In the last summer of my high-school time, when I was praying through the night with others, tongues of fire appeared and surrounded me. I was scared yet opened my eyes, and I did not see any more fire. I started praying again and fire appeared again and surrounded me. This time, I was not afraid and continued to pray. And then, all the fire started coming into my arms and legs and exploded into my body as if a volcano had erupted inside of me. The explosion continued for a while and eventually disappeared from my body as if by an ebb tide. Then I had an unforgettable experience in which I communicated with God. I was lifted into a very calm meadow and heard a voice telling me "Do you really dedicate yourself?" I said to Heavenly Father "Yes, Father." He asked me again and again, three times. I promised to Father "Yes, I will"three times.
In the early days we members collected used newspapers and magazines with a trolley, visiting house to house to make money for rent and missionary activities. We were always hungry. My first assigned church was Hakodate church in Hokkaido in the summer of 1966, a northern island. Hakodate is a lonely harbor and the port of entry to Hokkaido Island when people come by ship (at that time and now through a tunnel) from Honshu, the main island. We were able to eat only five pieces of bread (only the edge of a loaf of bread) a day with hot water. Hakodate was cold, so we needed to drink hot water; there was no coffee, no tea, and no hot miso soup. In Hakodate, it was so cold that we even needed a stove at night in the summer.
We ate two pieces of bread for breakfast, two pieces for lunch and one piece of bread at night. Our life continued like this for a while. My facial skin started breaking up from a lack of oil and malnutrition. I was so skinny. I longed to eat a bowl of hot white rice and miso soup. This reminded me of the Israelites who complained and longed to have cucumbers in the wilderness. Eventually, my spirit went down, and I could no longer go out to collect used newspapers and magazines. In those days, we never thought that we would ever go to a restaurant to have a meal.
I decided to go to the holy ground in Hakodate. The holy ground was on the hill where you can see the entire city under you. At night, the city was illuminated in the shape of a letter "H." I cried at the holy ground. I told God "I am not forgetting about you or losing faith in you; but, let me go home for a while to have white rice and nice hot miso soup, then I will be back." It was so quiet I heard only the gentle wind blowing and the felt the sun warm on my back. I heard God's voice speaking to me, "I am in you, I am in you." I was surrounded and embraced by God's heart and felt sadness in God's voice.
From this moment on, I understood what total dedication meant to me. I looked down on the city of Hakodate. After my prayer, the city looked different from before I prayed. God was with me all the time whenever I was persecuted and mocked by people. I felt that there was no one in this city except me who understood God's heart, and I was with God.
From Tribute, pp. 89-91.