Josephine Aragon

My name is Josephine Aragon. I’m from the Philippines and I joined the JM team in April 2019,
and I’m involved in English evangelism, the kid’s ministry, and café ministry. Last year I was
invited to JM’s English camp and on those two days, the gospel was preached, everyone had a
wonderful time learning English, playing games, singing songs and sharing life stories with each
other over delicious meals. I saw their passion and dedication in reaching out to the community
to share the love of Christ with them.  That night after the camp, I was on a bus headed back to
Niigata and I remember telling God that if it’s really part of His plan to make me come to Nara
and be part of what He’s doing in His Kingdom through Japan Mission, He will make it happen.
And He did.

Read Josephine’s story below:

 

 

 

I came to Japan in 2014 to work for a school in Niigata. I was there for five years, serving at a
church while working full time. I got involved in our church’s evangelism ministry where we
release gospel newsletters quarterly and distribute them to churches and train stations. God
has put a strong desire in my heart to share the gospel, and this passion started in December of
2007 when I encountered Him face to face while I was in university.

I’m from the Philippines and growing up, I had heard so many times that there is a God who
died for the sins of the world. But I didn’t know that this God also knows me personally and that
He loves and cares about me, what I go through or what’s inside my heart. My constant
enemies were pressures and envy and low self-worth and discontent and pride and all other
things. I hit rock bottom when I was in my junior year. I had pushed so many people away
because I didn’t know how to value them. Until high school I was top of the class, but in college
I started to struggle in some of my subjects. From the outside, it looked like I still had
everything figured out. But inside, my soul was in chaos, I was hopeless and lost. I knew I
needed help, but I didn’t know where and how to find it. One day, a good friend invited me to a
worship concert. I love music and I needed company, so I went. Little did I know that I would
meet someone in that event who would change my life forever.

There, I heard the message of Christ’s love for the first time. I was reluctant at first to believe. I
didn’t know what I was putting myself into. But I stayed and listened to Him speak. I will never
forget that moment when He said He knew me even before I was born (Psalm 139). He said He
saw how I allowed the lies of the enemy to take root in my heart and twist my view of who He
is and His love for me. He said He saw every foolish decision I made that hurt me and the
people around me. He said He did everything He could to get my attention, but my heart was
too hard (Hosea 11:1-2).