7/27/2019 Fultz Exie 1983 Japan

1/2

^98

for th e

23

...th msn, CHRIST JESUS... addresses:January 1 , 1983

To thos . ,who are loved by God the Father ys.A.and kept by Jesus Christ: ^,dh.,cone,Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance (Jude 1 : 1 ,2 ) ForwardinflAgentsnow and throughout 1983. Fairview^Heighls IL O8

Teleohone; 618 398-5095

New Year s Day 1982 I wrote you that the most time-comsuning task that Ihad done in 1981 was the col lect ing and edi t ing of sc r ip t s , writ ten bymiss ionar ie s, f or a devotional book Gleam of Dawn. . . Light of Day.But the l i g h t of the f i r s t new d ay of 1982 dawned on an unfinishedjob of edi t ing . I very much wanted to lay aside the work on the book andmove on to other th ings , but the value of i t s contents was grea te r , itseemed to me , than t ha t of the t ime requi red to f in i sh .Then came nights when, as I turned my head on my p i l low, waves of d izz ines swould sweep over me. On get t ing up I would reach for a door, or the wal l , .un t i l the d izz ines s ebbed. I l ea rned , on a v i s i t to the doctor , t ha t it was vertigofrom too much s t ress . Since my doc to r h ere on the island is amember of the Free Methodist Church and s ince some years ago he was on thes t a f f of the Baptist Missionary Hospital in Kyoto, I found myself te l l ing himabou t th e work on th e devo t i o n a l book, t hen added , But I want to f i n i s h itfor God. And he sa id , yes . I did take time for r e s t and the work on thedevot ional book did wind down. (Recent word from the Publish-Committee,Bet ty Turne r, Harold Sims and Paul Pra t t is that it will be printed in 1983.)

JapanExie Fullz, Missionary2709 KofumaHigashiura Ch oTsunaGun. HyOQOKen 656-23Teiephone: 079974-2199

The Monday bef or e East er I thought my r ight eye seemed a b i t cloudy, but ust a wee bit. Mid week the cloudiness seemed to have increased addingf lashes of l ightening w ithin the eye. I mentioned this on the phone toDaynise Halloway. Her quick response was, Get yourself to the doctor . I tcould be det achmen t of the re t ina . Driving to my appointment with thedoctor on Good Friday morning the weather was pleasant , the view of the baywas l ove ly . A ll t h ings seem ed go od with th e E as te r Su nr is e S e rv ic e andb re ak fa st to look forward to . I t was a good day un t i l the d octor sa i d ,Can you get to an ophthalmologist today or tomorrow? Since tomorrowwas Saturday and an unlikely day today became th e day. Though I protestedthat I had to teach a class a t 4:00 p.m. and couldn t get across the bayand back by that time, the doctor phoned the Kobe Municipal Hospital for anappointment for me and sent me on my way. I d idn t get back by 4:00 p.m.but was brought a l i t t l e l a t e r by Mar ti n C la rk who helped me get my car fromthe Po rt Building Parking lo t and helped lock and secure the house fo r aplanned three weeks, or more, absence. Hasty ca l l s were made to cancel a l lclasses and Easter Services, then back across the bay to Osaka for a night/a t th e C larks . The next morning I checked in__at. the_Kobe Mum ripal Hospital/ a_li t t le after 10:00 a.m. scheduled for surgery for retinal detachment thefollowing Tuesday.Surrounded by p ra ye rs o f missionar ies and of good folk back home, and witha sk i l l ed surgeon and very pleasant nurses , my 10-day s tay in the hosp i ta lwas not a t a l l unpleasant . The detached area was not la rge and healedf as te r t han expec ted. I experienced none of the long hours of immobilityin bed that i s so often necessary in such cases. A fter leav ing the hospi ta lI was a few days w ith the George Beckmans and then back home. I had beenaway o nly ab ou t ha l f the l ength of t ime t ha t I had thought I would be .Summer 82 b rough t an answer to what could be called a thirty-year-prayer.A sma ll c la ss ro om w ith a basement-s torage-work space became a r ea l i ty .Funds were mostly from Japanese offer ings and loans. One Japanese Christian

..,al CORDS OF LOVE BIBLE PLACE Awaji Island, Japan

7/27/2019 Fultz Exie 1983 Japan

2/2

business man and his wife lo aned 7 ,500 , interes t free. Payments of200 per month (as as he sa id , whatever you can pay ) are to be paidquar ter ly with the f i r s t payment t h i s month. Truly th i s i s of the Lordan d i s of a great de l igh t to me. For the f i r s t time in my missionary yearsI can hold a l l of my classes in some place other than my l iving quar ters .pray with me t ha t the debt on the bu i ld ing can be quickly dissolved.

August brought another forward step in the work when four th i rd-year JuniorHigh s tudents went to Shinshu Bible Camp. Our group went to Osaka BibleSeminary and joined four o th e r s tu dent s and Martin Clark for the t r ip tocam'^in a mini-bus t ha t Mart in had rented . e shared the expenses of thet r i p . The Cords-of-Love Bible Place s tudents re turned wanting to go againin *83. Pray for them and the other younger Junior High students who wil lbe e l i g i b l e to go.The f i r s t Sunday in September I woke with a s l ig ht s lu r in my speech andunable to wri te l eg ib ly . Again to the doctor the next day. He assured metha t it was t r ans ient but admonished, Before you get too t i red , qui t .November 3rd was Tanimakikai the p r eachi ng conf er ence a t Osaka BibleSeminary. Two of the g i r l s who had gone to camp went with me fo r theevening of the 2nd and the morning of the 3 rd . The n igh t of the 2nd, LeoneCole, B etty Turner and I shared s leeping quar t e r s and recal led tha t th i r tyyears ear l i e r on tha t day Betty (then Yarbrough) and I were on high seas,on di f ferent sh ips , s a i l i ng to Japan and she on to the Phi l l ip ines .y ship had sa i led from San Francisco the day b efo re h ers and she andLeone, then on fur lough, came to my sh ip to see me of f . Two car loads ofSan Jose B ible College folk were there too. A prayer c i rc le was formedabroad the sh ip . I was espec ia l ly impressed when Leone prayed to the Lordfor me, Give her many souls for her hi re . Sailin g in to Yokohama 17 daysl a te r my ar r iva l in Japan was Nov. 6, 1952) I learned that Betty 's shiphad docked the day before . e were welcomed to the Orient tha t night by theTokyo miss ionar ies with a prayer-meeting d inner . Betty went on to thePhi l l ip ines but ten yea rs l a t e r she and her husband. Bi l l Turner , becamem i ss io n ar ie s to Japan .On November 17 , 1982 a smal l group of Chr is t i ans me t in my home fo r luncheonand post-luncheon ded ica t ion serv ice a t the new classroom bu i ld ing . I t hadbeen pos tpon ed a couple of t imes but was a meeting fu l l of warm, Chr is t i anfwllowship which made it a very spec i a l day fo r me.November 19 I saw th e ophtha lmolog i s t aga in . Blook t h a t had ente red th e eyeb efo re th e o pe ra tio n had moved from the upper pa r t of the eye down in to th el i n e o f v i s i on c au sin g th e v is ion to worsen. t may move elsewhere . Thisi s th e doc to r s hope and my prayer . I f it se t t l e s where it now i s it wi l lse t up an opaci ty tha t can only be removed by another operat ion . Pray withme about t h i s mat te r . I am to see him again in August. Before t h a t , theLord wi l l i ng , I wi l l be home on a three months furlough.Two Christmas programs were planned and carr ied out a candle l ight servicefo r th e Ju nio r High group on Christmas eve, and a f lannelgraph t e l l ing tlies tory of th e bi r th of Chris t by the e lemen ta ry s choo l s tudents to a groupof mothers on Christmas af ternoon. From Christmas to January 9th i svacat ion fo r the s tuden t s . For me a t ime of ca tch ing up a b i t on correspondence,and prepar ing fo r the opening of c lasses .Furlough i s planned from mid-April un t i l m id-July . E aster Serv ices are plannedfo r here and , th e Lord wi l l i ng , I wi l l l eave t h a t same week fo r San Franci sco .I plan to be in the San Jose area the week-end a f t e r Easter and in St. Louisthe following week-end. I would l ike to v i s i t as many old f r iends and churchesas possible and t e l l of th e work that i s un fo ld ing her e for w it ne ss in g o f theLord. Write e i t he r to me here or to Frank and Hazel Conner. Though I amdr iv ing my car here I wil l not be dr iv ing in the Sta tes . Please considert h i s and give me some in fo rmat ion on how to roach you.This day I look back over my 30 years as a missionary to Japan and marvel atthe Lord's guidance. I look forward t o con tinu ing the work here on the islandknowing that He wil l guard me in a l l my ways (cf . Psa. 91; l lb) .May He a l so guard you in yours .

Ex i e ultz