Out of the Desolation Come Two New Births – Laura Popp

0 comments // Categories: Sharing // Tuesday April 5th, 2011

I`d like to share with you all an amazing story of how two Fukushima refugees came to know Christ. It all started with the JCF retreat in Nagano about two months ago. In my small group there was a seeker named Junko. I learned so much from listening to our missionaries Lana and Deborah Ruth explain the Gospel to her in English and Japanese. Junko was so open and eager to learn about Jesus, but at the end of the conference, she told us that she still wasn`t ready to accept him as her Lord and Savior. Then, after the earthquake hit and the reactor started leaking, Junko and her sister Hisai needed a place to escape. Our mutual friend Pearl, who shared a room with us at the retreat, sent out a mass mail to her friends in Kansai to see who could take the girls in. The Holy Spirit compelled right away to volunteer. I`d been asking for ways to help and I knew Junko. It was an answer to prayer, both Pearl`s and mine!   What a journey! Junko and Hisai`s first overnight bus was canceled due to the terrible roads and lack of gasoline. They had to drive to another town, all the time hoping they would not run out of gas because the lines at the pumps were 6 hours long with no guarantee there would still be some left by the time they got to the front. They made it to an old town where they got a bus to another city to get an overnight bus to Osaka. I met them at the station near the bus stop on Saturday morning. We actually arrived at exactly the same time, which was a miracle because their cell phones were dead. We might have never found each other! Junko is the secretary at an English language cram school, and is also certified to teach Kindergarten English. She speaks very good English; she knows a lot of vocabulary and is very good at getting her point across and expressing herself. Her sister`s English level is about where my Japanese is, so between the three of us, we were always able to understand each other. To my surprise and delight, the girls were quite the travelers. They wanted a little vacation to forget their troubles after the horror of the quake. I was able to get us some discount tickets for the long weekend, only 4,000 yen ($50) on all the Kintetsu trains for three days. So Saturday afternoon after they got their things settled, I took them to Tsu Yuki Jinga, or “the plumb blossom shrine” as it is often called. To my surprise and concern, they prayed at the front of the shrine. Oh, no! I thought. Did I make a mistake in bringing them here? But I prayed that God would help me turn it around. I asked them what they prayed for. “For our situation,” Junko said.  “And our families.” “Well, does it have any meaning for you?”  I asked.  “Do you think there is a god there who listens and fulfills your request?” They thought about that for quite awhile and discussed between themselves in Japanese. Junko giggled. “I guess not. It`s just a habit.” “So why do you do it?” I insisted. “If you want to pray about your situation, you should pray to a God who is real and who listens.” “Yes, I suppose you`re right,”  Junko agreed.  “Can we pray to God later?” “Of course!”  I said.  “You can pray to God anywhere, anytime.”  I wanted to ask if we could pray then, but realized it would be better not to pressure them.   The following morning I debated about where to take them for church. I felt the Spirit leading me to take them to Jesus Life House, a church I had never visited before except for their Saturday night street band, but I had heard all about it from my JCF skype Bible study friend Christy. When we first walked in, I was skeptical because it started off feeling like a big party. Everybody came up to the front, there was a loud rock band with lights and everybody jumped up and down like crazy. But all the worship songs were right in line with scripture and often quoted from newer, easy-to-understand translations in both Japanese and English. That week the sermon was about the earthquake, of course. The pastor talked about how much God loves Japan, how He cries to see it so devastated, and has great plans for bringing it back up. He briefly described how God loved Japan so much that He died for her. Then he invited people to know Jesus. Imagine my surprise when Junko and Hisai`s hands went up! At first I thought maybe it wasn`t real, that they were just moved by his emotional speech, but afterwards they were so excited to learn more that they totally forgot about the appointment they had made with a family friend that afternoon. We all went to Life Group together, which is the center of Jesus Life House. Life Group is kind of like Bible study and outreach and missions all together. And lo and behold, that week`s Life Group was about baptism! After studying what the Bible has to say about it for an hour, Junko and Hisai declared that they wanted to be baptized! I was almost in tears because I was so happy! It was at that point that they remembered their appointment with a family friend but asked if we could please come back the following week. “Mochiron, of course!”  I said. I was eager to come back myself, for I met a woman in the Life Group named Megumi (Blessing/Grace) who was from my town Nabari. She visited me the following day to talk about ways I could help my church in Nabari grow, and visited again on Tuesday to bring Junko and Hisai sweets. Now that`s hospitality! That`s what Christians should be about! On Wednesday Junko and Hisai decided to go to Osaka to apply to the government there for aid. They stayed there for a few days and then went on to Kyoto. I was worried that they wouldn`t come to church, but the next Sunday, there they were! After the service they stayed for prayer and some study again. They had an appointment with a Kyoto government official, so they weren`t able to come to the afternoon baptisms, but as I saw the five girls being baptized I prayed that soon it would be Junko and Hisai in that tank, sharing their testimonies and receiving new life in Christ! So let`s pray for Hisai and Junko, that they will continue to grow in their faith and be baptized soon! They have now obtained a free room in Kyoto but are still unsure about their futures, whether they will return to Fukushima or stay in Kansai. They are worried about their families since they refuse to evacuate. Hisai is married, so of course she wants to be with her husband. So let’s also pray that they can bring their family to Christ!