Wonderful encounter

　　　　　　　　　　　”Wonderful 　encounter”

Starting today, October 30th to November 6^th, Tomihiro Hoshino's poetry and painting exhibition will take place. 

Our church holds Ayako Miura reading club once a month (first Friday).  It is a meeting to read and discuss freely about the works of the writer, Ayako Miura. I am in charge of this meeting and also add a little explanation of her work. In fact, Ayako Miura and Tomihiro Hoshino have a deep connection.

Ayako Miura wrote many books and she is loved by many people even after her death.  Many people stopped to commit suicide after reading her books. Many have been saved by her work.  Tomihiro Hoshino is one of them (he became permanently disabled due to cervical spinal cord injury). The conversation between these two people is written in a book called "Giniro no Ashiato". The conversation took place on May 20, 1988 when Ayako Miura visited Tomihiro Hoshino in Gunma prefecture.

In my case, I spent nine years in the hospital said Tomohiro Hoshino. There he read the book “Shiokari Pass” which gave him a different perspective of Christianity.  The person who brought this book was a Christian who was working as a laboratory technician at the hospital. After that, she also lent me "Michi Ariki" and "While There's Light."

Mr. Hoshino started reading the book “Shiokari Pass” since he liked mountain climbing.

As he read, he lost track of time and as he read he felt a beam of light striking is dark heart. The message from Ayako Miura was "To live is not a right, but a duty." After this incident, he started to read the Bible… "To live is not a right, but a duty."

Yuji Matsuda (Pastor)