Tomigusuku Church, Japan

Pastor Nam HyoungWoo

Uehara Naoto was a young man who was struggling to get out of poverty and loneliness.

The only hope he had in life was singing pop songs while he delivered newspapers at dawn and in the afternoon.  That’s because he could forget about everything while he delivered them on his old bike, humming pop songs no matter how rainy or stuffy it was.  However, he couldn’t help giving way to deeper despair as he realized that doing so didn’t enable him to bring fundamental change to his life.

One day, as he wearily pedaled home after finishing his delivery route, a banner on a building that he passed by all the time caught his attention.  It read, “Everlasting Happiness, True Peace.”  He was able to enter the church close to the end of the meeting with the help of a faithful deacon from Naha Church, the sister church of Tomigusuku Church. He was hesitant to come in because of his sweaty, shabby clothes.  The beautiful hymn melodies of the Golden Angels were permeating the meeting place.  But it was not the hymns that won him over; it was their smiles while singing them.  It was also the joyful look of the church members, who were all touched by the praise music.  As everybody was about to go home after the meeting, he timidly approached a missionary and said, “Can I be happy like them if I believe in Jesus?  How can I also believe in Him?”  The members of the Golden Angels surrounded him and sang “You Are Born to Be Loved,” followed by Pastor Arakaki Saburo’s benediction.

Encounters with Uehara Naoto toward the end of the evangelistic meeting in September 2005 continued in the form of Bible studies every Monday and Tuesday for two months, and God worked on him to be baptized with the blessings of my sister church members on December 3.

He doesn’t sing pop songs anymore.  Instead, he delivers newspapers singing gospel songs.  He has quit delivering them at dawn because he had a hard time going to church on the Sabbath.  His income has decreased by half because of that, but he is such a happy person because he knows he’s born to be loved.  He is happy because he lives to share that love with others.

Hymns have become everything to him.  All the subscribers to his newspaper know their papers have arrived because he sings hymns very loudly and out of tune.  My sincere prayer is that he may deliver the gospel instead of newspapers.

Uehara Naoto with Pastor Hyungwoo Nam after his baptismal service