Shan Reed

Serving in Japan

Shan was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1969.  Her parents have served as models for her spiritual and professional development.  As a fourth grader, she began to understand that her parent's faith could not be transferred as her own, that she had to make that decision on her own.  In April of 1979 she was baptized and became a member of West Center Street Baptist Church in Madison, SD.  During Shan's junior high and senior high years at school, her family hosted nine Japanese exchange students.  Her interest in missions, specifically in Japan, grew through her broadened awareness of the needs overseas.

Shan is a graduate of of Bethel College in St. Paul, MN, with a B.A. in Elementary Education.  She was active in band, youth activities, college-aged Sunday school, and tutoring Japanese college students in English.  She has studied both Spanish and Japanese.  In 1996 she moved to Tsu, Japan to teach in the English as a second language program.

"The moment I stepped off the train in Tsu, Japan," says Shan, "I felt at home.  I did not know the language or the customs; however, I felt I was home."  After teaching in Japan for two years, she felt God affirmed her desire to go back as a career missionary.  She completed her Master's degree at the North American Baptist Seminary at the North American Baptist Seminary in Sioux Falls, SD, and returned to Japan to study the language.  She had 2 years of formal language training.

She moved to Osaka Fu, Japan as she seeks to evangelize and minister through a church plant in Izumi, Osaka, and Komyo Christian Church.

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