Chris&Beth Steiner
Word of Life Japan Advisor
Chris served as the director of SYME Taiwan for 10 years. Then in 2020, Chris began serving as Interim Ministry Coordinator for Word of Life Japan. His expertise in English training and leading an SYME program provides guidance and creative ideas for our team.
Kelly&Kimberly Smith
Word of Life Japan Coordinator
Kelly, Kimberly and their two kids, Lucas & Lydia are full time missionaries with Word of Life. Kelly graduated from Word of Life Bible Institute (‘01-’02) and went on to get his bachelors degree from Liberty University in Business and Religion in 2007. Kimberly attended Word of Life Bible Institue in 2010 where she met Kelly. They got married in 2011 and together felt a burden for Japan and sharing Christ with the Japanese. After seeking God’s leading, they moved their family to Japan in 2018. Kelly and Kim studied Japanese at a language school in Japan 2018-2020. Kelly served as the SYME Director in 2020-2022 and in 2023 he became the Word of Life Coordinator.
Kazuaki&Mana Shiobara
Word of Life Japan Staff
Kazuaki and Mana Shiobara are missionaries with Word of Life Japan. Kazuaki graduated from the Word of Life Bible Institute in 2012 and Mana graduated in 2010. They both are graduates of Word of Life Japan’s SYME program, and served within the ministry as local staff for several years. In 2016, they were married and had their first daughter, Kotoha, in 2018. While serving as local staff with SYME, they enjoyed time with the students, mainly teaching English and counseling them in the ways of the Lord. They felt called to leave the ministry in 2019 to serve their family and local church, but then in 2024 God led them back to Word of Life as full-time missionaries. Through this ministry, they hope to share the love of Christ with many young people in Japan.
Takaaki&Lindsay Shirakawa
Word of Life Japan Staff
Takaaki and Lindsay Shirakawa are missionaries with Word of Life Japan. God called Takaaki to serve as a missionary to the youth of Japan based on his childhood experiences. He became a Christian in June 2019 through a missionary couple who graduated from the Word of Life Bible Institute. He met his wife, Lindsay, at his home church, and they were married in August 2022. After a year of biblical education at the Word of Life Bible Institute, he and Lindsay joined Word of Life Japan as missionaries.
Lindsay grew up in Pennsylvania and attended photography school until the Lord led her to study the Bible at the Word of Life Bible Institute. As she studied and grew in her faith, she saw the great need for the gospel in Japan. Through her prayers for the people of Japan, God burdened her heart for Japan. Lindsay joined Word of Life Japan in 2016 and they are now serving together as a missionary couple.
Jodi Davis
SYME Dean of English
Jodi Davis graduated from Word of Life Bible Institute (‘87) then earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Tennessee Temple University (’91) and a Masters in Administrative Leadership from Cairn University (’00) and a 60-hour TEFL certificate. After teaching middle school in New Jersey (’91-’94; ’99-’00; and ’05-’06), South Korea (’94-’99) and administrating in Japan (’00-’05), God opened the door in 2006 for her to return to Japan with Word of Life Fellowship, Inc. as the Dean of English in the SYME program. Jodi’s main responsibilities are training and orienting new teachers and staff, developing curriculum, scheduling for students and staff as well as teaching and counseling. She enjoys teaching and serving all ages.
Karina Thrush
Word of Life Japan Staff
God used her time as a student at the Bible Institute (‘10-’12) to develop a passion for cooking and discipleship. Having the opportunity to serve on the New York culinary staff for two years further developed her passion to use cooking as a means to build relationships with people.
She had the privilege of joining Word of Life SYME in 2014 as the cook. It is her goal to introduce everyone to a wide variety of cuisines while at the same time providing them with the comfort of their home cuisines. Not only does she love serving the staff and student body by providing for their physical needs, she also loves having the opportunity to disciple students and interns. From 2018-2020 she studied Japanese in preparation for serving full-time at SYME. Since finishing language school, she has had the opportunity to teach English classes at SYME as well.
Ruth Ota
Office Manager
After graduating from Kansai Gaidai University of Foreign Studies, she studied at SYME Taiwan from 2020-2021. During her studies at SYME, she was given the desire to work as a missionary support staff. In 2023, Ruth became a staff member of Word of Life Japan.