i recently took a trip to nagasaki, japan. it's what my church calls a PEACE trip.
at a gospel concert put on by nagasaki baptist church, the director of the choir sang "amazing grace". how many times have i heard this song? yet this woman, clutching her cane and singing words i didn't understand, communicated its intent with a longing and declaration that made me listen anew. during the second verse, i realized that she had to have once been so desperate for hope that when it came, it was like sight to the blind.
later my team learned that she comes from a town known for the largest amount of martyrdom of christians in japan. we wondered how she came to be a christian, since that town is about 2 hours away from nagasaki. it turns out she went to a gospel concert that nagasaki baptist church put on and joined the choir. she said that spending time with the choir and experiencing what they were singing about led her to invite Christ to be her Savior and Lord.
what gets a japanese woman, with an injured leg and enormous talent, to forgo her culture of polished images and self-sufficiency and throw herself recklessly at a belief of which she has no tangible proof?
they say it's the hot water. she and all the members of the choir kept telling us that when they experience the passion and love of God through the christians in their lives, they can't deny that He exists.
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