LCMS World Mission Blog

Carol Becker, a GEO missionary serving in Japan, recently shared this story:

“I was able to share the message of God’s love in a different way recently. The clothing store ‘Forever 21′ opened in Tokyo a few weeks ago. I took the opportunity to go there and do some shopping; especially enjoying the American sizes! I remembered that on the bottom of the shopping bag ‘John 3:16′ is printed. I did some research to learn more about why. I discovered that the store is owned by a Korean woman who is a Christian. So, I brought the bag to all of my classes and talked about the store at first. Most of the students were excited about the store opening and several had already been.

“Then I showed them the bottom of the bag and they very curiously asked, ‘What does John 3:16 mean?’ So I told them it was a verse from the Bible, and explained that we often call that verse ‘the Bible in a nutshell’ because it contains the main message of the Bible all in one sentence. Then they asked, ‘What does John 3:16 say?’ so we read the verse in both English and Japanese. Several of the students quickly made the connection between the verse speaking of ‘eternal’ life and the store’s name using ‘forever.’ Through this exciting opportunity, and them asking the questions, 20 students were able to hear this message of God’s love from John for the first time!

• Learn more about the missionaries serving in Japan! Download their prayer cards here.
• Give a gift to support Carol’s ministry in Japan.