Aiko

Aiko is amazing. She is the heroine in the book, Age of the Fallen, who radiates with the character that we would all love to have. She is not a flashy, image driven leader at all. She simply loves and trusts God and will lay down her life to accomplish what she is called to do. She also loves her friends deeply, inspiring the most sacrificial loyalty from them.

And she isn't a shallow leader that has never had to face pain or failure. She has lost a sister to suicide, a brother to evil, and her parents in the spiritual war. She has truly suffered. At times she longs for a "normal" life. She is weary from the responsibility of leadership and the toll that the spiritual war has taken on her and her friends. But she will never quit.

She is genuine in her spirituality. She prays constantly and knows her sword manual inside and out because she is at war. She's not frivolous but she is warm and friendly. She is not cruel, but she is intense and driven. She is not complacent, but she plans well and then takes effective action. She is compassionate enough to weep, but not weak at all. She never flinches or backs down from a fight, ever. She is fearless and dangerous and very real.

Oh, Lord, please, raise up an Aiko for Japan. (Drawing of Aiko by Masatoshi Kawabe)