Bob Okamura
Salvation Experience
My walk with the Lord doesn’t seem very long to me, but as I look back on my life, I can see that the hand of God was working on me. He refined my spiritual gifts and skills that He used in my later years.
My life journey began in May of 1942 when I was born in Lodi, California which is a small community in the Central Valley between Sacramento and Stockton. My dad was born in Hawaii, but when he was ready to go to school, my grandparents sent him to Japan for his education. He is known as a kibei which means that he was a US citizen, educated in Japan and returned to the US. My mom was born in Burlingame, California and went to school in the US. After my mom graduated from San Mateo Junior College, my grandfather took her to Japan to find her a husband. An arrangement was made for my dad and mom to get married, and they were married in the US. A month or two after I was born, our family was ordered to report to the Bay Area for assignment to an interment camp because the United States had entered World War II 6 months earlier when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. We ended up in Rower, Arkansas where we spent the next three and a half years. In 1945, we left camp to go to Chicago, Illinois because my dad found a job there. It was in Chicago that my brother, Steven, was born, but he lived for only 3 days. My dad and mom had Rh incompatibility which means that the first child is healthy, but the subsequent children have blood disorders. Today, doctors who know that parents have this condition order a complete blood transfusion shortly after birth which saves the child. My parents were told that they couldn’t have any more children. So, I grew up as an only child. Several years later, we came back to California on a train and settled in a small farming community known as Acampo, which is located several miles north of Lodi.
Our family was not a Christian family, at least outwardly. After my mom passed away, I found her baptism certificate from a Baptist Church, but she never mentioned that. Most of my parents’ friends were Buddhists. When I was 8 years old, my mom asked me if I wanted to go to a church in Lodi with a classmate’s family. I said sure and enjoyed Sunday School, but the church did not emphasize teaching the children about Jesus Christ. After several years, I stopped going and did not attend any church for the next 10 years. After graduating from high school in 1960, I attended UC Berkeley. I went to church with several of my classmates. But again, the preaching and teaching didn’t emphasize the grace of Jesus and no invitations were given. I got busy with other things and distractions. So, I stopped attending.
After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, I went to work for the City of Los Angeles. But my draft board caught up with me and ordered me to take an induction physical exam. I didn’t want to be drafted into the Army and decided to join the Navy reserve. When I went on active duty, I was assigned to a Naval Construction Battalion (a Seabee maintenance unit), and we deployed to Dong Ha, Vietnam from June 1966 to June 1967. We worked 6-1/2 days a week and got Sunday afternoons off. But we were given the option to go to chapel on Sunday morning, and a lot of guys went to chapel to get out of working in the morning. So, I went because some of my friends asked me to go with them. It was a multi-denominational service because there was only one Chaplin and one service every Sunday. I still didn’t know what it meant to be a Christian.
After returning from Vietnam in June of 1967, I was separated from active duty and went to work. I got married in 1970, and we had one daughter. I worked for various government agencies and private engineering companies developing my skills gradually and working my way up the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, the marriage did not work out, and I found myself pursuing worldly things. During that time, I went to several churches including Neighborhood Church searching for something to give me direction in my life. One day in February 1992, I felt particularly empty and alone. So, I decided to call Neighborhood Church, where I had attended once before with a friend, to talk to a pastor. I met with Rev. Malcolm Cash who spent several hours explaining the Gospel to me. After he was done, he asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and I said yes.
After I accepted Jesus as my Lord, I had many questions about what that meant. So, I began reading an old King James Bible that my mother had given me back in 1950. As I read, I came across a passage that really piqued my interest, St. Matthew 10:38, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” Being a new Christian, I didn’t know what that meant. So, I kept reading wanting to know what that passage was telling me. Then I came to St. John 12:26, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be; if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” The Holy Spirit opened my eyes, and I knew I was to obey God’s teachings and serve Him. That started my path to God’s service. I volunteered to becomes an usher because I felt that was the only thing I could do since I was a baby Christian.
My mountain top experience came in June 1992 when I went to a Promise Keepers conference in Boulder, Colorado. The event was held in the football stadium of the Colorado Buffalos, and there were approximately 35,000 men attending. We sang praises to God and heard inspiring messages for 2 days. That awe-inspiring moment lit a fire in me to go back to Neighborhood and begin searching for a way to serve. I worked in the singles ministry as well as the usher ministry. Eventually I became the Head Usher where I served for 14 years. I was then approached to serve on the Governing Elders Board for a period of time. In 1993, Promise Keepers brought one of their conferences to the Oakland Coliseum where I volunteered in the hospitality area. The next year, the conference returned to the Coliseum and I was chosen to be the event manager, in charge of the entire event as a volunteer which was quite an honor.
In 2005, I had the opportunity to go on 2 short term missions trips with Foot Steps, a missions organization, where I was able to use my gift of administration to help the others do their mission work. I went to Romania to help college students do church repair work and evangelize the local residents of Timisoara as well as a women’s group conduct Vacation Bible School classes in Sibiu. In 2006 I went to Costa Rica as the leader to help our group teach Vacation Bible School classes and witness to the local residents of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, and to do church repair work in San Jose, the capital. In 2009 I had the opportunity to go to Cambodia to use my engineering skills in planning a potential private university site in Kampong Chhnang.
After I retired in 2007, I volunteered to help in the senior adult ministry doing administration work. Eventually I came on staff working in the senior adult ministry and the finance office. I used my construction and administration skills coordinating church activities with the general contractor and the architect for the remodel of the A, B and C classrooms, and the work on the Children’s Ministry Center and the relocation of the Chapel. Several years later, I did the coordination work for the construction of the Connection Center/Café 4 building. As I look back on my life, I can see where God had His hand on me as I developed skills that I would use when I became a believer. My main spiritual gift is administration, and God used that gift in the usher, singles, senior adult, missions ministries and church construction work. My current job title is Missions and Senior Adult Ministry Coordinator.
God brought a wonderful woman, Susan, to be my wife, and together we serve on staff at 3Crosses doing what God has called us to do using our gifts, talents and skills.
Since I became a Christian at age 50, there is always hope for those in your family circle, co-workers and friends no matter how old they are. Keep praying for grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, and co-workers.
In addition to Matthew 10:28 and John 12:26, there are 2 other verses which mean a lot to me. The first is Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” That verse keeps me focused on God rather than my own needs or especially wants. The second is 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” This verse keeps me focused on others and not myself.
If you are a senior and would like to submit your testimony, we invite you to contact us for details on how you can participate. We would love to include your story!
