Yu Koike, 2018, Japan
I grew up in Christian home and going to church was a very natural thing for me since young. So, it did not occur to me that I needed to share the gospel with others.
One day after visiting my high school, my mother gave me this verse: One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9-10
My mother saw that there were so many youths and felt that I could reach out to them; to show them the love of God. “Do not be afraid, I have many people in this city.” This verse was given to someone like me, who had never preached the gospel to others before; but I felt that this verse was a promise to my life.
A few years passed, and when I was in the university, one of my church friends, who was usually very shy, suddenly told me very seriously, “Yu, we must share about Jesus, we must take action NOW!” I was very convicted by her words. The God I know is such a wonderful God and I should not just keep Him in my heart. Since that day, I started to reach out to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have not yet come to know Him. I did this with my other Christian friends.
One day, God spoke to me saying that He would fill my church with many of my friends. So I went around to invite many of my friends to church. I expected it to be easy; that God would make all my friends receive Christ and join the church. However it was not the case. Although many of my friends came for our church service, and enjoyed it, none of them wanted to follow Jesus. One of my friends even told me to my face: “I will never believe in Jesus!” I experienced many rejections and faced challenges. But I remember that the Bible says “love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:*8). I told myself that the action of love I could do now was to never give up on sharing the gospel with my friends. I kept holding on to the first promise that God made to me, that He will fill my church with lots of my friends.
In April 2018, when I least expected it, one of my friends was saved and decided to be water baptised! One by one, the young people in my church started to get water baptised. This continued even when I was in Singapore for SOT. The friend who told me “I will never believe in Jesus!” also got saved! His younger brother was also saved this year, and is now growing in the Lord and reaching out to his friends. God works in ways that I never imagined.
During SOT, I witnessed what love looked like through my SOT team and other classmates who demonstrated love by being there for one another. In the seven months, we spent both good and bad times together . What I’ve learnt is that this can be applied when we reach out to our friends as well. I focused on building relationship with many of my friends by spending time with them. From there, I share the love of Jesus with them. If we do not give up and continue to show God’s love, I believe that people will eventually open up their hearts.
After SOT, I have continued to reach out. I realise that people are lonely and looking for a place to belong to, especially during this COVID situation. Although we cannot meet up in big groups like before, I would still meet my friends one to one and spend time with them.
In spite of COVID-19, our church held a mini Christmas party last year, with all the safety measures in place. New friends came to join us! This year, with the restrictions easing, are planning to have a bigger Christmas party with games, music, sharing the Christmas message and even putting up a Christmas skit. Together with the young adult members, we want to invite many new friends for this party.
The verse my mother gave to me when I was a high school student—about how God has many people in this city—is slowly coming to pass in my church. God’s promises have never changed even when I was disappointed and things looked impossible.
SOT alumni, let us keep believing in God’s promises and never give up on reaching out! Your family and friends will be saved!