Generous hearts

What’s the secret to a soul coming to Christ in Japan? What’s the secret of someone wanting to become a pastor? As we know, God’s Word is the guidebook for life, but God also guides people when they come to feel and experience his love. This story is about how God’s love changed and empowered the life of one young soul through the faithfulness of many missionaries and Japanese believers.

The story began over sixty years ago when Hiro gave his heart to the Lord at a hi-b.a. (high school born againers) camp.¹ From there he was introduced to a small local church in Yokohama. After the Sunday service, fellowship was held at the parsonage, an old and shabby Japanese house on the outside, yet the inside was beautifully filled with love and praise and worship. Hiro met people such as missionary Betty Hudson and Japanese believers, who helped strengthen and encourage him in his faith walk. It was a beautiful and faith-filled chain of relationships—each one leading to the next.

Another strong link in the chain was Clarence and Eleanor Swanson, who were friendly, faithful, and loving missionaries. They began building a friendship with Hiro by inviting him to their home in the afternoons. As they did this, they naturally taught and talked about the Word of God.

Hiro’s faith began to grow, and he started to share his testimony and story with his friends. And they, too, were touched by the truth and the love of Christ. One by one, Hiro saw his friends come to Christ! Before too long the group of believers had grown to about five other students, and Hiro said at that point they did not feel out of place praying before meals and opening the Bible at lunchtime at school. As I listened to this story, I could see how strong and genuine his faith was, even as a young teen. He had a strong inner conviction of eternal life along with the love of God in him. This naturally flowed from him as he shared this with his friends. After high school, he went on and completed a college degree while being involved in local fellowships.

In 1968, Hiro married a Christian woman, and the next year, he entered seminary. In 1972, Hiro was invited to join a missionary on a deputation trip in the US for six months. This was part of his training. He was all gung-ho for the trip, and he jumped at the opportunity to go and live by faith. His enthusiasm was catching and brought joy everywhere he went. He traveled to churches in 16 different states and had a wide variety of wonderful experiences along the way.

I asked him how he managed to communicate as he was not a fluent speaker of English. He replied that somehow the spirit of God helped him to communicate well, and there was no language problem. It was sheer adventure, discovery, and fun. This trip fueled the spiritual fire that was already in him, and he developed a great love and thankfulness for the missionaries and brothers and sisters in the US who helped him along the way. Through these cords of human kindness, he again experienced God’s love in a deep way. Because of this experience, he became comfortable with foreigners. He realized the value of working with other believers, traveling, and receiving God’s love from people he hadn’t known before.

Campus ministry

After returning to Japan, Hiro joined the staff of Campus Crusade. On weekdays he would go to a local university campus and begin talking with the students. He ate lunch with them at the school cafeteria and began building relationships with them. Then he invited them to his home for dinner and fellowship. His wife cooked in the kitchen while he talked with the students in the living room. It was a beautiful team effort as husband and wife, working together for the same purpose of sharing Christ’s love.

Hiro was giving in the same way that he had received from his mentors and faith fathers. Through these simple and meaningful interactions, students came to faith in Christ. Everyone, even in the 1970s, had a hunger for a place to be loved and accepted as they were. It was merely opening his heart and home with his wife, united in Christ for the sake of the gospel, that planted the seeds for an abundant harvest.

Church ministry

In 1975, Hiro stepped into the role of a pastor and started a church with a heart for young people. In addition to Sunday services, they held different gatherings. There were baptisms, and sometimes seven or eight students at a time made a public declaration of their faith this way. Fellowship continued all day long on Sundays until late at night. Pastor Hiro and his wife laughed as they related the story that the students simply did not want to leave their home. Finally, when it got to be around 10 p.m., they would have to tell everyone to leave and go home. How contagious the love of God is! One of the largest gatherings had over 100 Japanese college students. There was no begging or pushing, but simply living out the gospel. Today, many of the youth who came to Christ at that time are faithfully serving as Christian leaders throughout Japan in churches and Christian organizations.

Twice he led a homestay tour to North America and brought around thirty Japanese high school and college students each time, a similar experience to what he’d had in his earlier years. This allowed believers in the US and Canada to share a part in the ministry as they opened their hearts and homes to these students. It reminds me of the simple acronym TEAM—Together Everyone Achieves More!

For several summers, Pastor Hiro invited an overseas short-term mission team to his church. His church partnered with the team by providing meals and accommodation, and created opportunities for them to interact with the families in his church and community. Although he didn’t seek any reward or praise, his daughter was led to marry a man who also had a heart for missions in Japan, and so he was blessed with a faithful and diligent American son-in-law. And even today, in his late seventies, he continues to interact and partner with foreigners.

Even during the pandemic, Pastor Hiro and his wife generously invited my husband and me to their home multiple times. His wife has a big heart and helpful hands as she still faithfully cooks the meals and serves up coffee and dessert as well. We enjoyed talking as a foursome, and it was through these visits that lasted several hours that I came to know the story that God has beautifully woven through their lives.

Inspired to do hospitality

As my husband and I pondered these stories in our hearts, we decided that it was time again to open our home to guests for meals and fellowship, as well as lodging. This has brought great refreshment to not only the guests who have come, but to our souls also. A few weeks ago, a 70-something friend from Kyushu came with her two sisters and brother-in-law. We enjoyed a meal, dessert, telling stories, and even listening to a Japanese folk song together. Last week we hosted Noemi from Belgium for several days while she was on a prayer mission in Japan. It was a time of encouraging each other in the Lord as well as learning about each other’s countries.

Having meals with people and talking with people is in fact the method Jesus himself often used to draw people to himself and show them love. He affirmed their value as he spent time with them like this. In this busy land of Japan, may we open our hearts and homes to those around us. Who can imagine what amazing results will be awaiting these steps of opening our hearts and homes?

Lastly, I want to encourage all of you. We don’t often know where we are in the chain leading to faith in someone else’s life. We don’t know who may have planted a seed in them or whom they will encounter after they meet us. Let us be faithful in doing what God has called us to do, just as it was a whole team of people who planted, nurtured, and cultivated seeds in Pastor Hiro’s life. It was a whole tribe working together that led to his life bearing much fruit.

1. Pastor Hiro wishes to remain anonymous, so we have not included details which identify him.