Story Shorts: Japan & Mexico

Editor's Note: "Story Shorts" are snippets of stories of lives transformed from MTW fields around the globe. 

Buddhist Family Comes to Faith in Japan

An MTW Japan missionary agreed to have a difficult conversation with a Buddhist man with less than a year to live. The man’s Christian daughter told him she could not hold a Japanese Buddhist funeral for him, so she asked her father to meet with her pastor about making arrangements for a Christian funeral.

The missionary pastor explained the gospel to the man and his wife, highlighting the differences between Christian and Buddhist funerals. At the end of their conversation, the man asked: “So I don’t have to be a Christian to have a Christian-based funeral?”

“No, sir! We would never want you to believe something you don’t want to,” the missionary answered.

“Well,” he paused. “I might as well become Christian.”

His daughter and the missionary stared at him in astonishment. The missionary quickly said, “Oh sir, there is really no pressure to ...”

To their surprise the father explained, “I may not look like it, but I am a very prideful man. But when you face death, there is no longer a need to hold on to pride. I listened to your explanation,” he said, pointing at the scribbles that explained the gospel, “and it sounds right. I would like to enter into your faith.”

Still skeptical, the missionary asked, “Does this mean you want to get baptized?”

“Yes. With my wife as well.”

His wife was surprised but nodded in agreement. After a few Bible studies and a baptism interview, the 70-year-old couple got baptized in front of their Christian daughter.

A Prosthetic Gift in Mexico

Months before they left the U.S., an MTW medical team to Saltillo, Mexico, began praying for God to provide someone in need of a prosthetic limb because they had some available for that visit. The two Mexican churches planning to host the clinic didn’t know of anyone, but in faith the team continued to pray and brought the prosthetics. After arriving in Saltillo in the fall of 2023, they met Armando.

Armando lost his hand in a work-related machine accident four years ago, costing him both his hand and his job. Armando had come to the clinic for high blood pressure but once he arrived the team asked if he’d like to be fitted for a new hand. When he met with the occupational therapist on the team his first question was, “How much does it cost? I’m a poor man, and I have no money.”

Cornelia, the OT, answered, “Nothing! We’re here to share the love of Jesus and help with physical and spiritual wounds.”

Armando asked, “What kind of God do you serve that you’d come from the U.S. to our mountains and offer me an artificial limb that I had never hoped to own?”

“A mighty and loving God!” Cornelia replied. “In my church our pastor says, “It’s for you Christ came, for you He died, and for you He will come again!”