Bob McKemey had spent 45 years as a missionary in Japan. In his years of ministry, he had touched hundreds of lives. As he approached retirement, he began to pray that God would let him see spiritual fruit.
During that year, Bob’s cousins came to Japan to visit, and Bob took them deep into the mountains to visit a waterfall. On the way back, they passed a picnic and camping area and stopped to take a picture.
A lady working there, Mrs. Shimizu, began to ask them questions. When Bob said he was a missionary, the woman actually jumped into the car with them, an intense expression on her face. Twenty-five years ago, she had met Mother Theresa and said that, “her words had been like the Bible to me. But they were not the Bible.” Since then, she had been searching, but she didn’t know how to get a Bible, didn’t know any Christians, and didn’t know any churches. Now, Mrs. Shimizu wanted a real Bible.
Bob was amazed. He didn’t have a Bible to give her right then, but he did give her three books: Manga Messiah (a graphic novel style gospel story), testimonies of Japanese who became Christians, and the first chapter of The Purpose Driven Life in Japanese. He also promised he would return when he could with a Bible, and they parted ways.
A couple weeks later, Bob took off toward the mountains with a Bible in Japanese. He stopped at a nearby church to ask if they had a brochure to give to Mrs. Shimizu. Then, together, they prayed for her.
When Bob arrived at the picnic area, Mrs. Shimizu’s face lit up! She had read all the books and had many questions for him. They talked for more than an hour about salvation in Jesus.
While they talked, Bob was thinking. He knew from experience that it generally takes Japanese people at least two years to respond to the gospel. He had seen people try to make things happen too soon with tragic results and he didn’t want to “pluck unripe fruit.”
“It’s too soon to ask her for a decision,” he thought. But he sensed God was telling him, “Go ahead.”
So Bob hesitantly said, “I wouldn’t put any pressure on you, but if you would like to pray …”
“Yes! Yes!” Mrs. Shimizu jumped at the opportunity to trust Jesus as her Savior and they prayed together!
Mrs. Shimizu went on to start attending the church that prayed with Bob for her, and she started reading her new Bible.
Three days before leaving Japan, Bob met with Mrs. Shimizu. He told her, “When you prayed, I was very hesitant. If you push people too quickly, they say later, ‘I tried that and it didn’t work.’ It was just too soon.”
Mrs. Shimizu responded, “Too soon? I waited 25 years!”
