December 2017 Tsushima Mission Report

One of School staffs becomes bible seeker!!

By the grace of our heavenly Father, after six years we are blessed to be able to continue working in our Nature School as a base for our mission. One of our staff members, Asako Itou who is 35 years old, had Christian grandparents. She shared with us that she used to go to church every Sunday with her grandparents. But, after they passed away she stopped attending church service on Sunday’s. When we worked together we shared our Bible message tracts, The Signs of Times and invited her to evangelistic programs. We always prayed for God’s intervention so that she would seek Him again. God answered our prayers faithfully! Last year she gave birth to her daughter Maki and was extremely happy. Maki developed a serious constipation problem, not being able to have bowel movement for two weeks. Very worried, Asako and her family took Maki several times to the main hospital of Tsushima Island. Unfortunately, the doctor could not diagnose Maki’s problem. Asako was very sad and did not know what to do to help her baby. In that desperate situation she asked us to pray to our heavenly Father for her baby. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to let her know about the one true almighty God. I took her and her daughter to a prayer room in school followed by my wife and the Sabbath school children. We then surrounded the baby and put our hands over her for prayer. After we prayed, we felt great peace in our hearts from the Holy Spirit. I told Asako that God would make the miracle of healing her baby soon. Upon hearing this, Asako cried. Praise the Lord! Three days later Asako called us and with her delight voice said, “My daughter is completely well after you prayed for her. My daughter is now able to have a bowel movement normally! Thank you very much for your prayer.” We thanked God with all of our hearts. Asako now prays and studies the Bible once again. She recently opened a healthy wild bread store at the school. In addition to this great blessing, over 50 people came to the Gospel concert held in the school for the first time in October. We now have a greater chance to meet new people to continue spreading the Gospel. Please pray for Asako so the day of her baptism comes soon.

Acceptance of Truant Students in the Nature School Program

In Tsushima Island, according to the city’s education board, it is estimated there are around 30 to 40 truant students. To help them, we decided to accept these truant students in our Nature School during the week. A few of these students have been attending the school. We noticed one of the students seemed very afraid of people. He could not answer our questions because of the traumas he had after being bullied at school. He also had many problems in his home. In our effort s to help, we began to study the Bible with him. But soon the Principal of the Board of Education told us that we could not study the Bible with the student because his parents are Buddhist and they did not approve. In addition, in order for attendance to be counted as legitimate hours of study in a school program, they cannot be related to teaching a specific religion.

We were very disappointed and decided to pray to God so he would help the student. Our God is so wonderful! He answered our prayer again. A couple months later his mother called us and said her son is getting better every day after he attends our school. She allowed us to study the Bible after school and begged us to encourage him as much as possible so he can have more confidence in life. He continues to study the Bible with us and is slowly returning to public school. I was truly thankful for this great miracle God performed in the student’s heart.