Sanae comes to Christ in Japan

By Tim Allan | Japan in East Asia

Gary and Barbara baptising Sanae in Japan.

Gary and Barbara Bauman have served in Japan, where less than one percent of the population is Christian, for more than 35 years.

And the way Jesus worked through Barbara and in her friend Sanae is testament to his power, his faithfulness and his grace.

When Sanae and her doctor husband were in the early days of their marriage, they and their three children spent two years in Texas for his work. They quickly saw how important church was to their new friends and neighbours so decided to go along. They wanted to fit in and be part of the community.

In the US, Sanae cared for their younger child, who was just two months old when they arrived, while the two older ones went to nursery and quickly picked up English. When the family returned to Japan, the last thing they wanted was for the children to lose their English, so they enrolled their two oldest children in an international school on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Just as God had planned, that was the very school Gary and Barbara had chosen for their children, who were exactly the same age as Sanae’s.

Barbara said: “During back-to-school week, we bumped into them in the first class for Jessica and then again in Josiah’s class. We quickly formed a very natural friendship and it was the most natural thing in the world to invite them to our church. We were thrilled when they started coming along.”

But when Barbara and Gary returned to Japan after a home assignment, they were disappointed to see that Sanae had stopped coming to church.

Around the same time, Barbara had been developing a biblical parenting ministry, based on her own experience and the challenges Japanese women were facing in dealing with children. Over time, that ministry grew into a book-based course, which has now been through five editions, with more than 10,000 copies distributed.

But in those early days, she was trialling it with the help of three Christian women from church, who invited three non-Christian women to join them. One of those was Sanae, who was wrestling with the challenges of raising her three young children.

Barbara said: “For Sanae, this was truly life-saving. She could see the lessons being taught were having an impact and became increasingly zealous in putting the teaching into practice. As she saw the impact it was having on her children, she asked Barbara what else the book had to say about life, about the meaning of life and about who Jesus is.”

For the next two decades, Sanae came along to the classes Barbara held. As the women’s children grew, so the classes developed more into straight Bible study, rather than parenting. The women, including Sanae, were keen to learn more and developed a very good Bible knowledge.

All the while, Sanae was attending several other Bible studies too, but could never quite bring herself to make a full commitment to Jesus. She always knew that her husband, as the eldest son in his family, would inherit the responsibility for his family’s Buddhist gravesite and, as his wife, she would have to share in that.

Barbara said: “Sanae always enjoyed our classes, as well as the fellowship. It was lovely to watch her grow both as a mum and in her knowledge of Jesus.

“But it was only when her youngest son was about 20 that she really took a significant step forward in her faith. Yes, more than 20 years of regular Bible study and it needed her son to ask a really bold question to finally bring her to faith.

“At our next Bible class, Sanae simply announced: ‘I have to make a decision. Do I follow Japanese tradition or do I follow Jesus? I have decided to follow Jesus.’

“She later told me that her son’s question had cleared the clouds in her mind that had been lingering there and worrying her.”

That was one of the happiest days of Barbara’s life and Sanae was baptised a few weeks later.

Today, Barbara and Sanae are old friends and still enjoy their regular Bible study classes in Tokyo, along with several of the women who were in those first parenting classes. There are still at least three who have been coming all these years but still have not made that full commitment to Christ.

But Barbara and Gary will not give up on them. Even though they are retiring, they will continue to live in Japan and Barbara will keep the classes going.

They know that God works in his own timing and uses his people in sometimes unseen ways to bring people into his Kingdom. In Japan, where the cultural weight of Buddhism and Shinto is hard to shift, the work can be slow – but, as Barbara and Gary know, the work is vital and can bear fruit in astonishing ways.

Prayer

• Pray that Sanae will continue to grow in her faith and understanding of Jesus. 
• Pray for Gary and Barbara and their continued health, strength, and wisdom as they continue their ministry in Japan. Ask for God's guidance and provision as they navigate their retirement and the transition of their Bible study classes.
• Pray that the Bible study classes will continue to be a source of encouragement, growth, and community for the women involved. Ask for God to use these classes to reach more people with the gospel and to see the kingdom of God grow in Japan.
• Pray for the spiritual awakening of Japan and for more people to come to know Jesus Christ. Ask for God to break down cultural and religious barriers that hinder the spread of the gospel.