"Our hearts are the same as yours"

Once again, we had the joy of worshipping with two visitors from abroad last week. Nick hailed from Christ Church Cathedral in Plano, Texas, and Daniel came from St. Augustine of Canterbury in Leesburg, Virginia—part of the same diocese as OMSA.

After the service, Nick recalled the discovery of Japan’s “hidden Christians,” believers who maintained their faith during the two-and-a-half centuries when Japan was closed off from the rest of the world and Christianity was banned. Missionary Father Bernard Petitjean recounts the episode on March 17, 1865, when a group of some 14 or 15 people arrived at the newly constructed Ōura Cathedral in Nagasaki: “A woman of about 40 or 50 years old approached me and, with her hands pressed to her breast, said, ‘Our hearts are the same as yours.’”

Even though we prayed and sang in a different language (unfortunately these two young men weren’t in Japan for the first Sunday of the month, when worship is in English), we are, indeed, united by the same love for the Lord Jesus Christ. “Our hearts are the same.”

We enjoyed fellowship afterward at a local restaurant. Father Berek gave the two men excellent suggestions for the best places to eat whale meat and high-end sushi and drink matcha during their visit. And rumor has it that Nick and Daniel—who met at our service—sang karaoke later in the week.

Nick came bearing gifts from Texas—golf shirts from Christ Church, coffee, and barbecue sauce and Beaver Nuggets from Buc-ee’s! The plan now is to cook up some Texas barbecue for OMSA’s Pentecost celebration.