Sakura's testimony

This is a story of God’s faithfulness and promises kept. This is the story of Sakura; she was born into a Christian family in Chiba, Japan. Her family truly followed the command to raise a kid in the way they should go and Sakura followed the footsteps of her parents in following Jesus just as our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ have. 

Her mother was a huge influence in her life, always reading the bible with her and chasing after Jesus together. Even though this is a story of God’s promise to save households and be faithful to generations, that doesn’t mean there aren't bumps in the road.

Sakura decided to get baptized when she was in 2nd grade. At the time she did believe in Jesus and what he has done for them, but the struggle of comparison did come into play even at that young age when comparing to others in the church who have strong faith. I think we can all resonate with that, when we see others with strong faith and confidence in God, we can sometimes fall into the trap of wondering where God is and  why we don’t see him working in our lives. I know I struggle with that even to this day. She was still a Christian and did bible study with her mom, who was always encouraging her to read her bible.

Her father also had an impact on her faith walk. The story that stuck out to me was from her childhood. To encourage you parents out there, One day she had a special event with her club and her dad put a special note in there with the verse Isaiah 40:31 which gave her great encouragement. 

Verse: Isaiah 40:31

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Parents, this is another great example of teaching your kids to follow the Lord and an easy way to inspire your children with the word of God.

Sakura’s  story continues though because when God starts something he finishes it. Philippians 1:6 , around high school when COVID hit and the complexities of academia and relationship in high school hit, Sakura tells of a story in history class when the teacher asked if there were any Christians In the class. She did not raise her hand and was scared to be singled out.  But God was still pursuing her and teaching her how to follow him. . One day when she was in youth group her youth leader encouraged her to read her bible every day and taught her how much she needed God and a personal relationship with him. She realized she needed a personal relationship with Jesus, that relationship that will never fail The desire for her to know Jesus grew greatly during this time. She started to read her bible more independently and taking the faith as her own, it started to blossom. She was able to be more open about her faith and that she followed Jesus.

She has been provided for and protected a lot in her walk. One story for you students that are going abroad, is when Sakura got to the USA she was able to find a good group of Christian friends almost immediately. Through the find a roommate system at the college she was going to. This group actually had a bible study the first weekend in college together and still continue to go to church together. She mentioned how she has felt God’s protection over her and you can definitely see it through this story. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard similar stories of Christians going somewhere new and the Lord leading them to more of the body Christ. God truly wants us in community to encourage each other and build one another up.

She wants to encourage others, too.

This story is one of hope for those wishing to follow Jesus and the longing for their family to join in their hope for eternity, just like the hope of the beauty from the cherry blossom tree every year.  I hope this story encourages you! If you are a Christian afraid to raise your hand in class, keep trying to deepen your personal relationship with the Lord and you may just be a cherry blossom tree waiting to come into season and be a beautiful testament to God’s creation and what he has done. Or if you are debating following Jesus and looking for a relationship with the Living God who wants to know you, listen to Sakura's encouragement: He does want to know you and be with you. Finally, if you are a Christian and praying that your future family with follow Jesus, keep praying into that because he is faithful, he offers eternal security, no matter your current situation. If you trust in him and follow him you will have that eternal security and hope of resurrection for yourself and if you show that hope to your kids and show them the way they should go, they may join you in that hope just like Sakura did with her family. full of pastors and missionary kids.