On January 24, Mami-okusama visited the children’s home Haruka Gakuen in Osaka Prefecture and interacted with eight elementary school children through cooking rice in a clay pot and making rice balls. Through the Bible and the picture book Glory and Grace and Their Forest Friends by Masaaki-sama that were donated by the Bible Distribution Project vigorously promoted by the Church, an opportunity also came to hold a concert by The Messiah Choir in November 2024 as a part of the Hallelujah Project. First, Mami-okusama introduced herself and spoke about how she enjoyed cooking and spending time with children. She then introduced her husband, Masaaki-sama, mentioning that he always teaches about God, and spoke to the children, saying that although Masaaki-sama was not present that day, she wished for them to feel as if he were there with them. Soon afterwards, Mami-okusama began polishing rice with the polishing machine, set to remove 30% of the bran, together with the children. As soon as the polishing was finished, she soaked the grains in water. This was the very embodiment of what Masaaki-sama had described in his Sacred Word “Rice is the Body of Jesus Cooking with complete focus and commitment” (posted on this Instagram page on January 9), where he wrote: “Just how quickly can the polished rice be soaked; how instantly can rice be put on the heat after it has soaked—every day, my wife approaches this process with complete focus and commitment.” While the rice was soaking, Mami-okusama toasted sesame seeds for the rice ball topping, and the children’s eyes brightened from the fresh aroma. Next, they introduced themselves, and their faces naturally broke into smiles as Mami-okusama spoke gently to each child. For this day, she prepared materials on what Masaaki-sama says regarding “the body of Jesus is rice, and the blood of Jesus is miso soup,” adding illustrations and photographs, and then presented it using a monitor. She explained that at the Last Supper, Jesus referred to bread as “my body” and wine as “my blood.” Just as bread and wine were the daily sustenance for the people of Jerusalem at the time, for Japanese people it is rice and miso soup. She spoke about Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word that it is important for us to receive our daily rice as Jesus’s body and miso soup as Jesus’s blood—all the children listened intently. The natural and unforced attentiveness of the children surprised every staff member who accompanied Mami-okusama, and they could not help but feel the conviction that Masaaki-sama’s truth indeed shines within each and every person of humanity. Afterward, Mami-okusama began a riddle challenge, and the children took on the riddles posed one after another, cheering with each correct answer, becoming more and more excited. Amid the fun, the rice finished soaking, and at last, they placed the rice in the clay pot to start the cooking.(Article continued in Part 2) ***About Mami-okusama (Mami Okada)Mami-okusama was born in Aichi Prefecture and was raised in a farming household. Also known as Japan’s Vegan Beauty, she is the wife of and Aide to Masaaki-sama (Masaaki Okada), World Church of Messiah’s Representative of Kyoshu. She is a vegan recipe developer focusing on the Japanese vegan diet. She is the first to establish the “vegan deco ben” (vegan decorative bento) and “vegan kyara ben” (vegan character bento) genres. Not only are they beautiful to the eye, these bento are created entirelyfrom plant-based ingredients, in line with what Masaaki-sama teaches on the truth of food, that seasonal and local eating rooted in the climate and terrain of Japan is the most beneficial for health and well-being, that is, to eat what grows in one’s local region. Through these and also through the creation of her many original recipes, she seeks to spread the Christian vegan diet—the true healthy diet. She graduated from University of Tsukuba. During her studies there, she became actively involved in volunteer activities such as refugee support. She was also repeatedly asked to participate in the Miss Tsukuba Contest and was approached by many modeling agencies, but she declined all of these offers as she wanted to focus on refugee support activities. In recognition of her efforts in refugee support, she received the University of Tsukuba President’s Award in 2012. She holds a license to teach English to intermediate and high school students. After graduating from university, she began working for World Church of Messiah in 2013. In 2014, she married Masaaki-sama, the great-grandson of the founder of World Church of Messiah, Meishu-sama (Mokichi Okada 1882–1955), and the representative and successor of Kyoshu-sama. On May 24, 2026, on the day of Pentecost, she assumed the position of Aide to the Representative of Kyoshu. Currently, while raising three children, she is working tirelessly unlike anyone else in the practice and spread of the Christian vegan diet as taught in Masaaki-sama’s revolutionary message: “Jesus Christ was the last and ultimate sacrifice—so it is no longer necessary to eat a diet that comes with the suffering of animals.”