Red or Yellow...Precious in His Sight

Itsuko Shimabukuro, the person who decorated the yellow hibiscus last week, is probably the oldest member of Gushikawa Baptist, the only one who was at the church in the old place where my parents established it, before we moved to our present location. Maybe she knew Mommy! I talked with her one week.

"Oh, but I never met your first Mom," she apologized; "She was already gone; your Dad had remarried; and Kiyo was the new Mrs. Oshiro by the time I went to my cousins' baptism at the Tairagawa church." (That's Kiyo in the blue dress on the end.) Itsuko wasn't a Christian then, got saved in 1986, four years later.

But these ladies at the church have been so faithful ever since! I met Itsuko's daughter, Wakana, only once as a single young lady--now she's a mother herself. Despite the indifference sometimes shown to her mother's talks about the Bible.... Excitedly, Itsuko reported that when it was time for her grandson to be put in kindergarten, the school Wakana chose, far from home, was a Christian one! The many years of seed sowing seemed to be bearing fruit. Wakana came to church for Dec.'s wreath-making activity; and anyone knows handcraft professionals can be found elsewhere if that's the only thing you really want.

Sunday, in that back room, Itsuko sat with children hoping to help plant seeds of God's love and life in any way possible. I guess she knows it doesn't really matter if it's robust red flora or Valentine-colored delicate hibiscuses or winsome yellow flowers; just plant the seed and then care for it; God makes buds bloom.

IF ANY OF YOU LACK

Yes, that last photo was Daddy in 1954--70 years ago--when he left for the field of Okinawa with $75 a month promised from loving friends in churches and relatives at home (Canada, U.S.A.). But over the years, he realized the real supply is an inexhaustible one; one that supplies and sustains families, health, ministries. After doing missionary work for quite a while, we were used to most Christian Conventions being held in the U.S. or Europe.

When it was announced that the Congress of Fundamentalists would be held in Manila-Singapore, just a hop away, is it any wonder my Dad wanted to participate? But we didn't have finances to purchase flights or to pay for lodging. So close and yet so far. But a prayer letter from 1980 says a telegram came in with funds designated for transportation and hotel expenses. So he got to go! One of the speakers came back with Daddy from the Congress to speak at our church for special meetings, at which one of our young men was saved.

I'll have to write more about that in future posts--no; I'll put it right here. After all, I'd just told you about the transformation of the Tairagawa church building, how it was a shambles of a shack when we first found it but was "remade" into a bright building with a white cross in the center. A 27-year-old by the name of Yutaka Nagahama was riding home on the bus one evening. Things had not gone well at work, and he was despondent. Glancing out the window, he saw the cross, the church.

He jumped off at the next stop and walked back to this church, that was holding prayer meeting. Nagahama-san felt something there he wanted and kept attending every meeting until several weeks later, under the preaching of Dr. J.B.Williams, he gave his life to Christ; was baptized the next April. 

This is not just a story's shallow happy ending; rather the beginning of another uncomfortable struggle. Nagahama-san, being the second son in the family, had been chosen to take the place of the eldest son in the top family of the clan--including not only inheriting generations of property and wealth, but also having "his" house built which enshrines ancestral idols. The second son had no say in any of this.

Would you remember Nagahama-san as a reminder to pray for all the other Christians who are facing similar pressures of family and tradition to know how to navigate wisely and maintain balances of peace, joy, and truth against the cruel onslaughts and accusations of Satan? 

We know the God Who provides material needs is the God Who gives us families and health; and also gives NEEDED WISDOM for all of life's choices. Please pray these new believers cling to Him with all their new lives.