| A few years ago, I was given the email address of my father's cousin-by-marriage,
a long lost relative I last met when I was 5 years old. I wrote
to her and she replied "Praise the Lord! What has been happening
in your life these 40 years?" I was thrilled to find that she
was a Christian, and for the first time in my walk in Jesus, sat
down and penned a 'testimony.' I have changed a few things for clarity,
and updated it to more recent times. My memory of every event may
not be exact, but it is close. Junko, my proof-reader, kept me honest
against any attempt to embellish or exaggerate.
Pre-perusal disclaimer: the following is what happened, not what
I wanted, per se. However, since being apprehended by Jesus, I have
only wanted Him. I have never sought signs and wonders, and still
do not. But I do accept that the Lord today pours forth many gifts,
ministries, and miracles by His Spirit, according to His will, not
our desire for them. I believe this is where many believers have
strayed from the Lord and found themselves serving false prophets
and false gifts. In our church we have experienced many of the gifts,
and seen His hand touch us. But we do not 'name and claim' or 'command
the blessing.' We believe, we serve, we share, we wait, and He is
always faithful to do more than we ask. Finally, feel free to share
any of this with whomever. I am neither ashamed nor proud (I hope
and pray) of this history, but ask only that it may encourage and
strengthen God's people.
(my testimony)
Dear Friend in Christ,
Greetings and love to you from Japan in the name of Jesus!
I am so sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I have been very
busy getting everything ready for school. In addition to shepherding
this church, I am principal of our school of 12 kids, and am a "tent-maker,"
meaning that I used my own finances to start our church, and we
are still completely self-supporting. (Something like working my
way through college) Though our church of about 50 souls is very
faithful in their giving, our mortgage, taxes, utilities and such
are very expensive. I do all kinds of work to supplement the church's
finances. Presently, I build computers and sell them mostly to Christians.
Naomi (my older daughter) told me that you wanted to hear about
my conversion to Christ. It is truly a miracle, and I would be glad
to share my story with you. I am not sure how much you have heard
from Buz and Doreen (my older brother and sister), so I will start
at the beginning... I was born in Louisiana, but Dad, as a pilot
for the US Air Force was constantly being moved from this base to
that. My first vague memories were of Bunker Hill AFB in Indiana.
I think we visited you while we were there. I remember a little
about a farm. From there we went to March AFB in California, where
Dad retired and got a job in Seattle as a test pilot for the Boeing
SST program. After Congress shot down the SST program 3 years later,
there were no jobs in Seattle, and Dad was hired by Japan Air Lines
as an instructor. I moved there in 1969, when I was 12 years old.
I went to a military DOD high school, and met Junko when we were
17 years old. I went away to college in Hawaii for two years, but
wanted to be with my sweetheart and returned to Japan. I went to
Sophia University (in Tokyo) for two years, but was not very serious
and dropped out a semester shy of graduation. Junko and I started
an English conversation school, and were successful enough to get
married in 1980. Up to this point I was very much against Christianity.
I really do not know why. I tried Buddhism for a while but was unable
to "empty myself." I studied martial arts, but could not
"transcend." I studied philosophy, but upon studying the
philosophers themselves, I found that most were hypocrites and could
not live with their own "systems." I applied myself to
dissipation and sin, and was quite "successful," but never
satisfied. However, we did well financially and decided to go to
the US to "make our fortune" in 1981. We went to be with
big brother Buz in Minneapolis, and had plans to open a liquor store
there, but everything fell through. Then, Buz was transferred to
Pittsburgh a few months after we got there. We knew nobody in Minneapolis,
so we followed him to Pennsylvania. About this time, Junko started
to get sick. We thought it was a minor thing, and both started working
at a Japanese steakhouse in downtown Pittsburgh. Junko was diagnosed
with cervical cancer and had to quit working. I was giving her a
vaccine that was supposed to arrest the spread, but she got progressively
worse. She was on a special diet, no red meat, no dairy products,
etc., but it did not help. She could hardly walk for more than a
few minutes. In early 1982, she was introduced to a Japanese woman
living in the same apartment complex. She was a zealous Christian,
and told Junko that faith in Jesus would heal her. I was not impressed,
but Junko began going to church and prayer meetings. Her physical
health was still deteriorating, but she was finding hope in her
heart. To top it off, I lost my job, and was unemployed. Then, on
July 4th, 1982, I was invited to a Independence Day picnic. I thought,
"beer in the park," but was shocked to find it was a church
picnic! I was very angry. I wanted to "relax" and get
drunk, I wanted a cigarette! But somehow (by grace!), I stayed.
After lunch, a little old Italian fellow (the pastor) stood up,
and started preaching. I was really turned off, and wanted to leave.
But a few of the words caught my attention, and I listened a bit.
Though I was against Christianity, and very much in love with sin
and myself, I found that I could not deny ANY of the words he spoke.
I can hardly remember the scriptures he quoted, but I know that
he preached better news than any I had heard in my entire life.
At the end, he asked all to bow their heads, and if they believed
the words to raise their hands. (It was a setup! I was the only
unsaved person there, and everyone knew it but me!) I raised my
hand almost against my will, but had to admit that what I heard
was true. Also, the words of hope and salvation were my heart's
desire. I count that day to be my "Re-Birth day." After
the picnic, I was still fuming in my desire for self and sin, but
the truth had been planted, and I could not escape. I battled for
weeks and gave my poor wife a very hard time. At the end of August
I was still fighting everything Christian, but Junko announced she
was going to be water baptized, and asked if I wanted to join her.
"NO WAY!" I replied, but agreed to take her to the church
that evening. I, myself had still never been inside a church! As
I dropped her off she asked again if I would come watch, and I reluctantly
agreed. (She says I volunteered) When she asked if I wanted to be
baptized, I shocked myself by saying, "Yes, but I wasn't prepared."
She said that she had brought a change of clothes for me in her
bag. (Sneaky!) As the service was just about to start, I was rushed
into a changing room to get ready. Again, completely against my
will! I should have been suspicious about a "change of clothes,"
but I still had no idea that it was a full-immersion baptism. I
thought, "This must be a messy sprinkling or a big cup of water."
I was under the impression that I was just going to get my head
wet. Had I known... Anyway, because it was the hottest day of the
summer, the air conditioner was really going full blast. I entered
the sanctuary full of about 300 people, and found the other candidates
lined up and joined them. The first person called was... me! I walked
up front and was told to take off my watch. I asked why, and casually
opened the clasp... and it broke in my hands and fell to the ground.
I was getting angry! Then I was led to a platform, and up some steps,
and behold, a pool! I could hardly back out, but I did NOT want
to get in. For some reason beyond me, I did enter, and was baptized
in Jesus' name. (Acts 2:38) I am surprised that steam did not explode
around me, I was furious. But I did submit. As I got out, the next
was Junko, and I waited for her. When she came out and joined me,
a big fellow came over and said, "Please wait, my son, I believe
the Lord has a word for you." I had no idea what that might
mean. About 6 or 7 people were called forward and they began to
speak about Junko and me. One said, "My son, I have protected
you until now." Another said, "My daughter, you shall
be covered with healing and new life." Another, "Do not
be anxious, but give yourself to God." "You will walk
in new life, and everything you have wanted will come about."
"Rejoice in the Lord, for He does love you." For about
20 minutes they prayed and prophesied over us. I was still upset,
and very cold, and couldn't wait to get out of there. After the
service was over, I said to Junko in the car, "I'm never going
there again." She said, "Yes, dear." I went the following
Sunday. And I went to a home meeting the next Wednesday. And I went
to a Christian foundation class on Friday. I was drawn, not by Junko
or other people, but by a thirst for truth, reality, honest fellowship
and freedom from sin. Outwardly, I was trying to hold on to my past
life, but inwardly as new life had begun. A few weeks later, I was
invited to join a new Ministry Training School that had just started
at the church. They certainly had more faith in me than I had. During
all this, Junko was still sick, but her situation had stabilized.
Unfortunately, mine had not. I was still without a job, but we still
had a small amount of cash from our Japan days. So, we decide to
take out a loan and start a Japanese fast food restaurant in a shopping
mall. We worked like crazy, and made a good try of it, but the mall
was unpopular, so we were out of business within a year. We lost
everything. In addition, I had defaulted on our lease and had a
half million dollar debt as well as a dozen vendors hounding us!
Pittsburgh was very depressed at the time, and there were no jobs
at all. A friend hired me daily for some construction work, but
it wasn't enough to satisfy our debts. One day, in the midst of
this, we were invited to a older couple's home for dinner. Junko
was still on her special diet, and red meats and dairy products
continued to make her ill. We thought these people knew about this,
and were shocked to find a bacon-loaded salad and a big roast ham
set before us. Junko looked at me and asked what to do. For some
reason, I said go ahead and eat it. She did, and said it was good!
We went home fearing a relapse, but she woke the next morning feeling
great. Soon after, she told me she should go to the doctor because
of some irregularity. We went to a doctor recommended to us by a
friend, and he called us into his office. He said, "Congratulations!
one of you is very pregnant!" I said, "Doctor Silverstein,
Junko has had cervical cancer for almost 2 years, is this possible?"
He looked at me and said, "Nonsense, she could never get pregnant."
He took a biopsy and asked us to come see him again for the results.
I brought Junko's medical records, X-rays, diagnosis, and medication
with me. He looked at everything and said, "These must be a
mistake, as they show a typical case of cancer, but my tests are
all negative. Furthermore, there is no evidence that your wife has
ever had cancer, no scar tissue, nothing. She is obviously very
healthy and very pregnant." Naomi was born the next spring,
a very healthy miracle baby. While we went through our first pregnancy
together, our finances were still in bad shape. We received an eviction
notice to be out of our apartment by December 24th. Fortunately,
in Pennsylvania you cannot be forced out while someone in the household
is pregnant, so we stayed until February. At that time, a church
friend was moving out of a small house rented to them by a kind
widow. It was very inexpensive, and our landlady asked for no deposit.
Over the next few years, she was so understanding, even when I was
late with the rent. I became a carpenter, working at whatever came
along. After Naomi was born, we still had creditors come banging
on the door, and even had the sheriff come to place all of our possessions
up for auction. (Twice!) However, at our worst times, I was sent
work from heaven in the form of being a Japanese interpreter. Through
an acquaintance from my restaurant days, I was introduced to an
iron-products manufacturing company that needed help communicating
with the engineers from their Japanese partner. I was asked first
only for a day or two, but it stretched out to almost two weeks.
My pay was more than triple what I earned as a carpenter. I was
able to appease the sheriff with the money. After that, I was asked
to interpret for a Japanese television company that was in Pittsburgh
to do a story about organ transplants. It just so happened that
both of these fields, engineering and medicine were hobbies of mine,
and I was able to do a good job. Back to being a carpenter, painter,
electrician and plumber, we were again beset by our creditors. During
all this, I finished the 9 month foundations course and continued
on in the ministry training school. I started ministering the gospel
at a mission for the homeless in the Pittsburgh North Side. It was
funny, often the people coming to the mission had more money in
their wallets than I did! Every time our money well went dry, I
got a call at the last minute (sometimes past the last minute) from
someone who needed a Japanese interpreter. The vice president of
the iron-products company was an elder in the Lutheran church, and
he would spend hours with me in the car while we commuted to Ohio,
talking about Jesus. He was a great influence to me in my faith.
Little by little we paid off our debts, and after three years we
had paid almost all but the large judgment from our mall landlord.
I graduated from ministry training school, and was teaching the
foundations class at our church. Junko was healthy, and Naomi was
a normal, but rambunctious toddler. We were at a special meeting
at our church in early 1986, and one of the guest speakers spoke
over Junko and I that we were to return to Japan and serve the Lord
there. Junko did not want to leave our church "family,"
but I knew it was time. We prayed about it and knew together that
we should go, but we were still penniless. Above that, I felt that
God did not want us to be financially supported, but to go out by
faith. I applied for a visa to live in Japan, and we received notice
in September that we had 30 days to arrive in Tokyo or my visa would
be forfeit. Through a good many miracles, we paid every debt (but
the BIG one), and had enough money for air fare. [Note: The final
debt was for lost revenue and damages incurred by our mall landlord.
Two years after we were evicted, they found another tenant, which
should have nullified a portion of our debt, but a judgment had
already been awarded. I would have to go to court to change the
judgment, but that would cost money, too. We didn't hear anything
for a while, so we left it alone, assuming our landlord had given
up. Four years after we returned to Japan, we received a registered
letter stating that we did still owe the money, and that it was
almost $800,000 with interest! We contacted a lawyer friend in Pittsburgh,
and she investigated for us. She found that the statute of limitations
was almost over, and it was a last attempt to get money from us.
We were told to sit tight, which we did, and later were told that
we were completely free from the debt and that our former landlord
has used it as a huge tax write-off.] We came to Japan with a bit
less than $1,000 in cash. This did not last very long, but the Lord
was faithful and provided work for both Junko and I teaching English.
We went to a church in Tokyo for a few months, but felt the leading
of the Spirit to start our own church. This was not my plan at all!
We started with meetings in our living room. Just about this time,
Priscilla was born. Junko was pregnant the whole time we were preparing
to come to Japan! Soon after Priscilla was born, we were lent a
room over an auto-body shop. We had our first church service there
on Easter Sunday of 1987. A year later we moved to an old woodshop
that we rented from Junko's father. It was very run-down, but we
cleaned it up, and praised God. By this time we had 20-25 saints
in our church. In 1992, a fierce typhoon hit Yokohama, and a corner
of the building's foundation was washed away. The whole structure
was tilting! To repair it would cost a lot of money, and already
the roof leaked and the walls had rust holes. We asked for an answer,
and believed we were to build a new building. We had no money in
the bank, but also no debts. None of the members of our church had
any building experience. In fact, none of them even knew which end
of the hammer was which. I asked my pastor in Pittsburgh if I could
look for volunteers from among my home church, and he agreed. I
went to the bank, and they agreed to lend us enough to import the
building materials from the US and build with volunteer labor. My
old boss (actually, same age as me) was willing to come, as well
as several elders, deacons, ushers, and even the pastor's son! All
these men came on their vacation time, and a few even paid their
own air fare. Even my boss' wife came to help on the interior. We
made a three-story building of about 3,000 sq.ft. Our first floor
sanctuary can seat about 100 people. We use all the seats several
times a year, for Christmas, Easter, our annual school drama, etc.
This brings us back to the school... From the very beginning we
were home-schooling our own daughters, but about 8 years ago the
whole church decided to start our own school. It is completely part
of our church, and all of the teachers are volunteers. I say this
tongue-in-cheek, as you are required to help if your child is in
the school. We teach from pre-school to high school. The older kids
teach the younger ones, too. We teach mostly in English, which means
most of the parents must learn English, too. Our first subjects
are respect, communication and love. Our next priorities are music
and the arts. All kids learn basic computer skills. Finally, we
teach math and science as common sense. Though we place little emphasis
on "academics," our kids' aptitude scores are well above
average and their grades are always good to excellent.
Sadly, about four years ago, we were cut free from our relationship
with my pastor in Pittsburgh. It is a long story, but the short
version is that he began to exercise un-Biblical authority over
us, while neglecting our spiritual needs. I truly believe he had
the best of intentions, but some domestic issues in his own church
created instability in the balance of orderliness and grace. Several
saints in his church were asking for some flexibility concerning
some rather rigid rules. They were summarily excommunicated from
the fellowship. (and I mean totally cut off!) I was ordered to follow
suit and have no contact with these people (about 100!), but many
of them were faithful saints with legitimate questions. I asked
for an opportunity to review the situation, but was then falsely
accused of collaboration, and even being a ringleader of insurrection!
I appealed to my pastor for audience, but he was adamant. If I did
not cut these people off, and completely submit myself and my church
absolutely under his authority and rule, I would also be excommunicated.
Well, I could not deny the salvation of these people without Biblical
witness, nor could I place my flock totally in the hands of someone
half a world away, who had little knowledge of Japan. So, he sent
me a note that we were heretic, and excommunicated. To be frank,
it sounds terrible, but it was the grace of God to us. We were growing
increasingly uncomfortable with an escalating sense of control and
rigidity. Many things that seem important in America are trivial
in Japan, where we struggle in a society with less than one-tenth
of one percent faithful Christians. Many songs, sermons and teachings
from America (or elsewhere) are incompatible with the life we live
here, and in fact stifle the moving of the Holy Spirit, creating
an artificial faith in God. We are now free to explore the depths
of grace that the Lord has provided for us here. We are loosed from
the bindings of certain prejudices and the doctrines of man into
a place of blessing reserved for this particular local church, an
expression of the body of Christ. I still pray for my pastor, and
for the many saints and friends that we are out of touch with, and
for restoration of fellowship, sharing and love.
Two years ago, Naomi went to Honolulu to study at Kapi’olani
Community College, an extension of the University of Hawaii. She
went there with Eri Sato the first year, and last year Nozomi Takehara
joined them, all graduates from our church school. We call them
the “Three Strands,” (not easily broken) from Ecclesiastes
4:12. Because the Lord is with them, they are actually the “Four
Strands!” ? Naomi is studying Information Technologies, and
will graduate with an Associates in Science degree this May. She
intends to pursue another degree in New Media Arts, which is an
Associates in Technical Science. These two fields are very up-to-date,
with a lot of hands-on experience with computer hardware, applications,
and software programming. She chose Kapi’olani because of
their excellent teachers and high ratio of jobs upon graduation.
We are blessed that she is doing well with school, but even more
that she is serving a good local church with zeal and faith. She
is very active in campus ministries as well as ministry in the church.
All three girls have an excellent reputation among the Gentiles
and among the saints. Praise the Lord!
Presently, we are in the midst of renovating our church building.
It is ten years old, and was built with economy, but with future
upgrades in mind. The Lord has made it clear that it is time to
implement those upgrades, and has blessed us with the finances and
the means to accomplish His will. We are adding a room over the
garage, connecting to a storage room that will also enclose our
baptistery (presently outdoors, but attached to the building behind
the platform). We will also take off the old metal siding, which
was practical but not very pretty, and replace it with modern ‘fiber-concrete’
horizontal lap siding from Australia. Finally, we want to put up
a cross on the outside of the front of the church, something we
have been seeking for some time. All this will be accomplished with
volunteer help from churches in the US. Saints from 5 states are
committed to come, some paying their own way! We look forward to
sweet fellowship while working together to build the church of God!
I have been a Christian for 21 years, and back here in Japan for
the past 16 years. I am blessed! My own children are water baptized
and serving God. The other saints in this fellowship are full of
similar testimonies. I am now 46 years old, very satisfied with
my Savior, and looking forward to the adventures yet to come.
(end testimony)
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