Sister Stella Marie Matsukuma grew up near Mt. Aso, one of the world’s active volcanoes.  Perhaps this is why she has always felt the fire of the Holy Spirit, drawing her down into the deepest part of herself to find her God and then outward to a service of her dear neighbor, where she cared for the dearest children of God, the handicapped children in many schools in Japan.  The deep fire within her was beginning its journey outward when Stella Marie found Jesus and became a Christian in the Anglican Church at the age of 12.  When she was 32, she was received into the Catholic church by Bishop Furuya, who became her trusted friend and spiritual guide. 

Sister Stella Marie had trained as a nurse, but in 1951, when she was 30 years old, she was received into a T.B. hospital where she remained as an inpatient for over a year.  She remembers well her doctor’s words as she left the hospital, “You need rest and must not work hard.  If you don’t do this, your life will be finished in three years.”  For Stella Marie, that meant, “I have three years.  I must work for Jesus.  I will go to a Trappist convent in Hokaido.”  Jesus thought otherwise, and the very next day, as she spoke with Bishop