Every year, many Japanese choose to receive baptism during Christmas service. In the church I pastor, we had two young people receive baptism during the Christmas of 2018. We were most thankful for them. Below are their testimonies, which I hope may bring you joy as you read them and see God’s work in their lives.
I was raised in a Christian home, so it was natural for me to attend church. But I got very busy in middle school with extra-curricular activities, which took place every day including Sundays. I could barely attend church for those three years in middle school. Looking back on it, I wasn’t close to God because all I could think about was club activities.
One day, after I had taken my high school entrance exam and things had calmed down, I was invited by K to a “hi-b.a.” event. hi-b.a. is a Christian ministry for high school students. They host all kinds of events, and this summer they had a camp. I wanted to get to know Christian friends and to know God more too, so I joined the camp. On the first night of camp, a staff member spoke on “The Love of God”, and that message impacted me.
In middle school I often compared myself with other people, in terms of my performance in club activities and studies. I did the same in high school, and there were times I looked down on myself. There were times I felt all alone and, being far from God, I would cry all by myself. But I was reminded by a passage in the Bible that, even if we are far from God, He doesn’t stop loving us.
Isaiah 43:4 says, “Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you…” and Isaiah 49:15-16 says, “I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…”
“You are precious and honored in my sight,” says God, who loves me. I thought my worth was decided by how people saw me. But it is God who decides my worth. Furthermore, He says, “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” God will not forget me and will never leave me. When I thought about that, I realized how great His love was. I wondered what I could possibly do in response to Him.
At the end of the message, the hi-b.a. staff said, “If you haven’t put your trust in Jesus, would you like to do that today? If you have already, how about deciding that you want to be baptized? If so, please raise your hand.” In response to God’s love, I raised my hand as a decision to be baptized.
I renewed my decision to live as a believer of Jesus, my only Savior. To end, I would like to share a verse that I hope to keep close to my heart. Isaiah 46:4: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
I started attending IBF about five years ago, in March, I think. It was during Spring Break of my third year of high school. I was invited to this church for A’s baptism as her father and my mother have been friends since elementary school.
I’d like to share a bit about my background. Until then, I had attended the house church gatherings my mother went to. But because the sermons were difficult to understand and there were few young people, I only went on occasions like Christmas and Easter. But my middle school and high school had were Christian-affiliated, so I learned about God there. Every morning at school we had chapel services, so I thought I’d rather take it easy on Sundays. But in university, I didn’t have chapel anymore, so I thought I would try attending a church on Sunday. I ended up visiting IBF.
I started going to Journey meetings at IBF. It was fun to meet others my age. At first I only went for Journey’s monthly gathering as I was busy with university, my part-time job on Sundays, and having fun on weekends. I guess I was more interested in hanging out with friends than in learning about the Bible in church.
In October of my first year at university, M-san invited me to a meeting of KGK, a Christian students’ organization. I started attending KGK events, and as a result, I had more opportunities to learn about the Bible outside of Sunday church. It might seem strange to you, but that became my habit—joining KGK often but only attending church once a month.
It was only in my senior year of university that I attended IBF weekly. That began one-and-a-half years ago, when the pastor was preaching from Acts of the Apostles. I enjoyed the message and felt spiritually enriched by it.
It was a busy period of my life, though. I was studying to enter graduate school and also had practical training. Now that I think of it, I had always tried to bury my loneliness by going out with friends. But that year, because of studying for graduate school entrance exams, Sunday was my only free day. And I had gotten used to attending IBF on Sundays, listening to the sermon, and being refreshed by it after a long, hard week. I now looked forward to Sundays at IBF.
In Acts of the Apostles chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus is taken up to heaven in plain sight of his disciples. Right before this, Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The phrase “you will be my witnesses” stood out to me. I reflected that I could be a witness for Jesus by living out the message of the gospel as a Christian. Pondering this, I wanted to live as a witness for Jesus.
On April 1 this year, after Easter service, I went out to eat with M-san. We talked about baptism, and I made the decision to be baptized. Before this, I had not felt confident about being baptized, but I think that day’s conversation with Mifumi was God-given. I had already been a believer for years, but the Bible also speaks of baptism. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” If I am baptized, it says, God will give me the Holy Spirit and He will change me from the inside.
Before, I had thought that just believing was enough, and that I didn’t need to be baptized. But now I believe that baptism will play a vital part in my life of faith. And I have assurance that God will guide me through his Holy Spirit and help me live as His witness. Knowing this, I would like to continue journeying in a life of faith.