Who are we?
We are Jeff and Malia Walker, and our three kiddos are Mason, Kaili, and Elijah. We moved to Japan in early 2022 and live in Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo. We are originally from the Seattle area and our home church is Lighthouse Christian Church in Bellevue, WA. We are trained as a pharmacist and physical therapist but God called us to leave behind friends, family, and career to minister in Japan. Our sending organization is WorldVenture, known as JVENTURE in Japan. While this journey has been filled with insecurity, second-guessing, facing fears, and adjusting expectations, we are excited for all that God is doing in Japan!
Why move to Japan?
To share God's love and good news with the Japanese people.
To follow God's crazy plan for our family.
To "raise prayer" for Japan so that God may reveal His plans for others to serve the Japanese too.
Simply put, because God has called us.
Where in Japan are we?
We arrived in Spring 2022 and lived in Kanagawa prefecture, spending time in both Kawasaki and Yokohama. In Summer 2025 we moved to Tsukuba in Ibaraki prefecture about an hour north of Tokyo. It's a smaller city than Kawasaki or Yokohama, but it has a large international population owing largely to its university and many tech and engineering jobs. It's one of the few cities in Japan whose population is actually increasing, but it lacks the churches needed to reach the people, of whom less than 1% know Jesus.
What are we doing?
We believe that God is readying a great movement in Japan for such a time as this, but that leadership for this movement must come from within the next generation of Japanese believers, not foreigners like ourselves. Instead, God is calling us to seek out and invest in a few future leaders who will ultimately spread the good news of Jesus Christ to their own people in a uniquely Japanese way. We are part of a church partnership network that partners missionaries with Japanese pastors looking for help running ministries. Many Japanese pastors are stretched very thin and don't have much capacity to run other ministries. We hope to support and encourage Japanese pastors, disciple new believers, empower youth, shepherd families through life challenges, and train new leaders to do the same. We look forward to witnessing how God will use new leaders to strengthen the Japanese church, and the Japanese church to carry His truth and love to other cultures in that region.
Thank you for visiting our website and please comment or send us an email if you'd like more information about our ministries or have any other questions.
