He keeps opening doors!
He later wrote to tell me that his grandfather had suffered a stroke, and would I visit him, or at least pray for him.
I was able to go visit his grandfather this afternoon. The aunt and a close friend of the family (who spoke English!) met me in the lobby of a large hospital in Shinjuku. We went up to the ICU and they took me to the grandfather's room, and introduced me to the grandmother. All three of them (the aunt, the grandmother and the friend) were very warm and friendly. They explained how the grandfather was awake for a while yesterday and spoke a little, but how today he hadn't woken up. After a little more conversation, the friend said that they were told I was coming to heal the grandfather! (Hmmm, at least they seemed cool with it). I shared a testimony of a woman in our church back in Panama who'd suffered a stroke and how one half of her body was completely paralyzed. I explained how we had prayed for her and God had healed her completely (they nodded a lot, and seemed to like the story).
So I told them I was going to pray for the grandfather, for GOD to heal him (see, I didn't take credit for it)! They all seemed grateful that I was going to pray, and asked if they needed to leave the room (I said "no", it was OK to stay). I laid hands on the grandfather and cast out sickness and the spirit of death, and spoke healing to his body, and took dominion in the name of Jesus (he started breathing very loudly as I was praying). I prayed a good, authoritative prayer that didn't sound too scary (except maybe to some nearby demons), or last overly-long (it was the ICU, after all). There was a real presence of God in the room.
The family seemed pleased with the praying, and afterwards I invited them to coffee at the cafe downstairs. They said no - they wanted to invite ME to have coffee downstairs. We were both very insistent, but in the end I let them win (I didn't get a sandwich like they wanted me to, though). Grandmother and I had the iced cocoa.
We had a very good time of fellowship. I showed them photos of the church, the people (they really liked my wife), the schedule, and I answered all their questions. They asked "what kind" of church we are, and when I said Christian "protestant", they recognized the name "protestant", and seemed pleased. The friend then asked me pointedly if it was true that we "can't smoke or drink". I told them that my father died this last November as a result of smoking. I mentioned how people in Japan say that women live longer than men, because men smoke so much. The friend asked me if I'd noticed how many Japanese women smoke now, and I said, "Yes. It's terrible for their health and they're going to die young". She raised her hand and said sheepishly, "I smoke. I need to give it up..." I said, yes, you do! (They all nodded in agreement).
Everybody seemed fascinated by how nearby the church is. The grandmother started naming off the stations on the Chuo Train Line, and got excited and laughed when I joined in and said at the same time - "Kichijoji, Mitaka, Musashisakai, Higashi Koganei, Musashi Koganei, Kokubunji, Nishi Kokubunji, Kunitachi, and Tachikawa!" (I think she was impressed).
We had a very enjoyable time together. The friend accompanied me to the bus stop, and told me that the family had asked her to tell me that they want to visit my church, but that it's difficult right now with everything that's going on. I told her to tell them we'd continue to pray for the grandfather at church (and all around the world, right guys?), and for them to call me if we can help in any way. Hopefully I'll hear back from them soon, or they'll decide to come to church after all (they definitely know how to get there now).
So please pray for Mr. Tanji Shinohara! And pray for us and for Japan!
God bless!
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