Miss Imhoff was an American in Japan for many years. One day she was talking to a group of children in a park in Nagasaki and telling them about the love of Jesus who died for sinners everywhere.
Hoshio was just a small boy then and seemed to have a dislike for the foreign missionary. Picking up a stone he threw it at the lady and struck her in the eye. Later she had to have that eye removed.
Hoshio disappeared; the police looked for him but could not find him. Miss Imhoff said she wished he could know how freely she forgave him.
“I mean to pray for that boy every day that he will become a Christian,” she added.
Years passed by. One day a Japanese warship anchored in Nagaki harbor. The Christians in the city planned a reception for the officers and crew.
Someone made a welcome speech, after which the Japanese commander of the ship acknowledged the courtesy. He declared that he himself was a Christian, and then he told the story of why he had given up the religion of his fathers for the faith of Jesus Christ.
“When I was a small boy,” he said, “I stood one day in a park in this very city, listening to a Christian missionary tell the wonderful story of Calvary. Thoughtlessly I picked up a stone and threw it at her, and it struck her in the eye.
“Thoroughly frightened I ran to the mountains where I remained three days without anything to eat. Then one of my young friends found me and told me that the lady missionary was not angry with me; rather she had said she intended to pray every day that I would become a true believer in Jesus the Saviour.
“As I thought about her kind words, I began to feel strangely drawn toward the Christ she loved. By and by I decided to embrace Christianity with all my heart and I confessed Jesus as my Saviour. Today I am glad to confess my faith in Him in the very place where I as a boy first heard the gospel.”
Strange to relate, Miss Imhoff herself was among the crowd listening to the officer’s words. What a surge of joy filled her heart, as she thanked the Lord for answering her many prayers.
ML-06/18/1978