Tsushima Volunteer Mission Report – June 2024

By Steve S | June 9, 2024

Three Volunteer Missionaries Leave God’s Love in Tsushima

From May 19 to 27, three Japanese volunteers living in the US visited Tsushima for eight days. Each of them took time off from their jobs and came at their own expense. One of them, Noboru, is a 72 year old gospel musician. He first came to Tsushima five years ago. Yutaka is a professional gardener in the United States. His daughter, Jane, is an expert in organic farming. I prayed that God would use them specially and bless them while they were in Tsushima. God answered my prayer and blessed our work greatly.

Our first evangelistic concert in 5 years.

Shigeru Morishige is a unique gospel musician who lives in Hawaii and returns to Japan two or three times a year to preach the gospel using various musical instruments throughout Japan. He conveys the meaning and purpose of life in an easy-to-understand way, to people who do not know God.

He has visited Tsushima many times to preach the gospel, but due to the spread of the new corona infection, he has not been able to hold concerts in Tsushima for five years. Japanese people are cautious and wary by nature, so once a problem like this occurs, it is difficult for them to come to places where people gather. I honestly wondered how many people would show up, but on the day of the concert, the church was filled to capacity with people who had never heard of the gospel. The attendees ranged from young to old, including a doctor from a large hospital who was seeking the truth.

About 20 minutes into the concert, a family of three entered the church; a five-year-old boy, an eight-year-old girl, and their mother. I honestly wondered if the children would be able to quietly listen to and understand Shigeru Morishige’s gospel message for adults. I was worried because the children had been to church before, but they were restless and could not listen calmly and quietly to the adult’s message. Sure enough, they began to talk and make noises during the concert, disturbing the other audience members. Fortunately, I gave them a cartoon Bible story that was available at the church and they quieted down for a while, but they did not listen to the concert until the end. The mother also seemed concerned that her children were being disruptive. I regretted a little that I had invited them to the concert, as they did not seem to be able to listen calmly throughout the concert.

After the concert, many of the CDs prepared by Mr. Morishige were handed out to the audience, who were happy to take them home. The children also brought home about 10 CDs, each with different contents. One of the CDs made us think about life and death. A few days later I went to their home to deliver the towels that the family had left at the church.

Then something amazing happened. Mr. Morishige’s music was playing loudly from the second floor of the house. I knocked on the front door and the mother came out of the doorway. I told her how happy I was that she was listening to Mr. Morishige’s songs at home, and she told me that it was not her but her restless five-year-old son who was listening. The mother said that her five-year-old son was listening intently to Mr. Morishige’s music over and over again and thinking about life and death. In fact, she said that recently his favorite grandmother had become ill and bedridden at home, and he was worried and listless. This made him think about illness and death, even at a young age, and he listened intently to Morishige’s message.

His mother told me that he was at peace and calm while Mr. Morishige’s music was playing. I realized that God was working in the heart of that restless little boy to encourage him and give him hope. I prayed with all my heart that he would grow up with hope and joy, never letting go of the gospel message. I decided that I would continue to invite this family to the evangelism program of our church. Then I remembered the following words of Jesus from the Bible.

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16

Farm Reclamation Project

Yutaka and his daughter Jane came all the way from California, USA, to Japan, taking 10 days off to visit Tsushima at their own expense to help with the evangelistic work here. They brought to Tsushima a box full of large American-sized shovels, pickaxes, electric pruning shears, and other items needed for farm cultivation that were not available in Japan. When I loaded their luggage into my car at the airport, I was surprised at how much they had brought with them and how heavy it was. When I thought of the hardships they had gone through to bring it from the US to Tsushima, which is located on the western edge of Japan, my heart was filled with both apology and gratitude.

They worked for free from morning till late in the evening, spending their own time and money during their stay. Thanks to their hard work, we were able to plant many fruit tree saplings. However, when the work was almost finished, Mr. Takahashi, the gardener, noticed a problem. The winds in Tsushima were stronger than in other parts of Japan, and the saplings he had just planted would not be able to withstand the strong winds.

Digging holes and removing large stones before planting fruit seedlings was hard work for us. However, the tools they brought with them from the U.S. were of great help and made the work easier.

It is true that when typhoons hit Tsushima, my farm was also severely damaged, but I had never planted small saplings, so I did not think much of it. So I had to put up posts and windbreaks around the garden. However, with the rising cost of living in Japan, I found that it cost more than $50 to put up a single post. We needed many of those posts and more than $3,000 to cover all the saplings. Of course we could not afford to spend that kind of money, so we prayed to God for help. Then God reminded me that there were five old long fence posts lying unused on another farm. I wondered what good would five old posts do, but for some reason, God prompted me to go to that farm at that moment. I immediately went to the farm with him and found that there were only five long posts lying there. I told Mr. Takahashi that this was not enough and was about to leave. Then, unexpectedly, Mr. Takahashi casually lifted one of the posts and we found a new post lying underneath it, one I had never seen before. To my surprise, every time I lifted one out, a new post appeared from underneath, one after another miraculously.

When we took everything out and counted it, we found that there were more than enough posts to surround the entire garden. Mr. Takahashi and I were so happy that we shouted in exclamation and thanked God for providing for all our needs. The day before they left Tsushima, we succeeded in putting up all the posts and windbreak nets. And when the work was finished, the blessing of rain that had not fallen during the time we were working began to fall. Thanks be to the Lord.

Eight days passed in the blink of an eye and our three new friends returned to the United States. I was honestly very lonely. I was sad because I would be working on the farm alone again. And the time I spent working with them passed so quickly that it was as if I had seen a dream or a mysterious vision from heaven. It was as if angels had come to help me with the Tsushima project. But it was not a dream or an illusion, it was reality, because the empty, desolate land had been transformed into a farm. And people who have never heard the gospel are still listening to Mr. Morishige’s gospel CDs.

I was encouraged and filled with joy by their visit. I realized once again that God is a wonderful God who is able to comfort us and supply all of our needs.

Please pray that the work in Tsushima will continue and be blessed.

Jane was teaching English to our student and his mom. They enjoyed her native English conversation class very much.

We also held Mexican cooking classes. Mr. Yutaka learned a lot of Mexican food from his Mexican co-worker in the United States. The participants were very happy and said they had never tasted such delicious food.

My two daughters, Yutaka and his daughter Jane.

We visited our neighbor’s house on Sabbath afternoon and he was so happy he made us a cake by hand.

How To Help

Between now and then, financial support to help meet the expenses for Nature School program (lighting, heating and gas expenses, and school supplies for students) as well as living and other project expenses are needed totaling about $800 monthly. Any donation would be greatly appreciated and very helpful.

If you would like to assist, you can give directly to Kimiyoshi via PayPal which enables donations to be received more expeditiously.

Or if you prefer, you can donate via Gospel Ministries International which will provide you with a tax deductible receipt. You will find the contact information and links for these two options below.

To give directly to Kimiyoshi for the Tsushima Mission Project via PayPal please click here.