Sushi with Mr. N

Mr. N and I had decided to meet today near Mitaka Station. This is the second time we've met here. It's quite a trip from where he lives, but he's excited about getting together (and it's just around the corner from where the church building will be located). 

We went to a tiny sushi shop (the kind with a carousel). The sushi chef was a nice lady in her 60's. Before I even ordered, she gave me a couple of pieces of red and two other pieces of maguro nigiri (that melted in my mouth), and recommended the crab salad (crab salad wrapped in a strip of nori). I also had a couple of ebi nigiri and a couple of kani (real crab leg, uncooked) and a complimentary chawanmushi (savory seafood custard. Really nice).

Oh, ok. Back to Mr. N...

He's great. He keeps asking me how long until I get the church building, and how soon can we start meeting there. I keep reassuring him that the contract should be signed by Thursday or Friday, and that next week we can meet in the building (even if there's no heat and we have to keep our jackets on!).

I took him a manga tract with a salvation message, and a bilingual "Four Spiritual Laws". He said he'd been reading his Bible. "At first it didn't make any sense, and I thought 'aaahh' (that's Japanese for 'meh' or 'phooey'). But then I kept reading, and it's different now."

"It's hard to find books about Christianity. I went to a bookstore and asked for one, and he said 'I've been here for ten years, and nobody has ever asked for a book like that!'" Mr. N asked me if we could put a bookshelf up in the church, and add Christian books that can be loaned out

He told me, "I am 73 years old. I ran my own accounting business and I've taught in school, both accounting and diving. I am not happy with how I've lived my life. I have never been religious. I want to do something meaningful and worthwhile. I hope maybe to find this in Christianity, if it's not too late for me.

As I was paying the young lady at the cashier counter, Mr. N hands her the bag containing the illustrated salvation tract and the "Four Spiritual Laws" tract. 

"Oh no," I thought, as he spoke with her in Japanese and pointed out the window. "He must think that some other customer left it behind!"

"Mr. N san, those are yours! I gave them to you, remember?"

"I know" he said. "You brought me those same ones before, and I read them already. So I gave these ones to the girl, and I told her that you're a pastor."

I stared as he walked out the door. 

"We have to advertise the new church" he said, as he headed down the sidewalk.

My atheist disciple just outreached for the first time....