Kaoru had always hoped that her daughter Saori would accept Jesus and be baptized, but sadly she showed no interest. When Kaoru was hospitalized with a brain disease, Saori found support in the Adventist Church.
It’s said that a true friend will be there for you both in good times and bad.
For nearly 50 years, Terumi Akiho has been Kaoru Tanuma’s best friend. They met in academy, and they have remained close ever since. Terumi is a volunteer who has served with her husband on Mission Unusual Tokyo (MUT) projects for about a year.
Kaoru had always hoped that Saori, her eldest daughter, would accept Jesus and be baptized, but sadly she showed no interest.
In late 2021, Kaoru was hospitalized with a potentially crippling brain disease caused by COVID-19.
At that time, the doctor told me that she has a chance to live. However, the chances of regaining consciousness were very small. It was really difficult for me to accept this reality.
“I was shocked about the news. I soon arranged a prayer group with her friends from Adventist Academy to pray for her healing. With the power of prayer and God’s grace, the prayer was answered. She woke up from her state of unconsciousness.”
Seeing how Terumi and her friends came together to pray for her mother and witnessing what happened with her mother triggered in Saori an awareness of God’s existence. She looked for her Bible and started to read.
As she read, Saori remembered that her mother’s great hope was to see her get baptized. She started looking for an Adventist church nearby but because of Covid-19 restrictions, churches with large congregations were closed.
Fortunately, Saori found an Adventist Church that was still open.
“I contacted the church members and the pastor and told him that I wanted to be baptized on my birthday, March 17!!”
Excited about the change in Saori’s life, Terumi connected her with the church planting team of Mission Unusual Tokyo. Since November 2021, while still attending Funabashi Church, Saori has created strong ties with the volunteer workers at MUT.
“Every Friday she joined our small group online meeting. We all grow spiritually with each other by sharing and praying together every single week. It's so encouraging to see some good things happening to Saori.”
Chizu who lives at the Yokohama JUC (what is this?) campus in Tokyo, became a mentor to Saori and provided her personal, wholistic support. A small discipleship team naturally formed as the three women enjoyed participating in NEWSTART, a health program based on eight key lifestyle principles, together. Or, NEWSTART, a health program, together.
“We spent time together experiencing all eight parts of it, walking around, testifying and praying with each other, eating healthy, drinking enough water, and worshiping God together in my apartment.”
“It was the way of life of the Adventists around me that boosted my confidence towards baptism. I saw genuine love, care, and support from this group. I am happy I can meet these people. God is real!”
Love can break through the hardest things. This includes peoples’ hearts and also the steel and concrete cities, such as Tokyo, Japan. To reach people in this city, the Adventist Church in Japan invited the General Conference and the Northern Asia-Pacific Division to partner with them to create Mission Unusual—a comprehensive church planting and disciple-making movement. Tokyo is the largest city in the world, making it a focus for Mission to the Cities and Global Mission.
A team of church planting missionaries is already on the ground, learning the language and how best to share Jesus with the Japanese. Mission Unusual Tokyo involves Global Mission pioneers, urban centers of influence, Global Mission Centers, volunteers, and tentmakers in a concerted effort to reach the entire city for Jesus!
Please pray for Saori, the first person baptized from the Mission Unusual Tokyo initiative. And please pray for the missionaries, the Global Mission pioneers, and the volunteers. We believe God has big plans for Tokyo. th
