God often begins his greatest works through the few who step forward to take part in his mission.
What a wonderful piece of music. I wonder whom it’s about, thought a Japanese woman named Asuka one evening when she heard Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. She decided to find out.
Discovering that the lyrics described Jesus Christ, she acquired a Bible and read it straight through, enthralled. After a decade of reading alone, she contacted the only evangelical church in her city and joined an evangelistic Bible study led by ABWE missionaries Bill and Becky Petite alongside a young Japanese future pastor-in-training and his wife.
After the final lesson of the Bible study, Asuka hesitantly described a strange experience. One night, after visiting her grandmother, she felt the spirits her family worshiped present in her room. Terrified, Asuka confronted the demons with what she thought the Bible taught: “In the name of God the Father, depart!”
At first, nothing changed. The darkness pressed in harder.
“All of a sudden, a light flooded my heart,” she related, “I realized, this is my real sin: I’ve been trying to go to the Father on my own. But he says, ‘No one comes to the Father but through the Son.’”
She cried out, “In the name of Jesus Christ, depart!”—and the demons fled.
When Asuka finished telling the story, Becky clarified, “So are you saying that you believe in Jesus, that he died on the cross for your sins, and that trusting in him is what saves you?”
Asuka nodded, smiling. “What else would I believe? That’s what the Bible says.”
Asuka was baptized on Easter Sunday 2025—the first baptism conducted by the new Japanese pastor.
Dispelling the Darkness
As the shimmering lights of the Christmas season brighten our weary world, reminding us of “the true light, which gives light to everyone” (John 1:9), we must also remember the more than 2 billion people across the globe gripped by spiritual darkness. These unreached people—gripped by idolatry, secularism, or government opposition to Christ—often live without any meaningful access to the life-giving gospel. No Bible. No churches. No missionaries or Christian friends.
But even one small flame can dispel darkness.
ABWE missionaries in Japan—and nearly 1,000 others serving minimally reached nations around the world—are shining the light of Christ through evangelism and discipleship. And they aren’t stopping there; they’re also planting healthy churches and training national believers to multiply their impact throughout communities and nations. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
To reach the world’s remaining unreached peoples, we’ll need to send more workers like these into the harvest—which is why we established the Global Gospel Fund.
So far in 2025, we’ve already been able to appoint nearly 80 new gospel workers to bring joy to the world.
This Christmas, we’re asking God to raise up 50 new missionaries to bring the gospel to the lost and least reached. Each new missionary represents a way to reach more communities with the gospel, see more healthy churches planted, and witness more souls redeemed through faith in Christ.
Would you prayerfully consider giving to the Global Gospel Fund this Christmas? Every $7,000 we raise sends a new worker into the harvest—and every gift, no matter the size, helps advance the gospel to those who’ve never heard.
Thank you for your heart for the Great Commission. May God richly bless you this Christmas season.
Watch the video below to see how God is using ABWE missionaries and local churches to confront cultural strongholds and establish Christ’s church in Japan.
