Japan and the Tall Man
Recently, I took my wife, Renee, to Monterrey for a couple of days, and for some reason 🙂 I took my golf clubs, so WHILE she was shopping, I could hit the links. I ended up at Spyglass and was paired with three men from Japan.
These men did NOT speak English at all, and it was very interesting to spend 5 hours with three men who were probably spiritually lost, and yet I could NOT communicate with them in their language.
They had a guide that was able to teach me their names before we tee’d off on the first hole, and I was able to learn a few details about my three golfing partners.
The gentleman to my right was named “Oya” and all day I shouted his name whenever he hit a good shot…. “Ohhhh Yeahhhhh Oyaaaaaaa” He laughed every time I said that, and I could tell he wasn’t used to this type of excitement from a golfing partner.
Then to my immediate left was a man named….. are you ready for this…. his name was Sunami… yes….. Sunami….. and the entire round, I would call his name out…. Both Oya and Sunami were 71 years of age…. yet hit the ball a long long long way….. (not as far as me, of course, but a long long way nonetheless) (I just thought I’d throw that last bit of info in there… hahaha).
Then the gentleman to my far left was named Shirai. He pronounced his name She-rahh–eee.
He was 65 and I rode in the cart with him.
I spent five hours wishing I could speak Japanese so that I might share the gospel with them. I was able to share a little through the interpreter, and I told them about my blog. I told them that I would be posting their picture and telling the world about our day at Spyglass.
When the day was over… it just reminded me of our need to reach Japan with the Gospel. We have Mike Ackerman serving at our church right now, and he and four other couples are committed to going to Japan for the next seven years to start a church.
I have mentioned to you my desire to do the same. Japan is populated by 130 million people, and 99% of them are NOT believers in Jesus Christ. How long can we sit on the sidelines and just act like that doesn’t really matter to us? It should matter a LOT to us…
Please begin to ask God what you can do to make a difference in the world…
I hope and pray that my example, in spite of the language barrier, would begin to lay the foundation so that my three friends from Japan would one day find Jesus.
Perhaps my encouragement, clapping, and shaking their hands with a genuine deep love and respect would one day allow them to listen to a gospel presentation…. One never knows what God can do….
In love,
Dudley
