Meeting Jesus for the First Time

I serve on staff with The Navigators iEDGE team (a two-year international internship program serving on college campuses).

I met Kioka* at a social event that our iEDGE team hosted for internationals on campus. We got to know each other better, and often met at my apartment to bake, laugh, and converse in broken English.

Growing up in Japan, Kioka had no interest in Christianity and had a friend who hated Christians. One Sunday, I told her I was going to church after we finished baking together. She had never been to a Christian church service, but decided to come with me for the cultural experience. The English was too fast for her but she felt moved. I took a step of faith and asked if she would like to read the Bible with me. Because we’d already developed a friendship and shared deeply with one another, we trusted each other. She said yes, so one day, as carrot cake baked in the oven, we read about Jesus healing a leper.

Kioka saw God’s deep concern for healing people’s hearts. Jesus could have simply healed the man’s skin with a word, but He reached out and touched the man, something the leper had not experienced for years. Reading the Bible changed Kioka’s view of Jesus: “Actually, I think Jesus is good.” I’m walking alongside her, praying for her to learn more about Jesus’ love for her.

PRAY that God would open the door to share Christ with more students.

—Marlene Azer (iEDGE, Nova Scotia)

*Name Changed