Please pray for my Japanese friend

Hey guys, I know I haven't been an active member very long, and many of you don't really know anything about me or what's going on in my life, but I'm in Japan sharing the Gospel, and tonight something a bit out of the ordinary happened.

There's been this younger guy coming around named Kazutaka (pronounced Caw-Zoo-Taw-Caw quickly) over the last few months to church, and he's really shown an unusual curiosity in the Gospel and Christianity. I've been hanging out with him from time to time, and though the language barrier many time's stands in our way, I'm continually praying that he'll see Christ in me in spite of our lack of fully coherent verbal communication.

Anyway, my pastor, myself, and one other guy from the church here have a Bible study/prayer meeting every Friday night, and Kazutaka has been coming because he's curious about what's going on, and basically why we do what we do as Christias.

So tonight we were reading from Acts, chapter 12, and after we read it he just flat out asked how a person can get faith like the Bible talks about, and what is required that he could understand faith. For anyone who is unfamiliar with outreach work in Japan, this is QUITE out of the ordinary. Japanese people will typically sit in a church for years, without even making an intellectual decision for Christ, let alone a sincere one. And being that he's only been around for about 5 months, this is quite a heavy question.

We had the opportunity to share with him what faith is, how a person can get it, and what it REALLY means to follow Christ. Based on his reaction, I really think these truths are challenging him.

I would just ask that if anyone feels led, please pray that the Holy Spirit would come to Him and convict him, and just do what He does best with the human heart. I want him to understand Christ and sin on Biblical terms, and not just agree to some creedal form of "head knowledge belief". Pray that Christ is made real to him, and that he sees his own sin in the light of God's glory and perfection.

I wish I had a picture of him that I could share, so you'd have a face with a name, since to an English speaker the name might be a tad difficult to remember (not that it has any bearing on the effectiveness of prayer). Unfortunately all I can offer is his name, if you can remember to pray for Kazutaka. You don't even have to respond to this thread. Just remember the name and please pray for him if you feel led. Thanks. -Grant

Slight update. Last night, I think I saw some sort of change in Kazutaka at church. Something seemed to be soaking into him, and though I'm not sure, I think during the preaching he even began to cry. He kept wiping at his eyes with his towel, though discreetly (crying for men in Japan is one of the utmost humiliations, infinitely more embarrassing than western men view it). To where he's usually kind of chuckling or just curiously looking on, his head was hung low, and there were no chuckles this time. As I was looking at him and praying, I was reminded that there are people all over the world praying just for him, and this thought gave me so much hope. If you're praying for him, please don't cease your prayers, and for those who haven't seen this thread yet, if you feel led, please pray for him as well. I desire that this thread will one day change from a prayer request to a praise report. -Grant