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'IN SEARCH OF IDENTITY'

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I first encountered surfing when I was in college.
 

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I first encountered surfing when I was in college.
'IN SEARCH OF IDENTITY'

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I used to play soccer as a child
'IN SEARCH OF IDENTITY'

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but when I went to college,

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I realized the area in front of my house was a good surfing point,
so I decided to go surfing.

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I've always played soccer, but other than that,

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I was just like everyone else. 

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Nothing had really changed. 

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I grew up without any praise from my parents.

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I've lived my whole life wanting to be recognized and accepted.

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I tried to live in a way that I would be accepted by others.

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As an adolescent in high school,

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my rebellion got worse, and I was violent towards my parents.

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It was a difficult time.

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But somehow, thanks to soccer, 

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I was able to manage it all for a long time.

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But one day, when I was a sophomore in college, I got injured. I had to quit soccer.

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That's when it all went wrong, and I started hating everything.

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I got anxious about the future, felt pressured,

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and felt like I was being crushed.

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At that time, I thought, it's not good.

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Something needs to change.

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So I asked a friend to help me find a homestay opportunity in the United States.

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That's where things actually started happening in my life.

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I got to meet my host family who gave me a real opportunity to change.

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I knew they were Christian and going to a church,

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but I was not interested in religion at all.

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I thought it had nothing to do with me.

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I had a close friend there, he was about my age.

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While spending time with him,

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I always thought that he was so cool.

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He had something I didn't have.

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I wondered what it was.

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He was so popular,

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wherever he went, he had friends,

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But, he wasn't just a cool guy,

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he had something inside of him.

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I wanted to be like him.

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I felt like he had something I just didn't have.

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Towards the end of my homestay,

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I went somewhere by car with the host mother.

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In the car, for the first time, I heard about God.

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She explained about Jesus Christ in a slow, easy to understand way. 

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At the time I thought,
"I wonder if this is what makes them different, the thing that I want."

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"This is probably what I need."

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I was skeptical at the time.

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We prayed together, and I accepted Christ.  

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At the time, I didn't see any big changes.

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After returning to Japan, for the first time

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I started going to church.

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It was hard to find a church that was best for me.

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Finally I found a church that was a good fit, 

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and heard a message about love at the church.

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For the first time, I heard about love from God and Jesus Christ

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and I knew that this was what I needed.

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I felt this is what I've been searching for.

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I wanted to know more and more.

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I wanted to be filled more and more.

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After that,

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I tried my best to "live the Christian way" on my own,

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but it was just the understanding in my head.

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I struggled with the fact that I wasn't changing

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I wondered how, and what I could do.

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One day, someone recommended that I get baptized.

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When I learnt about leaving my sins and my old self behind at the cross of Jesus,

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and becoming a reborn, new person,

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It was different than before, not just a thought in my head.
I knew, "this is what I need right now."

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I felt it strongly.

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I was able to prepare my heart, mind and soul.

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After being baptized, I was surprised at how much I had changed.

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I actually felt it strongly.

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All the chains inside of me were broken off by God's love

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From inside me, love, joy and happiness were overflowing.

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I had a heart for people just by looking at them. 
I felt such love for others.

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Those feelings increased from inside of me.

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This is how I was really changing.
I understand that by receiving Jesus' love like this.

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I can also love people by sharing this love. 
I don't have to worry about what people think of me.

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I can give more and more of what I have, of what I've been looking for.

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I felt I needed to do this.

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God gave me the opportunity to make many friends through surfing

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and also to meet my wife.

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I was given a wonderful family too.

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God used the waves and nature to teach me many things.

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I realized that God is living inside of me.

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God keeps on changing me, and keeps on giving me new things. 

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I hope to share more and more with others along the way.

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[Music]