God answered my mother's prayer when she'd asked Him to be my Father!
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April 04, 2010 |
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 Junior Deaconess Nami Shimizu
(Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church)
Mother and daughter: Senior Deaconess Jihye Shimizu and Junior Deaconess Nami Shimizu
I'm a 29-year-old housewife living Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo, Japan. Had I not met the living God, I would still be tormented by the same illnesses that had had a hold of me for 10 years. But now, I am grateful to God who has healed me and given me spiritual strength, and find myself rejuvenated.
Troublemaker from discord at home
I'd been a troublemaker. From my parents' divorce and discord at home, I became defiant and, while befriending other troublemakers, I fell into deeper holes. I was expelled during the first year in middle school and forced to find another one, only to be expelled from there as well.
My mother Senior Deaconess Shimizu Jihye had come to Japan to make a living when I was in second grade. Can you imagine how disheartened she must have become to hear that her daughter had been expelled from school in the middle of her puberty years? In October 1998, she brought me to Japan. I began to adjust to a new life in a new country, starting middle school at the age of 17.
I entered a community college to study "Secretarial Studies" when I turned 23 and by the end of my first year, I worked as a Korean interpreter/translator at electronics manufacturer Panasonic.
I think it was on account of my mother's prayer that I faced no major difficulties while living in Japan. As she felt terrible about me at all times, she strove to do for me whatever she could and never forgot to pray to God for her daughter. "God! Please allow my daughter Nami to accept the Lord. She's a poor kid who's grown up without a dad. Please be her Father."
Realizing mother's love through endometriosis and pneumothorax
My menstrual cramps had been severe since high school years but I spent years, merely thinking that my pain was slightly greater than that of my peers. Then in 2003, I was diagnosed with endometriosis. The left ovary had swollen and if it were to swell even more, the doctor said the left ovary would have to be removed. Still, as long as I could endure the menstrual cramps, I was fine otherwise.
Then in December 2008, I had caught a cold and my chest started hurting while coughing. I was diagnosed with endometriosis (an abnormal presence of air in the pleural cavity resulting in the collapse of the lung; may be spontaneous, due to injury to the chest, or induced as a treatment for tuberculosis). I needed to undergo an operation in which my left chest would be punctured and a tube inserted to remove the air. It also turned out that pneumothorax had been caused by endometriosis.
From that point on, I would have a relapse of pneumothorax. Yet, as the necessary operation would open up my chest and as the operation would not guarantee a full recovery and only leave a large scar, I was told that it would be better not to have an operation. An alternative method was to stop having periods. As I was not yet married at the time, however, I wanted to wait and see.
I was tormented nearly a half of every month from endometriosis coupled with pneumothorax. A week prior to starting the period, I began to feel bloated and every bone and joint ached. The most serious concern was that as someone who had always loved to eat, I became excessively sensitive to the smell of food and could not dare to eat anything, just like an expecting mother having morning sickness. On top of that, my stomach hurt constantly and I literally crawled to the restroom. I could not go to work for at least two days a month. It felt as though my stomach and intestines were being wrung.
When the painful period ended, I would then have a relapse of pneumothorax a few days later. For about five days, I could feel air leaking out of my right lung. I was short of breath even after a few minutes of walking and unable to do any extensive walking, much less exercising. There were many nights when I couldn't sleep.
I suppose I matured as I'd become sick. One day, I remembered my mother and her steadfast love flooded into my heart. 'There must be so many things she just could not tell others about.' I began to cry uncontrollably as I remembered how powerless she must have been and felt at times.
"Mommy! I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I'm so sorry to have troubled you all these years. Thank you, Mommy. I'll be a good girl from now on."
Reading Hell, a life transformed
My mother began attending Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church in January 2004. Her hope was that I would one day start attending church but I could not get myself to go on Sundays. She prayed for me and, for years and years, urged that I come with her.
After getting a copy of Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee's book Hell and reading it, my life began to change. I thought that I should no longer open up my heart to the world but ought to believe in God and become a good believer.
So I began attending Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church. My heart was actually at peace once I began going to church. As the Senior Pastor at the time was proclaiming a series of messages on "Hell," his words pierced my heart even more deeply and sharply. As I saw Biblical wonders and signs as well as works of God's healing as manifested through the Senior Pastor, I began to recognize and distinguish true faith and made every effort to possess spiritual faith by which I could live my life by the Word.
As I obeyed the Word of God who told me to "Do this," "Avoid that," "Keep this," and "Cast that off," I could feel my heart transformed. My body also began to improve little by little.
Forming a family of harmony and receiving God's healing
In April 2009, I started a family of harmony with a man I had met at a gathering of Koreans living in Japan. That October, I attended a handkerchief meeting conducted by Rev. Kyeongtae Jeong. I heard then and there the voice of the Holy Spirit, saying, "When your faith strengthens, your body shall also strengthen." I came back to my seat and began praying. At that moment, like a flash, all the sins and flaws I had committed up to that point in my life went through my mind and I rent my heart in repentance. From that day on, I felt or detected no symptoms of endometriosis or pneumothorax.
"Ha! I feel completely fine! I want to eat! I want to eat!"
I was craving food and feeling no pain. I told this to my mother and Rev. Kyeongtae Jeong also. I can't describe how delighted the church members were!
I am happiest and at most peace on Sundays when I worship God and share the fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I serve the church as a helper who reads the praise lyrics for the congregation prior to the Sunday Evening Services and Daniel Prayer Meetings.
"Now that I've come into New Jerusalem past the gates of pearl, Flashing before my eyes are the events of the past~"
Whenever I sing along those words and reminisce about the past, I can only give thanks to the Lord who has saved me and I am touched by the tender love of the Senior Pastor.
Whenever I cherish and sing along each passage in praise songs, I find myself shedding tears springing from the depths of my heart.
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