A miracle permitted through a handshake with Masaaki-sama! Originally, I only attended grand services when I felt like it. But three years ago, I was entrusted with driving the rental car sent out from Nagoya Church to the services, and since then I have been able to attend almost every time. It was during this time that, from the beginning of last year, I began to feel numbness from my right shoulder down to my right hand. Since I work in manufacturing, my arms are everything, and I grew anxious wondering if this numbness would continue, so I went to the hospital for an examination. However, no abnormality was found, and the cause remained unknown. The numbness still had not improved when June 15 of last year marked the Birth of the Messiah Service. I always sat near the edge of the venue during grand services, but that day, at the suggestion of someone who had ridden with me, I was able to take a seat in the center of the venue. When the ceremony ended and Kyoshu-sama, Mayumi-okusama, Masaaki-sama, and Mami-okusama were leaving, Masaaki-sama passed near my seat, and for the first time, I was allowed the honor of shaking his hand. About three days later, I noticed something astonishing—the numbness in my arm, which had troubled me for half a year, had completely disappeared. When I reported this to Regional Director Suzuki, he told me, “That sounds like the kind of miracle that happened when Meishu-sama was alive.” Until then, my prayers had been vague prayers directed toward God, but through receiving this miracle, I realized that it was enough simply to pray to Kyoshu-sama and Masaaki-sama, and my uncertainty vanished. After that, at this year’s Easter Service in April, I was permitted to participate in The Messiah Choir (youth division) for the first time. I felt the joy of being part of the chorus in the same space as Kyoshu-sama and Masaaki-sama, and I was filled with a joy and emotion I had never experienced in my life. Going forward, I will continue to strive each day to show filial devotion to God through the practice of Masaaki-sama’s prayer, food and music. Church member, male