Christian

"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 83 JANUARY 1984 NUMBER 1
The New Year's holiday, January 1-
5, is the most beloved of any on the
Japanese calendar. The whole land of
Japan lies idle during New Year's and
the latter half of December is spent in
special preparation for these few days;
a thorough house cleaning, business
transactions completed, debts paid,
and special foods prepared for the
festivity. Buying gifts for those who
have befriended them during the year
or past years is all a part of the yearly
planned program of a family. During
the strenuous days of preparation for
New Year's, Christmas, emptied of
content, doesn't go by unnoticed
especially by the retailers and
supermarkets and office parties.
Therefore, we find very few persons
who have enough leisure time on their
hands to attend our annual Christmas
camp. Schools in the Tokyo area were
not dismissed until noon on the 24th.
So those who came to the camp
scampered to catch a train and make it
to the camp evening meal by 6:30 p.m.
The schools in the local area of the
camp remained in session until the
28th. However, 14 were in attendance
at the 2-day camp and enjoyed the
special program honoring our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Mr.
Taninari was dean of the camp. He
and Andrew brought the messages.
Mr. Bill Turner was in charge of the
music and Leone Cole and Betty were
the cooks.
One week before camp opened, the
Pattons and Mr. Taninari took home-
PATTONS' NEWS
CAMP
baked cookies to the homes in the local
: area. A written invitation was given
for them to come to the camp's
candlelight service on the 24th at 8
p.m. From our visitation, 4 mothers
and 7 school-aged children Joined in
the service led by Mr. Taninari.
The weather during this camp was
indeed wintry. Special precautions
were taken to keep water pipes from
freezing. In spite of extra heat one
toilet bowl froze and had to be replaced.
There was no snow for the campers to
enjoy but we had had some previous to
camp time. Now in January there is
plenty and more to look forward to,
we're sure.
Mr. Taninari's fiancee came up from
Tokyo 2 days before the camp and
decorated the tables and camp
building. She has a degree in artificial
flower arranging and decorating. Red
poinsettias with green branches from
the camp trees and pine cones made a
beautiful decor throughout the
building.
In spite of the difficulties involved in
having a winter camp, we believe our
Christmas camp was a success and
that the campers, all of whom had been
to camp previously, learned a great
deal that will be a great profit to them
in coming to Christ or living for Him.
The Nakano church of Tokyo, Mr.
Itagaki minister, held their
"Shuyokai" in October, using the
facilities of Shinshu Biblecamp. This ,
was the last camp of the seasoh,
excluding the Christmas camp.
Children, youth, the middle-aged,
and the aged were all represented at
their camp. Some of the older ladies
who came have been members of the
Nakano church over 30 years and still
attend the services regularly. Eleven
from the church attended. It was an
excellent opportunity for them to grow
in the nurture of the Lord.
We hope that many more of our
churches use the camp facilities to hold
their "Shuyokai". The Moriguchi
church of Osaka, to whom Martin
Clark ministers, had their "Shuyokai"
at the camp in September. Two van
loads made the 7-hour trip to enjoy a
spiritual retreat. . , _
"Andrew Patton
ii 11
A retaining wall and guard rail addi
beauty to camp building.
safety ai
Christmas Camp (Mr. Turner and Mr. Taninari
were absent)
MR. SATORU TANINARI
Mr. Satoru Taninari has worked
with the Shinshu Bible Camp almost
from the time when the first camp
meeting was held. He is now the
Japanese manager of the camp and
helps in the kitchen as well. After
graduating from Osaka Bible
Seminary he ministered to a church in
Osaka and then came to the Bible
Camp. He also ministered to the
Yokosuka church for seven months
while the Pattons were on furlough.
Mr. Taninari became engaged to
Mr. Satoru Taninari and Miss Kaoruko
Fukuyama Engagement Ceremony Nov. 20.198:1.
Miss Fukuyama on November 20,1983
at his home church at Akashi. The
wedding date has been set for April 20,
1984. Miss Fukuyama is a native of
Okinawa. At present she is teaching in
a kindergarten on the outskirts of
Tokyo. We wish them much happiness
and joy in their Christian marriage.
They will be living in the camp area as
Mr. Taninari continues his (duties as
co-manager with the Pattons.
"Andrew Patton
ANDREW PATTON'S
FATHER PASSES
On October 31, 1983 (Japan time)
Andrew Patten received word from
Atlanta that his father had passed
away. Plans were made immediately
for Andrew to leave for the U.S. the
very next day.
Holt K. Patton was 101 years, 1
month and 5 days old on the day of his
death. His funeral was held at his
home town of Hayesville, N. Car.
Andrew and his brother Lawrence of
Atlanta reached the funeral home in
Hayesville shortly before the funeral.
All 9 of Daddy Patton's children (six
sons and 3 daughters) survive him and
were present at the funeral. His wife
preceded him in death by 7 years.
When Andrew, his second son,
decided to be a preacher, his father said
to him, "Son, if you are going to be a
preacher, be a good one." That was his
motto-being a "good one""Whatever
he did.
His whole life was spent in sacrificial
service to others with very little
material remuneration to show for it.
He was very well known not only in his
own but in the surrounding two
counties of North Carolina and on into
Georgia, because of the service he
rendered as a self-taught veterinarian.
-Andrew Patton
PROPOSED NEW
WORK
We have previously publicized the
fact that we intend to start a new
church work in a community near
Shinshu Bible Camp as soon as time
and circumstances permit. We had
planned to do so after the 1983 camp
season ended.
The death of Andrew's father,
however, and his 35-day trip to the
U.S.A. for the funeral and as executor
of the will to settle his father's estate,
necessitated a postponement of that
work. We intend to get busy on that
project just as soon as weather and
other circumstances permit. We will
keep you informed of the progress of
that work.
-Andrew Patton
SURGERY FOR
FORWARDING
AGENT
Mr. and Mrs. Wade Fletcher of
Rushville, Ind. have served as
forwarding agents for Andrew and
Betty Patton since 1965. They have
been of invaluable service to the
Pattons and their mission work since
that time.
On December 11 Mrs. Fletcher went
to Indianapolis hospital to have new
hip joints put into both hips-a period of
3 weeks in the hospital. She was home
for the New Year and we pray for her
complete, quick recovery. A card or
telephone call to encourage her would
be appreciated.
-Andrew Patton
CAME TO SERVE
We have been blessed recently by
meeting a fine Christian American
couple-Joe and Lora Nix of Arizona
and Colorado. They are former school
teachers and are now in Japan briefly
to help in church and missionary home
construction and repair. Mr. Nix is a
carpenter and cabinet maker.
After arriving in Japan the Nixes
helped Exie Fultz of Awaji Island,
Martin Clark at Osaka Bible
Seminary, Don Burney on Shikoku
Island for 3 weeks, and they are now
helping Warren Christianson finish
their home at Asahina (near our camp).
Later the Nixes are scheduled to go to
Tanabe to help the Hinsons finish
more of their home and meeting
quarters.
We have learned to love the Nixes for
their Christian character, friend
liness, and for their works' sake. They
also serve who come and help!
-Andrew Patton
NEW
MISSIONARIES TO
JAPAN
During our ministry at the Yokosuka
church we learned to know and love
Bill and Akemi Belew, members of the
church. Bill, a graduate of Cincinnati
Bible Seminary and an officer in the
Navy at that time, is from Cincinnati
Ohio. Akemi, who was baptized at
Yokosuka, comes from Niigata
Prefecture, Japan.
Bill resigned his commission with
the Navy and they began their
preparation to do mission work in
Akemi's native place. To secure
supporters they returned to the U.S.A.
for 2 years.
Akemi is now back in Japan with her
parents preparing for the return of her
husband for the new work they plan to
launch soon. Bill will arrive back in
Japan on January 31 and their work
will begin shortly afterward.
We are not directly responsible for
the Belews' decision to serve Christ in
Japan as missionaries, but we do
rejoice in any influence we might have
had toward their decision to do that.
We also rejoice that our heavenly
Father has raised up and prepared
another fine couple to preach His Word
to the Japanese.
"Andrew Patton
==^SIMS' NEWS =^==
100 YEARS OF MISSIONARY WORK COMMEMORATED
Mention was made in the last issue of
the TC that Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Garst
and Mr. and Mrs. G.T. Smith, sent out
by the old Foreign Christian
Missionary Society arrived to begin
our evangelistic work in Japan on
October 19, 1883. On Nov 6, 7 some
special meetings were held in Tokyo to
commemorate this. LeRoy Garrett, of
Denton, Texas, and the author of a
popular history of our Stone-Campbell
Movement was passing through Japan
at that time on his way to 3 weeks of
special lectures in Thailand, and
served as the special speaker for the
occasion.
Sunday afternoon we met at the
Garst tombstone in the foreigners'
section of the famous Aoyama
5
Participants in planning the 100 year
Commemoration Program at theSims' home. L. to
R. Mark Maxey, LeRoy Garrett, Motoyuki
Numura and Harold Sims.
Cemetery in downtown Tokyo. It was
raining lightly and unseasonably cold.
Mark Maxey brought a fine message
about the life and work of Bro. Garst.
The essence of this is to appear in the
Christian Standard soon. Then all
of us sang "Faith is the Victory" (the
words on the tombstone) as the chimes
tolled the time for closing the cemetery
that day. From there we walked to a
large hall for a Japanese-style dinner.
LeRoy Garrett spoke there on "Our
Heritage and Destiny" to 57 people
from 8 of our churches, emphasizing
some of the slogans of our movement
and the meaning for us today.
Monday morning over 20 preachers,
missionaries and a few "laymen" who
could attend met at the non-
instrumental Ochanomizu Church of
Christ downtown for a day of
fellowship and study. All3 "branches"
Part of the audience at the Japanese-style dinner
listening to LeRoy Garrett's message.
of the Restoration Movement were
represented. The first message was
"My personal experience of the Church
of Christ" by Stephen lijima. This was
followed by a one-hour talk by Bro.
Garrett After lunch there was a talk
by Mr. Akiyama, a journalist and
member of one of the Disciples
Churches who wrote a book about the
history of their work in Japan some
years ago. This was followed by a 2-
hour discussion period on the general
subject of the "Next 100 Years." We all
ate supper together in an upstairs
room of the church, and enjoyed good
fellowship together. Then Bro. Garrett
brought the concluding message of the
day.
I translated all 3 of Bro. Garrett's
messages, which was tiring but
enjoyable. Also the Japanese
preachers helped me with some of the
difficult words, such as "essentially,
intentionally and constitutionally
one," which made it educational as
well.
Having these meetings was
meaningful in itself, but perhaps more
significant was a good measure of
fellowship, contact and understanding
between some of the people there. We
trust that Christ, the Head and Builder
of the Church, will be with us as we
strive for more unity, growth and
evangelistic zeal. We are thankful for
the prayers and contributions of
faithful Christians during a long
century of work for Christ and His
Church in Japan.
"Harold Sims
Harold Sims translating for IJr. Garrett at the
Monday meetings.
OUR CHRISTMAS MEETINGS
At Mejirodai this year we had our
Sunday School programs on
Christmas Eve afternoon. (The
children got out of school for the winter
vacation at noon that day.) Present
were 60 children, 16 mothers and 8
teachers. We had one of the best
programs ever--mostly various kinds of
music, vocal and instrumental by
different age levels. Forty-six children
received prizes for attending over half
of the Sundays of the year, with the top
ones receiving small medals.
Part of the audience at the Sunday School
Christmas Program in Mejirodai Church on
Christmas Kve.
At 7 PM Christmas Eve we had 35
present for the annual candle service.
Ten of the Jr. High students remained
after that for a party at our house, and I
took them all home in our van through
the quiet streets of the city without
running into Santa.
Sunday we had a capacity crowd of
57 adults and 18 children for our
worship service, followed by a light
lunch of rice balls and a 2-hour
program of music, humorous talks and
gift-exchange. Everyone seemed to
have a good time. The Theme for the
Day was "Go tell it on the Mountain".
Lois and one of the church ladies
worked hard and long on a globe of the
world hanging high up in the church.
The Japanese translation of the song
says tell the "world".
The l-adic's Chorus singing during the program at
Mejirodai on Christmas Day afternoon. 3 children
could not he .separated from their mothers. The
Theme "Go Tell the World" i.s on the banner; the
globe can he seen at right, and faces of various
tribe.s ami races drawn by I>ois Sims can be seen at
the top of the picture.
In addition to these meetings we had
4 large English Class parties and 2
other meetings for Home Bible Study
groups, which kept us very busy
throughout the season. Finally, on
Dec. 27 about 30 children from an area
Children's Club came to the church to
hear the true meaning of Christmas.
The idea and request came from the
non-Christian leader of the club for
this year, who lives in our
neighborhood. None of the children
had ever been in a church before or
heard the Christmas story. We gave
each of them a Bible portion with
colored pictures in it and a tract on the
meaning of Christmas. They listened
very well to my hour-long talk also.
Almost 100 percent of the churches
in Japan celebrated Christmas this
year on the same day with a similar-
type of worship-lunch-party format
and with one of the largest attendances
of the year. The Japanese all like
festivals, and of course "Christmas" is
something like one. Also this year the
timing was right-on Sunday. It helped
thousands of Japanese preachers to
end the year on an encouraging note, at
least.
The Mark Pratts and Penny Boggs
did a live nativity scene in a parking lot
next door to their home in our
neighboring city of Machida, which we
went down to see. They had a nice
manger scene background made of
wood, cardboard and straw and
elaborate spot-lights and narration
and music on large loud-speakers. I
particularly enjoyed watching the
reactions of drivers on the major traffic
artery as they passed by and did a
double-take. Some stopped until traffic
behind started horn-blowing when the
light turned green. May the gospel
become more of a traffic-stopper in this
land.
-Harold Sims
EVANGELISTIC MEETING AT
MEJIRODAI
Cultures and customs are constantly
changing all over the world. I get the
impression that the traditional one or
two-week evangelistic meeting which
was one of the "musts" every year
when I was growing up in the United
States is becoming less common. And
it also seems that the 3-day
evangelistic meeting every Fall-a
long-standing tradition in most
Japanese churches-is going out of
style. In general attendance is small,
very few new people come as a result of
door-to-door distribution of hand-bills
or advertisements handed to people
getting off at the local railroad station,
and responses to the invitation are
very rare. But so far we keep on.
Last fall we had our meeting Oct. 8-
10 with Bro. Akada preaching. His
wife came with him all 3 times, which
our ladies appreciated. He became a
Christian about 25 years ago in the
Nakano church, and later went to
Osaka Bible Seminary.
We printed 3000 hand-bills, and
several of our young people helped
distribute them to every house in the
area. With a membership of 33 we had
attendance at the 3 meetings of 25,32
and 27. This included 3 totally new
people from this area and 3 other first-
time visitors from another part of
Tokyo, 2 of whom were Christians and
friends of one of our members who
invited them. Ten people attended all 3
meetings, and 6 others attended 2
times. There were no responses to the
invitations, but the people who came
for the first time have been several
times since. In general we were
encouraged by the results and hope to
try again next fall.
"Harold Sims
WORSHIPONNEWYEAR'S DAY?
YES! EVEN IF AT NO
OTHER TIME!
The Japanese people place great
importance on the beginning of a New
Year, and are especially religious at
this time. On Jan. 4 the newspapers
reported that 81.6 million people (over
70% of the population) visited one or
more of 1,147 temples and shrines
during Jan. 1-3-3.7 million attheMeiji
Shrine in Tokyo alone.
Many of our regular members who
are housewives had told me they would
be unable to come that day because of
entertaining visitors at their home or
commitments to go visit parents, in-
laws etc. But their places were taken
by people who rarely come to regular
worship services, so we had.a total
attendance of 30 adults and 12 children
here. We were especially happy to have
5 complete families in the service. And
we felt those few had a more
meaningful experience in worshipping
here than the hordes at the shrines.
We hope to continue to have New
Year's Day worship service even when
it is not on Sunday.
Harold Sims
TOKYO MISSIONARIES MEET
The Tokyo area missionaries got
together on November 24 for a
Thanksgiving dinner, fellowship and
praise at the Stephen Fleenor home in
Sayama. Guests were Mr. and Mrs.
Fenn from Oregon, who are helping the
Fleenors build their new home.
Again on Dec. 29, after all had
finished their busy season of
Christmas-related activities, we met at
the home of Mark and Lynn Pratt for a
delicious carry-in meal and relaxing
afternoon of talk. Present at that time
were Mr. and Mrs. Joe Nix of Phoenix
and Colorado who are helping several
missionaries with small building
projects for a period of3 months. We all
appreciate the inspiration given by
these visitors and their spirit ofservice.
-Harold Sims
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray (retired)
Forwarding Agent: Mrs. Lois Hessler, PO
Box 287, Meadville, PA 16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 571-1
Innaihara, Mochizuki Shi, Kitasaku Gun,
Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22. Forwarding
Agent: Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, Rt.
6. Box 15, Rushvilie, IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims. 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan.
Forwarding Agent: First Church ofChrist,
Orange at Center St., Eustis, FL 32726.
Two year subscription $.50
Subscription and
Flaming Torch $1.00
Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370)
Published four times a year in January,
April, July, and November for the
missionaries of the Church of Christ.
Cunningham Mission, Tokyo, Japan by
Mission Services, 7525 Hodges Ferry Road.
KnoxvilleTN 37920. Second Class postage
paid at Knoxville, TN 37901. POST
MASTER: Send address changes to
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28
SIMS' NEWSLETTER JANUARY 1984
Dear Friends>
Chris'tmas Day was on Sunday, so we and almost all o the churches in Japan we
know of had a special worship service in the morning, ate a light lunch together
(you can always order rice + trimmings or even sandwiches packed in individual
plastic containers and eat on your lap--convenient and inexpensive) and then had
a "felicitation meeting" in the afternoon. Most companies in Japan have "forget
the year" meetings, with plenty of alcohol to wash bad memories away, but Christ
ians don't want or need to do that, so ours is a happy contrast. For most of the
men, these gatherings were all over by Dec. 25th, and the rush to finish up pend
ing business and clear up obligations was winding down. Housewives still had
most of the traditional house-cleaning and cooking to do, but could take a day
off. Children had just gotten out of school for the winter vacation the day be
fore. And all Japanese love festivals. So the mood and timing was right for a
day at church.
At Mejirodai we had 57 adults and 18 children packed into our small church build-
ing--some we hadn't seen for months, one lady who had just moved into the neigh
borhood, and of course many of them not yet Christians. The Theme for the day,
"Go Tell It on the Mountain," was Lois' idea, and her Ladies Chorus sang that as
the opening of the afternoon program. The Japanese translation reads "Tell the
World," so Lois and one of the ladies in the church spent hours making a large
globe of the earth with all continents in place and hung it from the ceiling as
if "in space." She also drew faces representing many different races which were
on a string of tinsel across the front of the church. We all enjoyed a variety
of vocal and instrumental music and some huimjrous talks and a gift exchange for
both children and adults. It was just like a big happy family, and for many of
the people who had no celebration at home this was "it" and very meaningful. Our
average morning worship attendance during 1983 was 25.8, so you can imagine how
happy we were to have more than double this for the last service of the year.
While on the subject of Christmas I should mention our Sunday School Program,
which was Christmas Eve afternoon. We had 60 children, 16 mothers and 8 teachers
here for one of the best programs in several years. Attendance prizes were given
to 46 children who came more than half of the Sundays during the year. Also
we had our usual carol sing and candle service on Christmas Eve at 7 PM, with 35
people present. Following that about a dozen of the Junior High Class young
people had a party in our living-room. In addition, 5 from that class went up
to a special Christmas camp in Nagano Prefecture over that week-end, and one made
a decision to become a Christian. Shortly before Christmas one of our neighbors
came to ask if she could bring about 30 children from a club which she works in
to hear about the true meaning of Christmas. V/e arranged for them to come on
Dec. 27th. I talked to them about an hour, and answered some questions, and
gave each of them a tract about the meaning of Christmas and a small Bible por
tion with some colored pictures in it as a "present." None of them had ever
been inside a church before, and most had never heard the Christmas story. That
was a most satisfying end to a busy and encouraging season which also included
4 or 5 other parties for English Classes and other groups with which we work.
Other outstanding events of the past year have been largely covered in previous
newslettersBob and Helen's visit to Japan for 3 weeks in the summer, and our
3 week trip to Cincinnati to attend Dan and Jeanne's wedding oh August 27th.
Shortly after our return to Japan in September we had the only baptism at our
local church for this year--a lady about 60 years old. We had no weddings or
funerals, but there were 2 babies as the natural result of some of the weddings
in 1982. We had a 3 day evangelistic meeting Oct. 8-10 with very good attend
ance, including some new contacts, but no decisions.
/^/3
%
The main thing to report from last fall would be the special meetings we had to
commemorate 100 years since our first missionaries came to Japan. C.E. Garst
and G.T. Smith and their wives arrived on Oct. 19, 1883, when Japan was just
opening up as a mission field, and worked in Akita in northern Japan. We sched
uled our services to fit in with a visit Leroy Garrett of Texas was planning to
make to Japan on his way to Thailand, so we could have this historian of our
Movement as the special speaker. On Sunday Nov. 6th we had a short service at
the tombstone of Bro. Garst, who died in Tokyo at the end of 1898, in an old
cemetery in downtown Tokyo, Mark Maxey spoke there, and his message will be in
the Christian Standard soon. Following that we went to a nearby public hall
for a Japanese style dinner together and Bro. Garrett spoke on Our Heritage and
Destiny. There were 57 of our Christians present for that occasion. The next
day we met in the Ochanomizu (non-instrument) Church of Christ downtown for a day
of study, discussion and fellowship about our work in Japan. Bro. Garrett spoke
twice that day, and there were other very interesting talks and comments, I
translated for Bro. Garrett the three times he spoke. I also worked closely with
one of the non-instrument people, Bro. Nomura, in the planning of these meetings.
He is very interested in history and our movement^ and also anxious for greater
fellowship. _I think that good things may^om&_iii_the next generation-a^a-re^
suit of these meetings.
New Yearns Day was also on Sunday. Some of our regular members had told me in
advance that they would be unable to come that day because they would be going
to a family gathering at some other place or because they would be having many
guests at their homes etc. But I was very happy that we had 30 adults and 12
children present. The best thing was that there were 5 complete families in the
pews, which may be a new high for us. It was a good start on what at the moment
looks like a good year ahead.
This year we are especially seeking and ask you to join us in prayer for (1)
greater depth and wider participation in prayer and devotional life on the pstt
of our members, and (2) more young people both attending services and becoming
Christians.
We both continue to enjoy general good health, and Jonathan in Yokosuka and our
other four children in the United States are all doing well and keeping the faith.
We are most thankful to the God of all grace, patience and love Who has helped
us hitherto. Yours in His Service,
HAROLD AND LOIS SIMS
Afinancial report can be sent upon written request to anyone not making contributions.
SIMS TOKYO MISSION Non-Profit Orgn.
First Church of Christ Postage Paid
315 E. Orange Ave. Permit Number 57
Eustis, FL 32726-4194 Eustis, FL 32726
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;2 23-y
Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16; 15
VOLUME 83
APRIL 1984 NUMBER 2
SIMS' NEWS
FIFTH SUNDAY RALLY AT MEJIRODAI
For the past several years here in the
Tokyo area we have sought to increase
the fellowship between our brethren
and to encourage evangelism and
growth in every place by having
gatherings at the different churches
when there are fifth Sundays -- about 4
times a year. Perhaps a majority of all
churches in Japan have a custom of
eating lunch together after the
morning worship service. Not
everyone stays, but usually over half of
the people stay over for the informal
time of visiting with each other, and
many pastors say it is the best time
both for evangelism and pastoring and
finding sermon material from
hearing the expressions of what the
people are feeling and struggling with.
Also many of the young people come
from non-Christian and unsympathet
ic homes, and this provides them with
the needed caring, loving and family
atmosphere. So in these churches it
becomes a pattern, and when people
leave home for church early in the
morning they are prepared to serve in
the Sunday School, worship and then
stay for lunch and the afternoon
meetings. In the average church this
might be Deacons' meeting every first
Sunday, Ladies' every second Sunday,
Youth groups every third Sunday, etc.
But there is nothing scheduled for the
fifth Sunday when a month like that
comes, so all are more free to go to some
other church for the afternoon. The
idea has caught on, and we can
generally count on representatives of
several churches being present
wherever the Rally is being held.
On January 29, 1984 it was
Mejirodai's turn to play the host. It is
usually decided where the nextone will
be during each Rally, but lately some
churches have looked ahead at
calendars and asked for some of the
choice dates, so we have this year fully
scheduled already, which is a good
sign. (Sometimes one is skipped if it
conflicts with a Camp or Convention or
holiday or something like that). The
host church often gets a lot of stimulus
and benefit from the work of planning
and carrying out a Rally, and we did
this time.
The afternoon program began at 3
PM, with one of our men presiding. He
had prepared some sheets with
Japanese ideographs on them which
could be read in a sort of different way
to become names of various places in
the world London, Washington, etc.
The people had a lot of fun trying to
guess the meanings. Also during this
time we had some singing by the whole
group and then the group representing
each church was asked to come to the
front, introduce themselves and give a
short report either of their progress
during the past year or of their goals
for the new year, and then to sing a
song. This was all spontaneous and
unrehearsed, but it was very good.
When everyone came in the door they
had been asked to pay 600 yen for their
supper =$2.57. We had ordered 70 boxes
of Kentucky Fried Chicken lunches (2
pieces) and a can of drink for each one,
which at first planning we agreed
would be sufficient and would cost a
little more than 600 each, the church
paying the deficit. But then one of our
members donated 2 liters of ice cream,
and another one came bringing jello
enough for everyone. Meanwhile the
ladies had decided we needed some
dessert, so had bought a box of over 100
mandarin oranges and some cookies.
So we ended up having a feast and a
real pile of garbage to be hastily
cleaned up before the evening service
which closed the program for the day.
We decided on a Theme for the Day of
"Growing More in '84", and as the
people left that night they were saying
those English words and truly feeling
like they would do that. A total of 68
people attended from 11 different
churches in the area. Three people
from some distance stayed overnight
with us before starting home the next
morning. It was a good day, and the
people who worked the hardest were
the happiest. -Harold Sims
Oroup from Sannobara Church in Isohara, including Mrs. I..eoneCole
in ihc middle
Group from Onta Church at Fifth Sunday Rally
BOKKA -- THE PASTORAL SONG
Over 30 years ago Stephen Masahisa
lijima, the preacher at the Minato
Church of Christ, started printing a
monthly paper. At first it was sold
mainly to the members of the local
church and a few friends. The main
purpose was to encourage the people to
study the Bible on their own -- to make
the Japanese a people of "the Book". It
also served as a means of keeping in
contact with members who could not
attend the services often, with various
sick ones, shut-ins and old people, and
also as a tool of evangelism. There was
a period of time in the late 1950's when
he ceased publishing for several years,
and he has missed a month now and
then through the years because of
sickness, travel, etc. But finally last
November the little magazine reached
number 300, and many of the readers
sent in letters of congratulation and
thanks. Not very many Christian
papers in Japan last this long.
The circulation has grown to about
650 monthly now, mainly by one
reader telling another. It is read by
people in most of our churches in
Japan (in Mejirodai we take a dozen
copies a month) and many other people
scattered all over Japan and even in
Korea, U.S.A. and perhaps other
countries.
All of the writing is done by Stephen,
ex"cept for an occasional article by a
guest or a digest of a sermon by a
Japanese preacher that he has
requested. All of the typing is normally
done by his wife, Rhoda. She has not
been very well for the past several
years, so during some of that time it
was done by a disabled man who was a
reader. Then it is printed by Stephen
on an offset press in their basement
and the 2 of them prepare for mailing.
The content is fairly standard; 1.
On the front there is a short inspi
rational message. Bro. lijima is a
very talented and powerful writer, and
recently a member of the Minato
Church who is a pianist and music
teacher wrote music to go with the
words on the cover which has already
been sung in a number of churches. 2.
Then there is the main Bible Study.
Right now he is going through Acts
verse by verse, and in April will appear
the 60th article or chapter, which will
be the first part of Chapter 17. The
comments are not so deep in Theology
or Greek as to be over the heads of the
common people, but are very practical
and applied to everyday life, and
modern-day culture, news events, etc.
This usually occupies 6 pages. 3. Next
comes one of the sermons he has
preached at the Minato church -- the
sermon of the month. This usually
takes 6 to 10 pages. 4. Then we have
an Old Testament study, presently the
I life of Samuel.
.... ... 'ii This is not
... n verse by verse,
304 'il dwelling
^ BOKKA o"principles to
be gleaned Irom
.;..j , thoseevents.lt
-M- ''[ ' is interesting
> tometoseethe
; familiar sto-
1 ries as read
through the
* * ' eyes of an old
Asian culture
that also has various sagas and heroes.
This is usually 4 pages. 5. This is
followed by 2 pages of interesting
comment on various subjects -often on
one word commonly used by the
Japanese. This is very beneficial for
all of us, as he uses good humor and
wide reading and personal examples
as he examines Christianity and
Japanese Culture in depth. 6. Always
the final 6 pages are taken up with a
diary of the previous month. Day by
day he comments on TV news, letters
received, conversations with the
neighbors, something his wife said,
etc. Some of the people read this part
first, as it is so interesting and "down
to earth". The back cover always
announces things such as books for
sale. He has books on Luke, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
Thessalonians, etc., which have
previously appeared month by month
in the magazine, as well as other
collections of his sermons and short
articles.
Stephen is now 62 years old, so we
don't know whether there will be a
Bokka 500 or not, but we congratulate
him on what has been done so far.
-Harold Sims
ISABEL DITTEMORE
VISITS
Veteran missionary Isabel
Dittemore, who served Christ a
number of years in China, and then in
Japan and finally in Taiwan, passed
through Japan in March on the way
back from an extended visit with her
daughter Janet Bemo and other
missionaries in Thailand and then in
others parts of Asia. We had a Prayer
Meeting and Fellowship with her on
the evening of March 20 at the Turner
home in Kotesashi, and enjoyed very
much hearing the thrilling stories of
how the work is done and going
forward not only in Thailand but also
in Burma where there have been no
"missionaries" for many years but
where over 4000 attended a recent
convention.
SEVERE WINTER
This past winter was the snowiest
and coldest we have ever experienced
in Tokyo, and we have lived here for 36
of them, except for a few when we were
on furlough in the U.S. The first snow
was on January 19, and some of that
original snow was still unmelted on the
shady northside of our house and the
street in front of the church when the
last one fell on April 1. The weather
bureau said that we had at least some
snow flakes in the air on 29 days
during that period of time. Almost
everyone, including us, suffered
various problems with frozen pipes in
addition to the high fuel bills. We even
had ice freeze inside of the oil line
between the tank and our house and
finally thawed it by using hot rags
which Lois brought from the kitchen.
But we survived and the work went on.
The old dog got sick with a bad cough,
and we brought her inside and got her
well by giving her leftover cold
medicine from our medicine cabinet
upstairs. Hiirold Sims
NEW WORK AT
KOTESASHI
About a year ago we reported the be
ginning of a new effort in evangelism by
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Turner and Mr. and
Mrs. Akira Ishii. Bro. Ishii is a young
man who had just graduated from a
Christian College. They started services
last April in a small empty store near
the Kotesashi station. Through the year
a few people started coming regularly,
but a Porno Shop opened right next to
the place they were renting, so they gave
it up. For the month of March they
rented a room in a building which had
been used as a restaurant. (The restau
rant went bankrupt.) During that
month they tried to have as many spe
cial meetings as possible, because they
couldn't afford to pay the rent for more
than one month. They had movies, spe
cial music groups, etc. and for the last 3
days of the month they had a special
evangelistic meeting with Bro. lijima
preaching. During that time they had
about 30 people attend, which is a high
for their first year and a big
encouragement to all.
Now they have a pretty big and
serious problem about a place in which
to have meetings as they continue. We
ask all who will to join us in prayer
about this. -Harold Sims
PATTONS' NEWS
BAPTISM AT CAMP
A young man, Shingo Tsuda of
Mejirodai, where Harold and Lois
Sims minister, attended our Christmas
camp at Shinshu Bible Camp last year.
After returning home he informed his
parents and Harold that he intended to
be present at the Spring Camp in 1984
and be baptized in the river that is near
the camp at that time. His intentions
were fulfilled on March 29, 1984, when
he was baptized in Chikuma River by
Harold Sims.
Shinfjo Tsuda entering the waters of baptism
during the Spring Camp at Shinshu Bible Camp,
March 29. 1984.
Shingo has attended the services of
the Mejirodai church for some time; his
mother is a member of a Holiness
church and his father is a member of a
church affiliated with Nihon Kirisuto
Kyodan, the federated church of
Japan.
The river Chikuma flows between
Shinshu Bible Camp and the City of
Komoro. Everyone at the camp
witnessed the baptism at the river. We
thank God for his testimony to his
friends.
Mrs. Tsuda, Shingo's mother, and
Shingo's two younger sisters travelled
all the way from Tokyo by train to see
him baptized. His mother prepared
and brought with them enough
"sekihan" and home-baked fruit cake
for all the campers. "Sekihan" is a rice
and bean dish which is prepared and
eaten in Japan on festive occasions.
In spite of the cold weather and the
snow on the ground, Shingo obeyed his
Lord in being baptized and he joyfully
walks in newness of life.
"Andrew Patton
CAMP MANAGER'S
HOUSE
Soon after the camp building for
Shinshu Bible Camp was completed,
Satoru Taninari was asked to come to
the camp to help manage its affairs.
Until now Mr. Taninari, being
single, has lived in the camp house
during the winter, first with the
Buttrays and now with the Pattons. In
the summer he stayed in the camp
building to be near the business and
overlook the camp sessions.
On April 14 Mr. Taninari will be
married to Miss Fukuyama. Therefore,
the Zaidan has made plans and has
signed a contract with Sekisui House
construction company to construct a
house for the Taninaris. The work on
the house is scheduled to be finished by
July 10. The house will be built on a
slope near the Pattons' house. Both
homes and the camp grounds are
owned by our property-holding
corporation, Zaidan Hojin Yotsuya
Mission Kirisutokyokai Iji Zaidan.
The marriage of Mr. Taninari and
the building of a house in which he and
his wife will live are both matters for
rejoicing. We believe that both will be
very beneficial to the camp and will
serve to give Mr. Taninari a more
permanent status at the camp.
"Andrew Patton
WINTER
Having lived in mild winter weather
in Tokyo for 32 years and in a yet
milder climate in Yokosuka for 3 years,
we were awed by the beauty of God's
winter wonderland here at the camp
during the past winter.
But after being "snowed-in" from the
main road every weekend for several
months, we began to wonder when
we'd be free of digging our way out.
However, Tokyo had a record of 29
snowfalls this year! Andrew dug one
tire track to the end of the camp road
and dug one more tire track back to
camp. With a few pushes and slips, we
got through to get needy things. A four
wheel drive vehicle could have made it
easily. Perhaps we may have to invest
in one later on.
We were not able to worship at
Asashina regularly as it always
snowed Saturdays and/or Sundays.
Betty has written to Sherman Nichols
at Colorado Springs, Colorado for
taped messages of his Lord's Day
services at the church. At the February
camp meeting in Tokyo we received
some of those tapes that had been sent
by Sherman and enjoyed a full worship
service on those snowed-in Sundays.
Thanks, Sherman. --Betty Patton
CAMP LEADERS'
MEETINGS
The Shinshu Bible Camp has been
in need of guidelines and rules for a
more efficient operation of the camp for
some time. These are not only
necessary for the campers who visit the
camp but for the camp staff and
leaders as well so that all may know
their duties and responsibilities.
After a rough draft had been made of
proposed rules and guidelines by
Andrew Patton, Mr. Satoru Taninari
and the Pattons met with Harold and
Lois Sims in Tokyo in January to
discuss the articles of the draft. At the
meeting thirteen counsellors,
including missionaries and Japanese
Christian leaders, were chosen to offer
advice to the camp. The counsellors
which were chosen are: Harold Sims,
Lois Sims, Andrew Patton, Betty
Patton, Jonathan Sims, Satoru
Taninari, Paul Pratt, Mark Pratt,
Masihisa lijima, Mr. Kobayashi, Mr.
Kanamura, Betty or Bill Turner, and
Leone Cole.
These advisers met at the Sims'
home in Mejirodai Tokyo on February
10 to discuss matters related to the
camp, including the rules and
guidelines. The camp is very fortunate
to be able to benefit from the collective
wisdom of these counsellors and the
first meeting after the group was
chosen gave ample proof of this. The
next scheduled meeting of these
advisers will be held on November 23,
1984.
We believe our churches and their
leaders will feel more like participating
in Shinshu Bible Camp and its
program, now that camp advisers
have been chosen to represent them in
helping to formulate plans and
programs for the camp.
"Andrew Patton
SPRING CAMP
The first camp of the 1984 season at
Shinshu Bible Camp was that for high
school and college students held on
March 27-30. Nineteen campers plus
staff members were able to attend the
camp. Harold Sims and Andrew
Patton along with Satoru Taninari,
Dean for the week, brought messages
from God's Word. Betty Patton and
Penny Boggs served as camp cooks.
Mr. Kishimoto from Wakayama
Prefecture served as recreational
director and devotional leader.
Snow still deeply blanketed the camp
area during the camp but enough had
melted to make the ground visible in
places (for the first time since about
November) and the camp road was
passable.
Most of those attending this camp
were "old-timers". But several of the
new campers had waited eagerly for
their March graduation ceremony
which qualified them to attend camp
for the first time. It was a new
experience for them in that it was a
camp that was Christ-centered.
The teaching program of this camp
consisted of messages, discussions as
usual. Mr. Taninari added an hour of
religious music to the program this
year just before every noon meal. In
the group of campers was found a
cellist, four pianists and organists,
three young men with excellent tenor
voices that read music readily along
with the known talentofthose who had
attended camp before. The praises to
the Lord rang loud and clear at this
time.
Mr. Kishimoto said that this camp
was the best one he had attended. We
were happy to hear that and we hope
that the other camps which will be held
this season will be just as enjoyable
and beneficial.
"Andrew Patton
1984 CAMP SCHEDULE
The following schedule has been made for
the 1984 camp season for Shinsu Bible Camp:
March 27-30
May 3-5
July 16-20
July 20-22
July 25-28
August 1-3
August 6-10
August 20-23
Sept. 22-24
Dec. 24-27
Students' Spring Camp
Taninari san. Dean
Golden Week Camp
lijima san. Dean
Work Camp
Andrew Patton, Director
University Week
Paul Pratt, Dean
Hosts to the All-Japan
Missionary Convention
Warren Christiansen, Chairman
Sakurayama Church Camp
Sato san, minister-director
Students' Study Camp
Harold Sims, Dean
English-Music Camp
Mark Pratt, Dean
Moriguchi Church Camp
Martin Clark, Co-ordinator
Christmas Camp Spring Camp -- Shinshu Bible Camp
These dates have been set aside for the use of Church of Christ/Christian
churches. The camp facilities are rented to other groups at times that do not
conflict with dates set aside for our own churches. Proceeds from these rental
camps help to subsidize our camps which generally have a smaller number of
campers.
The term "Golden Week" is used by the Japanese to refer to the time from the
Emperor's birthday on April 29 to May 5 because of the large number of national
holidays at that time. Since the people have more leisure time from work and
school at that time, we try to schedule camps and otherchurch related events then.
"Work Week" refers to a week of work that is donated to thecampby anyone who
can participate. Food and lodging are furnished gratis by the camp. This camp
will end with the noon meal on the 20th ofJuly and the University Camp will begin
with the evening meal that same day. We are looking forward to having 2
Japanese ministerial students from Bible Colleges in the U.S. and 2 American
ministerial students sharing God's message in message and song.
"Study Camp" is a new addition to our camp this year. It is designed for school
students who have a great amount of daily homework assigned to them which is
done during the summer holidays. Time for them to do their homework in is
worked into their schedule each day along with the messages, classes, sports and
social portions of a regular camp schedule.
The Shinshu Bible Camp is looking forward to a busy and fruitful season in 1984.
"Andrew Patton
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray
(retired) Forwarding Agent: Mrs.
Lois Hessler, PO Box 287, Meadviile,
PA 1633").
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 571-1
Innaihara, Mochizuki Shi, Kitasaku
Gun, Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22.
Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs. G.
Wade Fletcher. Rt. 6, Box 15,
Rushville, IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193
Japan. Forwarding Agent: First
Church of Christ, Orange at Center
St., Eustis, FL 32726.
Two year subscription $.50
Subscription and
Flaminp Torch $1.00
Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370)
Published four times a year in
January, April, July, and November
for the missionaries of the Church of
Christ. Cunningham Mission,
Tokyo, Japan by Mission Services,
752.5 Hodges Ferry Road. Knoxville,
TN 37920. Set:ond Class postage paid
at Knoxville, TN 37901. POST
MASTER: Send address changes to
Tokyo Christian, e/o MISSION
SERVICES, PO Box 2427, Knoxville,
TN 37901.
Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
Volume 83 July 1984 Number 3
PATTONS' NEWS
SHINSHU BIBLE
CAMP
Spring in Nagano Ken, Japan brings
life to all living things, some after
dormant months of hibernation, es
pecially the snakes. With Spring
come work and responsibilities at the
camp for making a better camp than
even last year's.
Much outside work had to be done
this year but with only our hands and
not machinery as last year. Thinning
out trees was one of the main projects
along with clearing the undergrowth.
Tim Turner from Atlanta Christian
College came back this June again to
help Andrew with the work and to work
in the camps. He will return to school
in August.
The ball field, volley ball court, 2
tennis courts and the vespers area are
readied for the season. Andrew
finished digging a 100 ft. ditch, 4 feet
deep at the beginning, in back of the
camp building. He filled it with a "rock
bridge" for the water-shed water to run
through and away from the camp
building. Hopefully this will eliminate
dampness from the straw mat rooms
this year. The painting and rustproof-
ing at the camp building will be one
project of the Work Week camp July 16-
20. A few university students have
volunteered to come and then remain
for the university camp starting the
night of the 20th. We have no work
crews from the churches as there is a
long work week here in Japan with
only 3 to 5 days of vacation a year.
University Week
Mr. Yoshii and Mr. Chida, Japanese
students at Cincinnati Bible
Seminary, along with Jim Green and
Chris Crosgrove will be camp leaders
for the 2 days, July 20-22. Mr. Paul
Pratt will be the dean for the camp.
Also the group will have charge of the
Saturday Bible school class from 2:30 -
4:00 and parents of the children will be
invited to attend. The group will
remain for the English-speaking
missionary convention that follows
July 25-28. We are happy to have these
young men with us.
Thi.s is the new camp manager's home beiny
built on the camp properly. It will lie occupied by
Mr. and Mrs.Taninari ju.st before the camp .season
opens.
Mr. and Mrs.Taninari. Mr.Taninari isShinshu
Bible camp manager.
High School Week
This year a special high school camp
will be held. Time for students'
summer vacation home work will be
worked into the regular camp schedule.
Hopefully this will permit more
students to attend the camp. Qualified
tutors in English and Math will be on
hand to help the students. Harold Sims
will be dean for the 5 days.
Sakurayama Church Camp
August 1-3 is camp time for the
members of the Sakurayama Church
that we started in 1960 while working
in Tokyo. At the same time we plan for
our 3-6 graders of our Saturday Bible
school to have their camp program.
English-Music Camp will be led by
Mark and Lynn Pratt. Penny Boggs
will help with both parts of the
program. (Penny will graduate July 20
from Japanese language school. Con
gratulations, Penny!)
NEW WORK
OPENED
The Pattons and the Taninaris have
talked about and prayed about starting
a church work here at the camp
building. We felt that it would be good
stewardship of the use of the property
and would bring Christ into this area
meeting the spiritual needs of all.
There were many things to take into
consideration: (1) how to prepare and
meet a schedule during camp
season (2) what to do about winter
time when the water must be cut off at
the camp building.
Fortunately we have more week-day
camps scheduled this year. But on July
28 we will have a movie as Mr. and Mrs.
Taninari will travel to the Japanese
annual convention of the churches of
Christ at Yokohama, Japan.
During the winter months we will
make changes according to the
weather. Our home and the Taninari
home can be used. Hopefully a snow
plow and a 4 wheel-drive vehicle can be
purchased by that time.
Saturdays and the hours of 2:30-4:00
p.m. were chosen as prime time for
children's programs. School is in
session until noon on Saturdays.
Children in the rural area have NO
school bus service. Nor do their
parents drive them to school! The
school desires healthy children and
encourages them to walk up and down
the mountains to school. So many
students must walk 30 to 90 minutes
one way. After returning home on
Saturdays they walk 15 to 30 minutes
more to get to Bible study. Some come
pushing their bicycles up to the camp
and then enjoy the downhill ride home.
On June 10 seventy homes were
visited and given announcements of
the first meeting of the Saturday Bible
school, June 16. We were blessed with
30 children and one grandmother on
the first day. Kindergarten through
the first 6 grades are enrolled. Mrs.
Taninari teaches the little ones;
Andrew teaches 1-3 graders and Mr.
Taninari teaches the 4-6 graders.
Attendance has been 25, 32 and 28.
Some parents are gathering up
children in their cars and driving them
to the camp so they can be here on time.
At least 3 adults are present each
Saturday with the children.
We have found that we are only
reaching one-third of the area as 3
schools are involved. The other 2
schools cannot come on Saturdays. So
we are already making plans for a
Sunday Bible school starting in the
Fall. Just now the camp season makes
it impossible for the second meeting.
Where did we begin teaching?
Genesis 1:1 through chapter 3 is very
essential when reaching a pagan
culture so that's where we began - with
God. We will eventually lead to His
Son and His plan for each oftheir lives.
WORSHIP
SERVICES
In June we also began worship
services at 10:30 each Sunday. As yet
only the 4 of us are present. Andrew
and Mr. Taninari bring the messages
in Japanese. The offerings are used to
help finance the Bible school work. It's
not unusual to worship alone on the
SUMMER
SCHEDULE
As these articles are beingwritten we
are in the last days of Japan's "Rainy
season". But plans are shaping up for
a full and varied series of activities
during the 40 day summer vacation
which all schools have during the
hottest part of the year. We will be in
the middle of this period when you
receive this paper, and we ask you to
join us in prayer for God's blessings
upon each one who attends the various
functions, those who teach and plan
and serve in various other ways and
the whole work of Christ; that souls
may be saved and it may be a season of
refreshing from the presence of the
Lord.
Conventions
Our missionaries get together every
year just before or after the Japanese
Convention for a couple of days of
singing, preaching and fellowship in
the English language. This year,
including some visitors, and of course
the children, we expect about 75 people
to meet at the Shinshu Camp fromJuly
25 PM until July 28 AM. This will
crowd the facilities, but we are looking
forward to a good fellowship.
Immediately following this gather
ing, the Japanese brethren will be
meeting in Yokohama over the
weekend of July 28-30. Over 300 are
mission field when starting a new
work. We pray that the Word will be
entering into the homes from the little
ones studying on Saturdays. In the
Fall we will plan for adult Bible
studies. Here in the rural area January
and February are the best months to
reach the farm residents. So pray for
us and with us as we labor for Him.
We encourage you to have a part of
the blessings too as you pray and give
to the work.
SPRING 1985
Bill Owens, a former Navy man
stationed at Yokosuka while we
ministered there, is now a 3rd year
student at Ozark Bible College. Bill
plans to spend next Spring and part of
the summer with us here in Japan. We
know of Bill's ability to personally
witness to others and bring them to the
Lord. Bill became a Christian while
stationed at Yokosuka, Japan. He
attended the services at the church
where we ministered - Japanese and
English. He won a shipmate to Christ
and that started a chain reaction on
board the Parsons ship. Also Bill has
SIMS' NEWS
expected to be at this meeting, which is
being hosted by the Minato Church of
Christ. They are using most of the
rooms in two adjoining hotels, and the
Prefectural Public Hall by special
permission for the main meetings,
because it is the only room large
enough to accommodate that expected
crowd.
Camps
July 16-20 Work Camp. Volunteers
come to help prepare the buildings and
grounds for the season in return for
free food.
July 20-22 College and Young
People's Camp. This year the Ohio
Singers III will be the main attraction
for this group.
Aug. 6-10 Study Camp. This is for
Middle and High School young people.
In the morning they will be given help
with their school summer assignments
and special studies in Mathematics
and English. In the afternoons we will
do outdoor recreation, and in the
evenings we will have worship and
indoor games.
Aug. 20-23 English-Music Camp.
Mark and Lynn Pratt will be leading
this week, whose purpose is obvious
from the name.
There are other camps already
reserved by several local churches and
other groups that pretty well fill in the
times not listed here, so it will be a busy
time at the camp.
witnessed to several members of his
family and has seen them born again.
Bill will need financial help to come
and help. About $2,000 will be needed
for travel expenses. We recommend
Bill to you and pray that you can help
him arrive in Japan May 1985. He can
be reached at Ozark Bible College, 1111
N. Main St., Joplin, MO or at 2203 N.
Ohio St., Kokomo, IN 46901 this
summer at his mother's home.
NEW
PURCHASES
To aid us in the camp, the new work
and other means of evangelism, we
have leased a copier on a five year plan
at about $55 a month. It will aid us in
getting out announcements about the
work, copy necessary Bible school
lessons, help with all phases of
publicity, and also other missionaries
in the area can use it at about half the
cost of their present copy prices. Also 4
new sets of bunk beds have been
purchased for the camp increasing the
camp sleeping capacity.
Vacation Bible Schools
Japanese children do not get out of
school until July 20, so almost every
Japanese church has a Vacation Bible
School ofsome sort during the first half
of August. At Mejirodai we plan a two
day one, including overnight stay for
upper-classes in the Sunday School,
and then a 3-day one the next week for
the smaller children who will just come
to the church in the mornings.
OHIO SINGERS III
IN JAPAN
On June 23, 4 students of the Cincin
nati Christian Seminary arrived in
Japan to spend 2 months singing as a
quartet, preaching and testifyingabout
Christ and gaining some experiences
as evangelists in the Japanese situa
tion. Two of them are Japanese citi
zens who are doing graduate study in
the U.S. " Makoto Yoshii, the oldest
son of our minister in Kanoya, Kyushu;
and Toshiaki Chida from our church in
Sendai. The other two are Jim Green
and Chris Crosgrove. They have a very
full schedule, and will travel all over
Japan before returning to their studies
in Cincinnati late in August.
The reason for the III is that in 1970
and 1972 groups of young people came
from Cincinnati Bible Seminary and
first used this name. "Ohio" means
"Good Morning" in Japanese.
^cu^nAccmy OAAeAy
One of the veterans of the Japanese
missionary work was called by her
Lord to His eternal reward on May 27.
Grace Farnham was born on July 31,
1890, so she would have been 94 years
of age if she had lived 2 more months. I
don't know exactly where she was
born, but remember hearing her tell
several times of traveling "The Oregon
Trail" in a covered wagon when she
was a little girl. She came from hardy
pioneer stock, and as a young girl
worked in logging camps, etc. She was
a life-long booster of the State of
Oregon -- its scenery, climate, people
and churches were the best in the
world; and it is fitting that she spent
her rather long retirement years in
those surroundings. She was at the
Turner Home for some years, but the
final months were in a nursing home
after having suffered a broken hip.
She was never married. Occasional
reference was made to some disappoint
ment in love early in life, but it did not
have any bad effect on her personality.
Her beloved sisters all preceded her in
death.
Grace was recruited by the
Cunninghams as a missionary during
one of their furloughs and arrived in
Japan in the fall of 1925. She served 2
terms with the Yotsuya Mission, and
resigned along with several others
during a time of trouble and contro
versy in 1934. She and Ruth
Schoonover formed the "Mabashi
Mission" in another part of Tokyo and
continued their Bible Classes and
other activities almost without
interruption, until the outbreak of
World War II. At that time Grace was
interned in a former school that was
turned into "camp" for foreigners for a
number of months before being
returned to the United States on a
Swedish prisoner-exchange ship.
She returned to Japan as soon as
arrangements could be made and
permission obtained (1947 or 8) and
soon bought a piece of property in a
good location in the same "Mabashi"
district where they had formerly
worked and built a simple home for
herself and a church building on it. A
Mrs. Hongo, what the older Japanese
Christians called a "Bible Woman"
(personal evangelist, teacher, helper),
lived with her and helped in transla
tion, Sunday School, serving tea to
visitors, etc. They were life-long and
very close friends and prayer partners.
Mrs. Hongo passed away a number of
years ago.
Grace was always a supporter of our
Tokyo Bible Seminary. She sent a
number of students to the school,
attended all of the special functions.
and offered suggestions. One of the
early students of that school became
the preacher at Mabashi church, and
for some years it was a growing and
influential church in that area of the
city.
Grace also recruited Mr. and Mrs.
Julius Fleenor for the work in Japan,
and for their first few years in Japan
they lived in two rooms at the Mabashi
church building. They are still
working in Japan.
During the 16 years we lived and
worked at Nakano, Grace was a
frequent visitor in our home. We were
the nearest fellow-missionaries to her
geographically (less than 1 mile from
Mabashi), and when she felt lonely or
wanted to talk some English for a
change she would "bring her pajamas"
and come over to our house. All of our
children knew her as "Aunt Grace".
Also there was a good deal of reconcili
ation with Mrs. Cunningham, and she
always attended the missionary
prayer meetings on Friday evenings.
Grace left Mabashi in 1961, at age 70
for retirement. We took her in our car
and saw her off ~ typically, without
tears. She had served long and well.
We enjoyed occasional letters from her
telling about her work taking care of
"these old people". Then in 1971 she
returned to Japan for a visit of some
weeks, which she seemed to enjoy a
great deal. We are glad she had that
second visit.
In looking back on Grace's life and
work, and in conclusion of this article
there are 2 short stories I need to tell.
One is "too bad" and the other "as the
Scripture says."
1. About 1958 or 59 there was some
trouble in the Mabashi church. Since 1
lived nearby I heard both the Japanese
preacher's and the missionary's
"side" of the problems, and tried to
work with all to achieve some satisfac
tory understanding and settlement.
But it was not to be, and the preacher
left. When Grace left Japan, she left
things in charge of an American-born
Japanese missionary, which seemed to
be the best thing to do at the time. But
he didn't stay in Japan long, and
turned it over to an aggressive young
man who was unacquainted with our
doctrinal position and unsympathetic
to several points. He is still the
minister there, and it is a sizeable
church, but is interdenominational in
outlook and charismatic in some
practices. They don't have the Lord's
Supper every Sunday, but as far as I
know they still practice immersion.
"Too bad."
2. When Grace returned to Japan for
the 1971 visit, many old Bible Class
students arranged get-togethers.
Among those was a man named
Aoyama, who had been a student in
her Bible Class at the old Kamiochiai
Church in the 1920s. At that time he
was active in the church youth group
and as a Sunday School teacher, etc.
and his family ran a dish store in the
neighborhood. She discovered that he
now lived in Hachioji, so she gave him
my name and address, and gave me
his. I went to visit him, and discovered
that one reason he had been an
inactive Christian a long time was that
his wife was uninterested. But anyway
he came to the church here 2 or 3 times
a year after that, and always at
Christmas - sometimes accompanied
by his daughter. On Christmas Eve
1980 the daughter came with an
offering and news that he was in the
hospital. In mid-January he died, and
the wife asked me to have a Christian
funeral, which I did.
After the funeral the wife changed
her attitude, and said she would like to
go where her husband went. She began
attending church services regularly,
and was baptized during the fall
evangelistic meeting in 1981. Now her
grand-daughter, who was raised in
Hokkaido where one of the daughters
and her family lives, is living with her
as she goes to preparatory school for
University Entrance Examination in
Tokyo and is coming to our worship
services once or twice a month. We
hope she will make her decision for
Christ during her time here. So "as the
Scripture says", "so is my word that
goes out from my mouth. It will not re
turn to me empty, but will accomplish
what I desire and achieve the purpose
for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11
Harold Sims
MEJIRODAI
CHURCH NEWS
We have had a lot of good things
happening since I wrote last, and are
very thankful and happy. I will just
make a brief listing of important
events, and may those who pray for us
continue to do so, and also rejoice and
praise God with us.
April 22. Resurrection Day worship
attendance of 52 adults and 13
children. Twice our average, and most
since Christmas. Following the
worship most of the members
remained for our annual congregation
al business meeting which went on all
afternoon. We all ate a lunch of rice
balls together.
April 29. Six from our church joined
about 80 others for a very inspirational
Fifth-Sunday Rally at Machida
Church.
May 3-5. Four from Mejirodai
attended the Family Camp. One of
these was the husband of a lady who is
one of our most faithful. It was the first
time for him to go to such a gathering.
Many were both happy and surprised.
Family Camp - May 13-")
May 6. The first meeting of the
newly elected deacons.
May 17. A special Mother's Day
gathering. 31 adults and 7 children
attended, including 3 who were in
church for the first time. The speaker
was Mrs. Kishi from Hiroshima. Her
husband, who was in Tokyo for a
meeting connected with his University
Teaching profession, spoke at our
service the following Sunday.
June 10. Pentecost. We had 3
baptisms, the most in any one day so
far. All 3 were boys, and sons of our
members, and everyone was much en
couraged by the evidence of a second
generation coming up. After the
service we all gathered in the yard for
the annual barbecue. Just as we
finished eating, it began to rain, and
that was the start of our rainy season.
June 17. Dedication of a new organ.
For several years the church has been
using a borrowed one, and the owner
was returning from his time abroad so
we bought one using almost the exact
amount that had been contributed
monthly for that purpose by several
ladies. Harold Sims
Harold Sims preaching at camp.
PENNY BOGGS
GRADUATES FROM
LANGUAGE SCHOOL
Penny Boggs, a native of Chester,
West Virginia and graduate of
Kentucky Christian College,
graduated from the Japan Missionary
Language Institution on July 24. She
studied at this school for several
months during an internship in Japan
from the fall of 1980 to the spring of
1981, and then has studied full-time
most of the time since returning to
Japan as a regular missionary in
October 1982.
She will continue to live in the city of
Machida and help with the work of the
church there and teach some classes in
the Obirin Christian School there for
the present.
We are glad to see most of the
younger missionaries getting the
language ability, which we feel is the
way to enjoy living in a foreign country
and be effective workers among the
people.
DANIEL SIMS
GRADUATES FROM
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CINCINNATI
In June, Daniel completed his course
of study in the College of Industrial
Design, and he and Jeanne will be
moving in July to the Detroit area
where he has been employed in the
Automobile Design Division of
Chrysler Corporation.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray
(retired) Forwarding Agent: Mrs.
Lois Hessler, PO Box 287, Meadviile,
PA 16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 571-1
Innaihara, Mochizuki Shi, Kitasaku
Gun, Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22.
Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs. G.
Wade Fletcher, Rt. 6, Box 15,
Rushville, IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193
Japan. Forwarding Agent: First
Church of Christ, Orange at Center
St., Eustis, FL 32726.
Tivo year subscription $.50
Subscription and
Flaming Torch $1.00
Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370)
Published four times a year in
January, April, July, and November
for the missionaries of the Church of
Christ. Cunningham Mission,
Tokyo, Japan by Mission Services,
7525 Hodges I'erry Road. Knoxvilte,
TN 37921). Second Class postage paid
at Knoxville, TN 37901. POST
MASTER: Send address changes to
Tokvo Christian, c-o MISSION
SERVICES, PO Box 2427, Knoxville,
TN 379U1.
)a)-3
Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
Volume 83 October 1984 Number 4
SIMS' NEWS
THE 35TH ALL-JAPAN CONVENTION OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST
The 35th Annual Convention of our Jap
anese brethren was held July 28-30,1984 in
Yokohama, the famous seaport which is
now the second largest city in Japan. The
Prefectural Hall and the 2 hotels which were
used are located in the center of the city, just
across a beautiful park from the busy harbor
and just around the corner from the site of
the first Protestant church established in
Japan in 1872. The attendance (406
registered) taxed the capacity of the
facilities available, but everyone enjoyed
the good program and fellowship during
those summer days.
The Minato Church, which was host and
planner of this meeting, is well-known to
readers of this paper. Stephen lijima is the
minister. I believe this is the third
convention this church has hosted, and each
one has been in a different place in the same
general area. The chairman, Mr. Iguma, is
one of the elders and a High School English
teacher. The man who managed most ofthe
details and business is an executive in one of
Japan's automobile companies and a
deacon.
One of the early problems was getting
permission to use the government-owned
Hall for the main sessions. The hotels didn't
have any rooms with even half as many
seats as would be needed, and the
government officials were reluctant to agree
to rent the Hall for a purely religious
gathering. A hint was dropped that if the
meeting were "International in character it
would be different, so I wrote a letter stating
that it would indeed be international, as
there would be many missionaries in
attendance. That proved to be enough to get
the necessary permission, and at the
convention we had missionaries Daniel
Kalnin and Toshio Morimote from Thailand
and 3 preachers from our churches in Korea
as visitors, so in fact there were 4 nations
represented there, and any picture would
have verified it as an international
gathering.
The program consisted of 3 main
messages in worship services, 3 short
exhortations, and 5 "special events." The
messages at the main session were brought
by Bro. Kikkawa, preacher at the Ono
Church of Christ in Hyogo Pref. of central
Japan (near Kobe) on Saturday evening;
Bro. Suzuki, preacher at the Moiwashita
Church of Christ in Sapporo on the northern
island of Hokkaido on Sunday morning; and
Bro. Yoshii, preacher at the Kanoya Church
of Christ in Kagoshima Pref. of southern
Japan on Monday morning. The
exhortations were by Bro. Nomura,
preacher at the Hachimanyama Church of
Christ (non-instrumental) in Tokyo on
Sunday morning early; Bro. Takahashi,
preacher at the Kawasaki Church
(Independent) the industrial suburb
between Tokyo and Yokohama on Monday
morning early; and Bro. lijima, preacher of
Minath Church at the closing session. The
"events" were: 1. A lavish buffet banquet in
the beautiful main room of the Hotel
Yokohama previous to the opening session
on Saturday PM. 2. A boat trip on a large
ferry for 2 hours around the harbor on
Sunday afternoon. Great time of fellowship
and rarely seen views. 3. A real feast atone
of the largest Chinese restaurants in the
world 5:30 - 6:30 PM Sunday evening. It was
some of the most delicious of all Chinese
foods I have ever eaten. The entire building
was closed for the day to prepare for our
convention's meal. 4. A service of worship
through music on Sunday evening at the
Prefectural Hall. This was planned by 2
members of the Minato church. One is a
salaried man who is an amateur organist
and lover of classical music, and the other is
a concert pianist and teacher of piano at
Tokyo's University of Fine Arts. We had
some good congregational singing of well-
liked hymns, including "Wonderful Grace of
Jesus" which has become traditional to
sing at least once at all our conventions.
There is a rather well-known poet in Japan
who became a Christian and died early this
year. He was so badly crippled that the only
thing he could move voluntarily was his
eyelids. His sister and other family
members would recite the 50 sound
Japanese alphabet to him over and over and
when they came to the sound he wanted he
would blink. There are several collections of
his simple and moving poems that were all
written in this laborious way. Bro.
Kawaguchi, the pianist mentioned above
has composed music to go along with a
number of these poems, and he got a
professional mezzo-soprano who also
teaches in his University to come and sing
those original songs for us - some of them
for the first time in public. Also, a tenor
professional singer came and sang some
classical music. Finally they introduced a
new hymn with words written by Bro.
lijima, the Minato preacher, in his "Pastoral
Song" magazine some months ago and
music composed by Bro. Kawaguchi. The
soprano and tenor professionals sang their
first duet together in introducing it, and
then the congregation sang it. It was truly a
wonderfully inspiring evening of music.
None of our Mejirodai members wanted to
pay the high hotel bills to go down and stay
at the neighboring city for the convention.
So some months ago, I began promoting an
idea of just going for the middle day
(Sunday) and participating in the morning
service, the boat ride and the musical
evening. This caught on, and one of our
members was able to get the use of the bus
her company has for carrying people
between the factory and the railroad station
for that day. Some couldn't go at the last
minute, but we took 12 people from
Mejirodai down to Yokohama for the day of
July 29. I was the only one who had a license
for driving a vehicle of that size, so I was the
driver. All had a wonderful time. Lois and I
also attended Saturday PM and Monday.
The emphasis on the final day of the
convention was that our churches are now
entering the second century of evangelism
in this nation. Naturally the main
leadership and responsibility must be borne
by the Japanese Christians. But in
connection with that all of the missionaries
present were asked to come to the platform
to be introduced. This was event no. 5. Each
of us was given a cloth bookcover specially
designed and dyed by one of the Minato
church ladies as a token of appreciation.
[1
^ ^ 9
Mltl
Missionaries being recognized at the Japanese Con
vention.
In addition, inscribed certificates of thanks
were given to all those who had served in the
cause of Christ in Japan for 30 years. The
giving of these formal, frameable "letters"
written in classical style is a typical
Japanese way of expressing appreciation to
someone who has given much of his life to a
school, company, etc., but we think it is rare
in all missionary history for the receiving
side to publicly express appreciation in such
a way. Also, according to custom, a small
gift accompanied the "certificate." We do
not want you to think we are seeking to
glorify ourselves, but we feel you should
know about this expression of feeling on the
part of the Japanese Christians.
A translation of the "Certificate of
Thanks":
"For serving the glory of Christ, you came
over to Japan in your early years, andfor 30
years and more, continually hearing all
kinds of trials and difficulties, you have
devoted yourselves to proclaiming the
gospel of Christ.
"Now on the occasion of this 35th All-
Japan Convention of the Churches of
Christ, we give you the deepest respect and
gratitude from the Christians all over
Japan."
July 30, 1984
35th All-Japan Convention of Churches of
Christ. Chairman: Iguma Takashi, Elder
of Minato Church of Christ.
Those receiving First Arrival
certificates; in Japan:
Vivian Lemmon 1930
Leone Cole 1937
Harold and Lois Sims 1947
Andrew and Betty Patton 1948
George and Ethel Beckman 1948
Martin and Evelyn Clark 1950
Mark and Pauline Maxey 1950
Julius and Virginia Fleenor 1950
Exie Fultz 1952
Audrey West 1953
Ernest and Neva Faber 1954
Don and Norma Burney 1955
Paul and Kathleen Pratt 1958
Note: Stanley and Mabel Buttray, Ray and
Mattie Mings and Harlan and Emeline
Woodruff had served as long as most of the
above, but they have already retired to the
United States.
HAROLD SIMS
CELEBRATES
"KANREKI"
In the Orient this is the year of the Rat
the first of a 12-year cycle of 12 animal
species. When a person has lived through 5
of these cycles (over the centuries when
these traditions were being formed living
this long was a rare accomplishment) he
was congratulated by all and entered
happily into "retirement" and "old age".
This special birthday is called "kanreki",
and I passed through it on September 27.
That day was also the 50th anniversary of
my baptism at Newport News, Virginia.
On September 23 the Nakano Church
invited me to preach for a special day there,
and then all stayed to eat rice curry and my
favorite dark blue grapes and enjoy a time of
thanksgiving, memories, and fellowship
together. They gave me 2 large purple and
red cushions and a monetary gift and one
member gave us a clock as well as many
words of encouragement. A number of
friends here and in the U.S. also sent cards
and small gifts. Jonathan, who has recently
begun studying Japanese calligraphy, gave
me one of his writings, "Thank you", and
another long-time friend and veteran brush
writer framed her writing of "every day is a
good day" for me.
Such gestures are a source of
encouragement, and especially just after
receiving the report from the doctor after my
physical check-up telling me I can't eat the
things I like best. But I am truly thankful for
the life and calling I am in, and it was
another happy birthday. Harold Sims
1984 MISSIONARY
CONVENTION
The annual convention of our missionar
ies was held this year at Shinshu Bible
Camp, from Wednesday afternoon, July 25,
to Saturday morning, July 28, after which
we all left hurriedly on the5 to 6 hour drive to
Yokohama for the Japanese Convention
beginning that afternoon.
The total attendance was 66: 31
missionaries, 22 "missionary children", 4
Ohio Singers III, 1 missionary and 2
English-speaking ministers of the non-
instrumental Churches of Christ, 2
missionaries from Thailand, Nancy Olson
from Great Lakes Bible College, who was
with Pratts this summer, and the 3
preachers from Ono, one of our rapidly
growing churches who gave a slide
presentation of their church's program on
Friday night. The term "missionary
children" this time includes Paula Maxey
Yanagimoto and her 4 children who were
back for a month's visit in Japan after 8
years in Canada, Faith Maxey, who with
her husband, Paul Axton, have taken jobs
from September teaching English in a large
private school in the Tsukuba district of
Ibaraki Prefecture where a large exhibition
will be opened in 1985, and Tim and Sheryl
Turner who were back for summer visits
from Bible Colleges in the U.S.
The program was full, with 5
singspiration hours led by husband and
wife teams, 4 panel discussions, 3 main
Bible studies, several devotionals, 9
practical messages of varying lengths,
ladies' meetings, grandpas' quartet
practice, morning prayer walks, etc. There
was also afternoon recreation, humorous
pictures of animals with comments fitting
the facial expressions and the people in the
various rooms, a "funny paper" and an
interesting contest of guessing which "little
known fact" fit which missionary. This part
was planned by Mark and Lynn Pratt.
Warren Christiansen was overall chairman
of the meeting. Harold Sims
MEJIRODAI
CHURCH NEWS
This year we had 2 short Vacation Bible
Schools. The first one was an overnight trip
for children in the 2-6 grades of our Sunday
school, with 22 students and 9 teachers and
helpers going. The facility was operated by
a Christian group, and is located in the
upper reaches ofTokyo's Tama River, where
it flows between steep mountains. We would
have liked to stay over 2 nights, but could
only get the place for that 1 night between
other groups, as it is very popular.
Mejirodai VBS
In spite of one girl's getting sick with
tonsillitis and having to go to a doctor
because of very high fever, my projector's
breaking down just after the middle of a
movie, and the short time, we had a good
time playing with the children in the cold
rocky river, on the volleyball court, and in
the straw mat rooms.
The second VBS was here at the church
for kindergarten students and first graders
who couldn't go on the overnight trip. This
was for 3 mornings, August 15-17. Because
of the Buddhist Obon holiday season we had
only 10 students, but had a good time --
especially playing in the wading pool that
Lois bought to give them some relief from
the heat.
Little VBS in Sims' yard
At both VBS's we had a puppet show
about Naaman, which was a little difficult
to put on but enjoyed by the pupils.
It was somewhat remarkable and very
encouraging to all that we had first-time
visitors every Sunday in August in spite of
the heat and many being away on
vacations.
There has been a lot of sickness in the
church community. One of our older
members was operated on for ulcers of the
stomach, using laser technology. The older
sister of one of our members died of rapidly
developing cancer within one month, and
the husband of another member has
terminal cancer. Two of our members are
obliged to take care of bedfast mothers or
mothers-in-law.
We are developing plans for financing and
building an addition to our church building,
and it has been thrilling to see God's gui
dance and the people committing them
selves. More about this later. Harold Sims
STUDY CAMP
High School stu-
dents, with a to- HflBtMllM
tal attendance of M ,
22 students, 13 of s||^h
them from Meji-
rodai. In Japan
every student of
these grade levels
is given assignments to complete during
their 40 days of summer vacation. Most of
them wait until the last week to open the
books, and then feel a great deal of pressure.
On the first night of camp we explained
that the mornings would be given to study,
the afternoons to recreation, and the
evenings to one hour of worship and one
hour of indoor games. The next morning
they got out their homework for 75 minutes
of intensive Math study led by 2 teachers for
different levels. Then after 15 minutes break
they had the same length of English study.
They all worked intensively, and all
finished their assigned summer's work in
those 4 days, and everyone was happy -- the
students that they had their work done, the
teachers that the classes were so eager and
cooperative and quiet, and the parents who
hadn't believed they would really study at
all.
Of course we also enjoyed the other parts
of the camp, too, and we hope to continue
this type of camp year after year.
Harold Sims Cookout during camp
PATTONS' NEWS
SHINSHU BIBLE CAMP
The Shinshu Bible Camp was the scene of
much activity from July 14th to September
26th this year. Two Spring camps had
preceded the 17 held during this time. Good
weather prevailed throughout the summer -
too dry for some vegetable crops to mature
well. A total of 409 different campers came
to sessions especially prepared to meet their
needs - deeper study of God's Word and
fellowship with each other in a Christian
environment away from the satanic forces
of evil in the world. The quietness on the
mountain, the beautified landscape of the
camp grounds and the setting in its entirety
allowed the dean of the week to run his camp
program without interruption -- utilizing the
2 or 3 day camp time to its fullest.
The camp "crew", Mr. Taninari, Mrs.
Leone Cole and the Pattons were able to
contribute more to each camp as some of the
rough edges had been worked out during the
Pattons' first summer at the camp. Also, the
"crew" was able to serve several times on the
faculty as well as doing the outdoor and
indoor work connected with the camp work.
Penny Hoggs, missionary in Machida,
volunteered her help in many different ways
at several of the camps. Also, we
appreciated the help of 4 young university
students during our full capacity times. Tim
Turner, from Atlanta College, helped
Andrew to get much of the outside work
completed with the help of 3 others during
work week, July 14-20. Mrs. Cole "merited"
the first floor "red carpeted" room near the
kitchen and was "on duty" most of the
wakening hours at the camp until she
returned to U.S. for a short furlough the
latter part of August. Mr. Taninari was
unable to enjoy his new home on the camp
grounds until all camps were finished as he
fulfilled his job as camp manager.
Due to the time schedule change in some
universities, our work week and University
week was in need of more campers, with only
17 attending. The Ohio Singers III from
Cincinnati Bible Seminary graduate school
highlighted the program for the 2-day camp,
July 20-22. Mr. Paul Pratt was the dean for
the camp. Mr. Chida and Mr. Yoshii, two of
the singers, are from Japan and were able to
relate Christ to the young people in a special
way. Mr. Chris Crossgrove and Jim Green,
the other two members, did an excellent job
of arranging and producing the music that
was sung.
Missionary Convention 1984
On July 25-28, we were busy hosting the
annual Missionary Convention here at the
camp. Sixty-seven were registered at this
time. It was a wonderful time of fellowship
together with all of our co-workers -- some of
whom we hadn't seen for many years. Don
and Norma Burney's youngest daughter
found it amusing that Betty Patton had
played a part in the courtship of her parents
while the 3 were working on the Yakima
Indian Reservation in 1950 at Toppenish,
Washington. Needless to say, there were
many of us whose hair has silvered and
footsteps grown a little slower after 30-40
years of spreading the Gospel here in Japan.
Certainly this is nothing to be ashamed of.
The desire to serve until the very end is still
in the hearts of those who gathered together.
Several of our churches have used the
camp just for their group to come together
and worship and fellowship together. The
Sakurayama group from Tokyo and the
Moriguchi church from Osaka (7 hours
away) found the camp just perfect for the
occasion. The Moriguchi church is making
it an annual event. The Sakurayama group
will be coming again this year to a Fall camp
November 3-4.
The idea of a camp for Jr. -Sr. high school
and university students to come together for
5 days and get their summer homework
assignments done besides studying the
Bible was put in effect August 6-10.
Needless to say, it was a big success with 21
attending plus a qualified staff to tutor the
students. The students went home relieved
of pressure of dreaded homework. They
learned how to study and use their free time
to the best advantage. We are sure that the
parents were relieved of having to nag the
students the rest of the summer.
English-Music camp led by Mark Pratt,
assisted by Penny Boggs and Betty Turner,
was livened up by the interest in a bell choir.
The Pattons have purchased a set of bells to
be used by the camp and the Saturday Bible
School. We are looking forward to a good
Christmas camp program using the bell
choir to ring out the carols. Also, Betty
Turner will be using the puppet stage to
portray the spiritual meaning of Christmas.
Saturday Bible Study Mrs. Taninari
We were delighted to find that Bible study
groups from 4 different universities used the
camp this year. One group was the protes-
tant Bible study group in a Catholic univer
sity. They were here last year also. These
groups give us much encouragement and
make it known that Japan isn't "a swamp
where the roots of Christianity will not take
hold."
Due to the advertising in a Christian
magazine, there were five other groups that
came to use the camp facilities this year.
This helps to pay for some of the overhead
that is incurred as the camp is maintained
all year through.
Campers from the age of SOon down to the
cradle were in attendance this year. May we
continue to serve Him in many ways at
Shinshu Bible Camp.
Two more camps are scheduled for this
year. On November 3-4, the Sakurayama
church will meet again and on December 24-
27 the annual Christmas camp will be held.
The Pattons
"BREAKING THE
ICE"
A little over a year has passed since Betty
and I moved from Yokosuka to Shinshu
Bible Camp to assume our new duties as
leaders at the camp. Since our taking up
residence at camp, two camp seasons have
become history and we feel more settled in
our new work. We also believe we are
beginning to "break the ice" in our contacts
and relationship with the people who dwell
in the community surrounding the camp
area.
The Bible School we have each Saturday
for the children of the community has
enabled us not only to know them but many
of their parents. A few parents or relatives
accompany the children to the Bible
school held in the camp building. They
participate in the classes along with the
children. Several families represented in
the Bible school have brought us fresh pro
duce from their gardens. In return Betty
sometimes bakes pies or cookies and pre
sents them to our closest neighbors and
those who have presented vegetables to
us.
From the end of September to the middle
of October is the rice-harvest season in our
community. Andrew tries to help some of
the farmers in this work for they are short-
handed and in working with them he gains
their friendship and an opportunity to
influence them.
Several days ago, two men who are
leaders in our community visited us and
asked if we did not wish to join the
community association. They cooperate in
accomplishing various things for the good
of the community. One example of these
projects is the cutting of weeds and other
vegetation along the roads in the
community to help prevent traffic accidents.
Each member of the association contributes
a membership fee of about $50 a year to
finance the projects. We joined and paid the
fee in order to show them we wished to be
considered members of the community and
to gain contact with the people of the
association. We also wish to do our part in
getting community projects done.
Soon after we became members of the
association, Mr. Taninari and Andrew were
invited to a meeting of the men of the
neighborhood at the community hall. This
was a social affair affording all of us an
opportunity to get better acquainted. All of
those in attendance were^skedtointroduce
themselves to the group. The area leader
was also introduced and made a short
speech of greeting to the group.
At such social occasions in Japan, alcohol
is plentiful and is drunk freely. It is thought
that alcoholic beverages loosen the tongue
and provide a mediumfor social intercourse.
We did not relish that part oftheir gathering
and did not wish to participate in it nor
condone the practice. Mr. Taninari
prepared the way beforehand for us ~ he
asked that an orange drink be served us at
this occasion and that we be excused from
the drinkingsocial hour after every business
meeting hereafter. (Also he asked them to
excuse us from paying the $2.50 annual fee
for the upkeep ofthe local shrinein the area.)
They were very kind and hospitable to us
and asked us many questions about
ourselves and our work.
Soon after that meeting, some of our Bible
school students invited us to attend the
athletic meeting which was held at their
school. Unfortunately, these meetings
cause deep cuts in the attendance of the
children at our Bible school. But we
accepted the invitation, returning back to
camp at 2:30 for the regular session of Bible
school for the younger ones, because we
wished to show an interest in the children's
activities and have an opportunity to
become better acquainted with the parents.
Now what are we gaining by these social
contacts? We have been accepted as
members of the community and have
started a close fiiendship with its members.
Much more time and effort are needed before
we can expect to influence these people with
the Gospel of Christ. Andrew Patton
SATURDAY BIBLE
SCHOOL -WORSHIP
During the summer some special
programs were held for the Saturday Bible
School held at the camp building. On July
21st the Ohio Singers III gave a concert in
music preceding the regular Bible study. On
this day we were the "crew" for the
university camp but fulfilled both jobs that
day. Later on the 29th a movie "Red Gloves"
was shown as the Taninaris were present at
the annual Japanese Convention in
Yokohama. OnAugust 4 an overnight camp
for the 3-6 graders was held. The students
attended the regular Bible school hour, ate
their "obentos" (sack lunches) and enjoyed
an evening with an overnight stay at the
camp. Early on Sunday morning they were
served Yogurt hot cakes for breakfast and
dismissed at 9 a.m. All enjoyed thestay and
look forward to it again.
On October 6 the children were out of
school for rice harvesting. They came to the
camp building at 10 a.m. with produce from
their gardens to make a pot of rice curry for
the noon lunch. Ten of the older children
came and made the meal. The afternoon
was devoted to the regular Bible study hour
with dismissal at 4 p.m. On October 13 a
special showing of the movie "Whispering
Mountain" will be held. (Mr. and Mrs.
Taninari will be in Tokyo for the
evangelistic meeting at Meijirodai Church.)
Our Sunday worship hours were varied
this summer. Two Sundays we were
privileged to attend the English summer
church in Karuizawa. Other Sundays we
worshipped with the camp groups at the
camp building. Other times we four met
together at the camp building with Mr.
Taninari or Mr. Patton preaching in
Japanese. Andrew Patton
WINTER
PREPARATION
In a few days the water at the camp
building will have to be turned off and pipes
drained. The Japanese bedding all has been
aired and stored away. A dehumidifier was
purchased to help keep straw mat rooms dry
which was appreciated by the "crew" and
which lessened our Fall work immensely.
For each camp coming up we will have to
to turn the water on and then off to prevent
damage to the building. It all takes time, but
is necessary. The grass cutters, roller for the
tennis courts and other machinery will be
readied for the winter, leaving the wood
cutting yet to be done. The fireplace is quite
a comfort at this time of year ~ just enough
heat to take the chill off the house. We will
soon be meeting in the camp house and
manager's house for all Bible studies until
next April.
As soon as the rice crop is harvested we
are hoping to set up an adult Bible study
program for the immediate area. It will not
be readily received as Buddhism is very
strong in each of the households with their
god shelves displayed for all to see when
entering the home. Now that we have been
"received" in the community, may we
present to these people the gift of life, the
Lord Jesus Christ for them to receive.
Andrew Patton
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray
(retired) Forwarding Agent: Mrs.
Lois Hessler, PO Box 287, Meadville,
PA 16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 571-1
Innaihara, Mochizuki Shi, Kitasaku
Gun, Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22.
Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs. G.
Wade Fletcher, Rt. 6, Box 15,
Rushville, IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193
Japan. Forwarding Agent: P'irst
Church of Christ, Orange at Center
St., Eustis, FL 32726.
Two year subscription $.50
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Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370)
Published four times a year in
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1984
dec 37
CfIR I STMAS 19 84
Dear Friends,
The year 1984 had been associated In ay mind with Orwell's post-war book about
a world under "big brother" dictatorship since I read it condensed in The Reader's
Digest long ago,hut it has really been another good "year of the Lord" for us, and we
hope so for ail of you. We look back In thanksgiving and praise to God for His
faithfuJ providence and Love, and forward to serving in His harvest field for some
raore years; trusting Him for tlie strength needed, the results hoped tor and the life
to come. ^ay all of you have a joyful Christmas and a bright and blessed New Year.
On September 27 I became 60 years old. (Lois isn't telling her age or weight,
but she always looks younger than 1., and still has lots of blond hair on top of her
head.) This birthday is an auspicious one in the Oriental traditioncompletion of
5 rounds of the 12 animal year cycle, entrance into old or golden age, and being
allowed to exercise a little willfulness and childishness. Through the centuries
when these ideas were established, just living that long was a major accomplishment,
but nowadays Japan has the longest life-expectancy In the world~79.4 years for men,
arid 84.5 for women. So my birthday this year was celebrated in several different
wuvs and places over a period of 3 weeks and made quite an impact on me. 1. Many
cards canie from family and friends in both the United States and Japan. 2. A number
of Japanese friends gave personalized, thoughtful giltspictures, cushions, a clock,
grapes (my favorite fruit) and brush written Japanese ideographic sentiments. One of
of these was "Thank You Father" written by our son Jonathan who started studying this
difficult and classic art just a month ov so ago. All of our Japanese friends were
very impressed. 3. Each of the 3 churches where we have lived and worked gave us
honor in different ways. The Mikawashima church, established by Mr. Cunningham and a
Korean evangelist in the fall of 1924, is the same age as Lam, and on Oct. 10 they
had a special day to commemorate the anniversary, celebrate the completion of a new
parsonage and some class-rooms, and ordain 2 new elders. I had baptized both of these
men when they were boys 34 years ago, and was invited to participate In the service.
Because of full-time preaching responsibilities here, ve had not been able to visit a
service in that church for several years, so it was a joy to go back there for that
day With them. The Nakano church asked me to preach there on Sept. 23, and then
everyone stayed for rice curry and grapes! and sat around laiking about the days
when we lived there and the children were small. The preacher and others urged us
to keep on in the work, and not retire. The Mejiroda] <-.hurch asked everyone to stay
after the worship service on Oct. 14 and had a little party, fhere was cake and tea
and again a number ofspeeches from the hearts giving encouragement. They also gave
me a Polaroid camera. At the end they all raised both arms and cheered 3 tia>es In
full voi.ce."Banzai=live 10,000 years." Not many other Americans have been honored
in such a way in Japan! 4. On my birthday we received the reports of the complete
physical examinations we had during the latter part of August. We are in getieraJ
good health, but ray blood-pressure is a little too low, while l.ois' usually high b.p,
is under control. Both of our choLestorol levels are too high, and Lgot a warning
of some Hi4k of sufficient blood supply to the left side of the heart. The bottom
line is that 1 must cut back on eating many of the things I like best. So Lois can
say."I told you so;" and I can say that at least t enjoyed 60 years of eating goodies
and I guess the time has come to start eating to live instead of vice versa.
In 1982 1 finished .the Christmas letter with, "join us in prayer for more new
people, more young people, and more men," This year God has been answering those
prayers. We have had 7 baptisms, and 6 of them were young men2 Seventh grade boys,
2 Ninth grade boys (all sons of our members) and 2 young men in their twenties.
The girl is a student \i\ ran art college who lives near us and grew up in our Sunday
School. One of the. young men has since returned to his home in Kyushu, and is
attending one of our churches down there regularly. The other one is going to
raarry one of our church girls next Narch. We are afraid they will have to live in
the center of Tokyo because of his work and may not be active members here very long,
but it has been a happy and fruitful year* for us in the local church.
Our children and grand-children are ail getting along fine in every way.
HOPE and Tom and their 4 daughters Jive in Kcndallville, Indiana, They are
buying a small t'arra. and just harvested the first corn crop, Tom got a promotion
in the Searaco this fail.
SYLVIA and Dave are in their third year of ministering with Christ's Church
in West Des Moines, Iowa, They have 3 children and keep busy in many activities.
JONATHAN is gaining experience working in the church at Vokosuka, the Naval
Base city, about. 40 miles south of Tokyo, We enjoy an overnight visit from him
about once a month,
BOB and Helen are working at the same companies and living at the same place.
They are the only ones in Cincinnati now, after 16 years of having at least 1 of our
children living there.
DAN.TliL graduated from the University of Cincinnati last June 10. He and Joanne
have moved to an apartment in Belleville, Michigan. He is employed in the design
section of Chrysler Corp. Jeanne has taken a job with the Head Start program in
Detroit. This is what Daniel has wanted to do since he started drawing pictures
of cars as a little boy.
We do not have any plans to visit the United States during 1G85, but Jonathan
is planning a furlough during the last half of the year. h\siO a group of about
20 of our Japanese brethren in Christ from several of our Tokyo Churches are planning
a short trip to the United States in late Juruj and early July--to see the country and
people and churches, to visit some of their church members who are working for
Japanese companies in New York and Washington, D.C., and to express to some of our
people their appreciation for one century of missionary endeavor in Japan, More
will be announced later about their plans, but we hope some of you have an opportunity
to meet tfiera.
This letter is being writterj on luy Japanese word-processor,which was bought
in July and will be paid for after 5 years. As you can see, it knows a little
English, but the main use is for the Japanese language. [ have now gotten somewhat
used to it, and it is a great asset in the work of the church at Mejirodai already.
Yours in His service,
HAROLD AND LOIS SIMS
I Ail
JiA

SIMS TOKYO MISSION

Forwarding agent:
1st Church of Christ
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Make checks payable to '*Sims
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1984 REPORT
The new year is off to a happy, busy but
cold start. Construction is about to begin
on a 500 sq. ft. all-purpose classroom and
fellowship hall addition to our small church
building here in Mejirodai, and we all are
looking forward to using the expanded facil
ities for serving Christ and our neighbors
better, and confident that we will get it
paid for in a few years. But now we will
take one last look back through the past
year to report some of the highlights to
you who hold up our hands through financial
support.
WINTER
1984 was a very good span of time in the
work of Christ's church here, and for us
personally. We are most thankful for the
continuing prayers on our behalf by many
faithful Christians in the various places,
and we are also happy that God has given us
the health and will to keep on for some more
time to come.
Jan. 29th we hosted the Fifth Sunday Rally
with 68 people from 10 of our Tokyo area
churches crowded into our small building.
Our ladies worked together happily and ser
ved hot soup, tea and dessert to all of them
along with Kentucky Fried Chicken box lunches
for supper. The theme for the day, and for
the year as far as our church was concerned,
was "Grow More in *84." A heart-warming
meeting on a cold winter evening.
We had the coldest winter in years here,
with snow in some shady places on the north
side of the church for over 2 months. Our
water pipes froze up several times, and a
little water in the oil line froze and stop
ped the furnace on the worst day. But we
survived.
SPRING
March 25th Mr. Tsurugapka was baptized.
He had been teaching in a small private
school in our city, and began coming rather
often on week-days during the winter to talk
about various emotional and other problems.
Soon he began attending the services and
studying the Bible seriously. His father
is a farmer in southern Kyushu, and also
the priest of the local village Shinto .
shrine. His family name is the same as"that
of the famous shrine in Kamakura. Later in
the year he returned to his home and is now
working as a part-time teacher there and at
tending one of our churches where Mark Maxey
ministers. There are many lonely souls in
the big city.
March 29th one of the boys in our Middle
School Class (9th grade) was baptized in the
famous Chikuma River near Shinshu Bible Camp.
Snow still lay on the surrounding hills, and
the river was muddy and in full flow, so it
was the kind of experience that makes chills
go up and down your spine.
April 22nd we had a big attendance for
Resurrection Sunday, followed by our annual
congregational meeting. We selected a new *
set of deacons for the next 2 years, and
decided to go ahead with plans for an addi
tion to our building.
May 3-5 an older couple from Mejirodai went
with us to the Family Camp, a nice, relaxed
and edifying fellowship with other couples,
both Japanese and American. It was the first
such meeting the non-Christian husband had
ever attended.
June 10th (Pentecost), three young men
were baptized here; the Ito boy (7th grade)
and the Akioka boys (grades 7 and 9). All
were sons of our members, and it was a great
encouragement to everyone to see the second
generation coming up.
SUMMER
July 8th a young lady who lives just a
block from the church was baptized. Her
father is an artist who studied some years
in Paris and teaches in a college, and she
is in the second year at an Art College.
She grew up in our Stmday School, but her
parents were opposed to her being baptized
until she became "old enough to vote." The
same day the mother of the young man -baptized
at Csimp came to transfer her membership from
a Church of God in another part of Tokyo.
July 15th the Ohio Singers III, quartet of
2 Japanese and 2 American students from Cin
cinnati Christian Seminary who want to serve
Christ in Japan in a few years, put on a mus
ical program here.
July 25-28 we helped to host the annual
missionary convention at our Camp in Nagano
Perfecture. There were 66 present, and we
had a good time together.
July 28-30 we attended the Japanese Conven
tion in Yokohama. It was during this Conven
tion that the Japanese brethren gave special
honor to a good number of us missionaries
who have served 30 years or more in Japan.
You probably read about this in the Standard
or Horizons. Over 400 of the brethren were .
at this Convention, which was well planned
by the members of Minato church. Some new
music, with both words and tune written by
our people, was introduced in a special pro
gram on that Sunday night. I drove a small
bus down there (over 20 miles from Mejirodai)
taking 12 of our members to attend the meet
ings on Sunday, July 29th. The rest who
could not go had worship here.
Aug. 6-10 I was back at Camp for "Study Camp."
We had qualified school teachers for Math and
used missionaries for English to help the
students with their summer homework assign
ments each morning. The.students worked hard,
and both they and their parents were happy
that during those 4 days they all finished
their summer school work in those subjects.
In the afternoons we had recreation and in
the evenings devotional messages and indoor
games. We hope this camp will become more
popular and be a part of the regular summer
plans.
Aug. 10-11 I drove directly back from camp
to a place in a deep valley on the upper
reaches of the Tama River where about 35
teachers and students from our Sunday School
had already gathered for a short Vacation
"'bie School.
Aug. 29th Lois and I had our first physical
check-ups in several years, and the most com
plete ever. I told some about that in the
Christmas letter. The reports from the doc
tors affected our eating habits somewhat, but
we are in general good health.
Sept. 9th there was a special congregation
al meeting to discuss a building plan. It
was voted down because the cost was above
what the" majority thought we would be able
to pay. But they did vote to committ them
selves to up to $40,000, which is over $1,000
per member and quite a big thing for our
small group.
FALL
Sept. 27th I became 60 years old, and at
round that date there were a number of spec
ial gifts and honors given to me that will
be long remembered. I will not repeat the
details here.
Oct. 12-14 we had an evangelistic meeting
with the Camp Manager, Mr. Taninari preach
ing. The young people worked hard on public-?
ity and bringing their friends, and we had
the best attendance over-all of any such
meeting thus far.
Oct. 10th, Miss Kubota, a rather well-known
popular song writer who has been a Christian
for the past 3 years, announced her engage-
iiieuL to a youiigman who is-theson of a fam-
ous actor and the leader of the band that
accompanies her in recordings and concerts.
He first attended church with her here, and
has been studying the Bible on his own at a
Batpist church near his home in another sec
tion of Tokyo. On Oct. 21st he was baptized
here.
Nov. 26th we attended Miss Kubota's fare
well concert, as with her marriage she is
going to retire from the stage. There was a
standing-room only crowd in the 2000+ seat
auditorium. She gave a good, clear testimony
of her Christian faith and committment, and
also mentioned our names in her speech.
Nov. 2Sth we had our traditional carry-in
Thanksgiving dinner here at the church
with all making short speeches of thanks.
WINTER
Dec. 23rd we had the best attendance
ever (65 adults, 25 children) at our an
nual worship, lunch (Kentucky Fried Chick
en again, ah, yes I), musical program and
gift exchange.
Christmas Eve we had 44 at the candle
service. Christmas Day we had 70 (14
mothers) at the Sunday School program.
That night we called our children in the
U.S. (Christmas rooming there) and talked
a few minutes with each of them.
Dec. 30th we attended a Fifth Sunday
Rally at the Minato Church. A very in
spirational and-moving message was given
by a Christian man whose believing son
had died some months ago from multiple
sclerosis. As the son prepared for de
parting this life he gave some meaningful
poetry about the meaning of life, etc.,
that is very good testimony,
IN SUMMARY:
7 baptisms, 1 transfer; total active
membership now 39.
Average Morning Worship attendance: 27.3
(23.8 in 1983)
Average Sunday School attendance: 40
(50 in 1983) There seem to be fewer child
ren in the neighborhood. The local elem
entary school has one less class of first
graders than others.
We finished paying off our pledge of
400,000 yen (about $1,500) toward the build
ing of a new dormitory at Osaka Bible Sem
inary over 6 months ahead of schedule.
In four months, contributions for the
building fund were over $2,000.
The Church bought a Xerox copy machine
for our use.
With the encouragement of the church, I
bought a Japanese language word processor
which has been of much help in make-up of
the church bulletin and other publicity.
Payments will be made over 5 years.
On the first Sunday in December, two of
our 3rd grade girls came bring their
school class-mate. One had written a com
position about how much fun they had prac
ticing the Christmas play. The teacher
asked them to please take her with them to
that Sunday School, and has been here most
Sundays since then.
At the Thanksgiving meeting, Bro. Saito
told about a speech he gave at a seminar
for section chiefs in the Toshiba Electric
Co. where he works. When he announced that
his subject would be "Love," there were
laughs all over the room. But he pointed
out that love is demonstrated in each sec
tion doing its best so others don't have
to send work back or do it overconsider
ation of others and seeking the benefit of
all. Since then he has become known as a
Christian in all sections of the company
and "love" has become a key word on the as
sembly lines of that major appliance maker.
So it goes. May all of you have a very
good year.
Dear Christian Family,
Another year hastens on into history, so we tell you a little
about ourselves and wish for each of you a joyful Christmas, enriched
by reflection on the goodness and greatness of God.
FAMILY NEWS
One morning last March our phone rang, and DANIEL from Michigan
said he would be leaving for Japan in a few days with a team of men
from Chrysler Corp. for consultations about a new model car to be
produced in cooperation with Japan*s Mitsubishi Motors Co. Some days
later his wife JEANNE arrived for her first visit to Japan, and 3 weeks
later they returned to the U.S. together. Danny returned to Japan
twice in July. His Japanese language ability has been of great help
to Dan and to his company, and of course we have enjoyed seeing him
briefly during each business trip as well as getting better acquainted
with Jeanne and helping her to know some of Danny's roots.
BOB and HELEN rented two l5-passenger vans, and served very
capably as our drivers and guides during the 38 hours we spend in
Cincinnati July 7-9. They also represented our work in several area
churches during this year.
SYLVIA and her 3 children arrived from Iowa in time to visit
with us and her Japanese friends briefly in Cincinnati. After that
they went on a month-long,well-planned "Heritage Tour" through Virginia
and other States, visiting people and places connected with our family.
HOPE and her youngest daughter,Wendy, also came to Cincinnati
to see us. Their lively family of 6 are busy with life in northern
indiana, including farming 40 acres of high-yield, low-priced corn.
JONATHAN was in the U.S. for a 4-inonth furlough June-September
after finishing his first 4 year term as a missionary. He is back in
Yokosuka now, working with a young Japanese minister in the church.
EARL and WILLA helped a lot with arrangements for the Cin.
part of the Japanese Christian Tour and we slept a few hours in their
new home there. We saw RALPH and DONNA at the North American in Anaheim.
For 2 weeks this summer the world seemed smaller. The family
spent over 200 hours in airplanes during the worst year for air crashes.
By the way, 20 of us Shinshu Bible Campers climbed a mountain on Aug. 7
just a couple of miles from where JAL flight 123 crashed on Aug. 12.
MEJIRODAI CHURCH NEWS
On May 26 we dedicated the addition to our small church building
a small office and kitchen and 2 class-rooms that can be opened together
into an all-purpose room the congregation has named Sims Hall. It is
used every week, and has served well on several special days; such as
the Sept. 29 Fifth-Sunday Rally when we fed over 80 people we had come
to hear reports and see pictures of the Tour, which was certainly one
highlight of this year.
Three people (1 Jr. High and 2 Sr. High girls) have been
baptized so far this year. Oct. 20 we finished an evangelistic meeting
during which 5 people were in church for the first time.
LOOKING AHEAD
We plan a visit to the U.S. July-August 1986, beginning with
the Conventions in Indianapolis.
IN GENERAL
January will mark 40 years since Harold joined the Cunningham
Mission. We_ certainly don't plan to retire in this decade. We are
thankful for' good health and very happy in the work with Mejirodai
Church as well as with the Japanese and missionary co-workers here.
We sincerely hope the recent decline in the value of the dollar
related to the yen will help the troubled U.S. industries and trade
balances, though it is a cut in income for us. May peace prevail
between our 2 nations and over all the earth. All of us are a year
older, but may be continue to bear fruit in spite of
HAROLD AND LOIS SIMS
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I I B H S l U l S
S E A S O N ' S
G R E E T I N G S
F R O M
T O K Y O
H A R O L D A N D L O I S S I M S
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| |
1984
1OOTH ANNIVERSAR Y
EDITION
HVOGO PREF.
Kelly
OKAYAMA PREF.
Holloway
Summers
West
HIROSHIMA PREF.
Barricklow
Jones, L.
FUKUOKA PREF.
Hirotaka
NIIGATA PREF.
Belew
NAGANO PREF.
Christiansen
Cole, D
Juve
Fatten
OSAKA METRO.
Beckman, G
Beckman, J.
Clark
Mings, L
.Vunogo '
: Higashi % ^
HONSHU
Yokosuka
Isehara
WAKAYAMA PREF
Hinson
Lemmon
SHIKOKU
Tanabe
Shime
KYUSHU
^ Kagmhuna
Kanoya
Vamada AWAJI ISLAND
Fultz
KOCHI PREF.
Burney
KAGOSHIMA PREF.
Maxey, M.
Maxey, W
/2/3
HOKKAIDO
Sapporo
Sendai
HOKKAIDO
Faber
MIYAGI PREF
Jones, M.
SAITAMA PREF
Fleenor, J
Fleenor, S.
Turner
Wilkinson
TOKYO METRO
Boggs
Cole, L.
Pratt, M
Sims, H
KANAGAWA PREF.
Pratt, P.
Sims, J.
OKINAWA PREF
Woodruff
CHRISTIANS IN JAPAN: 100 YEARS(1883-1983)
INTRODUCTION
Any history written about our people
in Japan must take into account the three
strains of the restoration movement that
have worked here. All three are inter
twined and inter-dependent, especially in
the foundational years.
Second, it is apparent that due to
space limitations only the broad picture
can be painted. The details of every
missionary's endeavors can not be traced
here.
Third, the perspective of a hundred
years is not the same as that of each
missionary serving faithfully in his or her
own locale. It is expected that on some
points their viewpoints will differ from
those written below. I do not see that as
a problem.
I would encourage every missionary
to carefully record the people, places,
events and dates that will make up a
history of the work each has done. These
materials should be sent regularly to
Bible college libraries and to the Disciples
of Christ Historical Society, 1101 19th
Ave South, Nashville, Tennessee 37212.
Finally, this is a story of only mis
sionary activity. That leaves out the
other half of the story of the faithful
Christians, leaders, churches and ministers
of Japan. To know them in a prolonged,
intimate way is to be proud to have
learned from them and worked with
them. They have served sacrificially and
loyally in a basically hostile environment.
Truly, they are God's beautiful people.
Information for this history has been
gathered from many sources. I am
especially grateful, however, to Motoyuki
Nomura, minister of the Hachimanyama
Church of Christ, Tokyo. He has done
and is continuing to do extensive research
work on the early pioneer missionaries of
our peoples. I have relied on him for
details of those times and especially of
the non-instrument group of which he is
a part.
Very valuable, also, are the class notes
on Japan prepared for his mission courses
at Kentucky Christian College, Grayson,
Kentucky by Prof. Thomas Gemeinhart.
Though never having been to Japan, his
records and information regarding direct
support missionaries in Japan are more
thorough and reliable than I have found
elsewhere. My hearty thanks to both
these men.
Mark Maxey
BACKGROUND
The movement called by some the
"reformation" and by others the "Res
toration Movement" began September 7,
1809 when Thomas Campbell published
his famous Declaration and Address in
Washington, Pennsylvania. This was fol
lowed by the equally important "Sermon
on the Law" given by his son, Alexander
Campbell on August 30, 1816 at the
meeting of the Redstone Association at
the Cross Creek Baptist church. The
implications of what both had written led
them to leave the denominational church
es to which they belonged and to seek
for a return to the "ancient order" of
the church.
Previous to the Campbells, James
O'Kelly and Rice Haggard in the town of
Maryland, Virginia had led their people
out of the Methodist church. These
people adopted the name "Christian
church" and took the Bible as their only
creed. This was 1801. Over in Kentucky,
in 1804, Barton W. Stone had led the
two Presbyterian churches he preached
for, Cane Ridge and Concord, out of
that denomination. Fifteen Presbyterian
churches then formed the Springfield
Presbytery. It lasted only a short time
until dissolved by a famous document
called The Last Will and Testament of
the Springfield Presbytery. By this
statement they renounced all creeds,
took the Bible alone "as the only sure
guide to heaven" and adopted the name
Christian. Rice Haggard, who had come
from Virginia to cast his lot with Stone's
unity movement, made the motion to
adopt this name. Finally, at a historic
meeting in Lexington, Kentucky, De
cember 30January 2, 183132, the
Stone-Campbell forces united. A stir
ring sermon preached by frontier preach
er "Raccoon" John Smith was the fire
that warmed the spirit of unity that day.
It was Alexander Campbell, however,
who became the acknowleged leader of
the movement.
This movement had marvelous success
for eighty years. But on August 18,
1889, led by Daniel Sommer in the
North, it divided. On that day, brethren
gathered at the Sand Creek church in
Shelby County, Illinois, passed a decla
ration that they would no longer fellow
ship with those who used instrumental
music in worship. As far as the South
was concerned, David Lipscomb, in 1906,
petitioned the government for a separate
listing in the census. From then on this
group came to be known exclusively by
the name "Church of Christ" (non-instru
ment).
A second division took place following
the formation of the United Christian
Missionary Society on June 20, 1920.
This was an amalgamation of all then
existing missionary agencies. But the
new society came to be the vehicle of
liberal theology, open membership and
control of local churches. This group
became known officially as the Disciples
of Christ and . more recently as The
Christian Church.
Those that remained, called by James
Deforest Murch (in his book, Christians
Only) "the Centrists", named their local
congregations either "Church of Christ"
or "Christian Church". Each church
decided for itself. As a group they stood
for free churches, conventions for preach
ing and fellowship only and a thoroughly
conservative theology. Also they became
champions of independent or direct sup
port missions as a viable method of carry
ing out missionary work world-wide.
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
The Forei^ Christian Missionary So
ciety (FCMS) of the Disciples of Christ
was formed in 1877. M/M Charles E.
Garst and M/M George T. Smith answered
their first call for missionary recruits for
Japan. (For the full story of the Garsts,
read his wife's book, A West Pointer in
the Land of the Mikado 1913.)
Charles E. Garst
These two families, including the
Smiths' young daughter, Elsie, sailed from
San Francisco September 27, 1883 and
arrived in Yokohama October 18, 1883
after a very rough voyage.
They settled in Aklta Prefecture on
the snow-driven northwest coast of Hon
shu, Japan's main island. Josephine
Smith died there March 23, 1884, shortly
after childbirth. Her infant daughter died
a month later. Mrs. Smith's is the first
missionary grave in northern Japan and
the first Disciple missionary to give her
life on a foreign field.
A year later the Garsts had their first
convert and four years later they moved
eighty miles south to the town of Tsuru-
gaoka. They stayed there three years
until furlough time. The churches the
Garsts established in Akita and Honjo
still exist today and will soon have their
own hundredth anniversaries.
On return from furlough, the Garsts
settled in Tokyo as a result of a change
in missionary policy. A. McLean, Presi
dent of the FCMS wrote (The History of
the Foreign Missionary Society, 1919,
p. 201): "It was believed that a mission
with its headquarters in the capital would
have a prestige that it could not have
otherwise . . . The plan adopted did not
work out as well as it had been hoped."
Garst himself died in Tokyo during
his second term of service, age 45, after
a long illness. He had literally burned
himself out in his missionary endeavors.
He is buried in Aoyama Cemetery in
central Tokyo.
it should be noted in passing that to
this day the entire west coast of Honshu,
hundreds of miles long, remains neglected
by our people.
The Disciples' work in Tokyo expand
ed rapidly to Fukushima Prefecture and
to the cities of Sendai in the north and
Osaka in the south. Drake Bible College
was started in 1903 on a large tract of
land in Takinogawa near Tokyo. Middle
schools and other institutions were start
ed on this site in 1905 and 1906. Drake
Bible college was closed in 1923 in favor
of a union school which eventually be
came Tokyo Union Theological Seminary
(Kyodan).
In 1940, the Disciples had 7 mis
sionaries, 13 pastors, 19 churches, 2666
members and 35 baptisms. These church
es joined the Kyodan (United Church of
Christ of Japan) October 17, 1940. All
Disciple mission properties and institu
tions also passed over to the Kyodan.
The 1956 report of the United Chris
tian Missionary Society stated, "In regard
to the churches themselves, together with
the dozen or so kindergartens and other
activities that they maintain, it would be
misleading to speak of them as "our"
churches because they consider them
selves a part of the movement in Japan
for the unity of God's people that
comprises all of the 1450 congregations
in the United Church. Within this great
fellowship they are happy to be making
their witness to their Bible-based beliefs,
without any arrogant assumption that
their understanding of the Bible is su
perior to that of others." (p.818, 1956
Year Book of Disciples of Christ).
Any Disciple missionaries now serving
in Japan are working under the Japan
North AmericanCommission on Coopera
tive Mission. As missionaries under this
Interboard Committee, their Disciple
identities are unknown.
At present sixteen former Disciple
churches belong to the Kyodan. Open
membership is required by this group.
Where immersion still continues for new
members, it is done more as a remem
brance of things past than out of scrip
tural convictions. All local ministers are
appointed by Kyodan headquarters.
Since it is now over 40 years since the
Kyodan was formed, there are no Kyodan
ministers now being appointed who were
trained in Christian Church seminaries or
who know anything about it.
Very old members remember their
baptism by Disciple missionaries and
some of them recall when there were
thriving Disciple churches at every major
railroad stop between Tokyo and Sendai,
200 miles to the north.
The International Convention of
Churches of Christ pays the way for
Kyodan delegates to its quadrennial
gatherings in different parts of the world.
It is a pleasant fiction to maintain that
Kyodan churches are still churches of
Christ while at the same time this con
vention fails to recognize and represent
independent churches of Christ beyond
the United States and Canada. It is a free
convention, however, so the independents
are free to attend if they wish.
Pre-war, serving under the FCMS and
later the UCMS, the Disciples had 44
married missionaries, 26 single mission
aries and 15 who were independent but
had some Disciple connection.
Post-war, serving entirely with the
Kyodan, the Disciples have had 24 mar
ried missionaries and 13 single mission
aries working in Japan.
CHURCHES OF CHRIST
(non-instrument)
One of the remarkable pioneer mis
sionaries of our people in Japan was W.K.
Azbill. While Azbill can not be definitely
labeled as Disciple or Christian or Church
of Christ, he can certainly be identified as
the first person to put into practice the
principles which developed into the inde
pendent or direct support mission meth
od.
Azbill arrived in Japan in early 1892
with a band of four mission volunteers:
Miss Lucia Scott, Miss Carme Hostetter
and M/M J.M. McCaleb.

Miss Scott, Miss Hostetter, W. K. Azbill, Mr. and Mrs. McCaleb

J.M. McCalebstayed in Japan 42 years.
His autobiography, Once Traveled Roads
(1934), is a thoroughly enjoyable story
of a man of conviction and principle
typical of the early missionaries who
came to Japan. It is also the story of a
man pretty hard to get along with. He
was an autocrat with staying power.
McCaleb believed it was wrong to use
instrumental music in worship. He also
believed it was wrong to receive support
from any organization, even if it was a
part of a local congregation. He parted
company with his mentor, W.K. Azbill,
because Azbill had accepted a pledge of
$25 per quarter from a Christian En
deavor Society in an Ohio church.
McCaleb had a plan for training young
men by having them in residence in his
home in Zoshigaya but ultimately it was
not successful. His home still stands in
Toshima-Ku (Ward) in Tokyo. That
Ward has recently bought the house to
preserve it as a cultural monument.
Equally important in early non-instru
ment history was Eugenese Snodgrass.
(Though mt^t documents call him "Eu
gene" his correct name is as above.) He
arrived in the spring of 1888 and was
sent to Akita Prefecture by the FCMS.
He was not comfortable there for two
reasons. One, his passport said that he
was in Akita to teach in a mission school
which in fact the FCMS had already
closed. Snodgrass was too conscientious
a person to continue there under false
pretenses. Second, he was convinced that
the mission headquarters should be locat
ed in Tokyo, not in Akita. He was push
ing for such a relocation.
After he returned to Tokyo, Snodgrass
had a very emotional argument with
fellow FCMS missionary, George T.
Smith, when Smith attempted to intro
duce the organ into the worship service.
As a result, The FCMS asked them both
to resign. The matter was submitted to
the Broadway Christian Church, J.W.
McGarvey's home church, Lexington,
Kentucky. When this church supported
the Society's decision, Snodgrass became
an independent missionary (1892).
In Tokyo, Snodgrass joined with
Loduska J. Wirick and Miss C.T. (?)
Penrod to form a Bible chair in the
first church of our people in Tokyo.
It became the prototype of the Kami-
tomizaka church. Snodgrass went back
to the U.S. in 1893 and returned to
Japan for one more term, 1895-1903.
As a writer of the "Foreign Missionary
Column" in the non-instrument journal,
the Gospel Advocate, he became a strong
supporter of independent imissionary
work and a gadfly of missionary organi
zations. In one of his columns he listed
21 independent missionaries working in
Japan in 1895.
Another important missionary in those
pioneer days was William Bishop, who
served in Japan from 18991913. He
was the first one to translate into Japa
nese J.W. McGarvey's commentary. Acts
of the Apostles. Motoyuki Nomura
f
O.D. Bixler and E.A. Rhodes in 1919
and the twin brothers, Herman Fox and
Harry Robert Fox in 1920 were notable
missionaries in the pre-war period. These
men were from the pre-millennial group
of about ICQ churches based in Louis
ville, Kentucky. They were moderates,
not given to fighting over the millennial
issue. Rhodes always maintained his pre-
millenial relationship, but the other three
later became associated with the "main
stream" Churches of Christ, numbering
about 10,000 churches, centered in Ten
nessee and Texas. Bixler, Rhodes and
Herman Fox settled in Ibaraki Prefec
ture while Harry Fox settled in Fuku-
shima.
B.D. Morehead served in Japan from
19251930. A Tennessee brother named
King provided the money and Morehead
used it to start King's Bible School in
Hitachi-Ohta, Ibaraki with ten students.
It was the predecessor of Ibaraki Chris
tian College.
Morehead was a peacemaker, loved by
all, but he couldn't get the language.
He was persuaded to return to Tennessee
and recruit missionaries. This he did.
He returned to Nashville and became a
one-man missionary society recruiting
missionaries from the "mainstream" non-
instrumental churches in the south. He
is still alive, age 86.
First back after the war was Harry
Robert Fox, Sr. He came to Nagasaki in
September 1945, working as an inter
preter with the commission investigating
atomic bomb casualties. He used the
occasion to visit the churches and report
on their situation. He and O.D. Bixler
recruited a hardy group of missionaries
mainly from Harding College headed by
Pres. George Benson, but also from re
lated churches in the south. This was a
switch both for the college and the
churches which, until Benson's time, were
either anti-missionary or non-missionary
in stance.
O.D. Bixler returned to Japan, Decem
ber 16, 1946 along with twenty represen
tatives of various missionary groups under
an arrangement with the Civil Infor
mation and Education branch of General
MacArthur's headquarters. They brought
a shipload of goats and cows to help
restore a food supply for a Japan which
at that time was living at a near starvation
level. Bixler was a strong post-war
figure. After his death, his son returned
for a time to carry on his work, especially
with the church at Ochanomizu.
E.A. Rhodes was also able to come
back early as a dependent of his son
who was serving in Eighth Army Head
quarters, Yokohama.
Churches of Christ had already bought
a tract of land from the Hitachi Company
in Ibaraki Prefecture. Harry Robert Fox,
Jr. and his brother, Logan Fox, together
with a group of students mainly from
Harding College, settled there. Shion
Gakuen was started in 1948, Tandai
Junior College and the four-year Ibaraki
College in 1951. The Bible chair that was
on the campus has now been moved to
Mito. The College Church of Christ will
also soon have to go, leaving the college
mostly in secular hands.
Practically every denominational group
in the early days thought that founding
educational institutions was one of the
best ways to win Japan to Christ. Such
institutions have consumed a great por
tion of the funds committed for evange
lizing this country without accomplishing
that purpose. Finally these institutions
become operated by an administration
and faculty which are mostly non-Chris
tian while the Christian influence that
remains becomes symbolic. This has
happened world-wide.
At the present time. Churches of
Christ have 4045 churches. These are
mostly in the area from Shizuoka to
Ibaraki with one each in Sapporo,
Misawa, Hachinohe, Sendai, Nagoya,
Osaka and three in Okinawa. There are
30 ministers, 10 ministerial students, 9
missionaries and a membership of about
1000. The ministers jointly publish a
monthly magazine, Fukuin. with a circu
lation of 700. They have 3 benevolent
institutions and 2 summer camp grounds.
Pre-war, non-instrument churches had
33 married missionaries and 16 single
missionaries who served in Japan.
DIRECT SUPPORT MISSIONS
(Christian churches and
churches of Christ)
Belle Bennett, daughter of mission
aries serving in Australia, died in a boat
ing accident in the Des Moines river the
day before she was to go to Japan as a
missionary. This was 1889. The students
of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa,
raised $4000 in her memory and asked
for a missionary volunteer to go in Miss
Bennett's place.
Loduska J. Wirick answered that call.
She came to Japan in the summer of
1890. To her regret, the FCMS retained
control of the memorial fund for five
years. It was only after that time that
she was able to receive the proceeds
directly and become truly independent.
Hi
m A
Loduska WiricK
So it can be truly said that Miss
Wirick was the first independent mis
sionary of our people. She served nobly
in Japan, particularly in her service to
many Japanese soldiers wounded in the
war with Russia and brought back to
Japan for treatment. For this work she
became known as the "Nightingale of
the Orient."
She was on furlough in Iowa when an
examination at the Mayo Clinic revealed
she had cancer. She immediately said
good-bye to her aging mother and return
ed to Japan to finish up her work and die
here April 30, 1914. Her grave has an
unusual gravestone a pulpit with an
open Bible resting on it with the inscrip
tion from Hebrews 11:4, "Being dead
yet speaketh." It deserves to be visited
by every missionary. She is buried in
Somei Cemetery, Toshima-ku, in northern
Tokyo.
Miss Wirick's grave
It was W.D. Cunningham who made
independent missions the standard for
missionary outreach of "the Centrists".
Born July 19, 1864 in Dawson, Penn
sylvania, he graduated from Bethany
College and had successful ministries in
Canada. After he married Emily Boyd
in June, 1898, they applied to the
FCMS to work in Japan with C.E. Garst.
They were ready to go when Cun
ningham came down with polio. His left
side was greatly affected. After he re
covered, he applied to the FCMS again.
They said to wait a year. Again he
applied and again he was refused. In
April, 1900 he received the final rejec
tion by the FCMS. As he was asking
himself, "Why?", his mind leaped to a
great truth: "God and the Missionary
Society were not identical. Since God
called, he could answer, depending on
God, who is more powerful than any
society. He would go to Japan. He
would go at once. He would answer
God's call. He need wait no longer..."
(The Flaming Torch, 1939, p.28)
His wife agreed with him that they
would go to Japan on faith. They arrived
in Tokyo, September 12, 1901, bringing
with them their three-year-old daughter,
Eloise. (Eloise Cunningham is still living
in Tokyo, active in music circles, but out
of touch and out of harmony with her
parents' successors.)
Cunningham immediately began to
earn a living teaching English. In his
mission work, however, he did not start
from scratch. He acquired the property
and the eleven-year-old work of Alice
Miller, Lucia Scott and Carme Hostetter
known as the Yotsuya Mission. This was
and is a strategic piece of property. He
built a house and a church on the land,
and the Cunningham mission began.
I
Cunningham was 37 years old when
he came to Japan, but he plunged into
his work with energy and dynamism.
He was a rugged individualist. This
might be best illustrated by what he
wrote to Alva Ross Brown, then Presi
dent of Johnson Bible College, asking
him to serve on the mission's Advisory
Board. He said, "Unless you survive the
writer, your duties will be to give counsel
when asked." Another advisor, W.R.
Walker, did not recall ever being asked.
Through his superb promotional ideas,
he built the Yotsuya work into one of
the biggest independent missionary works
our people ever had. In 1926 the mission
had receipts of $77,235.60 and was
praying to receive $165,000 a year.
Translated into today's sums that would
equal a million dollars. Amazing! He
wanted to employ workers costing
$50,000 a year, invest $100,000 in land
and buildings and another $15,000 in
furnishings and equipment.
That pointed up the weakness of
Cunningham's work. Everyone was
"hired". National preachers, most with
denominational backgrounds, were em
ployed. They had to assemble every
Monday morning and give a numerical
report of their last week's activities.
Even the missionaries were hired. It
is significant that Grace Farnham was
the only missionary to stay long enough
to earn a furlough but she resigned soon
after she returned to Japan. M/M J.
Fenton Messenger also served a full term
but resigned before leaving for furlough.
In 1922 the mission had 6 churches,
8 out-stations and a training class for
ministers conducted in two out-stations.
But Cunningham never tried to start a
Bible college to train his own men. In
October, 1924, he sent his best man,
Li Wan Kyun to begin a work in Korea,
the first work done in that country by
Churches of Christ. The work was suc
cessful and was Cunningham's pride and
joy.
Then the Depression hit. Income
fell two-thirds. Out-stations began to
close. John Chase approached Mr. Cun
ningham and asked for a raise, saying he
was not getting enough to live on. Cun
ningham refused. Chase took his case to
the brotherhood papers including Cun
ningham's own Tokyo Christian. In
October, 1934, Cunningham called Chase
over to his house, met him at the door
and said, "You're fired."
That was the zenith of the Cun
ningham work. Chase left Japan and
returned in 1936 to do an outstanding
work in Korea. Vivian Lemmon, Grace
Famham and Ruth Schoonover resigned
in protest and the Cunninghams were
left to carry on alone temporarily. The
three ladies began a mission work in
Mabashi, Tokyo, November 11, 1934.
Grace Farnham is retired, living in Turner,
Oregon. Ruth Schoonover died in Tanabe
where she was starting a work. After a
number of years in the U.S. taking care
of her aging father, Vivian Lemmon
returned in 1950 to do a very successful
work in Tanabe, south of Osaka, where
she still lives. She is the grand old lady
of our people in Japan, loved and re
spected by all.
While on furlough, Mr. Cunningham
died quite suddenly in Rochester, Min
nesota, June 24,1936. Mrs. Cunningham
returned to carry on the work alone.
Through tlie good offices of Judge Hath-
cock of Atlanta, Georgia, she was able to
recruit M/M Owen Still to come and
assist her.
They arrived on the Taiyo Maru, that
venerable passenger ship which carried
so many hundreds of missionaries to
Japan in her day. The Stills lived with
Mrs. Cunningham briefly, then in Shibuya
before settling in Higashi Nakano. In
late 1940 the family returned to the
U.S. as the shadow of war began to fall.
Mrs. Cunningham was repatriated on the
Gripsholm in June, 1942 and Grace
Farnham, in September, 1943 on the
same ship. She was the last of our
missionaries to return.
No list of pioneer independent mis
sions would be complete without men
tioning M/M M.B. Madden. They came
to Japan first in 1895 with the FCMS.
Mr. Madden was a short man and could
be mistaken for a Japanese. He mastered
the language and evangelized tirelessly.
Mrs. Madden was his equal in talent.
Few people have written so carefully and
beautifully about Japan as she. In
addition to many articles published in
The Lookout, she has 10 published books
to her credit, the most famous of which
is In the Land of the Cherry Blossoms.
In 1914 M.B. Madden resigned from
the FCMS because of their autocratic
methods. Particularly, he objected to
being moved around so much and for
their failure to back a policy of self-
support among the Japanese churches.
The Maddens returned to Japan as
independent missionaries in 1919, settling
in the Temmabashi district of Osaka.
They rented property there and began a
church and kindergarten. This property
was damaged by the Muroto Typhoon of
1934. The Maddens tried to buy this
property from the owner but he would
not sell. They then bought the property
in Asahi-ku where Osaka Bible Seminary
now stands. Both Mr. & Mrs. Madden
had a vision of starting a Bible college
to train preachers. They invited M/M
Harold Cole to come to Japan for that
purpose.
Harold Cole began the classes of Osaka
Bible Seminary in April, 1937. The
school continued until ended by the war
in May, 1941.
The Madden's daughter, Grace, was
also in Osaka at the same time in charge
of kindergarten work. She married
Gerald Braley, then employed by The
Mainichi newspaper. Both of them
taught classes in the English night
school.
LIST OF PRE-WAR MISSIONARIES
(Direct support or independent)
Here is a list of the pre-war direct
support (independent) missionaries: W.
D. Cunningham, 19011936; Emily Cun
ningham; 1901-1953; M/M J.F. Mes
senger, 19151920; M/M Harold Beatty,
Tokyo, 1921-1927; M/M Frank L. Lap-
pin, 19221923; Miss Lean Gilbert, 1923
-1924; M/M R.W. Isaacson, 1924-1928,
Grace Farnham, 19251934 with the
Cunningham work, 19351960, indepen
dent, founded Mabashi Christian Mission;
Doris Cunningham, 19271929; M/M
John T. Chase, 19271936; Majel Lusby,
19281931; Vivian Lemmon, 1930-
1934, left Cunningham work and return
ed in 1935 to take care of her father;
Ruth Schoonover, 1931-1934, left Cun
ningham work and worked with Mabashi
Mission till 1941, returned to Japan in
1948 to start work in Tanabe and died
six months later; Ray Sawyer, Osaka,
19331935; Edith Shimmel and Ethel
Jones, 19341939, who later went to
the Philippines and then to Hawaii; M/M
T.G. Hitch and daughter, Annie from
Australia, to Cunningham mission, 1936;
M/M Owen Still, 1936-1940 and 1947-
1948, when they returned to Hawaii; and
Paul and Marcia Nielsen, 1941, for seven
months.
THE WAR YEARS
As already noted, the Disciples joined
the government-decreed Kyodan almost
immediately, even gladly. And some of
them even joined the Kyodan after the
war.
We would like to write a thrilling story
of how the independent churches main
tained their worship services in spite of
the privations of the war and the loss of
their buildings. Unfortunately, that is
not the case. When the buildings were
lost, the churches were lost.
Many of the Yotsuya Mission ministers
had lost their vision of estabUshing non-
denominational New Testament churches
and thought of themselves as ministers of
just another denomination. Without con
victions regarding our "plea", they had
no problem in joining the Kyodan.
One source says, "Of the Yotsuya
mission, all but one of the churches
ultimately entered the United Church
over the protests of Mrs. Cunningham
and the Stills. No vote was taken in
these churches over the matter, it was
decided by the Japanese pastors."
Mrs. Cunningham said, "Many of our
members were opposed to it, but were
helpless to do anything. The members
did not know they were in the Union
until I discovered it and told them.
They discharged their minister, but they
were in the Union and couldn't get out."
The Mabashi church did not join the
Kyodan. But after September, 1941,
they met privately in the minister's home
rather than in the church building.
In Osaka the war brought a complete
loss of buildings, and most of the mem
bership was lost by death and dissemina
tion. A real hero in Osaka, however,
was Bro. Hiromu Sugano, a devout Chris
tian and retired Army captain. When the
Madden mission was destroyed by fire
bombing, he had a shack built on it so
that the land was occupied until the mis
sionaries returned. If he had not done
this, the property would have been lost.
As for the non-instrument churches
during this period, those churches located
in Shizuoka, Chiba and Ibaraki Prefec
tures did not join the Kyodan but con
tinued meeting in homes. Some had their
church buildings confiscated Chiba at
that time had two churches vkdth a total
membership of 600 members.
The Kamitomizaka and Zoshigaya
churches joined to form the Toshima-
Zoshigaya church. This church called
Suematsu Saito as minister. He led the
church into the Kyodan and so it was
lost.
'THE POST WAR PERIOD
First to arrive after the war were M/M
Owen Still. Owen arrived in January,
1947 and Shirley followed in May, leav
ing their children in Hawaii to con
tinue their education. They lived un
complainingly in poverty in a small rented
apartment in Setagaya-ku. Pauline and
I visited them there early in 1948 as we
finished our chaplaincy tour in Otsu.
These were unforgettable hours. No
people more typified the spirit and man
ner of Christ to the Japanese than this
couple. Their life story is written by
their daughter in the book. In Word or
In Deed (Mission Services, 1970, 2nd
printing).
Harold Cole came back alone in March,
1947. He had a joyful reunion with
Bro. Sugano and began holding classes
again in a downtown building. Cole also
bought the land adjoining the old semi
nary property. The Asahi church and
kindergarten, the girls' dormitory and
the mission house now stand on this
property.
Meanwhile, M.B. Madden had raised
S4000 for a repatriation fund. When he
could not return, he turned over the
money to Harold Cole, who built the
Clark house complete for that sum..
$4000 would go a long way in those
days.
Leone Cole and the children joined
him in November, 1947 and they con
tinued their work at Minoo.
Our people owe a debt of gratitude
to Harold Cole for the property he
bought, the solid buildings he built at
the Seminary and elsewhere and for the
superb group of missionaries which he
recruited. Truly, his work lives after
him, especially in Osaka Bible Seminary
which has continued faithfully at its
task since founding and for the last 33
years under the untiring leadership of
Martin B. Clark.
Before returning to Japan herself, Mrs.
Cunningham recruited Harold Sims and
Andrew Patton at Atlanta Christian
College. Harold and Lois Sims arrived as
newlyweds, November, 1947. Andrew
Patton came in 1948. He married Betty
Armstrong during his first furlough and
they returned to Japan in 1953. Through
the good offices of Judge Hathcock of
Atlanta, Stanley and Mabel Buttray
(1949-1983) joined the Cunningham
mission. Samuel and Emily Saunders
(1948-1950) also worked wiA the Cun
ningham mission a short time.
Harold Sims started the Nakano
church on the old property, the Mikawa-
shima (Korean) church also on the former
property and more recently the Mejirodai
church in a Tokyo suburb. Andrew
Patton started the Nishiogikubo church
and worked with the churches at Kami-
uma, Higashi-Nakano and Yokosuka.
Stanley Buttray started the Kamiochiai
church and the Yokosuka church, build
ing on a small nucleus left by Daniel
Wise of the U.S. Navy. He also worked
with the Yochomachi church, which was
started by Samuel Saunders. These
were great days for the church in Japan
in spite of shortages of everything.
Tokyo Bible Seminary, led by Andrew
Patton, operated on the Higashi Nakano
property for ten years (1948-1958), It
turned out twenty graduates of whom
seven are still active in the ministry.
Mrs. Cunningham returned also (No
vember, 1947), built a small house on
the site of the former one" and lived out
her days there. Having tea with her just
after our return to Japan as missionaries
and seeing her stand at the gate waving
until we were out of sight is still one of
the refreshing memories that Pauline and
I have of the past.
(continued on page 37)
INDEX
BARRICKLOW Page 31
G. BECKMAN 13
J. BECKMAN 30
BELEW 36
BOGGS 34
BURNEY 20
CHRISTIANSON 25
CLARK 14
D. & L. COLE 9
FABER 19
J. FLEENOR 16
S. FLEENOR 17
FULTZ 17
HINSON 32
HIROTAKA 17
HOLLOWAY 27
L. JONES 28
M.JONES 23
JUVE 35
KELLY 28
LEMMON 8
M.MAXEY 15
W. MAXEY 26
MINGS 17
PATTON 11
M. PRATT 29
P. PRATT 21
H. SIMS 10
J. SIMS 33
SUMMERS 36
TURNER 22
WEST 18
WILKINSON 24
WOODRUFF 12
PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
Norma Burney
Paul Pratt
Bill & Betty Turner
Pictures on pages 2 to 7 provided by
Brother Nomura.
Printed in Japan
by New Life League
March, 1984 4M
VIVIAN LEMMON
JAPAN ADDRESS
33 Kamiyashiki, Tanabe
Wakayama-ken
646 Japan
Tel. (0739) 24-6965
FORWARDING ADDRESS
TANABE CHRISTIAN MISSION
Miss Pearl Gerner
419 So. Walsh St.,
Garrett, Indiana 46738
Tel. (219) 357-5805
Thirty one years ago 1 came to Tanabe
at the request of Christians who had
known me in Tokyo before the war.
The church was already started and con
tinued by Mr. Kawamura, the first pas
tor, after the death of Ruth Schoonover.
A new church building, kindergarten
and parsonage were erected in 1953.
Since that time Kinan Church of Christ
has continued to be the only Church of
Christ in Wakayama Prefecture. Now
that David and Ruth Hinson have come
to Misu, a suburb, we are hopeful of
having other churches established in the
When 1 had a car, we went to several
villages for children's meetings and adult
services. We are happy that a number of
those who were baptized at that time
have continued faithful. I have tried to
work with the pastor, and have Bible
classes and English classes at the church,
at home, and in one high school.
Thirty years ago we had outdoor
services at the beach each Saturday.
Soon after the war there were no tele
visions, not many cars, or other distrac
tions. Two or three hundred people
came each week to listen to the Bible
lesson. Now, with all the prosperity and
activities, few people are interested in
listening. High school and junior high
students are kept so busy with school
study and activity they have little time
for spiritual things. Our work requires
lots of faith and patience.
Just this week, however, I talked
with a high school senior girl. She has
gone through kindergarten, Sunday
School and Junior Bible class and is
preparing to go to college this spring.
She confessed her faith and desire to be
a Christian, but her father is opposed.
She has determined to keep her faith
until she becomes of age in two years.
Then she will decide for herself. I was
thrilled to realize that the seed planted
through the years has born fruit. And
how many others will keep the faith and
become Christians? We can never know
tlie value or result of our work for years
to come.
Tanabe, a city of 80,000, has no
college or university. This spring five
Christian boys went away to universities,
two to Osaka Bible Seminary. Many
years ago we bought property at Misu, a
country village, now a part of Tanabe.
We called David and Ruth Hinson to
live there and do village evangelism. They
have made a good beginning, and we
feel proud of this outreach of Kinan
Church. (Kinan is the name of the
southern part of Wakayama peninsula.)
Every Friday morning church ladies
come to practice hymns. Wives of
doctors at Kinan hospital are coming.
The fellowship is wonderful, and we
pray that they will learn to know Christ.
And so we work; personal work, teach
ing, living with the people; pastor Mori-
kawa and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Ueyama,
and 1. Results are slow, but the influence
continues to grow. Mr. Nakano, an
early Christian, is now a teacher, business
manager and head trustee of Osaka Bible
Seminary. Will you pray for the work
and workers for Christ in Tanabe?
DAVID,RIKA & LEONE COLE
1937 and 1981
JAPAN ADDRESS
Leone: 3-7-8 Higashi Nakano
Nakano Ku, Tokyo
164 Japan
Tel. (03) 361-0533
David: 745 Oaza Shimogoe
Usuda Machi, Minami Saku
Nagano 384-04 Japan
Tel. (02678) 2-5939
Leone began work for Japan in Octo
ber 1936. She and Harold married in
February 1936 and ministered to the
church in Yuma, Arizona. Arriving in
Japan in April 1937, they began Osaka
Bible Seminary, worked with two
churches and Christian kindergartens,
taught Bible classes and studied the lan
guage. Leone was ordered home by the
U.S. government in October 1940.
Harold returned the next year due to
secret police embarrassing the Christians
because of his presence. Their first
child was born thirteen days later. They
ministered again in Yuma and Harold
served three years in the chaplaincy.
Harold returned to Japan in April
1947 followed by Leone and three chil
dren in November. They reopened the
Seminary; built churches and missionary
homes; helped begin twelve churches;
carried on a printing ministry for nine
teen years and evangelized blind, lepers
and old people. Film evangelism and a
bus ministry were realized. Their last
effort was in helping to find land and to
begin the building of an all-year-around
Bible camp. The Coles returned suddenly
to the States for Harold's cancer surgery
in 1975 and Harold lived two years,
actively working in the First Christian
Church, Long Beach, California.
Leone returned to Japan in November
1981 and now teaches in summer camps,
holds women's seminars and leads Bible
classes in Tokyo, Nakai and Kolesashi.
She will help with the work in Isehara
for three months. Leone just completed
ten months' work in Okayama Prefec
ture caring for a Christian Center; work
ing with children, youth and adults in
Bible classes; beginning a new work for
women including a deaf young woman;
sponsoring film evangelism; participating
in the four-church monthly rallies and
sharing at an old people's home. She
h:]i
- , LepKi^
" -' '. Luke
IDavid Rika
(3) "1
worked with two congregations bringing
messages to monthly rallies, to rallies
with the Akashi church and two of our
National Conventions.
Leone rejoices in the work and pro
gress in Japan, seeing second and third
generation Christians.
David, the youngest of the four Cole
children, was born December 27, 1955
in Kobe, Japan and has grown up on the
mission field. He graduated from Pacific
Christian College in 1978 with a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Missions. Rika was
born June 21, 1957 in Asashina, Japan.
She was won to the Lord by Dave's
mother and baptized by his father when
she was seventeen. She graduated from
Osaka Bible Seminary with a two-year
certificate in 1978. Dave and Rika were
married in the United States and Dave
studied for a year at Fuller Theological
Seminary School of World Missions.
During that time Miriam was born.
They came to Tokyo in January 1981
for their first term as missionaries. Dave
spent two years in language study and
graduated from Japan Missionary Lan
guage Institute. Their son Luke and
daughter Esther joined them.
Dave and Rika participate in various
evangelism. Dave is a member of the
Kanto Evangelistic Association composed
of Christian church missionaries. The
association's main outreach is tract dis
tribution to schools and apartment build
ings. Responses from the tracts are
followed up with Bibles, correspondence
courses and evangelistic visits by the
missionaries.
Work at Shinshu Bible Camp is a
major outreach of the Coles. They
participate in most of the Christian
Church camps - about eight a year.
With the exception of "Christian Leader
ship" camp over 90% of the campers
are non-Christian. Bible preaching and
teaching are the primary objectives and
the response is greater than in any other
kind of evangelism they do.
The Coles own ten Christian films,
good contact-making tools, which are
used by our missionaries and churches
all over Japan.
Dave taught four English classes at
the Komatsugawa Church in eastern
Tokyo as part of a community service
project to make contacts for the church.
He taught three adult classes and one
children's class. Dave also taught Bible
and English classes in his home. All
classes met once a week.
Occasionally Dave preaches to Tokyo
congregations and both he and Rika
participated at the Sakurayama Church
in leading the worship service, com
munion and offering, writing the church
paper and cleaning the building. The
Coles entertain many guests, building
relationships and sharing the Gospel.
In December 1983, Dave and Rika
moved to Nagano Prefecture to begin
a new work in the town of Usuda.
They plan to continue many avenues of
evangelism, bringing people to Christ
and forming new churches.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
RURAL AND PRINTING EVANGELISM
Mrs. Barbara Jennings
19581 Topeka Lane
Huntington Beach. California 92646
Tel. (714) 962-5955
HAROLD & LOIS SIMS
JAPAN ADDRESS
3-33-7 Mejirodai
Hachioji-shi
Tokyo 193 Japan
Tel. (0426) 61-4184
Our first 3 years in Japan we lived in
Mikawashima, a crowded, noisy, small-
factory district on the north side of
Tokyo. About 1924 a church had been
established by some of the many Koreans
who lived in that area after a tent revival
meeting, but the whole area had been
bombed out in the final months of
World War II. Starting with a few of the
remaining members, preaching through
interpreters, and meeting in homes, the
work was restarted and a small building
was erected, with the Cunningham Mis
sion furnishing the necessary and almost
unobtainable cement and glass. The
morning services were always held in
the Korean language, and the Japanese
language was used in the evening service.
Since that time there have been many
changes and several different Korean
ministers; They have built, and paid for,
a very nice building that accomodates
the congregation averaging about 80 every
Sunday moriung.
The next 16 years we were at Nakano,
a crowded middle-class, residential ward
on the west side of Tokyo. The Cunning
ham Mission had a church and kinder
garten at this place before the war, but
the buildings were burned, and none of
the members were left. Mrs. Cunningham
built a missionary home on that land,
partly because it was only one mile
from our Tokyo Bible Seminary, and
asked us to move there and start a church.
Harold also taught in the Seminary for
the ten years it operated.
Services were held in our living-room
for two years, and then, with assistance
from the Mission, a church building with
parsonage rooms upstairs for a Japanese
preacher was built. Harold did some of
the preaching, but during those years we
worked together with four different
young Japanese preachers who were also
students at our Tokyo Bible Seminary.
The last of these has been the preacher
at this church for over twenty years.
The morning worship attendance there
presently averages between twenty-five
and thirty. About thirty years ago
Lois started a ladies' Bible study group
in that church. She still goes to Nakano
to meet with them every second and
fourth Thursday, and though some are
in their seventies and eighties, they still
are very faithful to the church.
During 196668 we returned to the
United States for two years in order to
settle our daughters into College and
American society. After returning to
Japan we served one year interim at Ise-
hara while the Pratts went on furlough
and another year at Sayama after the
John Kachelinyers left. During this
time we sold to the doctor next door
the portion of land behind the Nakano
church where our house had been located.
We used the funds from that sale to buy
a lot in a new housing development in
the western edge of Tokyo and to build
a modest home and small chapel on it.
Since moving here in November 1970,
we have been working to establish the
Mejirodai church. We have been doing
just what a Japanese preacher and his
wife would, and of course in their lan
guage. We enjoy the direct contact with
the people of the neighborhood, and the
systematic preaching through books of
the Bible and the home Bible studies.
At present we are averaging twenty-five to
thirty in the morning worship and sixty in
Sunday School.
In addition to the local church work
we also teach English conversation part-
time at two high schools and one private
school in our town and have classes in
our home for various age groups during
every week. In this way we have contact
FORWARDING ADDRESS
First Church of Christ
315 Orange Ave.
Eustis, Florida 32726
Tel. (904) 357-3781
with over one hundred different people
every week, and a few have been con
verted to Christ.
In outside activities Harold is pre
sently serving as Chairman of the Ad
visory Board of the Japan Missionary
Language Institute. He is also on the
Councillor Body of Osaka Bible Semi
nary, and is a member of the local
Lion's Club.
All five of our children were bom in
Japan. Four of them are now married
and living in the United States. All are
active members of churches of Christ
and the second daughter is the wife of a
preacher. Jonathan, our oldest son, is
now a missionary in Japan.
Principles
(1) We do not consider ourselves as
directors or supervisors of a "Mission."
We desire to be fellow-workers with the
other missionaries and the Japanese breth
ren on an equal basis.
(2) We have encouraged the Japanese
preachers through the years to be self-
supporting, and not to rely on American
funds for their livelihood.
(3) We have helped the local churches
to become incorporated as independent
local churches of Christ, and they are
now recognized by the Japanese govern
ment as a group that believes and prac
tices the autonomy of the local church.
There are ten such churches in the Tokyo
area now.
(4) We are still part of the Yotsuya
Mission, which was established by Mr.
and Mrs. W.D. Cunningham over eighty
years ago.! We still publish the Tokyo
Christian. We serve as trustees of the
few properties stiU owned by that Mis
sion, and of the loan fund which arose
from the sale of one piece of Mission
property. We are thankful that this
money has been a very practical help and
encouragement to many of our churches
throughout Japan.
ANDREW & BETTY PATTON
JAPAN ADDRESS
571-1 Innaihara
Mochizuki Machi
Kitasaku Gun, Nagano Ken
384-22 Japan
Tel. (02675) 3-3749
Andrew was reared at Hayesville,
North Carolina, the third child of nine.
At the age of twenty-one he enlisted in
the Civilian Conservation Corps. Through
this work he studied short-wave radio at
Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia, and
became the operator of a radio station.
Soon he became employed as radio oper
ator and radio school instructor at Ft.
Benning, Georgia. Later he was employed
at station WVR of Ft. McPherson. While
there he roomed with a family named
Westbrook of East Point, Georgia. While
living with this family, he gave up his
work as radio operator and became a
full-time student at Atlanta Christian
College.
While Andrew was at Atlanta Chris
tian College, Mrs. W.D. Cunningham, a
missionary to Japan, came to the college
to speak. It was at this time that he
dedicated his life to the mission field of
Japan. After three years at Atlanta
Christian College, he enrolled at Cincin
nati Bibleseminary and graduated. After
a year's graduate work he left in Feb
ruary 1947 for Hawaii and did missionary
work there while wailing for permission
to enter Japan. He arrived in Japan in
January 1948, and has continued in the
Lord's work here to the present time.
In 1951 Andrew returned to the States
for more graduatedwork at Cincinnati
Bible Seminary. There he met Betty
Armstrong and married her in December
1952. Betty had been working on the
Yakima (Washington) and Flathead (Mon
tana) Indian Reservations for three years
after her graduation from Cincinnati Bible
Seminary in 1949. They returned to
Japan in September 1953 to continue
their ministry in the Tokyo Bible Semi
nary until it closed in 1958.
From 1948 Andrew served for ten
years as president and professor in the
1948 and 1953
J4fc3, .V.v,.,
Tokyo Bible Seminary. Also during that
time he established the Nishi Ogikubo
church and helped to establish the Kami-
uma church. He preached whenever he
was needed.
The Sakurayama church, meeting in
the former Bible College building, was
established by Andrew in 1960. Now
Mr. Hiroaki Sato ministers to this church.
The Arakawa church was reopened by the
Pattens in 1966 after having had no
services for ten years. From this church
three young men have received Bible
College training and are preaching regu
larly. Mr. Suzuki, a member of the
Arakawa church, came back to his home
church to be their minister. Mr. Saito
preaches on the island of Shikoku. Mr.
Ishii is opening a new work with the
Bill Turner family in Kotesashi. In
addition, Mr. Ishii's wife attended the
Arakawa church from her childhood.
In 1979 the Pattons went to the city
of Yokosuka to minister to the Japanese
church there. They were also privileged
to minister to an English congregation
from the U.S. Naval Base on Sunday
afternoons. From this English work,
Bill Owens is now studying at Ozark
Bible College preparing his life for full-
time service. The Norbert Winkler family
is studying at Johnson Bible College.
Bill Belew married one of the members
of the Japanese church, Akemi, and they,
with their son, will be retuming to Japan
in 1984 to do missionary work in Niigata
Prefecture, Akemi's home town area.
Also, Kensei Yokomizo, who is a member
of the Japanese Yokosuka church, is
now in his third year of Bible study at
Osaka Bible Seminary in Japan.
After a short furlough in the States
(September 1982April 1983), the Pat-
tons find themselves in an entirely differ
ent work as missionary managers of
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Mr. & Mrs. George Wade Fletcher
Route 6, Box 15
Rushville, Indiana 46173
Tel. (317) 932-5357
the Shinshu Bible Camp. Mr. Satoru
Taninari serves as the Japanese camp
manager. This work is vital to the
growth of Christians and to getting the
message of Christ to those who know
Him not as their Saviour. At present,
Shinshu Camp is drawing campers from
the Tokyo area, Osaka area, and as far
away as Tanabe. The immediate area
around the camp itself has not yet been
reached with the Gospel. So the Pattons
will be planting the Seed of the Gospel
there while taking charge of the camp
work. Please pray for a fruitful harvest
of souls for His Kingdom in the area
surrounding the camp.
The Pattons have four children
Sharon Scheurich of Carl Junction, Mis
souri; Noel of Edmond, Oklahoma; Philip
who is serving with the U.S. Navy, having
graduated from Nuclear Power School;
and Stephen who is stationed aboard the
USS Blakely as radio communications
operator. Both navy boys will finish
their six years of duty in 1986.
The Pattons have received great help
from their forwarding agents, Wade and
Marge Fletcher of the Rushville Church
of Christ in Indiana. Also, they have
received unbounded help and strength
from many churches who have faithfully
supported their work since 1947 or 1949.
With the prayers of the faithful and their
gifts, and God's faithfulness in all things,
His work has been going on in Japan.
May God bless each of those who has
shared in His work.
HARLAN & EMELINE WOODRUFF
JAPAN ADDRESS
224 Uchidomari
Ginowan, Okinawa
901-22 Japan
Tel. (0988) 97-4378
Harlan and Emeline Woodruff decided
to go to Okinawa as missionaries in 1945
when Harlan was stationed there as an
Army chaplain just as World War II
ended. By the end of 1947 the name
Okinawa Christian Mission had been cho
sen and a forwarding agent and an
advisory council had been secured. Ac
tual work on the field began on 4 Sep
tember 1948 when Harlan arrived on the
field with a Willys Jeep, a pre-fab house,
and a year's supply of food. Emeline
arrived in February of 1949. The ap
proach from the beginning was one of
evangelism with Bible classes in many
villages. The Mel Huckinses, the Carl
Fishes, and the Cloyd Christmans joined
the work but in 1954 each missionary
became independent and reported his
own work.
The Okinawa Bible Seminary, organ
ized at that time, became the project of
the Okinawa Christian Mission and con
tinued to operate for ten years. In its
heyday, in 1956, students in the school
were reaching 103 villages with weekly
Bible teaching. A total of thirty-six
completed two years of study, many of
whom continue a witness in the churches.
A number of students were sent to main
land Japan and the States for further
training.
Presently the Okinawans lead a work
in which ten churches cooperate in an
island-wide program of camps and rallies.
A number of the churches support the
All Japan Convention and give on a re
gular basis to support the Osaka Bible
Seminary where presently two Okinawan
students are enrolled for further Bible
training.
aiGHT 201
job well done. From that time their
attitude has been much more mature and
their giving has shown a healthy in
crease. A goal was set to make the
churches on Okinawa completely inde
pendent of an American organization and
American support. The date when this
move was to be made was set for 30
June 1983. Leo A. Woodruff, Chairman
of the Advisory Council for the Mission,
in the January-February, 1983, Okinawa
Christian Mission News made the follow
ing announcement:
"Mission Accomplished. From the be
ginning, the goal of the Okinawa Chris
tian Mission was to establish self-sup-
porting and self-propagating congrega
tions on Okinawa and the surrounding
islands. Today there are, related to the
efforts of the Okinawa Christian Mission,
ten congregations led by committed, ca
pable Okinawan Christian leadership.
This is not to imply that there is no
need for further evangelization on Oki
nawa but rather that the Okinawan Chris
tians are in a position to spread the
Gospel and to edify the Body. It is our
belief that our goal has been realized.
"Therefore, the Okinawa Christian
Mission will be dissolved on June 30,
1983. This decision was made by the
Okinawa Christian Mission Advisory
Council along with Harlan and Emeline
Woodruff and the church leadership on
Okinawa. There is no way to express
our thanks adequately to those of you
who have faithfully supported this mis
sionary enterprise. Your partnership
has resulted in thousands of Okinawans
coming to know Jesus as Lord and
Saviour. Thank you, and praise God!
Our Okinawa churches sponsored the "Since the Okinawa Christian Mis-
All Japan Convention in 1978 and came sion, as an organization, will no longer
out of the experience with a greater exist after June 30, 1983, we cannot
unity and a sense of satisfaction of a receive your contributions after that date.
AMERICAN ADDRESS
572 Sweet Gum Lane
Eugene, Oregon 97401
Tel. (503) 683-2756
Please send your gifts to other Kingdom-
building efforts that you consider to
merit your support. If you wish further
information concerning this decision,
please write to Harlan L. Woodruff,
572 Sweet Gum Lane, Eugene, Oregon
97401."
The Churches of Okinawa sent Ryo-
mei Onaga, Pastor of the Miyasato Church
of Christ and Chairman of the Workers'
Conference, to the States as their per
sonal representative to attend the last
meeting of the Advisory Council on
25 June 1983. He, with his wife,
Miyoshi, came to the States to be pre
sent for that meeting and read a pre
pared statement in English of the Okina
wans' heartfelt thanks and appreciation
for those who gave their faithful support
to the Okinawa Christian Mission over
the years. The Okinawans called Emeline
back to the field to bring the main
message at the Island-wide Rally on 3
November 1983. No doubt we will make
periodic trips to the field as the Okina
wans call us to specific tasks within the
work. Brethren, pray for the work on
Okinawa.
GEORGE & ETHEL BECKMAN
JAPAN ADDRESS
8-40 Kamizono-cho
Nishinomiya 662, Japan
Tel. (0798) 71-7170
George and Ethel Beckman first ar
rived in Japan, December 28, 1948, and
have lived in the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area
since that time. All four of their chil
dren were born in Kyoto and graduated
from Canadian Academy in Kobe. John
is now a doctor pursuing special study in
gastroenterology in Augusta, Georgia. Je-
nann is a missionary living and working
with her parents. Mary is writing a thesis
for a PhD in linguistics in Cornell Uni
versity, Ithaca, New York. Ruth is
married to David Hinson and they are
missionaries in Tanabe, south of Osaka.
George has proclaimed or taught the
Gospel on all four of the main islands and
three of the smaller islands; in eleven of
the forty-seven prefectures of Japan. He
started teaching at Osaka Bible Seminary
in January, 1949, and has continued ever
since, serving as president on two separate
occasions while Martin Clark, regular pres
ident, was on furlough.
George has taught nine of the courses
that have been taught at Osaka Bible
Seminary. In more recent years this
number has been reduced because other
teachers are available who have special
ized in some of them. Some of these
courses were introduced into the curri
culum by George.
Greek was one of those new courses.
In the first class of Greek, Mr. Akira Oda
was one of the students and was recog
nized as a potential linguist. He had
spent his high school days in China where
he spoke Chinese and Russian as well as
English and his native tongue. After
graduating from Osaka Bible Seminary
and teaching there a while he spent three
years of study in Greece, graduating from
the University of Athens. George had
encouraged him to make a special effort
to produce a Greek-Japanese lexicon as
r
it
there was none at that time. When this
was published it was given great promi
nence and considered a significant con
tribution to the study of the New Testa
ment in Japan. Prior to this the Japa
nese who wanted to study New Testa
ment Greek had to use a third language
such as English or German. Mr. Oda
baptized a number of people as they
bought and used one of his lexicons to
study and then asked him to baptize
them. Mr. Oda has also written a Greek
Grammar in Japanese which he uses as a
text in his teaching at Osaka Bible Semi
nary.
Besides performing the household
work, Ethel taught the four children
during the time they could not attend
Canadian Academy. But she also found
time to teach such classes as The History
of Expansion of Christianity, Preparing
Bible Teaching Materials and Christian
Women in the Home at Osaka Bible
Seminary.
In more recent years Ethel has not
taught the above courses but has deve
loped a new course in a Survey of the
Old Testament. Many of the students
who come to Osaka Bible Seminary have
had very little background in the Old
Testament material, causing a great handi
cap to their study. She has used the
Bethel Series Studies as a basis and made
a course to fit in with the schedule at
Osaka Bible Seminary.
Both George and Ethel have helped in
the local churches where they have lived
by preaching and teaching and coun
seling. The Sakyo Church in Kyoto
started in their home with George and
Ethel doing all of the preaching and
teaching at first. The church has now
become completely independent of any
missionary help.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Roger & Beryl Johnson
3320 Westgate Parkway
Rockford, Illinois 61108
Tel. (815) 399-3690
At present Ethel teaches a Sunday
school class that is connected with the
group that meets in their house Sunday
mornings.
There is another group that meets in
their home on Sunday afternoons. Wo
men of this church meet once a month
with each member taking her turn pre
senting the Bible lesson. Ethel takes her
turn with the rest.
Ethel also has many of these women
meet on Wednesday twice a month with
a number of non-Christian women for a
Bible study. All of this is in the Japa
nese language.
Ethel is on a committee that directs a
women's luncheon in Kobe twice a year.
Well-known Christians present special
music, special messages and testimony
that are intended to have an appeal to
non-Christians as well as Christians. From
these groups a number of women have
become Christians and are active in the
Rokko Church.
Every Thursday another group of wo
men meet and Ethel teaches them the
Bible in English.
The Rokko Church that meets in the
Beckman home Sunday afternoon has an
adult Bible study before the service and
the members take turns directing the
class. Both George and Ethel take their
turn in doing this. George preaches once
a month for them. Since they began
meeting at the Beckmans' house they
have grown until they often fill the
available space. Claude Likins, who
worked with them while he was in this
area, has made some funds available to
them and they intend to add to it some
of their own and build a new and larger
meeting place.
MARTIN & EVELYN CLARK
WITH OSAKA
BIBLE SEMINARY
JAPAN ADDRESS
4-21 Nakamiya 4 chome
Asahi-ku, Osaka
535 Japan
Tel. (06) 954-4144-Home
(06) 951-5882-Office
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Osaka Bible Seminary
Box 696
San Jose, California 95106
Martin, Evelyn, Paul (10), Pauline (6)
and Karlyn (5), on the morning of
April 23, 1950, were standing on the
passenger deck of the General Gordon in
Yokohama harbor watching as their bag
gage tumbled out of huge rope "baskets"
onto the dock below. Harold Cole and
Harold Taylor were a welcome sight to
these ship-weary prospective missionaries.
A twelve hour "troop train" style sleeper
ride brought them to Osaka the next day.
Nearly 34 years and nine grandchildren
later, Martin and Evelyn are still in Osaka.
Paul and Rickie witih their four are in
Lincoln, Illinois; Pauline and Dennis with
their three are in Bend, Oregon and
Karlyn with her two is in San Jose, Cali
fornia.
The calling to which this family came
was preacher training. Mr. & Mrs. M.B.
Madden realized the need for a con
servative preacher training school. The
Lord, through them, called Harold and
Leone Cole to Osaka to institute such a
school in the Spring of 1937. In turn on
May 30, 1946, the Lord through Harold
Cole called Martin and Evelyn to the
responsibility of reorganizing and con
tinuing this work. They accepted this
call in August of that year at old Port
land Arch Christian Service Camp while
they were ministering to the church in
Kirklin, Indiana and Martin was complet
ing his work in Butler School of Religion.
The Maddens had a vision (seed); the
Coles planted it; the Clarks with co-
workers have watered it and God is
giving the increase.
The "family" which God has brought
together in Osaka Bible Seminary has
provided preachers who are located on
every major island of Japan. Eighty-
six percent of the four-year graduates
are in active ministries. Osaka Bible
Seminary enjoys the goodwUl of the en
tire Christian family in Japan. Japanese
sources account for twenty percent of
the budget. Further, they are raising
$50,000 toward the construction of the
new dormitory on the campus.
What of the future? A board of Coun
cilors consisting of eleven men (seven
Japanese and four missionaries) govern
the school under the private school law of
Japan. The commitment of these men to
train preachers of the Word is unques
tioned. Their doctrinal position is sound
and their sense of oneness in Christ is
cause for rejoicing. Their eyes are on the
future.
The present student body is a result
of the suggestion, primarily, of Japanese
Christians who are concerned. Another
trend in recruitment is the fact that in
the past three graduations, three of the
students were already college graduates
before coming to OBS. Four of the
present student body are college gradu
ates. Having acceded to family pressure
to obtain a standard college education,
they are in a position to act on their own
volition in pursuing an education fulfill
ing their own desire to be of service to
their Lord Jesus. These more mature
students with their long-range commit
ment are assurance that the future of
the Kingdom in Japan is bright.
The faculty can be compared favorably
with any faculty in any undergraduate
Bible college anywhere. All faculty mem
bers have graduate degrees and are fully
competent in their fields. This faculty
is prepared to meet the future,
Paul Clark and family are included
in this column with a view to the future
also. Realizing that all plans are subject
to God's will, Paul is completing his work
in Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
toward a Doctor of Missiology degree
with the intention of joining the Osaka
Martin and Evelyn
in Japan
since
April 23, 1950
Bible Seminary family in some leadership
capacity.
Those of us who have planted and
watered are seeing the blessing which
God gives in His time. By His Almighty
Power, He is demonstrating that our
hope for the future is bright.
PAUL & RICKIE CLARK
i-1-a -^j
Jonathan, Jeremy, Jocelyn, Jenifer,
Paul and Rickie to Japan 1984/'85
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Mr. & Mrs. David Freeman
Box 696
Waynesville, Illinois 61778
MARK & PAULINE MAXEY
JAPAN ADDRESS
Box 14
Kanoya, Kagoshima
893 Japan
Tel. (09944) 2-2374
The Maxeys first saw Japan when he
came there from the Philippines as an
Army chaplain and Pauline joined him
at Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, with their two
small children, Paula and Walter. That
was 1947.
They returned in September, 1950
and went directly to Kanoya, at the
extreme southern tip of Kyushu. They
bought a piece of land in an undeveloped
area near the air base where all crews for
the Pearl Harbor raid were trained.
Chaplain Paul Cook and his wife,
Helen, were at this air base for about
eight months. Cook baptized twelve
people in December of 1947 and January
of 1948, just before they returned to the
U.S.
These and other believers continued
to meet twice a month in the home of
Mrs. Ai Taniyama. After this group was
organized into a church of immersed
Christians in the spring of 1951, they
bought the Taniyama home (but not the
land) for their meeting place.
Paul Nielsen and Harold Cole visited
the Kanoya group once each in the
1949-50 period. The present Kanoya
minister, Hideo Yoshii, was baptized by
Paul Nielsen.
One of the leaders, Sadahiko Moto-
yoshi, heard from Harold Cole that the
Maxeys were coming to Japan. Mr.
Motoyoshi wrote them a letter asking
them to come to Kanoya.
Meanwhile the Maxeys had decided
to go to Kyushu and to an area where
no missionary had gone nor was likely to
go. Their decision was matched by Mr.
Motoyoshfs invitation. Kanoya would
be the place for their life's work.
The pre-fab house the Maxeys built
in 1950 still stands. Here Pauline has
raised and taught her five children and
sent them forth into the world. It is
the home from which her blessing and
influence has spread through the hun
dreds who have enjoyed her hospitality,
talked with her through the long hours
of the night and listened to her teaching
both there and in the churches.
It is because of her presence and
unwavering commitment that her hus
band was able to spend fulltime at the
missionary task in the Kagoshima area.
The goal from the first has been to
establish completely indigenous churches
with Japanese leadership. That goal has
largely been reached, though there are
three churches that have missionaries as
preachers.
These are the Kagoshima area
churches: Kushikino. Naganori Tanijiri,
minister; Kagoshima, Koichi Homori,
minister; Yoshino, Walter Maxey, minis
ter; Kajiki, Junko Daikusono, minister;
Nishinoomote, Tadayoshi Ikeda, minister;
Tarumizu, Takeo limure and Koichi Ho
mori, ministers; Sueyoshi and Kushira,
served by Mark Maxey; and Kanoya,
Hideo Yoshii, minister.
The ministers and missionaries meet
monthly for prayer, preaching and plan
ning. The Kagoshima churches have an
annual convention every November 23.
The churches have a small but fme
campground which is used for the annual
youth camps in August and year round
for smaller groups. The 34th summer
camp will be held August, 1984.
There are additional ministries at the
Kagoshima prison by Walter Maxey, at
the leper colony near Kanoya, and at the
Osumi Gakkusha, a prefectural orphanage
in Kanoya. Three churches operate
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Kyushu Christian Mission
Box 417
North Vernon, Indiana 47265
Tel. (812) 346-3226
kindergartens.
Next to the mission house in Kanoya
stands the Christian Center. One part of
this is a Christian book store. The
writing, printing and distribution of Chris
tian books, booklets and materials rep
resenting the New Testament plea is a
major, but not self-supporting, ministry.
The Christian Center also has a large
classroom which is used as a lending
library, for English Bible classes, and
each year in January, for a lectureship on
a book of the Bible or a Biblical theme.
The 22nd lectureship will be held in
January 1984.
During the last 33 years, the Kago
shima work has been ably advanced and
assisted by these missionaries (in the
order of their coming): Isabel Ditte-
more, Al and Eleanor Hammond, Paul
and Kathleen Pratt, and Walter and Mary
Maxey. In August of 1983 Al and
Rhonda Juve were welcomed. They will
work in the Kagoshima area following
language study.
Osaka Bible Seminary is a part of
the outreach also. This includes fmancial
support, serving on its board of Coun
cilors, and sending students. All but one
of the local ministers were Osaka trained.
Kagoshima students who have graduated
from Osaka are serving the Lord in many
parts of Japan.
The Kagoshima churches have their
own land and buildings which they main
tain themselves. One more church build
ing will soon be debt free.
Kagoshima churches, for the most
part, will survive and grow. Without
leadership developing in the near future,
however, at least two of the churches
may have a difficult time.
The challenge now is to break out of
the mold of an established church into
the mold of evangelism, outreach and
new church planting.
Brethren, rejoice for what has been
done! Pray that, with God's help, we
may do what needs to be done!
JULIUS & VIRGINIA FLEENOR
JAPAN ADDRESS
P.O. Box 13
Sayama City, Saitama-ken
350-13 Japan
Tel. (0429) 53-7262
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Ixthus Mission to Japan
c/o Irene Crice
715 14th Street S.E.
Rochester, Minnesota 55901
Julius and Virginia Fleenor arrived in
Japan in October of 1950. They have
served continuously in the Tokyo area
for twenty-five years, and in SayamaCity
for eight years-since 1976. They have
taken furloughs every four or five years
to report to the churches in the United
States and to enable their children to
maintain their citizenship rights and roots
in the United States.
Julius was born in Kansas, but spent
most of his life in Yakima, Washington
before leaving home to prepare for the
mission field. He graduated from North
west Christian College, taking special
Japanese courses from the University of
Oregon. He also has a Master's Degree
fromChristian Theological Seminary (for
merly Butler School of Religion).
Julius married Virginia Dana Grant,
who was also a student at Northwest
Christian College and the University of
Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. She was
reared in Los Angeles, California, by
Christian parents, Mr. & Mrs. Harry Mor
gan, retired ministers of the Christian
Churches. Besides Northwest Christian
College and the University of Oregon,
she has studied at International Christian
University in Tokyo and Naganuma
School of Languages, also in Tokyo.
Her special studies and reading have
been in teachingchildren, counseling,and
communicating the Bible to people of
different cultures.
Their son Stephen was born to them
while they were still living in Eugene.
Grace Farnham, senior missionary in
Tokyo, invited the Fleenors to join her
work. She provided housing for them
the first year in Japan at the Mabashi
Church of Christ in Tokyo. Stephen,
their son, was three years old when
they arrived in Japan; since 1971 he and
his wife, Carol, have been full time mis
sionaries to Japan also.
Julius' parents came to Japan in 1951
after his only brother was killed in the
Korean War. They used his insurance
money to build the first mission center
in Tokyo on land which had been do
nated for this use by Japanese Chris
tians. It was to be the center of the
Fleenors' activity for twenty-five years.
Julius' ministry after language study
involved teaching at the Tokyo Bible
Seminary (now closed) and planting
churches in Tokyo and surrounding areas.
There are four churches with their own
pastors and buildings which are self-
supporting, besidesseveral home meetings
where Christians carry on a work of
evangelizing. Virginia's duties have been
the care of the home; teaching women's
groups in the home, and in Japanese
homes; and being principal of a Chris
tian Kindergarten connected with the
Shimoochiai Church in Tokyo for 12
years. She also serves as secretary to
Julius for typing his teaching materials,
and works with the summer camp pro
gram.
Since 1951, a small camp property has
been owned which has been used every
summer for thirty years for evangelism.
Karuizawa Christian Camp has been a
real evangelistic thrust in itself and has
often provided emergency housing for
our missionaries while they have been
settling into Japan.
Since 1976, the Fleenors have lived
in Sayama City (fifty minutes by electric
train from Tokyo). Here they have
been engaged in planting a church.
In 1980, a new building was built to
the north 500 miles from Tokyo in
Kamo Cityon land purchased by the
Japanese church which had met for
many years in a rented home. Julius
has preached and helped to nurture this
church over the years as it slowly grewin
strength and leadership.
Julius teaches doctors, businessmen
and students in English and Japanese in
schools, homes, and at the Sayama
and Kamo Churches.
Besides their son Stephen, four dau^-
ters were born to the Fleenors in Tokyo:
Julia 1951, Dana Lee 1954, Grace 1960,
and Laurie 1968. Also two Japanese
boys (John and Joseph) were adopted
at ages four and five in 1968. These
boys entered Bible college in 1983.
In a recent survey, 60% of the Japa
nese fifty years or younger said they
were completely non-religious. Thus
education and money have become the
new gods in Japan alongwith the worship
of self-gratification which is common
throughout the world today. Japan's
ancient religion was the religion of the
mountain men or prophets who stood
under cold waterfalls and stressed com
munication with nature and purification
by washing. Shinto worship evolved as
the worship of all thingsincluding the
spirits of their dead ancestors. Many
ceremoniesand cultural taboos and super
stitions have grown out of this back
ground.
Buddhism was brought to Japan about
500 A.D. It took four hundred years for
it to be accepted. Japanese feel they
can be both Shintoist and Buddhist at
the same time. This makes the concept
of being only a Christian difficult for the
Japanese to accept.
Catholic Christianity first entered
Japan in 1549. It was quickly accepted,
but later the leader feared political in
trigue from Spain. Thus every Christian
who would not recant his faith in Jesus
Christ was killed and all missionaries were
banned. The black ships of the United
States forced the doors of Japan open
in 1849; protestant missionaries soon
followed. The Bible was translated by
1859.
Since 1954 when the modern Japa
nese translation of the Bible was com
pleted, more Bibles have been sold in
Japan than any country in the world
except the United States. Japan has
been reading the Bible.
Pray for Japan and for the Fleenors.
EXIE FULTZ
JAPAN ADDRESS
CORDS-OF-LOVE BIBLE PLACE
Awaji Island, Japan
2709 Kuruma
Higashiura-Cho
Tsuna Gun, Hyogo Ken
656-23 Japan
Tel. (0799) 74-2199
FULTZ MISSION FOR THE MASTER
Exie's first move to Awaji Island,
after a nine-year ministry in Kobe-Osaka,
was in 1961. She well remembers the
island's unpaved roads (except for small
sections within the towns); buses that
seemed always to be late but which, at
times, arrived as much as 15 minutes
early, leaving behind all persons not
already at the stop; telephone calls to
Osaka which took two to three hours;
no coffee shops or eating out places in
Higashiura-cho; of the eight or ten post
office boxes at the Kariya P.O., hers
being No. 1; the interurban that slowly
made its way from east to west across
the southern end of the island. It crossed
the lovely Mihara Valley where one could
see milch cows grazing. She remembers
the night the Kariya match factory
burned. Bells clanged and doors quickly
slid open as strong young men poured
forth running to the fire equipment.
They ran, not only to provide fire
fighters, but also to furnish the power
necessary to move the fire-fighting unit.
Motorized fire equipment had not yet
come to Awaji. A hose was dropped
into the bay and water pumped up.
(Exie's first stay on Awaji Island was
2 years and 4 months.)
Her second move to Awaji Island
was from Tokyo after 14 years of work
there. Now a paved highway circles the
island; buses are dependable; Exie's push
button telephone contacts her with any
place in Japan in seconds; coffee shops
and restaurants abound; mail is delivered
to her home on a ridge even though it is
the only house on the road; the old
interurban has disappeared. Shops and
houses line both sides of the highway
that runs through the Mihara Valley,
shutting out the pleasant view of milch
cows grazing. And, yes, motorized fire-
fighting units have come to Awaji.
It is here that God has placed Exie to
work with children and young families.
She is director of Cords-Of-Love Bible
Place, Awaji Island, Japan.
Hyogo Pref.
Akashi City
Osaka/Kobe
Mihara Vally
Wakayama Pref.
SHIKOKU
The following missionaries did not
submit articles for this issue of JAPAN
MISSIONS, but we are including their
addresses:
STEVE & CAROL FLEENOR
JAPAN ADDRESS
P.O. Box 13
Sayama Shi, Saitama Ken
350-13 Japan
Tel. (0429) 52-1025
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Dr. and Mrs. Glenn Parrott
1120 7th St.
Oregon City, Oregon 97045
Tel. (503) 6564704
BEN & NOBUKO HIROTAKA
JAPAN ADDRESS
Fukuoka Christian Mission
12-4, Sakuragaoka 5-chome
Shime Machi, Kasuya Gun
Fukuoka Ken
811-22 Japan
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Howard Harris
6828 S.E. Holgate Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97206
LONNIE 8i CORAL MINGS
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Mrs. Robert Lillie
809 Fountain Court
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80901
AUDREY WEST
JAPAN ADDRESS
Okayama Christian Center
251-1 Yunogo
Mimasaka cho, Aida gun
Okayama ken
707 Japan
Tel. (08687) 2-1855
About a year before her furlough,
Miss Grace Farnham invited Audrey to
Mabashi in Tokyo. Audrey arrived in
Japan on a cold, snowy day in 1953 to
fill in for Miss Farnham during her year
of furlough. And so a whole new life
opened for her, formerly a non-Christian
Kansas school teacher, and after her
conversion, a San Jose Bible College
student and teacher. It was in Tokyo
that the Lord indicated an opportunity
to enter Okayama Prefecture to open
New Testament work. At about the
same time, He provided the first co-
workers, Mr. and Mrs. Yasuji Nakamura.
Mrs. Nakamura was a native of Okayama
Prefecture where she had been a re
spected school teacher for several years.
She was a convert of the Harold Taylors
in Tokyo.
We Christians were kindly accepted in
Okayama and the Lord's work thrived.
In a short time four students were sent
from Okayama to Osaka Bible Seminary.
Mr. and Mrs. Ohta, presently preaching
at Gomyo, were among those four.
The Nakamuras served here faithfully
in a most sacrificial way for eleven
years, and God blessed their ministry
with much fruit. Financial income in
the country area at that time, however,
was inadequate for a growing family, and
they were forced to leave Okayama after
establishing two churches and several
house meetings in Katsuta, and helping
to establish the Hayashino Church. They
now live in Tokyo where both daughters
have become Christians and both are now
married.
Mr. and Mrs. Abe, converts of the
Hayashino Church, ministered to that
church until Parkinson's disease struck
Mrs. Abe. They finally had to move
closer to the best medical aid. They
now live with their daughter and her
minister husband in Tokyo. All three of
the Abes' daughters are Christians.
/""^e Hayashino Church is now minis-
/ tered to by elder Okamura, preacher-in-
training Nishiyama, and Keith Summers.
This church is the mother church of
Imany who are serving the Lord in various
j' capacities elsewhere. It is an incorpo-
\ rated, self-supporting body.
Among early converts at Hayashino
Church of Christ were Mr. and Mrs.
Yoshimi Ohta, ministers at Gomyo
Church of Christ. They have a daughter
in college and a daughter in Hayashino
High School. Both girls are Christians.
When Audrey moved to Emi, she and
Mr. Yasuji Tarui started a church in her
rented home. It has been a fruitful
little church with most of the fruit
scattered far and wide. The husband of
one of the members of this congregation
is now studying for the ministry. The
remaining members at Emi are faithfuUy
studying and Mr. Tarui has become a very
forceful speaker for his Lord. The
Taruis' daughter is now a serious little
Christian who is teaching her two little
ones the Word, and who is a good wit
ness to her non-Christian husband.
Because the Katsuta work, the oldest
Church of Christ in Okayama Prefecture,
had no minister, and because the elders
there felt they could no longer carry the
responsibilities of the church because of
old age and infirm health, a young Holi
ness minister is helping them.
In 1981 Keith Summers of Ohio,
formerly a minister in Kentucky, Joined
the work in Okayama Prefecture. He is
now in language school in Kobe, but
returns to Okayama to meet his classes
and to take his turn preaching at Haya
shino Church. Beginning in January,
1984, Keith plans a brief furlough after
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Dot Isbell
540 E. William
San Jose, California 95112
Tel. (408) 294-0746
which he expects to continue language
study.
Okayama Christian Center was estab-
\lished in 1971 with the purpose of train-
Zing leaders. It has turned out tobe both
training and an evangelistic center. All
of the churches meet at the Center for
worship on the first Lord's Day of the
month. Classes are held for both Chris
tians and non-Christians at the Center.
Mr. Nobuyasu Ando, a convert of Haya
shino, teaches children three times a
/'^ek. Audrey and Keith take care of
teaching and training classes for high
school students and adults. Mrs. Leone
"^Cole helped here during part of Audrey's
last furlough - September 1982 to Au
gust 1983.
Daynise HoUoway came to the Center
to stay during one of Audrey's furloughs
and is now in her own work in Yo^ii
Township, Okayama Prefecture, about
twenty minutes from the Center.
Our recent projects have been the
remodeling of the aged Hayashino Church
building and the construction of a garage-
workshop at the Center. Both projects
are now finished. The Hayashino Church
has assumed all financial responsibility
for the work on that building.
We of Okayama Prefecture would very
much appreciate your prayers for the
various churches, their leaders and for
the work of the Christian Center.
ERNEST & NEVA FABER
JAPAN ADDRESS
North 49, East 15
Higashi ku, Sapporo
065 JAPAN
Tel. (Oil) 731-8118
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Marg DeRuyscher
3514 S.W. 12th St.
Des Moines, Iowa 50315
Tel. (515) 288-1756
This issue of JAPAN MISSIONS not
only commemorates the one-hundredth
anniversary of the arrival of a Christian
Church missionary in Japan but also
comes when the Fabers are celebrating
their thirtieth year in Japan.
It was in May of 1953 that Ernest
resigned from his one-year ministry at
the Fourth Church of Christ in Cin
cinnati, Ohio, and with Neva and their
three-month-old daughter, Linda, started
traveling to raise support.
After much prayer and thought, they
decided to locate on the northernmost
island of Hokkaido where there was no
other work of the Christian Churches
at that time. To reflect the area of ser
vice the name Hokkaido Christian Mis
sion was chosen. Later the mission was
mcorporated and is now Hokkaido Chris
tian Mission. Inc. Neva's brother was
the first forwarding agent.
After traveling for a little over a
year, the Fabers left for Japan on August
4th, 1954, on the freighter, SS Topa
Topa. The Nielsens, who were returning
to Japan after a year's furlough, had
helped them get passage on the same ship.
They arrived in Yokohama some thirty-
three days later on September 7th. Sev
eral of the Tokyo missionaries met the
Fabers, and the Pattons opened their
home to them to stay until their house
hold goods arrived.
The Fabers lived at the Cunningham
house in Wakaba Cho during the year
and a half they were in Tokyo attending
language school. In order to lay a
foundation for speaking and preaching
in the Japanese language, the Fabers
considered formal training essential be
fore going to Hokkaido. During this
period of language study two sons,
Charles and Allan, were born.
Following the advice of a native of
Hokkaido, Mr. lijima of the Minato
Church of Christ, the Fabers decided to
establish a church in his hometown of
Obihiro. In April of 1956 Ernest went
to Obihiro to secure land for a mission
home after efforts to rent failed. The
land they selected was south of the
Obihiro station in a growing area where
there were no churches. When the
mission home was completed Ernest re
turned to Tokyo and with Neva and
the children arrived in Obihiro in June.
During the eleven years in Obihiro
there were sixty-two baptisms and one
transfer. One of the young men entered
the ministry. In 1967 a parsonage was
built back of the church and this work
was turned over to Mr. Koji Sugiura,
a graduate of Tokyo Bible Seminary.
The Sugiuras have labored there since
that time.
In 1968, after a year's furlough, the
Fabers, now a family of six, moved to
Tomakomai, a developing industrial city
south of Sapporo. A church and par
sonage were erected on a main artery of
the city leading into a new residential
area. They worked there until 1973
leaving Mr. Hiroaki Kimura, the young
man from Obihiro, to minister to the
small body of believers. During the
five years they were in Tomakomai there
were four baptisms. One young man
has become a minister and another is a
faithful Sunday School teacher.
The present work in Sapporo was
begun in 1974. The land for the church
building and mission home was secured
before the Fabers went on furlough in
1973. Property in Tomakomai that the
mission owned was sold to enable the
mission to build in Sapporo with mini
mum help from the American churches.
Noriaki Kimura, a brother of the Toma
komai preacher, was the interim minister.
He remained in that position until Janu
ary 1983 when he resigned to go to a
church in Osaka. There have been four
baptisms and twelve transfers of mem
bership to date. Unfortunately most of
these have moved away from the area.
At present the church has a very small
membership.
Ernest and Neva work through the
local church to reach out into the com
munity by means of various activities.
English classes meet on Monday, Tues
day, and Thursday with an enrollment
of forty-five. Ernest has a conversation
class for juniors at a Christian high
school. Neva's cooking class, which
meets on the second Tuesday of every
month has been a means of contact with
immediate neighbors. On the first and
third Tuesday there is a women's Bible
study for non-members with two to
three regularly attending. The Sunday
School enrollment is around thirty, and
eight to ten attend worship services.
Generally thirty to forty attend VBS
twice yearly and twenty-five to thirty
are in summer camp. Tracts are dis
tributed monthly to four hundred to
six hundred homes surrounding the
church. Recently a woman decided to
study more about Christ after reading one
of Ae four thousand tracts which were
used to introduce an evangelistic meeting.
Junior High boys were attracted by post
ers, and children who have been unable
to attend Sunday School lately heard
the announcement of the sound car and
attended an evangelistic meeting.
The Fabers' children are all grown
and married and living in America. They
are; Linda, Gary, Kevin (5), and Jason
(3), Worcester, Hill City, Kansas; Charles,
Patti, Melissa (4), and Ryan (1), Boise,
Idaho; Allan and Debbie, Covington, Ken
tucky; and Donald. Pam, and Josiah (3
months), Cincinnati, Ohio. All have
represented the mission at times, and will
continue to do so on request.
The Hokkaido Christian Mission is
mcorporated under the state laws of
Iowa with the office located in Des
Moines. The present Board of Direc
tors is made up of tow ministers, two
business men, and a teacher, living in
central Iowa. Marg DeRuyscher, a social
worker, is the present forwarding agent.
While on furlough in 1981-1982 Mr.
DON & NORMA BURNEY
JAPAN ADDRESS
2-1-6 Asahi machi
Kami gun, Kochi ken
782 Japan
Tel. (08875) 3-4413
FORWARDING ADDRESS
c/o Carleen Pickett
107 S. Hickory
Pana, Illinois 62557
Tel. (0217) 562-3389
On the date that marked the 100th
anniversary of the coming to Japan of
the first missionaries of our churches,
Don and Norma Burney had been here a
few months more than twenty-eight
years. They had come by ship in 1955.
At that time they were both twenty-
seven; both had been summer workers
on the Yakima Indian Reservation in
Washington; both had graduated from
Lincoln Christian College. They brought
one child, one-and-one-half year old
Paul. Just last year they passed the
equal-time point, the place where one-
half of their life had been spent in
Japan.
The first days in Japan impressed
themselves and their problems on the
new missionaries. How to manage tomato
wedges with chopsticks? How to keep
the required slippers on your feet going
upstairs? How to forget the frustration
of not being able to understand even
the Japanese children, even though they
were spending a year in Tokyo to study
the language? And the terrible heat and
humidity! As time went on, all of these
things except the heat - resolved them
selves, of course. Now in 1984, even
the heat is held in check by air con
ditioners in almost all public buildings
and most private Japanese homes. (The
Burneys' daughter Sarah was born in
Tokyo during that year of language
study.)
In 1957, the Burney family moved to
the island of Shikoku one of Japan's
four main islands. Harold Cole accom
panied Don on his first tour of Shikoku,
helping him search for a place to serve.
Don and Norma chose Kochi Prefecture
on the Pacific coast side of the island,
a place prone to typhoons and hot
weather. They found a Japanese-style
house to rent in a small farming village.
and the church started there in their
living room.
In those days the farmers in the village
plowed their fields with the help of cows,
sowed the seed beds by hand, re-set the
rice plants by hand, and harvested the
rice with hand sickles and bent backs.
When someone brought a garden tractor
to the village, it was a great curiosity.
And when it drowned out in a rain
storm, the laughter was loud and long.
"Cows don't drown out in rain storms!"
But cows didn't last very long after
that. Tractors improved and quickly
replaced them. Now in 1984, rice seed
lings are cultivated by the farmers' co
operative, put into the flooded rice fields
by a rice planting machine; and the
rice is harvested by a reaping machine.
(Burney sons Joseph and Thomas were
both born during the time the family
lived in the farming village.)
These first - perhaps 10 - years were
years of comparatively large evangelistic
meetings, VBS which sometimes went
over the 100 mark, and also com
paratively many more baptisms than
we are seeing today.
After Don bought land and erected a
church building in the nearby town of
Gomen, the church in Burneys' house
changed its name and moved. The
Burney family, having spent six years in
Japan, went back to the United States
for a year for their first furlough. Food
prices were high in the U.S. compared
to Japan prices. On their first trip
through a supermarket, they failed to
buy, of all things, salt - because Don
thou^t the price was too high.
It was good to get back to Japan.
This lime the Burneys built a (used
army quonset) home at the edge of a
small town farther east. They were still
"in the country" among the rice fields,
but they were also within easy walking
distance of shopping, the schools, and
more houses than you would believe. A
church was again started in their living
room or what passed as their living
room a room the church shared with
the printing press, typewriters, plate-
maker, and other printing equipment and
literature storage. Norma taught Paul,
Sarah and Joe their lessons every day at
home. Tom was enrolled in the local
Japanese grade school. The church in
their house grew, but not at the rate they
had enjoyed ten years before.
Another six years passed since their
last furlough. Two preachers and their
families came to preach for the two
churches, and the Burneys went on their
second - and as it happened, last
one year furlough.
Don and Norma returned to their
home in Noichi in time to welcome their
fifth child, daughter Rachel, born nine
years after her brother Tom. They found
more changes than before. There was
no longer an abundance of butterflies and
frogs; swimming in the river in front of
their house was prohibited - both of
these conditions caused by insecticides
from the rice fields. Fireflies had dis
appeared except for remote (from farm
ing) areas. Prices were even higher than
before. Eventually the Burneys sold their
property (which had also increased
greatly in value), used the money to buy
land and build the Noichi church build
ing and parsonage, and moved them
selves to a rented house in Yamada, a
city nearby.
In Yamada, where they still live, yet
another church meets in their living
room. It has, however, been very slow
in growing until the last three or four
years. At present, it is threatening to
become too large for the space. Don
preaches for the Yamada church, and
Michiko Fukoe also works in teaching
and evangelism.
Rachel is now studying a Junior High
School course at home with Norma. Don
has for many years now been doing
research on how to teach the Japanese
language to new missionaries more effi
ciently than has been done in the past,
and is looking toward putting the huge
amount of information he has assembled
into a computer sometime in the future.
Please pray for their work.
PAUL & KATHLEEN PRATT
JAPAN ADDRESS
1210 Kamikasuya
Isehara City, Kanagawa Ken
259-11 Japan
Tel. (0463) 95-1019
Paul Sidney Pratt was born September
12, 1924 at Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania.
He became a Christian at the Vanderbilt
Church of Christ which is one of their
sending churches.
Kathleen Leona Farr was born on
September 29, 1924 at Stinesville, Indi
ana. She was baptized at the Christian
Church at the age of 16 at Gosport,
Indiana. Her home church also is a send
ing church for them.
The'Pratts entered Japan in 1958
with their four children: Paul David,
Mark, Lydia and Mary Joyce. Since
1975, Mark and his wife Lynn have been
serving along with them through the
Campus Ministry of Central Japan Chris
tian Mission.
In I960, following two years of lan
guage study at Kobe City, the Pratts
moved to the home of Mrs. Isabel Dit-
temore in Kagoshima City. There they
served with the Mark Maxeys and the
Kyushu Christian Mission. With Mrs.
Dittemore making-plans to enter Taiwan
they were given the responsibility for the
fifteen-minute weekly radio broadcast
and follow-up in Kagoshima, This they
maintained for six years. They outlined
a 38-lesson follow-up correspondence
Bible course which was prepared by
Kagoshima mmisters. It is still in use.
They assisted the Kagoshima Church
and ministered with the Kajiki Church
for one year. With their help the Kajiki
Church building was moved from rented
land to its own lot on which the kinder
garten building was later built by Junko
Daikuzono, its minister.
When their children entered high
school the Pratts made plans to move to
Tokyo in order to keep the family
together. They assisted the Sakurayama
Church during the Andrew Patton
family's one-year furlough. Then, on the
same basis, they served for one more
year substituting for the A1 Hammond
family at Kumegawa.
In 1964 Bill and Lois Walker moved
to their new work at Isehara, but they
were forced to return Stateside because
of Lois' ill health. Paul and Kathleen
made plans immediately to purchase their
property and take over the work there.
They moved to Isehara and began serv
ices in September, 1966.
Some visible results of their service
are as follows:
The Kajiki Church in Kagoshima Ken
has its own building, Junko Daikuzono
is its minister and it is self-supporting
partly because of its Christian kinder
garten.
Koichi Homori. who completed the
Bible Correspondence Course, is a'Timo
thy' of the Kajiki Church, graduated
from Osaka Bible Seminary and ministers
to the Kagoshima City Church.
The Sannobara Church. Isehara City,
began in 1966 and has been organized
since 1974, the year it completed its own
building. It received recognition as a
non-profit corporation in February, 1981.
Thirty percent of its present budget is
committed to its missionary in Thailand,
to Osaka Bible Seminary and to assisting
the Koiesashi Church at Tokorozawa
City.
Hideto Yoshii. who served as San-
nobara's youth minister during his stud
ies at Obirin College, studied at the Cin
cinnati Bible Seminary with mission aid.
He now ministers to the Onga Church of
Christ which he and his family are es
tablishing in their own home newly
built with that plan in mind.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
CENTRAL JAPAN CHRISTIAN
MISSION, INC.
Mary Lou Bauer
240 West Elbert St.,
Indianapolis, Indiana, 46217
Tel. (317) 787-6753
The Pratt's son Mark and his wife,
Lynn, came to Japan, established a Cam-
pji Ministry at Obirin College with mis
sion aid, built their combination home
and church building and are engaged in
establishing the Machida Church of
Christ.
Paul assisted the Zushi Church for
seven years and helped them to set up a
full-time ministry with Hideo Fukuda, a
1958 graduate of the old Tokyo Bible
Seminary. The church also sponsors
Eunice Nursery School with 100 students.
Along with six or eight other mis
sionaries in the Tokyo area, Paul and
Mark formed the Kanto Evangelizing
Association for mass tract distribution
and foDow-up. Paul is in charge of the
Bible Correspondence follow-up.
Both Paul and Kathleen continue part-
time teaching at Obirin College and
Junior College. Paul speaks in chapel and
is sponsoring the Christian Club there.
Plans for the future are as follows;
Kanagawa Ken has over 6,000,000
population and only three churches of
Christ. With new missionaries coming
and more preachers becoming available,
the Pratts are looking at and praying for
the many cities which have no church.
Plans are being made for cooperative
leadership training for lay leaders. An
audio-visual library is being prepared with
video tapes etc. for this purpose.
Interested persons: please write for a
subscription to the quarterly report,
"Paul's Epistle," ^
BILL & BETTY TURNER
JAPAN ADDRESS
3-5-15 Kotesashi
Tokorozawa City
359 Japan
Tel. (0429) 48-7806
Bill and Betty Turner have served in
several areas of Japan - Osaka, Akashi,
Hiroshima, and presently in Saitama pre
fecture. They moved to Saitama (near
Tokyo) in 1978 so they could be close
to Christian Academy, a school for mis
sionary children from kindergarten all
the way through high school.
During the first year of this term they
helped with the church at Sayama and
then for a year they taught classes and
held services in the Akitsu area of Tokyo.
Since October of 1981 they have been
planting seed in a fast growing new area
of Saitama called Kotesashi, which is a
part of Tokorozawa City. They began
by offering English classes to people of
the community and then by having a
Sunday School for the neighborhood
children. The fees from the English
classes are sufficient to pay the rent on a
two-story store-front building where
classes and services are held. From the
contacts made, many have come to film
meetings and special programs at Valen
tine, Easter, and Christmas seasons.
Some have continued with Bible study.
In April of 1983 the Turners were
joined by Brother Akira Ishii and his
wife and two-year-old daughter. Brother
Ishii finished his ministerial training in
March of '83, and his wife had a few
years' experience in teaching piano and
organ before coming to Kotesashi.
Several of the Tokyo area churches help
with the Ishiis' salary.
In Kotesashi, prayer meetings are held
each morning at 8 o'clock. On the Lord's
Day, besides Sunday School for children,
there is an adult class and a class for
high school students. Both morning and
evening worship services are held, with
BiU preaching two evenings a month
and Brother Ishii preaching the rest of
the time. A mid-week prayer meeting
7/, , ,/ :
7 / ni
is held on Wednesday evening. Leone
Cole helps with ladies' Bible classes on
Wednesdays, and the Ishiis lead another
ladies' meeting on Friday mornings.
Luncheons and other special activities for
housewives are held from time to time.
Besides working with the Kotesashi
church, Bill teaches English two days a
week at Daitoh Culture University in
Tokyo. Two students from there have
been led to Christ. Bill also works with
other missionary men in the Kanto Evan
gelistic Association, distributing tracts
over a wide area two days a week.
Numerous responses have come from this
joint effort.
In addition to teaching English and
Bible classes and helping with Sunday
School, Betty has been involved in pro
ducing various printed materials and dide
sets. Some are for use in teaching the
Gospel in Japan and some are for pre
senting the work in Japan to American
brethren.
Betty is also active in school-related
functions, as needs arise. One year she
taught fourth grade at Christian Aca
demy. Another year she served on the
P.T.A. executive committee. Since 1981
she has been on a committee which spon
sors evangelistic Coffee Hours twice a
year on the Christian Academy campus.
Since January of 1982 Betty has been
leading seminars to help missionaries in
the study of Japanese, using materials
that she herself has produced. Since
September of 1982 she has taught her
course in weekly classes to adults of the
Christian Academy community. In the
fall of 1983 she was asked to assist in
teaching Japanese to the missionary chil
dren at the Academy.
The Turners moved into the Tokyo
FORWARDING ADDRESS
HIROSHIMA CHRISTIAN
MISSION, INC.
Mrs. Jean Snocker
809 West 23rd
Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69361
Tel. (308) 632-2984
area just at the time that Stan and
Mabel Buttray were starting the Shinshu
Bible Camp north of Tokyo. Bill and
Betty and their children work closely
with other missionaries in the camp
program during the summer and at other
times during the year. They believe
that the camp outreach has tremendous
evangelistic potential.
Though not now living in Hiroshima,
the Turners continue to help indirectly
in the work there by providing partii
salary for one of the Japanese workers
and by visiting there from time to time.
Bill and Betty have reared their three
children in Japan. Sheryl and Tim both
graduated from Christian Academy.
Sheryl studied for two years at Central
Florida Bible College and received an
Associate in Arts degree in June of
1983. In September of '83 she enrolled
in a medical assistant course in Orlando.
Tim is a sophomore at Atlanta Christian
College.
Steve will graduate from Christian
Academy in June of '85 and the Turners
then plan to take a year's furlough. With
the children then finished with high
school, Bill and Betty will be eager to see
what new doors the Lord might open for
them - either to return to Hiroshima or
to enter some new area!!!
MILTON C. & BARBARA JONES
JAPAN ADDRESS
101-5 Aza Nozo, Ichinazaka
Isumi-shi, Miyagi-ken
981-31 Japan
Tel. (02237) 3-0481
FORWARDING ADDRESS
SENDAI AND RURAL
MISSIONS, INC.
B.F. & Eva Wilson
1217 South Fannin Street
Amarillo, Texas 79102
Tel. (806) 374-2170
In 1969, Milton C. and Barbara Jones
were sent by the independent Christian
Churches/Churches of Christ as mission
aries to Japan.
Their mission: to preach Christ, to
teach and train, to establish indigenous
congregations.
Both Milton and Barbara studied at
The Cincinnati Bible Seminary (1954-
58) and served in located ministries in
Indiana, Georgia, Florida, and Oklahoma.
For ten years they worked in Black
evangelism, special meetings, camps, and
new church evangelism.
They have five children who have
assisted them in many phases of the
Lord's work. Milton Carey, Jr. in Fort
Worth, Texas, is completing Masters study
in Music including piano performance,
choral work, composition, and conduct
ing, with majors in Church Music and
Christian Education. He received many
awards and honors.
Christopher resides in Oklahoma with
wife, Nina, and child, Rebekah. Although
employed full-time, he has completed
VA years Bible Study.
Kathryn, a senior in Oklahoma Uni
versity School of Nursing, has various
achievements and awards. She, along
with Milton Carey, Jr., is listed in 'Who's
Who in American Colleges and Univer
sities.'
Randall completed high school with
scholastic honors and sports awards. He
was All-State in track. He is studying
pre-dentistry at Oklahoma University.
Eric, who is nine, studies at home by
correspondence. His blond hair, quick
smile and friendly nature are assets for
the Lord. Because of the Lord's goodness
in answer to the constant prayers of
Milton & Barbam
I Jones i \ g
faithful Christians, Eric successfully com
pleted five years of treatments and test
ing for Adult Leukemia. His excellent
health is an undeniable testimony of
God's power and love.
MISSION WORK:
Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture (1970-74)
Upon their arrival, they started Bible
classes in the mission house. These
included a Happy Time Club, Bible/
Cooking Class, and English/Bible. In
1972, Mr. and Mrs. Toshihiko Shimada
were called to minister to the new
Asahigaoka congregation. Their capable
leadership has continued for ten years.
The congregation is self-supporting; the
building is debt-free.
The Shimadas also guide the meetings
in Sakuragaoka where several have be
come Christians.
In Kogota to the north is a "home
church" under the guidance of Mr. and
Mrs. Koichi Suzuki who built a meeting
room onto their home. Classes and bap
tisms have resulted. Mr. Suzuki also
does door-to-door work, tract distribu
tion, and street and school evangelism,
along with his part-time employment at
a Christian school.
Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture
(1975-76)
Additional language knowledge was
needed for translation and audio/visual
work. While studying, the Joneses con
tinued Bible classes, street and village
preaching, camp work, and house-party
evangelism, using tracts and puppets.
Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture
(Feb.-Oct. 1977)
To revive a dying congregation, the
Joneses located here to work with a few
Christians. Regular services were re
sumed; community outreach was begun
with door-to-door work, tract distribu
tion and film evangelism. Classes and
services were expanded. After 8 months,
it was evident the old building had to be
renovated to accommodate the growing
work.
Milton conducted weekly English serv
ices for the U.S. Navy families in Nagai,
and helped organize a leadership training
program and the Kanto Evangelizing As
sociation. Family illness necessitated an
emergency furlough (Nov. 77Jan. 83.)
Sendai, Miyag Prefecture
(1983-)
Upon their return in August 1983,
Milton and Barbara have again located in
the Sendai area as opportunities for a
new work seem favorable.
The local congregation, desiring a sister
church, invited them to return. They,
along with the minister, have offered to
assist in the work. Huge population
growth and rapid business expansion
afford many new contacts as people make
breaks from family, customs and ties.
IMMEDIATE GOALS:
1. Intensive language review
2. Evangelism: Street & school with tract
distribution
3. Assist established work in Kogota,
Sakuragaoka, and Asahigaoka. (The
composition of this group has shifted
from youth to the elderly.)
4. Develop a "home ministry" to
reach the elderly, using printed ma
terials, cassette and video tapes.
5. Start regular children's meeting and
home Bible study in Izumi City.
6. Prepare lessons, printing, audio/visuals
and ventriloquist programs.
7. Conduct special meetings, services,
classes, camps, retreats.
LONG RANGE GOALS:
1. Establish "cell groups" to reach the
lost, to teach and train Christians to
witness and evangelize
2. Establish congregations
Pray for these plans to be used ac
cording to the Lord's purpose for His
Kingdon. Pray for the encouragement
and perseverance of the workers.
DALE & PEGGY WILKINSON
FURLOUGH ADDRESS
107 Logan Street
Circleville, Ohio 43113
Tel. (614) 477-1179
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Japanese Christian Services, Inc.
Ronald and Ruth Riddle, Agents
Box 14652
Cincinnati, Ohio 45214
Dale and Peggy Wilkinson first arrived
in Japan on November 7, 1970. Prior to
that, they were engaged in inter-raciM
evangelism in the core area of Cincin
nati, Ohio for about seven years. During
that time, Stephen Fleenor, then a stu
dent at Cincinnati Bible Seminary, began
helping Dale with a program for black
junior high school boys. Peggy and Dale
developed a keen interest when Stephen
told about the great need for Christian
workers in Japan, and began seeking
God's will concerning serving there as
missionaries.
Over the next several years, while
Dale continued his work as a medical
technologist, they had opportunity to
meet other missionaries to Japan. Bob
and Joyce Warrick and Virginia and
Julius Fleenor were especially instru
mental in the Wilkinsons' decision to
serve the Lord in Japan. Finally in 1970,
Dale completed his degree requirements
at the Cincinnati Bible Seminary and in
November, together with Peggy and their
two children, Mark and Beth, departed
for Japan to commerice their first term
of service on the foreign field.
First Term of Service
(November 1970 - June 1974)
Upon arrival in Japan, the Wilkinsons
lived temporarily with Bob and Joyce
Warrick in the city of Sayama on the
northern outskirts of Tokyo. During
this time Timothy was born. After a
little less than a year here, they moved
to the mountain town of Karuizawa to
attend language school. Following lan
guage study they moved to the city of
Sendai in the northeast area of Japan.
There they worked with Milton and
Barbara Jones and Toshihiko Shimada,
minister of the Asahigaoka Church of
Christ in Sendai, teaching various classes
and conducting a weekly children's meet
ing in their neighborhood. They also
helped a Japanese family establish a
small church in their home in the town
of Kogota, about 40 miles north of
Sendai.
Second Term of Service
(Aueust 1975 June 1979)
During their furlough period William
was born.
The Wilkinsons returned to Japan and
the Tokyo area. For a year they lived
in. Andrew and Betty Patton's house
while the Pattons were on furlough, and
Dale studied full time at the Japan
Missionary Language Institute. Dale ^so
carried on Andrew's church work in
Chiba Prefecture and taught English Bible
Classes at a pharmacy college in Tokyo.
When the Pattons returned, the Wilkin
sons moved to the city of Yokosuka,
south of Tokyo, to work with Milton and
Barbara Jones in assisting the Yokosuka
Church of Christ.
The Yokosuka Church had been with
out full-time local leadership for several
years, and as a result the physical prop
erty had deteriorated and the congre
gation had dwindled to a handful of
students. The Jones and Wilkinson fami
lies sought to encourage the congregation
and to search for ways to improve the
property. The old building was re
paired. The Sunday school was built
up, youth programs conducted, English
Bible classes taught, out-of-doors street
corner evangelism held, and tracts dis
tributed. Dale and Milton worked closely
with the protestant chaplain at the nearby
U.S. Yokosuka Navy Base, to minister
to American sailors.
In November 1977, the Joneses were
forced to return suddenly to America
when their son, Eric, developed leukemia.
Dale and Peggy continued to guide the
Yokosuka work until their furlough.
During this period, the church building
was completely rebuilt and a parsonage
was added on the second floor. The
responsibility for the Yokosuka work
was then returned to Andrew and Betty
Patton who moved there to carry on.
Third Term of Service
(Sept. 1981 - June 1983)
Because of their children's need to
attend school regularly with other Ameri
can children, Dale and Peggy decided to
locate near the Christian Academy in
Japan, a school for missionary children.
(Mark stayed in the U.S. to attend
Cincinnati Bible College.) Julius and
Virginia Fleenor rented the Wilkinsons a
house on their property in Sayama
in fact, the same house they first occu
pied in 1970.
Dale and Peggy worked closely with
the Fleenors at the Sayama Church of
Christ, Dale sharing the preaching and
teaching ministries and Peggy conducting
ladies' meetings and counseling. Dale and
Julius made regular monthly evangelistic
trips to the city of Kamo in Niigata
Prefecture. Dale also assisted in the
remodeling work at the Fleenors' camp
ground in Karuizawa, and was a member,
along with other Church of Christ mis
sionaries, of the Kanto Evangelizing Asso
ciation, an association to distribute Gos
pel literature.
The Wilkinsons returned to the U.S.
in 1983 to enroll Beth in Bible College
and help her get settled. They are
presently on furlough.
A Mission of Service
Dale and Peggy have lived in many
places in Japan, ranging from small rurd
villages to great metropolitan areas. Their
goals have been to serve the Japanese
Christians in whatever way needed. This
has necessitated frequent moves, but as
a result several congregations have been
strengthened, properties improved, and a
sizeable number of Japanese have been
influenced to accept Christ as Lord and
Savior.
Japanese Christian Services. Inc. is
sponsored and overseen by the leaders
of the President Drive Church of Christ
in Cincinnati, Ohio, together with other
interested congregations. Ronald and
Ruth Riddle have been faithful forward
ing agents since the inception of the
mission in 1970.
WARREN & EILEEN CHRISTIANSON
CHURCH PLANTING IN CENTRAL HONSHU
JAPAN ADDRESS
186-1 Goaza Yashima
Asashina-mura
Kita Saku-gun, Nagano-ken
384-21 Japan
Tel. (02675) 8-2865
Warren's first experience in Japan was
while he was in the Navy and stationed
for two years at Yokosuka. Duringthose
two years he saw much of the country,
visited with various missionaries, and thus
decided that he would like to return to
Japan as a missionary. Upon leaving the
Navy, he enrolled in Pacific Christian
College where he met and married Eileen
Beard in 1968.
In 1970 they each graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts degree, and Warren
went on to Fuller Theological Seminary
School of World Mission in Pasadena,
California. After one year there, they
went to Japan to serve as furlough relief
for the Harold Coles at Ono, Hyogo
Prefecture. While they were in Ono,
Christopher Masatami was born May 24,
1972. He and Jeannette (who was to be
born some three years later) were named
after the minister there, and his wife,
Masatami and Reiko Kikkawa.
They returned to the States in August
1972 and Warren began his second'year
at the School of World Mission. During
this year at Fuller, Mark Yoshitami was
born September 8, 1973, their only child
to be born in the U.S.A.
In September 1974, they arrived back
in Japan in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefec
ture, to begin a two-year course of
language study. This completed, they
moved to the village of Asashina, where
they now live. In between years of
language study, they were blessed with a
daughter, Jeannette Reiko, bom July 8,
1975 and named after Warren's mother,
Jean, who had come with us to watch
the children so Eileen could study the
language. Now, in the midst of getting
adjusted to life in the village, Karen Keiko
was born November 25, 1977 and proved
to be a real point of identification with
the people around them.
Chris, Eileen,
Karen, JeanneWiBmr,
Asasliina is located one hundred miles
west of Tokyo in the central part of
Honshu Island. It is a mral community
with a population of 6000, but which is
adjacent to Komoro City (population
48,000) and Saku City (population
60,000). The total population of the
eight cities and towns in which the
Christiansons work is approximately
200,000. While farming is the major
industry of the area, there are a number
of large factories such as TDK (the
recording tape manufacturer) that have
created an internationally-minded group
of people.
Evangelism in this area, begun by
Stephen Fleenor and then t^en over by
Harold Cole, passed on to Warren when
Mr. Cole had to return to the States
because of terminal cancer. Mr. Takano,
Rika (Mrs. David) Cole's father, provided
an old farm house and a fairly new
community center building, both rent
free. Before the Christiansens' furlough
in 1979, they purchased property for a
home and work center. The purchase of
land was a sign to the community of
their commitment to stay and work in
this area.
In March 1980 they began their second
term in Asashina in the work of church
planting. The present stage of the work
is best described as pre-evangelism or
public relations. This includes such
activities as English, English/Bible, and
cooking classes; speaking to various
groups such as the PTA; working with
community organizations such as the
Lions' Club and the Sister-City Com
mittee; and conducting weddings (re
quiring at least three pre-marital coun
seling sessions).
More direct evangelistic methods in
clude: movies - at public halls, homes,
or at parties; tract distribution with the
Kanto Evangelistic Association - house-
to-house and at schools; Saturday Night
Fellowship, Men's Suppers, Ladies'
Luncheons, Women's Meetings; Evange
listic Meetings, Sunday School, Vacation
Bible Schools; visiting the sick, and help
ing with the Coffee House Ministry in
Karuizawa and the Shinshu Bible Camp
in Mochizuki.
Christian nurture activities are Satur
day Night and Sunday Morning Worship,
personal counseling, a church newspaper,
and attending conventions, rallies, and
camps. Active, baptized members are
still few, but there is a growing number
of those willing to study the Bible and
consider the claims of Jesus Christ. At
this time, the Christiansons see their
main task as making contacts in order to
find those who are willing to listen.
This foundation work has the least visible
results, but must be done with patience
and care if there is to be a dynamic,
growing, indigenous church in the future.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Marge Phipps
734 Loma St. No. 12
Long Beach, California 90804
Tel. (213) 434-5643
WALTER & MARY MAXEY
JAPAN ADDRESS
913-18 Yoshino Cho
Kagoshima City
892 Japan
Tel. (0992) 43-8012
(FIRST TERM 1971-1976)
It has been twelve years since Walter
and Mary arrived in Japan to begin their
first term of missionary service in August
of 1971. They began their work in the
city of Kagoshima (population500,000;
located at the southern tip of the south
ern island of Kyushu) in 1972 after a
year of intensive language study in
Tokyo.
During their first term in Japan the
Maxeys worked three-and-one-h^f years
with the Kagoshima Church of Christ
until a Japanese preacher was called;
began five weekly English Bible Classes
(EBC);held weekend EBC camps to reach
young people; established a preaching
point in the town of Kokubu and began
a new church in Yoshino, a suburb of
Kagoshima. The Maxeys went to the
States for their first one year furlough
in the summer of 1976 and returned to
their work in Kagoshima in August 1977.
(SECOND TERM1977-1981)
The Maxeys' second term was a con
tinuation and expansion of the work
begun during their first term. Walter
continued his weekly preaching and
teaching at the Yoshino Church, which
had begun as a home Bible study in
1973. Since March of 1975 a house had
been rented for Sunday services, Sunday
School and weekly Bible studies. During
their second term Walter led the Yoshino
Church in a building program. The
poor location and lack of space in the
rented house caused the members to
consider building their own building.
Walter helped them get a ten-year low-
interest loan to build a second-floor
addition onto the mission house where
the Maxeys live, to be used by the church.
The first wor^ip service in the new
building was held on November 18,1979.

rfl
Since moving to a new building and
a new location the Yoshino Church has
made good progress. At present there are
14 baptized believers on the member
ship roll and there are over six prospects
or seekers who are in contact with the
Yoshino Church.
The Yoshino Church has been spread
ing the Gospel in its community throu^
regular evangelistic meetings, film meet
ings and tract distribution. Mary has
assisted with the Sunday School program
and monthly women's meetings.
Besides his preaching and teaching
ministry with the Yoshino Church, Walter
is also involved in preaching and teaching
the Word in the following places:
Kokubu Every Sunday afternoon Wal
ter preaches for a small group of Chris
tians who meet in the social hall of an
apartment complex (34 p.m.). Once a
month he goes to Kokubu for a Bible
study in the home of one of the Chris
tians, Mrs. Kawanishi. Kawanabe -
Twice a month Walter drives south one
hour to the town of Kawanabe for an
English Bible class. At present there is
no church of any kind in this town. It
is hoped that this Bible class might
help establish a church there. Kagoshima
Prison Walter serves as a chaplain at
the Kagoshima prison and teaches' a
Bible class there twice a month.
Since English is a required language
for Japanese students (Junior High
through college) the Maxeys have found
that English Bible classes are an effective
way of reaching young people with the
Gospel. These are classes in >^^ich the
Bible is taught in English and further
explanation is given in Japanese. All
students must have an En^ish-Japanese
New Testament and must read it before
and during class. Walter teaches three
weekly EBC's and two bi-monthly EBC's
FORWARDING ADDRESS
KAGOSHIMA CHRISTIAN
MISSION
Mr. & Mrs. Roger Faust
P.O. Box 574
Fairborn, Ohio 45324
Tel (513) 878-0545
at five different places in Kagoshima
Prefecture.
During their first term the Maxeys
began holding weekend camps twice a
year for the members of their EBC's.
Each April and October the members
of the six EBC's were brought together
for a weekend of concentrated Bible
study and fellowship in English and
Japanese. The Maxeys continue to hold
these camps during their third term;
so far 20 camps have been held.
At each EBC camp a relevant theme
from the Bible is dealt with. There are
two messages by guest speakers followed
by discussion periods.
Walter does not work alone. He
works as a co-worker in close co-opera
tion with six Japanese ministers of the
Churches of Christ in Kagoshima Pre
fecture and his father, Mark G. Maxey
(thirty-year veteran missionary living one
and one-half hours away from Walter
and Mary).
Walter attends monthly ministers'
meetings with the Japanese ministers for
feUowship and to plan and work on
various projects together. One of the
projects he works on with the Japanese
ministers each year is the planning and
carrying out of the annual Christian
Service Camp for the Churches of Christ
in Kagoshima Prefecture.
This camp has been held each year in
August for thirty years. Waiter has
served as Dean for the camp and serves
on the camp faculty each summer as a
Bible teacher.
Walter also works with the Japanese
ministers in planning the local annual
convention for the Churches of Christ
in Kagoshima Prefecture.
The Maxeys began their third term
of work in Kagoshima in August of 1982.
DAYNISE HOLLOWAY
JAPAN ADDRESS
612-8 Fukuda, Yoshii cho
Akaiwa gun, Okayama ken
701-25 Japan
Tel. (08695) 4-0405
"Miss Holloway, may 1 come in?"
is a daily request children make at the
door of the apartment in the fourplex
in Fukuda where Daynise lives. They
come to play when it is hot; they come
to play when it is cold and rainy. And
as they play, they hum the Bible choruses
they learn at the Sunday School and the
mid-week children's meetings held in her
little home each week.
Since 85% of all the Christians in
Japan have had a Sunday School back
ground, Daynise feels that her most
important work is the work she does
with the children who spend so much
time in her small home. No Sunday
School today; no church tomorrow!
Seed planting in these little hearts is vital!
For the children, a highlight each year
is the Vacation Bible School held every
summer in a nearby town-operated com
munity house. This is held during August
- the children's one-month summer holi
day. The V.B.S. lasts three days. At
that time students come from Osaka
Bible Seminary to serve as teachers.
Their help has been invaluable because
these young Japanese students can pre
sent the Bible in a way Daynise, an
American, can never approach. But the
Bible Seminary gjrls do far more than
teach. They spend time each afternoon
playing and talking informally with the
children. The children love their teacher-
friends and eagerly await their arrival
each summer.
On the final night of the Vacation
Bible School, the children and teachers
have a slumber party. A light supper is
prepared by the neighborhood mothers.
The children share what they have
learned. Then everyone races home,
takes a quick bath, dons pajamas, and
returns to the community house carry
ing his light sleeping mat. During
the evening we play games, sing and
just enjoy being together. Everyone
loves the slumber party.
Daynise also works with high school
students at Koseidan Institute of English
Language Study, a private school in a
nearby village. The director, Mr. Taka-
mori, asked her to teach thirty-minute
Bible lessons in English to his students
each week. Although he is not a Chris
tian, he did this because he firmly believes
that one cannot understand English fully
without a knowledge of the Bible. And
he and his staff all study Bible. Oh,
what a challenge it is to present Bible
concepts in very simple English! Visual
aids are an absolute necessity. Picture
books, story picture cards, slides and
many other different aids are used. But
when all is said and done, a blackboard
and a piece of chalk in the hands of a
teacher is the indispensable visual aid.
Its versatility cannot be beat.
Ninety-nine percent of the high school
students Daynise meets have never seen
a Bible before they begin their Bible
lessons at the school. It's a wonderful
opportunity.
Daynise also teaches adult Bible clas
ses. These are taught in either English or
Japanese Japanese she has learned as
she lives among the people in the moun
tains of Okayama Prefecture.
This year, the adult students
enjoyed their second English Bible Work
shop. MarkMaxeywas our guest-teacher.
These workshops serve a two-fold pur
pose. Through the workshops the stu
dents receive Bible training while they
participate in the physical details of
handling a workshop. In America young
people have youth groups where they
can learn how to work together in Chris
tian activities. These Bible Study Work
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Lee Dummer
2014 S.W. 7th Avenue
West Linn, Oregon 97068
Tel. (503) 656-0012
shops are designed to give adult non-
Christians such experiences. The stu
dents' response has been positive and we
are all looking forward to next year's
Bible Study Workshop.
The Japanese say that it takes a
native minister at least five years to be
accepted in the community where he
serves. In the rural areas, people's roles
have been determined for many, many
years. Each newcomer must earn his
place in that set community. That
takes time and patience. Recently, Day
nise has noticed signs that she is becom
ing a part of the community where she
serves. First the women began to include
her in decision-making within the neigh
borhood. They have even decided to let
her be a block-representative on the
neighborhood council for the year 1984
1985. And, as this article was being
written, the man she bought her tele
phone from has at long last made the
legal transfer which would give her a
certificate of ownership. His reason for
the long delay? "When you came to us,
we were not certain you would stay
permanently; but NOW we know you will
continue to be with us." This after
seven years!!!
A decade is a short time to serve
on the mission field. But, to Daynise,
this decade has been the most satisfying
period of her life. Daily she teaches
God's Word in her home and wherever
else the opportunity arises. It is enough
to be "a peacemaker who sows in peace"
because God's Word always brings results.
LEE & SANDRA JONES
JAPAN ADDRESS
97-23 Saijo-Cho, Jike
Higashi Hiroshima City
724 Japan
Tel. (0824) 28-6225
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Dr./Mrs. Pat McGivaren
2084 Floyd Springs Road, NE
Armuchee, Georgia 30105
Tel. (404) 235-9606
Leaving a career in the Architectural/
Engineering field, Lee and Sandra studied
at Atlanta Christian College and came to
Hiroshima. Initially, they worked with
veteran missionaries, but after a couple
of years, branched off into a separate
work.
The first four years were spent in
Hiroshima City itself; then eleven months
on furlough. After returning to Hiro
shima, they were forced to find new
housing.
Lee and Sandra prayed for an answer
to the housing problem and God pro
vided for them in a wonderful way.
1974
Housing loans being impossible for them,
Japanese friends loaned them the money
to buy a used house in Higashi Hiroshima
City, a surburb of Hiroshima City. There
they have established a center where
students of all ages study English and
the Bible, sing hymns, etc.
They are also working to establish a
church there. The present attendance is
around 25 or so for worship services.
This area is rather rural, with many farm
ers in the area busily growing rice
Christianity is new to them and the work
has been somewhat slow, but there are
many encouraging signs. The church
attendance consists mainly of fathers,
mothers and their children. The regu
larity in attendance of most people points
to their search for some deep faith in
their lives. As of November, 1983 there
were two Christians, other than the Jones
family, attending services. Although sev
eral more admit that they believe in God
and Christ, practical problems relating
to life and customs in Japan are holding
them back from taking that next step on
faith; please pray for them.
In August, 1983, the Jones family
were granted permanent visas. Few
foreigners are granted this type visa and
Lee and Sandra feel God's hand in it
quite strongly, especially as they view
their work in Japan as a life-long com
mitment. Their buying their own home
in Japan and receiving the permanent
status has greatly influenced the local
people in their acceptance of the foreign
missionaries.
The Joneses are usingvarious methods
in their work of evangelism. These
include: worship services, Sunday School,
V.B.S., film meetings, video film meet
ings, special evangelistic meetings from
time-to-time, personal and group Bible
study classes, religious discussion meet
ings, tracts, musical presentations, etc.
The Joneses have some promise also of
future fellow-workers, as Rick Kelly and
his wife, Shinobu, and their son, M^oto,
came to Japan, and plan to be in Higashi
Hiroshima City about June of 1985.
Rick is in language school now. Please
pray for them as they prepare for their
missionary work in Hiroshima.
Lee and Sandra have four children:
Gary (Nov. 14, 1967); Jennifer (Oct. 8,
1970); Peter (April 7, 1975); and Sarah
(April 6, 1977).
RICK & SHINOBU KELLY
JAPAN ADDRESS
Rick and Shinobu Kelly
Z-1, 7-1, 32 Ban
Takaodai, Nishi Ku, Kobe
673-02 Japan
Tel. (078) 994-2635
FORWARDING ADDRESS
East Point Christian Church
1706 Washington Avenue
East Point, Georgia 30344
Tel. (404) 761-3187
Rick was bom on October 22, 1954
and raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
He accepted Christ at the age of 11
under the guidance of his father and
mother's careful teaching. He graduated
from high school in 1972 and entered
the Marines for four years. It was while
in the Marines that he spent a 13 month
tour of duty in Japan.
Shinobu was born on May 18, 1951,
in Shobara City in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Because her father was a government
1983
worker, Shinobu lived in several different
places in Japan. Most of her life was
spent in Hiroshima City itself.
She graduated from high school, then
attended Notre Dame Seishin Junior Col
lege. Shinobu graduated in 1972 with a
degree in English Literature. She came
into contact with the Turner and Jones
families who persuaded her concerning
Christ and continued to nurture her in
the faith. She was bom again in Septem
ber, 1974.
Shinobu and Rick met that same
month and dated for several months
before his tour of duty ended in April,
1975. After nearly two years of separa
tion, Rick and Shinobu were married on
March 19, 1977.
After Rick enrolled on classes
at Atlanta Christian College on April 3,
1978 Makoto Lester Kelly was born,
much to the delight of his mother and
father.
Makoto is a world traveler. He has
made the trip to Japan several times and
28
looks forward to his return to live in
Higashi-Hiroshima.
Our purpose is limited to bringing the
knowledge of the Son of God to the
people living in Hiroshima Prefecture.
It includes bringing them to faith in
Christ and helping to mold them into
disciples of His. Our purpose also in
cludes the dispelling of ancient prejudices
and hatreds towards Christ through ac
curate teaching of the Word of God.
It is our desire to establish the Church
within the context of the Japanese cul
ture. This means that the Church would
be indigenous in terms of leadership,
support and reproduction.
MARK & LYNN PRATT
Campus Ministry Central Japan Christian Mission
Pictured (I to r):
Mark, Lynn, Clinton, Karis, Cason
Schedule may vary, but generally includes:
STUDENT WORK -
College Bible seminar
College English classes
Fellowship Hour (English-Bible study)
Counseling
Christian Club
Junior High Bible and/or English classes
CHURCH WORK -
Sunday worship
Beginner church
In the planning stages of:
New converts' class
Seekers' class
Sunday school
OTHER -
Camp
Tract distribution
Evangelistic meetings
JAPAN ADDRESS
340-5 Negishi
Machida Shi, Tokyo
194 Japan
Tel (0427) 91-4600
FORWARDING ADDRESS
c/o M/M Rick Coyle
3357 Tallahassee
Cincinnati, Ohio 45239
Tel (513) 385-9247
i'
JENANN BECKMAN
JAPAN ADDRESS
8-40 Kamizono-cho
Nishinomiya 662, Japan
Tel. (0798) 71-7170
Jenann Mae Beckman first arrived in
Japan in May, 1952. She was promptly
named for her grandmothers (Anna Beck-
man and Mabel Brown) and a great aunt
(Jennie Brown-now Beeman). When she
graduated from high school at Canadian
Academy in Kobe, she thought she would
"stop out" of school for a year and get
better acquainted with the country of
Japan before leaving for college in the
United States of America. But somehow
she ended up as a special student at
Osaka Bible Seminary for two terms
that year. The professors of "Inter-
Biblical Period" and "Introduction to
Pedagogy" (Mr. George Beckman and Mr.
Ray Mings, respectively) taught in Eng
lish, using interpreters, so if Jenann
missed something in the English while
taking notes, she could listen to the
interpreter translating it into Japanese.
Jenann enrolled at Minnesota Bible
College the year the college moved from
Minneapolis to Rochester, and liked being
there so much she stayed five years. As a
freshman, she had no specific plans for
the future, only a desire to learn more
about the Bible and to grow as a Chris
tian. Her homesickness for Japan never
"got better", but one day she tearfully
prayed, "I'll go where you want me to go.
Lord, and live wherever you want me to
live." When she finally graduated in
1976, she had a Bachelor of Science
degree in Christian Education and had
worked part-time in the school library
for two years, plus two years at the
medical library of the Mayo Foundation.
By then she had applied for a missionary
visa to Japan. Jenann had not planned it
that way, but God had prepared her to
help in the Osaka Bible Seminary library
and to work with the Sunday school and
youth group which meet in the house
where her parents live.
iL_^ln;fe
Since she grew up in Japan, Jenann
speaks Japanese without much of an
accent. However, when she came back
upon graduation, most of the Japanese
vocabulary and sentence patterns that
she remembered were those she had
learned from her childhood playmates.
So she found it necessary to study the
language.
Jenann went to the Kobe School of
the Japanese Language five mornings a
week for two years and two afternoons
a week for another year. Her teachers
taught her terms and idiomatic expres
sions young adults and older people use
in conversation. They taught her to use
one set of verbs and verb forms when
speaking of herself and another when
referring to her listener; it is customary
in Japanese to omit the subject of the
verb in many sentences. Her teachers
also taught Jenann to distinguish be
tween. words and phrases peculiar to the
local area and those used by radio and
television announcers across the nation;
when teaching or speaking in public she
tries to use standard Japanese. Another
skill taught her at language school was to
read and write Japanese. To keep in
practice, she reads the Bible in two or
three Japanese translations every day.
Besides starting language school as
soon as she returned to Japan, Jenann
also began teaching a Sunday school
class. Her responsibilities in the Sunday
school increased as her ability to read
Japanese increased. When she began com
muting to language school only two
afternoons a week she began going in to
Osaka Bible Seminary once a week to
help in the library. It was difficult at
first, so on her first furlough (in 1980)
she audited some classes in library science
at the University of WisconsinOshkosh,
and bought the latest edition of the
Dewey Decimal Classification.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Roger & Beryl Johnson
3320 Westgate Parkway
Rockford, Illinois 61108
Tel. (815) 399-3690
At present Jenann goes in to the li
brary two days a week. Her work includes
classifying and cataloging books, record
ing periodicals as they arrive, helping the
Seminary students and professors locate
what they want, and shelving the material
when it is returned to the library. One
project she enjoyed was painting the walls
and ceiling of the library room. Another
project is saving money toward an electric
typewriter with a memory, so that she
can do the cards for the Japanese books
with Japanese type.
As a member of the Osaka Bible Semi
nary "family", Jenann takes part in every
"clean-the-campus day". She also serves
on the committee for the children's pro
gram of TANEMAKI KAl, the annual
preaching convention.
The Sunday school which meets in
the Beckman home is divided into five
classes; Jenann teaches the first and
second graders. She chooses the Bible
stories and memory verses for the kinder
garten through the third and fourth grade
classes. Every quarter she types this list
for the teachers on her old, manual
Japanese typewriter. She also types out
the memory verses for the children to
paste in their notebooks. Every week
she chooses something for them to make
or a sheet from a workbook for them to
do to help them remember the Bible
story. If there is nothing for a particular
story in the filing cabinet or the craft
idea books, she enjoys coming up with
her own idea. Another responsibility is
acquiring and filing visual aids.
The youth group meets after the wor
ship on Sunday afternoon to sing and
study the Gospel of John together. Once
a month it is Jenann's turn to lead this
Bible Study. She also helps pick the list
of hymns for their monthly visit to a
home for elderly people, and prepares a
short talk on a passage of Scripture when
it is her turn. Another thing she likes to
help the young people do is to plan
activities to promote Christian fellowship
among the area youth groups. She wishes
they all had more free time to get
together.
CAROLYN BARRICKLOW
JAPAN ADDRESS
202 Sunabori Biru
5-39, 2-chome, Izue Hesaka
Higashi-ku, Hiroshima
730 Japan
Tel (082) 220-1604
Carolyn Barricklow is a product of
rural Southeastern Indiana, brought to
the Lord and nurtured in the faith by
believing parents and the Pleasant Ridge
Christian Church, Aurora, Indiana. From
an early age she was interested in other
countries and peoples, and first dreamed
of going to Japan at the age of nine
after hearing a Japanese Christian girl's
testimony at church camp. Carolyn's
preparation for the field included a degree
in New Testament and Music from Ozark
Bible College, a term of linguistics study,
and a degree in education from the
University of Cincinnati.
Carolyn has worked as a missionary
in the city of Hiroshima since 1976.
Her goal of ministry through English
teaching, music and youth work in an
already established work was never real
ized, as she was put into a "pioneer"
church situation in a fast-growing suburb
of Hiroshima called HESAKA. She has
been assisted during that time by a
Japanese Christian, SACHIKO OSAWA,
whose home church is in Tokyo. The
two became friends while Sachiko was
studying in the United States; after com
pleting a degree at Milligan College,
Sachiko answered Carolyn's call for help
and went to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima City's total population is
about a million, and the suburb of Hesaka
alone has 28,000. Even so, it had no
Christian witness of any kind until 1975,
when the Bill Turner family started work
ing there. When Carolyn went to help
tliem, she began by assisting with Sunday
School and English Bible classes; teaching
an English class at the local community
center bore fruit in a Ladies' Bible Class.
Then, during the Turners' furlough and
subsequent relocation to Tokyo, Sachiko
came to help with teaching and trans
lating, and the two continued the classes
that had been begun.
Lack of space for classes and meet
ings became a big problem, but four
months of prayer provided both a large
office space and the funds to begin
renting. After Sunday School every
week, Carolyn and Sachiko and one
other Christian observed the Lord's Sup
per together faithfully for eight months
before being joined gradually by others.
They often felt lonely, but God's
power and faithfulness continued to up
hold the girls. Mr. Kikkawa, a preacher
from faraway Hyogo Prefecture, offered
to preach for and counsel them one
Sunday a month. Vacation BibleSchool,
Sunday School outings, a weekly teens'
Bible class, and a monthly cooking class
were all signs of the growing circle of
God's love. Tract distribution to Hesaka's
5,000 households, and Junior-Senior High
youth activities three summers in a row
were accomplished thanks to the planning
and manpower of the Ono Church of
Christ. An evangelistic meeting, the
baptism of a young couple, and the
addition of several other Christians gave
the fellowship in Hesaka the courage to
call itself a church.
During Carolyn's furlough in 1980,
a young preacher from another part of
town helped with a Christmas evangelistic
meeting. Although working full-time as
well as ministering to a house-church,
Mr. Masuda volunteered to serve Hesaka
as a part-time minister, and preached
there twice a month for about two-and-a
half years before being called to a minis
try in Hokkaido. Thanks to this, Carolyn
was able to begin preparing messages in
Japanese, and to teach Bible classes with
out the help of an interpreter. Another
step to maturity was marked in April,
1983, as Hesaka's first convert, TERUMl
FUJll, enrolled in Osaka Bible Seminary
for more intensive Bible study.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Mrs. Natalie Johnson
R.R.I, Box 124
Orleans, Indiana 47452
Tel. (812) 865-2387
Many different evangelistic methods
have been tried in Hesaka. The most
effective number-wise has been evange
listic film meetings, with attendance aver
aging 50 per showing and a record of
130 for "Jesus of Nazareth". Yet, the
most fruitful kingdom-wise has been
through small weekly Bible studies,
through personal sharing with friends,
through living out God's love in every
day life.
Eight years of evangelism have brought
eight precious souls to the Lord. Sorrow
of losing members through job transfers
has been balanced by the joy of leading
new ones to Christ. Hesaka's church
body currently has nine members; three
teach Sunday School each week; all take
turns being M.C. for the worship service
and writing devotionals for the church
bulletin. All attend mid-week Bible
Studies: either an in-depth Bible study
on Wednesday evening, or Bible reading
and discussion on Thursday morning.
Sachiko serves as church treasurer; the
congregation now contributes to mis
sion projects as well as paying the meet
ing place's rent and utilities. Carolyn
teaches the adults on Sundays, and sev
eral weekday Bible classes, but there is
a great need for more workers, both
Japanese and missionary. To grow as a
church, Hesaka needs men, to reach
more men; especially it needs a preacher,
to guide its development into an estab
lished work. Carolyn and Sachiko's two
rooms have long been inadequate for
their volume of work, studies, and visi
tors; The meeting place which once
seemed so large bursts at the seams every
Sunday morning with between twenty
and forty Sunday School children.
Hiroshima is well known as a City of
Peace, but most of its one million citizens
will never know the peace that passes
understanding, the peace that comes from
knowing Jesus. In Hesaka, Christians are
totally free to teach and preach the
Gospel. The only limitation is the lack
of person-power, the time, the energy,
the finances to meet the opportunities.
Won't you pray for Hiroshima? Won't
you help?
DAVE & RUTH HINSON
JAPAN ADDRESS
1427 Nakamisu
Tanabe-shi
Wakayama-ken
646-02 Japan
Tel. (0739) 33-0003
On September 1, 1980, we arrived in
our home in Tanabe, Japan, somewhat
tired and somewhat not knowing what
to do. Ruth, being the daughter of
missionaries George and Ethel Beckman,
knew a little of the lifestyle in Japan.
Dave had to start from scratch. Even
now he still has to scratch around for
the right word that will get the point
across.
Our first few months were spent main
ly in working on our incompleted house,
started by former missionaries Larry and
Joanie Lambdin. We also began English
Bible classes and Dave began language
study that year with a tutor. After
more progress on finishing the house,
Dave went to language school for seven
months. Because of the inconvenient
once-a-week commuting to language
school, however, he continued again with
tutors in Tanabe. Finally, in the spring
of 1983 he finishedhis language program,
but language study really never ends.
Sometimes he studies various things with
a tutor, but usually he studies on his own.
Our community is about seven miles
inland from the Pacific Ocean, and sur
rounded by mountains ranging in height
from 500 feet to 2600 feet. On a clear
day the mountains are very beautiful;
it is a spectacular sight to climb the
mountains and look out over the ocean.
The heart of our city is close to the
seashore, so much of the activity of the
seashore occurs near the heart of the
city. Every morning the fishermen bring
in fresh fish to the early morning market.
The Japanese like their fish "the-fresher-
the-better". Much of the fresh fish is
eaten raw.
Our neighborhood is primarily agri
cultural with most of the produce being
plums and mandarin oranges. We es
pecially like the oranges. Many of these
orchards are on the mountainsides in
what are called "step fields". It took
many years to dig out step-like fields
on the mountainsides in the days before
there were any roads. Now, many of
the orchards have roads to them and
they have made cable systems or small
monorails to transport fruit and sup
plies up and down the mountain. A
Christian who lives in the mountains
told me, "It is great that you live in the
valley. It is much nicer to be on level
ground than to be going up and down all
the time." Most of the farmers have small
SOOcc-engine trucks to carry the produce
to the Farmer's Co-operative of our vil
lage.
The main projects of the Hinson
family at this time are: trying to begin
in our community a church which meets
in our home; teaching English Bible
classes; and giving supportive help to the
Kinan Church of Christ in the center of
Tanabe. We would like to step out
into a wider area of evangelism but
beginning a church in our home is cur
rently taking all of our time and energy.
We have two children, Levi who was
bom in February 1978, and Miriam who
was born in October 1979. Both of the
children speak the local dialect quite well
and sometimes it is difficult to get them
to play using the English language with
each other. It is very difficult for us to
understand the local dialect sometimes,
but we are getting more accustomed to
it.
How to present the Gospel in an
easily understood manner to our neigh
bors and friends has become a real
problem. They use the excuse of an
inabihty to understand religions other
than the traditional Japanese Shintoism
and Buddhism.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
George and Cinda Stocks
P.O. Box 2
Moweaqua, Illinois 62550
Tel. (217) 768-3815
Some of our other activities include
teaching Bible on a one-to-one basis to
some people who desire such study; and
during the summer months, helping or
leading camps and Bible schools. There
is so much evangelism to be done in this
country that it is easy to say, "Where do
I get started?" As you probably agree,
it is best to start near your own home.
That is what we are trying to do. With
in ten miles of our home there are thou
sands of people with very few Christians
among them. Our village has only four
people who claim to be Christians. One
attends our home Bible study, and one
other is a part of another church down
town. Please pray for us to have bold
ness, but patience, as we try to reach out
more and more.
One of our future aspirations for this
area is to begin more area evangelism
using tracts and correspondence courses.
All of this takes a lot of effort, but I
believe there need to be many more
churches on this peninsula called the
Kii Peninsula. There is currently one
Church of Christ, the Kinan Church of
Christ. That means there need to be
many more churches and workers. The
Word of God needs to be spread much
more. Please pray for workers for the
harvest.
Also, please pray for the Japanese
people. I have had many of my neighbors
tell me that there is no way for them to
become Christians. Some of them have a
great interest, some of them actually
believe, but the reason they give for not
becoming Christians is that their family is
Buddhist and they must follow their
family. If someone steps out of the
family tradition, he may be considered
a traitor. Please pray that the Japanese
can understand that we have a new
family, "The Family of God." One of
my English-Bible students enjoys the
Bible study very much; but he said,
"It would be nice to become a Chris
tian, but I can't do that. If I do that,
my whole family would have to become
Christians." Let us pray that he does
make the stepand many more like him
do the same.
JONATHAN SIMS
JAPAN ADDRESS
3-6 Kugo Cho
Yokosuka-Shi
Kanagawa Ken
238 Japan
Tel. (0468) 53-8224
ANOTHER SECOND GENERATION
MISSIONARY ON THE FIELD
Among quite a few people there is the
notion that a son will naturally follow
in the footsteps of his father, especially
an eldest son. In history books are
recorded numbers of sons who have con
tinued in the line of work of their fathers.
Even in my case it would appear that the
first son of Harold Sims would naturally
become a missionary. But the decision
to become a missionary, especially to
Japan, is not as easy as it is assumed to
be.
When I was being raised in Japan,
I had no intention of returning to Japan
to work as a missionary. I respected the
civilities and such, of the Japanese
people, but the idea of laboring for long
years to communicate the Gospel of
Jesus Christ to the Japanese with little
fruit evident as a result did not appeal
to me at all.
I considered it more "my type" of
work to do research in some branch of
science than to enter the Christian minis
try. My ambitions were in the field of
biochemistry. But in thinking about
college, I accepted as reasonable the
suggestion that I take one year of Bible
college as a time of transition before
moving into other things.
One year of Bible college jolted a
number of my concepts of things. Being
in the States with my parents on furlough
as a dependent could not be compared
to experience as an adult fresh out of the
nest. The first year in America held
quite a culture shock. It is quite an
adjustment to come from a group-ori
ented, outwardly polite, traditioned cul
ture to a rugged, outgoing, individu
alistic society. In addition, most Ameri
cans are independent much earlier than
nineteen, having at least had some dating
experience and even a driver's license.
After one year at Cincinnati Bible
College, I decided to continue my studies
there, rather than to transfer elsewhere
to study science. 1 found out that my
science career plans were not in line
with what God had in mind for me. A
door slamming in one's face is humili
ating, but the Lord always keeps a door
open, if we are willing to look for it.
I worked my way throu^ Bible col
lege on the night shift. In no way did I
want to be an additional burden on
Dad and Mom, who were continuing to
struggle to make ends meet.
Working full-time night shift in an
environment rather hostile to Christianity
became taxing on my Christian lifestyle.
It tended to pull me down more than the
campus life could uplift. I learned that
only through dependence on God, rather
than my own weakness, could I grow in
my life in Christ. I became spiritually
weak and physically sick.
But God answered prayer by allowing
me to transfer to the afternoon shift
at work, where the atmosphere helped
foster revival in my soul. The uplifting
effect of the Bible college was not hin
dered any more, and the change was one
of the factors leading me around toward
considering the Ministry. I began to
consider the idea that the Lord wanted
me on the mission field to work for
His Kingdom, rather than being locked
into working primarily for financial sta
bility.
The idea was changed into a firm con
viction through an internship in 1979.
I maintained Dad and Mom's work in
Japan for a number of months so that
they could take a needed break to visit
supporters in America. It was this
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Jesse Inge
909 Neptune Ave.
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23464
Tel. (804) 420-6028
internship experience through which the
Lord worked to lead me back to Japan.
The idea of being a missionary in Japan,
which would at first have set my teeth on
edge (I am not talking about Japanese
food, which I like very much) now
seemed directly God's Will for me. Now
I have raised support, and through the
Lord's provision I am on the field and
being sustained for the Lord's work,
namely, communicating the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Language school is essential for ef
fective communication, especially of the
important message or good news in and
through Jesus Christ. TTirough the mercy
and grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ I was able to graduate from the
course at the Japan Missionary Language
Institute. 1 do not regret in the least the
time spent in study of the basic foun
dation needed for communication in
Japanese. It has enabled me to reach
much further that I would have been
able to do otherwise.
The Lord has settled me into my
first regular Ministry, as such, with the
Yokosuka Church of Christ. Others
have worked here before and could give
a much more detailed account of the
history of the congregation than I could,
but for me it is a new work. If it is the
Lord's will, I am willing to commit
my entire life to this community, so
that the Lord's Church can be firmly
established in this neighborhood. In spite
of the fact that the people seem locked
into traditions and religious customs
which counter all that is taught in Scrip
ture for men to do, the Lord is more
powerful and will bring victory in the
end.
PENNY BOGGS
JAPAN ADDRESS
569-1 Kiso Machi
Asanuma Mansion No. 301
Machida Shi Tokyo
194 Japan
Tel. (0427) 92-0244
A real live missionary! Who, me?
I'm the "new kid on the block" so to
speak; I've only been in Japan for a
year. But let me go back to the
beginning . . .
It all started on October 1st, 1958
my birthday. 1 thank God that my par
ents, Thomas and Irma Boggs, chose to
provide my sisters Judy, Debbie, Peggy
and me with a Christian home. We went
to Church from the early days of our life,
and all became Christians at an early age.
Sunday School, worship services, youth
meetings, and youth rallies were the
main events on our social calender. The
folks at my home church - First Chris
tian in Chester, West Virginia - are as
much a family to me as my parents and
sisters. Involvement in church activities
was a year round thing, but in summer
we also had church camp. 1 really feel
pity for anyone who has not had the
opportunity to go to camp. A great deal
of my life has been affected by the"
weeks I spent at Elkhom Valley Chris
tian Service Camp. Over the years I
made the transition from camper to
teacher to staff member, but the influ
ence and impact being at camp had on
me were always the same.
Involvement in my home congregation
and camp were instrumental in my deci
sion to attend Bible College, and to use
my life for the Lord.
In August of 1980, after being gradu
ated from Kentucky Christian College,
1 came to Japan to serve a one year
missionary internship. For most of that
year Harold and Lois Sims took me
under their wing -- teaching me the ins
and outs of living and working in Japan.
During that time I taught an En^ish
Bible class, helped in the Sunday School,
and was a part-time student at the Japan
Missionary Language Institute. The re
mainder of the year was spent visiting
other missionaries, observing their work
and helping whenever possible. I was
truly blessed by being able to share with
the Stanley Buttrays, the George Beck-
mans, Exie Fultz, the David Hinsons,
Vivian Lemmon, Audrey West, and
Carolyn Barricklow and Sachiko Osawa.
After being back in the States for a
year, I returned to Japan to help Mark
and Lynn Pratt with their work in Machi
da City. The Pratts had returned home
for a much-needed furlough, and they
entrusted their work to me. From Octo
ber of 1982 through July of 1983 the
Machida Church of Christ members and I
worked together, overcoming the lan
guage barriers to keep the work going in
the Pratts' absence. Of course, none of
this would have been possible without
the Lord's blessing and guidance.
For the past year I have been a student
at Japan Missionary Language Institute,
studying this very difficult but fasci
nating language. I also taught an English
Bible class for high school students; a
women's Bible class; and a Fellowship
Bible class; the first two of which I will
continue to teach this fall. (Mark will be
teaching the Fellowship class, one com
posed mainly of students from Obirin
High School and College where he is
involved in the campus ministry.)
Rounding out my schedule was an Eng-
hsh conversation class at a local con
struction company - also one that I am
continuing.
From September I am again studying
at the language school and continuing
my classes. We hope to begin a Sunday
School program soon to go along with
the children's worship that Lynn is now
teaching. I wUl be helping her with these
programs - teaching and preparing mate
rials " and working with the adult wor-
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Dennis Arnold
163 Montana Ave.
Chester, West Virginia 26034
Tel. (304) 387-9979
The rewards of the past year have
been many - in the shining eyes of one
hearing the Christmas story for the first
time; in watching a new Christian grow
daily in the Lord; in the testimony of a
troubled wife and mother. It has been a
precious opportunity to share with Japa
nese Christians; to study their language
and culture; and to begin to plant roots
here. Above all, I've been given the
awesome responsibility of bringing the
Gospel to those who have never heard it
before.
The future .... I am looking forward
to a forever of tomorrows in Japan.
There is so much to be done -- so many
still living in darkness. The work is never
ending and the disappointments are there;
but 1 believe that when we have dis
couragements, God sends us an encour
agement.
One of my favorite Scripture passages
is Proverbs 3:5, 6 - "Trust in the Lord
with all thy heart, and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge Him, and He will
direct thy paths." The Lord is teaching
me daily to trust in Him, and to let Him
lead my paths. Being new at all of this,
there is lots to leam. I've been able to
draw on the experiences of the "older
and wiser" missionaries, learning from
their mistakes as well as my own.
Japan - the land of the rising sun -
let's pray together that it will become a
land worshipping the Risen Son.
AL & RHONDA JUVE
JAPAN ADDRESS
1190-21 Karuizawa Machi
Nagano Ken
389-01 Japan
Tel. (02674) 2-5042
Not only does God work in all things
for the good of those who love Him and
are called according to His purpose (Rom.
8:28), but He uses our day-to-day ex
periences to help prepare us for future
service. I have been interested in Asian
cultures and people since I was very
young, and now, we have the oppor
tunity to share the good news of eternal
life with the people of Japan.
After high school I studied East Asian
History and the Japanese Language at
the University of Nebraska in Lincoln,
and had even arranged to study for a
year in Japan in 1978. Those plans
were curtailed by lung surgery however,
and it was while I was in the hospital
that 1 decided to go to Bible college and
study in the area of foreign missions.
I enrolled at Nebraska Christian Col
lege in 1979, where Rhonda and I met.
The next year we met Mark and Pauline
Maxey, who were home on furlough.
They spoke at the College's Spring Con
vention, and because of my interest in
the Japanese culture we talked with them
about their work in Kanoya.
Rhonda graduated in 1980 with a
degree in Christian Education and Church
Music, and began working as Assistant
Registrar at the College. We were married
in August 1981, and together began
prayerfully considering where God could
use us. That November we wrote to
Mark Maxey and asked if we could
work with them after I graduated. He
agreed to help us, and urged us to come
with an openness to a life-time commit
ment to Japan - wherever in this country
God would lead us.
In making that commitment we care
fully considered our reasons for wanting
to go to the mission field, and specifi
cally, to Japan: First, we did not want
to put any limits on where or how God
might use us. With this in mind, the
crucial need for workers throughout the
world became quite obvious. Only a
very small percentage of our ministerial
work force is working with the 94% of
the world's population that is outside of
the United States and Canada. Christ's
command to preach the Gospel to all
nations (Matt. 28:19, 20) requires more
harvesters for every field; and we our
selves are interested in taking the good
news to a culture where many have not
heard. My own personal interest in the
mission field first came from cross-cul
tural friendships at the university, and
my family and home church have also
greatly encouraged me in this direction.
To the question, "Why Japan?", we
again answered the need, and the
opportunity. Japan has a large non-
Christian population; less than 1% is
Christian in the broadest sense of the
term. Japan is also one of the fewcoun
tries left in Asia where the doors are stiU
open to the Gospel, and missionary visas
are not difficult to get. My interest
and background in Japanese history and
language would provide a good basis for
further necessary study, and Rhonda
also began studying in both of these
areas before we left.
We continued to correspond with Mark
and Pauline, and they were very helpful
in guiding us as we prepared to come to
the field. I had a two-year student
ministry at Madison, Nebraska while at
tending Bible college, and Rhonda con
tinued teaching in the Sunday School.
Following that ministry we began rais
ing the living-linksupport for our mission
work, which we called Kyushu Evan
gelism.
In May 1983 I graduated with a
degree in Pastoral Ministries and Missions.
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Linda Pippitt
Box 223
Papillion, Nebraska 68046
Tel. (402) 592-3429
We had made plans to leave in August,
and God opened all of the doors to
make that possible. We spent our first
week in Japan with the Maxeys in Kago-
shima and they began introducing us to
the land, the culture, and the people
with whom we will be working. While
there we attended a church service at
Sueyoshi, where the people have been
praying for over a year that someone
would come and work with them full-
time. Right now we are in a two-year
language program at Karuizawa Language
School, but we plan to return to Sueyoshi
and work in that community with God's
help.
The few months that we have already
spent in language school have been very
profitable for us in meeting the challenges
of learning the language and adjusting to
the culture. Japan has become our home
a little more every day since we first
arrived in Karuizawa and tried to direct
the taxi driver to the address of the
house we were going to rent!
The basic vocabulary and sentence
patterns that we are learning, with prac
tice, are now helping us to go shopping,
talk on the telephone, meet people and
ask for directions in Japanese. In our
religious course we are learning how to
pray in Japanese, memorizing verses of
Scripture and learning words and phrases
that are useful in teaching the Bible.
This is our real goal in studying the
language to be able to share the good
news of God's love and salvation for the
Japanese people, in Japanese. God has
blessed us above and beyond what we
could ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20), and
we are grateful for the opportunity to
serve Him in Japan.
KEITH SUMMERS
JAPAN ADDRESS
251-1 Yunogo,
Mimasaka cho, Aida gun
Okayama ken
707 Japan
Tel. (08687) 2-1855
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Joyce Washburn
302 Leisure Lane
C^rl Junction, Missouri 64834
Does a person have to have a special
background to become a missionary?
No. Missionaries come from any and
every kind of background. In my case,
I'm the eldest of four children of an
average family (above average to me)
in Ohio. 1 became a Christian when
twenty-one. Until I entered Johnson
Bible College at the age of twenty-three,
all 1 knew about missions and mis
sionaries was limited to one missionary
autobiography, lessons and messages
about Paul, and occasional missionary
speakers. (1 seldom saw any and paid
little special attention.) As a freshman,
I was required to take a missions course.
That did it! 1 knew missions was where
I wanted to be.
Do I have advice? Sure do. (Relax.
You don't have to take it.) Learn about
missions and missionaries. Read mission
textbooks, missionary diaries,
biographies, autobiographies. Talk to
missionaries. Ask them questions (most
of them don't bite). So what if you're
not planning on you or one of your
family members becoming a missionary?
You'll be surprised how much impact
missions can have on your life.
To be a missionary, does a person need
a special talent? No and yes. If a mis
sionary can play a piano, speak five lan
guages, build a church building with
five boards and two nails, that's great!
But such talents are not necessities. The
one talent every missionary needs is the
ability to listen to and obey God. (And
every person has that talent whether
they use it or not.) When we gave our
lives to God, we were saying to God
(and continue daily to say), "God, here
BILL & AKEMl BELEW
JAPAN ADDRESS
Niigata Christian Mission
8-21 Sakuragi-cho
Sanjo-shi, Niigata-ken
955 Japan
Tel. (02563) 4-6630
FORWARDING ADDRESS
Jim and Melodie Hood
144 S. Columbus St.
Russellville, Ohio 45168
Tel. (513) 377-5505
William (Bill) Belew was bom in Cin
cinnati, Ohio September 22, 1954. He
became a Christian at the age of 17 and
began attending Bridgetown Church of
Christ. In August of 1972 he enrolled in
Cincinnati Bible Seminary. Four years
later he graduated with a B.A. Degree in
Christian Ministries. After serving as
associate minister for a church in Cin
cinnati and as minister of a church in
Wyoming, Bill enlisted in the Navy, hop
ing to be able to travel to a foreign land
where he might someday work as a mis
sionary, all the while sharing his faith
with the people of the Navy. After one
year in the Navy, Bill was screened and
selected for Officer Candidate School.
Soon he received his commission. After
serving 2'/i years in Japan, Bill separated
from the Navy with an Honorable Dis
charge.
While in Japan, Bill not only fell in
love with the country and its people,
but he also met and married Akemi
Sakaguchi. Akemi was born in Sanjo
is my life. 1 am giving it to you. Show
me how to use it in service to you."
Thus, a missionary is a Christian who
has simply done what he or she told God
he would do.
Do missionaries have frustrations?
Problems? Sure do, just like everyone
else. When Christians are busy serving
God, Satan does his best to frustrate them
into either inactivity or reduced activity.
And they can be such little things: food
cooked in a foreign fashion, language
and custom misunderstandings, failures.
Missionaries need prayers continually like
every other Christian worker
A'
What am I doing? I'm helping Audrey
West at the Okayama Christian Center.
I teach Bible/English classes, plus do a
little preaching at the JiayashinoChurch
of Christ. At the present, this occurs
only on the weekend, as I'm attending
language school during the week.
Language school? Yes. To teach
adequately, one needs to be able to use
the language. And that calls for humor
ous experiences. Some of mine are:
thanking a lady for a delicious meal by
saying, "It's garbage"; calling a lady
"devil" instead of "older sister"; saying
"He's going to jail" instead of "He's going
to Korea." School? Definitely!
Japan needs to hear God's Word.
She will not hear it if no one comes to
preach it. That holds true for every
other country, too. I can not preach in
every country at once. But I can preach
where 1 am. Yes, I have problems and
frustrations. But there are rewards:
conversions; strengthened Christians;
most of all, the satisfaction of doing
God's will. What other reward can a
Christian want?
City, Niigata Prefecture July 8, 1959
Akemi attended and graduated from
Kanto Gakuin Women's Junior College
with an Associate Degree, majoring in
English. She became a Christian while
attending the First Church of Christ at
Yokosuka, Japan at the age of 21. They
have one son, Benjamin Akira, who was
born on May 30, 1982. Bill and Akemi
both love Japan and both are eager,
excited and anxious to begin a new
work in Niigata.
(continued from page 7)
She died Christmas day, 1953. At her
own request, she is buried in an unmarked
grave in Zoshigaya Cemetery, Tokyo.
Of course, her passing did not bring an
end to the lasting influence of the Cun
ningham work. The work that W.D.
Cunningham did, and the vision he had,
proved to be the basis for a solid and
continuing work in Tokyo in the post
war period.
LIST OF MISSIONARIES BY AREAS
Beginning at the far north, we will
attempt to list every missionary who
has worked in Japan for one year or
longer, excluding those already mention
ed above.
Wesley and Margaret Walker (1955
1970) settled in Sapporo, Hokkaido and
started two churches. His parents, Walter
and Olive Walker, joined them in 1956.
Walter died in Sapporo, 1958, but Olive
stayed on until 1961.
Ernest and Neva Faber (1954-) also
went to Hokkaido. Tliey have established
churches at Obihiro, Shin Tomakomai
and are in their third church planting
project in north Sapporo.
Paul and Marcia Nielsen (19481966),
who had worked with Mrs. Cunningham
briefly before the war, returned in 1948.
Paul taught at Osaka Bible Seminary,
started a church in Nishinomiya and
later the Asahigaoka church in Sendai,
north of Tokyo.
Dale and Peggy Wilkinson (1970
1977 and 19801982) have served in
Karuizawa, Sendai, Yokohama and
Tokyo. Milton and Barbara Jones (1970
1974, 1976-1977, 1983-) have worked
in Yokosuka, Karuizawa, Sayama and
Sendai. After a long absence because of
the illness of their son, they settled in
Miyagi Prefecture, near Sendai, so they
can continue to work with the Asahiga
oka church and also start a new church in
that area.
Tokyo area has always been a major
interest for our missionaries. Harold
and Ada Taylor (19491954) started
the Kamiuma church in Tokyo before
going on to spend the rest of their lives
in Korea.
Grace Farnham (19471960) contin
ued her work with the Mabashi Mission
until retirement. She turned the church
over to Dr. and Mrs. Hideo Aoki(1957
1960). He in turn passed it over to an
independent minister and it became a
denominational church.
Claude and Evalyn Likins (1955-
1973) worked with the Kamiuma church
before moving south. William and Lois
Walker (19551964) started a work in
Isehara, 65 kilometers southwest of
Tokyo, building on a base left by Likins.
Walkers were with the Christian Mis
sionary Fellowship.
Julius and Virginia Fleenor (1950)
started the Shimoochiai church, the
Umeda church, established a camp in
Karuizawa and have been with the church
in Sayama since 1976 when they pur
chased the property and built a two-
story building there. Dave Reynolds
spent a year (19761977) working on the
building. Dana Lee Fleenor worked with
her parents for a year (1977-1978).
Marvel Hurt worked with the Fleenors
two times (1970-1971 and 1972-1975).
She worked with the Warricks also in the
latter period.
John and Deana Kachelmyer (1965
1970) came to Japan, after he had
previously served here as a schoolteacher,
to start a home for boys. For this pur
pose, he bought property at Sayama, a
northern suburb of Tokyo. He also
began a church there.
Robert and Joyce Warrick (1965
1981) came to Japan to start an orphan
age. They used the Sayama property
for this purpose. They worked with the
Fleenors and then spent two years in
Korea (1977-1979) with the C.Y. Kim
family. They returned to Japan to
work with the Christian Academy in
Japan. This school is located in a Tokyo
suburb. Their daughter, Barbara, was
with them for one year (19711972)
and then returned in 1977 to teach in
the Christian Academy on a permanent
basis. She is still on the faculty there.
Martha Yost (1968-1971) tau^t in
Ibaraki Christian College, a non-instru
ment school. Barbara Courtney (1969-
1974) worked in Japan as a school teach
er and in the city of Sakai. Gloria
Simon (1974-1976) worked with the
Milton Joneses and the Fleenors. She
married a Japanese and still lives here.
A1 and Eleanor Hammond moved from
Kyushu to Tokyo in 1958. They started
the Kumegawa church (now known as
the Onta church) and A1 began pub
lishing the Far East Christian Missionary
on a regular basis.
Paul and Kathleen Pratt moved from
Kyushu to Isehara in 1966 and took
over the leadership of the church there.
They have been active with the church,
in correspondence course work, in area
evangelismand in campus ministry. They
37
also served one year each at the Higashi-
Nakano and Onta churches. Harold
Akers worked with them five months
from March, 1978.
Mark and Lynn Pratt (1975) started
a new work in Machida east of Isehara
and are also engaging in a campus minis
try at Obirin, a Christian college in the
city.
Sarah Burney (19781980) served in
Machida and also in Isehara, Nishinomiya
and Kochi. Also working in Machida
were Robin Randall (19801981); Penny
Boggs (19801981) and with Harold
Sims, now back in Machida studying
language for missionary service (1982);
and Lilah Scott with the Julius Fleenors
(19801981) and in Machida for six
months beginning January, 1982.
Churches in the greater Tokyo area
are: Nakano, Mejirodai, Onta, Umeda,
Arakawa, SaJcurayama, Kamiochiai,
Sayama, Kotesashi, Minato in Yokohama
and, moving farther south, in Machida
and Isehara.
Howard and Kathryn Davis (1951
1964) and Robert and Hazel Chambers
(1952-1959) established four churdies
in Nagoya. One remains, the Nishi-
Nagoya church.
George and Ethel Beckman (1948)
started the Sakyo church in Kyoto before
moving on to work with the Koyoen
church near Kobe and serve on the
faculty at Osaka Bible Seminary.
Martin and Evelyn Clark (1950)
came for him to serve as President of
Osaka Bible Seminary. Ray and Mattie
Mings (19511981) also came to Osaka
to teach at the Seminary. Others who
served with the Seminary or taught mis
sionary children were Jane Kiimett
(1951-1956), Lucille Sherman (1952-
1957), Betty Whittington (1953-1955),
Hazel Rickard (19601961), Jan Felix
(19681969), and Rose Najarro (1969
1970).
Churches in the Osaka area are Naka-
buri, Moriguchi, Inano, Minami Senri
and two in Daito.
Alex and Betty Bills (1951-1955)
came to Osaka and prepared radio pro
grams there for use world-wide. Later
they moved to Korea, hoping to get a
license for a radio station there. Exie
Fultz (1952) worked with them, living
in Osaka and then Kobe. During her
Kobe years she prepared religious radio
programs. Also at that time she bought
land on Awaji Island near Kobe, hoping
eventually to have an FM radio station
there. This did not become possible.
She was instrumental in starting the
Kariya church on the island with the
aid of Claude Likins. She worked in
Tokyo many years before returning to
carry on her missionary work on Awaji.
Isabel Dittemore moved from Kyushu
to Kobe in 1957, and produced radio
programs which were used in Kagoshima
and elsewhere in Japan. She left J^an
in 1963 to begin a new work in Taiwan.
Harold and Leone Cole moved to
Ono, near Kobe, in 1964 and started a
church which since has become the larg
est, most active of our people in Japan.
In 1974 they began a work at Asashina
in Nagano Prefecture. Harold died in
the U.S. in 1977 and Leone returned to
Japan as missionary-at-large, November,
1981.
After a short term in Ono, Warren
and Eileen Christianson (1971-) moved
to Asashina to continue and build upon
the work of the Coles there. Warren
Christianson, Stephen Fleenor, Paul Pratt
and others work together in the Kanto
Evangelizing Association. They spend
Thursdays and Fridays passing out tracts
to homes and in front of schools. In
rural areas they pass out 2000 tracts a
day and in dty areas from 3000 to
5000 per day. They get five responses
for every 1000 tracts distributed.
Donald and Norma Burney (1955)
pioneered on Shikoku, one of Japan's
major islands. Hiey are the only ones of
our people to serve on that island. They
have established three churches: Gomen,
Noichi and Tosayamada.
Robert West(19531966) and Audrey
West (1953) did language study and
worked in Tokyo before movingto Haya-
shino, Okayama Prefecture, in 1956.
They started churches in Emi, Hayashino,
Gomyo, Sakuto and Katsuta. Audrey
West's work now centers in the Okayama
Christian Center in Hayashino. Penny
West worked with her one year (1976
1977) and Keith Summers has been
working with her since September, 1981.
Daynise Holloway (1972) worked in
Kamizawa and also with Audrey West
before starting her own work in Yoshii,
which is near Hayashino.
William and Betty Turner joined us
from the Philippines (1965). After
working in Osaka and i^ashi they began
to work in Hiroshima (1973). Now
they have begun again, starting the Kote-
sashi church, north of Tokyo.
Continuing the work in Hiroshima
are Carolyn Barricklow (1976) and
Sachiko Osawa (1977) at the Hesaka
Christian Center and Lee and Sandra
Jones (1974-) starting the Higashi Hiro
shima church. Jerri Lee Anderson also
worked in Hiroshima (1974-1978).
Ben and Nobuko Hirotaka (1973)
have been working in Shime, a suburb of
Fukuoka in northern Kyushu, establish
ing a good church there. Ben was born in
the U.S., spent the war years in Japan,
then returned to the U.S. to be with his
father. He met Nobuko, who was study
ing in the United States, when both
attended Mary Harding's English Bible
Classes in Portland, Oregon. Filling in
for them for periods of one year each
were Kenneth and Ruth Fowler (1977-
1978) and Howard Harris (19821983).
Mark and Pauline Maxey (1950)
arrived in Kanoya at the southem tip of
Kyushu, Japan's southernmost major
island, in October, 1950. They began
their work with a group of believers
baptized by Chaplain Paul Cook. Mark
started the annual missionary convention
in 1953. A Christian literature ministry
has always been a part of their work.
Others who worked with them there
were Mark Maxey's sister, Isabel Dit
temore (19511963); A1 and Eleanor
Hammond (19531970); Paul and Kath
leen Pratt (1958) and Walter and Mary
Maxey (1971) who have established a
church in Yoshino, Kagoshima City. Paul
and Faith (Maxey) Axton served the
Yoshino church one year (19811982).
Isabel Dittemore established churches
in Sendai, Kushikino, Kagoshima and
Kqiki before moving to Kobe.
The A1 Hanunonds worked in Kago
shima, Kanoya and Nishinoomote before
moving to Tokyo.
The Pratts worked with the Kagoshima
church and at Kajiki. They helped the
Kajiki church to locate in new property
and to establish a kindergarten before
moving to Isehara.
Kagoshima area churches are: Kushi
kino, Kagoshima, Yoshino, Kajiki, Sue-
yoshi, Kushira, Kanoya, Tarumizu and
Nishinoomote.
Harlan Woodruff (1949) staked out
Okinawa as his field while he was still
a military chaplain. He and Emeline
returned there September, 1949 to begin
an outstanding mission work. Also work
ing on Okinawa, le Shima and Miyako
over the years have been Melvin and
Marguerite Huckins (1951-1963), Carl
and Grace Fish (19521958) and later
in Kobe (19631964), Donald and Faye
Rickerson (1953-1965), Cloyd and
Helen Christman (19531957), Claire
38
and Donna Boulton (19571974), Gerald
and Erma Lee Downey (19571960)
and Yoshimitsu Higa (19601968).
Okinawa churches are Miyazato, Yabu,
Genka, Makiya, Higashi, Motobu, Ima-
domari, Kise, Okinawa, Uchidomari, le
(house church) and two on Miyako
Island, Hirara and Nansei-En.
We have been blessed with an out
standing group of second generation mis
sionaries. (Name in capital letters in
dicates a missionary son or daughter.)
DONNIE and Charlotte Mings (1962
1976), now serving in Hawaii; LONNIE
and Coral Mings (1962-) serving on the
seminary faculty; STEPHEN and Carol
Fleenor (1971) working iwith his
parents in Sayama near Tokyo; WALTER
and Mary Maxey;MARK and Lynn Pratt;
David and RUTH (Beckman) Hinson
(1980) in their first term at Tanabe,
south of Osaka, having replaced Larry
and Joan Lambdin (19751979) who
built a house there but were forced to
return to the U.S. because of then-
son's illness; DAVID and Rika Cole
(1981) who are moving to Nagano
after finishing his language study; JONA
THAN SIMS (1981) serving the church
at Yokosuka, a naval port south of
Yokohama and JENANN Beckman
(1976) on the staff at Osaka Bible
Seminary.
We are also rejoicing in the newly
arrived missionaries (1983 &84): Aland
Rhonda Juve, in language school and
committed to Kyushu; Rick and Shinobu
Kelly, committed to Hiroshima after he
finishes language school; and William
and Akemi Belew, committed to Niigata.
At present our missionary community
numbers 60 hearty souls.
STATISTICS AND INSTITUTIONS
Statistically, we have 68 churches in
Japan with a possible membership of
2500. We have 44 ministers which
means that 24 churches are without
ministers. Some of these diurches are
served by missionaries, but still this is a
dangerous situation. Nature abhors a
vacuum and so does the church. Leader-
less churches are ripe for takeover by
roving denominational preachers. De
nominationally trained and oriented min
isters have always been disastrous for
New Testament churches. There are no
exceptions. Every missionary must make
it a part of his work to train and develop
local leadership on the field as well as
sending those who can go to Seminary.
At the annual convention of Japan
churches of Christ held in Kobe, July,
1983, over 500 Christians from 54
churches throughout the nation attended.
It was an outstanding gathering by
any standard.
In its 40 year history, Osaka Bible
Seminary has enrolled a total of 166
students. Thirty-nine of these were 4 or
5 year students of whom 33 are preach
ing. This is 84.6%of the total. Thirty-
eight two-year certificate students were
graduated. Eleven of these married
ministers or are active in evangelism.
This is 28%. Only 16 of our churches in
Japan are served by non-OBS graduates.
The college has a faculty of 3 mission
aries and 4 Japanese professors, all of
whom have a graduate level education.
There are 9 students at present.
Each November 23, Osaka Bible
Seminary holds the Tane Maki Kai (Seed
Sowing Convention) on its campus. It
is an important time of preaching and
fellowship, especially for the churches in
central Japan.
We have no benevolent institutions.
There are three church-owned camps:
Karuizawa Christian Camp operated by
M/M Julius Fleenor; Shinshu BibleCamp,
founded by M/M Stanley Buttray in 1978
and now operated by M/M Andrew Pat-
ton; and the Christian Shuyokai operated
by the churches in Kagoshima Prefecture.
In 1976, after the sale of a piece of
land next to the Kamiochiai church in
Tokyo, the trustees of the Yotsuya Mis
sion established a Church and Building
Loan Fund. This fund has supplied long-
term, low-interest loans for church-related
building projects of our people through
out the country. It has been a great
blessing. A positive factor in its con
tinuance is the fact that, with one or
two exceptions, this money has been
repaid fully and on time.
THE PRESENT STATE OF
THE CHURCH AND MINISTRY
Practically all of our churches in Japan
have their own church buildings and
property. They conduct their own affairs
and pay their own expenses. Not all
have a minister full-time, or pay their
minister full salary. This means that
many ministers must support themselves
by outside jobs. As a result they have
less time and energy for evangelism.
The favored method of self-support
is to have a kindergarten in connection
with the church. This can also be a real
method of evangelism if used as such.
Not many do so effectively. The Kanoya
church, in the Kagoshima area, estimates
that over half of their new converts come
from families of kindergarten students.
This is putting the method to its proper
use.
The churches of Japan have a con
vention each year in a different geographi
cal area. TTiis convention is now 30
years old. It is a free convention.
There are no delegates. No business of
any kind is conducted. The church or
the churches in the area host the con
vention and plan the complete program.
The missionaries have a similar conven
tion near the time when the Japanese
convention is held. It is operated on the
same terms except that the program is
in English. Anyone may attend.
There is no supra-church organization
of any kind. 25 years ago a number of
ministers who had flirted with the Kyo-
dan during the war or were enamored
with its organizational structure tried
to set up a similar organization among
our churches. They were soundly de
feated. Six of these ministers then
formed their own Preacher's Union (Do-
mei). They were able to capture some
very valuable properties and to introduce
open membership into their churches.
However, they have made no progress in
getting other churches or ministers to
accept their position since that time.
The Domei churches in Tokyo are:
Wakaba Cho, Setagaya, Nishiogikubo,
Yochomachi, Abiko church in Chiba Pref.
and Asahi church in Osaka a total of
six. (These churches are not included in
the total number of churches listed else
where.)
Ordinary tensions exist in the churches
and sometimes extraordinary ones be
tween Japanese minister and missionary.
The ones that I know about exist when
the minister wants to move theologically
and organizationally to the denomina
tional mold. The Japanese minister
truly appreciates and treasures the free
dom in Christ that he has as a minister
of a local church. At the same time,
he would like to have complete authority
in the local church as many denomi
national ministers do. I expect such
tensions to continue but not to divide.
Because of our liberty in Christ, each
is able to pursue his own work in his
own way and to cooperate on a voluntary
basis. This helps to relieve tensions.
The Japanese church then is stable.
Most of the churches are situated so
they can last into the future. This will
not happen, however, unless the present
ministry reproduces itself. I do not see
this happening at present.
39
The Japanese church is basically self-
supporting and self-governing. In the
area of self-propagation it is weak. How
ever, a start has been made. Prof. Akira
Oda is minister of the Daito Church of
Christ which meets in his own home;
Chieko Tsuruda leads a home church in
Hyotan Yama, also in Daito, Osaka;
Etsuzo and Lydia Kishi first held a home
meeting in Hiroshima City and when
they moved to the edge of the city they
started the Tomo Church of Christ which
meets in a chapel on their property;
and two years ago, M/M Hideto Yoshii
began a church in their own house in
the town of Onga, northern Kyushu.
The church is growing.
Japanese ministers are active in hold
ing home meetings and regular Bible
studies in outlying places. New churches,
however, started by Japanese with then-
own resources and on their own volition
and meeting every Sunday in their own
places of worship are rare.
This is cause for concern. It should
also be cause for reflection on the part
of the missionaries. In teaching and in
example, the missionary should be lead
ing his Japanese counterpart in outreach.
THE STATE OF OUR MISSIONARIES
In telling the story of 100 years of
work by "Christians only" in Japan some
signifigant points need to be made:
1. Japan has been a major missionary
interest of our people for 100 years.
Since 1883 there have been only the
war years, 19421946, in which we have
not had a missionary witness in Japan.
Even after the war with Japan, one of
the most ferocious and deadly in history,
our people were eager to see mission
work resumed and both to send and
support missionaries to do it. That
abiding interest still remains, even at a
time when Japan threatens to gain eco
nomic superiority over the U.S.A.
2. We have consistently sent to Japan
missionaries remarkable for their dedi
cation, their preparation, their commit
tment and their staying power. Mission
aries who come to Japan are not quitters,
even though they are seldom blessedwith
major spiritual and evangelistic victories.
The longevity of missionary service in
Japan is more than a match for our mis
sionaries in other fields. That brings its
own problem, of course. 25 of our
missionaries are now in their late fifties
and sixties. That means we are facing
the loss of a great number of missionaries
by death or retirement in the next 10
years. We must be getting ready for
this eventuality.
What I have said about the missionaries
is also true of our Japanese ministers.
Most of them entered the ministry in
the immediate post-war years. Thus we
have here also a very large number in
the 5060 age group. A double crisis
appears on the horizon.
3. Our missionaries have a remarkable
record for living and working together
harmoniously. There are reasons for that,
of course. One reason is that we are
well spread out through the country.
In only one instance do two missionary
families live on the same piece of prop
erty. As a result, when we get together
we are glad to see each other. Fellowship
and cooperation are not forced.
Our common convictions about the
church and the Christian faith, plus our
common support of our one convention
and one Bible college, also give us a
unifying point of view. Otherwise, we
have no institutions, programs and offi
cialdom to require our time and alle
giance.
4. We have succeeded in attracting a
substantial number of our sons and
daughters back to Japan. The percentage
of MK's (missionary kids) returning to
Japan far exceeds that of any other
religious group in Japan. Because of the
language and culture, missionary children
have a head start when they re-enter life
here. They also know very well what
they are getting into. Thus theirs is a
realistic committment.
5. The single women missionaries have
leaned heavily on the men for support
and assistance. On the other hand, in
the pre-war period they often got the
worst of it in their dealings with men
missionaries in relation to property, build
ings and rights in the work which they
themselves had started.
ilB-
In the long run, however, they have
also proved more durable than the men.
They have served with dedication. They
have produced stalwart sons and daugh
ters in the gospel who are serving in the
churches throughout Japan today. I
salute them!
6. In summary, 1 think the mission
aries whom I have been writing about can
claim a "Well done!" We have not done
as much as we wanted. Not as much as
we expected. Not as much as we could
have done. But over the years a sub
stantial work has taken place.
We have stood on the shoulders of our
predecessors to survey the land, its ac
complishments, its needs and its pos
sibilities in relation to the Gospel.
May it be that those who follow us,
can stand on our shoulders and be able
to see the "Promised Land" of a Chris
tian Japan!
Those gathered at the 1983 Missionary Convention