Ten years have passed since we started supporting children in Tsushima who were unable to attend school for various reasons. As a volunteer, I was worried about how long I would be able to continue the support activities in terms of funding, but God gave me the strength to continue each time. In order to continue our activities, we also started an agricultural project and sold the harvested fruits at supermarkets to raise funds for our activities. A few years ago, I had a setback when a typhoon destroyed most of the fruit we had grown, but the Lord made me stand up again.

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This month, I had a very encouraging experience. One of the students I have supported is a high school student who is now 16 years old. I have been helping him since he was 8 years old. When I first met him, he did not open his heart to anyone except his family, but through our support activities, he gradually opened his heart to me. Over the past eight years, I have continued to tell him about God's love and His wonderful plans for every one of us. He really grew spiritually during that time, and I was convinced that God's special intervention was upon him.

He graduated from the support facility in March of this year and started attending high school. To be honest, I was worried about whether he would be able to get along with his classmates in high school since he had spent his life in an environment where he had no friends at all.

Then one day I took some fruit from the farm to the supermarket. The fruits were wrapped and put on the shelves, but one of them was torn, so I went to the back yard of the store and asked them to wrap it anew. Then I ran into his grandmother there. She was an employee there, and when she saw me, she came over with a look of joy on her face.

She then told the employees around her in a loud voice that I 

was the one who had helped her grandson, whom the doctors had given up trying to cure. She went on to tell me that her grandson had recovered from his mental illness, had made friends in high school, and was doing well every day. She also told the employees around her that without our support, his bright family would not exist today, and she thanked me again and again. The employees around her smiled at me, and the atmosphere in the workplace quickly changed to one of cheerfulness.

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So I learned that our work was becoming increasingly well-known to others on the island. I was then greatly pleased and encouraged to have continued this work. I realized that I had not only helped the students, but also their families and society.

God uses us to brighten this dark world. He walks with us and helps us in difficult situations. God's vision is so vast that we cannot see everything with our limited vision. But even if we can't see everything, we can experience wonderful blessings by trusting in the Lord and moving forward. Please pray that this activity will continue in Tsushima. And please pray that as many people on the island as possible will come to know the wonder of the God we believe in. We pray that the Lord's abundant blessings will be upon you all.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. 

Proverbs 16:3

In His Service, 

Kimi Kurihara