By Jim Kagawa
The following is a testimony by Jim Kagawa shared on Discipleship Sunday, September 17, 2021.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is an honor to thank and welcome you on behalf of our brothers and sisters at the Monday night Spanish Bible study, 7pm in the Café.
Pastor Hugo welcomes everyone, Spanish and non-Spanish speakers alike.
You may recall in Pastor Hugo’s personal address to us as Evergreen church, he shared from Revelation chapter 7, the Apostle John’s vision of the church’s eternal home serving Our Lord in His Kingdom
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb (who is Christ), and they cried out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
We have been blessed to have a small glimpse of Our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom in Revelation at our Spanish Bible study with members from several nations – El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Japan and the U.S. and several languages – Spanish, English and Japanese.
Pastor Hugo has taken the time to accommodate non-Spanish speaking members like myself, my wife Mari and brother Hide with Microsoft Translator so we can receive simultaneous translation from Spanish into our native languages on our smartphones.
And these past two weeks, Pastor Hugo has led us on the topic of “The Assurance of Salvation” with study guides prepared in English and Japanese.
During Bible study where volunteers read scripture, you’ll often hear a brother respond with a reverent, “AMEN”, before he reads.
Prayer time is Holy Spirit filled, heartfelt, and often with tears of joy and pain, and shared responses of “Hallelujahs” and “Amens”. We pray for each other and our families, the Pastoral leadership of Evergreen and for you, the congregation.
The Bible study is blessed with two prayer warriors in his joy-filled wife Jacquie, and our dear brother in Christ, Eduardo “Eddie” Juarez.
Last Monday evening, I asked the Spanish-speaking members what message they would like me to say to all of you brothers and sisters.
They said, “Please thank them for opening up the church and giving us a place and opportunity to gather and study the Bible.”
And from Glendes and Negli, mothers of young children, Genesis and Naomi, they expressed their hope, that someday, their English speaking children can study, worship and fellowship together with ours.
You know… I remember Pastor Mako a few months ago during outdoor service, sharing that as he biked into Evergreen from home, God gave him this thought. It was something like,
“Would the local community miss Evergreen church if we disappeared?”
At our Spanish Bible study, I think there are several brothers and sisters in the local community that would miss us.
We ask that you continue to pray for us and please come if you can.
Gloria a Dios en las alturas.
Glory to God in the highest.
Thank you and God bless you.
John 17:20-23 Jesus’ prayer before going to the cross, for His disciples to be reaching out to us:
“I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.”