On 6 August 1945, Kanji Araki,  then a toddler, was playing on the floor. Although an air raid siren had sounded a warning, few paid it any heed since Hiroshima had previously escaped bombing. Then a blinding flash lit up the sky. Superheated air rushed at tremendous speed, knocking down buildings and setting the centre of the city ablaze. In the days that followed the nuclear detonation, Kanji’s grandmother, brother and sister died from radiation sickness.

As Kanji grew up he experienced emotional conflict about those who suffered and died because of the bomb. His parents were Christians but Kanji adopted a secular view of life. Yet he felt a growing emptiness inside. He began to study the Bible to discover for himself who Jesus is. At a spiritual turning point, Kanji put his trust in Christ and his empty heart was filled with God’s wonderful assurance. When the Lord led him into the ministry, he cited 1 Corin­thians 6:20 and said, “I was spared from death so that my life might have a higher purpose in serving God.”

The apostle Paul had also been spared to serve God. “I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you,” he said (Col. 1:25). What has God entrusted to you?

Author

Dennis Fisher

Topics

Our Daily Bread