Tap itb

Tokyo yj Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 81

FIRST QUARTER, 1982

NUMBER 1

PATTON
TRACT EVANGELISM
Over ten persons returned cards to us expressing an interest in Christ among whom four persons expressed a desire
to become Christians. Two new

NEWS
Sunday School lesson to the 6th grade girls of the Japanese church. Akemi will help while they are stationed nearby. Akemi and Bill are both enlisted in the yearly Bible reading program of the church. Norbert Winkler will be retiring from the U.S. Navy in March. He, his wife Kathy, and daughter Rachel will soon
leave Yokosuka shores. We shall miss

church and the Japanese church celebrated the occasion together on November 22. However, many of the ships were not in port for the occasion.
The adult Christmas service at the church was held on December 20. We Pattons also celebrated our 29th

persons are attending our worship

services. These are some of the results

of a few hours spent in tract distribu

tion on two occasions one in November and the other in December.

wedding anniversary at the same time. Members of both the Japanese and English churches and friends attended. Andrew's message for the evening worship pointed out that Christ is the son of Abraham, the son
of David as well as the Son of God and

Much work was involved, however, in preparation for the distribution of the tracts. Betty and I and Akemi Belew spent many hours in typing, printing and stuffing inserts which advertised our church services. Maps of our area were prepared to guide the tract distributors. Reply cards were stamped with address of the church and a map. Vinyl bags were filled with neatly tied and counted bundles ready for the helpers when they arrived. One group of tracts was especially prepared for adults and was used in
"door-to-door" distribution. Two other

that we celebrate His birth especially

at Christmas time.

A candlelight service was held on Christmas Eve with Kensei Yokomizo, our "Timothy" Bible College student, as featured speaker. One couple who
had been members of the church before

their Christian witness among the men on the USS Blue Ridge and here at the English services. Their home on the base was always open to the navy men and their families. We pray that they will continue to faithfully witness for Christ wherever they go.

their marriage in the church, came back at this time after many years of absence. We pray that they will renew
their lives in the Lord and be faithful in

THANKSGIVING-

all things that He has commanded. The children gathered on the 27th for the film "Humpty" and a special Christmas program. Handbills were
made and handed out at a school

CHRISTMAS
Thanksgiving Day and Christmas
on December 30 were celebrated at the

groups of tracts were prepared for

distribution to six schools in the area.

Eight missionaries and two church

members participated in the distribu

tion of the tracts and enabled us to

place around eight thousand tracts in

the hands or mailboxes of the people in

Yokosuka.

All of the returned cards to us were

from youth, indicating again that they are the most accessible to the gospel.

nearby. Since that time several new faces have been seen regularly in the classes on Sundays. Betty baked and iced over one hundred cup cakes from mixes sent by ladies in Richmond, Va. For the past three years we have had a Bible reading program at the end of the year. We encourage people to meet for an hour each evening at the church to read the Bible aloud. This year we
started December 25 and continued till

Julius Fleenor home in Sayama City.

In November all the missionaries and

military friends were present, sixtyone in all. served on Traditional foods were both occasions. The

November meeting found the fathers and grandparents on second fioor sharing joys, sorrows and information of the Lord's work. The younger wives
and children did the same on the first floor. On the afternoon of December 30 the women all met on the second floor and the men on the first floor. From

January 3. All of Genesis and part of

Exodus was read. Those were

YOKOSUKA NEWS
Since the Japanese Thanksgiving
Day is November 23 and the American Thanksgiving is the 4th Thursday in

enjoyable hours! Akemi Belew, wife of Naval Officer Bill Belew, has spent many hours studying God's Word in English and Japanese for almost 2 years. Since her baptism on Valentine's Day 1981, she has continued to grow in knowledge of
the Lord and mature in her Christian

3:30 to 8:30 we shared again and prayed for each other's needs and gave
thanks to the Lord for His faithfulness

in all things.
These occasions are rare for us.

Sharing relieved us of burdens, filled us with new hope and zeal for the work
we are here to do for the Lord. -Andrew Patton

November, the English-speaking

life. On January 10 she taught her first

SIMS NEWS

PICTURES OF ACTIVITIES AT ONE

Since our son Jonathan returned to Japan he has taken
many more pictures than I usually do, and this time I would

Harold and Lois Sims are planning a trip to the United States July 23 September 3 this year. They plan to be at the North American Convention in Kansas City. Their time is limited, but they hope to visit as many supporting
churches as possible.

like to share some of them with you. I hope this will give you a realistic mental picture of the people and work here, and encourage you to pray for these children of God also.
(1) On November 1, at the suggestion of our deacons, we held the first special service in honor of those who have gone from among us to be with the Lord. There have been 4 funerals in the local church, and invitations were sent to members of the families. I am happy to say that all those families were represented at the morning service that day. Many of them do not attend church services regularly, and they are not Christians, but the Japanese have emphasized honoring the dead for centuries and our Christians think it is proper for us to show that Christians also do this and wise to give the people some alternative to calling in a Buddhist priest or having a god-shelf in the home. We definitely did not have "prayers for the dead", but they were mentioned and remembered during the services and the families were prayed for. Otherwise we had the regular morning worship, including a gospel sermon. All of the families and many others expressed appreciation for this special day, and we plan to continue this every year about this time. Pictured here is Mr. Ide, an older Christian who attends our services. He has not become a member yet, but lives in
retirement with his son a few minutes' walk from here. He

has been a Christian for 50 years, and often gives a short exhortation to our people after the services to enforce what I have tried to say in the sermon. Here he is doing that. (2) On November 15 every year the Japanese have a custom of taking their children aged 3,5 and 7 to the Shinto Shrine all dressed up in kimono to be "Blessed and protected from sickness and accidents." Our Christian people do not want to go to the Shrines, so asked if the church could not have something similar so they can tell the grandparents, "Oh, we did that at church". We do not want to imitate the Shintoists, but certainly there is no harm in having a special prayer for the children, so we did on Sunday afternoon, November 15. Here are the children who came all but one belong to members of our church. (3) The most recent baptism at Mejirodai was Mrs. Tarumi on December 6. She lives in our neighborhood, comes to the ladies chorus and to worship services, and is the daughter of one of the elders in Minato Church of Christ. She finally made her decision. Here she is playing the violin at our Christmas program. She plays with closed eyes to avoid distraction, and is very good. (4) We had 54 adults and 9 children (by far the best attendance of the year) present in our worship service on December 20. A few had to go home, but most stayed for a light lunch and an afternoon program of music. Scripture reading, fun, fellowship and gift exchange. Here is part (one side) of the audience during the afternoon program. (5) The theme for the afternoon was God's Grace in Growth -- from Seed-sowing to Harvest. Guess who played the part of the seed-sower. Jonathan, under a gray blanket, was a storm-cloud, etc., etc.

CHURCH

IN JAPAN

DURING

NOVEMBER AND

DECEMBER

(6) Lois' Ladies Chorus sang during the program. This is a good view of the front of our church. The words on the ' hanging mean "Grace". A manger scene is in a part of a cardboard box put on the wall high enough that children's
hands can't reach it. Our Communion Table has a wood

carving of DaVinci's Last Supper in it. The black basket with the Cross is our Offering Basket. (7) Part of the decorations for Christmas this year were Towel Tapestries made by Lois. Here is one of them. (8) In Japan it is customary to have a public, formal engagement ceremony. Usually at this time the engagement ring is given. For Christians this is usually

done at the church in a brief and meaningful ceremony attended by family and friends. After the ceremony tea and cakes are served. Here is the engagement ceremony for Takada-san, one of our Sunday School teachers. The young man is a beauty shop owner. Not yet a Christian,
but we hope and pray.

(9) Our Sunday School Christmas Programs are always on Christmas Day, which is also the first day of the winter
vacation for all Japanese school children. Over 90% of our SS children come from non-Christian homes that have no

special celebration of Christmas, so we try to make the day meaningful and enjoyable for them, and they respond
enthusiastically. The Beginner, Pre school class had their program at 2 PM. The main teacher, Mrs. Nakagawa, is in the background. (10) The Primary Class program was at 4 PM. Here is a part of the audience at that time.

(11) The letters being held up by 1 & 2 graders say,

"Merry Christmas" in Japanese. Each child had a short speech beginning with his letter. (12) This girl, who was one of the announcers during the play, won the attendance prize this year by attending 50 of the 51 Sundays between January 1 and Christmas. (13) During the play we also had some music. Here the

shepherds and sheep play their recorders as others sing

"The First Noel".

(14) Another picture of the play. (15) The Junior Class program was from 7 PM. Here is a part of the audience. They did most of the planning of their program themselves. "They modeled scenes from the Christmas program, and had slides made and then presented their program accompanied by slides. This is part of the audience of 79 -- largest of the day. The total attendance for the 3 programs was 108 students, 7 teachers, 52 parents and 30 older or younger brothers and
sisters or visitors - total of 197.

xm

(16) Two of the girls giving their memory verses.

(17) Jonathan, the photographer, leading the opening part of the worship service. He has passed the second level
in the Japanese language course (5 levels).

(18) The second couple to announce their engagement during this season. Their ceremony was held on January 16, just before her 21st birthday. She was baptized here on
her 13th birthday.

BUTTRAY NEWS
1981 SUMMARY
That His Kingdom May Come! Shinshu Bible Camp became a real ity December 20th, 1979 to encourage, increase, and help the missionaries and cooperating Japanese preachers to reach and evangelize a greater num ber of persons for the Glory of God and
the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370}

Published four times a year in Jan uary, April, July and November for
the missionaries of the Church of

Christ Cunningham Mission. Tokyo, Japan by Mission Services, Box 177, Kempton, Indiana 46049. Second Class postage paid at Kempton,
Indiana.

Christmas Camp 1981. Candlelight Service on Christmas night. Taninari San on the right back,
and Yokomizo San on the left.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray, 571B Innaihara, Mochizuki, Kitasaku

The first year proved successful. Seven missionaries and four Japanese preachers took part in relating the "Good News" to 257 campers. The majority of these were not Christian. Building on these beginnings of 1980,1 had hopes of seeing even great er things accomplished in 1981. Weare thankful to God for All His Blessings. The number of cooperating staff increased as well as the campers. But the most rewarding of all was the
number of decisions increased six times! for Christ

What we have been praying for is about to happen. Taninari San's

Gun, Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22. Forwarding Agent: Mrs. Garydon Hessler, 760 Garden St., Meadville,
PA 16.535.

present thinking is to make Shinshu Bible Camp his life's work. And he is planning on moving his belongings from Osaka sometime in the Spring. To conserve energy and finances the Camp building is closed during the winter, except when Camps are scheduled. So, Taninari San is living with us, but will return to the "Camp Guest Room" sometime in March. Therefore, more effort must be made to finance the construction (this year if possible) of a Staff-Japanese Camp manager building. Pray that God will provide the needs for this building. Besides a Staff-Manager building
there are a number of other

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton. 3-7-8 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, R. 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 Subscription and

Flaming Torch

$.50
$1.00

Christmas Camp group taken on the 27th of

December. Ito San who made his decision for

Christ is on the left back beside Mr. Buttray. On

the right wearing a white Camp trainer shirt is Miho San who left the hospital to come to Camp. She is still in need of prayer!

The 1981 Christmas Camp with 22 campers was successful in spite of it being scheduled over Sunday. It was highlighted by Miho San leaving the hospital to attend! Though lacking
snow for Christmas for the first time in

improvement projects that we would like to see accomplished in time for the 1982 Summer Camps. But almost all of them are dependent on finances. IF all scheduled Camps could have an average of 60 campers this year, we could plan on improvements in 1983! The greater the number of campers, the greater the number of decisions for Christ can be expected. Christian Camps in Japan (unlike
those in the U.S.A. which are "Service

Camps") are about 98% an evangelistic

effort! Therefore please do not underestimate the importance of Christian Camps in Japan in fulfilling
OUR OBLIGATION to the "Great Commission". Please include the

many years, the campers had a good time playing softball on the frozen field. Also, Ito San returning for the second time made his decision, confessing his faith in Jesus Christ on the last day of Camp! Also, Taninari San came back from a very interesting 1st visit to the U.S.A. He and 10 other Japanese preachers and Camp leaders visited a number of Camps in California. They then attended the "Christian Camping
International Seminar" which was

success of Shinshu Bible Camp during 1982 in your daily prayers! "Stanley Buttray

held at the Glorieta Camp near Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is now a year and a half since
Taninari San came to work in Shinshu

Missionaries Thanksgiving meeting held at the

Sayama Church of Christ in the suburb of Tokyo. Those showing in the picture from left to right are:
Mark and Lynn Pratt; Russ Jordan, U.S. Navy; Johnny Sims; Dale Wilkinson; Harold Sims. And the heads showing in the foreground are: Bobby Boyers, U.S. Navy; Julius Fleenor and Andrew
Patton.

Bible Camp. His experiences in the States have definitely helped increase his desire (vision) to make "Camping"
his work for the Lord.

2m p

Tokyo m Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 81

SECOND QUARTER, 1982

NUMBER 2

PATTON
YOKOSUKA EVANGELISTIC MEETING
Again this year, the Yokosuka

NEWS
We feel very sorry this young person
has been led to renounce his Saviour. We were so limited in our contacts with him that there was little we could do to

A denominational friend of ours who lives near Yokosuka followed

Andrew's suggestion of advertising.

So the friend and his church distributed 600 handbills in his area

and had 5 new persons at the Easter service. It pays to advertise in church
work too.

Church planned and prepared for an Easter evangelistic meeting April 1011. Six thousand handbills and tracts

were prepared to be distributed to the

homes in the community. Also posters were displayed in various places as

well as at the train station.

WORK AMONG SERVICEMEN

In March, Mr. and Mrs. Norbert
Winkler returned to the States as Mr.

help him. And once he was won to that group, I doubt if anyone could have helped him. We will keep our doors open to him and pray that he will once again seek the Way, Truth and Life that he once accepted, Christ Jesus our
Lord.

YOKOSUKA

Andrew and Kensei Yokomizo (home from the Seminary for four days) began passing out the literature door-

Winkler was discharged after having

served for twenty-one years in the U.S.

to-door on

Monday and Tuesday

preceding the meeting, 4 hours each day, up and down the hills and the many thousand steps to reach each door. Thursday the working crew

Naval Forces. From California they planned to journey to Florida visiting various Bible Colleges along the way.
Since their departure our evangelistic work among the navy
men at Yokosuka has dwindled to

CHILDREN'S MEETINGS
On February 14, Valentine's Day, a special children's meeting was held at
the Yokosuka Church. A handbill

increased when Paul Pratt, Stephen

Fleenor and Warren Christianson

joined

us

for

two

days

of

work. Tired feet and exhausted bodies

were the result of having given out

5,700 pieces of literature.

Mr. Taninari of Shinshu Bible camp

served as the evangelist for the meeting. He brought good Gospel messages but unfortunately not one new person attended the meeting.
When a man who has attended our church services saw that no new

nothing. We have no pass to the base and can only visit there when accompanied by navy personnel. Also the ships stationed here have been mostly at sea recently. Therefore, we are very limited in the work we are able to do among the navy men.
There is a definite need for a mis

designed by Miss Ichinose was reproduced and distributed at the neighborhood school. An interesting program along with a movie and refreshments was enjoyed by thirty-two children and five adults
that attended. Some of the new children have continued to come to

Sunday School since that time.

sionary who can qualify for a pass to the base and can spend a great deal of
time among the military personnel
stationed here.

Another special children's meeting was held on Easter morning from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. during the Bible School hour. Slides were shown preceding and
following our regular Bible Study hour.
Our three oldest students were

Recently we were very shocked to

person came to the Easter meetings, he

s^d, "I did i^t help to distribute that

literature and didn't bear the expense of it. But I think you money and time
were wasted." We answered him in

learn that a sailor that we had baptized was won over to the Soka Gakkai, a strong Buddhist sect in Japan. After having met a Japanese girl while riding the train, this young man was
introduced to the religion. From there U.S. navy officers continued to teach

recognized for memorizing all the

books of the Bible for which they received a Bible as a gift from the
church.

this way. "Certainly not. About 6,000

homes received literature and those

who read it got a Gospel message and

information as to where the church

him and converted him into the pagan faith. Many of the U.S. navy officers
have married Japanese women who
are of the Buddhistic sect and have

was located.

Perhaps they will

remember it later and come to our services." We made a mental note at the time that the same man who made the above criticism first came to our services because he had received a tract we previously delivered to his
door.

joined their wives in propagating the religion on the base. Some ships have the god-shelf to aid the converts in
their worship while at sea. This is but

These three older girls recently graduated from Primary school and hdve entered junior high school. They attended the high school camp held at Shinshu Bible Camp on March 29April 1. Betty and I accompanied them on the train and Betty served as one of the camp cooks while we were there.

Oftentimes, evangelism in Japan

must begin with the children and young people. They are generally the most easily reached with the Gospel.

one of the many temptations our young

navy men face.

SIMS
FIFTH SUNDAY RALLY AT MEJIRODAI
For several years we have been having a rally at one of our Tokyo churches on the fifth Sunday afternoon and evening. The Mejirodai
church entertained their third one on

NEWS
this staff included, there were about 50 people at every meal. The dates were March 29-April 1. Three young people came forward during the invitation on the last night of the camp at vespers. One girl had come forward at a previous camp, but so far has had opposition from her parents to her desire to be baptized. The other 2 boys were to be baptized at their local churches during April. We followed the standard camp
schedule. On the second afternoon the

and making this (his favorite food) for folks. He has a large steel plate,

propane gas burners and all the necessary equipment, and he set this
up in our yard during the afternoon

program. We bought the noodles and all other things. Three of the church
ladies cut 5 heads of cabbage, 10 onions
and so forth earlier in the afternoon in

preparation. All the people were served on paper plates in about 30 minutes,
and there were seconds available for

January 31, and we felt happy about it,

so I would like to describe it for you.
We had a record number of churches

those who went outside to get them. Each person also got a cup of green tea,

represented. There were 13 from Minato, 8 from Sayama, 7 from Nakano, 5 from Arakawa, 4 from Sakurayama, Machida, Sannobara and Onta, 2 from Umeda and
Kotesashi and 1 from Zushi. There were 19 adults and 4 children from

2 tangerines and a large cookie. Each person paid about $2.00. The church
was crowded, but there was a lot of

happy, lively conversation.during this

mealtime, and the hot noodles hit the spot on a cold winter evening. After supper Stephen lijima preached about "The Salvation of the Family" from Acts 16. It was a great encouragement to many of those present to hear actual examples of people from Minato church who had prayed for years for the conversion
of their mates and of answers

rain made it impossible to have outdoor recreation, so we loaded up most of the campers in cars and made a trip to the resort town of Karuizawa (45 minutes drive) where they enjoyed ice skating in an indoor rink. While there,
the weather cleared and we had a

spectacular view of the snow-capped

volcanic Mt. Asama.

Mejirodai for the afternoon plus 3

who came only for the evening message. The totals were 76 people (not a record) from 12 different
churches.

The-program began promptly at 3

PM. Each church was asked to have 1

Also during the all cheered by after some weeks with a serious of little Karen,

camp we were the release, in the hospital blood disease, the youngest

person prepared to speak 5 minutes about their goals for this year. Some sang a special musical number also.
We heard news about 3 Christian

to

those

prayers.

We

were

surprised and very happy to hear

that Minato church now has 23 couples
who are both Christians.

child of missionaries Warren and Eileen Christianson. The Christiansons live about 10 or 15

minutes

drive

from

the camp in

Nagano Prefecture.

weddings during the past year in 1 church, a man giving up a long standing drinking habit, the celebration of one preacher's 20th year with that church, needs for more Sunday School teachers, a man reading 3 chapters in the Bible each day and other edifying short speeches
from all over the crowded room.

SPRING HIGH

JR/SR

SCHOOL
CAMP

Between each speech we sang a congregational song-11 good rousing

ones, enjoyed by everyone.

For supper we had fried noodles. A man who works at the same crystal factory as one of our members has a hobby of going to various gatherings

Thirty-six or -eight Middle and High School students and a few College students attended a short camp during the spring vaction. The Shinshu Bible Camp was warmed up after the long winter season, and we all had a good time. All of the cooking and almost all of the teaching was done by our missionaries in the Tokyo area. With

Home ol Warren Chistiansons.

lintshed.

Inside still un-

k- .
o

Two couples who are to be married this spring in

Mejirodai at young people's congratulation party. Jr. and Sr. High School campers

Cfierry Blossom viewing. First week in April.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON CHURCH GROWTH IN THE TOKYO AREA

Here are some excerts from a report I gave at the annual meeting of the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association on February 15, 1982. I think this may be interesting and informative to our readers.
I am an expert neither on 'Church
Growth' nor data accumulation and

and Churches in Japan were in Tokyo. This is no longer true, if it ever was. At this moment there are 5,600 plus
Protestant churches listed in CIS files.

Two other points that do not show on

this chart should be mentioned. 1. The total number of churches in the 23

ward area of Tokyo grew at 1 percent

About one-seventh of these (832) are in

Tokyo. For comparison, the 3 surrounding prefectures (Chiba,

Saitama and Kanagawa) have 745
churches.

analysis, and I would probably not make such a report as the following on my own initiative, but I was asked last month to do two things out of my usual range of assignments-l. Be the repre sentative at this year's Plenary Session of the independent member missionaries in the Tokyo area, 2. Give a report on the general church
situation in the area.

per year or less between the two surveys made by Japan Harvest magazine in 1969 and 1980. The population in that area was not growing at that time either. During the same 10 years the number of
Protestant churches in the suburban

//. THE RATIO OF CHURCHES TO POPULATION

For 10 years or more the population of Tokyo has remained rather stable at about 11 million. The 3 surrounding prefectures are growing and total
about 17 million. This means that

cities grew by roughly 40%. The population was also growing there too. 2. Approximately one-half of the
Churches in the 23 wards ofTokyo are either United Church of Japan or

Anglican. But in the Tokyo cities and the prefectural cities they number onethird at most and are often less than one-fourth.
IIL THE AVERAGE MEMBERSHIP OF THESE CHURCHES

At first this second assignment brought me to realize how limited in scope and vision, how localized and self-centered my work and prayers are. Then I felt overwhelmed by the

approximately one-fourth of the Japanese race lives around Tokyo Bay.

Tokyo has 1 church for every 14,000
inhabitants. Chiba Prefecture has 1

church for every 24,000 inhabitants.

Saitama Prefecture has 1 church for

difficulties of gatfierihg any" general information that would be edifying to this group. The answer to the second
problem was found at the fairly new
Church Information Service office, and the information I am going to give you is from their statistics. Let us look briefly at some facts related to 3 areas:
/. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN TOKYO AND JAPAN

every 23,500 inhabitants. Kanagawa Prefecture has 1 church for every 20,000 inhabitants. The general impression seems to be
that the downtown churches are

It is often saidin Japiah'ahd'abfoad that the average Japanese church has 30 members, and that when this size is
reached there is a sort of barrier that is

difficult to cross. This is no longer a

declining and those in the suburbs are growing by leaps and bounds. I decided to test this by taking 6 wards
and cities in the area that could be

true picture of the whole, though it well

describes many local situations I know
about.

considered representative of the various situations, and compiling the most accurate figures that could be
obtained on the numbers of churches

The Church Information Service office told me that accurate

membership statistics are most difficult to receive and judge. They gave me figures for 3 different types of
Protestant churches that submit the

For many years we have heard it

said that one-fourth of all Christians

and population. The results are in the following chart [see chart below]:

most complete and accurate records:

Name of City
Year

Number of Churches
1950
14

Population (in thousands)

'80
12 28

'60
12

'70
13
28
11

'50
110 213
83

'60
117 351

'70
74 379
254

'80
61 373 323

Chiyoda Ward
Nakano Ward

19

29 8

Hachioji City

19

158

Funabashi City
Chiba Pref.
7 7 13 18 83 135 325 423

Kawagoe City
Saitama Pref.
4

13

53

108

171

225

Kawasaki City
Kawasaki Pref.
10 18 34 43 319 634 973
1015

Note: 1. The population decline in Chiyoda Ward, but the stability in the number of churches. At least 10 people I know ofin my Hachioji neighborhood travel over an hour one way to attend their church in downtown Tokyo every Sunday. 2. The stability and level of both population and number of churches in Nakano ward. 3. The great growth of the cities. The number of churches has increased remarkably, but is hardly keeping up with the percentages in population growth.

Tokyo Christian
Tokyo
Wards

Tokyo

Cities

(No. 776-370)
Published four times a year in Jan uary, April, July and November for the missionaries of the Church of Christ, Cunningham Mission, Tokyo, Japan

1. Domei (Alliance)
Year

70
13

'80
14

Churches

'70 3
124
41

'80
6

Membership Average
2. Evangelical Lutheran
Churches

1269
98

359
97

266
44

by Mission Services, PO Box 2427,

Knoxville, Tennessee 37901. Second Class postage paid at Knoxville, TN
37901. POSTMASTER: Send address

16 2896
181

16

2 210
105

3 300 100

Membership Average 3. Japan Holiness

Churches

3761
325

changes to MISSION SERVICES, PO Box 2427, KnoxvUle, TN 37901

Mr. and Mrs Stanley Buttray, 571-8

13 994
18 1512 84

6
181

11 516 47

Membership Average

76

30

Innaihara, Mochizuki, Kitasaku Gun, Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22. Forward ing Agent- Mrs. Lois Hessler, PO Box 287, Meadville, PA 16335. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs. G Wade Fletcher, R. 6, Box 15, Rushville, IN 46173. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7 Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan. Forwading Agent: First Church of Christ, Orange at Center St.,
Eustis. FL 32726.

The

latest

annual

Christian

CONCLUSION

Year Book, published by the Christ Weeldy Newspaper, gives the figure 799,000 for the total number of Protestants in Japan. This includes some gri'oups claim ing rather large memberships that- are considered cults by many. But even if we should cut that finire by 30% to eliminate cults and inflated membership figures,
we would still have about 100

Because of the price of real estate these days, any large increase in the
numbers of churches in our area

cannot reasonably be expected. We should put our efforts into making the existing churches bigger and using the good locations to the fullest extent by dual worship services, etc.
On the back windows of half of all

members for every church listed in the

CIS files.
&

vehicles in Tokyo you see the traffic safety slogan, "Run gently, Tokyo." We might well adopt that and proceed.

Two year subscription

$.50 $1.00

Subscription and
Flaming Torch

ANNIVERSARY ATTENDANCE
Our church attendance was below

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CO OD

enough people for both anniversaries.

average during the winter months,

because of the Weather, many colds

and other illnesses, etc. On March 14 we had only 21 adults and no children present. At the announcement period I remarked that the next Sunday would be our 35th wedding anniversary. It was also the regular Sunday for our young people to stay after church for their monthly meeting, and that day they were having a party for 2 of the girls who are getting married this spring. I said it would certainly be nice if we had 35 people in the morning worship that day, but perhaps that was setting the goal too high. Nobody said anything, but I am sure some people did some calling during the week. The next Sunday we had 38
adults and 8 children in church~the

The return of Toyama family (5) on that day also helped. Mr. Toyama is a professor of German language and Philosophy in the Meiji University here. They have been in America the past year while he has been doing some research and study at Harvard University. Mr. Toyama is not a Christian. His wife, a German, is a member of the Evangelical Church in Germany, and they have 3 children. They attended here regularly before going to the U.S., and during their stay in our country they attended the
Bedford Christian Church in

c c
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most since Christmas. Another couple

in the church had their 11th

Massachusetts regularly. We are grateful for the many kindnesses our American brethren showed them, and believe some day they will become Christians. They certainly gave a warm and enthusiastic report of their experiences and church life in our
country.

PQ

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to

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anniversary the same day, and we had

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Tokyo m Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15

.-rA-p lib
VOLUME 81

THIRD QUARTER, 1982

NUMBER 2

PATTON NEWS
SUNDAY SCHOOL EMPHASIS
With teamwork from four high school g^rls ofAkemi Belew's class and Miss Ichinose, teacher of the kinder garten class and first and second graders, the Mother's and Father's Day programs at Yokosuka church
came alive.

instead of receiving the gift for themselves. They were served juice

Reservations.

during the class period which helped to

compensate.

V.B.S.
As we have written many times

Miss Ichinose again designed the handbills attracting students' at tention with a famous Japanese cartoon character' for May 9th

progrram. The high school girls made attractive Mother's Day cards to be given to each student for his mother. Also a special card was made by them advertising the Sunday School. Miss
Ichinose made red carnations that

before, a three day VBS is about the time limit for VBS in Japan. Even the publishing houses only prepare printed 3 day programs. Schools are usually out July 20 or 25th for summer vacation in Japan. But students are always given a full load of daily assignments for that period called
"vacation". Here in Yokosuka the

They have spent the last six years here in Japan without a furlough. Church responsibilities and no replacement have necessitated this. In March of this year Mr. Taninari of the Shin Shu Bible camp offered to come to Yokosuka church during the "off season" of camp and free the Pattons for a short furlough. From September 15, 1982 the Pattons will start their furlough and must plan to be back in Japan by the middle of March 1983. Medical check-ups are a necessity along with visiting supporting

churches and /amily members, hopefully, too, Phillm and Stephen

can get leave from tne navy to join
Sharon's and Noel's family for a

were taped to the plastic box containing 2 home-made cup cakes for "Mom". Slides depicting St. Augustine's mother were shown. Also
the "Three Trees" story was shown

schools agree that morning hours are for study time. Any children playing outside during these hours can be questioned by authorities. This year the Yokosuka church met and discussed about trying the VBS three day schedule for the first three Sundays of July from 9-11 a.m. Before
we waited until school was out to have

Christmas get-together. Philip has just finished nuclear schooling and is

stationed in N.Y.'s nuclear plant.

Stephen is on the Atlantic until the

middle of December.

depicting the wood used for Christ's

cradle, one for the boat, and one for the cross that Christ died upon. Again we
used the hours 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. to

encourage the students to meet on the first day of the week to study God's Word. Usual study time was given to the day's lesson for each class. The week of June 13 was a busy one
for Andrew. Eleven hundred Father's

Day invitations and one thousand

V.B.S. announcements had been

prepared by the high school girls, Betty

and Miss Ichinose. Andrew visited one

school four days that week from 7:30 8:30 a.m. and handed out all the

VBS, but only 8 or 10 were "free to attend". This year we tripled our attendance by having it on three Sundays. The first week's lesson was "The Early Life of Jesus" followed by the "Temptation" and "Zacchaeus". Each teacher had prepared well. The last day Kensei Yokomizo from Osaka Bible Seminary was present. The children helped to celebrate his birthday, Akemi Belew's and Betty's as a climax to VBS. Much emphasis was placed on the importance of studying God's word together each first day of the week, memorizing

Three highlights of the furlough will be attending Grandpa Patton's 100th birthday celebration on September 26, 1982 in Atlanta; Andrew's 65th birthday on October 4th and the Patton's 30th wedding anniversary on
December 20th. The Pattons thank the Lord for each

year they have been able to serve the Lord in Japan upheld by the prayers and financial support of churches and
individuals in America. The Church at

Rushsylvania, Ohio has faithfully supported Andrew from 1947 and the church at Piqua, Ohio has supported Betty from 1949. Others have been
faithful for 10,20, and 30 years. We are deeply grateful.

handbills. This particular school has 2 main gates ~ one each on opposite sides of the building. Pendants made from art construction paper with Dad's shirt
and tie drawn on one side and an advertisement of church on the other

scripture and telling others of Christ.

PATTON FURLOUGH
Andrew began his 34th year in Japan on January 7, 1982 in addition to one year spent in Hawaii. Betty will complete her 28th year in Japan on September 14, 1982 in addition to 3 years spent on American Indian

BELIEVER WITH CONVICTIONS

Since the close of World War II

side were given to each one present on June 20th along with packaged home made cup cakes for "Dad". Needless to

Christian believers in Japan have been very vigilant concerning the mixing of religion and politics and the relation of
(continued on page 4)

say the students were a little disillusioned by taking home a gift

BURYING THE DEAD

by Harold Sims
I am aware of some of the depth and meanings of Jesus' words, "Let the dead bury the dead," but when a missionary's daily work includes
pastoring a small local church as well as many other contacts in both the

All guests wait until the coffin is carried out and put into the hearse. The coffin is followed by the father carrying the new Buddhist name

attended the Christian funeral, and

SIMS

were so thankful that as her sickness

became worse she came back to her

earlier faith and had a funeral that may lead her husband and children to

secular and religious societies, as mine does, one is called upon to attend a
number of funerals and conduct some.

tablet, the mother carrying the picture and the rest of the family. The father gives a few words of appreciation for everyone's coming, and all the friends and neighbors see them off to the crematory. Later in the day the family will return from the crematory with the um of ashes, which will be kept in the
house for at least 49 days before burial.
2. Yoshiko Matsuoka Nakamura

become Christians some day soon. 3. Mr. Ogawa was a life-long student and University level teacher of English language. I first met him

when he struck up a conversation in

English as we rode next to each other on the train. Their home is in the same

In the past 3 months I have been deeply

involved in 5 funerals. All were

section of Mejirodai as ours, and I

visited him there a number of times.

different, and I thought it might give

you some insight into customs in

was born June 1,1932, in Osaka. The family moved to Tokyo the following
year, in connection with her father's drug-manufacturing business. She

Japan and our work among them to tell you briefly a little about each of them.
1. The office girl from the Lion's Club calls to tell me that the only son of Mr. Ogushi has died. The father is manager of the large Kosugi Hall on one of the main corners of Hachioji City, where all 5 floors are busy every day with countless weddings, parties, conferences, exhibitions, etc. His son (21) was a Senior in the prestigious
Waseda University, but had suffered
from leukemia for about 6 months. When I arrive, the Lion's club members

His room was crowded with large and rare books, including the multivolumed Oxford Dictionary. One day I
took down one volume and found it

graduated from elementary school the year World War II ended, and just a few
weeks before the Nakano area of the

took 23 pages of fine print to define

"see". In earlier years he made a trip to

Europe and wrote a book about it. He also wrote a number of other works. Just 5 days before his death he received

city was wiped out in a big air raid. She graduated firom High School in 1951, and entered Japan Women's University to study Western History. About this time she began attending

the third-class Emperor's award for his

contributions to culture -- a true honor.

Christian meetings at the Sims' house,

and she was among the first to be baptized in the new church building in
December 1952. Some time later she

A number of years ago he had 1 lung removed because of TB, and 2 years
ago he was rushed to the Intensive

Care Unit of a hospital here with pneumonia. He recovered from that,

but retired from his teaching and spent much of his time in bed until his rather

are out directing traffic and parking cars in several empty lots. The large crowd, all dressed in black, fills the small yard of the family home and the
adjoining garden of a Shinto Shrine on

was able to get her father and mother to attend church, and they were both eventually baptized. She was also the church and Sunday School organist.
About 1955 she left the church

sudden death on May 18. He had been baptized

Episcopal
School,

Church
was

when
not

the hilltop. We go to a tent set up next to the gate of the house to sign our name and address in a book and give condolence money in a white envelope. Always 50 days later a small gift is sent to the address of everyone signing the book along with a printed note thanking you for coming at that time. On a loud speaker outside we can hear the Buddhist priest quoting one of the sutras in a sing-song voice, punctuated by periodic ringing of a small bell. The smell of incense fills the air. During the final period ofchanting, each guest goes through the house in single file,
pauses in firont of the coffin, which with elaborate decorations of flowers,

because of a misunderstanding with the Japanese preacher at that time, and never came back except for her
father's funeral in 1959.

but

in an High an active

in

Christian. However his wife has been

a member here at Mejirodai for several years. Until the hospitalization

She married a non-Christian man

mentioned above we had a monthly

who became a University Professor, and they had 2 children. (The boy is now in the third year ofcollege, and the girl in the first year.) Although we didn't see her for years, we kept in some contact through her mother, who
continues to be a faithful member of Nakano church. In 1977 she became sick with

home Bible study in their living room.

So as soon as he died Mrs. Ogawa
called and asked me to conduct the

funeral services in their home. I helped her get in touch with a funeral director,
and with her 2 sons - 1 in Switzerland

and the other in a distant city ofJapan

on a business trip. In Japan a "wake" is always held the night before the actual funeral. Some working people can't come to a daytime funeral, and because of religious differences some people don't want to come to the funeral ceremony, but all the neighbors and friends attend the
more informal wake. First there is a 30

Myelitis, which left her partially paralyzed and in constant pain. In

1978 they moved to Abiko, about 1 hour out of Tokyo nearer the husband's University. One day I visited her briefly when in the area on other

lanterns, etc. takes up half of the living room, and offers a pinch of incense. Most of the people worship or
pray to the enlarged picture of the deceased in the center above the coffin, because according to Buddhist
doctrine he has now become a Buddha.

business, and was very happy to learn that she was starting to attend a home Bible study group that met in another apartment in the same building. Before
she died she became more active in this

minute "service" of song, prayer, scripture readings, and a short sermonette. Then each person comes up to the opened sliding doors to the

But I bow to the grieving family sitting to the left as a gesture of sympathy. Then we go on through the house and back outside. To the Japanese this individual participation (or worship) is the most important part of the funeral
ceremony.

group, and was definitely planning to become a member of a church nearby, where her funeral was held. Ten days before the funeral she had played the piano and requested her favorite hymn, "Sweet Hour of Prayer". A
group of us from Nakano church

living room where the coffin, flowers,

and pictures are, and where the

immediate family is seated. Standing in the yard facing the coffin they lay a
cut chrysanthemum on a white covered

table as an expression of sympathy. This takes the place of the incense

NEWS

burning and worship at Buddhist ceremonies. Then they bow to the

family, and the next person comes up. I was surprised at the large number of professors and former students who came some distance to attend, in addition to the neighbors and church people as expected. The following day at 1:3C we had the funeral service, which is more formal, with a short history of the person's life and a regular sermon, etc. Then we
went with her and the one son and a

at the intersection and weren't wearing helmets.) 3. The blessing of having God as a refuge in such times of trouble. She was a popular High
School Senior and member of the

MOTHER'S DAY
As usual here our Mother's Day

basketball team, and it was a moving scene to see those hundreds of young people come into the church to pay
their last respects - many with tears

special meeting was on a weekday, May 11. Mrs. Helen Beard, visiting from the Philippines, was the special
speaker, bringing a message on Hannah. There was also special music by several, and a very good program.
We sent out invitations via the

streaming down their faces, and all with wet feet from the steady rain
outside. It took 40 minutes for all of

them to pass by.

These events take a lot out of us

few fnends to the crematory and stayed with her until the return home. We were pleased at the kindness and helpfulness of the neighbors. She has
become more active in church now that she doesn't need to care for him as she

Sunday School children, and mother noticed that the speaker from the Philippines. The wife man in her husband's company

one was of a is a

did these past 2 years.

4. Mrs. Tabe, who cooked for our

emotionally, but they give an opportunity to witness to the truths of the gospel and enable us to become more deeply involved with the lives and spiritual needs of the people in the
community.

Filipino, and she thought she might be

interested, so invited her and another friend. Since then the lady who invited the others has been to worship serv ices, and the children are more regular in Sunday School. Others of our church ladies invited their neighbors. We had
a total attendance of 45 adults and 6

Lake Motosu Camp for a number of

years in the 1960's died of cancer on
June 13. I attended the funeral in

another church, and appreciated the

many fine tributes to her Christian life

and deeds of kindness by the family and others as well as the powerful singing of her favorite, "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less".
5. About 3:30 Monday afternoon June 28 the daughter of one of our church members was riding on the back of a small motorcycle driven by
her best friend and schoolmate on the

CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CAMP

May 1-3 we made the first attempt at a special 3 day camp for training
church leaders, held at our Shinshu

children, including 5 or 6 people in

church for the first time. One of our

neighbors came and brought a large

bunch of flowers to decorate the room.

MARRY THE YOUNG

For three straight Saturdays in May
we had-weddings.

Bible Camp in Nagano Prefecture.

Professor Norihiko Saito and his wife were the main teachers. He teaches

1. May 8 one of our church girls was married. She just finished Junior College this spring, and has been a
member here since she was 13 years

Old Testament and Hebrew, and she

teaches Christian Education in the

way from our train station to her home. At the cross-street just before her house they were struck by a cement mixer. Both girls were taken to the hospital unconscious. The Kogure girl had a 3 hour operation on her brain and lived a full week, but never regained consciousness. It was a very sad funeral, and the largest one by far in the short history of our church. The wake was held at their home,
about 5 minutes walk from the church.

Osaka Bible Seminary. They each brought 4 messages ~ he on Moses as a leader, and she on more practical aspects ofSunday School teaching and materials. Also Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Beard from the Philippines were visiting Japan at the time, and he brought the Sunday morning message, with me translating. Twelve Japanese adults, 5 children and 10 missionaries stayed the full 3 days, and an additional 9 Japanese, 4 children and 2
missionaries attended some sessions.

old. The husband is an engineer with the national railways. They were married in one of the popular downtown wedding gardens, which furnishes their own preacher, so this time we enjoyed being guests for a

change. I gave a speech at the reception, and Lois sang. Several other church people went with us on a bus
from Mejirodai. 2. May 15 a young couple who are
not Christians but wanted a Christian

It began just as a calm and beautiful summer twilight settled over our town,
and the entire area was covered with

people, including hundreds of her

fellow students who were hearing a

Christian funeral for the first time. The

It is worthy of remark that in this relatively small group 12 different churches were represented. Three interesting sidelights: On Saturday night a group from the
Warren Christianson's work in a rural

wedding for various reasons came here to the church for a simple but nice wedding. Both are elementary school teachers, and our local postmaster
introduced them to me and asked me to

advise them and perform the wedding

ceremony.

next day the largest High School in

town dismissed all the Senior Class at

noon, so they could attend the funeral in our church. Of course they couldn't all get into the small building, but they stood in the rain in our yard and in the
street and tried to listen to what was

village in that area came to use the large camp bathtub for the baptism of a young man. In the audience Sunday morning were 8 people who had
attended Prof. Beard's classes at

3. May 22 I performed the wedding for the youngest son of Aiko Ueda at a
downtown hotel. We lived next door to

his grandmother when we first came to Japan, and knew his mother when she
was a middle school girl in pigtails. His older sister, who is married to an American-born Japanese and lives in

said through the open windows. My sermon was aimed at the young people. I said they should learn 3 things from Emi Kogure's death. 1. The uncertainty of life. 2. The importance of obeying rules. (The girls didn't stop

Pacific Christian College in Long Beach, California. One lady from Yokosuka was thrilled by an idea for making teaching aids by cutting out
silhouettes -- she does that art work for

a hobby --and returned home to become

an active Sunday School teacher.

I^s Angeles, came back to Japan for the wedding bringing her littli' daughter. The baby is the fourth generation of that family we have
known.

PATTON NEWS
(continued from page 1) church and State. Several months ago a member of the

At least some Christians in Japan are courageous in standing up for their faith and in opposing the encroach ments of pagan practices into their
lives.

Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-:i7())
Published four times a year in Jan

uary. April. July and November for the

misBionarieB of the Church of Christ.

Japan Self-Defense Force (Military) died and the military authorities, against the wishes of his wife who is a Christian, buried his remains according to Shinto religious rites in a "Gokoku" (comparable to Arlington cemetery) Shrine where the spirits of the war dead are worshipped. His wife sued the government (military) in the courts and won her case. The Military must pay, the courts decided, one million yen in solatium
and the enshrinement of the husband's

BIRTH
Bill and Akemi Belew welcomed

Cunningham Mission. Tokyo, Japan

by Mission Services. PO Box 2427,

Knoxville, Tennessee 37901.
37901.

Benjamin Akira, 8 lbs. 13 oz. into their home May 27. He was born at the U.S.

Second

Class postage paid nt Knoxville. TN

POSTMASTKR; Send address

naval hospital here in Yokosuka.

Akemi has only missed one Sunday

teaching her high school class.

zeal.

We

changes to MISSION SERVICKS, PO Box 2427, Knoxville. TN 37901

Mr. and Mrs Stanley Buttray. 571-8 Innaihara, Mochizuki. Kitasaku Gun.

commend her for her faithfulness and

The Belews will be leaving the

navy about September 10th and returning to Cincinnati, Ohio. Their personal desire is to return to Japan
next year as missionaries.

Nagano Ken. Japan 384-22. P'orwarding Agent: Mrs. I^ois Hessler. PO Box
287. Meadville, PA 1633.'>.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8

remains is being retracted.

BUTTRAY NEWS
During the early Post-War years here in Japan (1948-'58), street evangelism, tent evangelism, tract evangelism, house to house evangelism, and Camp evangelism were acceptable and brought results. This might be called the "gamman" (grin and bear it) era. Then came the eO's and TO's and the resulting year by year increase of prosperity. Until today (1982) their goal of "peak affluency" has just about been reached! With the drive for economic affluency -(mjitcrizilisiT'.) ?:uccc9?f'i!, th< app^'pl of Christianity became less interesting and then unnecessary. Ultimately, this has
resulted in the rise of Nationalism. This

Higashinakano, Nakano-ku,Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and

Mrs. Ci Wade Fletcher, R. H, Box 1.5. Rushville. IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims. 3-33-7

tioned above, the one viable method remaining is "CAMP EVANGELISM"! Through the years we were slow realizing this, but now we are trying to close the gap. Just since our first scheduled camp in the new facilities here at
Shinshu Bible Camp in April 1980 we
have touched hundreds of lives with

Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan. Korwading Agent: First Church of (."hrist. Orange at Center St.,
Kustis, FL 32726.

Mejirodai,

God's Truth. They were thus exposed for

the fu^st time in their lives to the "Good

News" of Salvation through the Lord

Jesus Christ!!!

Thank God, we do have in Shinshu

Two year Bubscripticn Subscription and Flaming Torch

$..50
$ 1.00

was clearly illustrated the other day

when I heard a radio commentator

remark, "They think they have become

the counselor for the whole world"!

Of the methods of evangelism men-

Bible Camp an outstanding drawing card for this enlightened, affluent era, or until Jesus comes. Up to this present time our capacity of 72 persons was reached only once. But our original plans included facilities for 150 persons! My foresight tells me, Now is the Time to Accomplish this Goal! IF money should become available, it can still be done by the end of this year! Our recent 4 day Spring Camp ending April Ist resulted in two decisions. Also, Ito San, who made his decision at the Christmas Camp, came also to the Spring Camp did set the date for his baptism

April 25th! God continues to richly bless

Shinshu Bible Camp as an avenue in

fulfilling "His Commission" to preach

^ i
San In background. the Buttrays' porch.

n
Picture was taken on

the Gospel to every person.

O
m ,

00 Oi
uj
a.

Stanley and Mabel Buttray on the left, Bill and Betty Turner on the right, and Taninari

Pray that God's Will be done . . . and that His Kingdom Come through these God-given Camp facilities, and His servants Stanley and Mabel Buttray.

' <
:

LU

01
O

cc ;

1982 April Ist Spring Camp group. Taken

David Cole in a teaching scene at the recent

Spring Camp

from the 2nd floor outdoor recreation veranda.

Though hary. the Alps are visible in background

-J-/)-./' // b

Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 81

FOURTH QUARTER, 1982

NUMBER 4

SIMS NEWS^^^^=
EVANGELISTIC MEETING AT SAKURAYAMA
Sept. 20-22 I enjoyed preaching a 3 day evangelistic meeting at the Sakurayama Church of Christ, which is located in town near HigashiNakano station where the Tokyo Bible Seminary used to be. We are going through Romans here at Mejirodai, so using some of my recent sermons we had "3 nights in Romans 3"-1. There is none righteous v. 9-20 2. The Righteousness ofGod V.21-24 3. Being made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ v. 25,26 The young minister of the church there and the small congregation had worked hard on publicity and preparations, and some people from
another church where Bro. Sato used to

whom she had worked in her early days in Japan was still living, so she came up to Tokyo to see him and stayed a couple of nights in our home. We are very thankful for and encouraged by the good, faithful service ofthis always smiling sweet California "Lemmon".
-Harold Sims

This is a picture of the missionaries who attended the All-Japan Convention July 27-29 and the Missionary Convention July 29-31 in Kochi City, Shikoku Island. Jonathan Sims and many others you may recog
nize were there. We were at the North American Christian Conven

REPORT ON THE SIMS TRIP TO THE U.S.

Lois and Harold Sims returned to

Tokyo on Saturday, Sept. 4 from a 43 day trip to the United States. They were on 16 different airplane flights, traveling about 14,000 miles round-trip across the Pacific and 8,200 miles in
the "interior." Also friends drove them

tion in Kansas City on the same dates,

and it was mentioned there that the

Japanese brethren were assembled at

the same time.

work came to some of the meetings to boost the attendance. By the way, Bro. Sato, who is the son of a minister, supports himself by reading gas
meters for the ward. The attendance

Near the center of the picture is Vivian Lemmon, who was specially recognized at this meeting for her 80th birthday and 50 years of service for Christ in Japan. She arrived in Tokyo
back in 1930 to work with the

about 800 miles on surface trips in addition to taking them to and from various airports. The air travel was somewhat more expensive but much

less fatiguing than the long hours of

driving we usually do. During those 6 weeks we spent only 3 nights in a hotel (at the North
American Christian Convention in

for the 3 nights was 21,14, and 12. This sounds small and insignificant to all of you, but the smallest was more than their average for Sunday AM worship, and there were 5 people who came to church for the first time during those 3 days, including a piano teacher
from several doors down the street.

Cunninghams. After a few years she

left to work with the Mabishi Mission.

For 10 years during and after World

War II she was in the United States

caring for her father, who was a

Christian Church minister. After the death of Miss Ruth Schoonover 30

Kansas City). We spent 13 nights in the homes of 7 different hospitable and long-time Christian friends in California, Colorado, Virginia and Florida, 7 nights with brothers and

sisters (in flesh as well as spirit) in Pennsylvania, Maryland and

Tennessee, and 19 nights with our children in Kendallville, Indiana;
Cincinnati, Ohio; and West Des Moines, Iowa. Many other friends and
relatives entertained us at meals.

Some of our Mejirodai church people

also attended, and one of our young people who has written a few popular

years ago she came to Tanabe City,

and has worked with the church and

songs sang two of them one night as a "special."

-Harold Sims

kindergarten there. This spring Vivian heard that Mr. Tanaka, the former preacher at one of the Yotsuya Mission churches with sound and gives a somewhat realistic impression of a visit to Japan. This would be ideal for small groups such as missionary circles to view when meeting in a home where equipment would be available to

Harold

spoke

in

13

different

churches-sometimes two or more times

VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLE

at the same church and also led a

The May 23, 1982 Sunday School and Worship Service at Mejirodai was recorded on Video Tape by Martin Clark, President of Osaka Bible Seminary. (It was done by Hitachi Camera, and cannot be played on Betamax Systems). It has
been shortened to 30 minutes in

workshop at the NACC on "What Kind of Missionary is Needed for the 2l8t Century?" and addressed the
Convocation at Cincinnati Bible

play this tape on a regular TV set.

The tape can be obtained free of charge from:
Mr. Robert Sims

Seminary on August 25 on the subject, "Workers for God Today." From the Family Camp under the
California Redwoods to the well-done

length. The quality is not professional, of course, but it has some Japanese

3601 Fyffe Cincinnati, OH 45211

messages and voluminous singing of the Convention, to picking corn on a big farm and walking through the quiet streets of a small-town in Northern

family life and spirit of service to God

and man-what the old translations

years ago who was also a member at Nakano until she married and moved

aptly called "girding up the loins of the

to a town down near Nagoya. This girl

spent the month of August with our

mind." If we continue on this course, I

see us pulling out of the doldrums to be not only the world's most free country, but the example of a modern religiously, racially, culturally pluralistic society. Though the number was very small, the churches we visited represented
something of a cross-section of the

daughter Hope, whose oldest daughter is close in age and who was a good fnend of the girl's mother. It was the
experience of a life-time for her to live

/ /|iKl r <

in an American home, go to church and see so many different things.

When we got to Sylvia's place, at the

end of the trip, they were still unpacking after a move from Wisconsin to Iowa. There were still a
number of cardboard boxes in the garage marked YWB. This means "You Wouldn't Believe." Sylvia has a lot of stuff that is hard to label, as we all do.

brotherhood-9 different states, large and small, old and relatively new. I found that the people are careful
3 Schmidtgrandchildrenat CincinnatiAirport.
Harold and Lois Sims, Shiho Arakawa, and the

Indiana with grand-daughters, to "open-house"and family gatherings in Pennsylvania and Maryland, to quiet visits with friends from 40 to 50 years back in Virginia, to working on my address list and forwarding-agent business in Eustis, Florida, to touring the new building under construction at C.B.S., to seeing Sylvia and Dave's new place of service in West Des Moines, Iowa, to being met late Saturday afternoon at the Haneda Airport by Mrs. Okada and Jonathan, it was a truly blessed and wonderful trip all the way. We felt home along by the prayers of many people on both sides of
the Pacific, and the kindnesses of too many people to mention. We thank
God for all.

readers of our publicity materials and interested in our work and needs. It was very encouraging to see the faithfulness of many. At Newport News, Virginia there were about a dozen people in the audience who I considered "old people" already when I left there as a 13 year old boy 45 years ago. They are still there when the doors of the Lord's house open. After being in Japan a number of years the
mere size of the audiences is an

Well, you wouldn't believe what a good time we had all the way around, and
how thankful we are now to be back at the old station again. -- Harold Sims

DOBSON FILMS SHOWN AT MEJIRODAI

October 10 is a Japanese holiday, and this year, since it was on Sunday, the following day was a "transfer holiday." So back in April we marked
those as the dates for our fall

inspiration, and we are thankful for the strength of the churches across the
land.

We also noted the missionary emphasis at the North American Convention this year. Perhaps the theme "To All Peoples" had something to do with it. Five different foreign missionaries had work-shops, and
other teachers of Missions in several

evangelism effort here. Of course we

knew that some of our members would

use that long week-end to visit relatives and that many of the secondary school
students would have to attend athletic meets, culture festivals or other school

At several places people talked a lot about problems in societyunemployment, high prices, crime etc. But on the whole my impressions of the home country after 3 years (should I say 35?) of absence are rather good and hopeful. I am glad to see a people living at peace with themselves and the world. They were not ignorant or uncaring about what was going on in Beirut and other areas, but they did not want to fight anyone, to impose their will on any people or to build an Empire. For example, many are concerned about tough Japanese competition in steel, automobiles, electronics, computers etc., but I didn't feel that there is any real fear or hatred toward the Japanese people and
nation. And there is no hint of giving

Bible Colleges had workshops on the general subject. Also 1 foreign missionary had the message at the Wed. evening meeting. John Chase, a veteran missionary who spent 1 term
in Tokyo before going to Korea for his life-work, was one of the 3 honored churchmen. And of about 300 display

activities; but it would also be a good time to invite the general public to special evening meetings on nonworking days in some of the best
weather of the year. The Dobson film series, "Focus on

the Family", which has been widely

used in the United States, has been

booths, about 25 were fi-om foreign

missionaries.

edited into 3 films with Japanese

sound now, and we planned that this year, instead of the traditional practice of calling in a visiting preacher for 3 nights we would make a different approach: We would sponsor the films and invite the public, especially couples to attend. We reserved the films 6 months in advance, printed
2000 hand-bills for distribution

in to the competition or defeatism. Here is a people who pay their taxes with as little cheating and grumbling as any place on earth. The great majority do not run around yelling in the streets, take hostages, bomb properties, etc., but quietly mind their
own business. I believe that the

But I did pick up two impressions that worry me. One was a feeling that if I were just a recruit to Japan I would not have been able to get access to most of the pulpits I used. Let us remember that the young folks have to get started, and need more support and encouragement than the veterans. The other feeling was something hard to define and describe, but like we are losing a sense of direction and cohesion as a brotherhood, and everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes and sort ofdrifting along. Better than fighting each other but not completely a healthy condition. And then the thought struck me that the
same could be said for our work here in

through the neighborhood and put up a number of individualized posters made by our young people. The weather was rainy (contrary to the forecasts) and for reasons given above the percentage of our members
attending was rather low, but we are

thankful that in answer to prayers some of the main purposes of the

meetings were accomplished. 1. Two non-Christian couples atattended 2 of the 3 films.

present tightening up on government spending, inflationary wage increases,

the handling of criminals and dope and illegal immigration, etc. is needed. We all individually need do such a
tightening up in our faith, morals.

Japan. May God revive us again. From Japan we took along with us a 12 year old Japanese girl. She is the

grand-daughter of one of the long-time

members of the Nakano church, and the daughter of a girl I baptized 15

2. Seven people besides we 3 Simses attended all 3 nights. Two of these had not been to church before, so new, solid
contacts were established.

3. We got the people in the church and to some extent in the community to think about the relation between God, Church and family happiness. 4. The church people cooperated well, worked hard, prayed and rejoiced together. The first movie is 61 minuteslong, so that night we just had announcements following it. The second night the movie was followed by a short message. The third night we had light
refreshments and a discussion time

express their reactions. Of course the

films show the faces of the U.S.

The Osaka Bible Seminary is in a

fund-raising campaign for a desperately needed building to replace
the rusted-out metal building that has

audience, and there were comments about hair colors, dress, etc. One man
remarked that he had heard much bad

about high divorce rates and break downs in home-life in America, and
had worried about the bad influence of

been used for over 30 years. The construction cost in present-day Japan is about 50 dollars per square foot. We
would urge any readers who can to contribute one or more square feet.

this culture on Japan. But to see this many people gathered to hear this kind of high-quality teaching on these

subjects put the whole thing in a different light for him.

"Harold Sims

Funds may be sent to O.B.S. directly, or to Harold Sims' forwarding agent, marked for this purpose. The Simses
are trying to raise 4000 dollars as their
part.
"Harold Sims

where people were encouraged

to

BUTTRAY N E W S = =
Sachiko Osawa came from Hiroshima!
A successful 1982 Shinshu Bible

Then there were four Bible college

students who came and helped. Jim

saved! Even in these Last Days (twentieth century) God is expecting

His Church to be a faithful witness to

Camping schedule is about over. So far nothing else is planned except a Christmas camp. Our initial Christmas camp last year turned out so well, that we are trusting this year's
will even be better.

Green, Kathy Peterson, and the Turners' daughter Cheryl came from Central

This year there were 55 campers in the spring, 257 in the summer, and 28 in the fall, making a total of 312 campers. The result thus far has been
12 decisions. Five ofthese wanted to be

Florida Bible College and Angela Essick from Roanoke Bible College. Their primary purpose in coming to Japan was to help Bill and Betty
Turner in Tokyo. But we're thankful their time in Japan was shared with us

every nation, that His Kingdom May Come. Certainly, Shinshu (Faith Land) Bible Camp exists only for this purpose!!! --Stanley Buttray

at Shinshu Bible Camp helping to

make it successful.

Christians, and after returning home 2 of these were baptized! It is now three years since the camp opened. And as I hoped, each year has brought small but progressive

improvements! Especially is this true

of the greater interest shown by both missionaries and Japanese preachers alike. And I am hoping each year to see even greater zeal in using Shinshu Bible Camp more often in sowing the good news of salvation. The most rewarding experience this year was when missionaries came to help from the southern part of the island for the first time. Martin Clark, president of Osaka Bible Seminary and Exie Fultz from Awaji island rented a van and brought six campers
for the Jr. -Hi. school week. And then

This may not come as news to some of you, but we have tentative plans to return home for retirement by early summer 1983! To think, talk, or even write about it is extremely difficult, for it involves the rending of our hearts'
desire! However, our return at that

time is dependent on the Pattons getting a remedy for Andrew's heart problem, or another missionary to take our place. The Pattons' plans are to have a complete physical at Mayo Clinic by the first of the year. So we
won't know results nor details before
then.

English-Music Camp. Dave Hinson playing the guitar and his wife Ruth and Carolyn Barricklow playing ukulele.

It will be a disappointment not to realize our long range Master Plan

Goals, let alone the short range Improvement Goals for the coming year! But God Knows! And we know,
HIS HEART'S DESIRE for all

for the English-Music camp Dave and Ruth Hinson came from Tanabe, and
Carolyn Barricklow and her co-worker

mankind (including the Japanese) is that all come to repentance and be our outlook toward our "furlough"
from our work in Japan and our visit to our homeland which is already 1/3
over.

Twenty-two "handicappers" - some seated on the floor and a few in wheel chairs. They came from a Church in Osaka City. Almost all had to use wheel chairs. They all seemed to have a great time and were happy.

PATTON NEWS =
TRAVELS WITH THE PATTONS
Transition from life in one world to that of another is never done with ease whether considered from the

end of summer.

In the last issue of Tokyo Christian, we informed you of the circumstances which permitted this short furlough and those which
necessitate our return to our work in

standpoint

of

logistics

or

the

psychology of human

adaptation.

Viewed prior to such an experience, the prospect is far from inviting. But once a person begins to taste the joys of human kindness, hospitality, and friendship, they compensate doubly for any incovenience encountered. These sentiments summarize to some degree

JAPAN by around April 1983. We are grateful to Brother Taninari for making this trip possible, but his having to return to Shin Shu Bible Camp at the beginning of the camp season makes it necessary for us to
reassume our work in JAPAN in the

Spring of next year, rather than at the

Our departure from Japan occurred on September 10 in the evening. Our arrival in Los Angeles was earlier on the same day! We were met there by Betty's cousins and David Buttray. As is usual with them, Betty's relatives in Fontana entertained us in royal fashion and afforded us a peaceful time of rest. David visited us again in Fontana, giving us another time of joyous conversation with him. Also we enjoyed worshipping with the Rialto church nearby. Our second stop was in Edmond, Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City where we spent a few happy days

visiting our son Noel and our 3 year old grandson, Zachary, whom we then met
for the first time. We had a joyous reunion with Noel and had ample time to become acquainted with "Zack." We next made our first stop at our "headquarters" in the U.S.A., the home of our daughter, Sharon, our sonin-law, Chris Scheurich, and their daughter, Sandy, all of whom we had seen last year when they and Betty's Aunt Gladys visited us in Japan. The few days in the Scheurich's home were partially spent on plans and

another schoolmate, Paul Banta, now

one of the ministers of the church.

Returning to Atlanta, we spent several days there and at my

the Spring, if the Lord so wills, we will turn our faces back to Japan and another term of missionary work in
that county. We request your prayers for us as we prepare to return to Japan. Thank you

birthplace in Hayesville, North Carolina visiting relatives among

whom were 5 brothers and sisters and 3

for your prayers, support, encourage

ment and interst.
-Andrew Patton

of my mother's sisters. We also visited

the Southwest and Jefferson Park

preparations for our grand tour of our

supporters, which is now in progress.
The Iron Gates church welcomed us home and we were able to renew old

churches in East Point, Georgia. We enjoyed a warm reception at both churches and were able to meet again many dear friends. The Jefferson Park church is my home church in America. The congregation there gave us a Christmas party in October, presenting to us many useful gifts and spreading a bountiful pot-luck dinner
for us. Also we visited Atlanta

Tokyo Christian (No. 776-370)

Mendships with the members there. The day preceding our departure date,
Sharon and Chris called us out to their

driveway for a surprise. There sat the 1976 Caprice Classic owned by Chris* parents, Clarence and Charlotte Scheurich. His parents had sent word that we were to use the car gratis in our travels. All of us rejoiced and thanked God for providing us good transportation for our journeys. Chris and Sharon took a 10 day vacation and the 3 of them accompanied us to Atlanta and Tampa, Florida. We arrived at my brother, Burgess' home in College Park, Georgia on September 25, ^d enjoyed their kind hosp^ality until our departure for Florida. September 26 was a joyous occasion indeed for the whole Patton clan, especially my father's nine children. On that day we all observed our dad's 100th birthday at Burgess' home. Forty-five relatives were present on the
occasion.

Christian College and met Tim Turner of Tokyo and former classmates who are now Professors in the College. A gnrand tour of Christian City ofAtlanta made possible a visit with a grand old soldier of the cross, H.M. Westbrook.
Driving from Atlanta through

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, PO Box 2427, Knoxville, Tennessee 37301. Second Class postage paid at Knoxville, TN 37901. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

MISSION SERVICES,

PO Box 2427,

eastern Georgia and South Carolina,

and after enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way, we visited the church at Pinetown, North Carolina,
which showed us much kindness. This

Knoxville, TN 37901 Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray, 571-1 Innaihara, Mochizuki, Kitasaku Gun, Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22. Forwarding Agent: Mrs. Lois Hessler, PO Box 287, Meadville, PA 16335. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-6 Kugo Cho, Yokosuka Shi, Kanagawa Ken 238, Japan. 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.

church has supported us for six years. From there we proceeded to Roanoke Bible College, Elizabeth City, North Carolina^ where ws enjoyed the firiendship and hospitality of the G. W. Bondurants, other old fnends and newly made ones. We were delighted by observing the progress ofthe school,

Forwarding Agent: First Church ofChrist,

Orange at Center St, Eustis, FL 32726.

Two year subscription
Subscription and -

$.50
$1.00

Flaming Torch

the growing student'body, and.the way this Bible College is providing

leadership especially for the churches
of that area. At this moment we are in the home of

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Letters of greeting from the governors of North Carolina, Dad's home state, and Georgia, where he now lives with my youngest sister, were
read. A similar letter from President

A. O. Floyd ofVirginia Beach, Virgina. We first met the Floyds in Japan where
he was a U.S. naval officer. This is now

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Reagan was received later. Dad is blessed with fairly good health yet. He
has not lost his keen sense of humor

our 3rd visit in their home since they began living in Virginia Beach. After
visiting the Aragona church in Virginia Beach we will proceed to Pittsburgh, PA., to visit friends and supporting churches in that area. Then we will make our way to various churches located in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. We expect it to be almost Christmas
season before we finish our 1st tour of

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and remarked on his birthday that ifhe lived to be 106 years of age, he would enter school again. On the following Monday morning the Scheurichs, Betty and I departed for Tampa. We spent a few days there with Bill and Burnice Schlosser, Betty's aunt and uncle, who showed no
little kindness to all of us. The Scheurichs returned to Missouri on

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Saturday leaving us to continue our journey alone. The Schlossers have been monthly supporters of our work for many years.
On October 3 we visited the

this furlough. Along the way our heavenly Father blesses us above our expectations. Among these we treasure the opportunity of meeting
fidends we have not met in recent

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Clearwater, Florida church, very dear friends and faithful rope holders since 1957. During their worship hour we enjoyed a fine sermon by our friend and former schoolmate, E. Ray Jones, and the Bible School lesson taught by

years, making new friends, and the opporturnity of promoting the world missionary cause. Sometime following this first tour of ours we hope to visit Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, for medical check-ups for both of us. Later, if time permits, we may be able to continue our missionary deputation work. Then in

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