Lifted Vision Ministry

Greetings everyone! The work of the Lord continues in Japan! God blessed us as we did open air evangelism in the streets of Nishinari! This time we were in a team of three! The three of us made quite the dynamic team: Pastor Yasutaka led us through the slum with expertise and wisdom. Pastor Satochi is bi-lingual and translated English to Japanese, allowing me to communicate with the homeless and minister effectively. I prepared the care packages and origami tracts before hand and handed them out to many people. I also prayed with many homeless people while sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. There was so much fruit from this day, but one person’s story definitely stood out!
Here is Takemori-San’s story:
Takemori-San (pictured below) lays on a piece of cardboard everyday in the same position, unable to move freely as he would like to. This is because Takemori-San is disabled and homeless. When we first approached him, he actually didn’t seem too interested in talking with us. Then, as Pastor Yasutaka started talking with him about a brand name that was on one of the bags next to him, Takemori-san stated that he too liked the brand and the conversation began from there. After that, I introduced myself to him through Pastor Satochi translating.
Takemori-San’s skin was so sunburnt that it was red and blistering. I have never seen such puffed up and inflamed skin from a sunburn before. He visually appeared to be in physical agony and stated that he also has had a back problem for many, many years. We prayed for him three times and praise God, he was able to sit up after that! After we prayed for him, he said he felt better! He also said he believed that he would continue to get better since we prayed for him. It was at that time, we shared the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with him and asked him if he wanted to believe in Jesus. He said yes!!! We all prayed together and Takemori-San prayed the salvation prayer out loud, right there on the street, despite there being many Japanese on-lookers. It was at that moment he accepted Jesus Christ into his life! As we were ministering to Takemori-San, some people walking by came over to us and asked us what we were doing and why we were talking with this man. Pastor Yasutaka just smiled and said that we are sharing the good news of Jesus Christ! People were shocked to see us ministering in this way to the homeless, but God had a divine plan for Takemori-san! I praise God for saving this man that day!
We will go back and minister to Takemori-San: I would like to get him a Bible and invite him to our church so that he can grow in his faith! Salvation is really just the first day of the rest of our lives, so inviting him to church and helping him walk in a Godly direction; that is my hope for him! Please pray with me for Takemori-san! Right now, Takemori-San has no way to provide for himself and he shared with us that all he wants to do is to be able to work. He wants a job, but due to being physically disabled, he isn’t able to get work. Please pray for Takemori-san to be able to be provided for, to get off the streets and to come to our church so that he can be supported in the faith!
I have seen God do 2 salvations so far in the first 20 days of being here in Japan! God is blessing this ministry with divine appointments and we are able to continue reaching the lost for Christ! The work of the Lord continues and God is blessing it abundantly! Please continue to pray for this ministry: that many more Japanese would encounter Jesus and be saved! Should you want to be involved in this ministry and if you are also able to give financially, you can do so here: https://liftedvision.org/donate/

God bless you friends and family and God bless Japan!