Tokyo Christian

"Co ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
Volume 02 January 1903
Number 1
= SIMS' NEWS =
CHRISTMAS AT MEJIRODAI
Most of you have heard of "The Twelve Days of Christ
mas." Well, this year our season might be described as
startingon Dec. 12. (If you count from the time Lois started
shoppingand Penny and I started talking about ideas for a
program and thinking about writing and then actually
printingand mailingthe Christmas letter, Christmas would
be much more than a month around here.) But anyway, on
that day the young people came to decorate and make final
preparations for their "Christmas Party" which was 3:30 -
7:00 p.m. the next day. We got down our man-made,
reusable tree, lights, decorations and manger scenes from
the attic above the church entrance hall. The youth added
some greenery from our yard for the windows and a little
bright red ribbon Lois had to pve accent. Just that day we
received a package from our daughter, Sylvia, in Iowa
which included some transparencies of the manger scene
that were ideal for the window between the entrance and
auditorium, so that was included.
The 8 or 10young people had done all the planningand
preparation for this and paid all the expenses of printing
3,000 handbills invitingyoung people in the neighborhood,
programs for those who attended (includingthe music to be
used), a tract and invitations to the regular church services,
etc. Theywere also planningto serve a light meal to all who
came, and spent a lot of time discussingwhat theywould do
if 100 people showed up, etc. They also did all the parts on
the program - music leading and accompaniment, candle
service, prayers, speeches, etc. - by themselves. They were
so nervous about this that they practiced on Saturdaynight
before going home.
I shared in their disappointment when only 3 or 4
people came in response to the handbills, but joy and
encouragement camewheneverythingworked out all right,
and the fact that most of the young people were able to get
2 or 3 of their friends in church for the first time, for a total
of over 30 at the meeting and the refreshment and fellow
ship time. It was a good experience, with plenty of food,
programs and good feeling left over.
During the next 2 weeks we had (almost daity) pro
grams and meetings for our various English classes and
Bible study groups. At 11 p.m. Friday night, Dec. 18, the
front door bell rang as we were getting readyfor bed. It was
our son, Danny, who had been in Japan for a day or so
previous on company business and was here to spend the
weekend of the church Christmas with us for the firat time
in 13 years. All the folks were surprised and happy to see
him when they arrived on Sunday, and asked howit is that
I arrange something dramatic for Christmas every year. I
don't plan it at all! These things just seem to happen
because it's Christmas, but I admit I enjoy it a lot.
We had 52 adults and 25 children here on Sunday, Dec.
20, for our worship service and the lunch and program
which followed. We have had more adults inpast years, but
this was a record number of children. We all had a good
time together during the afternoon program.
The theme this year was "God so loved the World." For
decorations we had a beachball-size globe suspended from
the ceiling by invisible thread. On the wall we put up 13
flags of various nations, with John 3:16 written in 11 differ
ent languages. (We got the languages out of a Gideon
Bible.) Not very traditional, but we had a small tree with
blinking lights to serve that purpose. In line with the
theme, the special offeringwas sent to former missionaries
in Japan, Don and Norma Bumey, who are starting a new
evangelistic effort in Irkutsk, Russia. Also, we collected a
large box of used winter clothingto send to them, but so far
have not been able to find a reliable way to send it.
The Sunday School children began the program by
singing, "Jesus Loves the Little Children - All the Children
of the World." Then I wrote a simple verse inJapanese to be
sungby each child to that tune. I picked nations they could
relate to in some way, and mostly ones chosen by the
children themselves. The mothers cooperated very well in
dressing them in costumes that somewhat pictured the
different countries - Somalia, France, Brazil, Philippines,
Taiwan, etc. The children did pretty well in singing out
solo, because the first little boy "from Somalia," with onlya
loin cloth on, set a good example. The young people sang
"Amazing Grace" in English and Japanese and another
song; thenwehadvariousadultnumbers. One of ourladies
sang in Italian (she had studied music there briefly some
years ago) and another lady from Taiwan sang in Chinese.
The 3 Simses sang, "There's a Song in the Air" in English.
There were 2 talks by people who occasionally come to
church on customs in England and Germany, and several
family musical numbers. Everyone, old and young, was
asked to tell in one sentence what they were thankful for.
As the progra-m progressed, the Kumes, who were leading
the program, asked if anyone could read the various lan
guages. Everyone was surprised there was someone in the
audience who could read every language (10 in all) except
Arabic. The program was over about 4 p.m. The young
people stayed and fixed a favorite winter dish of the Japa
nese people - mizutaki. The mixture of chicken, pork and
fish cut in small pieces is boiled along with cabbage,
mushrooms, tofu and other things in a large pot in the
center of the table. Everyone takes out of the pot with
chopsticks and dips it in a soy sauce and grated radish
seasoning and eats it with rice. This was a great treat and
the endof perfect dayfor Daniel andall who stayed. The day
was planned by the Kishimotos.
Christmas Eve night was very cold, and Lois was in bed
with a cold, but we had 40 adults and 8 children filling the
church for a very nice carol singand candle service. There
are several people inthe communitywho are not Christians
but make a point of attending this one service everyyear to
get a little of the Christmas spirit.
On Christmas day we went for the 4th year to put on a
program at the Keiyu Hospital in Ome City, where Mrs.
Okada (who is now 91) lives, along
with somewhere around 800 other
fet aHI elderly people. We had about 30
.-..sJi' *UDh people inwheelchairs to attend our
little 4 5-minute programby 13 people
iJm ^ from Mejirodai church. We had 2
M ladies play the Japanese-stringed in-
strument (koto), and Mrs. Ito and 2 of
1 \ played a number offa
in miliarJapanesefolksongsonrecord-
H ers, withthe old people happily sing-
ingalong. We took alongour manger
j j scene background and had Mr. and
Mrs. Okada, 91, and __ . j t**,
Koh Kishimoto, 3months. Mrs. Kishimoto and their little 3-
month-old son, Koh, sit in front of
that and play the parts of Joseph, Maiy and baby Jesus
while we read the Christmas story and sang "Silent Night."
It brought tears to the eyes of many of the hospital patients
and staff.
Most of our children who live in the U.S. gathered at
Sylvia's home in Iowa on the night of Dec. 27, after finishing
their separate Christmases. Hope and herfamilycould not
leave the farm and the pigs they are raising. We called them
late at night our time (early a.m. there) and talked a good
while - includingsome talkwith Daniel who had been here
a week before. On Saturday, Dec. 26, we took down and put
away the "stufT until this time next year. It was another
great Christmas.
We received 93 Christmas greeting cards and letters
from friends in the U.S. and 58 from friends in Japan. Also
we received about 50 New Years greeting cards, which is
more the Japanese custom. Thanks to everyone who re
membered us in this way. We knowanewand more deeply
God is with us and loves the world even though we are all
sinners in His righteous and holy eyes.
CHAPEL CONCERT
These days, many Japanese churches have admis
sion-free concerts during the Fall months to make new
contacts with the community people and get people to
venture into the church building. Many people seem to
have a fear of going into a church building because they
don't know what experience awaits them there - much as
youwould feel ifinvitedinto a Buddhist, Mormon, or Hindu
Temple. This yearwas our 7thtime to have one at Mejirodai.
Each time we have had different musician(8) and a some
what different type program, but all those who have per
formed have been Christians and have given some kind of
testimony regarding their faith during comments between
songs.
We always tiy to have the concert sometime near the
anniversary of the founding of the church (Nov. 1). But we
also must consider when the person we ask to give the
concert has open dates. This year the time was Saturday,
Nov. 7. The performers were Mr. and Mrs. Kaga, who belong
to an independent congregation in downtown Tokyo. They
are both professional singers - baritone and mezzo-
soprano - and have appeared on TV at different times.
We distributed over 5,000 handbills with their pictures
all over our local area, and made other preparations, so
were very thankful to have 42 adults and children present
from our local congregation and 58 adults and children as
visitors. Some of the visitors were members of other
churches in our city, but some were in church for the first
time. The program was a mix of some classical music,
familiar hymns andspirituals andsongs for childrenwhich
had beenused onTVshows. Itwasverywell received. Also,
their short speeches were very practical, imderstandable
and full of gospel joy.
OVERNIGHT FELLOWSHIP
MEETING
This year the Japanese Thanksgiving Day holiday was
Monday, Nov. 23. We decided to go somewhere and spend
some time together to get to know Christ and each other
better. We had some trouble finding a place because on
such "connected holidays" all other groups want to reserve
time and space. We finally contacted the place by Lake
Saiko at thefoot of Mt. Fuji wherewe hadourVacation Bible
Schools several times some years ago, and were able to
reserve that. Twenty-one people made reservations, which
was a little less than we hoped for. We left the church after
eating lunch early Sunday afternoon, Nov. 22. It was a
beautiful fall day. The expressway traffic on that holiday
would certainly be tied up, so we decided to go up bya road
winding through the mountains. We went in 5 cars, follow
ingthe one who knewthe way, and everyone but the drivers
really enjoyed the coloredfoilage andever-changingmoun
tain scenery. A couple of children in our car got sick
because of the winding road, but we all got to the place after
asking directions, because it got dark before we got all the
way there.
The committee had worked out in advance where each
one would stay, and soon after we got settled we had the
Fellowship at Lake Scdko Lodge.
Balko with Mt. Fuji in the baokground.
Old tarmhoUBe near Lake Saiko.
evening meal in the large downstairs room together. Then
we had a general time of discussion as a good number
expressed their vision of what the church would be like in
the future. We also played some games, etc. The following
morningwe had prayers down bythe lake, tookawalkto an
old farmhouse in the area and had another discussion
meeting before the noon meal and the trip home that
afternoon. Everyone said they thought we ought to do
something like this every year.
FIFTH SUNDAY RALLY
On Nov. 29, the Minato churchhostedanotherrally. We
used to have them regularly in the Tokyo area, but for
various reasons, none had been held for a year or so. We
had a nice group of people gather from 7 or 8 churches.
Since the Kamiochiai church building was sold about 4
years ago, there has been a lot of trouble. One group of
people have been meeting in a small apartment near the
formerchurcheveryLord's Daywith different people preach
ing. A young man 35 years old, who teaches Mathematics
in a high school, has been attending and wanted to be
baptized, so they asked to use the Minato baptistry and me
to do the baptizing. So, just before the regular rally pro
gram, we had a short baptismal service, with all the people
from that local group meeting in the apartment and many
Minato members attending.
The Minato people planningthe programhad asked me
to speak on something connected with our trip to the
United States earlier in the year, and what I had observed
about the American churches. I gave them the subject 3M
and let everyone guess what I would talk about. It was
Music, Missions and Ministries, which are 3 areas inwhich
I sawchanges in our churches and which I thought would
be of interest to the Japanese brethren.
On the way home with some of our members that night,
I learned that Shingo Tsuda, one of our young people, had
told the church people that morning he has definitely
decided to go to Osaka Bible Seminary on graduate level.
He is to graduate from Oberlin College in March this year.
He hopes to be a teacher-missionary in someAsian country
such as Indonesia or China. The church people were very
happy to hear about this decision, of course.
LOAN TO CHIDAS FOR WORK IN
SENDAI
Some readers may know Toshiaki Chida and his wife,
Sachiko. They studied in Cincinnati Bible Seminary some
years ago and have been self-supporting evangelists in his
home city of Sendai for several years. He earns his living
by working for a propane service station run by a relative.
They have Bible studies in their home to which they invite
neighbors and their children. It is hard for himto get away
from the job for camps, rallies and other meetings, so we
don't see them often.
In November I learned through another missionary
they were having a problem and we should do what we
could to help, so I got his phone number and called to ask
howtheywere gettingalong. He said they had beentold by
the landlordfromwhomtheyrent their present livingspace
they must be out by the end of December. They had a real
estate agent looking for another place. There was one
available in a fairly good location, but it seemed with his
salaiy they could not get a bank to loan them the money
necessary to purchase this place. Theywere prayingabout
it earnestly, along with the few people who had been
attending their meetings and were worried that all would
change if they moved very far away.
Over 15 years ago, when the place where the Buttrays
had lived for over 20 years until their retirement was sold
for the Shinshu Camp, we kept part of the money from that
sale as a loan fund to help get new churches started. It has
been used by a number of our missionaries and Japanese
churches through the years, and payback records have
generally been good.
Heal estate prices in Japan are really high. This is a
great impediment to progress inevangelismlike the Chidas
are doing. It will be hard for some to believe these figures,
but I will give you the facts inthis case briefly. One million
yen at the present exchange rate is approximately $8,000.
The price of the small house and lot they want to buy is
Y30,000,000 = $240,000. The real estate agent says it is a
good buy, but the most they can get together is Y4,000,000.
The bank says the top amount they can loan on that
property is Y13,000,000, so that leaves Y13,000,000. Fur
thermore, the bank is very reluctant to loan to a salaried
man in his position. The Yotsuya Mission Loan Fund
happened to be in a postion to loan himY13,000,000. I sent
a letter to that effect. The bankread the letter from me and
said, 'Well, if your own church group trusts you to this
extent, we will loan you the rest." They were able to make
a contract and buy the place the first of January. One lady
who had been attending their Bible studies said, "Nowthat
I have seen how God has worked this out so beautifully, I
knowHe is real and I want to be the first one baptized inthe
new church." Everybody's very happy. Praise the Lord!
LOIS' SISTER AND HUSBAND
VISIT JAPAN
From Oct. 23 Nov. 6, Lois' younger sister and her
husband, Dorothyand Alex Havlicsek, who are nowretired
and living in Cottonwood, Arizona, fulfilled a long-time
desire to come see us and our missionarywork. We had set
the time and made some plans when visiting them for 2 or
3 days during our trip to the U.S. last spring.
We kept our usual schedule of classes and preaching.
Lmthyand^ex ^climate.etc.^andendurin^
some hours of preaching
and Japanese talking they couldn't imderstand.
The annual Seed-SowingMeetingat Osaka Bible Semi-
naiywas Nov. 2,3. Ihad been asked to speakat the opening
session on Monday night on the subject of The Essence of
Fellowship." We decided to drive down in our car (a little
over 500 km each way) so they could see some typical
Japanese sceneiy at the time leaves are colored. On the
way, we arranged to stay at a typical Japanese-style inn
overnight, so they could experience a hot-spring bath, eat
rawfish and other local foods, etc. On the morning of Nov.
4,1 had to attend a meetingof Councillors of O.B.S., but one
of the young Japanese preachers in the area took Lois,
Dorothy and Alex to the ancient capital of Nara for some
sightseeing of some of the oldest wooden buildings in the
world in a park where deer by the hundreds roam freely.
We also took Tuesday afternoon off and enjoyed a bus and
boat tour of Osaka City.
Alex brought his video camera and took hours worth of
pictures of almost eveiything they experienced. He even
walked around on his own filming some local temples and
other unusual sights. A Japanese businessmanhad visited
them during Thanksgiving season some years ago when
they lived in Maryland and they were invited to that home
for dinner. They were also at meetings in 2 other churches
than Mejirodai where they were for 2 Sunday AMworship
times.
The preacher at their local church in Arizona is Jim
Hammond, who was bomin Japan as the son of a mission
ary. They will have a lot of pictures and stories to share
back home. They said it was the trip of a lifetime for them,
and we enjoyed having them here. This was the first time
any of our brothers or sisters have been able to visit us,
MIA.
a ' > ' ^
> .wAH V, O- r-
' "fy- A
Seed-flowlng meeting November 3, 1992 at Osaka Bible Seminary.
although Lois' mother came two times.
NEWS NOTES
* CarolynBarricklow,formermi8sionaryinHiro8hima,
Japan was back for a visit during the Christmas and New
Year Season. She is nowemployedinthe U.S. andwas here
to visit friends and make arrangements for shipping, stor
ing or disposing of her belongings which had been left in
Japan. It was good to see her again and have her in our
home several times. Her former co-worker, Sachiko Osawa,
nowlives andworks inTokyo and is takingcare of her aged
mother. She is a member of Mejirodai church, and also
librarian and a Sunday School teacher.
* A Japanese monthly magazine called "Bible Faith" is
runninga series of stories about howmissionaries decided
to come to Japan. Harold Sims' story, written in Japanese
by himself, was in the September issue.
* Two newbooks recently have been published by 2 of
our preachers in Japan. 1) A 264-page book, by Hideo
Fukuda, to help people become interested in and under
stand the main ideas of the Bible. It gives his own simpli
fied translation of excerpts from Genesis through Kings,
and explains key words and recurring ideas. 2) A large
commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, by Akira Oda,
professor of Greek and New Testament in Osaka Bible
Seminary. It is hoped this will be the first of a set. Greek
works are printed in the Japanese text, which has become
possible these days by using computers.
* Mrs. Hara, who suffered a stroke on January 31 last
year, was able to return to her home before Christmas. The
house had to have some alterations done so she could live
ina wheelchair. We are all thankfulforthis much progress.
* The right rear side of our car was hit by the front left
side of another when Harold stopped for a pedestrian
crossing. The owner of the other car paid the cost of repair
and let us use his car while ours was inthe shop for a week.
(He used a relative's car.)
* The outside of Mejirodai church and Sims' house was
repainted during October and early November.
* Mrs. Kume has been having Bible studies in her
home once every two months. The December meeting was
at Sims' house, so her mother who lives in Hachioji could
bring 3 of her friends who were reading the Bible for the
first time.
Grandma Slma and Koh Klehimoto.
Akiko TBuda on becoming 2o-
adult. She will graduate from Jr.
College in March and startworkingIn
a Christian Kindergarten in April.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttiay (retired). R.D. 2. Box 180. Mesdville. PA
16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fatten (retired), #6 Tanglewood, Carl Junction.
MO 64834.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7 Mejirodai, Hachioji-ehi. Tokyo 193
Japan. ForwardingAgent- FiretChurchofChriat315E.OrangeAvenue,
Eustis. FL 3272&4194.
Two year donation8.50
Donation AFlamingTorchSI.00
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Tokyo
Christian
'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature' Mark
Volume 92
April 1993
Number 2
SIMS' NEWS
SHINGO TSUDA ENTERS OSAKA SEMINARY
Shingo is just cue year older
^ Mejirodai Church ofChrist,
andhasjustbecomeourfirstmem-
W ^ - ber to dedicate his life to the min-
Ty istiyoftheGospel. Hisfather and
^ r ^ 1 late grandfather are members ofa
p Jl UnitedChurchofJapan congrega-
"i " tion in Tokyo, and his mother is
y!^ from Chiirch of God background.
' ^ The family moved into an apart-
BhingoTsuda ment building about 5 minutes'
walk from here not many years
after we started, and while Mr. T. continued to go to his
home church, Mrs. andher 3 small children startedattend
inghere whenShingo was in the earlyyears of elementary
school. Hegrewup inour SundaySchool, and begangoing
to our camp when he became hOddle-School age.
He was a quiet and serious boy, so we were surprised
and happywhenhe saidone dayinearly 1984 that hewould
like to be Ijaptized. But hewantedto bebaptizedintheriver
nearthe camp, becausehewas movedto the decisionbythe
messa^s and experiences there. So I found myselfwading
into very cold water at the end of the spring camp when
snow still lay on the surrounding billa and baptizing him
while all the campers and his mother and sisters stood
there singing and watching.
He was pistty good at English, so was able to partici
pate in a student exchange program while in the second
year of High School. He was able to go to Cinciimati and
stay in the home of one of the elders of Clovemook Chris
tian Church, and even to playsome basketball. The fellow
ship with the yoimg people at the church there was very
good for himineveiyway, makinghimmore out-goingand
giving an appetite for Skyline Chili and a good sense of
humor. He had to take that year of High School over after
getting home, but didnt mind.
With the enhanced EngUsh ability he passed the en
trance examinationat theJapanese Oberlin College inour
area of western Tokyo, majoring in English literature. He
joined the "Christian Students Association" soon after
enteringthe college, andthe fellowship withvarious other
yoimg Christians in that and other colleges was a great
blessingto himand encouragement to growth inChrist. In
his senior year he was the head in our area of that nation
wide organization, and very widely known and respected.
His graduation thesis at the school was about the Greek
word "agape" - its meaning and translations, and he bor
rowed some of my books and worked veiy hard on that
project.
With his major, he was qpialified to become anEnglish
language teacher in the public schools. He wanted to do
that, and made applications at various places during his
senioryear. But he was also thinking about going into the
ministry and talking with various friends, who gave seri
ous but conflictingopinions relatedto "call," etc. Finallyon
November 29 he made a tftlk in our church statingthat he
haddecided, aftermuchthought andprayer, togo to Osaka
Bible Seminary for graduate study. The church people
were very happy, and they had a spontaneous prayer
meeting for him. They will also be supporting bim some
financially. His desire, as stressed at that time, was to
become a missionary to one of the Asian nations. In fact,
after his graduation he made a 3-week trip to Indonesia
with some of his friends whose local church supports a
Japanese missionary there, and had some interesting ex
periences.
In Japan it is quite rare for the parents to permit their
oldest and onlysonto choose sucha life course, but inthis
case it is working out, and we are all very encouraged.
Shingo left on the night ofApril 11 to begin his newlife in
Osaka.
FIFTH SUNDAY RALLY
January31 was ourturn to host the Fifth-SundayRally
again. Prof. Oda, ofOsakaBibleSeminarywasjustpublish
inghis first commentary (on Matthew). sowe asked bim to
Prof. Akira Oda spealdng at tha Rally
come as the special speaker for the day and, of course,
congratulated him onthe book and gave it some publicity.
It was the first time he had spoken here.
At the Sunday AM worship he spoke to us on "All
Scripture is given byInspiration of God." Afterwe ordered
20 or so lunches for those staying here, we began preparar
tions for the afternoon program. The place was packed
with 93 adults plus 7 or 8 small children who stayed with
their mothers in our living room.
Therewere good delegations from 8 or more churches,
and after 45 minutes of good singing he spoke to us about
his study of Matthew, centering on some points from the
18th chapter. It was an enjoyable time of fellowship for all
of us as we visited together over sandwiches, cooldes and
mandarin oranges and tea before all started for their
homes.
RHODA
Bom August 8, 1928, she grew
up in Tokyo during the difficult
years of economic depression and
war with China and the U.S. In the
immediate post-war period she be-
cameaChristian.andwasgiventhe
Christian name Bhoda, [Rose], (see
Acts 12:13). Sheworkedasateacher V
inthe kindergarten ofour Setagaya
Church, and was active in the
church work also. On Aug^ust 1,
1949 she became the bride of the
youngpreacher Stephenlijimain a T
simple but beautiful ceremony at \
the new building of the Minato
Church of Christ near Ebisu Star \
tion in Tokyo.
They lived in a small 2-stoiy
parsonage-apartment in the rear of
that chapel buildingfor about 15 years, duringwhich
time the present Minato Church foundation was be
inglaid. Formost days oftheweekshefixed 2 lunches
for her husbandas he left the house each morning for
his rounds of teaching at the Tokyo Bible Seminary,
the Setagaya church evening English School and the
YMCA downtown to help provide the family income.
(Most of the elders of the church came from that
YMCA study of the gospel of Luke and other Bible
books.)
Rhoda became pregnant once, but the tubal preg
nancy ended in a rupture, with loss of the fetus and
much blood, putting her life in danger. Some time
later they arranged to adopt a boy, whomthey named
Tomoji. He was a sickly child, but they loved and
caredfor him, and nowhe is a Jr. High School teacher
in a Christian school, father of 2 children, and a
deacon in the Minato chtirch, and presently living in
the parsonage there.
Inthe 1960's the Minato Churchrelocated intothe
rapidlydevelopingnorthsectionofYokohama, across
the river fromTokyo - keeping the same name for the
church [Harbor]. Again they lived in a little larger 2-
storyapartment inthe rear ofthe church building. By
this time the church had git3wn more able to pay him
so he didnt need to work at outside jobs. Rhoda was
always there, answering the phone, preparing the
meals, keeping in touch with the people and their
feelings and needs, preparing for and attending all
the meetings; but she was not one to preach or teach
inpublic and ratheravoidedthelime-light and having
pictiu^s made of her.
In the 1970s Stephen lijima's sister and family
bought a summer home up in Yamanashi prefecture
in the foothills of the Japan Alps. The real estate
developer had one property left that he wanted veiy
much to sell, giving a veiy good price, and the sister
persuaded the lijimas to buy it for their vacation and
retirement home. But then they discovered that the
Japanese tax on 'second homes" is extremely high,
but if he lived up there year-round as a resident, it
would save them a lot and would have some advan
tages: clean environment, atmosphere for study and
writing, near enough to commute to the church when
needed, and especially for Rhoda, all rooms on one
floor and not running up and down
stairs all day.
For a number of years, since
theylived at the first place, Stephen
lijima has published a monthly
Bible studymagazine called Bokka
[Pastoral Song]. It began as a
/ method of keeping in touch with
members who were sick or could
not attend regularly and some per-
sonal friends who lived in distant
places. Therehavebeentimeswhen
L \ it was not issued for one or more
F 1 months because of sickness, travel
/ '-"w or other reasons, but the latest is-
f jr sue is #413, which indicates that it
is almost 40 years since the first
one. Soon after it began, I encour
aged himin the project because he
has a talent for writing, and advised that he set a
subscription price and char^ everyone. I under
standit nowhas a subscriptionlist ofover600monthly.
He has also published a good number of commentar
ies and similar type books, mostly revised material
which first appeared in Bokka. A Christian friend
tapes the articles for the blind. What manypeople did
not realize imtil recentlyis that Rhoda did most of the
typing of these thousands of pages on a Japanese
typewriter, andalsotookcare ofmost ofthe preparing
for mailing inaddition to beinga full-time housewife.
SomeyearsagoRhodahadhepatitis, auditseemed
it took her a long time to get over it. Stephen said the
doctor had told her she would have to live with an
inactive liver the rest of her life. It now has become
clear that she chose deliberately to not take the long
timebedrest the doctorprescribedbecause shewould
preferto helpherhusbandwithhis workat the church
and on Bokka even if it meant her life would be
shortened by 5 or 10 years.
For about 10 days inJanuary, and again inFebru
ary, Stephenwas inthe hospital for extensive tests for
heart trouble. The conclusionwas that one side ofhis
heart is enlarged, but by-pass surgery is not needed
yet. Duringthat time his f^thful wife came fromtheir
home to the hospital every day, bringingfood, letters,
etc. - sometimes in bli^ard conditions and near zero
temperatures. So she became sick soon after he got
backhome.andenteredthe hospital onMarch 14. The
doctortold themonthe 3rddaythat she had cancer of
the liver and gave her 3 months to live. We heard
about this some days later, and were shocked. But it
was an even greater shock to hear of her rather
sudden death on Sunday morning, March 28.
She had some time to express her feelings and
will to the fami^, and among the things she desired
was aprivatefuneral andcremation, andno memorial
service except anannouncement duringregular Sun
day morning worship at the Minato Church. So, on
April 4, they distributed a brief story of her life, final
hours, and will to those present, along with the wor
ship program. It includedbeautiful statements oflove
for and trust in both Christ and her husband and
satisfaction with the life God had given her.
RESURRECTION SUNDAY
IN MEJIRODAI
There was a light frost visible on the few emptylots as
we walked down to the local park for our annual Simrise
Service early in the morning of April 11, but the sun was
bright, warmingthe air andabout half of the soft, light pink
blossoms fromthechenytrees partiallycoveredthegroimd.
Most of the 8 people came back here after the 30-minute
service to enjoya rare pancake breakfast preparedbyLois.
Thenwe had SimdaySchool, and 52 adults and 15children
for the morning worship - best attendance since Christ
mas. From 2:30 in the afternoon we had the 18th annual
special service in the city auditorium, in which all of the
Protestant Churches of the city cooperate, with an atten
dance of about 800 people. The 17 people who attended
from our local churchate a hastily-prepared sandwichand
salad limch before leaving here.
Sunrioa sarvloe in tha Park.
SPRING CAMP
We always plana youth camparoundthe endofMarch,
because inJapanthat isthe time betweenschool years and
all students are free of homework and various school
activities and anxious to experience something different
after the longwinter. The difference this year was that the
camp was held at a rented place along the upper Tama
Rivergoige. Therewere 3 mainreasons forthis experimen
tal change: 1. Our Shinshu Camp is still quite cold that
early in the year, 2. Some of the students wanted to save
some moneyintravel expense; 3.Manyoftheyoungpeople
had said they could attend only part of the time, and
nearness to Tokyo made participation possible.
The first problemwas finding a suitable place that was
available. There are several, but that time of year is a
priorityfor others, too. It ended up that the only openplace
- "Gospel House," operatedbytheLibenzellerJ^ssionfrom
Germany- was available only Friday, March 26 - Monday,
March 29, which meant that several churches in the area
Ik
vjrJ
The Camp
Young people leading the song eervioe.
had a much smaller attendance because so many of the
young people were at camp.
The second problemwas that the cost per student was
somewhat higher thanShinshu. But those were overcome
byalarge attendance of 69 people, countingteachers, those
attending only part of the time, and 2 people who came to
give a musical concert on Saturday evening. They came
from 6 or 7 different churches. It was the last time for 2 of
our Mejirodai youth leaders, who have attended every
spring and summer camp for years. They graduated from
College in March, and are nowpart of the working world.
PENNY BOGGS TAKES JOB IN U.S.
PennyHoggs first wrote to us when studyingMissions
under Prof. Gemeinhart in Kentucky Christian College.
She had chosen to write a paper about our Mission history
and work, and developed an interest in it. She had also
done some baby-sitting for a couple in her neighborhood
where the husband was a Japanese, and th^had contrib
uted to her interest in things cormected with Japan. We
visited KCC duringour next furlough, and met her person
ally.
Peimy was from First Christian Church in Chester,
W.Va., which is where my father was ministering when I
was bom. When she wrote later asking about the possibil
ity of doing a 6-month internship in Japan, we agreed to
have her live with us partly because of that coimection.
She arrived in Japan in late August of 1980, and spent
about 6 months in our home and church and did Japanese
language study 5 daj^ a week. She made one rather long
trip to spend some time with all of the single lady mission
aries thenworkinginthis field and some other people and
places. Then she returned home with the firm resolve to
Penny Boggs' farewell meeting In Sims KaU.
raise support and return to Japan as a missionaiy, which
she didabout ayearlater. She finished andgraduatedfrom
the language school and worked for 1 termwith Markand
Lynn Pratt, livingin anapartment not far fromtheir newly-
started church. They had many good times together, but
the M. Pratts left Japan shortly before she went for a
furlough in the U.S.
After some months of furlough and some additional
study. Pennywrote to us again asking about the possibili
ties of worl^g with Mejirodai church. The people here
knewher, and felt she should use her language and other
abilities for the Lord's work in Japan, but didnt feel they
could pay her a salary. She saidshe would take care of her
own living expenses. Soonafter gettingbackshe found an
apartment in the neighboring city of Sagamihara and
started teaching English part-time at the Oberlin Jr. Col
lege to "pay the rent." She began to teach the Middle and
High School Class inthe Sunday School, and to workwith
the young people, both here and at the Shinshu Bible
Camp and also planned the programs and took care of a
Junior Church program during our worship services al
most entirely by herself. This was especially appreciated
byseveral youngmothers, and noticeablyincreasedatten
dance at the services.
SeveralmonthsagoPennyreceivedtheofferofa"dorm
mother" lype job from her alma mater, and decided for
several reasons to accept it. The people at Mejirodai
church will certainly miss her help and her cheerful
attitude, but theyw^hherwell. She askedthat we not have
a "Farewell Meeting," as it would be too emotional, so the
people made it rathersimpleand lowkey, but theywere not
about to let her leave without some recognition. So they
secretly planned a meal, program and raised a good-sized
cash gift to give her after church on April 18. There were
short speeches byvarious people fromall agegroups inthe
church, including some from the children she had taught
during the worship hour and who so far know "church"
only as "Penny's Class." They had a big poMuck meal,
attended by over 40 people, and it was a very memorable
day for everyone. She left Japan April 22, and after visits
with family, she will take up her duties at the newplace in
May.
PAT MACK VISITS
Pat Mack is the wife of the Manager of ElkhomValley
Christian Camp in Eastern Ohio, a good friend and finan
cial supporter of Penny, and the granddaughter of former
missionaries Mr. and Mrs. J.F. Messenger, who worked
with the Cunninghams inTokyo 1915-1920. Her late father
was bom during their time inJapan. So, in spite of a great
fear offlying, she came over to visit Pennyfor the month of
March and fulfilled some long-standing desires to see
some scenesfromthe family history. She brought vtdth her
old copies of the Tokyo Christian, newspapers, personal
went to the office, and t^
themwas amazed that several Pat Maok
foreigners would suddenlyap
pear after so many years as the first registered visitors to
that particular grave.
HELEN SIMS VISITS
Our son, Rob-
special' pri^ of a
Helen and Lola round trip to
any place in the
world, and, of course, they would choose Tokyo. Bob
couldnt come because ofbusiness. It had to be usedbythe
end of February. So Helen was able to get her mother to
come totheirhouse andlookafterthe 3 childrenfor 10days
while she came here for a visit. She did some shopping,
visiting with some friends from previous times as well as
helpingLois somewithsewingand otherthings aroundthe
house.
NEWS NOTES
About a dozenoftheyoungerpreachers andtheirwives
attended a retreat February 10-12 (middle day was a holi
day) which featured a guest spe^er on Pastoring and
Human Relations.
The house in Wakabarcho where Mrs. Cunningham
used to live, and which is now rented to outsiders, was
recently repainted after manyyears.
Helen and Loie
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray (retired), RD. 2, Box 160, MeadvUle, PA
16333.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton (retire^, *6 Tanglewood, Cart Junction.
MO 64634.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3^3-7 Mejirodai, Haobiojl-elii, Tokyo 103
Japan. ForwardingA^nt: Fli8tCburoboICt)LrUt,319E.OrangeAvenue,
Eustis.FL 32726-1104..
Two year donationS.90
Donation A Flaming TorobSl.OO
Tokyo Christian (U6PS 776-320)
Published four timee ayear in January. April. July, and November for
the missionaries of the Church of Christ, Cunningham MUaton, Tokyo,
Japan by Mission Servloes Aasooiation, 7529 Hodges Ferry Road, Kn-
oxvUle.TN 37020-0731. POSTMASTER: Bend addreesohangee toTokyo
Christian, o/o MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Box 2427, Kn-
oxviUe.TN 37001-2427.
Before jrou move, please eeod the mailing label with a copy of your new address to
MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION. PO Box 2427, KnozvUle, TN 37001-2427.
Form3579 Requested, POBox2427, KnoxviUe, TN 37901-2427.
Tokyo Christian
"Go ye into ail the world and -preach the gospel to every creature' Mark 16:15
Volume 92 July 1993 Number 3
SIMS' NEWS
JONATHAN SIMS AND VERLA SCHOELKOPH
TO BE MARRIED IN AUGUST
On August 14, 1993 in North
GrandChurchofChrist, Ames, Iowa
(the home church ofthe bride) Jona-
than Sims and Verla Schoelkoph
will take their marriage vows, and
they will come to Japan together
some weeks later this year. The M
recent annoimcement of their en-
gagement andmarriageplans made HT ^g
Jonathan's many frien(te in Japan f^
very happy, and they all look for- ./S
ward to meeting his newwife soon.
Harold and Lois Sims will make a
trip to the United States during the
month of August at their own ex-
pense to attend the wedding. Need-
less to say, we are most happyabout
their decision and their obvious joy *
andlovefor eachother, andarelook
ing forward to their future in the work of Christ here.
Not having met Verla personally yet, we can only
give a "bare facts" introduction at this time. She was
bom in Danube, Minnesota as the last of a family of 4
children - 2 girls and 2 boys - and lived there until she
graduated from High School as a member of the Na
tional Honor Society and attended one year at a Vocar
tional Institute to become a secretary. I will not give her
exact age, out of old-fashioned politeness to ladies, but
she is about the same age as Jonathan.
After oneyearworkingfor a companyin Minnesota,
and another year at one inIllinois, shewas employedas
an office secretarybythe Iowa State UniversityinAmes
where she has worked for a number of years.
Fromthe time she moved to Ames she has been an
active member of the North Grand Church. She sings
alto in the choir, has taught the nursery class for some
years, and plays the flute on occasions.
Many will ask howthey met, being so distant from
each other geographically and from entirely different
backgrounds. Again, I do not have much exact informa
tion, but she was the room or cabin mother for a Chris
tian church camp in the State last summer and our
granddaughter, Suzi - Sylvia's yoimgest child- was one
of the campers in the room and liked her very much.
There was a little correspondence between the two,
which Sylvia knewabout. When she met Verla person
ally sometime later, they began talking about various
things. Sylvia told her that she had a
brother about her age who was also
unmarried and looking for a good
Christian mate. That began a very
tentative correspondence between
the two, but after a while they discov-
ered that the other one was saying
just the right things in the right way
andbecame more anxious to meet. It
was a little difficult to arrange, be-
cause of distance, work schedules,
etc., but after spending some time
together and getting to know each
other better and personally, they be-
gan talking on the phone more fre-
quentlyandeventuallyJonathanpro
posed during their second vteit with
' each other and she accepted.
Among the first things they dis
cussed seriously, we imderstand, was the matter of her
joininghim inhis callingas a missionaryinJapan. This
was surely a difficult and big decision for her in many
ways which we can imagine easUy, but we are most
thankful to hear that she said she loved Jonathan and
would go where he went. This kind of commitment and
willingness and motivation is very basic and g^ood, and
we thank God for this decision by Verla and pray and
believe that God will confirmand bless her in it in days
to come.
As forJonathan, weknowas parents at least to some
extent the various discouragements he has endured
over manyyears in his relationships with various g:irls
both in the U.S. and Japan, and the various hurtful
things that have beensaidto him byvarious people, and
the loneliness he has quietly suffered during his years
of service in Japan thus far. We believe this is another
demonstration of the g^dance and provision of God,
who oversees ourlives withamazinggrace andwisdom.
The often quoted favorite text of Mr. and Mrs.
Cunningham was Romans 8:28, "All thlng:s work to
gether for goodto thosewholove God andare the called
according to His pmpose." They often shortened it by
just saying, "All things . . ." because everybody knew
what they meant. In this case, the timing, the smooth
ness, the happiness and aU things seemjust right, and
we are thankful. Please prayalong with us for this new
couple andtheir future life andworkfor Christ together.
SUMMER ACTIVITIES
Until the sudden and unexpected decision to go to
the United States for the wedding, we had ejected to
participateinmost ofthefollowing activities scheduled
for late July andAugust. Nowwe wouldlike to aekyou
to joinus in prayer for God's blessings upon the mostly
young and mostly Japanese workers who will be lead
ing, and the people who will be attending, that God's
Word maybe proclaimed andbelieved and souls saved
and built up in faith.
1.The 44thAll-Japan Christian Convention. July23-
25atPortopiaHotelinKobe. Fromthe number of
registrations from Mejirodai (23 - a record except
for the 39thin 1988whichwe hosted) andthe area
churches we have heard about, I think the atten
dance mightbe400 orover. We plantoattendthis.
2.TheSummerYouthCampat ShinshuBibleCamp.
August 2-6. The Tokyo area yoimg people are
practicing on their guitars and preparing in all
ways for another good camp. Two of the main
leaders up till last year are now employed and
unable to attend, but we are e:^ecting some
younger people to take their places in leading
teams, devotions, etc.
3.TheAnnual MissionaryConvention. August 10-12
in Niigata Prefecture. Bill Belew and his co-
workers are planningthe program, and a special
speaker is coming from the U.S., but the faot is,
there arefewer missionaries nowlivingandwork
ing here in Japan.
4. A special Retreat for Training in Christian living
and Leadership for young people who have been
Christians for some time. August 12^14 at Green
Lodge in Iruma Cily.
5. A camp for college yoimg people who are mostly
non-Christians and have attended claeses tau^t
byTimTurner and David Cole in Oberlin College.
August 23-26 at Shinshu. (Also about 3 groups
have applied to rent our Shinshu Camp for a few
days duringthis summer, includingone group of
blindpeoplewho havealreadycometo lookover"
the place.)
6. The 5th Simday Rally on August 29 at Machida
Chmch.
There will be other short camps held by local
churches (usually an outing of 2 days and 1 night in
between), but I do not have information about dates
and places available as this is written. Also, many of
the churches will be havingVacation Bible Schools of
3 or 4-day duration.
WORK WEEK AT SHINSHU
Most camps have times when volimteers go to do
various necessaiy work for the upkeep and improve
ment ofthe camp buildings and grounds. We have had
such projects every year in July just before the season
begins, and this year the scheduled week is July 12-16.
But inrecent years, it seems that everyone is busier and
wehave not hadmuchresponseas we hopedfor. Onthe
other hand, the attendance at the FamilyWeek during
the holidays in early May has been declining. So this
year we decided to make that "Golden Week" into an
otherworkweek. Therewere 3 attractions: The several
holidays in succession make it easier for people to be
awayfrom school andwork inthe cily. Springhas just
arrived after a longwinter. And there is no charge for
those who work.
We had a verygood response of 21 different people
at die campfor someofthetime, althoughfewstayedfor
thewhole week, andwe got a lot of cleaningdone inthe
building and the grounds. Also we all had a good time
together at meals and a devotional time every evening.
We had home-made pizzas, pancakes and other good
and plentiful food made mostly by Mrs. Taninari and
some other helpers in the kitchen.
The highlight oftheweekwas diat a yoimgladywas
baptized. Shewasthefirst persontobecomea Christian
fromthefarmingcommunitynearthe campsinceitwas
startedover 10 years ago. Duringthose earlyyears this
girl had come to the SundaySchool at the camp. After
graduation from the local school system, she went to
Tokyo and is nowstudyingto become a nurse. She had
been attendinga churchinTokyo for several years, but
the preacher there said he thou^t it would be goodfor
her to be baptized at her real "home church," so she
asked for that. We were very pleased that her grand
mother came with her to see the baptism. "First fruits"
in a sense, although some campers have been baptized
in a nearby river through the years.
Mrs. BettyTurner, who "retired" to Atlanta, Georgia
in March 1992 after her husband. Bill, suffered a slight
strokeearliercamebacktotheFarEast inApril tospeak
at the yearly convention in the Philippines where she
usedtoserveandthencametoJapantovisit hersonand
grandchildren. Shestayedonatthecampafterthework
week to help with the work for this summer season,
since we have no missionary living there now. Except
for a fewshort trips toTokyo onbusiness shehas stayed
at the camp and worked at various indoor and outdoor
tasks, giving much encouragement and help to the
Taninari family as they get ready for the camp season.
She expects to staythroughAugust, andwe all appreci
ate her volunteer and cheerful help.
-$ EXCHANGE RATE
Some of the readers and supporters who keep up
with Intemational economic news have asked us how
we are managing to get along in these days of fa-Hingr
doUarvalues andrisingyenvalues. Until this springthe
dollarwasworthsomewhereinthe neighborhoodof125
yen, with slight fluctuations daily. But during the past
2 months or so it has gone as lowas 105, an all-time low.
K you look at it another way, the dollar has declined in
value 10 to 12%. This means that everything inJapan is
higher priced if counted in dollars. Logically it would
seem that gaeohne, grapefruit, beef and other things
bought with dollars should immediately get cheaper.
But thifl almost never happens. The Japanese have to
increase the prices of their automobiles shipped from
here, but they just increase the number produced in
plants in the U.S., which are now relatively cheaper if
figured in yen. But they can get the wheat, soybeans,
etc., they buyfromAmerica at less cost and make more
money, so they teU me it evens out and the Americans
are the real losers for letting the dollar drift down in
value.
l.We do not claim to be economists, and do not
waste our time trying to figure out the fine points
of the markets or out-smart the money-changers.
2.We use yen and quit trying to change everything
into dollar values. If we thought about what
eveiythingwebuycostsindollarswewouldquickly
go crazy, because we were brought up back there
when a dollar was real money.
3. We have some yen Income from the local church
and a few English classes, andwe malce good use
of that.
4. We live and eat comfortablyandmodestlyand are
content and not about to starve or quit the field
over this problem.
FROM OUR PHOTO ALBUM ...
> It'
Hlroahl Sakase-
gawa, 1993 graduate
of Osaka Bible
Seminary, now lives
with his brother in a
Tokyo suburb and is
working and study
ing Counseling part-
time at the Lutheran
Theological Sem
inaryinTokyo, which
has a well-known
department in that
field. Heishelpingin
theworkat Mejirodai
on Sundays.
Farewell
meeting for
PennyBoggs
at Mejirodai.
Freshman class at Osaka
Bible Seminary. L. to R.:
Keniohiro Kira, from
Hachimanyama Church
(non-inst.) in Tokyo;
Toshiyuku Sakaguchi, from
Kushikino Church in
ityushu; ShingoTsuda.from
Mejirodai Church In Tokyo;
MasatoYoshii, from Kanoya
Church in Kyushu; and
Midori NakaharafromYosh-
ino Church in Kagoshima.
The third and fourth are
alreadygraduates ofregular
colleges.
The 8 young people at Mejirodai who entered a newand
higherlevel of school (not just thenext grade) oremployment
from April this year.
Farewell meeting for Fenny Boggs at Nakano.
, ////.. ft
EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS
June 5 and 6, Bro. Kishimoto preached a 2-night
evangelisticineetingfortheSakurayamaChurch. Sayuii
Kume, from Mejirodai, led the singing and sang the
special music. Theattendancewasinthehightwenties,
but that was higher than the regular attendance, and
there were a good number of newcomers, so th^were
happy.
On July 30 - August 1, Harold Sims will preach a 3-
daymeetingforanothersmall congregationwherePaul
and Faith Axton have been ministering in Tsuchiura
city on the Tokyo side of Ibaraki Prefecture.
MISS TAKAKO SAKAI
OnMay19MissSaimiwascailedhometobewiththe
Lordafter about 2 years ofillness. Eveiyonewhowas in
anyway acquainted with the Minato church knewand
lovedher, andsheloved everybody. Shewas single and
worked at an ofhce for many years, with an average
salaiy, but she had a habit of givinga small cash gift in
a small envelope in an inconspicuous way to several
people who needed help or encouragement almost
eveiy time there was a Fifth Simday Rally or other
special meetings. She was the unofficial and
imappointed one in the church who remembered all
birthdays, anniversaries, etc., with a short note full of
imderstandingand discernment. I, myself, and almost
eveiy one of our Japanese Christians in any kind of
responsible orleadershippositionhavebeenrecipients
of the "booster" many times. She carefully avoided
limelight, awards and recognition, speaking in public
and such things.
Several years ago her eyesight began failing, and
sheretiredfromherjob. As shebecamesickandunable
to take care of herself, one of the elders in the church
andhis wife arrangedfor herto go into amusinghome,
took over the management of her finances (at her
request), andvisited her eveiyfewdays to take tapes of
chiuch services, communion, news of various people
and to see howshe was doing.
At her funeral, Bro. Fukuda told the folks how she
hadbecomearea! spiritualmothertohim-valuedmuch
becausehehadlost his ownmotherwhilestillinelemen
taryschool. She had sent a letter of comment and often
anofferingafteralmost eveiyissue ofhis monthlyBible
studymagazinefor over35years, until shewasnolonger
able. Such "sisters" in CSirist are missed when they
depart from this earth, but there is One up there who
knows howto reward His good and fallhful servants.
NEWS NOTES
On Sunday June 6, from 3 p.m., the Kamiochiai
Church of Christ helda celebration of 3 years' mdstence
since the church building was sold and this group of
former members, manyofwhomstill live inthat area of
town, had started their ownworship services in a small
rentedapartment neartheformer churchlocation. They
dont have a regular preacher, but several preachers of
area churches go once a month. Thqy use tapes, etc.,
when no one is available. They reported 23 members,
306 books and 110 tapes inthe churchlibrary, andthey
haveexperiencedblessingsandspiritual andnumerical
growth enough to look forward to the future with great
hope and faitii.
Mr. and Mrs. Deny Gray and their son, Jeff, visited
Mejirodai ChurchonJuly4. Theyusedto ministerat the
Westside ChurchinDes Moines, Iowa, andarefriends of
David and l^lvia Smith, who minister in the same area.
Jeffis marriedtoa Japanesegirl whomhemet while she
was studying inAmerica someyears ago, and theynow
have 3 children. Thqy live by her parents in her home
town ofOgawa, inSaitama prefecture. Jeff supports the
family by teaching English. He keeps in touch with
some of our missionaries who live in that general area.
Mr. Tony Richardson of Harding College in Searcy,
Arkansas, visitedMejirodai for 3 days overtheweekend
ofJune 27. He is interested in becoming a missionary
when he graduates from College, so is spending his
summervacationvisitingvariousmissionariesandtheir
work here.
Mr. and Mta. StanleyButtiay (retirecO. KD. 2, Box 180, MeadvUle, PA
18335.
Mr. and Mrs. AndrewFatten (retired). #6 Tanglewood, Carl Junction,
MO 64834.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3^3-7 Mejirodai, Hachioji-ohi, Tobyo 193
Japan. ForwardingAgent: FiretChurohofCliiist,315E.OiangeAvenue,
EustiB,FL 327234194.
Two year donation8.50
Donation St FlamingTorch81.00
Tokyo Christian (USP8 776-320)
Published four times a year inJanueuy, April, July, and November for
the missionaries of the Church of Christ, Cunningham Mission, Toliyo,
Japan by Mission Services Association, 7825 Hodges Ferry Road, Kn-
oxvllle,TN 37920-9731. POSTMASTER: Sendaddress changes toTobyo
Christian, i^o MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PC Box 2427, Kn-
oxvme,TN 37901-2427.
Before you move, please send the mailing label with a copy of your newaddress to
MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PC Box 2427, KnoxvUle, TN 37901-2427.
Form3579Requested, POBox2427, KnoxvUle, TN 37801-2427.
)D/3
Tokyo Christian
'Go ye into aU the worid and preadi the gospel to every creature' Mark 16:15
Volume 92
November 1993
Number 4
SIMS' NEWS
Since The Last Time ...
For us it has been an eventful, memorable, andjoyful
summer and fall. Yes, there was too much rain in much
ofthe northemhemlsphere; therewere political changes
In the world; problems, discouragements and evils pei>
sist; but in this issue I would like to share with you some
of the experiences of the past 3 months in a sort of "diary>
style" like my reg^ar letters to the family. I hope it will
be Interesting to read and informative about missionaiy
life and work in Japan.
^ Just before we went upstairs to bed on Monday,
July 12, the TV began broadcasting warnings of tidal
waves all around the northern part of Japan following a
massive earthquake that had appearedonseismographs.
At that time they had not received communications indi
cating destruction ai^where. The next morning we got
the first reports of a major quake and tidal wave which
had hit a small island off the eastern coast of Hokkaido
and practically wiped out a small town, along with all
means of communication with the rest of the world. It
took days before the total loss of life and property could
be calculated.
^ July 18 was an election dav in Japan and, for the
first time in 38years, the Liberal-Democratic Partyfailed
towin a majorityofseats inthe House ofRepresentatives.
A coalition of 7 smaller parties has formed the govern
ment which presently rules Japan. Their first goal is
political reform. Manyscandals inthe past have hurt the
previous ruling party. The new Prime Minister is Mr.
Hosokawa, a descendent of a well-known "samiirai" fam
ily in Kumamoto Prefecture. Mrs. Hosokawa Garchia
was one of the earliest Catholic converts in the days of
intense persecution 400 years or so ago, and his grandfa
ther was a Prime Minister twice in the pre-World War 11
times. It is rumored he is a Catholic Christian, but I
haven't seenanywrittenstatement or proof ofthatyet. He
seems to be quite able and popiilar.
^ Also early on July 18 we received a phone call
from Mrs. Yubi Ichijo saying that her husband, Tomoki.
had died at 4:20 that morning. It was a rather sudden, but
quiet and victorious end to a 6-year-long battle with
cancer. I had visited him in the hospital on July 8 and he
was sitting up in bed drinking coffee. He was in good
voice and mood. We were talking about Jonathan's
wedding and our plans to go to America. He was happy
to hear the news. His last words to me were that hewould
do his best to be here when we returned from that trip.
The doctors who had dealt with his case through about 8
operations, etc., at the National Cancer Center, and had
often expressed amazement at his will to live, positive
attitudes, and rapid recoveries veiy strongly desired to
performan autopsy. This took all day Simday. Since the
autopsyendedwith cremation, his ashes were returnedto
the family Sunday night.
There was no need for an undertaker, so our church
planned Etnd carried out the entire funeral. It was veiy
Christian and left a deep impression on everyone - his
family, co-workers and friends. The "wake" was held at
their home on Monday evening in one of the apartments
of a 3-etorybuildingowned byher father. The livingroom
was verysmall, but 12people from our church and people
frombothfamilies and his advertising companycrowded
into the adjoining hall, stairs, etc., to see and hear what
was said. Her famity was somewhat overwhelmed, be
cause the younger brother's wife had just come home
with a new baby the same dayl
The next day some of our ladies went early to clean,
decorate, and prepare a simple lunch for people coming
from a distance, etc. The telephone rangconstantlywith
people askinghowto get to the church, etc. Our preacher
was busily printing the programs until the last minute.
About 60 people packed our small church on a rainy
summer afternoon for a very meaningful service using
his favorite hymns and built around the text "For me to
live is Christ andto die is gain." Three different preachers
gave short messages; and the president of his company
gave a very fine speech. According to Japanese custom,
Yubi gave a final expression of thanks for attending,
speaking right from her heart about the suffering and
fatigue all the family had endured and his unshakable
faith inthe Lord. His mother had been a great encourage
ment and help to her inthe last weeks of his sickness, and
she turned to his mother and said to her, "I have gained
a mother," which deeply moved everyone.
^ July 23-25 was our annual All-Janan Convention.
held in the Portopia Hotel on the shore of the Inland Sea
in Kobe and hosted by the Ono Church of Christ in that
prefecture. (Same host and location 10 years ago, also.)
The Convention was well-planned and advertised, and
the attendance ofover400 was larger thanaverage. There
were 2 very good major messages on Friday night and
Sunday morning.
On Sat\irday morning they had the 6 professors of
Osaka Bible Seminary present 2 hours of a class in their
field. That evening we had a Chinese-style banquet with
an interesting variety program of music, testimonies,
information and even some exercises that could be done
sitting at tables.
Our son, Daniel, in Japan on company business,
walkedinSaturdaymorningandstayedoverthat evening.
Mejirod&l Oroup at Kobe CoDTention Hall.
On the trip home, we ran into heavy Typhoon-connected
rain at Nagoya, so didn't make it home until after mid
night (safe and happyI).
Because 20 people from Mejirodai were at the Con
vention, we were delighted to hear that 22 had been here
for church Simdaymorningto hear Bro. Hara (one of our
men) preach.
^ Fromthe afternoon of July 28th till the afternoon
of the 29th, we had a camp for our Sunday School chil
dren. Sixchildrenand 4 teachers/helpers went to "Picnic
Land," about an hour's drive away. Tents, lanterns, cook-
out facilities (tables and toilets), and even fuel and some
pans were provided. (Air-conditioners were not, as one
4th grader and her friends found out.)
The 2 young men helpers proved to be capable cooks
over open fires. We enjoyed a rice cunysupper, followed
by a campfire and games.
After breakfast the next morning, we let the kids go
on rides at the nearby park before going back home.
^ The weekend ofJuly31-August 1,Lois andI went
to Tsuchiura (about 100km north of Tokyo in Ibaraki
Prefecture) where Paul and Faith Axton have been serv
ing a small non-instrumental Church of Christ. The
church had been through some difficulties and this was
the first attempt at a special evangelistic meeting in at
least 10years. Ateam of young people from their group
of churches was inJapan several weeks this summer and
were readyto help deliver hand-bills and give other help,
which served as an encouragement to the smaU church.
The people had been praying for weeks, so everyone was
veryhappyto have 19peoplepresent on Saturdayevening.
Paul told me later that he had never seen more than 10
people there before. On Sunday morning we again had
19, although some were different people. We ate a po^
luck lunch together after the worship service, shared in
their joy, and got better acquainted. (By the way, Lois
sanga special andI accompanied her onthe organ. There
were no objections!)
7. At 9:30 a.m. on August 2, our Japanese preacher
and 12 of our young people in Middle School, High
School and College left for RhiT^shii Bihia nayrip we were
not able to participate this year, but heard a total of about
50 attended. They had a good camp except for too much
rainy weather and the Camp Manager dropping a ping-
pongtable on his toe. The camp ended on Friday, August
6.
The evening speaker for the week was Bro. Ueyama,
from the Tanabe Church in Wakayama Pref. Although
that is over 600km from the camp, for the past couple of
years a good group has come to this youngpeople's camp.
Theytravel on a local (cheaper) train which takes over 12
hours, but goes through some good mountain scenery
along the way.
8. The next week, August 12-14, a campwas held for
about 30 College and Wnriring Young people, emphasiz
ing training in and deepening of their Christian lives.
These yoxmg adults were already Christians, serving in
the 4 or 5 churches from which they came. To cut travel
costs and time, this "Retreat" was held in a rented facility
owned by the city of Iruma - just outside Tokyo. Three
messages, "Hearing the Word," "Knowing the Power of
the Word," and "Putting the Word into Practice," were
given by 3 of our local yoimger Japanese preachers.
Three Bible studies on Jeremiah were also given by Bro.
Saito from Osaka Bible Seminary.
9. OnAugust 3, while a typhoon was raging across
Ityushu, causing land-slides and other destruction, we
were having a steady rain. This was the date to start the
trip to the U.S. One of our neighbors came to take us and
our luggage to the local Keio Electric RR station. We
managed to get the luggage offand up the escalator at the
downtown terminal; then went to a nearby hotel, taking
the regular airport bus service out to Narita in plenty of
time for check-in at Delta Airlines and changing our
remaining yen to dollars. The flight to Portland, ORwas
routine, but with a TnlniTmim of sleep.
Mrs. Christine High (Helen's mother) was waiting
there to visit with us during the 2-hour lay-over. Then we
were on a non-stop flight to Cincinnati, arriving there
about 7:20 local time. (Because of the changes in time
zones and date-line, it was only something over 1 hour
since our departure from Tokyo.) As we came into the
terminal, there stood Jeanne and our 2 California grand
daughters and my brother Earl. (Jeanne and the girls
were visiting her parents.) Earl took us to his home and,
after some happy talk and light, good food, we had some
welcome rest.
The U.S. trip will probably be easier to relate and
understand if divided into sections by geography.
a Cinoiimati. OH. BothEarl andWlllahad already
left for work when we woke up that first morning. After
breakfEist, Jeanne and the girls came over and took us to
several stores ^x>is' favorite sport), limch and to our
bank. That evening, after a most pleasant dinner on
Earl's back porch, we went for a walk in their neighbor-
hood. It is a different worldl The length of summer dasrs
with DST is really nice. We also had a nice phone visit
with Paul and Kathleen Pratt, long-time friends and co-
workers who retired earlier this year.
ThursdaymorningEarl took us to Clovemook Chris
tian Church where we enjoyed a breakfast with several
members of theMissionsTeam, gpvingthemanupdate on
our work. That evening, Ralph and Donna arrived from
Tennessee and a good mini-reimion of the 3 Sims broth
ers began right away.
Fridaywe spent quality time together walking along
the Riverfront, driving through the Mt. Adams area,
stopping by the Seminary campus, and visiting all the
while. After another delicious meal at Earl's, sons Scott
and Andy and their families came for brief visits that
evening.
Saturday eveningBob and Helen stopped byand left
one of their two cars for me to drive the next morning.
Sundaywe were at White Oak Christian Churchfor 3
morning services at which I gave the Communion medi
tation. Bob and Helen and family and Jeanne and her
girls were there for one service and Bible School, also.
Afterward we met with the Missionary Committee for a
nicelunchandanotherupdate. Inmid-aftemoonwewent
backto Earl andWilla's and loaded up theirvanwith our
luggage. Bob left for northern Indiana on company
business andHelendroveusto theirhomeinShelbyville,
KY, arriving there too late for evening worship.
b. Shelbyville. ky. We hadseveral happydayshere
with 3 of the grandchildren; eating more fine meals;
feeding some swans, deer, etc. at Frankfort Animal Park;
takingwalks throu^ ttie neig;hborhood, etc. Bob re
turned home Monday night, so was with us most of the
time.
Penny Boggs came over from Kentucky Christian
College to visit on Tuesday evening. After she left, we
watched some of the video of the recent wedding of the
Crown Prince which Lois had brought along.
WednesdaymorningI trimmed some bushes around
the house and Bob bragged to the people at Shelby
Christian Church that night about having a 200-pound
Japanese gardenerworkinginhisjrard. I spokeabout our
work to the adult Bible study group there that night.
We rose at 5:15 a.m. and left at 6:45 a.m. for the long
drive to Iowa onThursday. We made several stops so the
children could exercise a little; they were very good
travelers. Wewere inIowafor supper, arrivingat Sylvia's
just before dark. The clan was beginning to gather.
o. Gumming and Ames. lA. Friday, August 13,
Uncle Bobwasworkingona mo-pedJoshhadbought, but
couldn't g;et to run. After a while we heard the welcome
sound. Josh was very happy and urged everyone to take
a turn riding it.
After lunch Lois and I left in Rachel's car for Ames
and our first meetingwith Verla. We foimd the park and
her trailer all right, but it was during the middle of a
thundershower, so we began communication by waving
toherinthewindow. Weweresoonvisitingaboutvarious
things and, before long, had to go to the rehearsal at the
church. Later the whole gproupof over 20 people went to
a Chinese Restaurant for the traditional dinner.
The others went back to Sylvia's house for the night,
but Ixsis and I stayed at a motel near Verla's trailer park.
During this time we were able to get acquainted with
Verla's parents and other members of her family as well
as the local preacher.
On the wedding day we ate a nice breakfast then
drove to the church. Lois went to a beautyparlor nearby
and I went into the "Dome" to help Mr. Shoelkoph make
sandwiches for the reception. In the midst of that, there
was a clap ofthunder and all the electricitywent off. The
dome had no windows, so was totallyblack. Fortunately
the power came back on about 30 minutes before the
weddingwas to begin. By that time, all of the 22 people
who were staying at Sylvia's house had arrived.
We were surprised to see 4 friends from Markle, IN
walkin. Theyhadcometo Japanfor the 20thAnniversary
of Mejirodai Church, and had taken an interest in
Jonathan's marriage, so had driven that long distance to
see it. Other old friends also showed up. And, of course,
most of Verla's friends fromthe office where she worked
at the University, the local church, and from Minnesota
and other states also came. It would be no exaggeration
to say, "They cmne from the ends of the earth!" The
preacher estimatedthe attendance at around300 people.
The wedding itself was a very beautiful and happy
event for everyone. The most surprising thing to us and
all of our familywas our shyJonathan singingto Verla in
the middle of the ceremony, "I cant help fn-lUng in love
with you." It was not familiar to me, but I listened to the
words in amazement at howtheyseemed to fitly express
his feelings. Later I learned it was an Elvis Presleysong.
The receivinglinewas longand slow-moving^ but we
appreciated the comments by many about what a fine
daughter-in-law we were g;etting. The reception also
lasted quite a while. I was able to take 40 of our left-over
sandwiches backto Sylvia'swhichevaporatedquicklyas
we all gatheredthere onSaturdayeveningfor a goodtime
of visiting, jokingand relaxing. Twenty-two people slept
all over the house that night and managed happily in
spite of shortag;es of chairs, forks, pillows, etc.
Sunday, Aug^ust 15 was the 48th anniversaiy of the
end of World War U. I preached at Chriat'^ Chumh in
West Das Moinfta^ where Dave is the minister. It was
wonderful to see over 2 rows of Sims family in the
audience. Theyhadmanagedsomehowto g;etthemall to
the church on time in5or 6cars. The local church people
had prepared a g;ood covered dish lunch, which we all
enjoyed together.
Hope and Tomand their 4 gprls left for TnHin.n<*- from
there. After gpetting backto Silvia's, Dan andJeanne and
fEunilywent to the airport for the flight backto California
and Bob and Helen and fEunily boarded their van for
Indiana. Sylvia's daughter, Rachel, was on a missiontrip
to Mexico and missed the wedding, but returned Sunday
night. Things were quickly getting back to normal.
Lois' sister, Noima, left for Pittsburg on the plane
Monday morning. The rest of tiiat day and the next, we
hada littletimeto visit Sylvia'sfmnily. OnTuesdaywe ate
dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Des Moines and then
supper that night with Jon and Verla in the trailer. They
had returnedfrom a short honejnnoon andwe had a very
nice dinner and visit - talking about their plans for
coming to Japan among other thingps.
Additional rain had brought more flooding to that
arec^ but all the roads were open. It was pitiful to see
ponds inmost cornfields andruinedcrops alongtheway,
but it seemed the people were coping very well and not
discourag^ed.
^ Kendallville. IN. Aug^ust 18, weloadedupSylvia's
carwithourlug;g;age andherdaughter, Suzie, andstarted
the 500-mile drive to Hope's ftmn in Kendallville, IN.
Most of the daywas hard, steadydriviiig. We stopped for
lunch at a veiy nice place and ate with our good friend,
Velma Held, whowas also at thewedding. We pulledinto
Hope's driveway exactly 12 hours after leaving Sylvia's.
The next daywewere up early to see Hope and Becky
off to work inAuburn and then Sylvia and Suzie who left
to return to Iowa. Mindywas inthe final stages of getting
ready to leave for Ball State University in Muncie, IN.
That night we celebrated Mindy's birthday a little early
because she had to move into the dormitory August 21.
At 1:00 p.m. on Friday, August 20th, we borrowed
Hope's car and started the drive across Ohio to Norma's
place in Irwin, PA.
e. Irwin. PA. We arrived in Irwin about 9:30 p.m.
We spent Saturday visiting Norma, walking around her
neighborhood, and visiting her only granddaughter. We
also called the Buttrays and visited by phone.
Sunday morning we visited Lois' home church in
Turtle Creek and enjoyed a fine fellowship meal with old
friends after the service. Sunday eveningwe went to the
church at NewSalem.PAfor the first time. Theyhadsent
us support over the years, but we had never been able to
get there. The attendance of about 50 was a pleasant
surprise; and the sandwich and flngexHsalad supper
afterward was just right after the big dinner at Turtle
Creek.
f. Kendallville. IN. (again) On Monday, August 23,
we drove back across OMo to Hope's. Tuesday school
began in Indiana, so we got up early and walked the 2
girls down to meet the school bus. We used the quiet day
at home to write some letters.
While continuing to stay at Hope's, we attended
Wednesday and Friday night programs of the yearly
Faith-Promise Ral^ at Markle. This church has been a
part of our living-linksupport for 47 years, and we always
enjoy visiting with the good friends there. We spent
Sunday, August 29 sharingintheirjoyat surpassingtheir
goal of $110,000 for Missions. We left the next morning
for our flight to Cincinnati and on to Phoenix, AZ.
During this time, Lois almost ran out of the medicine
for her blood-pressure and heart. She had the names of
the medicine, but the local druggist would not sell it
without a doctor's prescription. It was a weekend and, to
make a longstoryshort, we manged to get to a doctor and
get medicine.
gi Sun City. AZ. We spent a day visiting with good
friends from high school days and Lois' sister and hus
band and the local church preacher, who had been the
minister when Jonathan's new wife was a girl back in
Redwood Falls, MN. It is a small worldl
^ Orange County. CA. The last stop was with
Daniel and his family in Orange Coimty, CA. They took
us down to San Diego for our first visit there, then to Los
Angeles for the return fhght to Japan on September 2.
All of oiir trips to the UnitedStates have beenwonder
ful, but this short visit might well be the happiest of them
aU.
10. We were met at Narita Airport byBro. Kishimoto.
We startedsortingthroughaccumulatedmail andgetting
resettled the next day. Lois went to the doctor for her
regular check-up and foimd out her blood pressure was
better thanit has beenfor a longtime. On Simdaywe had
the regular deacons' meeting after the worship service
and talked about plans for the Fall. It took only a couple
of dajns to get back into the routines of the work here. In
spite of ralz^weather most of September, we had several
visitors at church and contacts with new people that we
hope will bear fruit.
II- The Mejirodai Church had a 24-hour "Retreat"
October 8-9 at a Catholic-operated facility about a 30-
minute drive fromhere. Only17members were able to go,
but we had a good program and time of fellowship. A
survey of the church members' opinions about the wor
ship services and other things had been made and the
resultswere recordedand discussed. Also, one ofthe men
had made charts from the figures for membership, atten
dance andfinances forthe past several years, withseveral
projections of where we might be by the year 2000.
12. DuringOctober 10-12, we had the Senior Citizen's
Camp up at Shinshu. A total of 15 people went following
themorningservices onSimday. Mr. Kobayashl, an Elder
of Minato Church, was the main speaker. He spoke on
"My 40 Years' Walk of Faith," telling us things about his
life that none of us had previously known and giving
practical encouragement in Christian living.
Mr. and Mn. Stanley Buttiay (retlied), R.D. 2, Box 180, MeadvlUe, PA
16339.
Mr. and Mn. Andrew Patton (retired), *6 Tangleweod, Cari Junction,
MO 64834.
Mr. and Mn. Harold Sime. 3^3-7 Mejirodai, Haohloji-ehi, Tokyo 103
Japan. ForwaidlngAgent: FirstCliurohofClirist,318E.OiangeAvenue,
EuetiB,FL 32726-4104.
Two year donation8.50
Donation A Flaming Torch81.00
Tokyo Chiietlaa (USP8 77<880)
Published four times ayear InJanuary, April, July, and November for
the missionaries of the Churoh of Christ, Cunningham Mission, Tol^,
Japan by Mission Servioee Assoolatlon, 7923 Hodgee Feny Road, Kn-
oxvUle.TN 37020-0731. POSTMASTER: Send address changes toTokyo
Christian, o/o MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Box 2427, Kn-
oxvlllo,TN 37001-2427.
Before you move, please send the iriaiHng label with a copy of your newaddress to
MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION. PO Box 2427, KnoxviUe, TN 37001-2427.
Form3679lUquMUd, POBoxS427, KnoxvUlo, TN 87901-2427.
Ul3
CHRISTMAS LETTER 1993
Dear Friends,
Way back in January 1946 I began raising financial support as
a missionary recruit with the Cunningham Mission. We were
married on Mar. 21, 1947, and went to Hawaii in April to help in
the work established by the Owen Stills and wait for permission
to enter Japan. We got to Tokyo Nov. 15, 1947 (46 years ago) and
are happily finishing another year of service to Christ's body
here thanking God for His many blessings and faithful love and
care all along the way.
Last February our passports had to be renewed, and we took a
second look at the expiration date^2003, which made us realize
anew that we are approaching the end of this century and really
don't know how many more years we have left here. But we are
keeping on, and glad to have been called and enabled by God for
this ministry and supported in prayer and finances by you
faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.
For us 1993 has been a very happy year, filled with activities,
meetings, visits as well as some surprises and problems; but it
certainly adds up to at least [B positive]! The high points were
Jonathan and Verla's wedding at Ames, Iowa on Aug. 14, and their
arrival in Japan Nov. 5. Other good things included visits with
family and friends during August in the U.S., Camps, Convention,
Rallies, Retreats and Fvangelistic meetings in Japan, and
generally good health in spite of a cold, rainy year. We will
briefly touch on some of these while taking up the 4 pjost
frequently aske^d questions in recent letters from friends.
How is the work going? Well, we arc keeping busy doing as
much as we can and enjoying it. We have a Japanese preacher here
at Mejirodai now, but 1 still preach in the local church about
twice a month and lead 2 home Bible studies and the weekly AM
prayer meeting. Lois plays the organ for worship once a month
and has children's church during worship on another Sunday. We
call on sick and other contacts and teach 7 English classes each
week. On Oct. 8 we went with 17 members to a "retreat houses" on
a hill-top and spent some productive hours discussing freely and
seriously a recent survey of our members opinions on several
matters, charts showing membership, attendance and budget figures
for the past 3 years and ideas for growth as we go into the next
century. The 6-7 PM Gospel Hour on Sundays has grown the most of
any activity this year.
During Jonathan's absence 1 have preached at the Joel Home on
the 3rd Sunday of every month. Also 1 preached 2 short
evangelistic meetings in other area churches, and several Chapel
messages at American Christian College where 1 taught New
Testament Introduction every Friday. 1 continue to serve as
Chairman of the boards of Yotsuya Mission Corporation, which
manages the properties and the loan fund; Japan Missionary
Language Institute; the Shinshu Bible Camp Committee, and as
Secretary of the Councillors of Osaka Bible Seminary. Lois
continues to teach a Ladies Bible Study at Nakano Church every
second and fourth Thursday, as she has done for over 30 years.
The number of our missionaries in the Tokyo area became
smaller again this year with the retirement of Paul and Kathleen
Pratt in March and Penny Boggs* departure to take a job with her
alma mater, (Kentucky Christian College) in April. Mr. &Mrs.
Nishiyama (both graduates of Osaka Bible Seminary) are doing a
fine job at Sannobara Church since Pratts left.
Over 400 of our Christians from all over Japan gathered in
Kobe July 23-25 for the annual Convention.
Shingo Tsuda from Mejirodai entered OBS in April to study for
the ministry, and possibly to become a missionary to another
Asian nation. There are 4 other promising young men making up
the freshman class in Osaka, and 2 of them are already college
graduates. So although most of our 60+ churches are small, and
we are not seeing great numbers being baptized, we do feel there
is some progress and hope and a generally good spirit and unity.
How about Lois' high blood pressure and knee problems? Both
are better than last year! She has a good relationship with the
doctors at a large hospital about 5 minutes walk from our house,
and goes for check-ups every 2 weeks and more complete ones twice
a year. When she returned from a busy 15,000 mile trip to the U.S.
her blood pressure was the best it had been for a long time. The
doctor said the visits with family and laughter must have been
good medicine for her, and she ought to do that every-year. She
came home and reported those "doctor's orders" to me, and T
almost had a heart attack!
How is the family? Hope and Tom Schmidt continue producing
pork near Kendallville, Indiana and are active in the So. Milford
Church of Christ. Hope is working full-time at a company in a
nearby city. Becky, our oldest grand-daughter, graduated in May
from Ball State University with honors, but as of this writing
has not found a job like she wants although she is working.
Mindy, the second daughter, entered Ball State as a freshwoman in
late August and works part-time as an assistant to one of the
professors. Heidi is in ninth grade and Wendy in fifth. We had
the privilege of picking and eating some apples from the large
old tree in their yard during our visit there.
Sylvia and Dave have almost finished building their home in
Cumming,. Iowa, and continue their ministry with the church in
West Des Moines. They slept 22 people in their house for 2
nights at the wedding time, and all managed to get up, fed,
dressed and to the church on time. Rachel is a Senior in High
School and working part-time as a singing waitress. Joshua is in
tenth grade and also singing in groups and tooting the tuba. He
was a very happy teen when his uncle got his moped running during
the visit. Suzie is in the 8th grade and about adult size and a
good help in many ways.
Jonathan finished the required units for the Master of
Divinity degree at Cincinnati Christian Seminary during the summer,
and successfully passed the oral examination in September. He
made the best grade average of his life during what will probably
be his final year of school. Then he met Verla, and he changed
very greatly. We were all surprised that he sang "I can't help
falling in love with you" to her during the wedding ceremony, but
it seemed to express his feelings well, and both of them looked
radiantly happy. Many of his Japanese friends were delighted to
hear about his wedding, and will be meeting Verla as they settle
into their life and work in Yokohama. Verla comes from a nice
family, and from the Christian Churches in Redwood Falls, Minn,
and Ames, Iowa where she has worked in the Speech and
Communications Department of the State University there for about
20 years.
Robert and Helen are still living in Shelbyville, Ky. and
active in the Christian Church there, which is in sight of their
home. He has started his own company, selling and servicing
Industrial robots manufactured by the Japanese company he used to
work for. Helen has fixed up a class-room in their basement, and
is home-schooling Joel and Amanda (7) while little Joanna (3)
plays school on the floor nearby. We enjoyed riding in the car
with them on the all-day trip out to Iowa, and the children were
very good travelers, which you need to be in that family. We are
looking forward^o Bob visiting us in December when he will be in
Japan on company business. Helen came for 2 weeks last February,
taking advantage of a frequent flyer opportunity for a free ticket.
Daniel and Jeanne are in Lake Forest (Orange County) California,
and he works in auto design with Mitsubishi Motors. He has been
to Japan 3 times this year on company business, and always
manages a brief visit with us when we talk into the night.
Jeanne is now working for their local Mission Vallejo Christian
Church as coordinator of their Sunday School teachers. Lara (4)
and Michelle (3 in December) are growing. We saw them first in
Cincinnati, as they were staying with Jeanne's parents, and Lara
was having a lot of trouble getting the grand-parents and
connections straightened out. To sum up, the family is God has
given us is big, blessed and wonderful!
4. When are you going to retire? We have told a lot of people
during the past several years that we plan to retire about the
end of 1995. No one has said it must be then, and the date is
not binding, but it is based on the facts that Mejirodai church
will be 25 years old and I will be 71 years old at that time.
However, most of our Japanese brethren are saying, "Retirement is
your decision, but we need you here. As long as you are as well
and active as you are now, please consider staying and working
with us here." It is good to feel needed and useful, and though
1 am not as active as 10 years ago there is still work to be done
and responsibilities to face here. Of course 1 do not feel 1 am
indispensable, nor do 1 want to become a burden on the people
here in any way. At this time we don't have any clear idea of
where we should locate if we return to the U.S. We know there
are many possibilities, and our children hope we will go back and
live there soon. So we ask all of you to pray with us that God
will guide our thinking and work out what is His will in this
important matter.
We sincerely hope that each one of you will have a Christmas
season filled with the joys of loving and being loved and with
renewed and deeper devotion to Christ who came to this world to
save us from our sins and ourselves; and that the coming new year
will be one of health, happiness and prosperity and growth in the
Liace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yours in His service,
Harold and Lois