About: Tina V

Don’t ever think reaching out to one person won’t make a difference. Japan Reach started from one relationship. As a result, this one relationship has blossomed into many more beautiful relationships with the Japanese people. This one relationship began in 2017 when I went to the hospital in my city to visit a mom from Japan who was waiting for her daughter to recover from a terrible car accident. I can’t imagine the difficulties she was experiencing. She came to an unfamiliar place not knowing anyone or completely understanding the language to be with her suffering daughter. Surprisingly, I had no idea at the time this one relationship would lead to many more relationships with the Japanese people and others. Our focus from the very beginning of Japan Reach has been to reach out to the one. For this reason, […]

One of the things I have learned being around the Japanese people is they highly value their food and don’t overindulge in it. I heard they stop eating when they are around 80% full. Their portion sizes are not as large as Americans. They don’t eat as many sweets as we do or snack as much. This is at least what I have observed. They have a variety of different foods like fish, rice, miso soup, veggies, and noodles which are considered the pillars of the traditional Japanese meals. One meal I particularly love is Japanese curry. All the times I have been to Japan curry has been my most favorite meal. I am always on the lookout for curry restaurants and get excited when I spot one. Since going to Tokushima now RAMEN has taken the place of curry. […]

Sometimes when we go on mission trips we think it’s all about what we have to give. We may think we have the answers and don’t need anything ourselves. Missions is so much more than giving only. It’s receiving and learning as well. You may be surprised how much you can receive and learn from a culture so different from your own. The world we live in is made up of many cultures. God designed it this way and it’s beautiful. Japan Reach missions is about giving, receiving, and learning. This past week I gave some encouragement to someone in Japan. It was just what they needed to hear and it came at a perfect time. I love how the Holy Spirit nudges us to send a text, make a phone call, or write an email. The very same week […]

Welcome to my first blog for Japan Reach! I don’t consider myself a writer, but I hope in spite of my writing skills you will hear my love for Japan and the Japanese people. This past October we took a team of five to Japan. Most of what we accomplished on this trip was making connections in our new location Tokushima. We built relationships with seven different churches. At one of the churches our team and another church in the area helped pass out flyers to the surrounding area to announce their very first service. At another church we had a “Kentucky” barbecue and made sock puppets with the children. One of the churches had an all deaf service. We had the best time trying to communicate using Japanese sign language. I found out that I am much better communicating […]