Christian

'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
Volume 73

February, 1974

Number 1

THE PASSING

OWEN STILL'S HERITAGE

Last July Bro. Owen Still passed
from this lite. It was exactly 25 years

OF A FRIEND
Across the street from the Arakawa

Church building In Tokyo lives a family named the Fujitas. Mr. Fujitas'privately owned small factory where brass pipes for plumbing are bent is under the same
roof as their home. We have known the

lowed her children to freely choose their religious faith. The funeral service was held January II and naturally was thoroughly Bud dhist. The factory was converted into a

funeral parlor where the obja:ts involved

in a Buddhist funeral were placed. In the center an enlarged picture of the deceased was placed. Over 200 of the relatives, neighbors, and friends of the Fujitas attended the funeral. There being no room in the Fujita home for the guests to wait, a room in the church was opened for the
convenience of the relatives. The narrow

ago that he and his family left Japan to take up their work in Hawaii. But even after all these years the Stills are re membered fondly by a good number of friends here in Japan. In factjust a few days ago we received a New Year Greet ing card from a man who is now a translator for the Japanese Diet (Con

Fujitas for many years, and they have always been friendly and helpful to us
and the Arakawa Church, even though the couple is Buddhist by religion.
When the Arakawa Church was re

gress) who wrote about how sorry he

was to learn of ^fr. Still's passing.

The Still family lived in Japan for only a few years before and after the
Pacific Wax, but dieir sincere love for all
and faith in Christ was an Inspiration

started in 1966 three of the Fujita child ren attended the Sunday School. Soon afterward the second daughter made a decision to accept Christ, but her father withheld his permission for her to be baptized because he felt she was too young to make a decision. A few months afterward she completely stopped going to Church due to her school work
and the "cares of this life." We have

and example to many in those trying times. Two of our Tokyo preachers
are converts of the Stills, and two of the
churches are the direct result of their be

street between the church and the Fujita

ginning meetings in homes in those

areas. So their works follow them.

home was filled with people and the crowd spilled over into the narrow street
beside the home.

been unable to reach her with the gos pel since then. The two youngest Fujita girls con tinued to attend Church and the young est set a perfect attendance record for 2 or 3 years. Both she and her sister, Masayo, accepted Christ and were bap tized. Then as the youngest girl grew
older she too lost interest in the Church

A registration desk was placcd under a tent in the narrow church yard where gifts of money were received from the guests. Among the gifts received we saw
one which amounted to about $ 60, but the usual amount wa.'' about $ 3 to $5.

I consider it a privilege to have known the Still family and worked with them in our early days of missionaries here in Japan. They were the most un selfish, unpretentious and unusual mis
sionaries I have ever known. There

The relati"es st^od in the factory

entrance and the audience outside. There

was never enough money or time to do all the things they could find opportunity for, but they did the work of evangelists with all their great hearts and God bless ed their days here.

and Christ. Now in spite of her efforts and prayers for her revival, she only
comes to church at Christmas. Of the

three sisters, only Masayo, who is to graduate from high school in the spring,
now remains faithful to the Lord.

were numerous chants, cleansings, bell ringings and other ceremonial services performed by the priest, while the rela tives held their prayer beads and bowed at the proper times. Then the audience slowly filed through the door, bowed
toward the relatives and the picture of the deceased, and finally cast some pray er incense on the fire in the brazier. Up on leaving the room the mourner was handed a box containing a handkerchief, some salt for cleansing, and a funeral
notice.

Last November Nfrs. Fujita became ill with cancer and was hospitalized. On

January 4 she passed away after an ill ness of slightly over a month. We have lost a friend and her family has lost a good mother and wife. She was the daughter of a Buddhist priest, but in spite of that she allowed
two of her daughters to be baptized into Christ. This attitude is fairly typical of many parents in Japan today. Though
she was a Buddhist, she did not seem to be very zealous for her faith, and al

We Christians who

attended

took

Some of the Christians of the Yokosuka

some flowers, placed them on a table,

bowed to the relatives and left the room.

In that way wc expressed our sympathy to the family, and yet did not com promise our Christian faith.
-Andrew Patton

Church al the Christmas meeting. Five of these girls became Christians last summer as a result of camp. Mr. Morohashi, the pastor is standing to the left Pray for these Christians that they may
continue faithful in their Christian life.

A YEAR OF CHANGES
by Harold Sims
begins in tne western Tokyo district of Chofu, which means that every day they

The express-way west to Mt. Fuji

But at the first of January there ap

peared one bright spot in the dark sky

tor us. The dollar, which was devalued

have heavy traffic; but especially on Sundays tKat part of the city is over
laid with smog from the exhausts of thousands of cars as the " my-car tribe" goes out for a''draibu". The mayor and a good number of the citizens there de cided they had suffered enough polluted air and clogged streets, so on a Sunday morning last August they got out and set in the road lo stop all of it.. Cars backed up for miles in all directions. All of those idling motors made the worst smog ever, and alter the colossal jam was finally cleared the city spent

against the yen about 1 year ago, has recovered some ot its strength. F'rom a low of 254 yen to a dollar a few months ago we now can get almost 300 yen for
each dollar. 2. SHORTAGES

Some weeks ago a rumor got started down in Osaka that there was a shortage of toilet paper. It didn't take 2 days for the 11 million consumers in Tokyo to
clean tons of this item off the shelves of

days carrying away the tons of garbage

thrown from the windows of the cars.

Put that down as symbolic of the peak ing out of Japan's more than 20 years of rapid economic growth that brought the country to second place in the world in gross national product but also brought the problem of everybody going somewhere but nobody getting there.
Many commentators now say that

every store in the metropolis. Stories were told of people hoarding so much they didn't have room in their small apartments to put down the sleeping mats at night, of people bringing back a roll of toilet paper as a gift for the family when returning from a trip to the country and of whole families going to a nearby department store in the mornings to use
the.facilities.

Carl Fish of Indone.sia (left) speaking al the Kamiocliiai (]liur<'li, Tokyo while Harold Sims interprets for him.
ways: a. Ihere is a widespread and

deep questioning of the heretofore pre

vailing

philosophy

of growth for

the basic difficulties accompanying too rapid CTOWth were already evident last year, but no one could see it clearly
until the Fourth Arab-Israeli was last

October, and the unveiling of the Arab's oil weapon which propelled the whole
world into a new crisis to which we are

The whole thing blew over in a mat ter of days when toilet paper again ap peared in the stores, but this time it was about twice the previous price. A sim ilar thing happened to laundry soap some days later. The Japanese news papers "reported that someone mischie vously started a toilet paper rumor in Washington D.C. just to see if American housewives would react as frantically as

growth's sale, and the money-centered thinking that has occupied so many for so long, producing the unfavorable "economic-animar image of Japan, b. The large trading houses and business cartels that have long dominated the
country are under intense criticism and

scrutiny by consumers for suspected withholding of goods in order to drive up demand and prices, c. In place of

painfully adjusting. To the Japanese who are dependent on outside sources for practically all their oil this was a great shock. An oil embargo had direct connec
tion with the outbreak of the Pacific

the Japanese. The Americans did so, and the Japanese ladies-rest in the know ledgethat thev are normal.
3. PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS

the use and throw away philosophy, the

old virtues of thrift auid conservation

are rising once more.

d.

There is a

War 30 years ago. This time, thank fully, there will be no war, but there will be some changes. Certainly I am no expert on politics or economics, but in the past 3 months there have been a

Anxiety was the word of the hour in newspapers all over the world as the new year opened. Nobody could speak with confidence or hope about what lies

frank and humble recognition of the weakness caused by the lack of natural
resources like oil, and of the need for

interdependence of people all over the

world.

series of wrenching changes affecting the financial situation of everyone living

here and also the nation's mood, and I will attempt to oudine some of them and how they affect us and the work here.
1. INFLATION

ahead of us. Tliis was a very inauspi cious beginning for the year of the tiger to the naturally optomistic yet super
stitious Japanese people. Some may wonder if this will make the Japanese turn once more into a shell
of isolation. I don't think so. For 2

The national fiscal policy has been quickly and drastically readjusted to planning for zero economic growth. The ambitious plan of Prime Minister Tanaka for remodeling the nation by a system of bridges, railroads and express ways, which had its good points, will
not be feasible for some time.

Of course the price of oil has gone up. Gasoline is now about $1.12 per gallon, and heating oil about $15.00 per 55 gallon drum. The surprising thing to me was how much of modern
civilization is dependent on oil-electric power, soap, plastics and most other items are immediately affected by any increase of price or reduction in supply of oil. Even vegetables have to be haul ed to market with gasoline. So we find ourselves facing the worst rate of in

reasons: (1) The frantic scramble for toilet paper, for example, was for the American style rolls that were hardly used in Japan until the post-war period,

Foreign policy has taken a big turn

from neutral to pro-Arab. Wliile this is hasty and obviously self-interested, in the

and it was always the English word that was used in all mention of the subject by everyone. This shows that the Japanese
are very much partakers of the modern

long run Japan will be thinking in terms of avoiding total dependence on any one foreighn country for any basic thing.
In the U.N. and elsewhere Japan will no longer simply follow America's lead as has been largely true up till now. There will be more independence in spirit, plan
ning and action. This desire for inde

way of living. (2) Every Japanese is an

economist, and knows in his bones that

flation in a generation. Therising prices

influence what we set on the table and

Japan can only exist by foreign trade. Their first priority and greatest need is for freedom of the seas, stable prices and other aspects of a peaceful and demo
cratic world.

pendence is not in itself anti-American, and in my opinion the U.S. would do

well to accept and encourage it, as a

sign of maturity. In looking around

all aspects of living.

The sobering influence of this oil

shod may be good for Japan in many

Tokyn Christian
Vol. 73 Feb. 1974 No. 1

PATTON NEWS
Betty and I celebrated our 21st wed ding anniversary on December 20th.
Noel's birthday party took place on De cember 22nd, and Stephen's birthday celebrations were on January 5th. Jan

We thank each of you who sent us

gifts to help us enjoy Christmas. Your

continued offerings also have enabled us to keep our bills paid, including pay
ments on our children's school bill. We

Pubrished 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

know that some of you continue to pray for us and for that we are sinccrely thankful. May the hand of the Lord be with you throughout this New Year.
-Andrew Patton

161 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mrs. Homer Anderson, 622 Cullum Street,
Meadville. Pa. 16335. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8

Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs.
G. Wade Fletcher, R.R. 7, Rushville,
Ind. 46173.

uary 7th, the 26th anniversary of my first arrival in Japan, passed without too much fanfare. But in my heart a great deal of thought about the hap penings during that quarter century oc curred, bringing deep thanksgiving for

the mercy, watchcare, and abundant

blessings from our kind heavenly Father through those years. The Lord has con
tinued to fulfill his promise:
not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7

Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan. Forwarding Agent: FirstChurch

of Christ, Orange at Center St., E us t is,
Fla. 32726.

"He will

The Sakurayama Church held a re

Two-year subscription $ .50 Subscription and Flaming TorcASl.OO

vival meeting in November and Brother Nick Saito of Osaka Bible Seminary served as evangelist. The attendance was fairly good, and there were several "prospects" present. Though there were
no decisions for Christ, some of those who attended are continuing to show in
terest.

Noel, Stephen, Philip Palton celebrating

Stepiien's birthday (Jan.5) with Noel's

friend. IJan Larson.

Asia, japan, while not ideal in many respects, seems to me by far the most free and democratic country on the scene
in the sense that Americans think of that

We arc especially busy on Sundays now. Betty serves as organist for the Shimoochiai Church. I usually worship with the Sakurayama Church in the morning, but on the first two Sundays of January I preached at Isehara for
Paul Pratt who had to be absent. In the afternoon the Satos and I lead in the service at the Arakawa Church. In the

tuwC

Jrurfn^
'' - ST. JAMES l:ir

word. Compare e.g. the strong-man governments in S. Korea, S. Vict-nam, the Philippines etc. We fervently hope that this economic crisis will not bring in too much government control, and will

SAITO WEDDING

leave Japan with the freedom of speech and religion that is now enjoyed. One time years ago, when one of our students was thinking of quitting the Bible Seminary, a Japanese preacher remarked to me, "to us Japanese our biggest asset is people." This is true.
Japan's greatest resource is a mass of

evenings Betty and I attend die worship service held by the second group meeting at the Sakurayama Church. I am now leading in a study of I John with this
group.

A young man from M^irodai church

was married at the church on November

3, and we were very thankful for the

stand for Christ that he took at that time. He told me beforehand that it

This group is the fruit of some co operative evangelistic work by some of

us missionaries at Karuizawa in the

summer. Stephen Fleenor has led in this work, but is on furlough now. Brother
Morohaslii, minister of the Yokosuka

skilled, energetic people who have an innate ability to work together. So I have confidence that they will be able to ride out the present waves of uncertainty. Will there be a turning to God? Well, I have lived here too long to be optomistic about this. However it was re

Church, does the preaching. The great er part of the members of the group are
new Christians who are zealous and ea

ger to learn and grow. Toward the end of 1973 this group was having a bap
tism almost every Sunday. Prayer, Bible Study, and growth are especially emphasized, and fellowship in that work IS very enjoyable. Their purpose is not to constitute themselves as a separate church, but to build diemselves up to the place where they can help in the evan gelistic and ministerial work of the churches in Tokyo. At midnight on December 31 we heard the temples in our neighborhood ring their bells 108 times to atone for that many sins! Then, as usual, for the

would be a good opportunity to bring all of his family into their first contact with Christianity, which he had been hoping for since his baptism one year before. So at the end of the wedding ceremony, after speeches of congratula tion from most of the guest had been given they asked him to make some re sponse. After thanking them all for coming he boldly said that he wanted
them to know that he had become a

ported that more than one-half of the entire population went to some Shrine

Christian, that he believed God had led

during the first 3 days of the year to in voke the blessings of their gods upon them in this year. This is a record. A columnist cautioned against interpreting this as a religious revival, because most people Just go because others are doing
it. However he said that while the old

him and his bride together in answer to prayer, and that they intended to es
tablish a Christian home and live out

their lives in this faith and by God's grace. This positive declaration by the oldest son and head of the family (be cause his father is already dead) was
one of the most forceful and effective

Japanese proverb, 'Call upon god when in trouble' was not very moral it was a true instinct and perhaps showed the

testimonies I have ever heard, and was

real feeling of the people who have no

one else to turn to.

first 3 days of January regular business transactions and services, except fox the
most essential, came to a standstill.

Pray with us that we may redeem

diese times for Christ and His Church. -Harold Sims

Normalcy was not reached again until after January 15.

a thrill to my heart. All other speeches had been received with polite applause, but his final remarks were greeted with absolute silence that left a deep impres sion on everyone present. We pray that God will richly bless this new home.
-Harold Sims

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS As usual special Christmas pro grams were held in December for each of the groups we are working with. On
the 23Td the Arakawa Church had their

CHRISTMAS AT MEJIRODAI

programs for children and adults, and on Christmas Day the Sakurayama
Church did the same. The children's

program of both churches featured

while those for adults consisted of

a
a

Christmas message, a play and gifts,

Christmas message, a fellowship dinner, and an exchange of gifts. On December 23rd Betty and our
children were invited to the dinner and

program held by the young Christians who meet on Sunday evening at the Sakurayama Church. Betty has been serving as organist for the Shimoochiai
Church, and she met with them for their

The Police Department has informed

us that the general crime rate of Japan in the past year decreased considerably. But crimes committed by adolescents in creased markedly. We fear that this
downward trend in morals does not bode

Christmas program on December 16. The missionaries of the Tokyo area had their prayer meeting and Christmas
celebration on December 26. Each mis

well for the future of this country. And we wonder if those reaching adulthood
this year are any better prepared for a re sponsible adult life than those who are a few years their juniors.
Would it not be wonderful, no mat

We had our special worship service on Sunday morning Dec. 23, and then that evening we had what is becoming our traditional "program". First we have a short worship service, during part of

which we turn out the lights and sing by candle-light. This year we sang the
old favorite 'Oh Come let Us Adore

sionary family shared in the program in such ways as with musical numbers, a poem, or a message. Then our tradi tional Christmas dinner was enjoyed by all. I met again with the Bible study group at Yachiyodai in Chiba on Decemfer 27. We studied the Christmas

ter what angle it is viewed from, if a large number of the new adults this year
were sincere lovers of God and members of the household of faith? What a dif

story in Matthew 2. Eight persons were present, and after the Biblestudy, carolsing, and discussions, we enjoyed the cake which Betty had baked and sent for
the occasion. Due to construction work next door

ference that would make in the history of Japan, in the happiness of her citizens,
and, in fact, in the welfare of the whole

human race. The salvation of the youth of Japan must not be a mere ideal to us.
Rather, it deserves the full dedication of

to Nfrs. Saito's home where we usually meet the meetings have been held recent ly in the home of a new member of the group, Mrs. Matsuzaki. The January meeting will be held in our home in Tokyo. The greater part of our Christmas
celebrations were shared with our brothers and sisters in Christ and we

all our energies, talents, time, and re

sources.

The youth of Japan are the most fruitful fidd in this country for the plant ing of the gospel seed. We dare not neglect these young people. Let us re solve to work and pray harder for their
salvation. -Andrew Patton

enjoyed it in spite of our full schedule. No doubt, that is the way it should be.
-Andrew Patten

FORM 3579 REQUESTED BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049

Him" and while singing the people came forward by rows and put in their of ferings for the new building project of the Isehara church. (About SlOO was received, which was an encouragement to the small group down there.) Following this we had various mu sical numbers as follows: (1) Tonette and guitar by 2 sisters who have recendy begun attending this church. (2) Durt on the organ by 2 of the fifth graders from our Sunday School, one being die daughter of one of our-meinbers. (3) Magic show by 2 sons of one of our members who are in grades 2 and 7. (4) Guitar solo by one of the High School boys in Lois' Eng. class. (5) Flute solo and duet by a boy Ixjis met in Washington D.C. airport during her trip last summer who lives on our railroad line and his friend. (6) Vio lin, cello and organ trio by one of our members, her sister and a friend. (7) Solo by a professional singer who lives nearby and is a close friend of a mem ber of Lois' Eng. class. Then we had short play by our 5

Middle School students, followed by a gift acchange and the singing of Silent Night. There were 49 people present for the program, including several com
plete families and a few who had never

been in the church before for any serv ice. Our Sunday School programs were on Dec. 25. Because of the large num
'i-L ArVclL 71 ber of children, we divided into 2 sec-

I.ord^s Hoaper '/o OBC

l\Ot Bo;; 51b

tions-having the kindergarten and nurs

ery groups (47 enrolled) at 2 in the

Joplin^ i o* 64b0i

afternoon and the elementary school children (over 40 enrolled) in the even
ing. We counted 89 children and aduhs present at night, but failed to get the

exact amount in the afternoon. Perhaps more were present than in the evening. This was the largest attendance for any single day so far, following a record of 81 children and 5 teachers the previous Lord's Day.

Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
Volume 73

May, 1974

Number 2

GOD'S TIME - PLACE - PLAN

A year has passed since I began searching for Camp Land. From the beginning of this evangelistic endeavor, my trust has been in the Lord and His promises. And last year at this lime it
seemol that surelv in a few months a has for us to establish this Christian

Camp of Evangelism. Therefore, at this time and after much

suitalbe piece of land would be found.

But this was not to be so, for as the

difficult negotiation an initialdown pay ment and signing of contract date of April 27th has tentatively been set. How ever, a few problems remain, but if it Is
the Lord's will these will be overcome

months wentby the negotiation for every

reason or another, mosdy because the

by the 27th, even to the borrowing of

ten thousand dollars! Believing we are

prospective piece of laud failed for one So it

farmers finally would not cpU

not been revealed.

became quite clear that God's Time, Place, and olan for the right piece ol land bad A number of new places have been

in God's will in diese plans, we will bor row the money in time for the final pay ment, which may not be until July. Knowing that God has led us this
far, our faith Is sufficient to trust Him

to supply the amount lacking for the land

brought to my attention during the past

three months.
Inches of snow.

Each one was duly In

In due time, every one

vestigated, even wading through fifteen

of theseplaces was eliminated in mymind . except one! And in my judgement
as well as Harold Coles, (one of our
missionaries from the Osaka Area who

as well as the finances necessary lor a 140 meter access road and Camp Buildings. While on earth, Jesus spoke lo his

disciples saymg: ". . .Nothing is impos

sible witii God!" During these past fortyfive years sincetrusting in Jesus and His promises, HE HAS NEVER FAILED to

finest piece of all, and in many ways the

Ken Yokomizo, a fifteen year old 1st year high school student was baptized
at the Yokosuka Church In March. The

has moved to the Nagano area to help in this New Camp Evangelism) It is the

keep HisPromises. AnduntoHimwhohas been Crowned King of Kings and Lordof

Lords do we trust in bringing Salavation to the millions of lost sheep that are all about us through the dedicated servants of God and this Christian Camp. Stanley Buttray

most convenient and usable. So, at this

writing it appears thatthis beautiful wood

ed piece of land is the one which God

last six baptisms all came many years to the Sunday Bible School.

^4

Kato San, a former member of the Kam

iochial Church and his young wife of

just five months ago. He married this girl (non Christian) against our advice. But she was baptized at the Askurayama
ChuTch the 24th of March.

A recent picture of the Toyko Missionaries beside the Kamiochial Church taken at the regular monthly prayer feUowship meeting. From the right: Buttrays, Fleenors, Pattons, Sims, Pratts, and left center: Mrs. Fultz.

NEW PRE-FAB

everything and everybody worked to gether for good, and enjoyed doing it so
much. 4. THE MONEY

CLASS-ROOM AT MEJIRODAI

The total cost of the building came

close to $2000. which is less than $10

per square foot and less than 1/3 the average cost In Japan now. So object ively speaking It was inexpensive, but as
usual in such cases, for us there was the

problem of how to pay for It.

The local church had about $700. in

the bank to start with. Someof the people suggested that we appeal to the Sunday School children's parents for contribu tions. Others were hesistant aboutasking
non-Christians (only 2 parents of our

average 70 children are Christians) not knowing what the reaction would be. A lot of thought was given to this problem, but finally the prevailing opinionwasthat we should ask them. The next problem
was whether we should set an amount
or not. Since the non-Christians would

This picture was taken on March 31

at the dedication of our new class-room

2. THE PLAN

(background) which is now being used for the Beginners Department of our Sun day School at M^irodai. \Wien this year began wehad no idea such a thingwould take place, and of course had made no plans. The story of how it happened might be interesting to you.
1. THE NEED

We thought a 12x18 foot

building

not have any idea how much would be )roper we decided to give a rather broad lint that about 1,000 yen for each child would be a good idea. This is a little
over $3.00. One of the teachers was

would be the desirable and usable size,

would best match our financial capabil

ities, and could be attained and errected

quickly, since we needed something by April. The teacher of the Beginners Class

began to telephone various places and

contact frienas to find out what was available. For some weeks there seemed to be

OnJan. 5, during the holidays,before

our teachers got back into school and
other activities, we had a S.S. Teachers meeting to review diepast year and discuss

little proOTess, but we kept praying afid

looking Tor the right thing to turn up.

Then the younger brother of Saito-san,
one of our members, who works for a

assigned the job of writing this important letter, and truly agnoIzOT over it. The letters were mimeographed and passed out to all of the children on Sunday morning March 10. Within 10 minutes the first and largest offering had come in, from a family with 3 children in our S.S. They sent 10,000 yen. This was very en couraging. Just about 100 percent of the famlUes responded with the 1000 yen that had been suggested, so a total of over
$300. was received from this source. The

various plans for the new year. For the past year the 4-6 grade class has been
meeting in our dining room, the kinder

garten class in our living

the 3

large construction company

said he

year olds in the family room, and the

would be able to get one of the small houses that they put up for temporary
offices at construction sites for a reduced

litde congregadon of 10 members had a special offering on dedication day-March 31. Including a few offerings received before and after for this special purpose
we received over $300. So on me dedi

1-3 gradecIass(thebiggest)intheCiiapel. Until this time the dining-room-class had

never numbered over 10 or 12, so thw
could au be accomodated around the

price. We soon took him up on that offer, and within a week the building
was up. 3. THE HELPERS

cation day the building was well over

1/2 paid for. I have advanced the rest of the money, and expect it will be paid back before the end of this year.
5. THE RESULTS

some Sundays, and the family room is the smallest of all, so there was no pos sibility of changing rooms. What could
we do? The consensus of the teachers was that

class fills the ^ving-room with up to 30

table; but there were 13 third-graders who would be going ud to fourm grade in April ^when the schuoi year tfegins in Japan)-moTe than doubling the sizeof the class. They could not possibly fit into the dining room. The kindergarten

It was beautiful and gratifying to see each one of our small group contributing
what they could do on their own Init iative. Our lady regretted that she could not do any work, but she gave the first
contribution- a good sized one-- from

From the first Sunday in April we be gan using the new building. The teacher of the kindergarten class is overjoyed at
how the children pay better attention and are much quieter now. We used to have all the children together for 20 minutes of opening songs, and since last fall about 1/4 of them have been unable to find a place to sit. Now the little folks have their own opening exercises, with songs on their level and the 6 elementary grades meet in the church auditorium. (The 4-6 grade now meet in our living-

a class-room should be built in the yard beside the church building. We thought only pre-fab because with the present inflationary rises In wages and prices of building materials the cost of any other kind of Duildingwould be unthinkable for us. The next Sunday I explained the sit uation to our small congregation. They were surprised, but could easily see the problem and need. So we began to pray and plan.

money she earned by sewing kimonosfor people. Two High School girls could give little money, but they came on acold March day to help paint the inside walls. They had never done this kind of work

before, but they were very willing and I

was able to make the paint job look
better with the second coat. Themanwho

came to lay tiie carpet heard about the reason for the building and practically donated his labor. The company from who we bought the chairs gave us a re duction in price and the carpenters who
built the entrance also cut some off the

room, by the way.^ On Easter Sunday

we had 82 children here.

We are very thankful for the new fa cilities and believe this is Cod's doing, and it Is marvelous in our eyes.
Harold Sims

final bill. It was truly wonderful the way

Tokyo Christian Published four times a year in

January, April, July and November for

the missionaries of the Church of

Christ Cyhningham Mission, Tokyo, Japan by Mission Services, Box 177,

Kempton, Indiana 46049. Second class postage paid at Kempton, Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray, 2-26-4 Kamiochiai,Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo 161 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mrs.

Harold Sims performed theceremony and Lois played the organ and sang for the weddings of 2 of our Christian young people recendy.
1. Hiroko Tamura first came to our

niARch we6C)inQs
They were married on March 21, (our 27th wedding anniversary) with the ceremony performed both in English and Japanese languages. In a few wedcs they will be going to England where th^

houses or 9 years ago as a Junior High

school student who liked English lan

will work with his olderl)rother in grow

ing hot-house vegetables and flowersfor

sale in London.

guage very much. Shelived quitea dis

tance from the Nakano Church so didn't

Homer Anderson, 622 Cullum Street,

Meadville, Pa. 16335. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwarding A^ent; Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher,R.R. 7, Rushville,
Ind. 46173.

attend regularly, but she went to camp etc. and by and by became a Christian. After graduation from High School she
shipping company. While there she met a young man from England namedJames Chester, and after over a year of seeing each other theybecameengagedand came to ask if I would marry them. She went to England foe several months to get acquainted with his family and the language and customs there last
fall, and his father, a dentist, came all

2. The first wedding I performed in Japan was that of Mr. and Mrs. Haruo
Goto in the MUcawashima church 25

worked at a bank, Gray-line Tours, and most recendy at ^e British M:Kinnons

dress i^ich fit her exacdy. They have only 1 son, Yukio, who ^aduatra from
college in Marchand was married 3 days
later oa Nforch 28. He married a school

years ago. The bride wore Lois' wedding

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7

Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan. Forwarding Agent; FirstChurch of Christ, Orange atCenterSt., Eustis,
Fla. 32726.

Two-year subscription $ .50 Subscription and Flaming Torci$1.00

letters
yf
Sal

the way from England to attend the wedding at the Nakano church.

teacher and after a year of naduate study that is what he hopes to oecome. This wedding was here at M^irodai church. The bride's family is from Sado Island in the Japan sea, and had never been in church before, but theyall seemed to be happy with the Christian wedding. We ask that you pray for theseyoung couples and others. -Harold Sims

vie

, Cf-.

Vv

Sood
you

'As

ttvs
yields

eV^aie tJaeia ^
(Lois and

r\Knt

Pajt/v k

^^doiag

R)i
Spring Is in the air, and the cherry
blossoms and other flowers are in fuU
BAPTISM

SUNDAY SCHEDULE

TheSunday schedule forBetty and me is now about as full as it can be. Betty
attends the Shimoochal church in

morning and

bloom. Easter Sunday has come and

gone, and now weare in themidstof pre parations for the missionary convention

Our cup of joy overflowedon Easter

Sunday when Junko Okamura, a 13year

old middle-school student who has been s

church in the morning and plays the

once a month on Sundays at the church
at Isehara, once a month at the Shlmochlal church and once a month at the

plays fox them during

organ again in the evening for the "Chris tian Kyokal" group which meets at

the ftrst we^ in May.

followed by the Japanese convention in

CONVENTION PREPARATIONS

member of my Bible class attheArakawi

church for the past few months, accepter

She has now set a sood examplefor thi
rest of the youth In the church.
A BACKSLIDER

Sakurayama church. I am now preaching

Christ as her savior and was baptized

Sakurayama and Arakawa churches. On Sunday afternoons 1 attend the ser

vices at the Arakawa church and teach

During the week of spring vacation from school oiir whole family did a lot of painting, cleaning, and making and

Unfortunately one of the members of

the Arakawa Church has forsaken Christ and had affiliated himself with the Sok-

the middle-school class. In the evenings I also attend the "Christian Kyokal
services.

hangingnew curtains at theSakurayama Church in preparation for tneJVlissionaT7

Convention. Part of the sessions will be

held at this church. It was a great im provement, but much more needs to be done as tmie permits.Theconventionpro gram has beencompleted and thespeakers

agakkal, a militant Buddhist group. On Easter Sunday this young man brought four of his friends from me same group
to the church services at Arakawa. Wc

ENGLISH CLASSES

assigned their topics. The menues have

spent a few hours in talking tothemabout Christ, but I doubt Is any headway was
made with them at all.

been planned and arrangements madefor the accommodation of our guests. We are looking forward to a fine convenuon.
EASTER SERVICES

FAMILY HEALTH

Easter Sunday Services were good at both the Sakurayama and Arakawa
Churches. Most of the seats were filled

Recendy we have been concerneo about first Betty's health uid then mine. Betty had to enter the hospital for a few days of tests. The doctor could not de
termine the cause of her illness, but since

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednes day evenings I teach English at the Sak urayama church. As a result of my con tacts with the students of these Englisl* classes, I hope that they have beengiven a better understanding of Christ and the Christian religion. Some of the students are attending the church services. In the
conversation classes I ask the students

to retell in their own words a papable of Jesus assigned to them. I hope that die message of the parables also sink in.
WILLING HELPERS

then she has recovered her strength again

at both churches and the programs were go^. The children and adults met to gether ai both churches for combinec
services. The resurrection message was

completely. Now she is able to do a

Because of a persistent case of

hard day's work without getting overly tired. We praise the Lord for her re
covery.

As time pCTmlts I am trying to lend a

hand to our sister church at Isehara and

Brother Paul Pratt who are trying to

mony. M^y new people attended these to continue to attend chur<. 1 rcjoiced
over the addition of several new members
school students at the Arakawa church.

brought by sermon, drama, and testi

diarrhea, I consulted a doctor, who sus

been able to spend two days recendy in

that work. A tew weeks ago, however,
Paul visited Osaka and met there at Osaka

buud a church building there. I have

services and they are being encouraged

to my class for middle-school and highIf they will continue to come we will now have a fairly large class.

pected I had cancer of the colon. After extensive x-ray tests were taken, however, I was given a clean bill of health. The doctor says my trouble could have been caused by food, or a nervous condition. We are CTeady relieved and praise
the Lord for that too.

Seminary a Nfr. and Mrs. Reynolds from Or^on. Afr. Reynolds is a Christian

Carpenter and they agreed to help on the

Isehara church building for 3 weeks. Tre mendous progress is being made on the building since they came. They are al most ready to lay the tileon theroof now.

POSTMASTER:

Paul needed some help on the building badly and the Lord provided that help
through the Reynoldses. Paul had never heeird of them until they met at Osaka. The Lord provides help in wonderful
ways.

FORM 3579 REQUESTED

BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049

GUESTS

and Mrs. Dale Wilkinson, who

have been doing mission work In Sendai are taking their first furlough this year. They will oe passing through Tokyo and will spend thr first two weeksin June with

us. Upon their return to America, they will be living in the Rushsylvania, Ohio home where we lived during our last furlough. We are grateful for your remembrance of us and your holding us and our work up to the Lord in prayer. God Is continu ing to bless and to guide. May wach of you also enjoy God's richest blessings.

Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
Volume 73

July, 1974

Number 3

TWENTY-FIFTH "CHRISTIAN CONVENTION" HELD

ious before and during the war as the
center of nationalism and militarism,

and just this spring a bill passed the Lower House of the Japanese Diet de fining this Shrine as not "religious" but "patriotic" and allowing support of
the Shrine with government funds. The bill is now "deaa"because it didn't pass

the upper house. Needless to say, the Christians in Japan are among the
leaders of the opposition to this ominous movement in the political world. How
ever our Convention was not for the

purpose ofopposingtheYasukuni Shrine bill, but for preaching the gospel and
fellowship in Christ. It is very unusual for this building to be used for anything connected with religion. It is used mostly by labor unions or political pardes for their various conventions. On the very day our Convention began there was a meet ing of theSocialistpartythere, and a man was arrested in the halls for carrying a dangerous weapon and suspicion of attempted assasination of Mr. Narita, the head of the Socialist Party. But we were free to use it, and the price of about $10.00 per person for the evening and morning meal and spending the night-thejapanese plan-was more in

Over a year ago at one of our first-

would help their spiritual growth. At

the Convention in Shikoku, when the

Monday preacher's meetings the group was discussing the coming 1973 Con vention in Shikoku and plans for traveling as a group to save plane
fare. It was mentioned that it was about

time for Tokyo to entertain the next

convention, since it had been held in
most of the other areas where we have

churches in Japan during the last 4 years. After some discussion it was the concensus of the group that plans would progress more smoothly if one local church would assume the respon sibility and leadership of the Con vention ( as is often the case when it is held in oudying areas) instead of all of the Toyko preachers working as a kind of unweildly committee needing count less meetings for discussing the various
ideas and details. Also it was felt that this would be more in accord with our

traditional practices and Ideas of local church autonomy. People from the other
churches in the are. would of course

hdp. Soon after this Yuklo Itagaki, the preacher at the Nakano Church pro posed to the congregation intherryearly business meeting that they undertake to invite the Conventionto Tokyo for 1974. The small group felt hesitant to assume such a big project for many reasons, but he persuaded them to launch out on faith and to expect that it would be a good experience for the church and

time came to decide the place of the next convention he immediately invited them to Toyko. Upon returning to Toyko, the first problem was PLACE. There are many places in Tokyo to have a Convention, and various kinds of meetings are held in this city all during the year. But we wanted a place that would be priced low enough so families could attend. These days that almost forces the choice out of Tokyo! Also we wanted a place centrally located so that the greatest possible number of our Tokyo Chris tians would be able to attend along with the people coming from other parts of the country. Several possibilities came up, various inquiries were made, and there were disappointments that some places were not available or too expensive. When the most likely places were narrowed down to 3 or 4 a day was set for a small representative group to

linewith our desiresthan any odier place

we looked at. The auditorium which

seated over 1000 was larger than we needed, and quite expensive, but we de cided we could pay for it withthe Tokyo churches all giving special offerings for that purpose. The next thing was the PROGRAM
The auditorium was not conductive to

the usual discussions, questions from the

floor etc. so preaching was emphasized

even more than usual. The main part of
each session was a one-hour sermon,

go around to see all of these. They

finally settled on an old but rather large building called theKudan Kaikan. This building is located next to one of the moats surrounding the Emporer's palace, and at the foot of the hill on
which is built the Yasunkuni Shrine where the souls of the soldiers who died

and the two main speakers were Akira Oda of Osaka Bible Seminary and pastor of the Daito Church, and Stephen Iljima editor of Pastoral Song Magazine and

pastor of Minat^Church,

Odaspoke

on "The Power of Things Unseen" and "The Glory of Things Unseen", and Mr. lijima spoke of "The Message of Isaiah for Today"and "The Message of Paul for
Today." The theme for the Convention {Continued on page 4)

fighting for the Emporer are enshrined and worshipped. This place was notor

JAPAN CONGRESS ON EVANGELISM

The Japan Congress on Evangelism was held in Kyoto June 3-7. I often say there are toomany meetings, but a gath ering of this type comes perhaps once in
fortune teller and was converted to Christ

of the 1,000 invited delegates. Attempts

wCTe made to have as many Bible oelieving groups and viewpoints as pos sible represented. From our churches of Christ Walter Maxey and Mr. Cho, the
jreacher at Mikawashima church in To-

a generation, and I was glad to be one

several years ago. Since then she has won 31 of her family connection to the Saviour. It was very Impressive as the various dancers were introduced, and the auditorium rang with applause which expressed true joy and praise for what
God had done.

The third night they Introduced Japanese missionaries from Bolivia,

Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan andMalasyia12 In all. It reminded me of our own

cyo, also attended. The purposes of the Congress were

stated as:

1.

To meet together and reafifirm our

National Missionary Convention as each one came and gave a greeting In the language of his field of labor and than
a brief statement about his work.

Biblical faith.

2. To share and discuss the problems facing the church in Japan.

3. To consider the nature and role of

The final two nights meetings were held in a larger aduitorlum and open
to the geneal public, and there was an
attendance of well over 2000 both times.

the church in a changing Japan.

4.

To seek together a new vision fox

evangelism. The supporting organizations were three. The Japan Evangelical Fellowship (an organization of JapaneseConservatlveor Evangdlcal Denominations), Thejapan Protestant Conference (a broader ffellowship begun at the time of the Protestant Centennial In 1959, Inchidlng many In dividual Japanese Christians and some missionaries), and the Japan Evangel ical Mssionary Association (which In cludes most protestant missionaries). I am a member of the last-named group, and at present the Treasurer. All of the delegates came fromtheseS organizations
-200 missionaries, and 400 from each

At these meetings the speakers were the well-known radio preacher Aklra Hattorl and the Evangelist Koji Honda.

The delegates were allhous^ insmall

operation In this New Era" Most of

these were given by rather young Japa nese Bible Seminary professors. lAinches were catered, and included

Japanese inns, and theonelnwhlchabout 35 missionaries and I stayed was some things over 10 ,imutes walk from the auditorium. We had Japanese-style food, including raw fish every night except one
when we had raw chicken.

In our registration costs. When we filed

out of the auditorium, we were handed a small wooden box containing our rice

There are many historic and beautiful sights to see in Kyoto, which was the capital of Japan for 1000 years until
1868, but we didn't have time for diat.

and the trimmings and aplastlccontainer

of green tea from great stacks near the

door. We went outside and sat all over

Japanese

group-and

then there were

the plaza to eat, and dien put the trash In large boxes provided for that purpose.
In the afternoon there were 6 large dis

200 "observers'who were chosen because

I did manage a brief visit to our Sakyo Church of Christ In that same general area of the city, and the preacher took me to the famous "moss temple" which is at Its best In the rainy season of the
year.

they did not belong to either of the or ganizations and would be able to give wider representation and contribute other
viewpoints.

cussion groups with 2 sessions of 90

minutes each, and 10 smaller special

The meetings were held In the Kyoto City Auditorium no. 2, which barely seated all of the participants, even with
chairs In the aisles. The crowded fa

Interest froups. The large groups dis cussed subjects connected with the theme for the day. On Wednesday thesegroups
heard the results of an extensive survey

Through my connection as treasurer of the Missionary Association I was asked

to serve on the finance commtttee. The

on church growth that had been made In

cilities and full program combined to en courage people to get seats ahead of time
for the start of each session; and the full

preparation fortheCongress. Thesmaller groups discussed things llkeCamps,

room generated a sense of enthusiasm and power, good volume when we sang
and quite a bit of heat.

Each day's program began with a one-hour Bible lecture byjohn R. Stott from All Souls Church In London Eng land and chaplain to the queen. Ex

Student work, Radio Evangelism, Foreign Missions etc. The evening sessions were inspi rational. The first night speaker made a remark that often was quoted during

the following meetings. "In the Bible Christ taught us to leave the 99 sheep
in the fold and go out searching for the one lost, but in our present-day situation

first budget that we discussed was 10 million yen. This Is way over $30,000, and beyond my normal rangeofthinking and planning. We really couldn't see where all oi this money was coming from, but the next thing we knew the central committee was raising the amounts they would need for everything. The Finance Committee finally was able to draw the line and tell them they must stop at seventeen and one-half million,
about $65,000. I don't know about the

pertly translate, these practical. Biblical

and simple expositions of the chapters of Acts in beautiful English were

in Japan we must leave the one In the fold and go out seeking the 99 who are
lost"

the highlights ofthe program. Then after

a short break there was a lecture intro

generally agreed to have been among

The second night a family from Okinawa put on a dance depicting Jesus

others, but I was pretty worried about whether that much money could beralsed and what would happen is the funds didn't come in. But at the congress we received much more in the offerings than we had anticipated as well as a number
of contributions from various churches.

ducing the Theme for the day. Tuesday, 'Salvation Today", Wednesday "The Nature and Form of the Church", iThursday 'The Holy Spirit In Evangelism and Church Growth", and Friday "Co

calling the 4 fisherman, using original and native-style music and form. Then they introduced the large family group of 22 people. There were all Christians
and decendents or married to relatives

So the Congress was totally paid for in Japanese Yen. I couldn't help but ad

mire the faith and courage and ability of the men who weredoing the planning and organizing of this large meeting;
(Continued on poge 4)

of one litde old lady who used to be a

iPAHTifd m
ever3rthing. In the past two months there has been plentyof timefor rain in Japan.
The severity of the annual rainy seasons was increased by a typhoon, which re sulted in the death of about 100 people from landslidesand flooding. Two more
Solomon says there is a time for

recovered and is now carrying on his

regular summer activites. Hecdebrated

his sixteenth birthday on July 8.

typhoons may approach Japan which may cause the rainy season to last to the middle of August We have had
showers of blessings this summer.
GRADUATION

SUMJWER PAUSE Our English students will be given a month's vacation during August so that Nod and I will be free to go to camp, and so that I can carry on other church activities durinj; the month, unen cumbered with other responsibilities.
D.V.B.S. The Sakurayama and Arakawa Churches have planned a combination D.V.B.S. and camp with both children and adults going together. The meeting will be hdd in Komoro in Nagano Pre fecture for 5 days, beginning on July After travding to Komoro by 29. microbus to Komoro, the group wiU

with the group there for several months. Recendy wehave been praying about a new plan for the Yachiyodai work. We are thinking of investigating the poss ibility of renting a small plot of ground there, buying a small prefab building,

and erec^g; the building on the rentra

land. This would permit the group to meet without the problem of a lack of a meeting place. We pray that this plan will ill be possible to fulfill.
CCl WlUIUUi UlC \Jl CL Wt

ANOTHER OPEN DOOR

Noel graduated from high school in June. However, due to a mixup in his credits caused by the difference between subjects offered in American schools while we were on furlough and those offered by the Christian Academy from which he graduated, he lacks one credit ofwork,
and therefore will not receive a diploma until the credit is finished. Arrangements have been made for him to make up the lacking credit during the summer.
NOEL'S PLANS

In the meantime, another opportunity for holding a home meeting has pre
sented itselt Michiko Sato's brother and

family live in Owada, a town near Yachiyodai. They have agreed for us to have Christian meetings in their home twice a month from September. We hope to develop that also into a new church
work.

be guests in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kobayashi, theparents of Michiko Sato,
the preacher's wife. This willpresent a wonderful opportunity tothose whoattend
to know God and his will for them better.

VICTORY
One of the oldest members of the

Sakurayama Church is Afrs. Doi, who

lives next door to the church. She has

Nod plans to spend one year with us in Japan and then return to the States
and matriculate in a vocational school.

In the meantime he is helping me teach

English at the Sakurayama Church

where he has a few children's classes,

MOTOSU CAMP We will participate in the Mbtosu Camp Program again on August 5-10.

had many problems to face due mosdy

to her husband's drinking habits. Re

cendy, however, she has begun to enjoy

victories in her efforts to win her family
to Christ and to establish a Christian
home.

Preparations are abiostcomplke for the

fle will be 18 on his'bifthday on Decem

ber 22.

WEDDING BELLS
Sharon is now Mrs. Chris Sheurich. She and her husband were married on

camp now. A good program is in store and at the present time it looks like a good group of young peopleand adults will attend the camp.
PROGRESS

Several months ago Mr. Sato, the minister, began holding a Bible study
in their home. Immediately after this the husband stopped drinking and began to change his attitudes toward God and his family. Now thereisfamilyharmony, Mrs. Doi's health has impr($ved some,
(Continued on page 4)
Tokyo Christian

June 15 at the Iron Gates Christian Church, Joplin, Mssouri, and they are living in a rented apartment in Joplin.

We snare their happiness and wish ^em

a long and happy life together. Bothof
them are Christians and are trying to

build their livestogether on Christ. We

have never met Chris, but we welcome

The "Christian Church" group under the leadership of Stephen Fleenor and M:. Morohashi continues to meet on Sunday evenings at the Sakurayama Church. This group enjoys great success in winning youth to Christ. They have been having a baptism every few days, and they 2ire training the converts to be loyal
and zealous servants of Christ Almost

Published four times a year in

January, April, July and November for

the missionaries of the Church of

him iilto the family as a son and brother. We were very disappointed that wewere unable to be present at their wedding, but our thoughts and prayers were there
in our stead. We commit them to God and his word.

every member of the group is intensdy evangelistic, leading his own friends and
relatives to the Lord. Among them there are already spiritual grandchildren and

Christ Cyhningham 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

group began less than a year ago. We

gress.

great-grandchildren,

even though the

VACATION Our family is now in Karuizawa and will return to Tokyo on July 29. Nod and I return to Tokyo on Sundays each week and then join the family in Karuizawa on Wednesday night
OPERATION

r^oice in the good work being done by them and praise the Lord for this pro
YACHIYODAI
In recent months I have fdt rather

161 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mrs. Homer Anderson, 622 Cullum Street,
Meadville, Pa. 16335. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8

Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwarding Afitent: Mr. and Mrs.
G. Wade Fletcher, R.R. 7, Rushville,
Ind. 46173.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7

downhearted

about

my

work

in

In late June Philip had to have an emergency appendectomy and was hos pitalized for about ten days. He was very ill for a while, but has completdy

Yachiyodai in Chiba. The people in whose home we have been meeting and the members of this Bible study group
have used various excuses to cancel the

Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan. Forwarding Agent: FirstChurch

of Christ, Orange atCenterSt., Eustis,
Fla. 32726.

Two-year subscription $ .50 Subscription and Flaming TorcA$1.00

monthlymeetings we have scheduled. As

a result we have not been able to meet

TWENTY-FIFTH "CHRISTIAN {Continued from page 1) CONVENTION"

was, "Looking at Things Not Seen "II Cor.
4:18.

CONGRESS ON
EVANGELISM
(Continued from page 2)

The Convention is held each year in the J'apanese "Golden Week," when the weather is good and there are several holidays coming in succession making it easier for peopleto get offfrom work. This year the dates were May 3-5, which included a Sunday. The closing session of the Convention was the Sunday morning worship. That 3 hour program
was crowded with a number of short

but it was well over 400. This is a very unusual experience and a great en couragement to most of our Japanese brethern who worship in a small group
of 10 or 20 for most of their Christian
lives.

and it bodes good things for the hiture of Christianity in Japan. One of the
"laymen"
committee,

members

of

our

finance

the owner of a kimono store

It might well be that about 20 percent of our total active meipbership in Japan was present that Sunday morning. In recent years it is increasingly becoming the custom among us for whole families to attend this yearly fellowship. This
makes for a "housefold of God"

in Tokyo, loaned a million yen to the Congress 2 or 3 different times during the planning stages when we were in a
real pinch. All in all this Congresswas an educational and inspirational experience for me, and I hope that not only me but all others will be encouraged to new and better efforts for evangelizingJapan because of
it

speeches of greeting and testimonies by

people from the dif&ent areas ofJapan

and some special music. Then I preached a sermon on "Discerning theBody"connecting the theme with the Lord's Supper
which followed the sermon.

The auditorium was rented for only

certain limited blocks of time. When we

were not in the auditorium for preaching sessions or in the dining hall the con vention was divided into 6 groups which gathered in some of the larger tatami mat rooms. Here the people get to know

each other better and exchange in formation and ideas and problems con
nected with Christian and church life.

The most important result of the gathering was not the ATTENDANCE, )ut it is worthyof some comment. Tokyo

is in many ways the cen^r of Japan,

and^ many families in th^rural areas have children in University or realtives living in the capitol, so they welcomed
the chance to visit before and after the

convention. We had a total registration of 447, by far the largest of any convention so far. A good number of our local churches in the Tokyo area dismissed their morning services to join together at the Kudan Kaikan, and many who attended only this service had not registered. We do not have the exact count of the Sunday morning attendence.

atmosphere, and the Christian joy can be felt and seen in the faces of the people greeting each other after a year of work ing for the same Lord in over 60 different places. The small group of members at Nakano Church worked and planned for most of the year, and it showed up in the way everything was handled during the convention. The ladies group pre pared for the large Communion service and served tea and cookies during the afternoon break. The younger men of the church ran countless errands, operated the loud speakers etc. and the two men of the church presided at sessions and kept ther^istration and financial records. The congregation truly grew in under standing of one another and of how to work together and in unity and love through this strenuous and cooperative effort, and they are thankful and happy. There are many problems in each of the local churchesthroughout Japan, but as we look back over 25 years we have many things for which we can thank God and taJce courage. Though weshould fix our eyes on things unseen there are visible signs of growth in the right direction and a healthy manner.
Harold Sims.

Harold Sims

PATTON NEWS
(Continued from page 3)

and they are happier dian they had

thought possible only a short time ago.
A few weeks after their home Bible

study began, the Dois' youngest son, Akira, was baptized and began his walk
with the Lord. The oldest son has started

to attend the services at the Church, but is not yet a Christian. The Dois have recently announced

to us a change in their place of living. They will sell their home place at Higashinakano where they now live

and move to another place which they

own in Misashi-koganei in western Tokyo. We hope this will not hinder their progress in the Christian faith.
FURLOUGH PLANS A furlough is due for the Patton family in 1975. Our present plans call for our departing Tokyo soon after school isout in June. Arrangements have been made again for us to occupy the home for missionaries in Rushsylvania, Ohio owned by Mrs. Louis Williams of Ml Victory, OWo. We are grateful to Mrs. Williams for her hospitality and help, and are happy to have the oppor tunity to live in Rushsylvania again.
We do not know the exact date of

POSTMASTER:

FORM 3579 REQUESTED

BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049

W. AaUL 71

Ifbe Lord* 8 iioaper

F,0, Box 51b

OBC

our flight from Tokyo, but it will be around the middle of June. We expect it to cost at least $2500 for the trip to Ohio. Beginning now we will be re ceiving funds for our furlough travel. Your gifts for this purpose should be sent to our forwarding agent, Mr. and
Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, Route 6, Rushville, Indiana 46173.

Jopiin> i.Ot G4b01

Bettv keeps busy with her house hold duties, playing for two church services, and entertaining. Shecelebrated her 50th birthday on July 20th. We are grateful for your continuingto remember us. God bless all of you.
Andrew Patton

Christian
'Co ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15 Volume 73
MOTOSU CHRISTIAN CAMP

November, 1974
WITNESS

Number 4 SAN JOSE GROUP VISITS

Never in the history of this world sinceJesus ascendjcd intoheavenhas there been a greater need for His followers to rise up and become faithful witnesses than
now!

For various reasons the Church has

. . -i ,

failed to keep pace with the population explosion in our generation, until today
little resemblance remains of that vital and victorious Church of the First Cen tury.

If this is true (can anyone deny it?),

This August, 5 -10 young people,
then what can we do about it?

preachers and missionaries from six of our Tokyo churches went again to Lake Nfotosu for a week of camp. This is the 17th year we have used this campground which was established by the non-instru ment Churches of Christ; and it may be
the last, since we bought some land for

To find the answer to this question

may not be as easy as one thinks. For the answer could be as multiple as there
are divisions in the Church! For exam

On the weekend of Sept. 1, about a dozen students from San Jose Bible Col lege were in Tokyo at the end of a threeweek tour of mission fields in Korea and

f>rayer. Others might say an enlarged

ple, some will say everything depends on

developing a camp of our own during the summer. Through these years, a
good number of our Christians have be come very attached to this lovely lake in the mountains and have many happy

aith is the secret. And not a few today claim that the problem lies in a lack of the "baptism of the Spirit!" Certainly the above reasons are valid and important in varying degrees. But is there a way to state it simply? And while writing this

Japan. They were led by A1 Hammond, one of their professors, who was for some years a missionary here. The
students were scattered to four difTerent

churches for the Sunday morning wor

ship services. Then on Sunday evening

most of them attended a Youth Fellow

memories of fun, fellowship, baptisms in

the lake and other events. I have been

the Word of the Lord God came to me in

there most of the years, and feel it has been well worth the effort that has gone into the planning, managing etc. each
year.

This year we had an unusually large number of campers. The 101 people at the camp the first night really taxed the capacity of the place-using almost every dish, bed, blanket, etc. in the place. The largest age-group (about one-half of the camp) was Jr. High Schoolers, and they were most cooperative in helping with dishwashing and other chores as well
as in games, classes etc. Most of these young people were having their first con tact with Christianity and their first camping experience. We also had some

which He says to His people: "Ifmy peo ple who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land."

ship at IV^irodai church. Because school began the next day all over Tokyo, the program began and ended early. We started at 5 PM with the visiting group from San Jose pre

senting a program of songs and testi

monies. Following this, we served a light supper of hot dogs. Each one present paid about 60 cents, which cov

Does this "Word" apply to me? To you? To the Church today?

And from the throne of God comes

ered the cost of the meat. After supper,

the Japanese young people from the tour churches represented introduced the Americans to some of the recently writ ten and popular "gospel-folk" songs that Christian youth in Japan are singing, in

the quick but firm reply,''Yes!''Surprised and agitated we say, "How Lord?" And
He answers, "You have left your first love! You have traded Meand My Word for earthly pleasures!" Then suddenly and from deep within arises the overwhelming thought, "Woe
is me, for I am undone, for I am a man

cluding two written by a boy and girl

from our Umeda Church of Christ. I

translated the gist of the songs in both directions in order to help everybody to
understand what was being sung. During this time it was pouring rain outside, and parts of Tokyo were being flooded, houses washed away by raging rivers and trains stopped. But we had 53 people here enjoying truly warm and

adults who had attended as many as 10

year.

One thing that we particularly en joyed this year was learning a number of new songs that have been written in

of unclean lips." At that moment, the voice of God breaks through my selfbarrier and I hear him clearly say, "Arise! See! the harvest Is almost past! But, if you hurry and work as hard as
you can the harvest will be saved! And

the past few years by Japanese young

people. Two were introduced at the

if you really love me, even though the

hour is late, and that to be harvested is

edifying international Christian fellow

ship.

camp which had been written by young

people in one of our churches. This

"gospel folk" sung with guitar accom paniment, often has good Christian con tent as well as being easy to sing and
remember.

great, there still is just sufficient time! Es pecially, if there is teamwork!"

lake after our morning devotional time. One was a telephone operator, and the other was a Junior High girl. (Continued on page 2)

The next day we had the monthly preachers' meeting. Some could not get
there because of swollen rivers and

washed out bridges, but those who came

enjoyed a good message by our coworker A\ Hammond, who in four years of absence had forgotten very little of his Japanese language.

There were two baptisms during the

camp-both performed in the mirror-like

YACHIYODAI
I think that most of you are aware

NEW BIBLE CAMP

that I have been trying to open a new

church work in Yachiyodai in Chiba

Prefecture (which borders Tol^o). For

the past several months, our efforts have

been frustrated when our meetings were constantly cancelled by the people in whose home we have been meeting. Af
ter many

much prayer, I decided to do something

A panoramic view of theNew Camp Land Much has transpired concerning the New Bible Camp project since last wri ting for the Tokyo Christian.

such disappointments and

to change the situation so that the work could go forward. After investigation, I concluded that

the best solution to the problem was the renting of a house for our meeting if one with a reasonable rental price could be
found, search led me to a house

these funds. There is at present a "tight

money policy" in almost every country in
the world. God knows this, but He also

After many trying hours of negotia

tion, waiting for interest to mature on money in time deposit, findingsomewhere

just outside the city and near the gate of a huge apartment complex where40,000
or more people are housed. The rent is

20,000 yen a month (about $60), which

is cheap for rent there.

Although the house is not large, it will afford us a convenient place to meet unhampered by the cancellation of the
meetings by others. Our finances will

to borrow four million yen ($13,000.00) to make the final payment and start the first section of the 135 meter road (345 feet) to die camp land. Thanks to God, and a number of supporting churches
and a few interested Christians, I can write "completed" to the first part of this Camp Project. Praise the Lord!

knows wherethere is "loose" money! God has brought us this far in this New Camp Project, and my faithcompels me to trust Him for all die building facili ties also. For He knows how important this camp will be in the building of His kingdom and in reaching the multitudes
of the unreached!

Therefore we are trusting God to sup

ply that which is necessary in order that the first Camp Program can begin by the first of July 1975. I hope that everyone who reads this

not bear the extra expense of the house rental, but we have taken this step by faith. We believe the Lord will supply anything that is lacking, so long as we
are faithful.

Now we face an equally important phase of this New Camp Project and that
is Camp facilities. Wth six and one-half acres of mosdy wooded land there is

will be challenged to share in makingthis

"New Camp" a reality by next summer. Please pray with us for the Power and Audiority of die Lord JesusChrist to over come all opposition. . .that His name be praised former.

A group of young people from the Shimoochiai Church have helped to clean

hardly any limit in building adequate facilities. . .if and when money becomes
available.

the house and advertise the meetings among the people in the neighborhood. The first meeting in the new location was held on October 13th. At that meeting,
no adults and only three children attend ed. I am not discouraged, however, for
I am convinced that both adults and

Our major concern ttow is and has been for sometime, how and where to get

children can be reached in that neighbor

hood. More advertisement, more work, and more patience is needed. Just as soon as preparations can be finished, I hope to schedule a short e\ angelistic campaign in Yachiyodai. The emphasis in that effort will be on per sonal work and teaching, but not to the exclusion of preaching. I plan to enlist a group of young Christians to do the personal work in this campaign. I be
lieve that a number of souls can be won

Mss Fujioka being baptized after being witnessed to at the coffee house party and
camp.

This Is Miss June Stump. She came to

Japan as a camp consultant. She made

and a thriving church started in a short time there with this plan.
I am thrilled with the Yachiyodai work, not only because of what can be done for the Lord there, but because of

an on-site analysis and development plan of the New Camp Land. She plans a full report by end of year. Contact her at:
C. June Stump, 3 S480 VWlliaras Court,
Warrenville, IL 60555. Phone-312-3931465.

CHRISTIAN CAMP
(Continued from page 1) The group from M^irodai Church (see picture) was 13 middle-schoolers (7th and 8th grades) and one high

the vision the Lord has given us through this work of the possibility of evange lizing many other unchurched cities in Chiba. For example, there is a much larger city near Yachiyodai that is com pletely without any Christian work in it.
There are numerous other cities, too,

to make contacts for Christ such as this.

within driving distance of Tokyo that need a strong witness. Right now we lack time, money, and helpers to enter these fields. Your prayers for the Chiba work would be appreciated.

school girl. The only Christians are Lois and the girl seated next to her and Danny (with the hat). At least one-half of the others come to our English Con
versation Classes but bad never been to

Every year we have a get-together back in Tokyo called the Echo Meeting. This year it was held on Sept. 16, a Jap anese holiday, and there were over 50 present at the Sakurayama church to

look at each other's pictures, sing and

enjoy a good time of fellowship. We thank God for another good camp, with no serious injuries, good weather and a good time and victories for Christ.

any church meeting, read a Bible or had any contact with the gospel before the Camp. The camp has sen'ed each year

PATTON NEWS
Alter a busy and, we believe, a (Viiitfui siuiuner, we Pattons have setllecl back in Tokyc; and iiave lilted ourselves into
our old seliedule.
now.

Regular Helper
A y(jung man named .\L". Igarashi
Irom the Shimoochiai church lias assured

It is truiv a fidl one

Schedule

me that lie will help regularlv in the work at Yachiyodai hereafter. Together, he
and I will leach children and adults, ad

My Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wed

nesdays are set aside lor work at Sa-

vertise the meetings, counsel the people

whom we are able to contact and lead in

Motosu Camp tx'ho meeting

kurayania and Knglisli teaching (in the aUernoons and evenings). 'I'he new work at Yachivodai is taking a great deal ol the remainder of my time now and will perhaps bite more deeply into
my schedule as 1 am able to become
even more involved in that work. I now

the work. I had been looking forward to and praying for such a helper and the
Lord has provided one.

XL". Igarashi is a hou.se painter by trade but he eventually hopes to give up

his job and study for the (Christian min istry. Please pray with us that (Jod will

hope to start a cliildren's Bible Study Circle, and a ladies' meeting besides the Sunday afternoon meetings already started. The Vacliiyodai work is done almost completelv among unbelievers and the very rudiments of the gospel will have to be taught.

bless him and use him powerfully in the

work. Praise the Lord for this dedicated
young man.

Christians singing praises

Guests Besides her regular house duties, Bet
SIMS' NOTES

ty has been entertaining several guests

this Fall. Some missionaries have vis

ited us from time to time but the largest group we have entertained recently was a group from San Jose Bible College led on a tour by A1 Hammond. They
usually stayed in the Youth Hostels but

The Mikaw.ishima Church (Korean) will celebrate the 5()th anniversary of the founding of the church on Nov. 3.
We will write more about this later.

Daniel Sims spent a week this sum mer on Sado Island in the Japan Sea, as the guest of the family of the wife of
a couple married last March. Wlien he got back, he described life with that farm ing lamily on die small island as "an
other world."

all 13.

on their last night before leaving for the States, they all spent the night with us-

Karly the ne.\t morning, they

Christian witnesses studying personal

evangelism methods at Karuizawa.

were all transported to the air terminal witli the help of Mr. Buttray's and Mr Cole's cars along with our station wag on. Before retiring, the group insj)ired
us with their music talent and testimonies.

for missionary work in Thailand, spent

5 days in Tokyo in early October. Sept. 23 the missionaries all coopcrated in a work day, helping the Paul Pratts with some of the finishing work

The Warren Exline family, headcxl

Supply Preaching
I liave left the work of the Sakura-

We were blessed by the visit of these

young Clhristians and we pray that at

least some of them will catch a vision

yama and Arakawa churches almost completely in the hands of Brother Sato,
the minister. Of course, as lime and

on their new church building which they

have been building mostly with tiieir own hands for the past year. It will soon be finished.
Tokyo Christian

of service in Jaj)an.

All of us continue to enjoy good

health and are grateful to the Lord for

oi)portunity permit, I still help with the

work of these two churches, especially when they plan special evangelistic meet
ings and in odier areas of their work. Because of this change in mv work, I
am now seldom able to meet with these

this and our other abundant blessings.

Thank you for j^raying for us and our work and for your support. We hoj)e
to meet you in person during our com ing furlough. .Miiy the Lord bless and preserve you in body and soul until
then.

Published four times a year in January, April, July andNovember for

the missionaries of the Church of

two churches for worship on Sunday mornings and I miss the good fellow ship with these brothers and sisters in the Lord. Instead of meeting with them, however, I am trying to serve tlie l^ord on Sunday mornings by engaging in supply preaching among three churches. On the first Sunday of each month, I preach at Isehara to enable Paul Pratt to minister on that day to the church at Zushi. On the second Sunday I preach
at Kamiuma, and on the third and

Christ Cijfiningham f^ission, Tokyo, Japan by Mission Services, Box 177, Kempton, Indiana 46049. Second class
postage paid at Kempton, Indiana. IVIr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray, 2-26-4 Kamiochiai, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 161 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mrs. Homer Anderson, 622 Cullum Street, Meadville, Pa. 16335. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8 Higashmakano, Nakano-ku. Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher.R.R. 7, Rushville,
Ind. 46173.

fourth at Yokosuka, both ofwhich church

es

are currently without a regular

j)reacher. From these services, I have to

rush to Yackiyodai by 3:30 P.M for tlie beginning of the meetings there. It is an e.\hausling schedule but I am enjoying, the possibility of a larger usefulness in
the Lord's work.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7 Mejirodai. Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan. Forwarding Agent: First Church of Christ, Orange at Center St., E ustis,
Fla. 32726.

One of the 13 young people won to the Lord at Karuizawa being l)aplized.

Two-year subscription $ .50 Subscription and l-'lammg Torch$\.OQ

MEJIRODAI VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

On August 5t 18-25, 18-25, we we held held our our third third
Vacation Bible School.

{s "pf^ ^^EVA^^^^^S
^ NOV 30
in Karuizawa. in mtjij

of 77 was by far the largest so far. Be cause of the large number of children
and small number of classrooms, and

le School. The The enrollment enrollment

the zealous efForts of seven Japanis^/the paslTvvcTstniiinerXj^^^^ helpers, although some of them coul3*4,__p;^ticipated in an ^'angellstic caiirjwpign
not come every day. Also, among the helpers, we should include our Junior High young people, who Just after com ing back from camp spent much time preparing and practicing finger puppet shows for the VBS. They worked out a schedule, and two came each morning and evening of the week for the closing 15 minute "show" in which they empha sized the memory verse of the day. The children enjoyed and learned much from this. Danny had built the puppet stage last Christmas. They used various ani mals for the puppets.
We used the 1973 Standard VBS ma

have seen the lives of numerous young

people changed and turned to the Lord.

also for the convenience of our helpers,

we had two sections. There were about

30 pre-schoolers every morning from

9:30 to 11:30, and then the children

The campaigns have been sponsored by the Fleenors and the meetings are
planned to coincide with an annual
Buddhist festival held in the town.

in the first six grades of school came from 6:30 to 8:30 in the evenings. Of course, Lois and I helped in many ways with music, handwork, teaching and re freshments, and were very thankful for

Due to the objection of the leaders of

Karuizawa Union Church to our prac tice of immersing believers into Christ,
we were not allowed to use the premises of that church for the campaign this sum mer as was the custom in the past. This time we used the small camp owned by the Fleenors for a meeting place. Some of the young members of the
Shimoochiai Church have been trained

PATTON FURLOUGH
An announcement was made in the

terials. The English language work books could not De used fully, but the handwork was appreciated very much
because it could not be obtained here.

July issue of Tokyo Christian of our furlough plans for 1975. We plan to leave Tokyo after school is out about the middle of June and return to Tokyo in August 1976. We are investigating group and char tered flight possibilities for theJune flight
as information is made available to us.

to do personal evangelism and they did a supurb job during the campaign.
They were able to take a week's vaca

Recently we received a notice from the PTA in Japan ofvarious chartered flight plans where they reserve space on reg

Before the VBS, Danny made samples of each piece of handwork, and then ex plained it to the Japanese teachers. All of the children seemed to enjoy every day's activities, and look forward to another one next year. Weinvited the parents for a closing program on Sun day Aug. 25. A typhoon was passing near Tokyo that day, so we had heavy rains and high winds that cut into the
attendance. Even so, we had 52 chil

tion from their various duties in Tokyo and to spend that time in thecampaign.
The results were wonderful - 13 souls

were won to the Lord during the week.

Tables and chairs were arranged in

the camp yard and coffee and sweets
were served to those who came to hear.

Large groups gathered as a result of the invitations extended by part of the work
ers in the streets of the town. Each ta ble had a counselor who tried to win

ularly scheduled flights at charter^

They quoted the price of

flight rates.

79,000 yen (about $360) a person to

dren and 12 parents here simple program.

for the

the West Coast. That is a very good )rice, but we are hoping for a better are price from another group in the
future.

his guests to the Lord. Of those who were won, many are now winning their
relatives and friends to the Lord!

Participation in this work was a

Unless gifts for our furlough have been received which we have not yet been informed of, our furlough fund now
amounts to $55 which was received from

heart-warming experience and we praise the Lord for thevictories. We regret that the workers had to return to Tokyo so
soon. We believe that we could have won

twice as many people if they could have

the Jefferson Park church of Georgia. We estimate that $3000 will be required

remained for anotlier week. So might

ily grew the Word of God and multi plied. That kind of evangelism does work in Japan and it will work iji Tokyo
too! We intend to trv it.

for our travel to Ohio. This money should be on hand by April 1975, so that we will be able to purchase our tickets. Perhaps you can help us with this travel fund. Please send your check now for that purpose to our forwarding
agent, Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher,
Route 6, Box 80A Rushville, IN 46173.

POSTMASTER

FORM 3579 REQUESTED

We have not yet started plans for our furlough itinerary. But if you would like for us to visit your church and speak to your people, please let us know and we will work an engagement into our sched
ule.

BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049

We are looking forward to this fur lough with great pleasure. Nfcs. Louise \Wlliams has again made her missionary house at Rushsylvania, Ohio available to us for a year and we are grateful to

The Lord^s Hoaper % OBC

P0, Box 51b

ii.

71

Joplin, i.Ot G4b01

her for her help. And now after a long absence from you, we hope to see you again face to face and talk of the things concerning the work of the Lord in Ja pan. May God make this planned nir-

lough a blessing to us and to you.