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Unusual Witnessing Experiences

Discussion in 'Evangelism, Missions & Witnessing' started by John of Japan, Aug 20, 2007.

  1. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    The lady who came to our church Sunday evening wanting to learn about happiness reminded me of a similar case years ago in Yokohama.

    Miss Nakajima got one of our tracts and called me. "Pastor, may I meet you? I need counseling," she said. So we made an appointment and prayed for God to lead and help.

    She turned out to be a sweet, pretty, lovely young lady of 26, very worried about her life. At the counseling appointment she got right to the point. "I really want to get married but don't have any prospects!"

    My answer was, "Here is your problem. You think getting married will bring you happiness, but there is no guarantee of that. I'm sure you've seen married couples that were not happy." She immediately got the point and nodded. I went on. "What you need is Jesus Christ as your Savior. He'll come into your heart, cleanse you of your sin and save you. Then you will have true peace and joy in your heart!"

    It took no time at all for her to be saved that evening, and she turned into a faithful, joyful Christian. Shortly after I baptized her and we really began to enjoy having her around.

    However, here is the rest of the story. At the time we had only three Japanese coming to prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings: Miss Nakajima and two young single twin men. One day Miss Nakajima came to us and said sadly that she had to quit our church and go somewhere else. Shocked, I asked her why! It turned out that one of the young twins had proposed to her and she had turned him down. Well, in Japanese terms she had caused him a great loss of face, and felt she couldn't be around to remind him of that in our small Japanese church.

    Miss Nakajima went to another church nearby, and we sadly missed her. One day several years later we were finishing up after church, and there came a knock on the door. It was Miss Nakajima (still single but happy) and her pastor. She had come to say thank you for leading her to Christ! She was happy in her church, played the piano, taught Sunday School and sang special numbers. It was so good to see her again, and we look forward to fellowshipping with her in Heaven someday! :type:
     
  2. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    On March 20, 1995, the Subway Sarin Incident took place, in which the Aum cult terrorists released sarin gas in the Tokyo subways and killed 12, injured 50 and caused temporary sight problems to 1000's of others. The very next day I traveled through Tokyo on the train system to teach at the Grace Baptist Bible School in Tama City. On the way back to Yokohama, I just missed being caught by another incident which appeared to be a failed attempt by the Aum terrorists.

    Even before that, the Aum leader, Shoko Asahara, had commanded Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife and their 1-year-old son and his family to be murdered on Nov. 4, 1989. Sakamoto was a young Yokohama lawyer who was involved in a lawsuit against Aum. The family disappeared and their bodies were not found for quite some time as I recall.

    Shortly after the lawyer's family disappeared I was out doing evangelism in a neighborhood only a couple of kilometers from our house when I happened on a strange scene. There was a small apartment building with two policemen standing guard outside of it. I immediately remembered the news accounts and realized that this was the very apartment that young family lived in. If they had lived there long, I am sure I gave them tracts at some time or other, or witnessed to them. That day I gave gospel tracts to both of the policemen, who accepted them graciously.

    Sometime before the Aum terrorist attack I was down in Tokyo on business, and saw a strange sight outside of the Shinjuku train station, the busiest station in the world. A young man wearing an elephant head hat was passing out literature! The elephant hat was because of the Hindu influence in this vicious cult. I showed some interest, and when I got his leaflet I saw that it was an invitation to an Aum meeting. When I offered a tract about Jesus Christ and His wonderful salvation, the cultist turned his back on me. He will no doubt be reminded of that act at the Great White Throne Judgment if he never trusts Christ as Savior.

    Believe it or not, Aum founder Asahara claimed to be Christ. I was once in a bookstore and saw a book by him, with a picture of him on the cover posing as Christ, with a crown of thorns on his head. This antichrist has been sentenced to death by the Japanese courts, and has lost the first appeal. May the sentence be carried out soon so that justice is done for those who lost their lives or had their health destroyed by Aum's wicked terrorist act.
     
  3. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Have you ever heard of the yakuza? They are the Japanese answer to the mafia. You can tell who they are by the fancy tattoos they have, although the young people in Japan nowadays are starting to get tattoos, too.

    At any rate, one day we were in a traffic jam on the tollway--something that happens quite often in Japan--headed out to Mt. Fuji with my uncle and aunt, visiting from the States. I noticed in my rearview mirror a sports car coming up on the shoulder--cheating, the rascal! Every single car was moving over to give him enough room to get through. "Those wimps," I thought. "I'm not moving over." But I did, as soon as he got close enough for me to see the tattoo on his arm! But I digress.

    We have some dear friends who are missionaries down near Tokyo. Early in their career, Bro. and Mrs. C. were planting a church down in Tokyo. Brother C. wanted to rent a hall for some children's meetings, but the man wasn't going to rent to a gaijin, a foreigner. So, Bro. C. took rookie missionary Bro. K. with him to see the man.

    Bro. C. gave Bro. K. some instructions before they got there: "When I give you the high sign, just casually lean on the counter with your right arm." Bro. K. was bewildered, but agreed. Sure enough, the guy wasn't going to give in and rent to the gaijin, so Bro. C. gave the high sign, and Bro. K. casually leaned up on the counter with his right arm--and thus revealed that tattoo he had gotten when he was in the U. S. Navy!

    The poor Japanese man fell all over himself to rent out the hall. The Gospel was preached, kids were saved and everyone was happy! :laugh:
     
  4. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    I'll never forget stopping to witness to an old man in his garden. I asked him, "Aren't you concerned about sin and death?" He told me that he had fought in WW2 on the Russian front in Manchuria. He was a tanker, and Japanese tanks were notably thin-armored, and one shell could take out a tank. For some reason his tank stopped suddenly, just in time to avoid a Russian shell, which exploded just in front of his tank. He told me, "I have looked death in the eye, and am not afraid of it. As for sin, I sinned in the war, and did terrible things. My country sinned and did terrible things. But I do not repent." He went back to his gardening, and I went around the corner and wept. Someday God will be glorified before his eyes, and he will bow the knee before Christ before being cast into the lake of fire.
     
  5. pinoybaptist

    pinoybaptist Active Member
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    Back in the early 90's in the Philippines we used to go to this community up in the hills and do door-to-door witnessing, and sometimes we witnessed right there in the little huts that farmers use to take a break from the noonday heat right in the middle of rice paddies.

    On such an occassion, I was witnessing to an older man.

    He replied, "I do not want to be a Christian, thank you."
    When I asked why, he said, "Well, I've gone to that Baptist church in town many times, just being curious about what the difference is between a Roman Catholic, and being Baptist."
    "There isn't much. Both require that you obey the ten commandments, and do unto others as you would others do unto you, and such."
    "Now, let me ask you this. Suppose we were at war right now with the Japanese, and I was a guerilla, and suppose I was walking down this trail from the guerilla camp, and met a patrol of Japanese soldiers. Suppose they slapped and kicked me around like they love doing, to get me to confess that I am a guerilla. If I confess, they will want me to lead them to the camp, or they can kill me right here, either way, there will be death.
    If I say I am not a guerilla, then I sinned against God, because Christianity says, "thou shalt not bear false witness", which the Roman Catholics also say.
    What would you do in my place ? So, I don't want to be a Christian."

    That was an unusual witnessing experience to me, because that older gentleman spoke calmly, but firmly, while we were eating rice cake and drinking tea which he offered to me before we started speaking about Christianity, and Christ.

    My other experiences have all been usual: doors slammed to our faces, tracts torn and thrown at us, people spitting when we pass by, death threats, rocks on the roof, poop, puke, or urine thrown at us.

    Nothing unusual in those.
     
  6. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Thanks, pinoybaptist. This is definately an unusual experience. :thumbs: I've never heard an excuse like that before.

    Now I too have had doors slammed, tracts thrown, been spit at, etc. But I've never had a death threat before. Please tell us about that! :thumbs:

    I recall a man once pulled a gun on my grandfather and threatened to kill him, and Granddad laughed in his face. "You can't scare me with Heaven," he said! :saint:
     
  7. mima

    mima New Member

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    Here is one that happened just yesterday. We are presently witnessing in a district State fair out on the fairgrounds besides the entrance road to the fair. Yesterday is I was witnessing to a man and then suddenly came under conviction, and a very serious, and ask me to pray with him. I did so and as I did so there was a lady standing close by observing all of this. And after we finished the Lady step forward and said to me, I would like to hear your message. And as I began witnessing to her, very quickly she agreed and asked me what must I do to receive assurance of eternal life? As we pray together for her salvation she began to uncontrollably weep.
    All of the above took place while working with and training a new soulwinner. After the Lady left the trainee said to me, I have never seen anything like that, oh I said it happens sometimes. Then I ask the trainee do you have any idea why it happened at this particular time(he had been training only two hours at this time)? No I do not he said. Well I said believe it or not, I think this particular deep conversion took place for your benefit(the trainees benefit) in order that the Holy Spirit would show you how effective verbal one-on-one witnessing is.
    Now the trainee becomes emotional and has to excuse himself for a few minutes, other than that we had a very calm day. We prayed yesterday with over 40 people.
     
  8. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Amen, mima! The Holy Spirit's power is essential for evangelism. As the old hymn says, "All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down."
     
  9. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Barbara, a black woman, was my assistant on a welding machine called a “panel welder,” which spot-welded a set of wires into a rectangular shape. Barbara’s job was to lay the wires in the right arrangement in a ‘jig,’ which I then pushed through the machine while pressing a foot pedal to operate it. All through my years at Tennessee Temple College I did this type of work to pay my bills.

    We got along well for several months. Barbara spoke often of her little girl, who loved to go to Sunday school and asked Mommy to go with her. Barbara would not go to church, but often watched Dr. Jerry Falwell’s program on television. I spoke to her of my Savior, and prayed that she would accept Him.

    One day Barbara came to work in a strange mood. She liked to talk (as most women do!) but that day she was unusually silent. Finally, she blurted out, “Is it wrong to have bad feelings in your heart about someone?”

    It was a perfect opportunity to tell her of the peace that comes when you trust Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and of how you can love even your enemies when Christ rules your heart. I quoted to Barbara the wonderful words of Jesus, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

    After awhile Russell, the “lead man” in the department (next under the foreman), came to me and said, “John, come help me work on this machine.” We went to another welding machine and began to work on it. As we worked, the plant superintendent and the foreman went over to Barbara, and left with her after a moment of conversation. Then Russell told me the startling news.

    “Barbara has a .32 pistol in her purse. She was planning to shoot a man today!” A man in that factory had made wicked advances toward Barbara, and when refused, had spread ugly stories about her. In revenge, Barbara planned to shoot her tormentor!

    To this day, I do not know whether or not Barbara ever accepted Christ. I never saw her again, nor did I hear what happened to her except that she was fired from the job. But how sobered I was when I found out what was in her heart that day. What if I had not told her of the peace of Jesus Christ when the opportunity came?

    The responsibility of the Christian is great. We are the light of the world. Lives may hang in the balance sometimes if we don’t witness, and eternal souls always.


    From The Making of a Soul Winner, by John R. Himes (Sword of the Lord, 1979). See the rest of the book on our website.
     
  10. pinoybaptist

    pinoybaptist Active Member
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    The Death Threat:

    I was actually already pastoring a small Baptist church in one of the depressed areas in Quezon City, one of the cities making up Metro Manila, a mile or so at the back of the National Assembly building.
    We started this church back in 1995, organized in 1996.
    The very first converts were four men. Rough, Roman Catholic, drinking, smoking, gambling, wife-beating men.

    Of course, when they were converted, all the booze and the smokes, and the cards, and the wife-beating they left buried under the waters of baptism, and also the "Saturday night out with the boys."

    One of our neighbors, let's call him "R", a brother-in-law of one of the first converts, was so mad and upset at the fact that the four men no longer drank with them, or roamed around the neighborhood with them, and most upsetting of all to him, they turned their backs on their religion, and now they talked about nothing but Jesus, Bible, heaven, sin, hell, love, forgiveness, faith.

    He used to be their "de facto" leader. Now, these guys need to ask that fat pastor's "opinion" on what to do, and spent most of their time with him.

    Thrice he confronted me and warned me not to turn folks away from Catholicism, and I said I never do, it's all up to them, I just read the Bible, answer questions from the Bible, and he is as welcome as everyone else to come into church and listen to God's Word, just like his own wife and children are doing. You see, his wife and the wife of "A", one of the four guys (by that time deacons), were sisters, and he was literally a next door neighbor of the church.

    His and A's house are separated by just plywood, and the same situation exists between the church building and A's house.

    One of his teenage sons was by that time a regular attendee (later on baptized), and loves to go out witnessing to other drug-addicted gang member friends of his.

    That drove him nuts, I tells ya ! If looks could kill, I would have been dead a long time ago. Still, I witnessed to him, and his son witnessed to him.

    Now, before I left for the states two incidents happened.

    The church is accessible four ways from the main road where you got off a passenger vehicle.

    You either walked directly into an unlit sidestreet you got off on, walked 20 meters level, and then 20 meters uphill, and turned right into a ten meter unlit alley, to a basketball court, and left to the church.

    The second is you get off the passenger vehicle's last stop, walked about 100 meters, turned left 20 meters uphill past the alley, and come in thru a broken fence of an empty lot, to the back of a small room the members built for me and where I lived, attached to the church building.

    The third is by going around thru a side street, a much longer route, from the passenger terminal, and ending up at the same broken fence.

    The second to the last week of my pastorate (I was about to leave for the States, and A, who had been going to Bible school, was taking my place), I came home from visiting my mom, and was about to get off that unlit street, when I suddenly felt the urge to get off instead at the last stop and take the long route.

    The next morning, a Saturday, R's wife was speaking in whispers to her sister, and I knew they were talking about me. You know how two people are whispering to each other, you walk in, and the atmosphere seems to change ?

    The same thing happened the next week.

    I came home from fellowshipping with some pastors, and for some reason, instead of walking uphill, I turned back to the main street, walked towards the passenger vehicle's last stop, and used the same roundabout route.

    The next morning, my last Friday at the church, the same whispering conversation. I finally couldn't hold back my curiousity and asked them, "have I done anything wrong" ?

    The women just started crying, not wailing, just tears flowing down, and hugged me, and called A. A explained that he just learned that morning that R had waited twice for me in ambush, at the darkest spot of the unlit street, right before you walk uphill. He had a gun, and a jungle knife,

    And he was not drunk. He had every intention to kill.

    At first, the thug in me kicked in. I wanted to get my hands around the guy's throat, and see what stuff he really had in him, but, then, remembering how on those same two days, I didn't get off where I normally do (being a fat lazy guy afraid of a hundred meter walk), I felt like cold, freezing water was thrown at me, and instead retired to the room and just prayed and thanked God for taking care of me, and prayed for the guy who wanted so much to hurt me.

    There is a portion of Scripture I would like to share at this point:


    The deacons and A went and talked with R, who, of course, denied everything, and they persuaded him to leave me alone, since I am about to leave, anyway. He went and vacationed at his mom's place.

    The next day, Saturday, the church threw a farewall dinner at one of the members' houses, I gave my last sermon that Sunday, and that Thursday was on the plane with my son bound for the land of the free, and the home of the brave, where we landed first at Minneapolis, MN (never seen so many Americans of all sizes, colors, and shapes) at exactly 1 pm of November 27, 1997, the same Thursday we left Manila, Thanksgiving Day.

    That night my son and I ate our first Turkey, ever.

    I since learned that R has stopped persecuting the church, some of his family have drifted away, his wife is an off/on attendee, but his son, and a daughter, were still regular attendees and members of the church.
     
    #50 pinoybaptist, Sep 13, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 13, 2007
  11. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Thanks so much for posting this, pinoybaptist! It's a thrill how God changed the hearts and lives of those men, and how He took special care of you. Praise the Lord! :godisgood:
     
  12. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    “YOU BETTER NOT LAUGH!”

    As I walked up to the car, I saw a man standing next to it, and a set of legs poking out from under it. The father was giving his son Michael instructions on how to change the oil.

    As soon as I mentioned the Gospel to the father, I was rebuffed. “I don’t want that,” he sneered, and then went inside the house. Out from under the car came his sixteen-year-old son, whose attitude was totally different.

    I held out my hand to Michael to shake, but he grinned as he showed me the oil all over his hands. “I’d sure like to hear what you’ve got to say,” he said.

    It was easy to get Michael to admit he was a sinner. “Sure, I’ve been a thief and a lot of other rotten things,” he said soberly.

    Tears came to his eyes as I told him the sweet story of how Christ died for our sins. Michael turned and shook his fist in the face of his friend Terry. “You’d better not laugh!” he warned through his tears. The three of us went over to sit on the steps, away from prying eyes.

    As I told Michael the Gospel story, he cried and said over and over, “I’ve been looking for something to hang on to. Our family is falling apart.” In just a few minutes Michael had learned to “hang on to” Jesus!

    Then I turned to the other boy, Terry. “Have you ever done this?” I asked.

    “I sure have,” he said. Taken by surprise, I asked him when.

    “Just now, while you were talking to Michael!”

    Christian, you are missing some great blessings if you are not a soul winner! What a joy it was to win two at one sowing of the seed!


    From The Making of a Soul Winner by John R. Himes. See more at: http://www.johnofjapan.org/articles.php?ID=22
     
  13. mima

    mima New Member

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    Over the last eight days five-men working 15 hours a day have heard over 15 hundred people say the following sinners prayer. After being asked to do you want to pray for your salvation?

    Lord Jesus thank you for coming into my life,
    I asked you to forgive me of my sins, and to save my soul.
    I totally receive you now. AMEN

    All this took place at an open air stand at a state district fair. Our attraction to talk to this many people was the fact that we were giving away free chances to win a 1992 Chevrolet automobile. We believe we spoke with over 4000 people.But we are only counting in the 1500 people those who prayed with us and openly admitted that they were lost before the prayed with us.
    I find the above story to be a highly(as to the numbers) unusual witnessing experience!
     
  14. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    mima, I'm looking more for individual experiences, ones that inspire us in our individual witnessing efforts rather than mass evangelism. :thumbsup:
     
  15. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Four or five years before we moved from Yokohama up here to Hokkaido, this cold, cold northern island, we came up to visit our various friends who already lived here. We had to take a train from the big city of Sapporo (1 million) to Asahikawa (365,000), where we now live.

    We got on the train and found two benches facing each other, with a man sitting next to the window. I sat next to him, and my wife and son sat facing us. Of course I engaged the man in conversation and tried to get to know him some. I always try to build a relationship for a while in cases like this before witnessing, so I asked him what business he was in.

    "I do mizushobai," he said, literally "the water trade." I immediately knew what he was talking about, though I had never met anyone in his business. "The water trade" is a euphemism for a highly immoral business. At that point I was also pretty sure he was a yakuza gangster, though no doubt a low level "gofer," judging from his demeanor and conversation.

    After awhile I gave him a little comic tract that I had translated, and was amazed when he said, "I can't read!" Japan is one of the most highly literate nations in the world, so it was a shock to meet someone who couldn't read. There was nothing left to do, of course, but vocally share the Gospel, which I did. Unfortunately he was not at all interested in Christ, nor much aware that he was a sinner.

    What a sad case this was. Here was a man with no future, very little past, only the slightest present. He was involved in a wicked business, destroying the lives of others and his own soul, yet was not concerned about his eternal destiny. He seemed friendly and happy, yet he was doomed to an eternal Hell. And yet, and yet...Christ loved him! May we, too, always love the sinner. :type:
     
  16. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Tired Truck Driver

    I hate moving, but since being appointed as a missionary thirty years ago we have moved often, counting furloughs. We are moving again next month to a place with less rent to save some of God’s money, and that will be our twelfth time! But I am reminded of the phone call we got one time when we were packing things for our second furlough.

    A truck driver had seen our church sign and wanted to talk to the pastor. What had attracted his attention? We had Matthew 11:28-30 on the sign, and it really spoke to his heart: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

    I have read that more Japanese have been saved through this passage than any other, and I believe it. The Japanese are a nation of workaholics, usually being extremely loyal to their company, even above their family. They are even known to work themselves literally to death by taking no days off and no vacations, and such a death is called karoshi—“death from work.” But this lifestyle gives no peace to the heart, and after some years of this many Japanese become weary of life.

    So, over the phone I told the truck driver that he was welcome to drop by the house, but that everything was a mess! Most things were already loaded on the truck. He came to the house, and we sat down on the only place available, an old sofa that we were going to throw away.

    Given his weariness of life, it was easy to open the Scriptures and lead him to faith in Christ! As it turned out, though, he lived way on the other side of Tokyo, several hours from our church in Yokohama! Imagine: God had led him clear across the Kanto Plain so that he could see the Word of God on a church sign, call the pastor and get saved!

    I was able to send him to a church of like faith and practice in the city of Sakura, where he lived. Before too long he wrote us to tell us about his baptism. After another year or two he wrote again to tell about his marriage to a lovely young Christian lady! God’s appointments are wonderful! :type:
     
  17. Sopranette

    Sopranette New Member

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    Thank you for these stories John of Japan! I am really enjoying them! For myself, it's usually enough to say I'm born again for people to ask more. For people my age who were raised in this school system, where everything scientific is fact, and the Bible is myth, they are amazed to find someone who believes just the opposite is true.

    love,

    Sopranette
     
  18. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for the encouragement, Sopranette. Keep on witnessing for Jesus! Stick around, I've got a few more to go before I run out of unusual stories! :type:
     
  19. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    When I knocked on the door, a middle-aged man opened it, with his teenaged son lurking behind him. "Hello," I said. "I'm in your neighborhood from Franklin Road Baptist Church, just inviting folk to come to the services."

    "Well," the man said, "It's nice to meet you. I'm the minister of the United Methodist church!"

    I didn't let that stop me. So often it is the most religious people who most need Jesus Christ. So I asked him, "Sir, may I ask if you've ever trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?"

    Well, he hit the ceiling on hearing that! You would have thought I had accused him of robbing banks! "How dare you ask me that question! I just told you I'm the Methodist minister. You are being rude and unkind to ask a minister such a question...." And in his anger he continued his tirade for several minutes.

    "Wow," I thought, "What do I say now?" I saw that his son was still standing there listening very carefully to all that was said. I decided that I didn't want to show up the father in front of his son, though there were a number of sharp Scriptural rebukes I could have used.

    After awhile the son had abandoned the scene, and the Methodist minister's anger that someone had dared to ask him if he knew Jesus Christ as Savior had cooled somewhat. Then the Lord brought to my mind a question often used by "Uncle John" Vassar, the wonderful 19th century soul winner who liked to call himself "the Master's Sheepdog." I asked the minister, "Sir, do you love Jesus Christ?"

    This question floored him. He had never been asked that before! He quietly said, "Well, I think so."

    I replied, "Sir, if you loved Jesus Christ, you would have rejoiced that someone cared enough about your eternal soul to ask you if you knew Jesus Christ as Savior. You would have been glad that someone was out in your neighborhood telling people about Jesus."

    At that, the Lord was obviously working on his heart. He had gotten very quiet, and hardly answered at all. At the leading of the Holy Spirit, I said goodbye and left him with that question ringing in his ears and heart: "Sir, do you love Jesus Christ?" :type:
     
  20. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Today "Uncle Miya" wanted me to drive out into the mountains with him. Uncle Miya is my translation partner for the copy-right free Japanese New Testament we are working on. He is a brilliant linguist, and most of our conversation centers around English idioms, which he can discuss for hours.

    Our city of Asahikawa is surrounded by 360 degrees of mountains, and as you can imagine the skiing here is great. We headed out of the city to an area Uncle Miya explained had an interesting history. During World War 2 the Japanese government sent many Tokyo residents up here to get them away from the bombing. They were given parcels of land and told to farm them, only the land was quite poor and most of the would be farmers failed.

    Uncle Miya wanted to show me what he thought was a historical Baptist church building from about that time. After a couple of missed turns we finally found the country road and headed up onto the mountain where we found the building. As it happened, though, when we read the sign the building turned out to be a mountain villa belonging to a Baptist Renmei ("convention") church down in the city. We were able to get permission to check it out, and had a fun time looking around in it. The building was old and not used much anymore, but no doubt it could tell wonderful stories of retreats and camps if it could talk.

    Uncle Miya then walked me over to a small building nearby, a unique little coffee shop way up there in the mountains on a gravel road! We ordered our coffee and then watched as they ground the beans and then heated the water over a wood stove. There was no water nor electricity in the building, so it was all done just as it had been 100 years ago! The coffee was extremely strong and good.

    After we had our coffee Uncle Miya urged me to talk to the son of the owner of the farm the coffee shop and villa were next to. He was sitting with some other customers and talking. It was amazing that there were other customers at this tiny but quaint little coffee shop up in the mountains!

    Though he took care of the Baptist villa for the church, this man said he had never been to church! It was sweet to be able to share a little bit about Jesus Christ and salvation with these Japanese people at a tiny, primitive coffee shop up in the mountains of Hokkaido. As Japanese usually do the first time they hear a witness for Christ, they giggled and were amazed. But I trust that the Holy Spirit planted the seed in their hearts, and someday it will germinate!

    Wherever you go, if there are people there then God is there. Witness to them, for the Lord is with you!
     
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