Birth: 06-09-1574
Home Calling: 25-08-1624
Native Place: Sevilla
Country: Spain
Place of Vision : Philippines
Louis Sotelo was the first-ever Missionary to preach the gospel in northern Japan. During his graduate studies, he felt the call to serve God. He was ordained by the Franciscan Society and was sent to the Philippines. There he worked among the Japanese settlers in Dilao. However, this Japanese settlement was destroyed by the Spanish forces in 1608. But Sotelo didn’t give up and continued to learn Japanese in Manilla with a vision to serve one day in Japan.
In God’s providence, Sotelo reached Edo (Present-day Tokyo) in 1612. With conditions seeming too favorable, he was soon able to establish a church. But the situation changed with the ascension of the new ruler Hidetada Tokugawa. The practice and teaching of the Christian faith were banned and the Sotelo’s church too was destroyed in 1612. The King’s decree also resulted in the persecution of Christians, which caused the missionaries to leave Japan.
But when you are determined to serve God despite the persecutions, He opens the doors wonderfully. All you need is patience. Sotelo had once miraculously healed the wife of a powerful landlord called Date Masamune. So, under the protection of Masamune, Sotelo continued to preach the Gospel and establish the churches. Once when Sotelo was imprisoned for doing the ministry illegally, Masamune himself vouched for him and had him released.
With the vision of building new churches in Japan and recruiting more pastors to lead the churches, Sotelo went to Rome. He also took the new Japanese believers with him and got them baptized. But considering growing persecution in Japan, the church authorities forbade Sotelo from returning to Japan. But after several trials, Sotelo was able to enter Japan secretly in 1622. Soon he was caught by the officials. At the age of 50 years, refusing to give up on his faith, Sotelo was burnt alive on 25th August 1624.
