It started with a TV show

Friendships are a precious thing that God gives us through our lives. Let me tell you of an unexpected friendship that God has given my husband and me.

In the eighties, my husband, Tomo, was a teenager watching a detective show on TV with his grandma in their living room in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture. He remembers the show clearly because an American 19-year-old girl was in it and she spoke English. Her name was Micki McKenzie.

Micki always wanted to become an actress, and in 1979, that dream came true. She got to act in a hit Japanese TV show for one season. It was called Necchū Jidai: Keiji Hen, which can be translated as Era of Enthusiasm/Passion: Detective Edition. In the show—and in real life too—Micki married the star of the show, Mizutani Yutaka. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in divorce. Micki returned to America. There she did some deep soul searching . . . and also began to learn golf. Through it all, she was led to Jesus, who began to redeem her life.

In America in 1990, Micki became part of a Christian outreach group called Friendship Golf Ministry and returned to Japan to share Jesus’s love through golf. As providence would have it, Micki met an American man, Todd Howard, who also had a love for Japan and golfing.

A bit about Micki

Here’s the way God nurtured the original mustard seed of faith in Micki’s heart to blossom:

I married a godly man, Todd Howard, January 28, 1993, in Arizona. Upon first meeting Todd, he immediately began pointing me to Jesus by speaking out what the Bible said about me. For example, “You are a child of God. You’re a daughter of the most high God. You are his workmanship.” God used Todd to help me fulfill many things that God had ordained for me.

Todd’s passion for the Word of God was, and still is, infectious. When he talks about things that are written in the Bible, it comes alive. Even though my main form of connecting with God is singing, I’ve caught my husband’s passion for the Bible. It is alive, able to change my heart, able to teach and correct me when I am wrong. Able to give me peace when I am afraid. Able to give me direction.

God used Todd to help me reconcile with my parents, especially my mom. He would tell me, “Micki, make sure each time that you come together with your parents that you don’t leave having anything unsaid like ‘I love you’ or ‘Please forgive me for such and such.’”

Hirakata, Osaka

In 1995, my (Kari’s) husband, Tomo, read in a Christian newspaper that Micki and Todd had come to Japan and they were sharing the gospel through a golf ministry. Tomo decided to write her a letter and tell her that he had become a believer. This sparked a friendship among the four of us: Micki and Todd, and Tomo and me.

Room for more friends

Micki is still coming to Japan 47 years after her Japanese TV debut. Currently, she and Todd are coming as often as they can to invest in the relationships that they have made over the years. Micki has told me that, other than Jesus, friends are her most precious treasure in life. I know she and Todd are open to new friendships and would love to encourage you or your group in your journey with Jesus. If you would like to contact Micki and/or Todd, she told me you are free to contact them by email (mickikayhoward@gmail.com and toddhowardgolf@gmail.com).

Micki and Todd will do anything they can to see Jesus glorified and his kingdom expanded in Japan. 

Photo submitted by author