Written by Mitsu Yamaguchi
I am so EXCITED for God’s plan!! 2 weeks ago 2 Japanese women (Aya and Karina pictured below) came to Christ in international student bible study.
From Left: Mitsu, two new believers, Keahi (student leader)
They came to faith in their 2nd bible study in their lives. Things that really stood out about them were that they were really seeking God deeply, and they had good soils in their heart. They came to faith when we did the passage John 1 “come and see”.
God really answers your prayer. Last spring I was praying that many thirsty/hungry people will come to my bible study, because I didn’t wanna try to persuade people who are so resistant to God. To me, Jesus and His salvation are like a 5 course french meal, or top-of-the-line Japanese fusion dish that you will see in a “Iron chef”, if I was to describe it in food. So, I didn’t wanna put Jesus in the to-go-box and try to sell them with discounts.
This semester, all of the international students come to the study are enjoying the word and the presence of God like it’s a delicacy. God has been using Christians to saw seeds to Aya and Karina’s lives for long before I met them. For Aya, she has been hearing good things about Christians and was very interested in God, so when I asked her for joining the bible study on the first day of school, she responded yes very naturally. Actually I was very surprised because I didn’t have to explain anything like “it’s a friendly environment” or anything like that. Japan is a very atheist country (less than 1 % Christians), and to me, seeing that hungry seeker from Japan was a miracle itself.
For Karina, she was in San Marcos for freshman and sophomore, and her host mom forced her to come to church every Sunday (that’s what she told me lol). But, when she started going, she really liked church and kept going for past 2years. Karina has been seeking God and heard about gospel, but everything about God didn’t quite make sense, and didn’t know how to become a Christian. Karina met Aya at the orientation in SDSU 1 month ago and they have been the best friends since then. Karina didn’t know Aya was seeking God until Aya told her that she is going to my bible study. So, Karina was very excited about it, and came with Aya in the first week. Do you see God using Aya to bring Karina here? What’s the chance of 2 Japanese girls becoming the best friends in 1 week and they both happened to be seeking God hard? So cool.
I shared Gospel to them in Japanese at the end of the 1st bible study, and they said it really spoke to their heart and they seemed to grasped it. What made me so glad was how open they were and how seriously curious they were about the good news. At the end of the 2nd bible study, I did alter call because I knew they were ready to be harvested. I asked “Jesus is inviting you follow Him to show the Kingdom of God, and there are so much more He want’s to show you. Would like to accept Jesus in your life today?” and Aya raised hand, and next I said “You don’t have to know everything about God to become Christan” and Karina raised hand. We made sure they believed that God has risen Jesus from death and that Jesus is God. We prayed for them and had them declare with their own mouth as well. You can imagine how much joy I had for them. I was keep saying that day that, I don’t have kids, but I feel like I just saw twins were born :)
Next Wednesday, many international students and 5 IV SDSU leaders and I went to the olive garden. At the end, we surprised Aya and Karina with birthday cake and celebrated for their new lives. They were so happy. I wish I took picture of them when they saw cake was coming towards them. Anyways, they are coming to the bible study every Thursday and are very excited for God. We are going to have Keahi disciple them and take them to church, so please keep them in your prayer. They have 2 more years of school in SDSU and I can see them becoming a strong Christian. Let’s pray that they will be the strong light in Japan when they go back.
- Mitsu Yamaguchi is a volunteer staff with InterVarsity at SDSU
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