Yukinaga evangelized eagerly for a month while Gregorio and others stayed
in Shodo Island. Then, no less than 1,400 people believed Jesus as their
savior. In a village, all the people, from adults to children, became Christians.
Yukinaga, filled with gratitude to the Lord, looked for a land to build a chapel in the island. He chose a land of 88m2 and built a chapel.
Yukinaga carried out this construction simultaneously
as he built a castle for the protection of the island. Through this incident,
we can find how much Yukinaga treasured God.
In addition to it, Yukinaga built a cross of more
than 15m high in the island. It seems to have expressed the heart of Yukinaga who
made the family crest in the form of a cross.
In 1987, a cross, 15m in its height was built commemorating 400 years anniversary
of Christianity introduction to Shodo island. It was almost the same size
as the cross which Yukinaga built.
Under such situation, Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued edicts proscribing Christianity.
Yukinaga gathered Missionary Organtino and Japanese believers (including
Ukon Takayama), who decided not to leave Japan, in Shodo island and prepared
for a place for them to live. Yukinaga also assigned guards to protect
Christian subordinates so that they would be kept away from suspicious
people.
Although it was
the act by which he would lose his life if something goes wrong, Yukinaga, who
became a Christian, did not fear death. He knew where he would go after death.
It is Heaven where God is. So, Yukinaga did it with joy.