Rebeca Couto is serving alongside IMB missionaries while studying Japanese and supporting a Yokohama church plant.
A professional violinist from Portugal’s Azores islands is combining music and missionary service in Japan, according to an October 19 report from the International Mission Board.
Rebeca Couto serves as a global missionary partner alongside an IMB team in Yokohama. The arrangement allows missionaries supported by churches or organizations in their home countries to work with IMB personnel.
Couto began learning Japanese while studying music in Lisbon. Her interest in the language eventually developed into a desire to serve in Japan.
After advanced music studies and seminary training, she connected with the missionary-partner program.
In Japan, Couto joined the Euodia Ensemble, a Christian music ministry that performs concerts and seeks opportunities to share the Gospel. She is also studying Japanese and participating in a church plant serving young adults and families.
The local ministry builds relationships through activities including English practice, game nights and bread-making classes.
Couto described patient relationship-building as essential to the work. Her story illustrates how professional training can become part of missionary service alongside language learning and participation in a local congregation.
Featured-image credit: IMB, via Baptist Press.
