Sims Harold Lois 1973 Japan

SIMS NEftSLETTEIt ^ JANUAEY 1973
Dear Friendss
1972 was a good year here at Mejirodai Church. The average Sunday School
attendance was 45, ^d the average worship attendance was between 12 and 13.
There were 4 baptisms, bringing the total Japanese membership to 9, all act
ive and living within walking distance of the church. It was also 2r"
year of marriage and missionary life, and we lived it happily, healthfully, y
arid hopeifully.
The first of November marked the second anniversary of the opening of the
work here, we commerorated this by having an evangelistic meeting Nov. 1-5
with Nick Saito from Osaka Bible Seminary as the evangelist. On the final
night of the meeting two people were baptised who had been attending servic
es and considering their decision for months. All of us were very happy.
The y=oung' lami i-s abourt-30, -andôrks-SrtQioshiba Elao-trio CompanyH.^-- Heîa^very
serious and bright, and from the first has taken notes during semons. He
lives with his mother, who strongly opposed his decision for Christ.' . The 1st
act of his Christian walk was to request prayer for her. Two of the ladies
of our small congregation, and we also, have visited the home and believe her
attitude is changing.
The yoxmg lady is a kindergarten teacher and older sister of one of the girls
baptised in September. Both are daughters of a lady who is a member of the
United Church of Japan but attends here regularly, and lives just down the
street from the church.
CHRISTMS
v/e had another richly blessed season in both home and church. Thank you for
all of the beautifiaI greeting cards received, many with interesting and en
couraging letters inclosed. Vve had programs for our English students on Dec.
20, Lois' Bible classes on Dec. 15 and 21, and at the children's school Dec.
8 and 22; a get-together with our Tokyo area missionaries at Pratt's home on
the 25th, so kept busy.
Saturday night, the 23rd, we had a crowd of 110 people for the Sunday School
program, which included musical niAmbers, with some playlets and speeches and
the awarding of attendance prizes for'the year. It was gratifying to see
about 50 of the children had been present at least half of the Sundays during
the year.
Sunday night we had a special Christmas program for the church folks, making
a point of inviting whole families to attend together. The response was very
good. There were 46 people here, incliAding 5 complete Japanese families. One
whole family, and another husband had never been to a church at any time be
fore, so it was a breakthrough for them. vVe believe that everyone had a good
time, got an idea of the meaning of Christmas, and had a sense of the church
as the hoTAsehold of God. The program- began with a worship service. Then we
ate a meal prepared and served by the ladies of the church. Following this,
the "program". Some weeks earlier we had decided to have entirely local tal
ent, and that each family must have some part. There was much hesitation in
the Japanese manner, but the lady in charge kept every person's part a secret
and we ended up having a very good quality, varied and enjoyable program. A
gift exchange followed. After this 13 of us went caroling, and sang in front
of 9 or 10 of the church-connected homes in the neighborhood.
IVJKS. OKADa
One morning last July Lois looked out of the kitchen window and saw an old
lady coming aroiAnd the corner of the church building. She was the mother of
a doctor who lives 3 blocks north of here, and visiting her som for the summ
er. She is a zealous Christian (as is the daughter with whom she lives in
northern Kyushu), so soon after arriving she asked her son if there were a
chiArch nearby, and he told her about us. The next day she came on a reconn-
aisance mission to find out what denomination we were and if we were all right.
We met her approval, and the next Sunday she was there along with another wo
man, the mother of the doctor's wife, who lived in with them.
From that Sunday on through the summer those two ladies never missed a ser
vice. The one from Kyushu was 83 years old, shaky in voice and body but very
strong in faith. On her last Sunday before going back south she asked to be
permitted to give a few words of testimony, and gave a good message to our
group horo* Af^tor she left Mrs, Oâda, continued to come every Sunday. She
wasn*t used to using the Bible, and didn't know much about Christianity, but
she said the older lady had given her much to think about, and brought a lot
of peace and light into her heart.
vVhen we had our evangelistic meeting in November she told the preacher that
she would like to become a Christian, but was not sure what her daughter
would say about it, and also wanted totJ>ink about it a little -more herself.
About this time we were talking about plans for Christmas, and one Sunday
Mrs. Okada brought to chinrch a little dog she had knitted over an empty yo
ghurt bottle, and proposed to make one for a little gift to each of the Sun
day school children. It turned out to-be a big project, but several others
helped. Lirs. Okada was the sparkplug and got the most joy from it. All of
the children enjoyed this unusual toy.
One Sunday before Christmas she asked me if it would be all right for her to
be baptised on Jan, 12, She was afraid that her thinking might be hard for
me to Understand, but some years ago she had lost a daughter on that day and
it always held such a bad meaning and memories for her that she wanted to
change the day's significance. Also, she hoped that in some way: God might
look with mercy on her daughter's soul if the mother were baptised on that
day. I told her the sooner the better, but that Jan. 12 would be fine.
he next day she had another strange request. She knew we had baptismal
robes, but wanted to make her. own. The Japanese are always buried in vvhite
kimonos, and she planned to make her's from some good.white matierial to be
"^tised in, since baptism has the meaning of burial. After the baptism she
ould give the kimono to her daughter and say "when I die, bury me in this."
For the convenience of several folks, the day was changed to Jan. 10. On the
tfi/ednesday morning when she was baptised one of the church ladies came early
with a cake she had baked for the "birthday". Another one brought soup.
Mrs. Okada herself had ordered a tray of raw fish for everyone to eat for
lunch after the simple but meaningfilL cereraonjr.. So eight of us had a wonder
ful time of fellowship and sharing" around the lunch table. Mrs. Okada told
us that she had lived a very unhappy life from her childhood days, and that
pecially invited her daughter, so she felt that the group of Christians was
closer to her in every v/ay than actual -flesh and blood relatives.
Seeing God's working in the life of one like this is very rewarding. As we
said, last year was a good one. vve believe this one will be too.
Yours in His service,
HAROLD AND LOIS SIMS.
SIMS TOICYO MISSION Non-Profit. Orgn.
First Church of Christ U.S. Postage Pd.
315 Orange Ave. Permit No. 57
Eustis, Florida 32726 Eustis, PL. 32726
ADDhESS CORRECTION >7
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6
Christian
Volume 72
"Go ye frt/o all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
February 1973 Number 1
The Bank Of Hiroshima
October 12 - 15 I preached an evan
gelistic meeting in the 12''x 18 chapel
pictured here. This was built and paid
for by Mr. and Mrs. Etsuzo Kishi (the
name means "bank," as of a river) when
they built a home on this lot several
years ago. This .is in the outskirts of
-tUp_rity r.f (about 500 iiiiles
"southwest "of Tokyo) which became
famous around the world because of the
Atomic Bomb. Mr. Kishi is a profes
sor of accounting at the University of
Commerce in the city. His wife (for
merly Lydia Shigenobu) studied at the
Cincinnati Bible Seminary some years
ago. They have four liyely_ children.
T|^ ne^ attendance atîif meeting
was tenj.0Qt almost thirty difterent people
attended at least one of the five services.
There were no baptisms, but Mr. and
Mrs. Kishi were ^h;"illed_ that some of
the local people and also some of his
students at the College came and heard
the gospel for the first time.
I received much encouragement from
the fellowship with the Kishis. They have
a solid faith in Christ and God's Word,
and are actively living and proclaiming
it in their individual style. It was won
derful to hear his reasoning with the
young university men about the things
of God in long discussions after the
preaching meetings. She is the
of fhp Inral kincj^^garteil P.T.A.., which
/gives her an influential position in the
/ community, and she arranged for me to
/ speak to more than 200 of the mothers
"-.Jit a special meeting during my stay
there. In private talks late at night after
all the others had gone home they ex
pressed wide and deep concern about
various problems facing our churches
and individual Christians here in Japan.
I believe they said it has been eight \ A
years since they started a Bible Study in \ '
their home, and about eight have been \
bapty.ed since that tihie^ These "laymen"
"Tiave the hearts of true pastors, and have
been able to arrange marriages for the
young people in their small group of
believers so that thgre are two other fami- ,
_lies be^des them""mfkmg the"nucleus of
" tTie^fittle^ clmrch . there. They are also
interSfefl" and involved in the jobs, ca
reers and marriages of an increasing
number of the university young people
who find in their home die warmth and
strength and ideals they admire and
respect. So they have an increasing"^\
influence for (flirist, and are responsibly/U'
and humbly conscious of it.
What we need, and ask you to pra)'
for, is hundreds and then thousands of
couples like this scattered like leaven and
salt throughout all of }apan and the
world. Harold Sims
Alfred Elmore Sims Finishes The Course
, jN|Iy father died very suddenly, pain-
lessly and peacefully while dozing in his
chair in Claxton, Tennessee during the
early afternoon of last October 12. He
was a little over eighty-two and a half
years of age, and prepared to meet his
Lord and Savior. Perhaps partly
because of my distance from the scene,
but I think more because of my respect
ior his faith and personality and way of
ministry to Christ and His church; and]
for his example and encouragement toj
me in my calling here. Wedo miss those
weekly air-letters, with the large, round,
clear handwriting, though.
In his earlier years my father had
the vision of becominga missionary. He
corresponded with \V. H. Book about
going to Africa, but that didn't work out.
When lie was a young graduate of
Bethany College and preaching in Cali-
iornia, Pennsylvania (Mr.Cunninghani's
boyhood churcii) he was in correspon
dence with the Yotsuya Mission in Tokyo
about prospects for coming here "as a'
missionary. Mr. Cunningham was happy
at the prospect, but wanted him to wait
until he was married. Then after he was
married my mother didn't want to go,
because she was expecting me. So as
things turned out he was never able to
fulfill his youtliful ambition to become
a missionary, and in fact-never traveled
outside -oCtli^gastem one-haio4he U.S.
.My decision to becomea missionary
to Japan was to him the answer to over
twenty years of prayer and hope, and
was greeted with quiet jov and thank
fulness - - followed up by over twenty
years of persevering prayer, constant
interest, financial support and strong en
couragement. For a period of about
eight years he served as editor of the
Tokyo Christian, and was also my for
warding agent for almost ten years.
\\lien I was Just learning to talk they
tried to teach me to say "Father," but I
could only come up with "Fa." Some
how that name stuck, and through most
of his life not only the family but most
friends and church folks called him this
very short name with warm affection.
Always true to his Scotch ancestry,
he never could stand to see anything
wasted. For the last ten years he drove
a 1949 model car. On our last visit
home in July 1971 we spent most of a
day helping him pick up early plums that
had fallen from his beloved trees and
then peeling them, cutting out the spots,
and cooking them up into "some deli
cious blum buttah." He liked all foods
- - never had to be called twice for din
ner, and had a life-long habit of cleaning
up left-overs rather than enduring the
pain of seeing good food being thrown
out. Typically, the undertaker found
only a few things in his pockets. One
of the objects was a one and a half inch
pencil which he always carried. These
are all small things, but they express
his attitude toward things, and life. In
other words, he didn't waste his
life, either.
(Continued on page 4)
Tokvo Christian
Vol. 72 Feb. 1973 No. 1
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, Box 177,
Kempton, Indiana 46049. Second class
postage paid at Kempton, Indiarra.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray,
2-26-4 Kamiochiai,Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo
161 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mrs.
Homer Anderson, 622 Culium Street,
Meadville, Pa. 15335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Ration, 3-7-8
Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164
Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs.
G. Wade Fletcher, R .R. 7. Rushville,
Ind. 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193
Japan. Forwarding Agent: FirstChurch
of Christ, Orange at Center St., E ustis,
Fla. 32726.
Two-year subscription $ .50
Subscription and Flaming Torc^Sl.OO
New Year
Shrine Offerings
According to the Japan Times news
paper, the counting of the money offered
at the Atsuta Jlngu Shrine near Nagoya
during New Years began on January 9.
The money was gathered up into 250
straw bags, fourteen more bags dian that
for la.st year. The offerings were esti
mated to be about nineteen million yen
(about $63,333). The money was re
ceived from about 2,500,000 persons
who visited that one shrine during the
holidays.
This Shinto shrine is one of the best
known of tlie thousands of shrines
throughout Japan. A staggering amount
of money must have been received from
these shrines during this most important
religious holiday in Japan.
It is evident from this that the tradi
tional religions of Japan (Buddhism and
Shintoism) have not appreciably lost
their hold on the lives of the Japanese
people, though with a large portion of
them their religions are a matter of form
and tradition. The increased offerings at
the shrines each year reflect an increased
prosperity. Usually visitors offer a ten
yen coin (3 cents) at the shrine, but
when this small offering is added to that
of many other millions of people,
it amounts to a large offering.
Unfortunately, in most cases a simi
lar attitude is taken toward stewardship
in the Christian Churches in Japan.
Though the number of Christians is
small and most of the members are not
the wage earners of their families, the
Japanese Christians must manifest a
greater degree of dedication when it
comes to stewardship of time, talent, and
money, \\hen that takes place, the Chris
tian faith will spread and Christians will
be edified.
Our working in three different places
and with various groups caused us to
have a number of different Christmas
programs in December. The first one
was at Vachiyodai in Chiba where we
have a group which meets in a private
home for BibleStudy and worship. That
program consisted of the reading of Old
and New Testament passages related to
the birdi of Christ with appropriate com
ments and the singing of carols related
to the Scriptures read. Later one of the
ladies in the group asked whotheprophet
.\Ecah was and what a prophet was. The
discussion of the Christmas story helped
the group, which as a rule has little
knowledge of the Bible, to better under
stand the real meaning of Christmas as
over against the perverted ideas and
practices related to Christmas in Japan.
The Arakawa Church had their
Christmas program preceded by a meal
together on Saturday, December23, and
the Sakurayama Church had their'^suki-
yaki" meal and Christmas program
on December 24. I spoke to the latter
group on the visit of the wisemen. A
joint program for the Sunday Schools
of the two churches was held at the Ara
kawa Church on December 24. The
children's program was well attended but
those for tlie adults were not. So the
t
Tj
Christmas season was filled with activity
for us and the people we are ministering
to.
On Christmas Day the Tokyo mis
sionaries gathered at the home oftheBaul
Pratts at Isehara for our annual Christ
mas meal and fellowship together. As
usual, there was plenty of food and fel
lowship and it was fairly late at night
when we arrived back home.
Betty continues to teach a ladies class
at home on Thursdays. She teaches an
hour of English and an hour of Bible.
They are studying the life of Moses and
the E.xodus and many lively discussions
take place. Though they have gained
a great deal of knowledge of the Bible,
most of these ladies still went with their
husbands to the shrines at New Years
to pray for the success of their husbands
in business during this year. It takes a
great deal of time and fortitude for Japa
nese wives to make a break with their
old religions. They often secretly believe
in the Lord, but hesitate to confess that
faith for fear of their husbands and rel
atives.
We thank all of you lor your Christ
mas cards and gifts, and for your pray
ers and offerings. We look forward to
another year of work for the lx)rd in
Tokyo.
Those who met at the Pratt home for Christmas dinner and fel
lowship.
Mrs. Etliel Lutton (LoisSims'mother)
suffered a slight stroke early in Decem
ber at her home in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Since then she has moved to the home
of her daughter inStevensville, Maryland.
Mark Maxey, from Kyushu, visited
die Sims family over the week-end of
January 7 and preached at Mejirodai
Church.

All of our missionaries now in the
Tokyo area met at the Paul Pratt home
in Isehara on Christmas Day for a tur
key dinner and lellowship.
Mejirodai Church News
After baptisms on November 5,
1972: left to right: Harold Sims,
Hiroo Saito, Hikari Shibiiya, Nick
Saito.
1. Evangelistic Meeting
We had the first service at IVfejirodai
on November 1, 1970, so November
1 - 5 we had a Second Anniversary
Evangelistic Meeting. The evangelistwas
Brother Nick Saito, who is teaching
Homiletics and other subjects in Osaka
Bible Seminary and preaching at the
Rokko church in Kobe.
Frankly, we were ver^ jiisapppinted
în the attendance. Perhaps being a holi
day weekend had a lot of effect, but after
distributing over 3,000 handbills to every
home in the area wehad êssth an Uyenty
in attendance eyery._nigliX this was the
^mallest'~turnout of both members and
visitors of any of the three meetings held
Baptized September 17. 1972:
Izumi Shibuya and Fumiko Kuiva-
bara.
so far. But we were very thankful for
the wonderful results. On the final night
two young people who had been attend
ing for most of the year and had been
considering their decision for a long time
came forward and made their confession
and were baptized into Christ amid
tears of joy and praise. The )'oung man
is employed in the Toshiba Electric Com
pany, and is a good singer and capable.
He received much opposition from his
Buddhist mother with whom he lives,
and requested prayers that she might
understand. Two of the ladies of the
church have visited her several times
since then, and we believe progress is
being made in this direction. The young
lady is the daughter of a zealous Chris
tian mother who belongs to a denomi
national church but attends here regu
larly. Her non-Christian father attended
the baptism, and is happy about her
decision. She is a kindergarten teacher.
Her younger sister and another Junior
High School girl who attends a Chris
tian School were baptized on Septem
ber 17 - - see picture.
It was also during that meeting that
a seventy-two year old lady who had
been attending worship services regularly
since last summer resolved to become a
Christian. But she waited a while, and
was baptized on January 10. She set
this date, because some years ago her
daughter had died on that date, and she
wanted to have tlial day mean new life
for her as well as hoping that in some
way God would also look with mercy
on her daughter who never knew tlie
gospel.
2. Christmas
Our Sunday School program was
Saturday night December 23. This was
the most convenient time for mostparents
to attend, and we had a good group.
W'c counted 110 pairs of shoes and boots
(it was raining) in the entrance. This is
well over the capacity of our building,
but they wereall inside.
We give little coloring books (from
Standard Publishing in America) to
all who attended at least twenty-five times
during the year. The number receiving
these was approximately our average at
tendance for the year - - forty-five. This
is about double the average attendance
for 1971.
Our Church program was Sunday
night December 24. We had a total
attendance of forty-six people, including
five complete families. Two of these
"Find this gospel of the king'
dom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end
come." Matt. 24:14
Sunday School Christinas playlet.
husbands had never been to a church
before, but all seemed to enjoy the long,
varied program.
We began with a short worship ser
vice at six p.m., which included the light
ing of candles and singing ofjoy to the
World" by candlelight. Then we all ate
a meal which had been prepared by the
ladies of the church from 6:30 to 7:30.
Some weeks earlier we had decided to
have a program entirely of local talent,
and asked each family to plan something.
There was a lot of hesitation and reser
vation, in the Japanese manner; but it
ended up that we had a very good vari
ety show in which all participated and
which everyone enjoyed. We had ballet
dances, various musical numbers, includ
ing a first class rendition of a classical
Hyden string number by a cello and
two violins and organ, a puppet show,
Japanese folk songs, an original Japa
nese poem, etc. The program ended
shortly after nine p.m. with a gift ex
change. Following this thirteen ofuswent
caroling to various homes in the neigh
borhood. Harold Sim^^
Sunday School Beginners "Welcome.'
twenty-fifth AnniveRSARy
Air. and Mrs. Tetsuro Domen and
children. They are helping the War-
ricks establish a Church in Sayama.
Stephen Patton on his twelfth
birthday on January 5, 1973.
ALFRED ELMORE SIMS
FINISHES THE COURSE
^ (Continued from page 1)
y I got the messagethat he had passed
away just after I had _s_tarted _an evan-
y gelistic meeting in Hiroshima, Japan. I
decided immediately that he would not
^ have wanted me to stop what I was doing
and go back to the U. S. for the funeral.
Anyway, my presence there was not at
all necessary, because my brothers took
care of everything very well. So I re
mained over here more than ever con
scious of the wonderful callings and
works of God - - the eternally living one.
Shortly after the funeral my mother
moved into the Appalacian Christian Vil-
lage in Johnson City, Tennessee. Here
^ o r>^r\ c c
On January 7, 1973 I celebrated my
25th anniversary as a missionary to
Japan. Fresh out of Bible College, after
eleven months of missionary work in
Hawaii, and after a twenty-one day voy
age from^Ûawaiion an old converted
tromMhtp .named "^neral Meigs, I was
i-Ân 1948 at Ypkbhama port by mis-
^kMrdrievS-0;W^P^StU and Harold Sims.
Had rknown the hardships involved in
living in this country at that time and
the things which lay ahead of us in our
efforts to preach Christ to the Japanese,
I wonder if I would have been as enthu
siastic on my arrival in Yokohama as
I was then.
That was only about two years after
the war, and It is difficult for a person
living in prosperous Japan today to even
imagine the privations that had to be
endured by the people then. There were
no jobs, little money, and food could
not be bought even if one had the money.
Squatters living in makeshift huts built
from scrap were present everywhere in
Tokyo. Transportation facilities were
very scarce and unbelievably crowded.
Living for the Japanese was a burden
then, and there was little with which to
fill their empty hearts and to give hope
for the future.
Because of these sufferings and dis
appointments the people gave the Chris
tian gospel such a favorable hearing that
many of us began to wonder if the whole
nation could not be won in a short time.
In 1951 Japan and America signed a
peace treaty, and following that the live
lihood of theJapanese people was gradu
ally improving.
Due to this and themisunderstanding
of the nature of the Christian gospel by
many, large numbers of people lost inter
est in the true riches, concentrating their
efforts rather toward life in this present
world.
'"ûst a few days after my arrival in
[apan we missionaries in Tokyo she will be living just across the street . [apan we missionaries in Tokyo
from the new First Christian Churcl/ launched Tokyo Bible Seminary to train
there, where my brother Ralph is the^Cliristian nmiiSlErsT" Klost our efforts
minister. ensuit^ ten years^were with the
FORM 3579 REQUESTED a.
BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049 ' o
Seminary and a number ol ministers
and other Christian workers t^'ere trained
in this scho^L.In 1958 this/school was
closed, however, and since then we have
concentrated our efforts in church plant
ing and evangelism.
\Miile working with the Seminary, I
established the Nishiogikubo Church and
helped to establish the Kamiuma Church
in Tokyo.
Since 1960 Betty and I have estab
lished the Sakurayaina and Arakawa
Churches to which we are now minister
ing. In 1972 we started a "home meet
ing" in Yachiyodai of Chiba Prefecture
which we hope develops into a newcon
gregation. <
On ^December-20, 1972 Betty and I
celebrated out-.tt^xatietli .wedding anni
versary. Sharon, our daughter, is a
freshman at Cincinnati Bible Seminary.
Stephen celebrated his twelfth birthday on
January 5, and Noel and Philip their
sixteenth and fourteenth birthdays on
December 22 and July 8 respectively.
Though we wish we had been able
to accomplish far more during the past
twenty-five years, we thank God for the
souls that have been won, the ministers
trained, the churches established, the
Christians that have been edified, and
the progress that has been realized dur
ing that time. We thank God who has
given us life and breath and all things,
and who has enabled us to begin another
year. \Ye would appreciate your prayers
for us. îdr-e-iu-Ralton
Sato Baby Arrives
Mikako-chan, the new daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Hiroaki Sato.
Hiroaki and Mitsuko Sato are now
the proud parents of a daughter, whom
they have named Mikako. The Satos
are ministering to the Sakurayama and
Arakawa Churches. Mikako was born
on December 8, and we rejoice that both
mother and daughter are doing very
well. This is the first grandchild for Mr.
Sato's father, Fumio Sato, who minis
ters to the Kamiochiai Church in Tokyo.
Tokyo
Christian
Volume 72
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
May 1973
THE DOLLAR DEVALUATION
Number 2
Some people have written asking for During this same period the priceof
an explanation of howtherecent devalu- milk has risen from 105 yen per liter
ation of the dollar affects us. Well, we to 140 yen per liter. In yen alone this
are not economists, but are forced to be price rise is bad enough, but coupledwith
economizers. Devaluation has just the dollar devaluation it means we now
doubled the financial squeeze that was pay fifty-two cents per liter. Eighteen
already on because of con.stantly rising months ago we could buy hamburger
prices. We don't want to brag about it, for about twenty-two cents for 100 grams
but the cost of living in Tokyo now is (454 grams is one pound, so this comes
^certainly the highest in the world. I will toînety-nine cents per pound). Now the
just give you a couple of illustrations price has gone up to forty-five cents per
from reallife. 100 grams, or 4^3 iper pound. The
Back in the good old days (two years same thing applies right across theboard
ago) when we took a dollar to the bank to gasoline at $1 per gallon, all clothing,
we got 360 yen minus a small exchang- etc.
ing fee. At that time a liter (slighdy Early in March one of our Navy
more than a quart - - we use only the friends came through Tokyo on his way
metric system of weights and measure- back to"theworld"as themilitarydenotes
ments here) of milk could be bought for Travis Air Force base and beyond iteast-
105 yen or_twenty-nine_cents. After the ward. On the way home from meeting
"Nixon SKbck'-speech ofAugust 15,1971 him at the air-base we stopped by a
and the currency conferences that fall, the supermarket to get some groceries. He is
yen was officially revalued at 308 to $1. from a cattle growing farm in Kansas,
It held at around 300 to one actually and was interested in the prices of the
delivered to our hands during all ofl972. .._^.^^^teaks^displayed there. We figured
Then, as you know, the dollar wasdeval- up thn weight in pounds and the cost in
ued by ten percent early this year, and dollars for him, and found out it came
the yen was allowed to float inrelation to to abûl $10 a pound. He could hardly
it - - leaving us with an exchange rate believe it, but we double-checked and it
of 263 yen for each dollar today and was correct. Needless to say we never
uncertain what it might be tomorrow. eat this grade of Kobe marbleized meat.
Within the past eighteen months, then. Someone says, "My goodness! What
we have seen the cash wecan take home are you going to do?" Myanswer is that
from a $100 check evaporate from near we plan to continue living modestly as
36,000yen to around 26,000 yen. we havein past and to continuedoing
up the, weight in pounds and the cost in
dollars for him, and found out it came
to abpul $10 a pound. He could hardly
believe it, but we double-checked and it
was correct. Needless to say we never
eat this grade of Kobe marbleized meat.
Someone says, "My goodness! What
are you going to do?" Myanswer is that
we plan to continue living modestly as
we have intte past and to continuedoing
our b^t to accomplish the purpose for
which we have been sent here. I know
that all of the missionaries are feeling
the financial pinch, but I haven't heard
anyone talk of giving up and going home
because of it. It is part of our adven-*
ture as Christians to ride out these waves
of inflation and valleys ofdepression with
a .steady trust in God who will provide,
and not to let the waves engulf us in^
depression, despair and defeat. Most
of us missionaries are already supple
menting our living-link income to some
extent by part - time English Conversa
tion teaching. There is a demand for
' this here, and the people are willing and
able to pay. And besides providing
some side income it also gives us some
contact with people we might not reach
in any otlter way. We plan to continue
diis.
I have felt for some time that sooner
or later all Americans would have to
pay the cost of the past forty years of
national deficit budgeting and of the ex
cessive increases in labor costs that have
priced us out of the markets of the world,
and I think that time is now here. But
I have some hope: If America can exer
cise the self-discipline that is required on
a national scale to hold down prices and
wages while they continue to riseinjapan
and other countries we will very soon be
back in business in a big way.
Harold Sims
weOOinq Bells
Takaji, the second son of Mrs. Yaeno
Suzuki (her death is reported in this is
sue of Tokyo Christian), became engaged
to a girl named Mieko Takahashi .sever
al months ago. According to Japanese
custom, they should have postponed their
wedding indefinitely due to his mother's
Illness. But she did not want them to
forego their happiness because of her ill
ness. She insisted that they be married
in spite of her illness and the fact that
she would not be able to attend the cere
mony.
The couple was united in marriage
on March 10, 1973 at the Sakurayama
Takaji and Mieko Suzuki on their
wedding day, March 10, 1973.
Church. This marriage was truly a co
operative affair. Betty Patton played
the organ, prepared the refreshments,
decorated the tables, and baked the cake.
Lois Sims decorated the cake, Andrew
Patton performed the ceremony, and
Katsuya, Takaji's elder brother, was the
master of ceremonies at the reception.
Takaji and Meko have setded down
in an apartment in Nakano and are
attending the Sakurayama Church regu
larly. Mieko is not yet a Chri.stian, but
it is hoped that she will soon eiccept the
Lord and unite their family in Him.
Tokyo Christian
Vol. 72 May 1973 No. 2
Christ Cyhningham Mission, Tokyo,
postage paid at Kempton, Indiana.
2-26-4 Kamiochiai, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Homer Anderson, 622 Cullum Street,
Meadvilte, Pa. 16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8
G. Wade Fletcher, R .R. 7, Rushville,
Ind. 46173.
Japan. ForwardingAgent: FirstChurch
of Christ, Orange at Center St., Eustis,
Fla. 32726.
Subscription and Flaming Torchil.OO
PATTON
NEWS
Cherry blossoms are in full bloom
at this writing and spring has finally
arrived. Warm weather increases our
opportunities for evangelism. We began
the season by going on a picnic to the
Tama Zoo with our Sunday School and
Church people. Then we had the evan
gelistic meeting at Sakurayma and the
March meeting at Yachiyodai. In May
we plan to attend the Japanese and Mis
sionary Conventions which will be held
on Shikoku this year. A special evan
gelistic meeting at Arakawa is coming
up soon and wehave begun our prepar
ations for that.
The Arakawa Church had their Eas
ter program early this year - March 8.
During the program the Bible School
children presented a play on Easter which
was well done. Also during the program
certificates were presented to the students
of the Bible School who were promoted
to higher classes. Easter celebration at
the Sakurayama Church will take place
on April 22.
Brother Tamaki from Okinawa who
has been doing graduate study in Ore
gon, passed through Japan on his way
home in March and spent a few days
with us. We have known him for several
years and it was good to renew our
acquaintance with him. He is a public
school teacher and helps a great deal
in the mission work of Harlan Woodruff
there.
BUTTRAYS RETURN TO TOKYO
1
Stanley and Mabel Buttray on their way back to
Japan on March 26. Picture was taken at Honolulu
Airport.
As weleft California for Japan March
22, we brought to a close a very plea
sant nine and a half months furlough in
the States of visiting "Living Link" as
well as new Churches, our families, and
friends. Though we usually stay a little
over a year in the States, we feel that
we accomplished during the nine and a
half months all our goals, except the
failure to visit two of our supporting
Churches. This we should expect to
happen during a short furlough, buteven
so we regret it so very much.
We arrived back in Tokyo on March
26 after enjoying a three day stop-over in
In March our Toyopet station wagon
broke down. Unknown to me, the head
gasket went bad and the water leaked
into the oil and vaporized. The motor
finally overheated and stopped, burning
out two pistons. The repair bill was
estimated by a garage at about 160,000
yen. A friend introduced us to his mech
anic who found us another motor and
repaired the car for 60,000 yen, which
was quite a savings.
A meetingwelcoming the StanleyBut-
trays back to Japan was held at the
Patton home two days after their arrival
in Tokyo.
On March 14 the wife of Meiji Sudo
who attends the meetings at Sakurayama
and Yachiyodai, passed away. Mr. Sudo
is eighty-two years of age and his wife
was seventy-three. He has been a Chris
tian for many years and graduated from
Tokyo Bible Seminary when he was
sixty-three years old. He lives with his
son and helps out in the Lord's work
as he can.
Hawaii. Those three days were spent
with our long-time missionary friends
Don and Jo Roth. They proved to be
an effective "breathing spelUin the day to
night time change which takes placewhen
air transportation suddenly delivers you
from one side of the world to the other
in a few hours.
Now that we are back in our home
at 2 - 26 - 4 Kamiochiai, Shinjuku-Ku,
Tokyo, Japan, we once again will be
waiting to hear from all of our friends.
If it is the Lord's \W1, we will return
to the States in the spring of 1976 when
our son, David, will expect to graduate
from college. During the next three
years we are planning on continuing to
assist botli the Kamiochiai and Yoko-
suka Churches for they are still rather
weak. But our main goal will be to
broaden our evangelistic outreach in the
coming months by promoting a new all-
year-round Christian Camp to reach a
larger number of the reachable.
Remembering Jesus command to
Peter to launch out into the deep, and
its results! We are encouraged! Won't
you Join us in prayer for this KEY 73
Camp Evangelism Program aswelaunch
out among the multitudes!
We wish to express our thanks and
appreciation to our "living link"Churches
for their faithful continued support for
the Work of Our Lord through your
servants.
Stanley and Mabel Buttray
May God make you fruitful in all of
your endeavors for Him.
Andrew Patton
Robert Joel Sims Graduates From High School
On June 8 Robert Joel Sims will
graduate from Christian Academy in
Japan. Five-children of our missionaries
in JaJrafR-wTllâth this important mile
stone this spring.
During his high school years Bobby
has been on the wrestling team one sea
son and the cross-country running team
one season. Like many other boys of
his age, he is very interested in motor
cycles. Last summer he worked part-
time in a nearby Honda ServiceFactory,
and along with getting some valuable
experience and picking up some rough
Japanese language he saved enough
money to buy a second-hand setofwheels
A "PROMISING
CEREMONY" i
One of tlie young ladies in Mejiro-
dai church, Ilikari Shibuya, is going to
be married later this spring. The young
man i.s a candidate for die doctoral de
gree in immunology, and hopes to be
an educator. According to the Japanese
custom they had their formal engage
ment, or promising ceremony, in the
church on Sunday afternoon March II.
.At that time he gave her a diamond ring
and she gave him a watch. They also
exchanged pictures of each other and the
church gave diem a Bibleto read as man
and wife together. The ladies of the
church also prepared refreshments to
serve after the simple but meaningful
ceremony.
Her mother was planning to make
the wedding dress, but broke her leg in
a skiing fall in Februarj', and has been
in the hospital for over six weeks. So
Lois is helping her with that. It is one
of our pleasures to become involved in
the lives of some of the folks here in a
really deep way.
Harold Sims is handing the Bible
to Air. Ito.
on which he has been riding around and
tinkering widi quite a lot.
He seems to have inherited his mater
nal grandfather's interest in mechanical
things and working with his hands. So
in line with his interests and natural
abilities he has decided to study Elec
tronic Engineering at the Cincinnati Tech
nical College, a two year Junior College
with a work-study program that fits in
with our financial situation. We are glad
he will be located in the same city with
his older brother and sister, uncle, aunt
and cousins, and we expect him to take
an active part in one of our many
churches there.
is going to accompany him to
'die United States in late summer to make
necessary arrangements about housing
and other matters connected with his
entering college and also to visit her
/mother who suffered a slight stroke some
months ago and the rest of our family
and as many friends as possible in the
Yew available days. Harold and Danny
will remain in Japan to keep the church
services going, cut the grass, attendcamp
etc.
Harold .Sims
Rohcrt Sims
"Don'tjusr pretend that vou love
others: really love them. Hate what
is wrong. Stand on the side of the
good." Romans 12:9 (l,U)
Pnto
Our sister in the Lord, .Mrs. Yaeiip
_Suzuki, passed from this life into the
~j5resence of our Lord on ;\pril 13, 1973,.,
She died at the age of fifty-seven and had
walked with the Lord for many years.
We have known her for about twenty
years and have learned to love and
respect her for her faith and dedication
to God.
Her husband died of tuberculosis
about fourteen years ago and her young
est son was hospitalized with the same
disease for a time but recovered com
pletely. After her husband's death Mrs.
Suzuki raised her children by herself,
depending on God to supply all their
needs.
Although they are yet young, her
children are now old enough to take care
of themselves. She was Q1 with cancer
for almost a year, but the disease was
in too advanced a stage when it was dis
covered for medical treatment to help.
During her illness, .Mrs. Suzuki thought
deeply about the future of her children
and prayed for them. \\'hile she was
bedfast pain waslierconstantconipanion.
But she found comfort in prayer and the
reading of God's Word.
The funeral services were conducted
at the Suzuki home and at the Sakura-
yama Church by the minister, Hiroaki
Sato. During the service at the Church
Harold Sims brought a short message,
summing up Mrs. Suzuki's life withthree
Japanese words -''binbo,'"'shinbo," and
"kibo," which mean poverty, endurance,
and hope respectively. He stated that
her greatest possession was her faith.
Mrs. Suzuki was a very unassuming
person and was little known outside the
little circle of her relatives, friends, and
Christian brotliers and sisters. But a
crowd of above sixty people, besides
her family and relatives, gathered at the
church to pay their final respects. She
will long be remembered as a ('liristian
who served the Ixird in the face of great
odds. Like Abel, she "being dead yet
speaketh."
Andrew Button
SAKURAYAMA
EVANGELISTIC
MEETING
The Sato fcimily fumio (center),
the father and minister of the Kamio-
chiai Church, Hiroaki (left), first son
and minister of Sakurayama and Ara-
kaua Churches, and Yoshiaki, the
younger son.
The calendar for the Sakurayama
Church activities calls for a revival meet
ing three times a year. One of these
meetings was held on March 23 - 24.
Brotlier iMorohashl, minister of the'
Church at Yokosuka, served as evangel
ist.
Tn spite of a disappointing attendance
during the meeting, the good results real
ized were encouraging. A Moody Science
film was shown preceding the message
each night. The evangelist preached the
gospel convincingly and on a level which
was easily understood by unbelievers.
Although there were no definitedeci
sions to accept Christ duringthis meeting,
two young people did indicate by raising
their hands that they were very interested
in Christ and tliat they wished to study
the gospel furtlier. One of them is con
tinuing to attend the church services re
gularly and to learn of Christ.
_Afldw Patton
FORM 3579 REQUESTED
BOX 177, IÊMPTON, IN 46049
yachiyoC)Ai news
Recently some setbacks have occur
red in the new work that has been started
at Yachiyodai in Chiba Prefecture. The
work was begun by a Christian woman
named Mrs. lhara. In early April she
and her family moved back to Hiro
shima. This has been a big loss and
a shock to the litde group.
Then another disturbing incident
which has happened to the group came
to our attention. One of the most zeal
ous members of the group, Mrs. Furu-
kawa, has had the group in her home
several times. She lives in a "danchi,"
an apartment complex where many other
families live. Some of these neighbors
began to oppose tlie Bible study meetings
and to persecute the Furukawa family,
especially the children. This forced Mrs.
Furukawa to discontinue havingthemeet-
ings in her home. Among other things,
VISITORS
I Mrs. Hazel Crouch, of Columbus,
Indiana, and Mrs. Gladys Crouch, of
Nashville, Tennessee, known to many
old-timers as.'Thp Payne Sisters"recently
visited Tokyo as one of the ports of
call for the S.S. Kungsholm's Pacific
Cruise. They arrived on Sunday March
18, and were able to visit our Mejirodai
church for the evening service. They
brought greetings and sang for our small
group, and werevery much appreciated.
The following Wedne.sday Ix)is and I cele
brated our twenty-sixth wedding anniver
sary, and tlTeyTiel^d^ro make it a red-
letter day for us again. They entertained
us for lunch in the Imperial Hotel, and
then we went together to an afternoon
performance of the classical Japanese
Kabuki Drama.
the.se have caused the interest and atten
dance to decrease.
A Christian woman named Mrs. Saito
who is a medical doctor participates in
the Bible study. She owns her own home
and is not subject to "danchi" rules, which
generally discourages religious gather
ings in the complex. Even though her
husband is not a Christian, he allows
her to have the meetings in their home
once a month. F'ormerly the group met
twice a month, but due to thesechanges,
we can now only meet once a month.
At present we meet on the fourth Thurs
day of each month. On those days we
drive to Yachiyodai and call on people
during the morning and have the Bible
study in the afternoon. Then in the even
ing we drive to tlie Arakawa Church for
Bible study. At the March meeting Broth
er Fumio Sato brought a special message
on the Christian home.
Close fellowship in a home atmos
phere is a blessingreceived from meeting
in privite homes. But in Japan such
meetings are hampered for lack of a suit
able place to meet. It is hard to find a
family that is able and willing to open
their home for gospel meetings. Never
theless we intend to persevere in the good
work until a better solution is found.
Andrew Patton
Preacher Sato and Sudo in
front of the apartment houses where
the liihle study has been held at
Yachiyodai.
Tokyo
Christian
"Go ye into all (be world and preach the gospel to every creature" Siark 16:15
Volume 72
July, 1973 Number 3
1973 CONVENTION
The yearly convention of our
Christians from 50 churches throughout
Japan was held May 3, 4, and 5, this
year iii Kochi prefecture on the Pacific
Coast of Shikoku Island. There are
three churches in this area ministered to
by Mr. and Mrs. Don Burney and two
Japanese ministers. Wemet in a modest-
priced hotel owned by a local newspaper
company with a beautiful Japanese scene
of blue ocean, curving coast line and
pine-covered mountains rising steeply
irom the sea to add to our pleasure as
we looked out the windows.
The total attendance was something
over 140, which was very good consider
ing the distance most had to travel. Six
teenof us went down by plane ina group
flight from Tokyo, and a few others
drove; so we had about 20 from our
area, and there were good delegations
from all other areas of Japan.
The theme, which can be seen above,
our heads in the group picture was "Out
of the Wilderness." I brought one of the
messages on Friday morning which
applied some of the lessons from the
wilderness journey of the Israelites to our
Christian and church life in the present
age. They wanted to publish a booklet
containing all of the messages, so I had
to write out my sermon in Japanese
language, and that required a lot of
time in profitable use of a dictionary.
We had some very good group discus
sions, and also each person present gave
a short testimony during one of the four
special sessions alloted to that purpose.
This helped us all to get acquainted with
each other as well as giving us insight
into the Christian lives and struggles of
others and encouragement in the victor
ies being won.
The missionaries and families (more
than 50 people when all got there) stayed
at the same hotel for two days after the
Japanese convention to have a conven
tion of our own in English language.
This year's program was outstanding for
two things. We had Bro. Rex Ellis from
Kenmore, Australia with us, whobrought
very stimulating messages on various
themes. It is a treat to heargood preach-
Harold and Lois Sims with Hikari
Shibuya at her wedding on May 27.
Lois helped to make her dress after
the mother fell and broke her leg see
previous Tokyo Christian.
f
ing in English language. Then we had
several very good Bible studies from
Old Testament, Gospels and Epistles on
the general tlieme of preaching Ae gospel
in resistant fields, coupled with stimulat
ing discussion periods following each
paper. These papers were all brought
by the younger set of missionaries. It
was a very encouraging and refreshing
week, and we are glad our whole family
wa-s able to attend.
Next year's convention will be held
in Tokyo.
Harold Sims
KAMIUMA CHURCH
The Kamiuma Church invited me to
preach to them and baptize a girl who
is a student of Waseda University on
June 10. I ministered to tliat church
about 16 years ago during a time when
they were without a minister. Because
of duties with other churches, I had not
been able to keep in close touch with
that church. Therefore, it gave me a
great deal of joy to seethem again, and
especially to see a few faces that had
become very familiar to me during my
ministry there.
The worship service was not very
well attended, but there was a good group
of children for the Bible School. Brother
Sahara, tlie minister, is on leave from
the church and is now in the United
States as a student. One of the members
of the church is doing the work of minis
try during the absence of the minister.
- Andrew Patton
Tokyo Christian
Vol. 72 July, 1973 No. 3
Christ Cijhningham Mission, Tokyo,
postage paid at Kempton, Indiarra.
2-26-4 Kamiochiai, Shinjuku'ku, Tokyo
Meadville, Pa. 16335.
G.Wade Fletcher, R .R. 7, Rushville,
Ind. 46173.
of Christ, Orange at Center St., E us t is,
Fla. 32726.
Subscription and Flaming TorciSl.OO
PATTON NEWS
In the first week in Nfey our whole
family made the trip to Shikoku to the
convention. We all enjoyed the trip, the
fellowship, and the program, and came
back refreshed.
1 am continuing to make the trip to
Yachiyodai in Chiba once a montn
the only time that we can find a place
to study the Bible there. We hope to do
some calling in private homes there, but
the distance we have to travel to the
place, and the feeling among some of
them that the space for the meeting is
too cramped to enlarge the group, have
prevented much calling from being done.
We plan to continue our callingprogram,
however, and try to gain new members.
We shall continue to plant the gospel
seed, and expect the I^rd to give the
increase.
The Sakurayama Church had a two-
day evangelistic meeting in June with
Brother Fumio Sato as the evangelist.
Attendance was fairly good, but no one
has accepted Christ as a result of the
meetings. In September the Arakawa
Church will have a meeting and Brother
Hattori of Shikoku will be the speaker.
The Patton family is spending the
month of July at Karuizawa. I am
driving back and forth, spending four
days a week in Tokyo to carry on my
work, and the rest of the time with the
family in Karuizawa.
Philip observed his 15th birthday on
July 8 (Sunday), but the festivities took
place on July 6, due to the fact that I
had to be in Tokyo on Sunday. Me is
now taller than I and weighs almost as
much. Betty will observe her birthday
on July 20 and Sharon hers 6nJuly 30.
MEJIRODAI CHURCH
PAYING THE PREACHER
The first congregational business
meeting of Nîrodai Church of Christ
was held on June 17, 1973. Eight of the
11 members were present.
We began with a fellowship dinner
after the morning worship service, and
it was the unanimous opinion that we
hope this will become a regular part of
all our business meetings.
fWe had the usual treasurer's report,
and discussed various things that I need
not list here. But I think mere was one
item that is worthy of mention. The
people proposed to pay me 10,000 yen
a montli (about $38.00) for my services
as their minister. This is not enough to
live on, of course, but in these days of
dollar devaluations and rising prices it is
much appreciated on a very practical
level. In addition there is a much deeper
meaning and encouragement for us in
this decision. We rejoice and thank God
"For God harli not given us
the spirit of fear; but of power,
and of love, and of a sound mind.*
11 Timothy 1:7
The Bible Study (Iroup meeting in a
prinate home in Yachiyodai.
Sharon is spending the summer with
her roommate at school, Lynn Chesnut,
and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Chesnut of Boca Ratan, Florida. She
has a job for the summer in a restau
rant and is enjoying her stay in Florida.
We appreciate the kindness of the Ches-
nuts to Sharon and to us, and we thank
God for them. May God reward them
richly.
We have been invited to participate
in a week of evangelism in Karuizawa,
beginning on August 13. Brother Steph
en Fleenor is sponsoring the campaign
which is called "Omatsuri Dendo"(Festi-
val Evangelism). An important Shinto
festival is held in the town each year at
for this as an evidence of Christian/
growth, maturity and generosity. This
is the first time we have received a salary
from a Japanese church, and as far as
I know it is rare for missionaries any
where, but both we and they look upon
this as nothing more than what is
normal. Scriptural and right. This is
very far removed from the attitude of
"rice-Christians" "paternalism" "depen
dence" that has characterized missions
during much of the past 100 years, and
we all think it is progress in the right |
direction. The budget commits each'
member to offerings of over $6.00 a
month, and I think this might compare
favorably widi the average giving
in many of our American churches. 1
think our supporting churches ought to
know this and take encouragement from
it.
- Harold Sims
VACATION
BIBLE
SCHOOL
The Sakurayama and Arakawa
Churches-arc planning somcdiing differ-- -
ent for their Vacation Bible School this
year. They have set aside July 23 - 26
for their joint V.B.S. It will be sort of
camp style, with the children remaining
at Isehara, where it will be held, until
the end of the school.
Already the children have worked
up a lot of enthusiasm for this V.B.S.,
and we expect a large group to be enrol
led. Hiroshi Saito, a student of Osaka
Bible Seminary and a member of the
Arakawa Church, Mr. and Mrs. Sato,
and the remainder of the regular Sunday
School teachers, will teach during the
V.B.S.
- .Andrew Patton
tliat time, and we expect to draw some of
the people to an outdoor gospel meeting
and talk to them about the Lord. Every
year several people are won to Christ
during the meetings, and many others
are favorably influenced for the gospel.
Betty will play the piano during the week
and I will help counsel with those who
come. May the Lord touch many hearts
with the gospel during this week of meet
ings.
.All of us are grateful that you remem
ber us in your prayers and for your
liberal giving and fellowship in the
preaching of the gospel of Christ. May
tlie blessing of God be upon you all.
- Andrew Patton
RECENT GUESTS
The Faber and Jones children be
ing entertained by the Patton children
at the Patton home.
In the first week in June our mis
sionaries located in other areas of Japan
converged on Tokyo in fairly large num
bers. Their purposes in coming were to
attend the graduation exercises of the
Christian Academy where they have chil
dren enrolled and, for most of them,
I to leave for the States for furlough.
The Ernest Fabers of Hokkaido and
the Claire Bomons of Okinawa were
entertained at me Patton home and the
Robert Warricks and Milton Joneses were
guests of the Buttrays. The Don Burneys
were also scheduled to stay with us but
found lodging instead in the dormitory
of the Christian Academy.
It was a huge crowd and both adults
childrenenjoyed the fellowship. The
/ Paul Pratts also left that week to spend
7ê 'summer in the States. We will wel-
//conie the Pratts, the Boletons, and the
/,' Joneses back to Japan at the end of
I August, but the J'a^r^_and Warr[cl^
will remain in tKe^tates' untiPAITgust,
1974.
Andrew Patton
Short Trip
To The U.S.
Lois and Robert Sims left Tokyo on
''/uly 19 for the U.S. The main purpose
of die trip is to get Bobby settled in Cin
cinnati and ready for the school term in
September. Loiswill also be visiting our
diree other children Joniiie and Hope
in Cincinnati and Sylvia in Shelby, Ohio
and her sister in Plttsburg and her other
sister and mother in Marj'land and my
mother in Johnson City, Temi. She
plans to visit as many of our supporting
churches as possible along the way, of
course. Danny and I remain here in
japan and will be attending camp, con
ducting a Vacation Bible School and
keeping up the activities at .Mejirodai
church and awaiting the return of Lois
on August 31.
- Harold Sims
WakABa ChuRCh CeleBRates
70th anniveRsapy
On July 1, the church at Wakaba-
cho celebrated the seventieth anniversary
of its beginning. This was the first work
begun by the Cunninghams after their
arrival in Japan, and grew out of an
earlier "Charity School" which had been
started there by Miss Alice Miller of the
non-instrumental churches of Christ to
serve some of the poor people who lived
in a valley nearby. The Cunninghams..^
always referred to it as "First Church." -
After the war the name, of die district
of the city was changed, and we and the
Japanese began calling it Wakaba
(young leaves) just as we called all the
other congregations by the name of the
area around the church.
The church is well located on a cor
ner of two narrow, quiet streets right
near the Crown Prince's Palace and one
of the best elementary schools of the city
where the Crown Prince's children at
tend. The second building was wrecked
for a fire break during the Pacific War,
so they are now usingthethird building
to be erected on the site this one com
pleted in 1948.
There were about 40 people attending
die afternoon program, including quite a
few who have been members for over 20
years and one (Mrs. Cunningham'sfor
mer housekeeper) who has been a mem
ber for nearly 50 years. Several other
ministers were there and brought
speeches of congratulation.
The present minister of the church.
Itsuro Haruyama, a 1953 graduate of
the Tokyo Bible Seminary, has been
there for fifteen ..years; and it was
remarked that his is the longest ministry
in the history of the congregation.
Someone pointed out that this year
marks the 100th anniversary of the birth
of Mrs. Cunningham, who gave approxi
mately 50 years of her life in loving ser
vice to this congregation. She lived next
door. Pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Cunning
ham are displayed on the wall at the
back of the church, and the people are
very grateful even 20 years after Mrs.
Cunningham's passing for the part she
had in the establishing of the church,
principally in teaching an adult English
Bible Class for many years.
In 1955 the local church received
incorporation from the Japanese govern
ment as an independent local Church of
Christ, and tlie \Dssion turned over to
the trustees the deeds to, the property and
building. This was a grealTorward step
for the people, and they have long been
self-supporting, with a yearly budget at
present in excess of $4,000. There have
been many changes in Japan and in the
congregation over this period of an aver
age life-time, but the church goes on
holding forth the word of life.. Certainly
this good lasting result is thebest memo
rial to the work tlie Cunninghams began
at the turn of the century. May all of
the churches go on to celebrate their
70th anniversaries 70 times.
- Harold Sims
MOTOSU CAMP
The Christian Service Camp at Lake
Motosu will be held th.is year on August
6 - 10. The theme "V.Lctory-; Over the
World.' based on I John 5:4, has been
chosen. This is a veiy- timely theme,
we feel. The Book of Luke will be studied
during the class periods.
This year only threejapanesepreach
ers and two missionaries will be able to
teach and lead in the camp. But the
program has been outlined, the helpers
chosen, and the work assigned. We hope
to have a good attendance and an inspir
ing program. May God bless thecamp
and use it to his glory.
- Andrew Patton
Patton. Sims and Buttray at Contention-
SALE OF LAND IN ABIKG
Twenty years ago the preacher of
the small church at Abiko in Chiba pre
fecture, Keiji Inoue, T.B.S. '52, started
a kindergarten in the litde church-par
sonage building which the ^fission had
erect^ for tlie work there. Several years
later the church was incorporated and
the Mission turned over to the local
group the deeds to the building and the
land around the building.
The lot as a whole was slightly less
than one acre in area, on the side of a
wooded hill, and the Mission kept some
thing less than 2/3 of the land in the
hope of establishing a Christian cemetery
there later on. But this plan never did
work out as hoped.
The kindergarten continued to grow,
and in order to fulfillgovernment require
ments (so many square feet of play
ground for each pupil) Mr. Inoue asked
the Mission to sign a paper saying that
we were renting our portion of the land
to the kindergarten, although he never
Group from Tokyo that attended
Convention in Kochi,
kamiochiAi
chuRch news
The minister of the Kamiochiai
Church, Mr. Sato, was married the
second time on May 28 to a young
woman from his home town of Tanabe
in Wakayama Ken.
It is now just two years since Nfr.
Sato's first wife passed away from can
cer. So, many of his friends felt it was
time he found another wife since it isn't
good for a mmister to be very long with
out a wife. Many Christian women near
his age were suggested, but he turned
them all down for a "country" woman
from his home town!
The new Mrs. Sato is literally racing
a "whole new world" as she comes to the
big city of Tokyo to live, marrying a
57 year old preacher, and entering the
Christian life by baptism just two days
before her wedding! Therefore, I askyou
to pray just now for both Mr. and the
new Mrs. Sato in their new life together,
even though it appears she is already
adjusting quite well in her new situa
tion.
This is certainly a crucial moment in
the history of the church at Kamiochiai.
In spite of fverything during the last
seven years, the church membership fell
until finally reaching its lowest number
since I started it in 1959. But the pen-
dulum seems to be swinging back the
other direction, for just since the first of
the year six persons have been added
to the church. Praise God! The atten
dance is now averaging about 22.
Just a few days ago on Sunday,
July 15, a girl from Okinawa that had
been attending off and on for the past
two years was baptized before her non-
Christian boyfriend and two or three
others from Okinawa. This was the re
sult of a personal testimony given to her
by one of the new members of the Church
which took place after a Wednesdaynigh
prayer service had ended.
/The problems of these young (.-..id
old) Japanese Christians are quickly
multiplied because they must continue to
1 live in a society that demands loyalty
Y to its age-old customs and systems that
Ycontinue diametrically in opposition to
\Christianity.
Pray for these young Christians that
their "new-found" faith in God and Jesus
paid any rent. In the interveningyears
that town has become one of the most
popular bed-townsfor Tokyo (it is about
one hour out of the city by electric com
muter train) and the population contin
ues to mushroom. This spring theenroll-
ment of the kindergarten passed 500
pupils.
The kindergarten has now become so
well-established financially and otherwise
that they have asked to buy the
land from the Mission for the kinder
garten use. We have recently completed
negotiations. We will sell the remainder
of the land at less than half the going
price of land in that area for the sake
of the church. The money realized from
this sale will be used for Buttrays reloca-
tion project. They are making definite
plans for moving away from Kamio
chiai where they have lived since they
arrived in Japan and where there is a
Japanese church and minister and start
ing another newwork in a differentplace.
as Lord and Saviour will be strength
ened daily, and that each will become a
personal witness for Him!
Stanley Buttray
GRADUATIONS!
Paul Burney, Charles Faber, and
Bobby Sims all graduated from the
Christian Academy on June 8. We con
gratulate them and especially Charles
Faber, who was salutatorian of the class.
Charles will enter Cincinnati Bible Semi
nary in September, Paul has been admit
ted to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and
Bobby Sims has enrolled in Cincinnati
Technical College.
The Elementary School graduation
exercises of the Academy were held on
June 7. Danny Sims and Stephen Pat-
ton received their diplomas and were
promoted to the 7th grade. Congratu
lations to them tool
Andrew Patton
*(Jo ye into all the world dhd preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
Volume 72
SUPERSTITIO
LIVES ON
By Harold Sims
The other Sunday, before the wor
ship service started, one of the ladies
asked me if I had heard that Mr. Na-
kayama had died. I hadn't heard about
it or noticed the large funeral. Shethen
gave me the basic facts about his age,
cause of death, etc. Th^ live on the
comer just 4 short blocks north of our
house, but had never shown any interest
in xhurch, so 1didn't know the family at
all. Then she said I would probably be
interested in what was talked about
among the neighbors at the funeral, and
I thought it was interesting enough that
I would share it briefly withyou.
Slightly less than 2 years ago M:
N.'s mother had died in that same house.
It was the first funeral to be held in our
sôn of this newhousing development.
She died of old age, and there was noth
ing unusual about it, but some people
remembered that just at that time they
were setting up the framework of a new
house across the street to the south of
Nakayamas. Last fall the man who had
lived in that new house just a few weeks
was accidently shot by his friend while
they were hunting up in the woods,
bringing a shock to the whole commim-
ity. Now, come to think of it, just at the
time of his funeral they were erectine
framework of a new Doctor's house and
office right across the street to the west-
October, 1973
diagonally across from Nakayamas.
Now Mr. Nakayama is dead at 51 with
terrible stomach cancer, and wouldn't
you know they are just at the stage of
setting up the framework on another
new house next door on the east side of
Nakayama's house.
What is the meaning and conclusion
to be drawn from all these "coincidences 7
The neighbors are very seriously look
ing for someone who lived in that place
before the Keio Railway bought up these
acres and began bulldozing the land for
streets, sewers, lots, etc. They want to
find out where the ancient Shrine was
located and who is the local god of this
place, because they are sure he is offend
ed and sending a curse on that area.
They think he must be propitiated with a
able offering.
This kind of thinking is not being
done by savages in the wild mountains
of New Guinea but by people who are
college-educated and work in first class
companies and various professions in
modernized Japan. And besides all this,
almost all of these people, including the
Nakayamas, paid a Shinto priest to
come and purify their land from all such
evils by prayers and waving a branch of
the sacred tree over the property, beforey
they started building.
Number 4
NEW CHRISTIAN
CAMP SITE
Search for an adequate pieceof land
as a new Christian Camp site for the
promotion of a greater evangelistic out
reach by New Testament missionaries is
still continuing. Finding an available
satisfactory piece of land here in Japan
for such a Christian Camp has proven
a little more difficult than was thought.
Though it is more than a year and a
half since I first began looking for land,
it is only sincereturning to Japan March
26th of this year that intensive efforts
have been made to find land.
Thus fax all effortshaveproven fruit
less in the search of available land.
Many have been the disappointments,
but prospects of finding land in the near
future I believe are good.
Satan is well aware of the tremen
dous potential for the Kingdom of our
Lord that such a Christian Camp would
be, in the present, as well as the future.
He is therefore exploiting to the fullest
all cultural and religious differences, and
anti-American feelings that may exist at
this present time.
We are not dismayed! Nor are we
discouraged! For our faith rests in God
who is Almighty! And our trust is ii5
Jesus Christ who has All Power (even
today) in Heaven, on the Earth, and
under the Ecirth. He is more anxious to
save the multitudes of Japanese people
than we are. Therefore, our hopes have
not dimmed in getting something started
before winter begins.
For the completion of this all-year-
round Christian Camp by July 1974 is
our goal! Your continued prayers for us
and this project are still necessary, and
greatly appreciated.
Stanley Butdray
Tokyo Christian
Vot. 72 October, 1973 No.4
January. April, July andNovember for
Christ Cijhningham Mission. Tokyo,
postage paid at Kempton, Indiarta.
2-25-4 Kamiochiai,Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo
Meadvtlle, Pa. 16335.
G. Wade Fletcher, R.R. 7, Rushville,
Ind. 46173.
of Christ, Orange atCenterSt.,Eustis,
Fla. 32726.
Subscription and Flaming Torch$ \ .00
PATTON
NEWS
The past summer was a busy time
for our wholefamily. This wasespecial-
ly true in August. A lot of work was in
volved in the holding of the summer
camp at Lake Motosu on August 6-10.
But we were bountifully paid in the won
derful spiritual fruits reaped as a result
of the camp.
On August 13, we moved to Karui-
zawa to help in the "Matsuri Dendo"
(Festival Evangelism), where we enjoyed
another spiritual feast. The e\ângelistic
wok done there is described in another
place in this issue of Tokyo Christian.
At the beginning ofSeptember ourre-
gular schedule resumed in Tokyo. Noel,
Philip, and Stephen began a new school
year at the Clrristian Academy. Noel is
a senior, Philip is in the 9lh grade, and
Stephen is in the 7th. This year our
''school bill, including tuition, food, and
transportation, for the 3 boys at the A-
âdemy will be about $3000. We would
DC grateful if you could help us pay it.
It is rumored that the Japanese tax
authorities now intend to assess taxes
on the money spent for oirr children's
education. If so, this new development
will further compound our school ex
pense troubles. Please pray about this.
On September 13 Noel, whileriding
a motorcycle, was struck by a dump
-truck and pushed into a ditch. Philip
"was behind Noel on the same motor
cycle, but fortunately escaped injury, ex
cept for a cracked heel bone and multiple
scratches and bruises. Noel also was
MOTOSU CAMP
I iii'ii"'ii^ri ''filliilitwii
Morohashi San reading'scripturw in preparation of baptizing the last convert of the
Omatsuri evangelism this past'summer. Takahashi San was the ^th baptism of this
eight nights of evangelism. These baptisms are at the outdoors baptistry at the
Fleenor Camp fust a few minutes away. Takahashi San came during'six of the
eight nights, but did not yield until two days after the meeting ended
The Motosu Christian Camp was
held as scheduled on August 6-10. For
several months preceding this wefeared
that the camp wouldbe poorly attended.
It turned out, however, that our fears
were unfounded, and we did have a very
good attendance after all.
Some people wereonly able to attend
a part of the camp, but there was an av
erage of about. 70 people throughout the
camp. 39 of these were junior high
school students. The campers were a
well-behaved and enjoyable group to
work with.
The Teaching and leadership staff
was short-handed tliis year, with only 2
missionaries and 3 Japanese ministers
being able to attend. Responsibilities
were distributed to all of them and the
camp was run In a smoothe manner. A
good spiritual atmosphere was maintain
ed to the end of the camp, which resulted
very fortunate, but still trying to recover
from the accident. His right leg was
chipped at the knee, his ankle bone was
cracked and some sharp object pierced
his shin to the bone, leaving a bad
wound. He is now able to use the leg
enough to get to school and back. We
thank the Lord for sparing both the
boys, for through his grace were they
spared.
The Sakurayama Church is plan
ning an evangelistic meeting on Novem
ber 2-3. Brotlier Saito, professor at
Osaka Bible Seminary, will serve as e-
vangelist. The Conley Silsbys will be
our guests whileassisting in the meeting.
1^. Sato, his father, and I again met
with the Bible Study Group at Yachiyo-
dai on Septmeber 27. Mr. Fumio Sato
spoke to the group. One lady was there
for the first time and showra much in
terest. We hope to talk with her further
in much fruit being borne during and
after the camp. ,
The climax of the camp was reached
when>8 young people accepted Christ as
Saviour and were baptized in the lake
facing the camp.
We took advantage of the holiday on
September 15th to have a camp "Echo
Meeting" at the Sakurayama Church.
This meeting is an annual affair to keep
up interest in the camp. Though some
of the campers were too busy to attend
the meeting, a good number of the group
came and enjoyed the meeting.
The genral feeling among those who
attended the camp was that they hoped
to attend the camp next year too. That
was just the way we had hoped tlmt
they would feel.
Andrew Patton
concerning the gospel on our next visit
there on October 25.
Sharon is now enjoying her lifeand
studies al OzarkBible College. She
transferredrtCTThat -school in September.
She and her friend, Lynn Chesnut, had
their clothes stolen in Cincinnati on the
way to Joplin. She got a job in a res
taurant in Joplin, but people made her so
miserable by their foul moutns and wick
ed ways that shequitworkingthere. The
spiritual guidance and kindness from
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Chesnut and
family, with whomSharon spentthesura-
mer, have helped Sharon greatly. We
thank the Lord for the Chesnuts.
We thank you for your fellowship in
the gospel of Christ. May God bless you
for it
Andrew Patton
COFFEE HOUSE"
EVANGELISM
This is the Meidiya restaurant in Karuiza
wa where the first 'Coffee House' evangel'^
ism began this past-summer. As a result
of these meetings one young girl was bap
tized after about three days. She desired
to help and stayed for about tivo weeks,
taking part in the Omatsuri evangelism
also,
A burden of prayer among some of
our missionaries these past two years
has been to find new ways to reach the
multitudes of vacationers, sightseers, and
pleasureseekers that flock every summer
to the popular mountain resort town of
Kaxuizawa.
God answered our prayers! Achain
of events which began early in June this
year and culminated in mid-July with
permission to use the second floor of
Meidiya (Snack) Restaurant for two
nights a week for what we called'Coffee
House" evangelism.
There were five missionaries and an
equal number of Japanese Christian
workers that cooperated in this initial en
deavor that began the last week of June.
So we were privileged to use theseexcel
lent facilities during the very peak of the
summer season.
During that month in this 'Coffee
House" evangelism alone, God gave us
the opportunity to be a witness to over
a hunOTed persons. And almost every
one of them hearing the Gospel in song
and word for the first time in their lives,
and we pray that it won't be the last
time. For one young woman (from a
broken home) it wasn't the last time! Re
turning a number of nights, she became
the first and only convert tlirough this
first "Coffee House" ey-augelisti(L.effort.
dii thfiir ofreaching more than
a hundred persons during those eight
nights, and one of them responding to
faithful witnessing, most e\'ervone agreed
that the venture was successful. So planjs
to continue (Lord willing) next summer
look good! And we are hoping that a
greater number of Christian workers and
missionaries will want to become involv
ed in order that greater things will be ac
complished for the Lord.
Stanley Buttray
i
m
Morohasi San, preacher of the Yoko
suka Church preaching at the eight
night Omatsuri Dendo held every
summer in the mountain resort toum
of Karuizawa. Hundreds of people
were witnessed to those nights.
ARAKAWA EVANGELISTIC
MEETING
The fall evangelistic meeting of the
Arakawa Church was held on September
26-27. Brother Minoru Hattori, a min
ister of the Shikoku Christian Mission,
served as evangelist.
Brother Hiroaki Sato, the minister
and the members of the church did an
effective job of advertising and this re
sulted in a good attendance. About
8,000 handbills were distributed by hand
on the streets and a larger number was
inserted in newspapers and delivered to
the homes in the neighborhood of the
church.
The messages were easilyunderstood
by even those who were attending
Church for the first time. Each night
after the message a chance was given to
discuss the principles of the gospel and
counsel the unbelievers in the audience.
Strong interest continued to be shown to
the end and two persons have begun to
attend theregular meetingsoftheChurch
as aresult of this meeting.
Andrew Patton,.'--:
Stanley Buttray, one of the cooperat
ing missionaries handing out tracts
to the multitudes during the last
night of the Omatsuri evangelism-.
MISSIONARY
PRAYER
MEETINGS
BEGUN
On September 24 the missonaries in
the Tokyo area met at the home of Stan
ley and Mabel Buttray. This was the
first of a series of planning meetings for
the annual missionary convention which
is to be held in Tokyo in May of 1974.
It was decided at this meeting to hold the
missionary convention on May 1-3,
1974, immediately preceding the All- \
Japan Convention of the Japanese
brethren, which will also be held in j
Tokyo on May 3-5. y/
It was also decided not to invite a
special speaker from outside the mission
ary group because of the expense involv
ed. The missionaries from outside the
Tokyo area who attend the convention
will be accommodated in the homes of
the Tokyo missionaries, ratlu. than in
a hotel, to further reduce expenses to
guests at the convention.
Committees were appointed to plan
various activities of the missionary con
vention. Also various suggestions were
made for the convention theme, but the
definite choice of theme was left to a
future meeting.
#
The missionaries also decided at this
^^meeting to haveregular prayer meetings
once a month. Due to the press of the ,
various activities in which we have been
involved recently, regular prayer meet
ings have not been held. Until the con?,
vention these meetings will be devoted
botli to tlie planning for the convention
and to prayer."
We will take turns in hosting "the
prayer meetings and a meal will be en
joyed together at each meeting.
The November meeting at the
Fleenors and the December meeting at
the Fattens will also serve as a time for
the celebration of Thanksgiving and
Christmas respectively.
'More things are wrought by prayCT
than this world dreamed of." -
Andrew Patton
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
AT MEJIRODAI
'0.
I'orewll to Robert Sims at Mejirodai.
This year Mrs. Sims, our unofficial
but efficient Bible School Superintendent,
was going to be absent on a trip to the
United States during the summer vaca
tion; so the first reaction of most of the
ciiurch members was that we would be
unable to have a V.B.S. this year. But
at our urging tliey decided to go along
with the attempt to liave one anyway,
and after that decision in late June there
was a very good spirit of willing-work,
cooperation and initiative.
The dates chosen were Aug. 20-24,
which was after most families had made
their vacation trips and cliildren were
searching for some new and interesting
thing to do.
Because of our lack of meeting
rooms we decided to divide into 2 ses
sions each day-pre-schoolers 9:30-11:30
AM and 1-9 waders 6:30-8:30 PNL Mrs.
Nakagawa, the regular beginner teacher,
and a High School and Jr. High School
helper came each morning. Not one of
the teachers for the evening sessions
could come every day, but they divided
up tlie days and the classes between 2
young salary-men and 2 housewives. Of
course Danny and 1 helped with music,
refreshments, short talks, etc. every time.
We used Japanese materials produc
ed by the Japan Sunday School Union . '
here in Japan, which were quite well-;(_
planned and centered around the theme
rORM 3579 REQUESTED
BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049
of "The Church". The materials made
it easy for the teachers and gave them
added confidence and a lot ofJoy.
The main publicity was done by the
children themselves. During the Sunday
School hour on July 29 everyone made
a poster. They drew a picture of our
church building and wrote in the V.B.S.
dates. The best posters were put on the
bulletin board in front of the church.
For attendance booster we drew a large^
map of our area and had each student
build a 5-piece paper house at the place
where he lived. This gave us a good
idea of where the children came from,
and really drew the interest and regulaW
attendance of the children. ^
There were 20 children enrolled for
the morning sessions and 27 for the
evening, wliich around our average Sun
day School attendance. They came from
33 different homes, and 21 of these are
in the immediate neighborhood of the
cliurch. All agreed that we had a very
good V.B.S. this year, and joined in
thanks for God's blessings.
Harold Sims
LOIS RETURNS FROM TRIP
Lois Sims returned to Tokyo on the
missionary charter flight August 31 after
_a 43 day trip to the United States. The
main purpose of the trip was to accom
pany our fourth child Robert to Cincinn
ati, Ohio and help him get settled into
College. We are thankful to report that
by God's providence and help he is now
living in the same room on Price Hill
with his older brother, Jonathan, and is
enrolled in the Cincinnati Technical Col
lege for 2 years of study in Electronics.
Siie was also able to visit all of our im
mediate family and churches in Napa,
California, Shelby and Cincinnati (Clo-
\crnook) Ohio, Turtle Creek and Mon-
roeville, Pennsylvania, Charlottesville
and Newport News, Virginia and John
son City, Tennessee. The trip seems to
Tiave done her a lot ofgood, and we are
sure that she spread a little joy around
in the U.S. But we are mighty glad to
have her back home in Tokyo.
NEWS NOTES
Harold Sims made a trip to Kyushu
Sept. 14-17, and preached 5 times at the
yearly convention of the Churches of
Christ in that area and 3 of the local
churches.
Mr. and ^s. Tibbs Maxey visited
Tokyo and other parts of Japan during
August as the first stop on a world tour
of mission fields.
Mrs. Nellie Leigffy Brown, widow of
Hal Brown who was a long-time minis
ter of First Cliristian Ohurch in Charlot
tesville, Va. and a dedicated, faithful
supporter of our work\ here for many
years, and her sister \ Mrs. Martha
Bradley of Johnson City, Tennessee visit
ed in the Sims home and.jtJie-Mdirodai
church the week-end pfûly 15 djrring a
short group tour of the orient-In which
they were participating.
TRAVELING BIBLE COLLEGE
Kathleen and Paul Pratt
A fairly new idea in Bible College
work is being put into practice by Mr.
and Mrs Cqnl^y of Puget Sound
Bible Collegeand a traveling Bible Col
lege froup. They have been in Japan
and Korea and are presently in Japan at
Osaka Bible Seminary.
The purpose of this group is to study
in the Bible Colleges along their route,
while observing evangelistic methods
and results in the various fields they
visit. They will be in Tokyo on October
19-22. They night of the 19th will be
spent in a Japanese inn at Isehara near
the Pratts' home. Onthe 20th they will
meet with the missionaries at the
Sakurayama Church to discuss prob
lems and principles related to mission
work. Each missionary couple is to
speak on some phase of mission work in
which he is vitally interested at that time.
On Sunday evening thae will be a joint
worship service to which the public is in
vited at the Kamiochiai Church, with
Brother Silsby as the guest speaker.
Vv'e expect to receive a blessing in our
sharing with this group of youth and
their sponsors.
/^' AndrewPatton-
Dear Friends,
. \
Christmas 1973
In the midst of a drive to visit every home (now over 2000) in our
growing suburban area with a list of Christian bocks for sale and an invitation
to our church services we send our greetings to you fellow-laborers in the Lord's
wide harvest fields. We hope you will share with us the joy and victory we feel
in the courage, zeal and faith demonstrated by most of the members of our little
flock here cooperating in this calling campaign. This year we have had only 2
additions to the church, but we know there has been some spiritual growth and
we still believe Christ will build Kis Church. Your continued prayers for us
and for Japan are needed and appreciated.
As most of you knov:, Lois made a kZ day trip to the United States this
summer. She was able to visit only the family and a few churches, but it proved
to be a very good trip all the way around. She returned on August 31, much re
freshed in spirit. Meanwhile Danny and Harold had a busy summer at home; doing
all of their ovti cooking, washing dishes and clothes and a lot of house-cleaning
during the last week of August, They attended the Japan Kvangelical Missionary
Association Conference in the mountain resort of Karuizawa for a week, participated
in the week of camp at Lake Motosu where wo rejoiced to see 8 Junior High School
students (10 percent of the campers) baptized into Christ, and led a Vacation
Bible School for k? children here at Mejirodai.
One of the main purposes of Lois' trip was to accompany Bobby and help him
to complete arrangements for entering college. He is now well into his first
year of the Electronic Engineering course at Cincinnati Technical College. Ho
is living in the same roon with his older brother on Price Kill, and they attend
the negjjy-.^b^ch of Christ together every Sunday.
now in his third year of study at the Cincinnati Bible Seminary.
Eiriter^^fSTsêar he began a full-time job on the night shift at the Federal
Reserve Bank, and this summer he notified us that he coiild become financially
independent. We are proud of him for this achievement and decision. The Lord,
In His wise, wonderful and gracious providence, has worked things out so that we
have never had to support more than one child at a time In college.
Sylvia and Dave are now living in and refurbishing the parsonage at Shelby,
Ohiotheir first ministry. Dava drives to Cinoinnati-for 3 dayo every-week-aa
he finishes his studies in the Seminary.
Hope is mainly occupied these days with keeping house for Tom, who works at
the Federal Reserve i3ank and their 2 year old Becky. They work and worship in
Clovernook Christian Church.
At this distarjcsz^âyen't heard very much lately about^^y 73,'but we
hope It Tri.ll^,op6n Door T^^nto a year full of new opportxmltles and rich blessings
-for-y<JU aiid-ywirs. -
HarUOT SIMS
3 - 33 7 lAt JIRODAI
HAChiOJl-SHI
TOKYO, JAPAN T
In His great service,
HAROLD MX LOIS SIMS
"m.
(
When
they
saw
the star
they rejoiced
with
exceeding
great
joy!
^(Dl973 Japan Sunday School Union Na2393
9 'j x-vx n
Qlifddmas QêetiH^'.
^\om âpan

Sims Harold Lois 1973 Japan

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