We got to share the Gospel!

We had by far the best girls' Bible discussion so far this summer! Ikuko (the Nav staff woman) was not there to translate, so we talked with Mami, Tomoe, Nana, Rie, Samika, and Anna without an interpreter. God really broke down the walls in communication. It was amazing to see how easy it was to understand one another because usually there is a pretty high level of difficulty. We talked about Matthew 18 and the parable of the unforgiving servant. We asked them some questions about forgiveness: Is forgiving easy? Why do we forgive? Have you ever had to ask for forgiveness?

Samika asked us what happens if we do not forgive someone. She said that if you sin in her religion (Buddhism), you go to hell. She asked us if the same thing happens in Christianity. We had the opportunity to share the Gospel with all of the girls while answering her question! When we told her that in Christ we are forgiven of all our sins, she said that she was jealous that we can believe in a God who is so generous. We explained that God is available to anyone and that he came into the world as Jesus and lived a perfect life. When Mami found out that Jesus is God, she freaked out. She had never heard that before. A lot of them take a Bible class in college, but they didn't understand these basic things about the Christian doctrine.

They asked a lot of questions about Heaven and we got to share with them a passage in Revelation that talks about people from every nation gathered around the throne of God. When we are in Heaven, we will hear people speaking Japanese! They loved hearing that. We asked them some questions about their belief in life after death, and a lot of them had truly never thought about it before. They are also afraid of punishment, so I asked them who they think will punish them for their sins. They were unsure. It is so interesting to hear about their fear, but they have no idea who to be afraid of.

At the end, they thanked us for sharing with them and agreed to meet again on Monday. Tomoe said that when she thinks about religion, she thinks about fear. But when she thinks about the Gospel, she is not afraid. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?

Here is Mandy sharing an illustration of the Gospel to the girls!