Leaving Fear and Finding Peace

The Japanese people are largely indifferent to Christianity, and most of them know almost nothing about Jesus.

Buddhist temple worship and shine visitation are a major part of Japanese family culture and some studies show less than 1 percent of the population is Chistian.

However, Japanese who move to the United States are finding the truth about Christianity as they visit churches and Bible studies.

Yaeko Asakura was born and raised in Japan. As a little girl, she was curious about supernatural power and she often prayed to the god in her mind.

"I just assumed that God was listening to me, but I didn't know which God was going to answer my prayers," she said. "All I could do was wait and to see if situations started to change."

After getting married and moving to the United States, she was invited to join a Japanese Bible study and heard about Jesus for the first time.

Soon, she began watching The 700 Club on television. She discovered that she identified with people's testimonies and their struggles echoed her own troubles in life.

Eventually, she gave her life to Jesus.  

"I was deeply touched by the God-changing miracles," she said. "As Terry and Pat prayed on TV at the end of the program, I started to pray for the first time. I felt freedom and peace. I gave my life to Jesus."  

Mayumi Sakamoto heads the Japanese Bible study. Every week, she invites Japanese people to join her and she shares about her struggles in life. As a teenager, she feared death and her only thought was to go to the temple to ask for solutions, but it didn't help.

"When I left the place, I didn't feel better," she said. "I was so afraid my mom would die. I thought maybe I should donate more money to the temple so that God can heal my mom."

Mayumi says younger generations in Japan are starting to question the purpose of the shrines. They're realize that they're only following tradition when they go there to worship and they recognize that the temples themeslves are just plain buildings.

Even though there are no restrictions on evangelism in Japan, the people are resistant to the Gospel.

Mayumi and her group say they're going to start more small Bible groups and train more leaders to reach their nation so they can teach the younger generations how to leave behind fear and live in peace.