6 April 2014
Dear Phyllis,
We can take off our backpacks and sit
down to rest reflecting that we are one weeks march closer to that
great City where Jesus is waiting. Praise God it isn't far from here.
So many of my dear friends have made it safely there that I can
almost hear their voices from here. Oh what will it be like to sit
down by that River of Life that flows from the Throne of God and have
lunch with our friend again! But tomorrow we will have to shoulder
our backpacks again and march on.
Last week was a good one in that we
finished a huge bed project on time. We had ten beds to make by the
end of March. A week ago Friday we got the last one put together and
sanded, and Monday we got two coats of varnish on it. Pastor Et came
by Tuesday to pick up all the finished beds. It was a joy to load
them in his truck but the fellowship with him was the highlight. I
have mentioned him in two previous letters. He is the brother that
the Lord told to marry an HIV sister 15 years ago. That is the most
courageous thing I have ever heard of, and he is about the happiest
married man I have ever met. But his wife now has cancer. I asked him
how she is doing. He was very encouraged. He said the doctors are
only giving her 30% chance of survival. Then he added, “That gives
God 70% chance for a miracle.” For a few minutes he spoke to my
Lisu partner, John, and I about marriage. He said that marriage is
not something you assume but must be cultivated every day. Then he
explained, “The key word is 'supply' – what you bring to a
marriage – not what you get from a marriage.” I thought that was
extremely well put. John was tremendously impressed.
In between job we ran out of lumber for
two days and decided to fill in the time by making two pulpits. It
takes nearly ten boards to make one bed and we only had two boards in
the shop – just enough for the pulpits. A brother had called me
that morning asking me to make him a pulpit. At first I refused but
then decided that we had enough lumber to make one for him and a
blank day of time. He was deeply grateful. John was blown away with
the design and said his church needed one also. So the next day we
made one for him. It is beautiful.
It has been some time since I have
written any testimonies and would like to share one of the more
amazing works of God that I have seen. I know that I have told you
this one before but the testimony of Niki is a conspicuou acts of God
that can be well repeated.
In 1982 the Russians shot down Korean
Airline Flight 007 just off the coast of Japan. Of the 48 Japanese
passengers on board that flight there was a man who lived in our
neighborhood in Ikoma. His wife was a Christian, and when I learned
that she had lost her husband in that plane I had a burden to step
forward to help her. I had never met her and learned that she was a
member of a church in Nara, but sometimes her children went to our
neighborhood church. I asked the girl working with children to
introduce me to Mrs Matsuoka. A week later I was speaking in that
church and Yumi chan told me that a widow woman had been in church
that morning. The next week she pointed her pointed out to me and I
spoke to that lady inviting her to come to our house for supper
Tuesday night. When she showed up I was surprised that it was Mrs.
Matsuoka but a different widow. But she told one of the most amazing
testimonies I had ever heard.
Niki san was not a Christian and had
lost her husband five years previously. She had a happy marriage but
they were unable to have children. After six years of marriage,
fortunately she did conceive and had a wonderful little son. It is
common for Japanese women to return to their home for child birth to
be near their mom; and Niki had returned to Ikoma for her delivery. A
month later her husband called to say that he was coming the next day
to pick her up and their new baby. Niki had the one month baby check
at the hospital in Osaka and her husband said he would come to meet
them there. Niki asked if he was sick. He said no but there was a
problem he wanted to have checked at a hospital and would be a good
place to meet.
They had a blessed two weeks together,
but then the hospital notified her husband that the result of his
check was not good and for him to come in for more treatment. Two
weeks later he was dead. Niki was shattered. After waiting for six
years she had one month of happy family life and her husband was
snuffed out.
With her world collapsed, Niki returned
back to Ikoma to live with her family, and have her mother take care
of the baby so she could go to work. Then two years later the second
disaster struck. Her mother died of cancer. Here she was a single
mother with a two year old son and no one to take care of him so she
could work. Fortunately there was a Christian woman living in that
neighborhood who heard of her problem and stepped forward offering to
take of Ta chan so she could continue working. Niki was deeply
grateful for the kindness of this lady, but had no interest in her
religion. Simply out of “giri” (obligation for a favor) she did
consent to go with her to church one time.
Ohaka maeri (visiting graves) is a big
thing for Buddhists. Buddhism teaches that it is important that
relatives visit the grave of the deceased once a year on the
anniversary of their death. Her husbands home was in Wakayama and
Niki had to return to Wakayama each year for the one year grave
visit. Niki had an older sister who lived in Wakayama who suggested
that she stay with them for a night when she was down there. The
first night she was in their home they explained to her that they had
become Christian. Niki thought there was no problem with that.
Religion was religion and if they liked Kirisuto kyo (Christianity),
that was no problem with her.
The next year Niki went back to
Wakayama for the annual ohaka maeri and stayed with her sister and
husband again. But this time it was different. Her brother-in-law was
a disgusting man. Shockingly he was transformed. Niki was stunned
wondering, “What in the world had gotten into this man to make him
so different? Now he was wonderful.”. That night they were going
to have a cell meeting in their home and invited Niki to join them in
this Christian meeting if she carede to. That night was the turning
point of Niki's life.
I asked her, “What kind of a meeting
was it?” She said it was nothing she could describe. There was no
pastor or leader. There were about a dozen people who sat in the
living room and read the Bible around in a circle. I asked, “What
were they reading?” Niki said it was the story about some man in
the Bible who had died and Jesus brought him back to life (Jn. 11).
But then she added, “I was embarrassed. I thought the story was
about me and they were reading all about my life.” Then she went
on, “Please don't laugh at me. I know this is crazy, but when they
got to the place were Jesus stood in front of th grave and said,
'Take ye away the stone', I thought He was speaking to me. It was
like my heart was the grave and there was a large stone in front of
it. If I took away the stone, life would come out of that grave.”
(That was the number one message that
Johnathon Goforth preached in Manchuria in 1905 that brought
thousands to the Lord.)
Two years before then Niki's younger
sister had been married and had a blessed marriage. Niki was
resentful. She thought, “It's not fair. I have had such a hard time
and my younger sister has a happy marriage.” For two years she had
not spoken to her sister even though they lived in the same house.
The folks in Wakayama had given her two books and encouraged her to
go to church in Ikoma. The next Sunday she had every reason why she
shouldn't go but amazed herself when she found herself sitting in
church in Ikoma. Her son, Ta chan, was acting up and she spent most
of the service in the foyer of the church where she could listen, and
yet Ta chan not be a distraction. There was some gaijin (foreigner)
speaking about a fountain. The speaker said there are many different
fountains in the world and some were used for drinking. Niki said in
her heart, “I am thirsty and want to drink.” (That was me
speaking from Zech. 13:1.) The next week Niki went back to church
again, but this time there was a different speaker. He was Japanese.
That was Nakaya sensei the pastor. But after the service the gaijin
who had spoken the previous week spoke to her inviting her to come to
his house for supper.
About at this point in her testimony,
Ta chan, had to go to the bathroom. While she was gone Rosemary was
exploding and said we must give this girl a book, and put our
favorite book, Hikari Yo Are, on the table. When Niki came back from
the bathroom and saw the book on the table, she gasped, “That is
the book I received in Wakayama”. Then she said there was a
beautiful prayer written in the back of that book that she had copied
to carry in her purse. It was an outstanding salvation prayer written
by Gotthold Beck. I asked her, “Have you prayed that prayer?”
“Yes everyday. I memorized it and pray it everyday.” I
exclaimed, “Congratulations! You are born-again.” She burst into
tears.
That was 32 years ago. Niki shimai
(sister) has been outstanding. From the moment she burst into rears
in our living room she has always been a tremendous follower of
Jesus. She was soon baptized in Megumi Kyokai (Grace Church) and has
been one of the most stalwart members ever since. I haven't seen her
in 25 years but friends tell me she has never slowed down. In
obedience to the Lord to take away the stone, she apologized to her
sister for the resentment that she had held so bitterly, and became
close friends. But her sister in Wakayama was the biggest person in
her life. She bought herself a good chair and placed it right beside
the telephone along with her Bible. Every night she would call her
sister in Wakayama and fellowship in Christ for an hour.
There are some people like this in this
earth. The only thing you can say is that they are the chosen ones of
God. You can't trace it to any certain person who is instrumental for
the persons conversion. It is a series of events and many different
people. In Niki sans case it is the Christian lady who first offered
to take care of Ta chan so Niki could go to work. Then it was several
people in Wakayama – her sister, her bother-in-law, the person who
gave her the book and encouraged her to go to church in Ikoma. I
played a minor role in that it was partially through my message on
Zech. 13:1; although what the Lord said to her was much different
than the main thrust of that message. It was because of the tragedy
of the Russians shooting down KAL 007 and my desire to help Mrs.
Matsuoka that I first spoke to Niki san. It was Gotthold Beck and
the folks in Kichijoji who had put together that enormously
successful book, Hikari Yo Are. And it has been Nakaya sensei who has
been her pastor for 32 years. This is another illustration of life
coming out of death. It was because her husband died that the Lord
used all those event to direct her path to enter into eternal life.
At the time all these event were
unfolding no one knew the significance of the contribution they were
making. But the ultimate fabric that God wove together was a
beautiful rejoicing child of God who has made up another portion of
the Body of Christ.
See you at the rest area next week.
Gambarimasho (Let's give it our best shot);
bill
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