Useless Idols

“For in that day every man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made as a sin.” Isaiah 31:7, NASB.

Eighty-four year old Mrs. Shi met a Christian woman who was delivering milk products door-to-door. As they visited together, Naomi*, the Christian, shared her testimony of how God had saved her, blessed her and helped her in hard times. After hearing the testimony, Mrs. Shima said, “My idols don’t help me. In fact, I want to throw them away because they are useless.”

Naomi hesitated, and didn’t present the Gospel to her at that time, but shared the experience with Mrs. Shigato, her mentor.

Mrs. Shigato sensed that a chance to present the Gospel had been missed. As she prayed during her devotion the following morning, she felt impressed to take Naomi along with another young Christian to witness to Mrs. Shi that very day. At the leaders’ training meeting that morning, Mrs. Shigato shared her burden with the other leaders who prayed for Mrs. Shi’s salvation and claimed promises from the Word for her.

About 10 that night my cell phone beeped, alerting me to incoming email. I opened my phone to see the message. “Mrs. Shi was saved!!” Praise the Lord!!

*Names changed for the privacy of local people. Excerpt from the newsletter of a Pacific Rim worker in Japan.

Pray that:

Mrs. Shi will know without a doubt that she is a child of the King, and that she will throw away all of her idols.

Naomi will grow in her faith through the mentoring of Mrs. Shigato.

Believers in Japan will follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel. Praise God that Mrs. Shigato followed her heart in sharing with Mrs. Shi, and that she brought other young believers along with her!

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.