I am thankful from my heart for the opportunity to be baptized and to officially become a part of God's family.  I am also thankful for my co-worker, Marice, who invited me to church, for those of you in the church who are rejoicing with me in my salvation, for my mother, who even though she is a non-Christian, is happy for me about my decision, and for my boyfriend who is in America.
  I want to share with you about how I was led to this church and how I was changed as a result.  I believed in god since I was a small child.  I didn't have any particular religion, but I created my own god from information I gleaned from various books and people.  It was only after coming to this church that I realized that this god I had created was really an idol.
Actually I had been introduced to the Bible for the first time when I was 12.  I entered Baiko Junior High School and was introduced to the Bible and to Jesus Christ for the first time there.  Each day, for six years, we had chapel, sang hymns, and studied the Bible in religion class.  Sadly, in spite of that, I did not understand the meaning of the cross.  Even when I went to church many times when I was in school overseas, I still did not understand it.  Last December, I was invited by one of my co-workers to come to church.  God had given me many chances up until that time which I had repeatedly turned down.  Once again God was giving me another chance.  At this time, I was enjoying the life I had with my son, but at the same time was having difficulty processing the paper work to legalize my marriage to my child's father, a Hong Kong citizen, who still lives in America. I was in fact a single mother, struggling with disappointment, fretting about the future, and constantly worried.  From the time I was a child, I believed that if I were kind and good, then I would go to heaven.  If the requirement to go to heaven was a pure heart, I knew that I would not qualify.  I frequently hurt other people's feelings without meaning to and said bad things about others.  I was very different than what I imagined a "good person" should be.  It was during this time that it began to bother me that I wasn't concerned about trying to be good.  I began to wonder if the god I believed in was the true God.
 The first time I visited the church at in the Yamato neighborhood, my 23-month-old boy seemed to really like the church.  I was led back to church by my son's smile and a stronger Power from above.  I reached way back into the recesses of my bookcase and drew out my Bible and began to make time to read it once again.  I began to understand that although all mankind is enveloped in the love of God, not all men would be saved and given eternal life.  As I heard Pastor Tony and Mr. Asada preach, my desire to be saved as soon as possible increased.  A few days following the fourth service in which I attended, I found myself headed towards the Shimonoseki Christian Center in Yamato. That day, January 5, I became a Christian. I prayed to receive Christ as my Savior and to forgive me of my many sins. I put my trust in the Cross of Jesus and His Resurrection, receiving eternal life through Christ.  It will still take some time before I will be able to complete my application for a marriage license.  There is not much different about my circumstances now as opposed to several months ago, but my heart is filled with peace.  My plans for returning to America in April have been put off indefinitely, but I am surprised at the peace I feel in my heart.  I know that Jesus will always with me and will take care of me so I don't have to worry or fret.  I have a positive outlook on life.  I am daily thankful for the forgiveness of God for my sins.  It is my desire to walk as a Christian in a way in which will be pleasing to Him.