In Bulihan, in the heart of the Philippines, four young Japanese volunteers lived an experience that profoundly reshaped the way they see the world, others, and even themselves.
Guided by the Canossian Sisters and welcomed with remarkable warmth by the local community, they discovered the essence of VOICA: making Jesus known and loved through the quiet prophecy of love and hope — expressed more through small, genuine gestures than grand actions.
From this encounter emerged four distinct testimonies, all linked by the same thread: the experience of being welcomed, loved, and called to give.
Satoshi: “Here I discovered that I can be welcomed”
For Satoshi, volunteering in the Philippines — an experience he had already lived once and had chosen to repeat — became a revelation of a kind of welcome he had never encountered in Japan.
“I’ve always struggled in relationships at school and at work,” he admits, “but the time spent with the people of Bulihan and the VOICA members felt incredibly natural. I felt seen and accepted.”
A simple yet luminous experience: feeling at home, far from home.
Mari: “Poverty taught me gratitude and the joy of giving”
Mari speaks of encountering living conditions completely different from her own.
“I realised that a clean, stress-free environment is not something to be taken for granted,” she says.
From that realisation grew a deep sense of gratitude for what she has — and, even more unexpectedly, an insight:
“In Japan we have technology and comfort, but what we often lack is the warm humanity I found in the Philippines.”
The people of Bulihan welcomed her with kindness, attention, and sincere love.
“And when you are treated with love, you naturally want to return that love. I hope to hold onto this joy of giving freely.”
A Volunteer: “The happiness of being welcomed”
Another young volunteer summarises his experience in these words:
“Here I tasted the joy of being welcomed, and the richness that springs from such a welcome.”
The Canossian community revealed to him a world in which people receive both the great and the small with the same generous spirit:
a smile, a gentle word, a simple gesture — and yet capable of touching the heart.
“It showed me a possible world, one I can carry with me and share with others.”
Risa: An inner journey eight years in the making
The most articulated story is that of Risa, who first received an invitation to join VOICA eight years ago. At the time, she declined: too shy, too insecure, too frightened of the future.
During a retreat with a Canossian Sister, in a moment of tears and vulnerability, she confessed that she feared both her past and her future, and was clinging only to the present.
The Sister listened with gentleness and offered an image that would stay with her:
the parable of the potter and the clay.
“You are the clay,” she told her, “and God is the potter. He is shaping you with patience.”
The image both moved and unsettled her.
Years later, during the Lenten season of the Jubilee, an invitation to charity struck her deeply: walk alongside those in need.
The memory of VOICA resurfaced — but this time, something within her had changed.
“The fears I had then had softened. Now I felt the desire to go out into the world and serve.”
Her mission took her to the Philippines, where she discovered that being “prophetic witnesses of love and hope” does not require extraordinary actions, but presence: smiling, listening, offering what one can.
Each volunteer, she recalls, found their own way to serve:
some danced, others cooked, others played with children or supported classroom activities.
“I was amazed by how open, welcoming, and loving everyone was. Young and old, introverts and extroverts, rich and poor — each person gave us something unique.”
Through simple gestures shared between Japanese and Filipino volunteers, Risa discovered that small acts of love create bonds that endure.
“My participation in VOICA was a continual letting-myself-be-shaped by God through others. I want to learn, more and more, to ‘be the clay’ — to truly live according to the precept of love.”
A bridge between Japan and the Philippines
The stories of these four young people reveal one truth:
VOICA is not merely a mission — it is an encounter.
An encounter that welcomes, transforms, frees, and strengthens.
An encounter that makes the quiet prophecy of love and hope not only possible, but visible.
An encounter that continues long after the volunteers return home, as the desire to build a gentler world grows within them.
