learned about the language and the culture, her burden for the lost grew. She began researching Christianity in Japan.
“I understood how bleak the scenario was, and how much the country needed Jesus. I struggled with that calling because the doors were closed, and it didn’t seem possible to come to Japan for a myriad of reasons,” Couto said.
After finishing master’s degrees in music and violin performance, along with a seminary degree, Couto was considering pursuing a Ph.D. or returning to seminary when her seminary professors, IMB missionaries Jonathan and Bethany Sharp, contacted her about serving as a missionary in Japan. They introduced her to the GMP program and invited her to attend a missions immersion school they piloted.
Music to their ears
As a professional violinist, Couto brought her violin to Japan, unsure of what opportunities existed, but she knew her call to the mission field somehow involved her gifting.
“I see myself as having been called to serve through music. I never even conceived doing missions while excluding the violin entirely,” Couto said.
She continued, “Music is such a universal way to connect with people, and it’s so intuitive to pair that with the gospel and with God’s message to people’s hearts.”
While she knew the Lord would somehow open a door for her to use the violin for Kingdom work, she was at peace with the possibility that, for a season, she may not be as active in music. That, however, was not the case.
Three professional classical musicians attend the church Couto attends in Yokohama, which is rare, and she calls it “miraculous.” In Europe, she never attended a church with that many professional musicians, so on an island where the evangelical population is small, it seems to her to be truly God-ordained.
She was immediately welcomed and invited to join the Euodia Ensemble, an evangelical music ministry of professional musicians in Japan with around 300 members who live across the nation. The ensemble hosts concerts and performs in orchestra halls in Tokyo and Osaka with the goal of blessing the community, sharing the gospel and making connections.
Couto was impacted by a similar ministry, Crescendo International, a global network of Christian musicians. She never expected to find something similar in Japan, where less than 1% of the population are Christian and professional classical musicians who are Christians are even more exceptional.
Looking back, she is thankful for God’s timing. Moving overseas earlier may have meant sacrificing growth as a musician. Waiting meant Couto accomplished an autonomous and advanced level where she could improve without needing a teacher’s guidance.
Couto will play in one of the Euodia Ensemble’s main concerts next year.
Growing the church
While much of her time is devoted to language study, Couto is serving in a church plant in a fast-growing neighborhood in Yokohama, with young adults and young families. The church plant had its first service one week before Couto arrived.
A missions team hosts English practices, game nights and a bread-making class led by a Japanese baker.
Couto noted that growth in Japan often happens slowly. By Western church multiplication expectations, the work feels slow, she said. But it’s important to build a healthy reputation so new churches aren’t seen as cults, which are very prevalent in Japan. The church has focused on having a physical place to meet, a church name and building community and connections — imperative first steps to building trust.
Members of the founding church attend the church plant, bringing their friends and bolstering the reputation, which earns the trust of the local community.
The founding church is unusually large by Japanese standards, with somewhere between 150 and 180 members who worship in three services.
Couto has been ministering alongside Japanese around her age.
“It’s beautiful. The generation I’m working with, which is my generation, I witness in them a very passionate heart to see the kingdom grow, to see the kingdom spread, to see the church multiply and be fruitful,” she said.
If you would like to connect with Rebeca and stay informed about her work, please send an email to IMB’s Connections Center at info@imb.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Tessa Sanchez and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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