Butterfly Church in Taiwan,
00:00:08.74\00:00:10.91
a mobile clinic in
Mexico, and the question
00:00:10.94\00:00:13.71
what is a
missionary coming up next.
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Hello, and
welcome to Mission 360.
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I'm Gary Krause.
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Today's program is
coming to you from Tokyo, Japan.
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And I'm standing in
the Meiji Jingu Shrine
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right in the heart of Tokyo.
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And this is a shrine
that commemorates the Emperor
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and the Empress, who
died in the early 1900s.
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And this was
established in 1920.
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And people from
all over the world
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donated some 100,000 trees
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to build the beautiful
forest that surrounds here.
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Shintoism, of course,
is a fascinating religion
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that's at the heart of
Japanese culture and values.
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And on today's
program, we'll be looking
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more at Japan
mission around the world,
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but first up, let's visit
the Butterfly Church in Taiwan.
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Every year,
thousands of butterflies
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come to the
Maolin Valley in Taiwan.
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They fly here just before
the winter in search of warmth
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to survive the colder months.
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In this valley, there are
more butterflies than people.
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In fact, the local
native community is small.
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There are only 600
people who live here.
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Ubake lives in
the Maolin Valley.
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As an artist, he is inspired
by God's designs in nature.
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Tourists admire his unique art,
including his favorite pieces,
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which are patterned
after the butterflies.
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Ubake has used
these amazing creations
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to cover the Maolin Seventh-day
Adventist Church building,
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both on the
outside and the inside.
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He has also dedicated
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some of his
other intricate pieces
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to beautify the church.
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Ubake's charming and
colorful metal butterflies
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help to make
this church stand out
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among many other
Christian denominations
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in this community.
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However, it's not
the metal, wooden,
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or cloth ornaments
that make this church
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known in the community.
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Every day, a group
of local Adventists
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start the day with prayer.
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In the early
morning, they ask God to bless
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their efforts to reach
the people around them.
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Then they read from God's
Word and stretch their muscles
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to begin an important ministry.
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Today, they will
complete their 339th lap around
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and through the community.
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This is the Maolin Church's
walking and praying ministry.
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Like butterflies that
fly from flower to flower,
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these Seventh-day Adventists
walk from house to house.
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As church members
pour into the streets,
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they smile and warmly
greet their neighbors.
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When someone invites
them into their home,
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they pause to pray for the many
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who are in need there.
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And when they leave the home,
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the people feel
blessed by the visit.
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During the trek, church members
also stop at their own homes
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for a special prayer.
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Each member of the
walking and praying ministry
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also hosts a
small group Bible study
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on a rotating basis.
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In these small groups,
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they pray daily
for their neighbors
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who are
learning about the Bible.
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These "walking butterflies"
pollinate their community
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with God's love.
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Because of this ministry,
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the Maolin
Adventist Church membership
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has doubled over
the last three years.
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Members have also grown closer
to each other and to Jesus.
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Please pray for
the Butterfly Church
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and for the Christ-like ministry
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they do here.
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My guest is Yoriko
who is a youth leader
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in her local church
here in Tokyo, Japan.
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Yoriko, thank you
so much for joining us.
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Thank you very much.
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How did you first
become a Seventh-day Adventist?
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I actually grew up
in Christian house.
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Yes.
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But actually, I didn't
wanted to become a Christian.
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By the time I was 14
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because of many
different reasons,
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but then I went to high school
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in Oklahoma
called Oklahoma Academy,
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and they are really focused
on training a young people
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to become
evangelist or missionary.
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So all the
programs that they have like
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Messiah's Mansion
canvassing programs and also,
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they taught us about
the Bible really well.
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And that's was the first time
when I decided to accept Jesus.
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Wonderful.
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So through the
Adventist Academy.
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Terrific.
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So in your church,
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you have something
called a Youth Rush Program.
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Can you tell me what that is?
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Oh, Youth Rush
Program is actually,
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it's a canvassing program.
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Yes.
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Starting in America, but
actually they started to,
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they decided to
start it in Japan.
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So young people, like
around 14 to 20 people
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come together and
knock on the doors,
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we train them how
to knock on the doors,
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and we also do like
Bible study together.
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And we introduce
the books to the people.
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And it's been
amazing experience.
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So I guess it is amazing.
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I mean, a lot of the
places would be very difficult
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to even get into some
of the apartments, right?
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So what sort of
response do you get?
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Well, we get a lot of response.
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Most of the time,
especially in the city,
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many, most of the
responses are quick rejection.
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Yes.
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But we do meet many
people who actually seeking God.
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And we pray with them.
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And they actually, you
know, cry at the door to say,
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God has been
showing many miracles.
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Wonderful.
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Now, how many young people
are involved in this program?
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Ah, you mean the leaders or...
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Actually, who knocking on doors?
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For one program?
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So how many are going
door-to-door knocking?
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Oh, for one program,
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we have a limit of
14 people actually.
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So the 14 students
come to one programs
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and we have
three of those programs
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for the summer
and for the springs.
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So do you have trouble getting
enough young people to go?
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No, actually depends.
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Sometimes. Yeah,
sometimes, but we...
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But now we like
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at the
beginning of the programs.
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It started two years ago.
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And it started with like,
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actually seven or eight
people for the first program.
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It's built up.
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Yeah, but more and more
people started wanting to come.
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So now we are
running like three programs.
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Wonderful. Yeah, so.
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Terrific.
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Now you have another
program called Gideon 300.
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What is that?
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Gideon 300 is a project to train
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and train the young leader,
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300 youth leader
until the year 2020.
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Oh, wonderful. So how
is that program going?
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It's going very well.
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They actually started
a program called Gifts.
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Yes.
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So the young
people can learn about
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the Bible like 28 fundamental
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Seventh-day
Adventists on the internet.
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And Youth Rush is
one of those programs.
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Wonderful.
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Here we're walking
through a neighborhood here,
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which it's very quiet.
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It's very nice.
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You see families, but
mission to these people,
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what sort of barriers are there?
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Why is mission such a
challenge here in Tokyo?
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I think one of the reasons
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is because people
are actually filled.
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They have money,
they have clothes.
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Basically, they have a job.
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They have food.
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So as it says in the Revelation,
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you know, I have, I'm rich,
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I've enough of
goods, but at the same time,
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many people in Japan
are really feeling lonely
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and they're stressed
with many problems of life.
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So I think they
are needing Jesus,
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but they're not
realizing about it.
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Right.
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So the
opportunity is there to share.
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Yeah.
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Can you give me an
example of somebody whose life
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has been touched
through this church?
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Oh, through this church? Yeah.
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Yeah, actually, we started
to have an English Bible study.
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Yes.
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On Wednesday, and my
friend actually started
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to come to this church.
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She was, she's...
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I went to public college. Yes.
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Junior college, and she grew
up in Christian house, home,
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but she was
praying for 18 years.
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Wow. Yeah.
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So, but like, past few months,
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like many things
happen in her life.
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And she started to pray.
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And she actually contacted me.
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And she started
to come to church.
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And now she's
really enjoying it.
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And she said her
life was has been changed.
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Terrific.
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Now, what are your
hopes for the future?
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What would you like to
see happen in the future?
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Happen in the
future? I really like to.
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I really like to see
more and more young people
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get on fire for God and
be missionaries for Japan.
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And I want to see
Jesus comes very soon.
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Wonderful.
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Well, thank you so much
for sharing with us today.
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Thank you very
much. Appreciate it.
00:10:19.18\00:10:20.95
And viewers at home,
please pray for mission
00:10:20.98\00:10:25.25
here in Japan, Tokyo, huge city,
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so many people,
high rises everywhere.
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And as we've been
reminded, often they feel that
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they're rich and
increased with goods
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and have need of
nothing, but we know that
00:10:36.60\00:10:38.33
there's something
00:10:38.37\00:10:39.70
that only the
love of Jesus can fill.
00:10:39.73\00:10:41.70
So please pray for Tokyo,
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pray for Japan,
pray for this church,
00:10:43.27\00:10:45.11
pray for the young
people, and the leaders.
00:10:45.14\00:10:47.31
And we will be right back
straight after this break.
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