「今晩は何をしようかナ・・・」
痛！足の指の関節に時計が角で直撃した。あたまでヒーヒー言いながら、台所に行って氷がないか、何か冷やすものはないかと、探した。
神様、なんで？父母の導き・沖縄宣教の働き・神様、あなたの素晴らしさを知らせる為に一生懸命になっているつもりなんだけど、コレ、何のため？分からなかった。
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今日、思った。この間、父の最後の説教が読みたいとの願いが叶えられたというブログ（９月１４日）のメッセージを、今日、そのまま載せることにしよう。だって、この足では、どうせ、あまり動き回ることができないし。もしかして、神様の一つの目的は、それだったかも。
ああ、その話？実は、父が「魂の価値」という説教のことを分かち合ってくれたことがあって（それは２００６年だった）、数か月前、何となく、それがまた聞きたくなった。（父に送ってもらったメッセージは、２０１１年の震災引っ越し後なくなって、聞いていない。）
先週、部屋の隅っこに、元の場所に戻されていなかったフォルダーを見つけて、片づけようとして、中身をちょっと見た。古いメッセージだった。父はメッセージのアウトラインを普段手書きでするけれど、このものは、白い紙に、タイプライターで打たれていた。２００６年の「魂の価値」だった。
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Value of One Soul (Missionary Roy Oshiro, 2006)
It was
during my High School days in Vancouver that a deep conviction
came upon me which eventually led me to the 50 years of service to the Lord in
Okinawa. What was that conviction? During a counseling session in High School,
I was asked what I planned to do after graduation. I replied that I would like
to become a schoolteacher. This good counselor pursued with the question, “Why
so?” I remember replying in a sober way that I wanted to teach boys and girls
to become good citizens.
WWII began
as I graduated from High School, and the following year, all Japanese living on
the Pacific Coast were evacuated within a 100 mile zone east of the Rockies.
But a
government emergency tteaching program set up during the war gave me necessary
certification, and although teaching school in Vancouver was almost impossible
because of racial discrimination, teaching opened up to me in Alberta, where we
settled.
Having my
desire granted, I enjoyed teaching for 8 years, feeling like Jackie Robinson of
Baseball. But it was during my last year of teaching that I was saved and the
Lord began speaking to me in terms of God and eternity. I had already been
impressed with the seriousness of life in high school, but as I read and
studied Scripture, the Lord gave me the burden of ministering to my own people
in Okinawa. So I left my teaching post and decided to become a missionary.
Perhaps teaching had its meaningful experiences, but what God has
done in Okinawa these 50 years was far greater. Allow me to tell you about it!
Mark 8:36
has been my theme and motivation for these 50 years of ministry in Okinawa. “What shall it profit a man, if he should
gain the whole, world, and lose his own soul?” For man, what is there to
live and die for if his soul does not make it to eternity? I will never forget
the impact this verse had upon my soul as I prepared for His service.
What was my thrust, the secret weapon which sustained me these 50 years of
missionary service? The value of one
soul! The Gospel of Christ is the Power of God unto Salvation to Everyone
that believeth.
The value of one soul! Allow me to
tell you of one Trophy of Grace, Mrs. Kawabata, a 100-year-old believer. Mrs.
Kawabata from my father’s village had been released from a leprosarium, where
she had just gotten saved, when I first arrived. (Leprosy is called “Hodgkin’s
Disease” now, but it was called “leprosy” then.) She was present at our first
gathering of relatives in 1955. Her husband, unable to bear the ostracism,
emigrated to Brazil for 27 years. But upon his return, she took him in and was
able to lead him and their son to the Lord. Now, years later, one of her
grandsons has a Christian family dedicated to the Lord and carrying on his
Grandmother’s desires.
The value of one soul! Mrs. Sumiko
Oshiro, 84 years old, another long-time sernior citizen of our church, was
another of the Lord’s Trophies of Grace. When Sumiko was dying of cancer in the
local hospital, because of her Christian testimony, the doctor and nurses asked
whether she would like to visit her church on her birthday. The nurses took her
to church where a few relatives and church folks gathered and had a quiet
birthday. Two days later she passed away. Sumiko had been identified as a
Christian and godly woman right up to her last day.
In Okinawa,
the family decides where the funeral is to be held. For 15 years, Sumiko’s
oldest son drove 4 miles each Sunday to take his mother to worship service. To
the family, it seemed right that they honor her in her death at the place she’d
chosen to spend much of her living days.
The value of one soul! Let me tell
you of the salvation of my cousin, Seiko. We were classmates 73 years ago.
Relatives are hard to win for Christ. But 40 years ago, Seikoo’s wife Yoshi,
who was demon possessed, became saved and freed of them. But Seiko himself
showed no interest in Christianity. I kept in contact with him through the
years, as a cousin. Several years ago, his real estate son’s business went into
debt, and he lost most of the “ancestral property” (land handed down to him for
generations). Realizing his depravity, he sought the Lord, was saved, and now
attends church faithfully with his wife. When the Lord called me to missions,
He specifically led me to take the Gospel to my relatives (I came to Okinawa as
a boy and lived w). Now, 73 years later, Seiko and Yoshi sit before me every
worship service, two more Trophis of God’s saving Grace.
Amidst the
awful tragedies of 9-11, Hurricane Katrina, and other catastrophes, let us not
forget: the Lord is still saving souls. 60 years after the end of WWII, and
thousands of missionaries later, it is said that less than 1% of the Japanese
population are Christians. But God is still saving souls.
Having been
part of Okinawa Evangelism at the grassroots level, having been in contact with
many churches, and having witnessed the situation, I thank God for what He is
doing with the faithful national pastors, missionaries, and Christians.
Yes, the
reality is, “The harvest truly is plenteous,
but the laborers are few.” The joy of my ministry has been to see believers
realizing, not just the possession of eternal life with the Lord in Heaven
someday, but also His presence today. Rev.
21:3-4. What a joy to see the people grasp Rom 8:32.
Valuable
souls, formerly lost heathens, are going to be with the Lord in ones and twos.
All of us in Christendom need to ask ourselves: What are you doing to help get
one soul into heaven? It is true that we are saddened at the terrible losses of
9-11, Hurricane Katrina, and other catastrophes. But we cannot let this deter
us from the Lord’s command, “Go ye into
all the world and preach the Gospel.” Are YOU helping to fulfill that
commission? Or are you robbing someone of eternal profit?
I’ve enjoyed
these 50 years of preaching and seeing God meet these serious challenges.
My daughters
have shared in that joy, too. When my 3 daughters were in high school, they
were challenged, “If you don’t return here as missionaries after collge, who
will?”
And one of
my earliest converts was told, “Why waste time here; go to Bible School and
train for His service.” Trained, she helped work in our local church; then…has
been my helpmeet these past 24 years. (She is the one who held weekly Bible
Study sessions in the former leper’s home for over 15 years, even when the
sores emitted unpleasant odors during hot days.) Now she is able to enjoy the
ministry with us, not just as a church member, but family member as well.
No,
no one has to be a Mother Teresa or a modern Hudson Taylor. But as you think of
eternity, can you personally thank God for the privilege of being used of Him
for someone’s salvation? Is eternity real to you? Can you see yourself—and
others—in eternity? What about the millions of others? “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Prov. 29:18
Neh. 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is Your Strength.” No joy on earth can compare with knowing, deep in your heart, that your life has been expended for someone’s salvation. May you experience that joy for yourself today.
