Nobody expected that Tatsuya Shindo, a member of the Japanese mafia since the age of 17, would turn away from a life of crime and embrace Christianity. But that is exactly what Shindo did after reading the Bible while in jail.
Shindo said he did not think things through when he first joined the Japanese mafia, or the yakuza. "I was a child. I didn't think too deeply," he tells CNN. "And I admired the yakuza for what was visible only on the surface. They have lots of money, spend their money lavishly, and play glamorously. The bad guys looked so cool in my eyes."
But after witnessing so many deaths, struggling with meth addiction, and being in and out of jail several times, Shindo realised he had enough.
"My boss was killed. People were killed in power struggles. People's legs were shot. A guy who was doing drugs with me died of intoxication. Suicides happened. Sudden deaths. I've seen many deaths," Shindo recalls. "I saw my henchmen get stabbed to death."
God became Shindo's salvation. After his release over a decade ago, Shindo decided to dedicate his life to God by becoming a preacher in Kawaguchi, Japan. He now baptises hundreds of people in the name of Jesus.
"I know how bad I was and the bad things I had done," he explains. "At the same time, I know how much I was forgiven by God. So I wanted to engage myself in God's work."
A lot of people coming from similar backgrounds find themselves identifying to the former mobster, and so Shindo ministers to former loan sharks, drug dealers, and other people who have engaged in a life of crime.
"Before, we were in rival gangs, firing guns," Shindo says. "Now, we're praising the same God. They are seeking divine intervention. They want God to help them with their problems."
