It was the evening of the third day of EC, on December 29, after the women’s meeting had ended. It was past 9 PM, and as everyone was heading back to their respective rooms, I was walking in the opposite direction, toward the back of one person. It was the daughter of an acquaintance, a girl who had grown up and was now a university student. Until then, we had only met a few times and exchanged a few words, but I had always known her as “the daughter of Mr and Mrs. ○○.”
Maybe I was feeling high from the emotions of the day. I called out to her as she was leaving the Shiloh (the main assembly hall) and hugged her. She was so adorable, and I couldn’t help but express how precious and beautiful she was. Perhaps it was the work of God, or something else, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted to tell her how deeply I cherished her. I clung tightly to her arm, trying to convey the depth of my feelings.
When Daisuke, the EC executive director, approached me after I returned to my workplace in Tokyo and asked me to share my testimony from EC24, I asked God about it. This year’s EC made me feel my own faith, doubts, struggles, sins, and many other things. Many people told me, “Nana-chan, you are someone who was meant to come.” With the time limit approaching, God did not clearly tell me what He wanted me to share. However, if anyone were to ask me about EC, the first thing that comes to mind is those few minutes on the night of December 29, when I embraced that precious friend.
It wasn’t just a brief event, but the memory of that beautiful, faithful friend stays with me. At the same time, for some reason, I can’t help but think of two people living in an entirely different place. I prayed to God, but every time I thought about sharing my testimony, those two people kept appearing in my mind and wouldn’t leave. Instead, they became even more vivid.
So, I will talk about these two people. It may not fit as a testimony of EC. It may not be what Daisuke was expecting. However, God hasn’t stopped me, so let me take you back to March 2024.
My 2024 began with EC, and after returning to a rural area in Japan from California, God led me to Taipei for an exchange program. In a way, it was a year where I felt tossed around.
On March 8, while waiting for the traffic light with a classmate near a university in Taipei, an older woman approached me. She spoke to me in Mandarin, and when I nodded in acknowledgment of “Japanese,” she immediately switched to Japanese. Perhaps it was the influence of the occupation era. We talked for a few minutes, and when I was about to leave, she said “church” in Japanese. Since I’m a Christian, I replied that I also go to church. She became even more delighted, and I ended up exchanging LINE contacts with her. I thought it would be a fleeting encounter, as I was only temporarily in Taiwan, and there were safety concerns. However, that expectation was quickly proven wrong. She started calling me every day, and, although I had some doubts, I agreed to have dinner with her ten days later. She even said she would bring her grandchild along. I was worried about how to interact with a 5-year-old who couldn’t speak Japanese, especially since I didn’t speak Mandarin.
When we met, my worries turned out to be unnecessary. The child took my hand, even though it was our first meeting, and led me. Before I knew it, I wasn’t just having one meal with them—I was visiting their home, eating together, playing in the park, going up Taipei 101, being invited to church, and even going to a hot spring. I started being called “姐姐” (older sister), and I found myself walking around the night market with them. In just four months, although I couldn’t meet them often due to my busy schedule and personal issues, I found myself with friends who, despite the age difference, accepted me like a daughter in Taipei. Three days before leaving Taiwan, when I visited their home for the last time, they cried for me. They prayed for me. Even though I couldn’t understand Mandarin, I could clearly feel their prayers.
I don’t know why, but every time I think of the cute friend I met again at EC, I also think of these two people. The Bible doesn’t explain why this happens. But maybe, it’s because the feelings that surged up on the late evening of December 29 were somehow similar to the emotions I felt on the way back from spending the first day with the grandmother and granddaughter in Taipei.
On March 18, I picked up the granddaughter and the grandmother from a kindergarten near the university, had dinner with them at a restaurant, and then played tag in the park near their home. When we were waiting for the train on the way back, I suddenly felt like crying. Perhaps it was because I had become so emotionally invested, like a character in a movie. Thanks to the two of them, I felt an overwhelming sense of blessing. It was painful, but it was not like my heart was being crushed; it was more like being wrapped in a warm hand that had been holding a hot water bottle. The two sisters, living bravely in the busy streets of Taipei, brought me joy and caused me pain at the same time. I couldn’t help but pray for them, wanting God to protect them and wishing for their happiness. I even felt sadness. If the main character in a movie runs with the wind in a key moment, that’s exactly what I wanted to do.
During the few months in Taiwan, I never fully understood the nature of my feelings for these two. But when I reflected on the night of December 29, when I was staring at the back of the “acquaintance’s daughter,” I realized that what people often say—that “we should love others the way God loves us” and that “the person in front of you is someone whom Jesus, who was crucified, loved”—was something I had finally experienced for the first time.
Even though I had only interacted with them briefly, even though we were from different generations, even though we couldn’t have proper conversations due to the language barrier, they were so dear to me that it almost hurt. And, in the midst of struggling with my testimony, I wondered: Was I also such a person in God’s eyes?
This year’s EC, I ignored the deadlines for registration and bus transportation. I had intended not to go until the very last minute. There were several reasons for this, one of which was a skin problem. A few years ago, acne worsened, and by May of the previous year, it had become even worse. It was embarrassing to expose myself to others, and it was painful to look at my ugly face. I grew tired of questioning God and even blamed Him as being cruel, but eventually, I didn’t care anymore and became apathetic. I started to feel that I didn’t deserve love, and I threw and broke the mirror that was a keepsake from my mother’s grandparents.
If I could share a teaching to encourage others from this experience or introduce Bible verses that helped me, I would. Unfortunately, what I learned was that “in the end, I don’t know what that suffering was all about.” My skin is not fully healed, and there’s a chance of a relapse. I need to go to a dermatologist and spend a lot of money. Honestly, this may not be fitting for a testimony. But why did these three beloved sisters, who are loved by God, show up in connection with my acne?
If there’s anything I can share with you, it’s that, like those three beloved sisters, I’ve learned to pray that I, too, may be someone who is beloved in God’s eyes. Regardless of appearance, whether we look like beasts or so ugly that others turn away, Jesus accepted us just as we are. Even though I complained and blamed God for my little sins, for my body that will eventually perish, it is true that Jesus was crucified for the small, unjustified sins of someone like me, and that truth will never change. No matter how much I lament or cry, Jesus’ redemption will never disappear.
I wanted to hate God, but I am still here. I just keep coming back. Because I believed I was insignificant and incompetent, I realized that only the Lord could give my life meaning.
God’s love was the only certain thing. However, the reason I was able to accept God’s love again was because of the prayers and support I received from people when I decided to participate in EC. On my own, I could only reject God’s love. I didn’t want to read the Bible, and I was frustrated with the hymns, feeling they were hypocritical.
I didn’t want to work for God and preferred to stay hidden. But you all found me, someone who would have been excluded from the world of meritocracy. You encouraged me, had compassion for me, and used me. And finally, I was able to receive God’s living love in a living way. I understood through experience that the love God has for others was also poured out on me.
In romantic relationships, there’s often the “three-month curse” or “three-year curse,” which can also apply to Christian life. The church sometimes compares faith to marriage. For me, it seems to have hit in the second half of 2024. Still, you all pushed me toward Jesus. On January 17, 2025, I celebrated the fourth anniversary of my baptism.
I may not be able to write something incredible that will give you all new insights, but this is my testimony after finishing EC24 and becoming a Christian for just four years.
I hope my beautiful friend in America, attending university, can meet people whom she can truly love. I pray that the joy of the sisters living in Taipei will never be taken from their days.
May you all be abundantly blessed.
In Jesus Christ,
Nana Kurokawa
