Strong Shoes for Rough Roads by Neil Verwey Strong Shoes for Rough Roads © 2009 by Neil Verwey, Japan Mission Japan Mission 7-40 Monzen Cho, Ikoma, Nara, Japan 630-0266 Tel: (0)743-73-1754 Fax: (0)743-73-1681 E-mail: [email protected] Japan Mission’s Website: www.japanmission.org Published by ICM Press 983-2 Tawaraguchi-cho, Ikoma Nara, Japan 630-0243 Cover design by SonShine Works ISBN 978-0-900748-51-6 Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. unless otherwise noted. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Other translations quoted: New American Standard Bible (NASB), © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation New International Version (NIV), © 1984 by International Bible Society. Printed in South Africa by Anker Printers, Pretoria Japan Mission Japan Mission was founded by Neil and Peggy Verwey in 1957. It is a faith mission endeavouring to reach the seeking ones among the 127 million Japanese people. Japan Mission is interdenominational, not forming churches, but rather linking those reached through many avenues of ministry to already existing evangelical churches which believe and teach the fundamental doctrines of the Bible. The main emphasis of the work is to aid Japan’s approximately 7,800 churches, which have an average attendance of about 35 people. Because of their small congregations, the pastors are often in need of assistance with literature and their evangelistic programs. Areas of Outreach • Bibles & Literature • English Evangelism • Audio Visual Outreach • Hospital Evangelism & Outreach to the Elderly • Evangelistic Meetings & Counseling • Student Outreach • Prison Ministry Other Books by Neil & Peggy Verwey • The Voice of Joy • No Greater Love • On All Bare Heights • On Eagles’ Wings • Even Unto Death • On Dry Ground • Half a Century in Japan • The Lame Take the Prey Contact Information Japan Mission 7-40 Monzen Cho, Ikoma, Nara, Japan 630-0266 Tel: (0)743-73-1754 Fax: (0)743-73-1681 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.japanmission.org v vi Foreword Two months before participating in the women’s marathon at the Athens Olympics in 2004, Miss Mizuki Noguchi, her running partner, and Mr. Hitoshi Mimura, her shoemaker went to Athens to examine the treacherous marathon course, and especially the slick marble streets. After Mr. Mimura determined what she needed, he began designing the extra special shoes she would need to win. He decided to use sponge soles to provide the necessary cushion and rice husks to increase traction. He made the upper part of the shoes with mesh since it breathes better than other materials. He produced about 25 prototypes before he was satisfied. “Shoes need to bear a load 2.7 times the weight of the athlete when running uphill, and 4 times their weight when running downhill,” Mr. Mimura asserted. “Many calculations have to go into the shoes to come up with the ideal pair for any given athlete.” Miss Noguchi was very impressed with the workmanship and the lightness of the shoes that she finally received from Mr. Mimura. “Last night, I slept with the shoes beside my pillow,” Miss Noguchi confessed just before the race. Her shoes certainly did not let her down. “I took off my right shoe and kissed it after I crossed the finish line because I wanted to thank my shoemaker and the shoes that helped me to win on this difficult course,” the elated Miss Noguchi said. “Mr. Mimura is indeed the god of shoes!” She did not know it then, but as she was speaking, a well-gratified Mr. Mimura was standing about 50 meters away from her in the excited crowd! Every tourist and athlete knows how important the right shoes are. The Easterner, too, is concerned about footwear, and so it was in Bible times. Listen to the command of the father regarding the prodigal son when he arrived home from a far-off country with sore and, possibly, bare feet. Put … sandals on his feet (Luke 15:22). Rough are the roads for the faltering feet of those who are called to be messengers of God, and how important it is to have the right footwear: and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). NEIL VERWEY vii viii Contents 1 A Teeny-weeny Job 11 2 Rescued from Trash Heaps 25 3 Focusing on One Thing 42 4 Better Than Mud Balls! 59 5 In the Highest Orbit 72 6 Living with one Foot in Heaven 86 7 Robots As Family Members 100 8 Ten Thousand Cheers for Jesus! 111 9 The Best Compass Ever 127 10 The Elderly Living It Up 143 11 Shoes For Rough Roads 158 9 10 1 A Teeny-Weeny Job The motto of our missionary organization, the Japan Mission, is “Called to Serve!” One of the earliest lessons God taught me most vividly as a young missionary in Japan was that I was not called to be served but to serve! During 1954, after completing two years of language study, I stayed with a world-famous missionary, Rev. Eric Gosden and his wife. They were then The young and very near retirement age, but they were inexperienced Neil Verwey quite willing to teach a young, foolhardy, first-term missionary – like myself – the ropes. They lived in a large, comfortable, two-story house and hired a very capable live-in, domestic helper. I regarded it as a great privilege to stay with such a godly couple, and to learn from them as much as I could in order to become a successful missionary myself. Every morning, coming down the steps from my second-story room, I noticed that my shoes were spotlessly clean and well polished. I took this to be the work of the diligent servant in our household. Considering all the snow, rain and mud outside, I appreciated stepping into a clean pair of shoes when it was time to go out. By then, I already knew the aversion the Japanese had for dirty shoes! One morning, rising earlier than usual, I went downstairs and came across Rev. Gosden himself, on his knees cleaning the shoes of this “pampered” young lad from the Kalahari Desert! I was profoundly embarrassed! It should have been the other way around! I should have been cleaning his shoes! 11 During the nine months that I stayed with Rev. Gosden, he taught me more through his example than through his powerful preaching. He was a living embodiment of what Christ taught in Mark 10:43 — … but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Years ago, God also brought me in contact with Kenji, who learned at an early age how to minister to people. “Kenji, I pity you! Everybody’s mocking you,“ his teacher sympathized with him. “You’re making far too much of your religion!” His teacher liked Kenji very much because he was always very willing to do the dirty jobs, which other students loathed to do. “Oh no, Sensei, (Teacher) I’m following Jesus,” was Kenji’s bold reply. “I just feel sorry for my friends who do not know any better.” One day, Kenji’s teacher did not come to school and Kenji heard that he had entered a medical center for cancer patients in a far-away place. He also heard from his teacher’s wife that he had abandoned all hope and was in the depths of despair. Then a letter arrived for Kenji from his teacher, which showed that that there was still a flicker of hope in his heart. “I have many times considered killing myself to spare you and our children the burden of supporting me in this place, but I cannot find any solace in that for my soul. Last night, I had a dream that Kenji can help me and I implore you to send him to me.” The following weekend, Kenji visited his teacher, who plied him with many questions. It gave Kenji a wonderful opportunity to tell his sick teacher the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for the redemption of all humankind. This was all new to his teacher! He knew nothing about Jesus, and never paid much attention to sin. After all, everybody commits sin in one way or another; as long as you don’t overdo it, he thought. But listening to Kenji, he began to see God, sin and forgiveness in a new light. Before Kenji left on the long train journey home, he had an opportunity to point his repentant sensei to Jesus, and what a transformation that brought about in his teacher’s life! 12 Even in the prisons of Japan, I have come across those that Christ has transformed to such an extent that they are not rebellious any more, but to the contrary, have taken on the form of a servant. This is almost more of a miracle than when it happens outside the prison. One of the prisoners in Osaka Prison I contacted only recently found Christ as his Savior, and is already moving on an amazingly high spiritual plane. He said that, for him, every day is full of joy. God has radically changed him. Before, he always whined about his long sentence, but with his changed life he says, “How amazing it is that for all the wrong and evil that I did, God allowed them to only sentence me to five years!” His attitude has changed drastically, and he said that his days are no longer mundane. Instead, he is always looking out to see how he can serve others with little acts of kindness! Even for the dying, if they know Christ, serving Him and others comes first before their own needs.