⑤ Baptised. Accepted to university.
Since October 1987, I have been attending a Protestant church, and I have continued to do so ever since.
It’s been over 35 years now, and time has truly flown by.
I feel so grateful to have believed in Jesus Christ and to have encountered the Bible.
It was a wonderful decision to start going to church.
From the age of 19 when I began to believe in Jesus Christ until today, at the age of 55, I have experienced various things.
In the future, I hope to share these various events with everyone through my blog.
One thing I can say for certain is that “God is truly an incredibly wonderful being.”
I love God.
Well then, let’s continue with the story of when I started attending the church in October 1987.
I have a best friend whom I’ve known since middle school. That friend is a classmate of mine and the same age as me.
We both attended the same high school and were part of the same sports club. We belonged to the handball club and had a wonderful time during our high school years.
I started attending the church together with that best friend.
My friend had an interest in Christianity and the church.
So, starting from the first Sunday of October 1987, we began attending the church together.
We attended the worship service every Sunday and were baptized in December 1987.
We were baptized in the sea under the guidance of the pastor.
Alongside the church members, we sang hymns on the sandy beach by the seaside and then entered the sea to be baptized.
The church members blessed us.
To reiterate, I was completely liberated from unimaginable suffering and despair around September 1987.
I became healthy and started attending the church in October.
However, according to my recollection, a different form of suffering began around November 1987.
This suffering was not physical but rather psychological, although it was not as severe as the suffering I experienced during the summer of my 19th year (1987).
Nevertheless, it was still distressing.
This state of suffering continued from around November 1987 to January 1988.
I kept attending the church in this condition.
During my continued attendance at the church, this state of suffering ceased around February 1988.
I became healthy and happy once again.
I would like to share someday in my blog about the “cause of unimaginable suffering and despair” that I experienced during the summer of my 19th year.
What exactly was the “cause of unimaginable suffering and despair”? I would like to tell you about it.
Now, let’s move the story forward.
The year 1987 came to an end, and it became 1988.
My best friend and I took the university entrance exams from January to February in 1988.
The university I applied to had first and second exams. The first exam was in January, and the second exam was in February.
I took the first exam in January amidst challenging circumstances.
However, by the time of the second exam, my challenging situation had improved, and I took the exam in a liberated and healthy state.
After the university entrance exams were over, my friend and I waited for the results, whether we passed or not.
Finally, the day of the university entrance exam results arrived. It was in March 1988.
Amazingly, both my friend and I were accepted to university.
The church members had been praying for our success.
We became college students in April and started attending university.
Regarding myself, I believe that I was able to enter university through the mercy and grace of God.
Because during the summer of 1987, I was in such a difficult and desperate state that studying for the university entrance exam was out of the question.
Furthermore, until around after the first-stage exam in January, I was facing challenging circumstances and I could hardly study.
I certainly spent many years studying for the university entrance exam.
However, for about six months before the university entrance exam, I was not in a condition to study and hardly studied at all.
Therefore, it was a quite challenging situation for me to pass the university entrance exam.
Being able to pass the university amidst such hardships, I truly believe it was by God’s grace and mercy.
The people at the church also prayed for us to pass the university entrance exam.
One of the church members told me that she had been praying in tears for us to pass our university entrance exams.
Perhaps this person understood the difficulties in my life well and prayed with a heart full of love and compassion.
This person was the Christian I respected the most and was called to heaven in September 2016.
I consider my university acceptance to be nothing less than a miraculous success.
I am grateful to God.
The results of my university entrance test were much better than I expected.
I scored higher than my capabilities in the first-stage test and achieved quite well in the second-stage.
As a result, I was able to gain admission to the university.
However, given my own difficult situation, I don’t think I could have passed the university if it were true.
However, by the grace and mercy of God, I managed to pass and get into the university.
Thanks to the compassionate God, I passed the university entrance exam.
I am thankful to God and the church members who prayed for me.
