unbelievable

Yesterday i took 10 more Japanese 1858gc books to the church, as i had taken 40 the week before, but one lady asked for 5 already. There are usually around 45 people who attend church every Sabbath, so i wanted to make sure that there were enough for each person to have a copy if the leaders there decided it was good to pass them out.

The sermon was titled “The God of History”, and the first half was about things that went on in the Old Testament, and how we know that God is in control of the affairs of man. THEN! The pastor started talking about how we can learn more of the God of history thru the writings of Ellen White, and especially thru The Great Controversy! He then explained in more detail than i ever have from any pulpit, the origins of this book, its expansion and subsequent editions etc etc. It was straight as an arrow. Near the end of his sermon he reached into his suit pocket, and pulled out the 1858gc in Japanese!!! He recommended it, and said it was available for free to anyone who wanted one out in the lobby. Well, i shed some tears at this point, as i just couldn’t believe that anyone of any position in the Seventh-day Adventist church in Japan had much of anything except either neglect or contempt for this book which i spent nearly 2 years, and thousands of dollars on. He is also very open to the idea of my carrying on some kind of study of the book, and one elder who treats me very well said he would bring it up at the next board meeting. The pastor’s wife and this elder also said i’m welcome to sleep overnite at the church on the 25th of this month, as there will be a revival meeting that evening, then i wish to come to church the next morning for Sabbath service. This is also very unusual for me to experience in Japan. Yes, i’d rather stay in someone’s house, but this is a very nice gesture 🙂 On a final note, after choir practice (yes, even me!) and handing out some flyers for a rice-cake pounding/eating event on the 20th, the pastor’s wife slipped me something, even specifying that it was just a donation, not payment for books, because she knows i would never take that on the Sabbath. Just dumbfounded.

So now that everyone in the church knows about the book, and that the pastor is definitely in favor of the book, many doors should open to study together and perhaps spread this book more here in my beloved, adopted, terribly godless country — Japan.

Jesus is good, all the time. I just can’t believe how things have worked out here in the last few weeks, when i was feeling like throwing in the towel on Japan and Seventh-day Adventists here. Surely God is more patient with us than we are with ourselves!