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Takako Futatsugi Travels a Long Journey of Faith

By Julie Lorenz
Northern California Conference

Taken by Kristian Hart
“My wish of wanting to get baptized by Dr. Ashworth, who led me back to Christ, is about to be fulfilled,” said Takako Futatsugi in her testimony before her baptism.

This spring, Takako Futatsugi completed the last leg of her spiritual journey back to God when she flew from her home in Sanda, Japan, to be baptized at the Redding church by Warren Ashworth, a former pastor and Pacific Union College professor emeritus of religion. Ashworth first met Futatsugi, owner of an English language school, in 2007 when he visited Japan at the invitation of one of his former students, Robyn Tsuji, an Adventist. Although he looked forward to touring Japan, he didn't want the excursion to be just a site-seeing trip. He prayed, “Lord, turn this into a mission trip.” His request was answered when Tsuji invited her best friend, Futatsugi, to help guide Ashworth to various tourist sites. “I later learned ... that she had asked me to come along in the hopes that Dr. Ashworth would have an influence on me so that I could be led back to God,” said Futatsugi. Although she was baptized into a Christian church as a child, Futatsugi became disillusioned with Christianity during high school and eventually lost her faith. Then in 2003, she met Tsuji ata conference. Several years later, the two women took several
students to a summer camp in Southern California, and Futatsugi was reintroduced to Christianity. But it was her experience with Ashworth that really moved her forward on her faith journey.

“Early on [in the trip] I shared with Takako a little about my faith in Jesus and what a difference He's made in my life,” said Ashworth. “I found her to be open when I talked about the Lord, so I took every opportunity I could.” He encouraged her to read the Gospels, along with Desire of Ages.

“Dr. Ashworth shattered my impression of Christians as being narrow-minded hypocrites, as he was so open-minded and lived his faith,” said Futatsugi. “Here was someone who embraced Jesus, not religion. Because of that, I was able to let my guard down and listen to what he was saying.”

After he returned home, Ashworth kept in contact with Futatsugi through e-mail and sent her more books about Christianity. On Feb. 15, 2009, she wrote Ashworth to report that she now believed in God again and had accepted Jesus as her Savior. “It was truly a miracle of God's grace,” said Ashworth. Futatsugi's son Hiroki, former student Toshiaki Ueno, and Tsuji, all traveled from Japan for Futatsugi's baptism. “I was just so happy,” said Ashworth. “God promises that if we sow, the Holy Spirit will water, and the reaping will come.”