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Tokyo Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 81 FIRST QUARTER, 1982 NUMBER 1
PATTON NEWS
TRACT
EVANGELISM
Over ten persons returned cards to us
expressing an interest in Christ among
whom four persons expressed a desire
to become Christians. Two new
persons are attending our worship
services. These are some of the results
of a few hours spent in tract distribu
tion on two occasions ~ one in
November and the other in December.
Much work was involved, however,
in preparation for the distribution of
the tracts. Betty and I and Akemi
Belew spent many hours in typing,
printing and stuffing inserts which
advertised our church services. Maps
of our area were prepared to guide the
tract distributors. Reply cards were
stamped with address of the church
and a map. Vinyl bags were filled with
neatly tied and counted bundles ready
for the helpers when they arrived.
One group of tracts was especially
prepared for adults and was used in
"door-to-door" distribution. Two other
groups of tracts were prepared for
distribution to six schools in the area.
Eight missionaries and two church
members participated in the distribu
tion of the tracts and enabled us to
place around eight thousand tracts in
the hands or mailboxes of the people in
Yokosuka.
All of the returned cards to us were
from youth, indicating again that they
are the most accessible to the gospel.
YOKOSUKA NEWS
Since the Japanese Thanksgiving
Day is November 23 and the American
Thanksgiving is the 4th Thursday in
November, the English-speaking
church and the Japanese church
celebrated the occasion together on
November 22. However, many of the
ships were not in port for the occasion.
The adult Christmas service at the
church was held on December 20. We
Pattons also celebrated our 29th
wedding anniversary at the same time.
Members of both the Japanese and
English churches and friends
attended. Andrew's message for the
evening worship pointed out that
Christ is the son of Abraham, the son
of David as well as the Son of God and
that we celebrate His birth especially
at Christmas time.
A candlelight service was held on
Christmas Eve with Kensei Yokomizo,
our "Timothy" Bible College student,
as featured speaker. One couple who
had been members of the church before
their marriage in the church, came
back at this time after many years of
absence. We pray that they will renew
their lives in the Lord and be faithful in
all things that He has commanded.
The children gathered on the 27th for
the film "Humpty" and a special
Christmas program. Handbills were
made and handed out at a school
nearby. Since that time several new
faces have been seen regularly in the
classes on Sundays. Betty baked and
iced over one hundred cup cakes from
mixes sent by ladies in Richmond, Va.
For the past three years we have had
a Bible reading program at the end of
the year. We encourage people to meet
for an hour each evening at the church
to read the Bible aloud. This year we
started December 25 and continued till
January 3. All of Genesis and part of
Exodus was read. Those were
enjoyable hours!
Akemi Belew, wife of Naval Officer
Bill Belew, has spent many hours
studying God's Word in English and
Japanese for almost 2 years. Since her
baptism on Valentine's Day 1981, she
has continued to grow in knowledge of
the Lord and mature in her Christian
life. On January 10 she taught her first
Sunday School lesson to the 6th grade
girls of the Japanese church. Akemi
will help while they are stationed
nearby. Akemi and Bill are both
enlisted in the yearly Bible reading
program of the church.
Norbert Winkler will beretiring from
the U.S. Navy in March. He, his wife
Kathy, and daughter Rachel will soon
leave Yokosuka shores. We shall miss
their Christian witness among the men
on the USS Blue Ridge and here at the
English services. Their home on the
base was always open to the navy men
and their families. We pray that they
will continue to faithfully witness for
Christ wherever they go.
THANKSGIVING-
CHRISTMAS
Thanksgiving Day and Christmas
on December 30 were celebrated at the
Julius Fleenor home in Sayama City.
In November all the missionaries and
military friends were present, sixty-
one in all. Traditional foods were
served on both occasions. The
November meeting found the fathers
and grandparents on second floor
sharing joys, sorrows and information
of the Lord's work. The younger wives
and children did the same on the first
floor. On the afternoon ofDecember 30
the women all met on the second floor
and the men on the first floor. From
3:30 to 8:30 we shared again and
prayed for each other's needs and gave
thanks to the Lord for His faithfulness
in all things.
These occasions are rare for us.
Sharing relieved us of burdens, filled
us with new hope and zeal for the work
we are here to do for the Lord.
-Andrew Patton
SIMS NEWS PICTURES OF ACTIVITIES AT ONI
Since our son Jonathan returned to Japan he has taken
many more pictures than I usually do, and this time I would
like to share some of them with you. I hope this will gi\
you a realistic mental picture of the people and work her
and encourage you to pray for these children of God als^.
(1) On November 1, at the suggestion of our deacons, we
held the first special service in honor of those who ha\h
gone from among us to be with the Lord. There have been
funerals in the local church, and invitations were sent 1.
members of the families. I am happy to say that all those
families were represented at the morning service that daji
Many of them do not attend church services regularly, an
they are not Christians, but the Japanese ha\
emphasized honoring the dead for centuries and our
Christians think it is proper for us to show that Christiarii
also do this and wise to give the people some alternative 1
calling in a Buddhist priest or having a god-shelf in th
home. We definitely did not have "prayers for the dead",
but they were mentioned and remembered during tl^
services and the families were prayed for. Otherwise w
had the regular morning worship, including a gospi
sermon. All of the families and many others expressed
appreciation for this special day, and we plan to continue
this every year about this time. *
Pictured here is Mr. Ide, an older Christian who attend
our services. He has not become a member yet, but lives in
retirement with his son a few minutes' walk from here. He
has been a Christian for 50 years, and often gives a shoi"
exhortation to our people after the services to enforce wh
I have tried to say in the sermon. Here he is doing that.
(2) On November 15 every year the Japanese have a
custom of taking their children aged 3,5 and 7 to the Shint"
Shrine all dressed up in kimono to be "Blessed an
protected from sickness and accidents." Our Christian
people do not want to go to the Shrines, so asked if the
church could not have something similar so they can te*^
the grandparents, "Oh, we did that at church". We do nc
want to imitate the Shintoists, but certainly there is nu
harm in having a special prayer for the children, so we did
on Sunday afternoon, November 15. Here are the children
who came all but one belong to members of our churcl
(3) The most recent baptism at Mejirodai was Mrs.
Tarumi on December 6. She lives in our neighborhood,
comes to the ladies chorus and to worship services, and i*"
the daughter of one of the elders in Minato Church c
Christ. She finally made her decision. Here she is playing
the violin at our Christmas program. She plays with
closed eyes to avoid distraction, and is very good.
(4) We had 54 adults and 9 children (by far the bes
attendance of the year) present in our worship service oi.
December 20. A few had to go home, but most stayed for a
light lunch and an afternoon program of music, Scripturi.
reading, fun, fellowship and gift exchange. Here is par
(one side) of the audience during the afternoon program
(5) The theme for the afternoon was God's Grace in
Growth" from Seed-sowing to Harvest. Guesswhoplayed,
the part of the seed-sower. Jonathan, under a gra.
blanket, was a storm-cloud, etc., etc.
Harold and Lois Sims are planning a trip to the United
States July 23 - September 3 this year. They plan to be at
the North American Convention in Kansas City. Their
time is limited, but they hope to visit as many supporting
churches as possible.
CHURCH IN JAPAN DURING NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER
(6) Lois' Ladies Chorus sang during the program. This
is a good view of the front of our church. The words on the
^hanging mean "Grace". A manger scene is in a part of a
cardboard box put on the wall high enough that children's
hands can't reach it. Our Communion Table has a wood
carving of DaVinci's Last Supper in it. The black basket
(with the Cross is our Offering Basket.
(7) Part of the decorations for Christmas this year were
Towel Tapestries made by Lois. Here is one of them.
(8) In Japan it is customary to have a public, formal
engagement ceremony. Usually at this time the
engagement ring is given. For Christians this is usually
done at the church in a brief and meaningful ceremony
attended by family and friends. After the ceremony tea
land cakes are served. Here is the engagement ceremony
for Takada-san, one of our Sunday School teachers. The
young man is a beauty shop owner. Not yet a Christian,
but we hope and pray.
(9) Our Sunday School Christmas Programs are always
on Christmas Day, which is also the first day of the winter
vacation for all Japanese school children. Over 90% of our
SS children come from non-Christian homes that have no
BBppecial celebration of Christmas, so we try to make the day
meaningful and enjoyable for them, and they respond
enthusiastically.
The Beginner, Pre-school class had their program at 2
The main teacher, Mrs. Nakagawa, is in the
oackground.
(10) The Primary Class program was at 4 PM. Here is a
part of the audience at that time.
PH, (11) The letters being held up by 1 & 2 graders say,
'Merry Christmas" in Japanese. Each child had a short
speech beginning with his letter.
(12) This girl, who was one ofthe announcers during the
a^lay, won the attendance prize this year by attending 50 of
the 51 Sundays between January 1 and Christmas.
(13) During the play we also had some music. Here the
shepherds and sheep play their recorders as others sing
p^'The First Noel".
(14) Another picture of the play.
(15) The Junior Class program was from 7 PM. Here is a
part of the audience. They did most ofthe planning oftheir
program themselves. They modeled scenes from the
Christmas program, and had slides made and then
presented their program accompanied by slides. This is
part of the audience of 79 -- largest of the day. The total
p^ttendance for the 3 programs was 108 students, 7
eachers, 52 parents and 30 older or younger brothers and
asters or visitors -- total of 197.
(16) Two of the girls giving their memory verses.
p^ (17) Jonathan, the photographer, leading the opening
)art of the worship service. He has passed the second level
n the Japanese language course (5 levels).
(18) The second couple to announce their engagement
pjuring this season. Their ceremony was held on January
6, just before her 21st birthday. She was baptized here on
ler 13th birthday.
m A
xt
BUTTRAY NEWS
1981 SUMMARY
That His Kingdom May Come!
Shinshu Bible Camp became a real
ity December 20th, 1979 to encourage,
increase, and help the missionaries
and cooperating J apanese preachers to
reach and evangelize a greater num
ber of persons for the Glory of God and
the Lord Jesus Christ.
The first year proved successful.
Seven missionaries and four Japanese
preachers took part in relating the
"Good News" to 257 campers. The
majority of these were not Christian.
Building on these beginnings of
1980,1 had hopes of seeing even great
er things accomplished in 1981. We are
thankful to God for All His Blessings.
The number of cooperating staff
increased as well as the campers. But
the most rewarding of all was the
number of decisions for Christ
increased six times!
Christmas Gamp group taken on the 27th of
December. Ito San who made his decision for
Christ is on the left back beside Mr. Buttray. On
the right wearing a white Camp trainer shirt is
Miho San who left the hospital to come to Camp.
She is still in need of prayer!
The 1981 Christmas Camp with 22
campers was successful in spite of it
being scheduled over Sunday. It was
highlighted by Miho San leaving the
hospital to attend! Though lacking
snow for Christmas for the first time in
many years, the campers had a good
time playing softball on the frozen
field. Also, Ito San returning for the
second time made his decision,
confessing his faith in Jesus Christ on
the last day of Camp!
Also, Taninari San came back from a
very interesting 1st visit to the U.S.A.
He and 10 other Japanese preachers
and Camp leaders visited a number of
Camps in California. They then
attended the "Christian Camping
International Seminar" which was
held at the Glorieta Camp near
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
It is now a year and a half since
Taninari San came to work in Shinshu
Bible Camp. His experiences in the
States have definitely helped increase
his desire (vision) to make "Camping"
his work for the Lord.
Christmas Camp 1981. Candlelight Service on
Christmas night. Taninari San on the right back,
and Yokomizo San on the left.
What we have been praying for is
about to happen. Taninari San's
present thinking is to make Shinshu
Bible Camp his life's work. And he is
planning on moving his belongings
from Osaka sometime in the Spring. To
conserve energy and finances the
Camp building is closed during the
winter, except when Camps are
scheduled. So, Taninari San is living
with us, but will return to the "Camp
Guest Room" sometime in March.
Therefore, more effort must be made to
finance the construction (this year if
possible) of a Staff-Japanese Camp
manager building. Pray that God will
provide the needs for this building.
Besides a Staff-Manager building
there are a number of other
improvement projects that we would
like to see accomplished in time for the
1982 Summer Camps. But almost all of
them are dependent on finances. IF all
scheduled Camps could have an
average of 60 campers this year, we
could plan on improvements in 1983!
The greater the number of campers, the
greater the number of decisions for
Christ can be expected.
Christian Camps in Japan (unlike
those in the U.S.A. which are "Service
Camps") are about 98%an evangelistic
effort! Therefore please do not
underestimate the importance of
Christian Camps in Japan in fulfilling
OUR OBLIGATION to the "Great
Commission". Please include the
success of Shinshu Bible Camp during
1982 in your daily prayers!
"Stanley Buttray
Missionaries Thanksgiving meeting held at the
Sayama Church of Christ in the suburb of Tokyo.
Those showing in the picture from left to right are;
Mark and Lynn Pratt; Russ Jordan, U.S. Navy;
Johnny Sims; Dale Wilkinson; Harold Sims, And
the heads showing in the foreground are: Bobby
Boyers, U.S. Navy; Julius Fleenor and Andrew
Patton.
Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370)
Published four times a year in Jan
uary, April, July and November for
the missionaries of the Church of
Christ Cunningham Mission, Tokyo,
Japan by Mission Services, Box 177,
Kempton, Indiana 46049. Second
Class postage paid at Kempton,
Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray, 571-
8 Innaihara, Mochizuki, Kitasaku
Gun. Nagano Ken. Japan 384-22.
Forwarding Agent: Mrs. Garydon
Hessler, 760 Garden St.. Meadville.
PA 16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton. 3-7-8
Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo
164 Japan. Forwarding Agent; Mr.
and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, R. 6. Box
15, Rushville, IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193
Japan. Forwarding Agent; First
Church of Christ, Orange at Center
St., Eustis, FL 32726.
Two-year subscription $.,50
Subscription and
Flaming Torch $1.00
/J?/3
M/iR 2 2
SIMS NEHSLGTTBR AND YE^Y IIEPORT January 1982
Looking back at last year:
Mejtredai Church
It could be called a routine or a busy year, but I think most of us would want
to add "goode" Our Sunday School had the best ever average attendrace--81, ^foming
worsl^ip averaged 25.9 adults and 3.3 children. There were 4 baptized during the year,
and^we had 3 church-connected weddings and 1 funeral.
;We took. 6:young people for a 3 day camp at the Shinshu Bible Ca^ in Nagano
prefecture during the spring vacation (listening to news of the assasination at
tempt on Pres. Reagan on the car radio on the way), and 11 of the s^e age group
to a sunoaer caoqp at the same place the first week of August, Our Vacation Bible
School' at Lake Saiko the..socpnd week of August had 69 children and 12 teachers and
helpers,
September 24-27 we had an evangelistic meeting that resulted in 2 of the
baptisms mentioned above and a reviving of our members and the making of some new
contacts, Nov. 1 we had a special service durihg the worship hour honoring those
who have gone from our midst to be with the L6rd, and Nov. 15 we had a special
prayer service for children on Sunday afternoon. Both of these were held this
year for the first time, but we hope to make them annual~eventST N0\r.^^2 was-ou*
Thanksgiving Sunday, with a special offering for radio evangelism reaching blind:
people, (A blind couple are among our ma&bers,) It is already a tradition here
that on this day we have a carry-in dinner and then everyone tells what they are
especially thankful for this year.
Christmas is always the high point of the year in attendance. We had 54 adults
and 9 children present for worship on Sunday Dec. 20, and most of them stayed for
a light lunch and a music centered program and gift exchange lasting much of the
afternoon. There is quite a bit of musical talent in this small group, and we all
enjoy these occasions for sharing it. Some new people were among the 29 *dio came
for a candle-service and cisirol-sing on Christmas Eve. Then on Friday Dec. 25 we had
the 3 Christmas Programs for the 3 divisions of our Sunday School, with a total at
tendance of 197 people, including 108 students and 52 parents. All but 3 of these
children come from non-Christian homes in this neighborhood, and this is a good
opportunity to get the gospel message to them. The offerings received at these
programs were almost 300 dollars. So all of yj who remembered us in your prayers
and sent us notes of best wishes and encouragement in those cards should consider
your prayers answered. We did indeed have a wonderful Christmas in every way, and
look forward to another happy year in the service of our Lord. We also received nice
gifts and cards from many of our Japanese brethren and friends.
2
Lois and I continued our rather full schedule of S week-day Bible studies a
month and 18 hours of English Conversation Classes every week withbut missing a .
single one because of sickness. Lois' Ladies Chorus (10 manbers) has continue to
meet for Bible reading, prayer and singing practice aimbst every Monday, and has
sung for Church services on a number of occasions, including Christmas. One of the
baptisms for the year came from this group. Alady who was active in the Chorus,
until they moved to a new house farther away from here last year, died suddenly Of
a heart attack on Sunday Dec. 20 at the age of 37, leaving i lovelylittlb'grammar
school girls and a grieving husband. We went to the hoibe and had prayfer with.the
family in the part of the room that was not occupied with the massive Japanese
funeral altar. It made all of us think of the uncertainties bf life, and we es
pecially criticized ourselves for not having spoken'to her more strbiigly and often
about her soul's salvation and the need for decision and committment.
The Wider Picture in Japan:
We .attended the yearly conventions in Kyushu at the end of July, and follow
ing that spent 2days sightseeing in the Nagasaki area where the early Japanese
Christians were persecuted so severely almost 400 years ago. It was very interest-
ing>.-and-s^weloome-change, for-M;a^,-P4ff?y. Boggs^_who had been v^iting other
missionaries in Japan, since.J^jril, made this sightseeing trip and the journey back
to Tokyb with us. She had a pretty good over-all view of the Christian work in
Japan-during her 1year internship, and returned to the U.S. on August 5. There is
an encouraging sense of brotherhood among our 2000 plus Christians in 60 plus small
congregations throughout Japan, although numerical growth is slow.
In Tokyo we have kept the Fifth Sunday Rallies going, and preachers meetings
are being held more regularly again. I preached a,3 day evangelistic meeting for our
Arakawa church in the small industrial,section of the city and enjoyed getter better
acquainted vrith the group of believers there. Not only the churches, but the
missionaries are widely scattered over the metropolitan area. It takes us about an
hour to get to the nearest one in.ordinary traffic, But we do keep in contact with
each other by phone and meet as often as we can together.
Harold-continues to.,,serve, presently as Chairman, on the Board of the Japan
Missionary Language Institute, which has .50- to 60 young missionaries studying the
notoriously difficult Japanese language and employs about a dozen Japanese teachers.
He is also one of the Councillors of Osaka Bible Seminary,
- I am not an artist,' by brush or tongue, but would like to give you a word-
picture of the average Japanese church in order to help you to understand and pray
intelligently for us.
^.".3
It is a group.pf about 30 pepple--more w(nn6n than men, more middle-class than rich
or poor. They come to church in any kind of weather, carrying their own Bibles and
h'< '
Hymnals, sing slowly and always say "Aahmen" after every prayer and hyurn. They meet
in a modest building on a side street ifith a cross on top. The name on most of them
simply say, "(Area name) Christ Church." The preacher's family lives in part of this
same building, and he and/or his wife teach music, English, brush writing*
garten or something in the building, or work somewhere nearby to supplemen^ tte very
modest amount of salary-the church pays them. The per capita giving, while not up
to a tithe for most, is su^risingly good. They get discouraged at times, but they
are not .J^paten or defeated in attitude or in faith. Society may largely i^ore them,
but they do not ignore their society or feat the government. The greatest need is
not mote missionaries or more money, but more of the power of the Holy Spirit and
intercesspry prayer. %e best thing is that there are more of the churches than
there were 10 years ago.
Xbelieve this is an accurate description not only of our local church, but of
all the;bther churches ( 2 Baptist, 1 Assembly, 1 United Church, 1 Holiness) with
in Sf ? mile range of us.
. * . t , * : . ' ** .
Family
As jail of you know, Jonathan returned to Japan as a missionary at the end of
May. Since then he has been very busy in full-time language study. He also helped
with .our 'Summer activities, made a trip to Osaka Bible Seminary for thier annual
conference in November and has preached a couple of times and helps every Sunday in
one Sunday School Class and by presiding at the worship services. He is making good
progress,, but has some stomach problems caused by nerves and stress and needs your
prayers as he "hangs in there." We just talked by phone with our children who are
in the U^S. at Christmas, and all of them are getting along all right.
Looking Toward 1982
We expect to enjoy another good year in the local church work. Harold will be
prehclvittg" 2Sundays a. p^pnth on Romans, and 1Sunday on Mark and 1on Exodus throughout
the year, except when we have visitors and special occasions. It has been 3 years
since our last visit to the United States. We have heard there is quite a savings on
a 45 day round trip, so we are planning to make another short trip to the U.S. next
summer, beginning with the North American Convention and getting back here the first
week of September. We hope to see as many of you as possible during that time.
We hope that each, of you will enjoy and use God's many promises and blessings
to the fullest extent each day of the year.
In His Service,
Harold and Lois Sims
REPORT OF FUNDS HANDLED BY HAROLD SIMS IN TOKYO Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 1981
INCOME
3,
4.
5.
6.
7.
From Eustis General Expense
(This report does not include living link 10,800, and
the specially designated Christmas gift from Napa
because this is just a report of "Mission Funds.")
Offerings sent direct from U.S. to Japan
Mrs. E. and G. Crouch, Columbus, Ind.
First Christian Church, Chester W.Va.
Mrs. Chas. Meadows, Charlottesville, Va.
Touring Student Group, San Jose, Calif.
Primary Dept. Westwood Cheviot Church Cin. Ohio
Mr. 0. Eckstein, Eustis, Fl.
M/M Robe:rt Lucas, Leesburg, Fl.
25.00
20.00
75.00
40.00
10.00
4.00
10.00
184.00
Preaching in Japan
Reimbursement of travel expenses
From Osaka Bible Seminary
Other People
Reimbursement for VBS supplies purchased in U.S. in 1979
Sales of Bibles and Songbooks etc. at church
Repayment by Jonathan of tuition paid for him in 1979
TOTAL
EXPENDITURES
Travel by train, bus, taxi
Automobile Gasoline
Toll and parking
insurance, taxes, repairs, inspection
Travel to Kyushu Convention, including hotel L 6 H
Postage
Telephone
Office Supplies
Pictures and publicity materials
Christmas letter printing
" gifts tc Japanese preacher
" calendars for Japanes Christians and friends
Purchase of slide and filmstrip projector
Projector and tape recorder repairs
Film rentals
Vacation Bible School
Part of salary of helper at camp
Legal fees and document copying for religious corporation
Purchase of tapes for recording sermons etc. at church
Tracts and other materials for evangelism distribution
Upper Room for every member
Books for our church library
Teaching materials
Purchase of Bibles, Songbooks etc. for sale at church
Memberships in missionary organizations and sub. to magazines
U.S.
Japan
House repairs
Fire Insurance
1981 RECEIPTS - SIMS TOKYO MISSION
ARIZONA:
First Christian Church - Yuma
CALIFORNIA:
First Christian Church- Napa
CANADA:
Church of Christ Lord's Cove Deer Is.
FLORIDA:
Atlantic Bank - Eustis
First Church of Christ - Eustis
Englewood Christian Chv Jacksonville
" Wendy Circle
" Doris Circle
TOTAL
655.00
4032.00
25.00
3586.85(Interest)
10.00 400.00
1200.00
42.64
5,900.00
184.00
184.33
92.16
200.46
28.57
432.67
350.00
7372.19
479.12
716.31
214.75
1039.03
963.60
734.01
471.24
118.52
48.17
69.12
80.18
225.16
102.85
92.76
35.94
86.19
368.66
65.87
41.98
217.05
117.51
108.94
69.12
394.24
29.00
126.45
172.62
147.46
7335.85
200.00 Christmas
50.00
1981 RECEIPTS - SIMS TOKYO MISSI(J (cont)
FLORIDA:
Central Christian Church - St. Petersburg
" " Womens Service Circle
GEORGIA:
Christian Church - Bainbridge
INDIANA:
First Christian Church - Columbus
First Church of Christ - Garrett
Church of Christ - Markle
Southside Christian Church - Munster
ILLINOIS:
First Christian Church of Chicago
KENTUCKY:
Church of Christ of Alexander
Mrs. Betty B, Royal - Owensboro
MARYLAND:
C.iV.F. of Hyattstown Christian Church
MISSOURI:
Island City Christian Church - King City
NEBPASKA:
Church of Christ - Wymore
NORTH CAROLINA:
Missionary Society of Poplar Spring Church
of Christ
OHIO:
Clovemook Christian Church - Cincinnati
White Oak Christian Church - Cincinnati
Western Hills Church of Christ "
Mrs. Charles E. Ourada "
Church of Christ - Hamersville
New Somerset Christian Church - Richmond
First Christian Church - Springfield
PENNSYLVANIA:
Christian^Church Missions - Confluence
First Christian Church of Fayette City
First Christian Church of Homestead
Jane E. Errett - Kenneth Square
Monroeville Christian Church
Missionary Society - First Christian Church
New Salem
First Christian Church - Turtle Creek
TENNESSEE:
First Christian Church - Johnson City
Francis A./Hazel E. Atkins - Milligan Col.
TEXAS:
Barstow Christian Church
VIRGINIA:
First Christian Church - Charlottesville
Nellie C. Sims "
Northside Church of Christ. - Newport News
" Kings Business Missionary Guild
' Loyal Ladies Bible Class
" Circle 4 - Kings Business
V.rEST VIRGINIA:
Warwood Christian Church -
TOTALS
DISBURSEMENTS:
Insurance
Mission Services
Office Supplies
Tel Tel q Post.
Misc. Expense
Harold Sims - Gen,
Expense
Living Link
Designated fund
Jonathan Sims
Certificate of
Deposit
Total Disburse
ments
593.00
515.28
108.00
101.61
11.00
6000.00
10800.00
295.00
100.00
11000.00
$29523.89
General
Expense
1800.00
20.00
460.00
250.00
400.60
318.65
40.00
335.00
100.00
50.00
100.00
50.00
151.52
1800.00
25.00
10.00
325.00
183,75
30.00
120.00
520.00
80.00
10.00
320.00
120.00
179.00
30.00
50.00
50.00
25.00
50.00
10.00
150.00
Living
Link
1211.00
Designated
Funds
15.00 PersonaJ
30.00 Lois
1000.00 100.00 Jonathan
750.00
2148.00
2845.59
1650.00
$13,683.01 14,036.59 395.00
Bal 1/1/81
82' Receipts
5,096.78
28.114.60
33,211.38
Less disbursements 29.523.89
Bal.
Tokyo Ui Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 81 SECOND QUARTER, 1982 NUMBER 2
PATTON NEWS
YOKOSUKA
EVANGELISTIC
MEETING
Again this year, the Yokosuka
Church planned and prepared for an
Easter evangelistic meeting April 10-
11. Six thousand handbills and tracts
were prepared to be distributed to the
homes in the community. Also posters
were displayed in various places as
well as at the train station.
Andrew and Kensei Yokomizo (home
from the Seminary for four days)
began passing out the literature door-
to-door on Monday and Tuesday
preceding the meeting, 4 hours each
day, up and down the hills and the
many thousand steps to reach each
door. Thursday the working crew
increased when Paul Pratt, Stephen
Fleenor and Warren Christianson
joined us for two days of
work. Tired feet and exhausted bodies
were the result of having given out
5,700 pieces of literature.
Mr. Taninari of Shinshu Bible camp
served as the evangelist for the
meeting. He brought good Gospel
messages but unfortunately not one
new person attended the meeting.
When a man who has attended our
church services saw that no new
person came to the Easter meetings, he
said, 'T did imt help to distribute that
literature and didn't bear the expense
of it. But I think you money and time
were wasted." We answered him in
this way. "Certainly not. About 6,000
homes received literature and those
who read it got a Gospel message and
information as to where the church
was located. Perhaps they will
remember it later and come to our
services." We made a mental note at
the time that the same man who made
the above criticism first came to our
services because he had received a
tract we previously delivered to his
door.
A denominational friend of ours who
lives near Yokosuka followed
Andrew's suggestion of advertising.
So the friend and his church
distributed 600 handbills in his area
and had 5 new persons at the Easter
service. It pays to advertise in church
work too.
WORK AMONG
SERVICEMEN
In March, Mr. and Mrs. Norbert
Winkler returned to the States as Mr.
Winkler was discharged after having
served for twenty-one years in the U.S.
Naval Forces. From California they
planned to journey to Florida visiting
various Bible Colleges along the way.
Since their departure our
evangelistic work among the navy
men at Yokosuka has dwindled to
nothing. We have no pass to the base
and can only visit there when
accompanied by navy personnel. Also
the ships stationed here have been
mostly at sea recently. Therefore, we
are very limited in the work we are
able to do among the navy men.
There is a definite need for a mis
sionary who can qualify for a pass to
the base and can spend a great deal of
time among the military personnel
stationed here.
Recently we were very shocked to
learn that a sailor that we had baptized
was won over to the Soka Gakkai, a
strong Buddhist sect in Japan. After
having met a Japanese girl while
riding the train, this young man was
introduced to the religion. From there
U.S. navy officers continued to teach
him and converted him into the pagan
faith. Many of the U.S. navy officers
have married Japanese women who
are of the Buddhistic sect and have
joined their wives in propagating the
religion on the base. Some ships have
the god-shelf to aid the converts in
their worship while at sea. This is but
one ofthe many temptations our young
navy men face.
We feel very sorry this young person
has been led to renounce his Saviour.
We were so limited in our contacts with
him that there was little we could do to
help him. And once he was won to that
group, I doubt if anyone could have
helped him. We will keep our doors
open to him and pray that he will once
again seek the Way, Truth and Life
that he once accepted, Christ Jesus our
Lord.
YOKOSUKA
CHILDREN'S
MEETINGS
On February 14, Valentine's Day, a
special children's meeting was held at
the Yokosuka Church. A handbill
designed by Miss Ichinose was
reproduced and distributed at the
neighborhood school.
An interesting program along with a
movie and refreshments was enjoyed
by thirty-two children and five adults
that attended. Some of the new
children have continued to come to
Sunday School since that time.
Another special children's meeting
was held on Easter morning from 9
a.m. to 11 a.m. during the Bible School
hour. Slides were shown preceding and
following our regular Bible Study hour.
Our three oldest students were
recognized for memorizing all the
books of the Bible for which they
received a Bible as a gift from the
church.
These three older girls recently
graduated from Primary school and
have entered junior high school. They
attended the high school camp held at
Shinshu Bible Camp on March 29-
April 1. Betty and I accompanied them
on the train and Betty served as one of
the camp cooks while we were there.
Oftentimes, evangelism in Japan
must begin with the children and
young people. They are generally the
most easily reached with the Gospel.
SIMS NEWS
FIFTH SUNDAY
RALLY AT
MEJIRODAI
For several years we have been
having a rally at one of our Tokyo
churches on the fifth Sunday
afternoon and evening. TheMejirodai
church entertained their third one on
January 31, and we felthappy aboutit,
so I would like to describe it for you.
We had a record number of churches
represented. There were 13 from
Minato, 8 from Sayama, 7 from
Nakano, 5 from Arakawa, 4 from
Sakurayama, Machida, Sannobara
and Onta, 2 from Umeda and
Kotesashi and 1 from Zushi. There
were 19 adults and 4 children from
Mejirodai for the afternoon plus 3
who came only for the evening
message. The totals were 76 people
(not a record) from 12 different
churches.
-The-program. .began promptly at 3
PM. Each church was asked to have 1
person prepared to speak 5 minutes
about their goals for this year. Some
sang a special musical number also.
We heard news about 3 Christian
weddings during the past year in 1
church, a man giving up a long
standing drinking habit, the
celebration of one preacher's 20th year
with that church, needs for more
Sunday School teachers, a man
reading 3 chapters in the Bible each
day and other edifying short speeches
from all over the crowded room.
Between each speech we sang a
congregational song-ll good rousing
ones, enjoyed by everyone.
For supper we had fried noodles. A
man who works at the same crystal
factory as one of our members has a
hobby of going to various gatherings
t
and making this (his favorite food) for
folks. He has a large steel plate,
propane gas burners and all the
necessary equipment, and he set this
up in our yard during the afternoon
program. We bought the noodles and
all other things. Three of the church
ladies cut 5 heads ofcabbage, 10 onions
and so forth earlier in the afternoon in
preparation. All the people were served
on paper plates in about 30 minutes,
and there were seconds available for
those who went outside to get them.
Each person also got a cup ofgreen tea,
2 tangerines and a large cookie. Each
person paid about $2.00. The church
was crowded, but there was a lot of
happy, lively conversation during this
mealtime, and the hot noodles hit the
spot on a cold winter evening.
After supper Stephen lijima
preached about "The Salvation of the
Family" from Acts 16. It was a great
encouragement to many of those
present to hear actual examples of
people from Minato church who had
prayed for years for the conversion
of their mates and of answers
to those prayers. We were
surprised and very happy to hear
that Minato church now has 23 couples
who are both Christians.
SPRING JR/SR
HIGH SCHOOL
CAMP
Thirty-six or -eight Middle and High
School students and a few College
students attended a short camp during
the spring vaction. The Shinshu Bible
Camp was warmed up after the long
winter season, and we all had a good
time. All of the cooking and almost all
of the teaching was done by our
missionaries in the Tokyo area. With
(A Js
>v,
this staff included, there were about 50
people at every meal. The dates were
March 29-April 1.
Three young people came forward
during the invitation on the last night
of the camp at vespers. One girl had
come forward at a previous camp, but
so far has had opposition from her
parents to her desire to be baptized.
The other 2 boys were to be baptized at
their local churches during April.
We followed the standard camp
schedule. On the second afternoon the
rain made it impossible to have
outdoor recreation, so we loaded up
most of the campers in cars and made a
trip to the resort town of Karuizawa (45
minutes drive) where they enjoyed ice
skating in an indoor rink. While there,
the weather cleared and we had a
spectacular view of the snow-capped
volcanic Mt. Asama.
Also during the camp we were
all cheered by the release,
after some weeks in the hospital
with a serious blood disease,
of little Karen, the youngest
child of missionaries Warren
and Eileen Christianson. The
Christiansens live about 10 or 15
minutes drive from the camp in
Nagano Prefecture.
Home of Warren Chistiansons.
finished.
Inside still un-
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON CHURCH
GROWTH IN THE TOKYO AREA
Here are some excerts from a report I
gave at the annual meeting of the
Japan Evangelical Missionary
Association on February 15, 1982. I
think this may be interesting and
informative to our readers.
I am an expert neither on 'Church
Growth' nor data accumulation and
analysis, and I would probably not
make such a report as the following on
my own initiative, but I was asked last
month to do two things out of my usual
range of assignments~l. Be the repre
sentative at this year's Plenary
Session of the independent member
missionaries in the Tokyo area, 2. Give
a report on the general church
situation in the area.
At first this second assignment
brought me to realize how limited in
scope and vision, how localized and
self-centered my work and prayers are.
Then I felt overwhelmed by the
difficulties Of gathering any general
information that would be edifying to
this group. The answer to the second
problem was found at the fairly new
Church Information Service office,
and the information I am going to give
you is from their statistics. Let us look
briefly at some facts related to 3 areas:
I. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF
PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN
TOKYO AND JAPAN
For many years we have heard it
said that one-fourth of all Christians
and Churches in Japan were inTokyo.
This is no longer true, if it ever was. At
this moment there are 5,600 plus
Protestant churches listed in CIS files.
About one-seventh of these (832) are in
Tokyo. For comparison, the 3
surrounding prefectures (Chiba,
Saitama and Kanagawa) have 745
churches.
II. THE RATIO OF CHURCHES TO
POPULATION
For 10 years or more the population
ofTokyo has remained rather stable at
about 11 million. The 3 surrounding
prefectures are growing and total
about 17 million. This means that
approximately one-fourth of the
Japanese race lives around Tokyo Bay.
Tokyo has 1 church for every 14,000
inhabitants. Chiba Prefecture has 1
church for every 24,000 inhabitants.
Saitama Prefecture has 1 church for
every 23,500 inhabitant8. Kanagawa
Prefecture has 1 church for every
20,000 inhabitants.
The general impression seems to be
that the downtown churches are
declining and those in the suburbs are
growing by leaps and bounds. I
decided to test this by taking 6 wards
and cities in the area that could be
considered representative of the
various situations, and compiling the
most accurate figures that could be
obtained on the numbers of churches
and population. The results are in the
following chart [see chart below]:
Name of City Number of Churches Population (in thousands)
Year 1950 '60 '70 '80 '50 '60 '70 '80
Chiyoda Ward 14 12 13 12 110 117 74 61
Nakano Ward 19 29 28 28 213 351 379 373
Hachioji City 6 8 11 19 83 158 254 323
Funabashi City
Chiba Pref. 7 7 13 18 83 135 325 423
Kawagoe City
Saitama Pref. 4 7 8 13 53 108 171 225
Kawasaki City
Kawasaki Pref. 10 18 34 43 319 634 973 1015
Two other points that do not showon
this chart should be mentioned. 1. The
total number of churches in the 23
ward area of Tokyo grew at 1 percent
per year or less between the two
surveys made by Japan Harvest
magazine in 1969 and 1980. The
population in that area was not
growing at that time either. Duringthe
same 10 years the number of
Protestant churches in the suburban
cities grew by roughly 40%. The
population was also growing there too.
2. Approximately one-half of the
Churches in the 23 wards ofTokyo are
either United Church of Japan or
Anglican. But in the Tokyo cities and
the prefectural cities they number one-
third at most and are often less than
one-fourth.
HI. THE AVERAGE MEMBERSHIP
OF THESE CHURCHES
It is often said in Japan'and abroad
that the average Japanese church has
30 members, and that when this size is
reached there is a sort of barrier that is
difficult to cross. This is no longer a
true picture of the whole, though it well
describes many local situations I know
about.
The Church Information Service
office told me that accurate
membership statistics are most
difficult to receive and judge. They
gave me figures for 3 different types of
Protestant churches that submit the
most complete and accurate records:
Note: 1. The population decline in
Chiyoda Ward, but the stability in the
number of churches. At least 10 people
I knowofin my Hachioji neighborhood
travel over an hour one way to attend
their church in downtown Tokyo every
Sunday. 2. The stability and level of
both population and number of
churches in Nakano ward. 3. The great
growth of the cities. The number of
churches has increased remarkably,
but is hardly keeping up with the
percentages in population growth.
Tokyo Wards Tokyo Cities
1. Domei (Alliance)
Year 70 80 '70 80
Churches 13 14 3 6
Membership 1269 359 124 266
Average 98 97 41 44
2. Evangelical Lutheran
Churches 16 16 2 3
Membership 2896 3761 210 300
Average 181 325 105 100
3. Japan Holiness
Churches 13 18 6 11
Membership 994 1512 181 516
Average 76 84 30 47
The latest annual Christian
Year Book, published by the
Christ Weekly Newspaper, gives
the figure 799,000 for the total
number of Protestants in Japan.
This includes some groups claim
ing rather large memberships
that- are considered cults by
many. But even if we should cut
that figure by 30% to eliminate
cults and inflated membership figures,
we would still have about 100
members for every church listed in the
CIS files.
CONCLUSION
Because of the price of real estate
these days, any large increase in the
numbers of churches in our area
cannot reasonably be expected. We
should put our efforts into making the
existing churches bigger and using the
good locations to the fullest extent by
dual worship services, etc.
On the back windows of half of all
vehicles in Tokyo you see the traffic
safety slogan, "Run gently, Tokyo."
We might well adopt that and proceed.
ANNIVERSARY ATTENDANCE
Our church attendance was below
average during the winter months,
because of the weather, many colds
and other illnesses, etc. On March 14
we had only 21 adults and no children
present. At the announcement period I
remarked that the next Sunday would
be our 35th wedding anniversary. It
was also the regular Sunday for our
young people to stay after church for
their monthly meeting, and that day
they were having a party for 2 of the
girls who are getting married this
spring. I said it would certainlybe nice
if we had 35 people in the morning
worship that day, but perhaps that was
setting the goal too high.
Nobody said anything, but I am sure
some people did some calling during
the week. The next Sunday we had 38
adults and 8 children in church~the
most since Christmas. Another couple
in the church had their 11th
anniversary the same day, and we had
enough people for both anniversaries.
The return of Toyama family (5) on
that day also helped. Mr. Toyama is a
professor of German language and
Philosophy in the Meiji University
here. They have been in America the
past year while he has been doingsome
research and study at Harvard
University. Mr. Toyama is not a
Christian. His wife, a German, is a
member of the Evangelical Church in
Germany, and they have 3 children.
They attended here regularly before
going to the U.S., and during their
stay in our country they attended the
Bedford Christian Church in
Massachusetts regularly. We are
grateful for the many kindnesses our
American brethren showed them, and
believe some day they will become
Christians. They certainly gave a
warm and enthusiastic report of their
experiences and church life in our
country.
Tokyo Christian
(No. 776 370)
Published four times a year in Jan
uary, April, July and November for the
missionaries of the Church of Christ,
Cunningham Mission, Tokyo, Japan
by Mission Services, PO Box 2427,
Knoxville, Tennessee 37901. Second
Class postage paid at Knoxville, TN
37901. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to MISSION SERVICES, PO
Box 2427, KnoxvUIe, TN 37901
Mr. and Mrs Stanley Buttray, 571-8
Innaihara, Mochizuki, Kitasaku Gun,
Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22. Forward
ing Agent: Mrs. Lois Hessler, PO Box
287, Meadville, PA 16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8
Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164
Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and
Mrs. G Wade Fletcher, R. 6, Box 15,
Rushville, IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193
Japan. Forwading Agent: First
Church of Christ, Orange at Center St.,
Eustis, FL 32726.
Two year subscription $.50
Subscription and
Flaming Torch $1.00
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Tokyo ^ Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 81 THIRD QUARTER, 1982 NUMBER 2
PATTON NEWS
instead of receiving the gift for
themselves. They were served juice
during the class period which helped to
compensate.
V.B.S.
As we have written many times
before, a three day VBS is about the
time limit for VBS in Japan. Even the
publishing houses only prepare
printed 3 day programs. Schools are
usually out July 20 or 25th for summer
vacation in Japan. But students are
always given a full load of daily
assignments for that period called
"vacation". Here in Yokosuka the
schools agree that morning hours are
for study time. Any children playing
outside during these hours can be
questioned by authorities.
This year the Yokosuka church met
and discussed about trying the VBS
three day schedule for the first three
Sundays ofJuly from 9-11 a.m. Before
we waited until school was out to have
VBS, but only 8 or 10 were "free to
attend". This year we tripled our
attendance by having it on three
Sundays. The first week's lesson was
"The Early Life of Jesus" followed by
the "Temptation" and "Zacchaeus".
Each teacher had prepared well. The
last day Kensei Yokomizo from Osaka
Bible Seminary was present. The
children helped to celebrate his
birthday, Akemi Belew's and Betty's
as a climax to VBS. Much emphasis
was placed on the importance of
studying God's word together each
first day of the week, memorizing
scripture and telling others of Christ.
SUNDAY SCHOOL
EMPHASIS
With teamwork from four high
school gprls ofAkemi Belew's class and
Miss Ichinose, teacher of the kinder
garten class and frrst and second
graders, the Mother's and Father's
Day programs at Yokosuka church
came alive.
Miss Ichinose again designed the
handbills attracting students' at
tention with a famous Japanese
cartoon character for May 9th
program. The high school girls made
attractive Mother's Day cards to be
given to each student for his mother.
Also a special card was made by them
advertising the Sunday School. Miss
Ichinose made red carnations that
were taped to the plastic box
containing 2 home-made cup cakes for
"Mom". Slides depicting St.
Augustine's mother were shown. Also
the "Three Trees" story was shown
depicting the wood used for Christ's
cradle, one for the boat, and one for the
cross that Christ died upon. Again we
used the hours 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. to
encourage the students to meet on the
first day of the week to study God's
Word. Usual study time was given to
the day's lesson for each class.
The week of June 13 was a busy one
for Andrew. Eleven hundred Father's
Day invitations and one thousand
V.B.S. announcements had been
prepared by the high school girls, Betty
and Miss Ichinose. Andrewvisited one
school four days that week from 7:30 -
8:30 a.m. and handed out all the
handbills. This particular school has 2
main gates ~ one each on opposite sides
of the building. Pendants made from
art construction paper with Dad's shirt
and tie drawn on one side and an
advertisement of church on the other
side were given to each one present on
June 20th along with packaged home
made cup cakes for "Dad". Needless to
say the students were a little
disillusioned by taking home a gift
PATTON FURLOUGH
Andrew began his 34th year in
Japan on January 7, 1982 in addition
to one year spent in Hawaii. Betty will
complete her 28th year in Japan on
September 14, 1982 in addition to 3
years spent on American Indian
Reservations.
They have spent the last six years
here in Japan without a furlough.
Church responsibilities and no
replacement have necessitated this. In
March of this year Mr. Taninari of the
Shin Shu Bible camp offered to come to
Yokosuka church during the "off
season" of camp and free the Pattons
for a short furlough. From September
15, 1982 the Pattons will start their
furlough and must plan to be back in
Japan by the middle of March 1983.
Medical check-ups are a necessity
along with visiting supporting
churches and family members.
Hopefully, too, Phillip and Stephen
can get leave from the navy to join
Sharon's and Noel's family for a
Christmas get-together. Philip has
just finished nuclear schooling and is
stationed in N.Y.'s nuclear plant.
Stephen is on the Atlantic until the
middle of December.
Three highlights of the furlough will
be attending Grandpa Patton's 100th
birthday celebration on September 26,
1982 in Atlanta; Andrew's 65th
birthday on October 4th and the
Patton's 30th wedding anniversary on
December 20th.
The Pattons thank the Lord for each
year they have been able to serve the
Lord in Japan upheld by the prayers
and financial support of churches and
individuals in America. The Church at
Rushsylvania, Ohio has faithfully
supported Andrew from 1947 and the
church at Piqua, Ohio has supported
Betty from 1949. Others have been
faithful for 10,20, and 30 years. We are
deeply grateful.
A BELIEVER WITH
CONVICTIONS
Since the close of World War II
Christian believers in Japan have been
very vigilant concerning the mixing of
religion and politics and the relation of
(continued on page 4)
BURYING THE DEAD
by Harold Sims
I am aware of some of the depth and
meanings of Jesus' words, "Let the
dead bury the dead," but when a
missionary's daily work includes
pasturing a small local church as well
as many other contacts in both the
secular and religious societies, as mine
does, one is called upon to attend a
number of funerals and conduct some.
In the past 3 months I have been deeply
involved in 5 funerals. All were
di^erent, and I thought it might give
you some insight into customs in
J apan and our work among themto tell
you briefly a little about each of them.
1. The office girl from the Lion's
Club calls to tell me that the only son of
Mr. Ogushi has died. The father is
manager of the large Kosugi Hall on
one of the main corners of Hachioji
City, where all 5 floors are busy every
day with countless weddings, parties,
conferences, exhibitions, etc. His son
(21) was a Senior in the prestigious
Waseda University, but had suffered
from leukemia for about 6 months.
When I arrive, the Lion's club members
cars in several empty lots. The large
crowd, all dressed in black, fills the
small yard of the family home and the
adjoining garden of a Shinto Shrine on
the hilltop. We go to a tent set up next
to the gate of the house to sign our
name and address in a book and give
condolence money in a white envelope.
Always 50 days later a small gift is
sent to the address of everyone signing
the book along with a printed note
thanking you for coming at that time.
On a loud speaker outside we can hear
the Buddhist priest quoting one of the
sutras in a sing-song voice, punctuated
by periodic ringing of a small bell. The
smell of incense fills the air. During
the final period of chanting, each guest
goes through the house in single file,
pauses in front of the coffin, which
with elaborate decorations of flowers,
lanterns, etc. takes up half of the
living room, and offers a pinch of
incense. Most of the people worship or
pray to the enlarged picture of the
deceased in the center above the coffin,
because according to Buddhist
doctrine he has now become a Buddha.
But 1 bow to the grieving family sitting
to the left as a gesture of sympathy.
Then we go on through the house and
back outside. To the Japanese this
individual participation (or worship) is
the most important part of the funeral
ceremony.
All guests wait until the coffin is
carried out and put into the hearse. The
coffin is followed by the father
carrying the new Buddhist name
tablet, the mother carrying the picture
and the rest of the family. The father
gives a few words of appreciation for
everyone's coming, and all the friends
and neighbors see them off to the
crematory. Later in the day the family
will return from the crematory with the
um of ashes, which will be kept in the
house for at least 49 days before burial.
2. Yoshiko Matsuoka Nakamura
was born June 1,1932, in Osaka. The
family moved to Tokyo the following
year, in connection with her father's
drug-manufacturing business. She
graduated from elementary school the
year World War II ended, and just a few
weeks before the Nakano area of the
city was wiped out in a big air raid. She
graduated from High School in 1951,
and entered Japan Women's
University to study Western History.
About this time she began attending
Christian meetings at the Sims' house,
and she was among the first to be
baptized in the new church building in
December 1952. Some time later she
was able to get her father and mother
they
eventually baptized. She was also the
church and Sunday School organist.
About 1955 she left the church
because of a misunderstanding with
the Japanese preacher at that time,
and never came back except for her
father's funeral in 1959.
She married a non-Christian man
who became a University Professor,
and they had 2 children. (The boy is
now in the third year ofcollege, and the
girl in the first year.) Although we
didn't see her for years, we kept in some
contact through her mother, who
continues to be a faithful member of
Nakano church.
In 1977 she became sick with
Myelitis, which left her partially
paralyzed and in constant pain. In
1978 they moved to Abiko, about 1 hour
out of Tokyo nearer the husband's
University. One day I visited her
briefly when in the area on other
business, and was very happy to learn
that she was starting to attend a home
Bible study group that met in another
apartment in the same building. Before
she died she became more active in this
group, and was definitely planning to
become a member of a church nearby,
where her funeral was held. Ten days
before the funeral she had played the
piano and requested her favorite
hymn, "Sweet Hour of Prayer". A
group of us from Nakano church
Sim
attended the Christian funeral, and
were so thankful that as her sickness
became worse she came back to her
earlier faith and had a funeral that
may lead her husband and children to
become Christians some day soon.
3. Mr. Ogawa was a life-long student
and University level teacher of
English language. 1 first met him
when he struck up a conversation in
English as we rode next to each other
on the train. Their home is in the same
section of Mejirodai as ours, and 1
visited him there a number of times.
His room was crowded with large and
rare books, including the multi-
volumed Oxford Dictionary. One day 1
took down one volume and found it
took 23 pages of fine print to define
"see". In earlier years he made a trip to
Europe and wrote a book about it. He
also wrote a number of other works.
Just 5 days before his death he received
the third-class Emperor's award for his
contributions to culture ~ a true honor.
A number of years ago he had 1 lung
removed because of TB, and 2 years
ago he was rushed to the Intensive
Care Unit of a hospital here with
pneumonia. He recovered from that,
but retired from his teaching and spent
ofhlslrm^rmbeduntil hisTJrther"
sudden death on May 18.
He had been baptized in an
Episcopal Church when in High
School, but was not an active
Christian. However his wife has been
a member here at Mejirodai for several
years. Until the hospitalization
mentioned above we had a monthly
home Bible study in their living room.
So as soon as he died Mrs. Ogawa
called and asked me to conduct the
funeral services in their home. I helped
her get in touch with a funeral director,
and with her 2 sons ~ 1 in Switzerland
and the other in a distant city ofJapan
on a business trip.
In Japan a "wake" is always held the
night before the actual funeral. Some
working people can't come to a daytime ^
funeral, and because of religious
differences some people don't want to
come to the funeral ceremony, but all
the neighbors and friends attend the
more informal wake. First there is a 30
minute "service" of song, prayer,
scripture readings, and a short
sermonette. Then each person comes
up to the opened sliding doors to the
living room where the coffin, flowers,
and pictures are, and where the
immediate family is seated. Standing
in the yard facing the coffin they lay a
cut chrysanthemumon a white covered
table as an expression of sympathy.
This takes the place of the incense
NEWS
burning and worship at Buddhist
ceremonies. Then they bow to the
family, andthe next person comes up. I
was surprised at the large number of
professors and former students who
came some distance to attend, in
addition to the neighbors and church
people as expected.
The following day at 1:30 we had the
funeral service, which is more formal,
with a short history of the person's life
and a regular sermon, etc. Then we
went with her and the one son and a
few friends to the crematory and
stayed with her until the return home.
We were pleased at the kindness and
helpfulness of the neighbors. She has
become more active in church nowthat
she doesn't need to care for him as she
did these past 2 years.
4. Mrs. Tabe, who cooked for our
Lake Motosu Camp for a number of
years in the 1960's died of cancer on
June 13. I attended the funeral in
another church, and appreciated the
many fine tributes to her Christian life
and deeds of kindness by the family
and others as well as the powerful
singing of her favorite, "My Hope is
Built on Nothing Less".
5. About 3:30 Monday afternoon
June 28 the daughter of one of our
church members was riding on the
back of a small motorcycle driven by
her best friend and schoolmate on the
way from our train station to her home.
At the cross-street just before her house
they were struck by a cement mixer.
Both girls were taken to the hospital
unconscious. The Kogure girl had a 3
hour operation on her brain and lived a
full week, but never regained
consciousness. It was a very sad
funeral, and the largest one by far in
the short history of our church.
The wake was held at their home,
about 5 minutes walk from the church.
It began just as a calm and beautiful
summer twilight settled over our town,
and the entire area was covered with
people, including hundreds of her
fellow students who were hearing a
Christian funeral for the first time. The
next day the largest High School in
town dismissed all the Senior Class at
noon, so they could attend the funeral
in our church. Of course they couldn't
all get into the small building, but they
stood in the rain in our yard and in the
street and tried to listen to what was
said through the open windows.
My sermon was aimed at the young
people. 1 said they should learn 3
things from Emi Kogure's death. 1. The
uncertainty of life. 2. The importance
of obeying rules. (The girls didn't stop
at the intersection and weren't wearing
helmets.) 3. The blessing of having
God as a refuge in such times of
trouble. She was a popular High
School Senior and member of the
basketball team, and it was a moving
scene to see those hundreds of young
people come into the church to pay
their last respects ~ many with tears
streaming down their faces, and all
with wet feet from the steady rain
outside. It took 40 minutes for all of
them to pass by.
These events take a lot out of us
emotionally, but they give an
opportunity to witness to the truths of
the gospel and enable us to become
more deeply involved with the lives
and spiritual needs of the people in the
community.
CHRISTIAN
LEADERSHIP
CAMP
May 1-3 we made the first attempt at
a special 3 day camp for training
church leaders, held at our Shinshu
Bible Camp in Nagano Prefecture.
Professor Norihiko Saito and his wife
were the main teachers. He teaches
Old Testament and Hebrew, and she
teaches Christian Education in the
Osaka Bible Seminary. They each
brought 4 messages - he on Moses as a
leader, and she on more practical
aspects ofSunday School teaching and
materials. Also Mr. and Mrs. Harvey
Beard from the Philippines were
visiting Japan at the time, and he
brought the Sunday morning message,
with me translating. Twelve Japanese
adults, 5 children and 10 missionaries
stayed the full 3 days, and an
additional 9 Japanese, 4 children and 2
missionaries attended some sessions.
It is worthy of remark that in this
relatively small group 12 different
churches were represented.
Three interesting sidelights: On
Saturday night a group from the
Warren Christianson's work in a rural
village in that area came to use the
large camp bathtub for the baptism of
a young man. In the audience Sunday
morning were 8 people who had
attended Prof. Beard's classes at
Pacific Christian College in Long
Beach, California. One lady from
Yokosuka was thrilled by an idea for
making teaching aids by cutting out
silhouettes -- she does that art work for
a hobby - and returned home to become
an active Sunday School teacher.
MOTHER'S DAY
As usual here our Mother's Day
special meeting was on a weekday.
May 11. Mrs. Helen Beard, visiting
from the Philippines, was the special
speaker, bringing a message on
Hannah. There was also special music
by several, and a very good program.
We sent out invitations via the
Sunday School children, and one
mother noticed that the speaker was
from the Philippines. The wife of a
man in her husband's company is a
Filipino, and she thought she might be
interested, so invited her and another
friend. Since then the lady who invited
the others has been to worship serv
ices, and the children are more regular
in Sunday School. Others of our church
ladies invited their neighbors. We had
a total attendance of 45 adults and 6
children, including 5 or 6 people in
church for the first time. One of our
neighbors came and brought a large
bunch of flowers to decorate the room.
MARRY THE YOUNG
For three straight Saturdays in May
we had weddings.
1. May 8 one of our church girls was
married. She just finished Junior
College this spring, and has been a
member here since she was 13 years
old. The husband is an engineer with
the national railways. They were
married in one of the popular
downtown wedding gardens, which
furnishes their own preacher, so this
time we enjoyed being guests for a
change. 1 gave a speech at the
reception, and Lois sang. Several other
church people went with us on a bus
from Mejirodai.
2. May 15 a young couple who are
not Christians but wanted a Christian
wedding for various reasons came here
to the church for a simple but nice
wedding. Both are elementary school
teachers, and our local postmaster
introduced them to me and asked me to
advise them and perform the wedding
ceremony.
3. May 22 I performed the wedding
for the youngest son of Aiko Ueda at a
downtown hotel. We lived next door to
his grandmother when we first came to
Japan, and knew his mother when she
was a middle school girl in pigtails. His
older sister, who is married to an
American-born Japanese and lives in
Los Angeles, came back to Japan for
the wedding bringing her little
daughter. The baby is the ft)urth
generation of that family we have
known.
PATTON NEWS
(continued from page 1)
church and State.
Several months ago a member of the
Japan Self-Defense Force (Military)
died and the military authorities,
against the wishes of his wife who is a
Christian, buried his remains
according to Shinto religious rites in a
"Gokoku" (comparable to Arlington
cemetery) Shrine where the spirits of
the war dead are worshipped.
His wife sued the government
(military) in the courts and won her
case. The Military must pay, the courts
decided, one million yen in solatium
and the enshrinement of the husband's
remains is being retracted.
At least some Christians in Japan
are courageous in standing up for their
faith and in opposing the encroach
ments of pagan practices into their
lives.
BIRTH
Bill and Akemi Belew welcomed
Benjamin Akira, 8 lbs. 13 oz. into their
home May 27. He was born at the U.S.
naval hospital here in Yokosuka.
Akemi has only missed one Sunday
teaching her high school class. We
commend her for her faithfulness and
zeal. The Belews will be leaving the
navy about September 10th and
returning to Cincinnati, Ohio. Their
personal desire is to return to Japan
next year as missionaries.
BUTTRAY NEWS
During the early Post-War years here
in Japan (1948-'58), street evangelism,
tent evangelism, tract evangelism, house
to house evangelism, and Camp
evangelism were acceptable and brought
results. This might be called the "gam-
man" (grin and bear it) era. Then came
the 60's and TO's and the resultingyear by
year increase of prosperity. Until today
(1982) their goal of "peak affluency" has
just about been reached!
With the drive for economic affluency
(materialism) successful, the appeal of
Christianity became less interesting and
then unnecessary. Ultimately, this has
resulted in the rise of Nationalism. This
was clearly illustrated the other day
when I heard a radio commentator
remark, "They think they have become
the counselor for the whole world"!
Of the methods of evangelism men-
i i
n
Stanley and Mabel Buttray on the left, Bill
and Betty Turner on the right, and Taninari
San in background. Picture was taken on
tfie Butlrays' porch.
m if
David Cole in a leaching scene at the recent
Spring Camp
tioned above, the one viable method
remaining is "CAMP EVANGELISM"!
Through the years we were slow realizing
this, but now we are trying to close
the gap. Just since our first scheduled
camp in the new facilities here at
Shinshu Bible Camp in April 1980 we
have touched hundreds of lives with
God's Truth. They were thus exposed for
the first time in their lives to the "Good
News" of Salvation through the Lord
Jesus Christ!!!
Thank God, we do have in Shinshu
Bible Camp an outstanding drawing
card for this enlightened, affluent era, or
until Jesus comes. Up to this present time
our capacity of 72 persons was reached
only once. But our original plans
included facilities for 150 persons! My
foresight tells me. Now is the Time to
Accomplish this Goal! IF money
should become available, it can still be
done by the end of this year!
Our recent 4 day Spring Camp ending
April Ist resulted in two decisions. Also,
Ito San, who made his decision at the
Christmas Camp, came also to the Spring
Camp a id set the date for his baptism
April 25th! God continues to richly bless
Shinshu Bible Camp as an avenue in
fulfilling "His Commission" to preach
the Gospel to every person.
Pray that God's Will be done . . . and
that His Kingdom Come through these
God-given Camp facilities, and His
servants Stanley and Mabel Buttray.
1982 April Ist Spring Camp group Taken
from the 2nd floor outdoor recreation veranda.
Though hazy, the Alps are visible in background.
Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370/
Published four times a year in Jan
uary. April, July and November for the
missionaries of the Church of Christ,
Cunningham Mission. Tokyo, Japan
by Mission Services. PO Box 2427,
Knoxville, Tennessee J7901. Second
Class posliige paid at Knoxville, TN
37901. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to MISSION SERVICES, PO
Box 2427, Knoxville, TN 37901
Mr. and Mrs Stanley Buttray, 571-8
Innaihara, Mochizuki, Kitasaku Gun,
Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22. h'orward-
ing Agent: Mrs. Ivois Hessler, PO Box
287, Meadville, PA 16.335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-7-8
Higashinakano, Nakano-ku.Tokyo 164
Japan. Eorwarding Agent: Mr. and
Mrs. G Wade Fletcher, R. 6, Box 1,5,
Ruahville, IN 4617.3.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193
Japan. Forwading Agent: First
Church of Christ, Orange at Center St.,
Eustis. FI. 32726.
Two year subscription $..50
Subscription and
Flaming Torch $1.00
Tokyo
Christian
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15
VOLUME 81
SIMS NEWS=^^=
EVANGELISTIC MEETING
AT SAKURAYAMA
Sept. 20-22 I enjoyed preaching a 3
day evangelistic meeting at the
Sakurayama Church of Christ, which
is located in town near Higashi-
Nakano station where the Tokyo Bible
Seminary used to be. We are going
through Romans here at Mejirodai, so
using some of my recent sermons we
had "3 nights in Romans 3"--
1. There is none righteous v. 9-20
2. The Righteousness ofGod v. 21-24
3. Being made righteous through
faith in Jesus Christ v. 25,26
The young minister of the church
there and the small congregation had
worked hard on publicity and
preparations, and some people from
another church where Bro. Sato used to
work came to some of the meetings to
boost the attendance. By the way, Bro.
Sato, who is the son of a minister,
supports himself by reading gas
meters for the ward. The attendance
for the 3 nights was 21,14, and 12. This
sounds small and insigniticant to all of
you, but the smallest was more than
their average for Sunday AM worship,
and there were 5 people who came to
church for the first time during those 3
days, including a piano teacher
from several doors down the street.
Some of our Mejirodai church people
also attended, and one of our young
people who has written a few popular
songs sang two of them one night as a
"special."
-Harold Sims
VIDEO TAPE AVAILABLE
The May 23, 1982 Sunday School
and Worship Service at Mejirodai
was recorded on Video Tape by
Martin Clark, President of Osaka
Bible Seminary. (It was done by
Hitachi Camera, and cannot be
played on Betamax Systems). It has
been shortened to 30 minutes in
length.
The quality is not professional, of
course, but it has some Japanese
FOURTH QUARTER, 1982
This is a picture of the missionaries
who attended the All-Japan
Convention July 27-29 and the
Missionary Convention July 29-31 in
Kochi City, Shikoku Island. Jonathan
Sims and many others you may recog
nize were there. We were at the
North American Christian Conven
tion in Kansas City on the same dates,
and it was mentioned there that the
Japanese brethren were assembled at
the same time.
Near the center of the picture is
Vivian Lemmon, who was specially
recognized at this meeting for her 80th
birthday and 50 years of service for
Christ in Japan. She arrived in Tokyo
back in 1930 to work with the
Cunninghams. After a few years she
left to work with the Mabishi Mission.
For 10 years during and after World
War II she was in the United States
caring for her father, who was a
Christian Church minister. After the
death of Miss Ruth Schoonover 30
years ago she came to Tanabe City,
and has worked with the church and
kindergarten there.
This spring Vivian heard that Mr.
Tanaka, the former preacher at one of
the Yotsuya Mission churches with
sound and gives a somewhat
realistic impression of a visit to
Japan. This would be ideal for small
groups such as missionary circles to
view when meeting in a home where
equipment would be available to
play this tape on a regular TV set.
The tape can be obtained free of
charge from:
Mr. Robert Sims
3601 Fyffe
Cincinnati, OH 45211
NUMBER 4
whom she had worked in her early
days in Japan was still living, so she
came up to Tokyo to see him and stayed
a couple of nights in our home. We are
very thankful for and encouraged by
the good, faithful service ofthis always
smiling sweet California "Lemmon".
-Harold Sims
REPORT ON THE SIMS
TRIP TO THE U.S.
Lois and Harold Sims returned to
Tokyo on Saturday, Sept. 4 from a 43
day trip to the United States. They
were on 16 different airplane flights,
traveling about 14,000 miles round-trip
across the Pacific and 8,200 miles in
the "interior." Also friends drove them
about 800 miles on surface trips in
addition to taking them to and from
various airports. The air travel was
somewhat more expensive but much
less fatiguing than the long hours of
driving we usually do.
During those 6 weeks we spent only 3
nights in a hotel (at the North
American Christian Convention in
Kansas City). We spent 13 nights in
the homes of 7 different hospitable and
long-time Christian friends in
California, Colorado, Virginia and
Florida, 7 nights with brothers and
sisters (in flesh as well as spirit) in
Pennsylvania, Maryland and
Tennessee, and 19 nights with our
children in Kendallville, Indiana;
Cincinnati, Ohio; and West Des
Moines, Iowa. Many other friends and
relatives entertained us at meals.
Harold spoke in 13 different
churches-sometimes two or more times
at the same church and also led a
workshop at the NACC on "What Kind
of Missionary is Needed for the 21st
Century?" and addressed the
Convocation at Cincinnati Bible
Seminary on August 25 on the subject,
"Workers for God Today."
From the Family Camp under the
California Redwoods to the well-done
messages and voluminous singing of
the Convention, to picking com on a
big farm and walking through the
quiet streets of a small-town in Northern
^\\\\\\
Harold and Lois Sims, Shiho Arakawa, and the
3 Schmidt grandchildren at Cincinnati Airport
Indiana with grand-daughters, to
"open-hou8e"and family gatherings in
Pennsylvania and Maryland, to quiet
visits with friends from 40 to 50 years
back in Virginia, to working on my
address list and forwarding-agent
business in Eustis, Florida, to touring
the new building under construction at
C.B.S., to seeing Sylvia and Dave's new
place of service in West Des Moines,
Iowa, to being met late Saturday
afternoon at the Haneda Airport by
Mrs. Okada and Jonathan, it was a
truly blessed and wonderful trip all the
way. We felt borne along by the
prayers of many people on both sides of
the Pacific, and the kindnesses of too
many people to mention. We thank
God for all.
At several places people talked a lot
about problems in society--
unemployment, high prices, crime etc.
But on the whole my impressions ofthe
home country after 3 years (should I
say 35?) of absence are rather good and
hopeful. I amglad to see a people living
at peace with themselves and the
world. They were not ignorant or
uncaring about what was going on in
Beirut and other areas, butthey did not
want to fight anyone, to impose their
will on any people or to build an
Empire. For example, many are
concerned about tough Japanese
competition in steel, automobiles,
electronics, computers etc., but I didn't
feel that there is any real fear or hatred
toward the Japanese people and
nation. And there is no hint of giving
in to the competition or defeatism.
Here is a people who pay their taxes
with as little cheating and grumbling
as any place on earth. The great
majority do not run around yelling in
the streets, take hostages, bomb
properties, etc., but quietly mind their
own business. I believe that the
present tightening up on government
spending, inflationary wageincreases,
the handling of criminals and dope
and illegal immigration, etc. is needed.
We all individually need do such a
tightening up in our faith, morals.
family life and spirit of service to God
and man-what the old translations
aptly called "girding up the loins ofthe
mind." If we continue on this course, I
see us pulling out of the doldrums to be
not only the world's most free country,
but the example of a modern
religiously, racially, culturally
pluralistic society.
Though the number was very small,
the churches we visited represented
something of a cross-section of the
brotherhood~9 different states, large
and small, old and relatively new. I
found that the people are careful
readers of our publicity materials and
interested in our work and needs. It
was very encouraging to see the
faithfulness of many. At Newport
News, Virginia there were about a
dozen people in the audience who I
considered "old people" already when I
left there as a 13 year old boy 45 years
ago. They are still there when the
doors of the Lord's house open. After
being in Japan a number of years the
mere size of the audiences is an
inspiration, and we are thankful for
the strength of the churches across the
land.
We also noted the missionary
emphasis at the North American
Convention this year. Perhaps the
theme "To All Peoples" had something
to do with it. Five different foreign
missionaries had work-shops, and
other teachers of Missions in several
Bible Colleges had workshops on the
general subject. Also 1 foreign
missionary had the message at the
Wed. evening meeting. John Chase, a
veteran missionary who spent 1 term
in Tokyo before going to Korea for his
life-work, was one of the 3 honored
churchmen. And of about 300 display
booths, about 25 were from foreign
missionaries.
But I did pick up two impressions
that worry me. One was a feeling that
if I were just a recruit to Japan I would
not have been able to get access to most
of the pulpits I used. Let us remember
that the young folks have to get
started, and need more support and
encouragement than the veterans. The
other feeling was something hard to
define and describe, but like we are
losing a sense of direction and
cohesion as a brotherhood, and
everyone is doing what is right in
his own eyes and sort ofdrifting along.
Better than fighting each other but not
completely a healthy condition. And
then the thought struck me that the
same could be said for our work here in
Japan. May God revive us again.
From Japan we took along with us a
12 year old Japanese girl. She is the
grand-daughter of one of the long-time
members of the Nakano church, and
the daughter of a girl I baptized 15
years ago who was also a member at
Nakano until she married and moved
to a town down near Nagoya. This girl
spent the month of August with our
daughter Hope, whose oldest daughter
is close in age and who was a good
friend of the girl's mother. It was the
experience of a life-time for her to live
in an American home, go to church and
see so many different things.
When we got to Sylvia's place, at the
end of the trip, they were still
unpacking after a move from
Wisconsin to Iowa. There were still a
number of cardboard boxes in the
garage marked YWB. This means "You
Wouldn't Believe." Sylvia has a lot of
stuff that is hard to label, as we all do.
Well, you wouldn't believe what a good
time we had all the way around, and
how thankful we are now to be back at
the old station again. -- Harold Sims
DOBSON FILMS SHOWN
AT MEJIRODAI
October 10 is a Japanese holiday,
and this year, since it was on Sunday,
the following day was a "transfer
holiday." So back in April we marked
those as the dates for our fall
evangelism effort here. Of course we
knew that some of our members would
use that long week-end to visit relatives
and that many of the secondary school
students would have to attend athletic
meets, culture festivals or other school
activities; but it would also be a good
time to invite the general public to
special evening meetings on non-
working days in some of the best
weather of the year.
The Dobson film series, "Focus on
the Family", which has been widely
used in the United States, has been
edited into 3 films with Japanese
sound now, and we planned that this
year, instead ofthe traditional practice
of calling in a visiting preacher for 3
nights we would make a different
approach: We would sponsor the films
and invite the public, especially
couples to attend. We reserved the
films 6 months in advance, printed
2000 hand-bills for distribution
through the neighborhood and put up a
number of individualized posters made
by our young people.
The weather was rainy (contrary to
the forecasts) and for reasons given
above the percentage of our members
attending was rather low, but we are
thankful that in answer to prayers
some of the main purposes of the
meetings were accomplished.
1. Two non-Christian couples at-
attended 2 of the 3 films.
2. Seven people besides we 3 Simses
attended all 3 nights. Two ofthese had
not been to church before, so new, solid
contacts were established.
3. We got the people in the church
and to some extent in the community to
think about the relation between God,
Church and family happiness.
4. The church people cooperated
well, worked hard, prayed and rejoiced
together.
The first movie is 61 minutes long, so
that night we just had announcements
following it. The second night the
movie was followed by a short
message. The third night we had light
refreshments and a discussion time
where people were encouraged to
BUTTRAY NEWS^^=
A successful 1982 Shinshu Bible
Camping schedule is about over. So far
nothing else is planned except a
Christmas camp. Our initial
Christmas camp last year turned out so
well, that we are trusting this year's
will even be better.
This year there were 55 campers in
the spring, 257 in the summer, and 28
in the fall, making a total of 312
campers. The result thus far has been
12 decisions. Five of these wanted to be
Christians, and after returning home 2
of these were baptized!
It is now three years since the camp
opened. And as I hoped, each year has
brought small but progressive
improvements. Especially is this true
of the greater interest shown by both
missionaries and Japanese preachers
alike. And I am hoping each year to see
even greater zeal in using Shinshu
Bible Camp more often in sowing the
good news of salvation.
The most rewarding experience this
year was when missionaries came to
help from the southern part of the
island for the first time. Martin Clark,
president of Osaka Bible Seminary
and Exie Fultz from Awaji island
rented a van and brought six campers
for the Jr. -Hi. school week. And then
for the English-Music camp Dave and
Ruth Hinson came from Tanabe, and
Carolyn Barricklow and her co-worker
PATTON NEWS
TRAVELS WITH THE
PATTONS
Transition from life in one world to
that of another is never done with ease
whether considered from the
standpoint of logistics or the
psychology of human adaptation.
Viewed prior to such an experience, the
prospect is far from inviting. But once
a person begins to taste the joys of
human kindness, hospitality, and
friendship, they compensate doubly for
any incovenience encountered. These
sentiments summarize to some degree
express their reactions. Of course the
films show the faces of the U.S.
audience, and there were comments
about hair colors, dress, etc. One man
remarked that he had heard much bad
about high divorce rates and break
downs in home-life in America, and
had worried about the bad influence of
this culture on Japan. But to see this
many people gathered to hear this kind
of high-quality teaching on these
subjects put the whole thing in a
different light for him.
-Harold Sims
Sachiko Osawa came from Hiroshima!
Then there were four Bible college
students who came and helped. Jim
Green, Kathy Peterson, and the Turners'
daughter Cheryl came from Central
Florida Bible College and Angela
Essick from Roanoke Bible College.
Their primary purpose in coming to
Japan was to help Bill and Betty
Turner in Tokyo. But we're thankful
their time in Japan was shared with us
at Shinshu Bible Camp helping to
make it successful.
This may not come as news to some
of you, but we have tentative plans to
return home for retirement by early
summer 1983! To think, talk, or even
write about it is extremely difficult, for
it involves the rending of our hearts'
desire! However, our return at that
time is dependent on the Fattens
getting a remedy for Andrew's heart
problem, or another missionary to take
our place. The Pattons' plans are to
have a complete physical at Mayo
Clinic by the first of the year. So we
won't know results nor details before
then.
It will be a disappointment not to
realize our long range Master Plan
Goals, let alone the short range
Improvement Goals for the coming
year! But God Knows! And we know,
HIS HEART'S DESIRE for all
mankind (including the Japanese) is
that all come to repentance and be
our outlook toward our "furlough"
from our work in Japan and our visit to
our homeland which is already 1/3
over.
In the last issue of Tokyo
Christian, we informed you of the
circumstances which permitted this
short furlough and those which
necessitate our return to our work in
JAPAN by around April 1983. We are
grateful to Brother Taninari for
making this trip possible, but his
having to return to Shin Shu Bible
Camp at the beginning of the camp
season makes it necessary for us to
reassume our work in JAPAN in the
Spring of next year, rather than at the
The Osaka Bible Seminary is in a
fund-raising campaign for a
desperately needed building to replace
the rusted-out metal building that has
been used for over 30 years. The
construction cost in present-day Japan
is about 50 dollars per square foot. We
would urge any readers who can
to contribute one or more square feet.
Funds may be sent to O.B.S. directly, or
to Harold Sims' forwarding agent,
marked for this purpose. The Simses
are trying to raise 4000 dollars as their
part.
-Harold Sims
saved! Even in these Last Days
(twentieth century) God is expecting
His Church to be a faithful witness to
every nation, that His Kingdom May
Come. Certainly, Shinshu (Faith
Land) Bible Camp exists only for this
purpose!!! -Stanley Buttray
English-Music Camp. Dave Hinson playing the
guitar and his wife Ruth and Carolyn
Barricklow playing ukulele.
Twenty-two "handicappers" - some seated on
the floor and a few in wheel chairs. They came
from a Church in Osaka City. Almost all had to
use wheel chairs. They all seemed to have a
great time and were happy.
end of summer.
Our departure from Japan occurred
on September 10 in the evening. Our
arrival in Los Angeles was earlier on
the same day! We were met there by
Betty's cousins and David Buttray. As
is usual with them, Betty's relatives in
Fontana entertained us in royal
fashion and afforded us a peaceful time
of rest. David visited us again in
Fontana, giving us another time of
joyous conversation with him. Also we
enjoyed worshipping with the Rialto
church nearby.
Our second stop was in Edmond,
Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City
where we spent a few happy days
visiting our son Noel andour 3 year old
grandson, Zachary, whom wethenmet
for the first time. We had a joyous
reunion with Noel and had ample time
to become acquainted with "Zack."
We next made our first stop at our
"headquarters" in the U.S.A., the
home ofour daughter, Sharon, our son-
in-law, Chris Scheurich, and their
daughter, Sandy, all of whom we had
seen last year when they and Betty's
Aunt Gladys visited us in Japan. The
few days in the Scheurich's home were
partially spent on plans and
preparations for our grand tour of our
supporters, which is now in progress.
The Iron Gates church welcomed us
home and we were able to renew old
friendships with the members there.
The day preceding our departure date,
Sharon and Chris called us out to their
driveway for a surprise. There sat the
1976 Caprice Classic owned by Chris'
parents, Clarence and Charlotte
Scheurich. His parents had sent word
that we were to use the car gratis in our
travels. All of us rejoiced and thanked
God for providing us good
transportation for our journeys. Chris
and Sharon took a 10 day vacation and
the 3 of them accompanied us to
Atlanta and Tampa, Florida. We
arrived at my brother. Burgess' home
in College Park, Georgia on September
25, and enjoyed their kind hospitality
until our departure for Florida.
September 26 was a joyous occasion
indeed for the whole Patton clan,
especially my father's nine children.
On that day we all observed our dad's
100th birthday at Burgess' home.
Forty-five relatives were present on the
occasion.
Letters of greeting from the
governors of North Carolina, Dad's
home state, and Georgia, where he now
lives with my youngest sister, were
read. A similar letter from President
Reagan was received later. Dad is
blessed with fairly good health yet. He
has not lost his keen sense of humor
and remarked on his birthday that if he
lived to be 106 years of age, he would
enter school again.
On the following Monday morning
the Scheurichs, Betty and I departed
for Tampa. We spent a few days there
with Bill and Bumice Schlosser,
Betty's aunt and uncle, who showed no
little kindness to all of us. The
Scheurichs returned to Missouri on
Saturday leaving us to continue our
journey alone. The Schlossers have
been monthly supporters of our work
for many years.
On October 3 we visited the
Clearwater, Florida church, very dear
friends and faithful rope holders since
1957. During their worship hour we
enjoyed a fine sermon by our friend
and former schoolmate, E. Ray Jones,
and the Bible School lesson taught by
another schoolmate, Paul Banta, now
one of the ministers of the church.
Returning to Atlanta, we spent
several days there and at my
birthplace in Hayesville, North
Carolina visiting relatives among
whom were 5 brothers and sisters and 3
of my mother's sisters. We also visited
the Southwest and Jefferson Park
churches in East Point, Georgia. We
enjoyed a warm reception at both
churches and were able to meet again
many dear friends. TheJefferson Park
church is my home church in America.
The congregation there gave us a
Christmas party in October,
presenting to us many useful gifts and
spreading a bountiful pot-luck dinner
for us. Also we visited Atlanta
Christian College and met TimTurner
of Tokyo and former classmates who
are now Professors in the College. A
grand tour of Christian City ofAtlanta
made possible a visit with a grand old
soldier of the cross, H.M. Westbrook.
Driving from Atlanta through
eastern Georgia and South Carolina,
and after enjoying the beautiful
scenery along the way, we visited the
church at Pinetown, North Carolina,
which showed us much kindness. This
church has supported us for six years.
From there we proceeded to Roanoke
Bible College, Elizabeth City, North
Carolina, where we enjoyed the
friendship and hospitality of the G. W.
Bondurants, other old friends and
newly made ones. We were delighted
by observingthe progress of the school,
the growing student body, and the way
this Bible College is providing
leadership especially for the churches
of that area.
At this moment we arein thehome of
A. O. Floyd of Virginia Beach, Virgina.
We first met theFloyds inJapan where
he was a U.S. naval officer. This is now
our 3rd visit in their home since they
began living in Virginia Beach. After
visiting the Aragona church in
Virginia Beach we will proceed to
Pittsburgh, PA., to visit friends and
supporting churches in that area.
Then we will make our way to various
churches located in West Virginia,
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
We expect it to be almost Christmas
season before we finish our 1st tour of
this furlough. Along the way our
heavenly Father blesses us above our
expectations. Among these we
treasure the opportunity of meeting
fiiends we have not met in recent
years, making new friends, and the
opporturnity of promoting the world
missionary cause.
Sometime following this first tour of
ours we hope to visit Mayo Clinic,
Rochester, Minnesota, for medical
check-ups for both of us. Later, if time
permits, we may be able to continue our
missionary deputation work. "Then in
the Spring, if the Lord so wills, we will
turn our faces back to Japan and
another term of missionary work in
that county.
We request your prayers for us as we
prepare to return to Japan. Thank you
for your prayers, support, encourage
ment and interst.
-Andrew Patton
Tokyo Christian
(No. 776-370)
Published four times a year in January,
April, July and November for the
missionaries of the Church of Christ,
Cunningham Mission, Tokyo, Japan by
Mission Services, PO Box 2427, Knoxville,
Tennessee 37301. Second Class postage
paid at Knoxville, TN 37901.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
MISSION SERVICES, PO Box 2427,
Knoxville, TN 37901
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray, 571-1
Innaihara, Mochizuki, Kitasaku Gun,
Nagano Ken, Japan 384-22. Forwarding
Agent: Mrs. Lois Hessler, PO Box 287,
Meadville, PA 16335.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton, 3-6Kugo
Cho, Yokosuka Shi, Kanagawa Ken 238,
Japan. Forwarding Agent: Mr. and Mrs.
G. Wade Fletcher, Rt 6, Box15, Rushville,
IN 46173.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7
Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193 Japan.
Forwarding Agent: First Church ofChrist,
Orange at Center St., Eustis, FL 32726.
Two year subscription $.50
Subscription and
Flaming Torch $1.00
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to the slumping auto industry,' has heen steady.
Sylvia and Dave moved in mid-August to a new
ministry with Christ's Church in West Des Moines, Iowa.
It was a pleasure to stay in their nice parsonage, and
to meet some of the people of the church there at an
open house. Also we saw some of the city, including
Iowa Christian College and Drake University, and heard
a loud-sound group called "Second Chapter of Acts."
Though we count ourselves heirs of the Restoration Move
ment, we didn't stay for the last half of "the Chapter."
Bohhy took me out to Cincinnati Milacron and got
special permission for me to tour the plant. The "Tokyo"
badge raised some eyebrows among the workers. He is
working with computers, in the research and development
section. I can understand little about his work, but I
met his co-workers and bosses, and had an interesting
talk with the Vice-President of the company who has been
to Japan a number of times. Helen also took us to her
Clopay office downtown, and took Lois shopping. We were
happy to stay in their modest brick home in a nice part
of Cincinnati, and feel it is just right for them.
Danny was just finishing his summer quarter at
the University, but at the end of the week we were able
to spend some time with him. At his apartment he showed
us his portfolio of various art and design projects he
has done, and we were amazed and pleased. We also went
over to visit his girl friend Jeanne Elnan and eat a
nice supper, including blueberry piSf in her apartment-.
While we were there they set a wedding date of Aug. 27
next year.
Jonathan will graduate from Japan Missionary
Language Institute on December 17. It has been a one
and half year daily grind for him, but now he has a good
command of hearing, speaking, reading and writing the
Japanese language. During the summer he tookxcare of
things at the church here, including preaching 3 sermons,
and helping in the VBS. His abi3J1:y and availability to
do this made it easy for us to mtke the trip. He also
snoke at the Convention in Shikoku at the end of July.
We are praying for God's guidance updn him in decisions
regarding his place of work early in the new year.
THE.GRAND-CHILDREN ' , . . ^ .
In Indiana we saw Becky (11) participate in a^
4H Club skirt-making contest and prepare for an exhibit
at the County Eair, Mindy (V) learning to ride a bicycle
and Heidi (3) running around the house and yard with
blong curls bouncing.' ^
In Iowa we saw Rachel's (6) first-grade class
room in a nice new school, went to Joshua's (4) favorite
place ("Show Biz") to eat pizza and.see and hear the
crazy puppets and music. It was a pre-birthday party for
Grandpa. And I had a nice nap while putting Suzanne (2)
to sleep one afternoon.
l^}3>
Beloved,
dec '' ^
Christmas 1982
We "pray that you may enjoy good health, and
that all may go well with you; even as your soul is
getting along well." A few days ago, in a Tuesday AM
Bible study group, we savored those words of an elder
from another place and time (but the one church) as we
finished a study of John's Epistles. They well express
our feeling toward you in these times of economic de
pression and too much poverty and hunger, of political
uproars, including unimaginable massacres. We also
know there are many personal problems, pains and head
aches, but now you must be careful even about buying a
Tylenol pill. It often seems as we read the newspaper
that society is disintegratingthat there are no prayers
in the public schools, and few pray^ers in the hom.es.
But this is Christmas-time. Let us take comfort from
the words of the gospel, "Pear not. Behold I bring you
good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.
For today, in the city of David, there is born to you a
Savior, who is Christ, the Lord."
This was our 35th year of marriage and missionary
work, and it has been a very good period of time, filled
with memorable experiences. Certainly the highlight for
us was the 43 day visit to the United States July 23 -
Sept. 4. Our overall impression is that your souls are
indeed prospering, and you are holding out the Wqrd of
Life to a crooked and depraved generation. We are
thankful for you, and the encouragement received from
being among you again. We saw 1. our children as mature
adults and active Christians, 2. our grand-children
growing up happy, healthy and secure, 3. our brothers
and sisters settled in life, serving the Lord and res
pected by their peers, 4. our old friends in gradual
physical decline but in good spirits and vitally inter
ested in us and other people and things, 5. otg? support
ing churches in the midat of summer activi%ig-^heing
the household of God, the pillar and. ground of the trutn.
THE CHILDREN
Hope and Tom have almost- finished enlarging
their small house on a shady street in Kendallville,
Indiana, and we enjoyed eating T-Bone steaks, venison
bagged by Tom, and MacRihs (all very unusual for us)
in their roomy, sunny, busy kitchen. All 8 of us piled
into their car to go to church at Markle and Garrett and
to visit brother Jim's farm. So far, Tom's job, related
BROTHERS AM) SISTERS
Lois* sister Norma has moved to a classic old
white house in Irwin, Penna., which she is slowly re
decorating. She had an open house for various friends
to come by and visit us on Saturday afternoon. Many
came in an order that enabled us to have some time for
talking with each one.
Dorothy and Alex, on the eastern shore in Mary
land arranged for us to share a family get-together in
their daughter's home near Baltimore, which was a very
nice cook-out and visit. They also drove us to Washing
ton DC to catch the next flight of our trip.
Ralph and Donna Sims have been at Johnson City
Tenn. for 16 years now, but are living in a new home which
we enjoyed sharing for most of 2 days. The late-evening
walks were fun.
Earl and Willa are always at the same place in
Cincinnati, and we were happy to spend an evening talking
and eating in their home. I was honored to be the speaker
for the Convocation of Cincinnati Bible Seminary on Aug.
25, and was introduced by Earl. The next day he showed
us through the massive all-purpose building now under
construction there.
We were unable to see my sister Margaret this
time, but talked with her on the phone. She still lives
in Wilmington, Del., is remarried and they have 4 college
age children between them.
OLD PRIEM)S
It was good to visit our long-time friend and
forwarding agent Lilah Spooner, Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Lucas and others in Eustis, Florida. In Newport News,
Va. there were about a dozen people in the Sunday PM
audience who I thought were "old" when I left there 45
years ago as a 13 year old boy. They are still there
when the doors of the Lord's house open.
CHURCHES
Harold spoke in 13 different churches which have
supported us for over 20 years. All visits were brief,
and we are sorry we were unable to get to other churches.
Among the memories are; Family Camp in the California
redwoods and>3 Sunday AM services in Napa, the nice new
building at Markle, showing slides at Garrett, mention
of the many who have gone out into the Lord's service
from the small church in Turtle Creek, the good crowd
on Sunday evening at Monroeville, the many and interesting
questions after the mid-week dinner meeting in Johnson
City, the closing session of the VBS and a visit with
the widow of my cousin Bob Allen, who died in July, at
Charlottesville, riding dov/n from Richmond in Smithes
Lincoln and the enthusiastic evening audience at North-
side, the supper with Dorcas Circle and the hospitality
at Englewood, Jax., the work on addresses and other "busi
ness and visiting in Eustis, meeting many new people at
Central, St. Pete, the row of Simses in the little church
at Alexandria, Ky. and the good fellowship during and after
the evening service at Clovernook.
It was also wonderful to attend the North American
Convention in Kansas City. I led a worshop on "What Kind
of Missionary is Needed in the 21st Century?" I am not
sure I am an example, or have an answer, but was pleased
at the number who attended and the missionary emphasis in
the entire convention.
We took a Japanese girl to the U.S. with us. She
is the daughter and grand-daughter of members of Nakano
church, and living with Hope's family the month of August
was the experience of a life-time for her.
MEJIRODAI
Here it has been a rather ordinary year. We were
all deeply shocked by a motorcycle accident July 5 that
resulted in the death of the 18 year old daughter of one
of our members. The Senior Class of her High School
attended the funeral, so the yard and street in front of
the church was a sea of umbrellas, an unforgettable scene.
Oct. 9-11 we showed the 3 Dobson films that have
been put into Japanese sound, and were glad to see some
non-Christian couples from this area. Ten people saw all
3 films, 12 others saw 2 of them, and some only 1, but
they were well received.
We ask you to join us in prayer for more new
people, more young people and more men to come; and that
wisdom and strength may be given us for the great and
unending work of evangelism.
Yours in Christ's service,