Miracles in Japan

What began as a merely professional activity became a true adventure of faith.

Rodrigo Hermosilla

"Do you want to go to Japan with no strings attached and no competition for a place?" the professor of the Masters course asked him that morning. To begin with, Claudio Cerda, a Chilean veterinary doctor, believed that it was a joke. However, it was not.

What happened was that the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) offered scholarships to travel to Japan to carry out a course of improvement in the University of the Prefecture of Osaka for professionals from eight countries, among them, Chile. It was a course that would be carried out between August and December of 2004, dedicated to agricultural or biochemical engineers. The requirements were, among others: to have a mastery of the English language, to work in an institution of the State with, at least, 3 years of experience in genetic manipulation in plants, and to be younger than 35 years old.

Claudio didn't have any one of these requirements.

What had happened to make the professor suggest this strange offer? Something had happened. A couple of weeks after they closed the applications, one of those selected to travel dropped out, and they needed to fill the space, not caring whether the person fulfilled the requirements or not. If there were no alternative, the place would be lost. The scholarship began to be offered in all the institutions of the State; however, queerly, nobody applied.

So it was that his professor gave his name by telephone and the process began.

Claudio was a believer, and he knew that nothing happens to a son of God by chance. So he perceived the hand of God behind all this. He consulted with Sandra, his wife, and although in the beginning it worried him to go without a salary for four months, he had the conviction that God had a purpose for him.

He decided in his heart to offer this trip to the Lord as an occasion to glorify his Name. Japan is a very enigmatic nation for many Westerners, and it was also for a Chilean like him.

The Lord had many surprises in store for him.

A willing heart

"I intended to share Christ with whoever the Lord allowed me". With this mentality, Claudio looked for opportunities to carry out his purpose. The first one was with a course partner whose suitcases had been lost in the United States. As he didn't have any clothes to use, Claudio lent him his clothes, and shared the Lord to him.

His partner listened sincerely, then told him that he found it all very beautiful, but nothing else. Despite this, Claudio felt happy about having been able to do it.

In the OSIC (Osaka International Center), the place where they were to set up, there were approximately 150 people from different countries. They participated on diverse courses, in schedules that began very early and that went on until five in the evening. As the days days went by, they began to interact more and more.

Claudio had to study a lot just to be at a similar level to his partners, since he was not an agriculturalist. Finally, he reached the level of his class. However, what concerned him more was that no doors were opening up to share the Lord, so he decided to begin to look for them.

In the hotel there were two meeting places: the karaoke – a place where they joined to sing - and the billiards room -where they played and drank. Claudio opted for the latter, since the former was too noisy.

He entered the billiards room like a “new boy", not knowing how to play. He got to know Karl, an engineer of Papua, New Guinea, an expert at billiards and at drinking beer. He was a strange, introverted character, always dressing in black and listening to music on his 'discman'. He played barefoot, and almost always won. In spite of speaking little, he was very kind, respectful, and he liked to teach the game to those who didn't know so much.

Every night he was playing until one or two in the morning. However, Karl once stayed the whole night. In the morning, when going down to have breakfast, everyone heard a noise in the billiards room, which was very strange so early on. There they found him, tired, but still playing.

Claudio told him that it seemed incredible what he had done. He only responded with the words of the song that he heard in that moment: "…but it’s true…".

Claudio perceived in Karl an enormous need for Christ; it seemed that his life was being lost on the game and drink. This made his heart cry out. "I asked the Lord to give me an opportunity to share with him, in spite of all my language limitations."

That afternoon, he drew near in the living room, resolute on speaking to him, but Karl was playing. The first miracle happened when Karl lost a game, and then, instead of leaving for the bar to drink beer, he sat down beside him. Immediately, Claudio told him: "I feel that you are looking for something". Karl looked puzzled. "What you need is the Lord Jesus. He can give you what you have always looked for, and that you try to fill with the game and the beer."

While he listened, Karl began to feel something in his chest, something special. He told him that during the afternoon he had gone for a walk and he had sat down amid the vegetation to look at the sky, and that that had given him a lot of peace. Now, with what Claudio told him, he felt very happy.

They spoke for hours. In one moment Claudio wanted to go to bed, but Karl asked him to continue speaking. Karl told him that, of all his experiences in life, this was the most special, because he had never felt this way. He put his hands up to his chest, finding it strange what was happening to him. They talked until a man from Mongolia interrupted them.

The following day, Karl began to distance himself. It was only a few days before he would return to his country. Three days later, Claudio decided to do something. "I begged the Lord to give me another opportunity, this time to confront him with the Word and so that he would make a decision".

They were on the bus coming back from the University. Claudio approached him and asked him for time to finish the previous conversation. They agreed to carry it out in Karl’s bedroom that night. Claudio got a Bible in English (he had not even taken one) from a Colombian Christian. He thought about reading him the word from Revelation: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock…".

He entered the bedroom, and without delay, he made him see that he had heard the voice of the Lord, but that not all listen to it, and that now he must make a decision so that what he had experienced wouldn’t just remain a one off moment. It was necessary to open his heart to Christ and to receive his life. He asked him if he wanted to do it, and he said that he did. Quickly they prayed and Karl gave his life to Christ. It was very emotional.

Starting from that moment, Karl couldn’t wait to return to his country and to tell his family. His wife was Christian, and would be so happy. Claudio returned to his bedroom full of joy, thanking the Lord for his beautiful work. He concluded his actions by giving thanks, saying: "Lord, give me another opportunity to share about you".

And the answer came

In spite of being far from his wife and his children, Claudio radiated joy. This was reflected to his partners. Little by little they were finding out that he, together with Andrew, another student, attended a Church on Sundays. Claudio invited his partners, but most rejected.

One Thursday Pablo approached him, a Chilean, who manifested his desire to accompany him next Sunday. He was notably sad. The following day they were together again, and Pablo told him the reason for his sadness: his girlfriend, in Chile, was suffering from a serious illness.

That night, Claudio, with a Bible in Spanish, read Matthew 7:24-25 to Pablo: "Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and if fell not: for it was founded upon the rock". Without delay, he explained the word. When Claudio chose that passage he didn't have any idea of how those verses would impact his fellow countryman.

Pablo had lived a terrible experience years before, that now came to his mind. He went on an expedition to the ice fields in the south of Chile, with a mountaineering group from the Santa María University. He and his partners were in a camp, where a storm came that lasted two weeks.

Although they were very well equipped, the storm put an end to their provisions and the batteries from their communication equipment. After four days without food, they decided to leave toward another camp. But after walking a short way, the storm increased its intensity, so much that the group decided to return. Then, three of them, among which was Pablo, fell through a crack and became stuck because of their backpacks. The group was divided, without knowing anything about the others. Pablo thought that that would be the end of his life. However, without knowing how, he and his partners were able to survive. From the other group, regrettably, nobody escaped.

This tragedy hit the Chilean public very strongly in that time.

For Pablo it was a very painful experience. In time, although he was able to make the pain dormant and tried to re-build his life, his girlfriend's illness and the word of the Lord, made the experience revive. He saw himself in a fragile and vulnerable state. Now he feared for his girlfriend's future.

Claudio found the precise opportunity to lead him to the Lord. Pablo opened his heart, giving his life to Christ. Claudio lent him the Bible and suggested that he read the gospels.

Pablo had an immense need to continue knowing Jesus Christ, so he moved away from the daily activities to read the Word and to listen to the Christian music that Claudio got off a webpage. From then on both prayed permanently for the sick girlfriend.

They were also accompanied by Andrew in these activities. The three attended the meetings in the church. Pablo was baptized there, confirming his faith in Christ. Day by day, his state of spirit was improving, and much more after receiving the wonderful news, soon after, that his girlfriend was totally healthy.

The group of believers were more and more united. As the courses were finishing, they decided that every time somebody would return to their country, to pray for them, to bless them, to guard their trips, and to take the opportunity to share the Word and to praise the Lord. They had downloaded a song book with the words and chords from the internet for the songs that they were learning.

In the farewell of an Argentinean girl, they also invited a young person from Peru. While they sang Psalm 23, the Argentinean girl and the Peruvian suddenly began to cry. The woman said that she felt very strange, since she had never been very religious, not even close to something like this, but that she felt very well. Andrew took advantage of the opportunity, and asked them if they wanted to accept the Lord in their lives. They did so, they prayed, and they praised the Lord. The following day, he was joyful.

Claudio was very impacted. "I felt a great freedom; I felt that being a son of God, a believer in Christ, is the greatest freedom that a human being can have. I realized that all the religions are full of impositions, regulations, prohibitions regarding what one can or can’t do, what to eat or what not to, how to dress, etc., whilst on the other hand, when one comes to the Lord, he comes to live in our being and he begins to make changes in our life."

An Iranian miracle

The day in which Pablo and the Peruvian engineer would return to their countries arrived, and so they met together. They began to sing, and the Peruvian began to cry.

"I didn't feel anything within –Claudio admits– my meeting was very rational, but when observing to the others, there was no doubt: the Lord was there". While they sang, Pablo's partner entered the bedroom, to take a picture and to say goodbye to them. It was Mehri, an Iranian, a very discreet girl –she always covered herself– who worked for the government of her country. Claudio allowed her to take the picture, and, as a courtesy, invited her to stay. He thought that, being Muslim, she would refuse. But she stayed.

They continued praising, and she also began to cry. The surprising thing was that they sang in Spanish and she didn't know the language!

After one hour they said goodbye. When the others had gone out, the Muslim girl approached Claudio and commented that while they sang, she had felt something very special and asked him if he would sing again. Claudio accepted. But to make sure that she knew what he sang, he translated the songs especially in the parts that spoke of Jesus. He thought that she, upon discovering what the songs were about, would leave immediately. But the Lord had another surprise: she continued crying with each song.

After six or seven songs, Claudio got a headache - he wasn’t in the habit of singing for so long. He made the most of the moment to share Jesus Christ, of his condition as the Son of God, of his wonderful work on the cross, and of the opportunity of accepting Him into her life as her Saviour and Lord. She immediately accepted, confessing the Lord Jesus' name, and they prayed giving her life to Christ.

In that moment, he remembered that he had a New Testament that he had gotten hold of for an Arab friend - he had even written him a dedication in the first page. But he didn't doubt that it should be Mehri’s, and explained the dedication to her. When seeing it, the young girl immediately burst out in uncontrollable tears, while she said some words that Claudio didn't understand. Once she calmed down a little, she told him that about five or six years ago she had had a dream, in which she had seen in that same room that an angel gave her that same book - with the same dedication!

She had never been able to forget that dream, and now it had become a reality. When leaving that afternoon, Mehri was full of peace and indescribable joy.

Upon returning to her country, Mehri wrote an e-mail to Claudio, in which she told him that when playing the recording that she made while they had sung, her family experienced the same reaction of tears that she had had. Today her contact with Claudio continues.

When we decrease…

The demurrage in Japan finished, but Claudio still preserves the pleasing memories of those wonderful miracles of the Lord. How is it that God had used him, being a common believer? For him, the explanation is very simple: "We tend to think that to see the Lord act we should get ready in a special way, to be in an “adequate” spiritual condition. But the Lord takes charge of showing us that the work is his, and that he doesn't depend on our action".

He had not gotten ready in a special way for anything that happened. "I felt that there was nothing that I had done to make the Lord act. I was certain that all that happened was not due to anything that I had done. It was like that which the Lord told me: "Come, sit down here, I will show you what I can do". I felt clearly that when we decrease, the Lord can do more.