How do Japanese come to know Jesus?

How do Japanese come to know Jesus? A thousand ways with ten thousand steps of God’s divine leading! Listen to one story.

Yuko started out with some private English classes, taught by Debbie. Another lady shared about the Bible for awhile, but soon Debbie was doing both English and teaching about Jesus.

Here is how Debbie tells the story:
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One day I asked Yuko if she was aware of God showing His love to her.

She suddenly appeared very nervous, and her eyes filled with tears. “Yes, but I’m afraid to tell you. You will think I’m crazy or you won’t believe me!” she exclaimed.

Twyla, my friend, and I assured her of our friendship and our trust. Yuko turned to me and asked, “Do you remember that day at the grocery?”

I knew exactly what day she was talking about. The cashier was ringing up my groceries when Yuko walked in the door. I saw Yuko and called out her name, but she looked right at me but showed no recognition on her face. I continued to call out her name, and her expression changed from lack of recognition to an expression of confusion and fear.

“I don’t think she knows you,” commented the cashier.

“Of course she knows me. We see each other every week,” I responded.

Finally, Yuko blinked a few times, and then said, “Oh Debbie, it’s you!”

I had wondered about this event, but never said anything to Yuko about it. Months had passed. What could possibly be the connection?

Yuko told her side of the story to us. She had entered the grocery store and heard someone calling her name. When she looked in the direction of the voice, she saw a bright light. Finally, she said the light disappeared, and she saw me.

Twyla and I looked at each other. I felt my spine tingle; my hair felt like it was standing on end.

Yuko continued her story, telling us it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. One day she was at the mall and saw another Bible teacher. She started to call out to her, but stopped suddenly because she saw a bright light where she had previously seen the teacher.

Yuko said she had been scared when she saw the light, and had tried to explain it away. Perhaps there had been some strange reflection of the sun. She also thought maybe she was crazy.

A third event occurred which really alarmed her. She had gone to an acquaintance’s house to return something her husband had borrowed. When the woman came to the door, Yuko said she saw a scary darkness in the woman. She stressed it wasn’t dark skin. Yuko said she knew she had to turn away from the darkness. When the woman invited her into the house, Yuko told her she had to leave.

After reviewing these events, Yuko realized something. The two people in whom she saw light were Christians, and the one person in whom she saw darkness wasn’t a Christian. Yuko thought maybe the Bible had an answer. She read the entire New Testament, making a list of all the references to light and darkness. She told us maybe God was showing her His Light was in people who accepted Jesus. We agreed with her, but we were surprised to find she still wasn’t ready to ask Jesus into her heart.

Time passed and Yuko and her family had to return to Japan. After her experiences with the light, I couldn’t believe she still was not ready to accept Jesus. Mike and I continued to pray for her salvation. We gave her some Michael Card music and the “Footprints” poem.

Yuko sometimes sent letters from Japan. Many times, she wrote that she felt depressed. One time she wrote, “Debbie, it is so dark here.”

We were happy to hear that Yuko had finally found a Christian church near her home in Japan, and was attending. But Yuko’s letters got farther and farther apart, and ach time she wrote, she sounded more depressed.

We continued to pray for Yuko and eventually, I received another letter. She wrote, “I would like to tell you my special news. I was baptized on July 8th. I’ve finally found Him I’ve been looking for. You put a seed in my heart several years ago. It is growing; you will be delighted about it I hope. Without being aware of it, I now realize that He has become a very important part of me. I will treasure you all my life. I long to see you. If it weren’t for you, I would still be wandering in my days of darkness”