In Japan, it can take time for a heart to believe

Dea Davidson
International Mission Board

He is truly a carpenter following a carpenter.

“At first, you clean it,” the woodcarver explains about treating the rough surface of his favorite working wood — American pine. “As it’s treated, I rub it with water. If you add water, it gets darker and then it becomes the color of its maturity. In the same way, God treated my heart and is working on it. In the same way, it will mature just like these tables.”

Tables, cabinets and clocks have been fashioned by Ima Oka’s hands for 34 years. For two years, the 58-year-old has submitted to the molding and crafting of another woodcarver. Oka, although the seed of the Gospel took root in his heart more than 10 years ago, didn’t accept Christ until his heart was ready for treatment.

Seizing the moment

In spring 2006, missionaries Bob and Gloria Gellerstedt were prayerwalking the streets of Osaka when they spotted the sign for Oka’s woodcarving shop. As they met Oka and silently prayed for God’s direction, the strains of Amazing Grace began pouring from a loudspeaker. Seizing his opportunity, Bob asked, “Do you know anything about this song?” That led to a discussion of the song and Bob was amazed when Oka said, “Actually, I have an interest in studying the Bible.”

Just months later, after meeting Bob each week for Bible study in his Osaka showroom, Oka accepted Jesus and was baptized on the shop’s second floor.

Oka’s response to the Gospel is unusual for Japanese, a people whose adherence to native Shinto and Buddhist beliefs and their rejection of any religion they consider “foreign” are strong deterrents to Christianity.

Yet many Japanese who come to faith in Christ do so 10, 20 and even 40 years after they had some contact with the Gospel. In Oka’s case, he had an interest in God, read the entire Old Testament and had several Christian clients and friends.

— For Nobuko in Nagoya, a semester living with a Christian family in California as an exchange student helped her see the signs of God working in her life almost 20 years later.

— For a Brazilian-Japanese man, Tetuo, who had grown up hearing about Jesus in predominately Catholic Brazil, his return to Japan, loss of his job and healing of his daughter-in-law from breast cancer after missionaries prayed for her led him to accept Christ.

“We hear all kinds of things that have happened in the past to lead them to that point,” missionary Cindy Reynolds says. “It’s like they were ready for us to meet them. God’s been preparing them all along.”

After 40 years, cult member to Christ follower

Staring out her bedroom window in spring 2005, 49-year-old Michiko didn’t have much to live for. Ravaged by a critical illness and depression, Michiko’s only source for answers –Shinnyo-en, a Buddhist-derived cult she had been a member of for 10 years – even threatened to punish her if she quit the group over her disillusionment.

Looking for hope, she began attending a fitness club to lift her spirits. Through her friendship with a Japanese believer, Michiko heard the Holy Spirit’s call on her life. During a house church meeting, while she sang the Korean worship song You’re Born to be Loved, Michiko’s heart opened to God.

“As I heard that song, I could not stop my tears,” she remembers. “The first thing the pastor said is, ‘The reason you’re born is that you’re loved by God.’ I realized the reason I’m here is because God made me and loved me.”

Today, both Michiko and her husband, Naoyuki, believe in Jesus Christ. They are fruit from seeds planted more than 40 years ago when Michiko attended a missions school. Like the man-made island known as Rokko where Michiko lives, God has taken the life she felt was wasted and turned it into something beautiful, even as He rebuilds her marriage on the foundation of Christ.

After 25 years, nighttime stories to new believer

When workers Charlie and Teresa Seelen moved to Osaka more than five years ago, they were told, “A little girl on a bicycle wants to play with the new little girl.”

The Seelens’ daughter, Hannah, became fast friends with their new neighbor, Sakura Odaira (meaning “Cherry Blossom”). When her mother, Yumiko, came over to introduce herself, it wasn’t the first time she’d been in the home where missionaries have lived for decades.

“They had a Sunday School program and she remembers coming to it and she played with the missionaries’ daughter,” Teresa says. “It was a really good experience for her. I shared with her that I knew God had brought her to this day. The first time I met her I thought ‘God is at work in her heart.’”

God had worked in Yumiko’s heart years before. As a child, her unbelieving father would read Bible stories every night because of his interest in history.

Now through Yumiko, her entire family – including her father, mother, sister, husband and children – have become friends with the Seelens. Through shared cookouts and Bible study, the Odairas’ hearts have softened to the Gospel.

Nine-year-old Sakura has accepted Christ and shares her new faith with boldness. After reading a story about a Buddhist priest for homework, Sakura used class discussion to share Jesus with her class.

“The teacher asked, ‘If the priest comes, this is how to pray to the priest,’” she says. “‘But if Christians pray, how do you do it? Is that different? Does anyone know?’ I raised my hand. I was the only one that did. I said, ‘When I pray, I pray to Jesus and I say ‘Amen’ when I’m finished praying.’”

“I want to hear more about this,” Sakura’s teacher replied.

Regardless of when, God’s timing is perfect

God’s love is making inroads into Japanese lives. Through Sunday School classes started in the 1950s and ’60s, relationships built with missionaries or through experiences abroad, Japanese are hearing about Jesus. That knowledge sometimes blooms into belief – though it may take years for the Gospel seed to come to fruition.

“You just encourage people and be patient with people,” says Carlton Walker, a veteran 25-year missionary in Japan. “We call them ‘yet-to-be believers.’ When we say, ‘non-believer,’ we’re making a judgment call. ‘Yet-to-be believers’ is a statement of faith that they can be someone who believes along the way.”

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