Joanna Shelton\u2019s journey to faith began unexpectedly with an email inviting her to the 120th anniversary of a church in Osaka, Japan-one founded by her great-grandfather, 19th-century Presbyterian missionary Thomas Theron Alexander. Despite a secular upbringing in Texas, where church was more educational than spiritual, Joanna\u2019s adult life was marked by a high-powered career as an international economist and trade negotiator in Washington, D.C., and Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, even amid professional success, Joanna felt something was missing: \u201cA feeling deep inside me nagged me with thoughts of a more \u2018normal\u2019 life. (One) of community and day-to-day rhythms focused more on family and friends than on international travel and high-level diplomacy.\u201d She eventually traded diplomatic life for a Montana farm and began researching her great-grandfather\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand what had drawn him to ministry in Japan, Joanna started reading the Bible seriously, guided by two devout relatives. \u201cA long-suppressed inner flame burned brighter as I read and contemplated the Scriptures,\u201d she writes. Verses like Luke 17:20\u201321 and John 14:9 resonated deeply, helping her grasp \u201cthe true meaning of faith, as hope in things unseen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her spiritual search was further fueled by witnessing the enduring faith of Japanese Christians whose ancestors had been taught by missionaries like her great-grandfather. \u201cMy great-grandfather\u2019s hand, still for over 100 years, seemed to beckon, and I followed,\u201d she reflects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2007, Joanna joined a small Presbyterian church in Montana and has since served as a ruling elder, taking the same vows her great-grandfather once did: \u201cto trust in Jesus Christ my Savior, acknowledging him Lord of all.\u201d She concludes, \u201cYou might say I\u2019m the latest convert of a man whose work clearly was not done when he died more than a century ago.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3689,3726,3897,3933,3960,4060,5344,4144,4245,4358,4476,4480,4537,4541,4893,5139,5241,5283,5291],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-66621","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-conversion","tax_ctp_tags-culture","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-faith","tax_ctp_tags-family","tax_ctp_tags-global-missions","tax_ctp_tags-grandparents-day-2","tax_ctp_tags-heritage","tax_ctp_tags-influence","tax_ctp_tags-legacy","tax_ctp_tags-mission","tax_ctp_tags-missionary","tax_ctp_tags-new-birth","tax_ctp_tags-new-life","tax_ctp_tags-scripture","tax_ctp_tags-testimony","tax_ctp_tags-visible-invisible","tax_ctp_tags-witness","tax_ctp_tags-word-of-god"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n