By missionary Dave Marcum

In 1968, Alice and I were doing evangelism and church planning in Nishinomiya, Japan. Hiroko and Akiko Matsumoto came to our services because of a desire to learn English. After attending services for about one month, both sisters came to know Christ as Saviour.

They immediately expressed a desire to see others in their family saved. Every week, they traveled about three hours by train to witness to their unsaved family members in the city of Kakogawa. At their invitation, we went to Kakogawa together, to witness to their family. Being older, their parents said they did not understand much about the Bible. We searched for a Gospel preaching church in their town, but found none.

Because of this seed planted in our hearts, we went to Kakogawa in 1970 to start evangelistic services. In 2010 Kakogawa Baptist Church celebrated its 40th anniversary. It was a great honor for us to be invited back to Japan for this occasion. It is now one of the larger churches in Japan, with a thriving ministry. Under the leadership of Pastor Satoru Umetani, the church has reached hundreds for Christ in their city. In addition, the church has sent many missionaries to other parts of Japan and the world.

All of this, in reality, began with the burden of two sisters to see their loved ones come to Christ. They both remained true to the Lord through the years. Today, Akiko is in heaven, and her sister, Hiroko, is living in Africa. A few years after we started the church, Hiroko was sent as a missionary to Africa by the Japanese churches. What a fitting legacy to two sisters with a love for Jesus Christ! Glory to God!

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