Kazuko Nabeshima was born 70 years ago in Nomozaki at the southern tip of the Nagasaki Peninsula, a town now part of Nagasaki City. But was “never religious” despite her peninsula housing many churches.
She left Nagasaki after graduating from school to take up a job and lived for more than 30 years without any contact with a church. The turning point came some six years ago when her only daughter Yumi, who lived nearby, decided to move with her family to Okinawa.
“I knew little about Okinawa…But even though I didn’t know anything or have any connections there, I was excited about moving and I thought Okinawa was a good place.”
And, Yumi welcomed Nabeshima’s “desire to be part of her family.”
After the move, Yumi unexpectedly became a Protestant Christian and quit her job as a medical nurse to involve herself in church activities on weekends and holidays.
“I felt isolated as I couldn’t talk to my daughter. I was worried if it was alright to be so obsessed with religion,” Nabeshima said.