Dearest friends and family in Christ. I’m so blessed and thankful to God to be home for the holidays in the United States this year! Last Christmas I was in Japan and there is little doubt in my mind that Christmas is better here! For instance, Christmas in Japan is mainly a time for couples, similar to Valentine’s Day, so family is not a major part of the holiday.  Instead of homemade delicious holiday foods and desserts, people will months in advance order KFC to eat for Christmas.  I prefer Christmas in America!

I watched two favorite Holiday movies: A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life.  Both movies got me thinking about their similarities and differences.  A Christmas Carol is about Ebenezer Scrooge, an angry old man who must meet three ghosts to realize he needs to change his ways.  So, on Christmas morning he decides to treat others with kindness at last.  On the other hand, It’s a Wonderful Life is about a man named George Bailey who is a good man but terrible circumstances overcome him leading him to contemplating suicide.  In that darkest moment he prays and asks God to help him and after a series of events he becomes a new man.

Both stories include fallen men, both include a redemption, and both celebrate the holiday season.  But also, both got me thinking about brokenness.  Both men become broken, yet one in his own strength decides to change and the other prays and leans on God for the change.  The latter is a closer representation of brokenness in the Bible.  God has been teaching me much on this topic recently. I’m no expert in it.  I still am in the school of brokenness trying to pass my tests. But I believe this is one of the most important principles to learn in Christianity and if we grasp it, we can see a generation saved.   Over the past year God has truly stepped up the frequency and challenges of testing in my life.  Living in a foreign country like Japan as a missionary is exceedingly difficult.  Not for physical reasons as Japan is a comfortable and technologically advanced nation with Disneyland, Taco Bell, and high-speed trains.  Yet Japan is a spiritually broken nation filled with much darkness.  There I’ve experienced many challenges leading to the awareness of my lack of ability and strength.

For example: times of evangelism where there has been little fruit has not been uncommon.  In addition, there have been times where I have felt a feeling of being overwhelmed by the need of 99% non-Christians and the neediness of the 1% which are.  Another challenge has been the isolating nature of Japan: you can easily go a full day without talking to anyone and it’s easy to feel disconnected or distant from other Christians.  Finally, and possibly most challenging of all, there is a constant spirit of pressure to perform.  The standards are high for you to be successful in work and this can easily translate over to being a missionary where you wonder if you are doing enough to reach the nation. Why all these struggles? Of course, spiritual warfare is part of it.  But on a deeper level God is using Japan like a mirror to show me my weaknesses and His strengths.  This is the journey of brokenness, and it came to a head a few weeks ago.

I have a small satchel bag where all my most important belongings are held including my passport, residence card, credit cards, money and more.  I carry it with me everywhere and every day in Japan.  Over a month ago, I was leaving a location on my bicycle and began biking back to my home as I usually do.  Things were normal until I arrived back at my house and looked down at the basket to see the satchel was gone! I quickly decided it must have fallen out and immediately retraced my steps (around 3 miles) to look for it.  It was at night and dark, but I figured it couldn’t have gone far.  However, after an hour or more passed I couldn’t find it anywhere.  I waited till morning and went out again looking.  This search went on for days.  I checked bushes, asked businesses, reported it at the police station and still could not find it.  It was as if it had evaporated into thin air.  This was especially concerning as I not only had an upcoming training I would be doing but I also had plans to leave for furlough to the states.

I cried out to God to help me find it and asked many people to pray.  Eventually, I had to place it in the hands of God as I realized it was outside my power to find it.  As I prayed, however, I realized that God was teaching me an important lesson.  I was struggling with unbelief prior to this.  I am in the most important transition season of my life. I felt incapable and unworthy.  But God was showing me that I needed to not operate in my own strength but depend on Him.  He was also teaching me to walk in a greater level of faith for His provision and giving me a new identity as a man wholly trusting and dependent on His power.

Brokenness is firstly dependency on God.  Jeremiah 18:6b says: “Like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my Hand.”  God wants to shape and mold us, but He cannot do this when we are operating in pride or our own strength.  A great example of this is found in Japanese art.  “Kintsugi” is an art form where pottery is intentionally broken into pieces to then be reformed and inlaid with gold.  This not only enhances the beauty but also greatly increases the value.  God wants to take our broken pieces and use them to create something beautiful for our good and His glory.  Job 23:10 says: “But He knows where I am going.  And when He tests me I will come out as pure gold.”

God wants to refine you but you must go through a fire and testing to be purified first.  We see this truth time and again in scripture with multiple great heroes of the faith.  Elijah after putting to shame the prophets of Baal and walking in victory is full of fear when Jezebel threatens him, leading to his isolation in the wilderness where God meets him and supplies for Him.  Another example is David when he is humbled by Nathan the prophet and repents before God.  A.W. Tozer says, “All great Christians have been wounded souls.”  There must be a breaking before power and authority can come! Repentance, dependency, and humility are characteristics of brokenness.  God uses broken people to heal broken people.

In Japan, God uses me to help disciple young Christian men.  Hiro and Sho are examples of this.  Hiro was a former “HikkiKomori” isolating himself with little to no contact with the outside world for weeks and months.  Since becoming a Chrisian, He has overcome this, but he still struggles with shame and isolation.  He has more than once come to me in repentance for having withdrawn himself and not asking for help.  Sho on the other hand, has been hurt by the church and experienced struggles with his sexual identity.  I encourage him to walk in freedom, but it has been a seriously challenging process for him.  Both are broken men, needing to come to a place where they recognize their need and dependency on God.  I am a broken man who has struggled in the past with isolation and being hurt by churches, so I can relate to both of these, and so God could use me.

Another example of this out of Japan is the story of Fuchida and Deshazer.  Fuchida was a man who helped lead the attack on Pearl Harbor.  You may remember his famous words: “Tora, Tora, Tora”.  After the attack and death of many Americans, Fuchida was considered a hero in Japan.  Deshazer who was a pilot with the United States was enraged by the attack and vowed vengeance.  He helped lead a series of retaliatory strikes on Japan called the “Doolittle Raid”.  Unfortunately, during the attack Deshazer had to make a crash landing and he became a prisoner of war in Japan.  For years he was tortured, beaten, and put in solitary confinement.  While in prison, he requested a Bible and read through it multiple times.  Yet he couldn’t bring himself to move past the words of Jesus on the cross…

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

These words moved him to tears as he realized the heart of Christianity.  He gave himself to Christ and began to witness to and pray for his captors.  Eventually upon the war ending, he was released and returned to America.  There he wrote a tract about his imprisonment and salvation.  He returned to Japan to be a missionary carrying the Gospel.  Fuchida, however, was disgraced and public enemy #1 for his actions at Pearl Harbor.  One day, Fuchida was walking in Tokyo and found a tract on the ground.  It was Deshazer’s! He read it and began to read the Bible and came to the same words of Jesus on the cross.  He realized those words were for Him and gave his life to Christ.   He began to share the Gospel in Japan and even met Deshazer and they forgave one another and preached together in Japan!  Both men were broken, but God used their brokenness to reach one another and a generation!

Brokenness brings multiplication!

I attended a 2-week church plant training course in Osaka.  During it I read through the book of Acts and began to realize that the early church was a deeply broken one full of broken people.  Yet God used their persecution and brokenness to established the church at Antioch (Acts 11).  God used ordinary people to establish His church!

This holiday season you may feel broken after a difficult year.  Know that God can take your brokenness and inlay you with Gold to give you a testimony.  Humble yourself before Him and tell Him you are dependent on Him.  know that God can use broken and weak people, if you let Him.

Please pray me to reach open, yet broken, Japanese, strengthen my faith, and use me to plant churches, build and encourage the church of Japan.  I will need a vehicle, more Japanese language classes, and a home to host my Bible studies and prayer services.  You’re part of this vision to reach Japan!  As you enter 2026, determine to be broken and let your brokenness be used by God to start Kingdom movements in Japan and everywhere, empowered by the Spirit!  Thank you for sending me!     Love, Nathan Warford

From Dea:   While Nathan lived in Tokyo, a car was completely unnecessary due to the abundance of trains available. He now is located in the suburbs of Osaka about 45 minutes South of downtown.  There are very few trains, so most adults drive a car.  In his first month in Osaka, he crossed the town on am electric bicycle but as he did more ministries and connected with more people it became evident the necessity of having his own vehicle.

With a car, he could drive to meet disciples, transport team members to evangelizing, ministry, and visit and minister in local churches spread throughout the city.  So, we are asking if you can help Nathan in his call to Japan. Please prayerfully give this month a generous one-time gift and/or commit, Lord providing monthly support towards the purchase and maintenance of a car in Osaka. Since Warford Ministries is a CA 501-c3 non-profit religious corporation, even gifts of thousands of dollars are tax deductible (We’re happy to send you a timely receipt! And remember, any gifts dated by Dec. 31 are deductible for 2025!)

Send your check to: Warford Ministries, 2896 Cedar Ln. Pomona, CA 91767 or

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