Tokyo ui Christian"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15 , .

Volume 75

ON FURLOUGH

The role of a missionary on furloughis somewhat undefined. For that reasonmany Christians think that the missionary's furlough is time and money andenergy misspent. On the contrary, if it isspent properly a furlough can be very rewarding for both the missionary and thepeople a missionary contacts during hisfurlough.

It is not a fact that a great deal of themomentum in missionary interest in ourchurches was initiated by missionarieswhilethey wereon furlough? Thousandsof people throughout the world have beensaved as a result of this interest and enthusiasm. Even thelocalevangelisticpro-grams of the churches at home haveoftenbeen revitalized as a result of the new interest in missions. Some are questioningour missionary methods, but itisworkingand we give thanks to God for it. Thefurloughs ofmissionaries are justified bytheir fruits.

NEW ROPEHOLDERSWe have always enjoyedour contacts

with thechurch at Ft. Recovery, Ohioandtheir fellowship. In November, we received a letter from them which read likethis: "At our board meeting this week itwas decided that we would like to placeyour work in our regular missionarygiving schedule. Beginning in Januarywe will be sending $20.00 a month toyou." Needless to say, wewereencouraged by this letter. We appreciated it evenmore because of our highregard for theFt. Recovery Church and their minister.We look forward to a fruitful ministryamong theJapanese as wecooperatewiththese new co-workers.

YEAR-END TRAVELS

On October 12 we visited the churchat Eaton, Ohio, which has helped to support us forseveralyears. Atthesame timewe were guests in the home of Betty'saunt and her husband, Nfr. and Rfrs.

First Quarter, 1976

Burr Warner of West Alexandria, Ohio.Then, a month later we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Warners and some of theirchildren and grandchildren. Mrs.Warneris Betty's only surviving aunt on hermother's side.

Another supporter, the Church at Mt.Victory, Ohio welcomed us on October 19.I spoke at the morning worship hour andshowed our slides in the afternoon to thegroup after enjoying a carry-in dinnerwith them.

On October 21 Noel and I began athree-week trip to North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Our first stop was atmy parents' home in Hayesville, NorthCarolina. We found them in good healthand did what we could to help them inthe few hours we had with them. On Wednesday we proceeded to Atlanta and werewarmly welcomed at the SouthwestChurch of East Point and I spoke to thegroup gathered there. We wereguests ofmy brother Burgessand hisfamily duringthat stay in Atlanta. On Thursday morning I had the privilege of speaking inchapel at the Atlanta Christian College,one of my Alma Maters.

TO FLORIDA

The reason for the long itinerary atthat time was to participate in a Missionary Rally that the Church of Clearwater,Florida was having. This church hasbeen a faithful supporter for many yearsand we have enjoyed sharing with themin ministering to the Japanese over theyears. Our friends, Mr. and Mrs. RichardSnapp, were our hosts at Clearwater.Brother E. Ray Jones, theother ministers,and the church there were very kind andhospitable to us.

Other churches I spoke to in Floridaon that trip were: Dunedin, Largo, EastTampa, Sarasota, Eau Gallie, GardenCity, and Orlando. Our gracious hostswere the Phil Hardens of Seffner and thePaul Buttrays ofMelbourne. Somefriendshelped us get ticketsfor DisneyWorldandwe enjoyed a day there. On the waynorth we spent a night with the MiltonJones family, missionaries to Japan, and

Number 1

then returned to Hayesville, North Carolina for another short visit with my parents. Then we returned to Atlanta wherewe were the guests of my brother John,and his wife, Dottie. In East Point wevisited the Jefferson Park Church, myhome church, and the Mount OliveChurch, another supporter. Then wedrove back to Rushsylvania. Althoughwe enjoyed the long trip immensely, wewere happy to touch back at homeagain.

FURTHER TRAVELS

After a day or two at home, BettyandI went to Cincinnati for the Conference onEvangelism sponsored by the CincinnatiBible Seminary. Our hosts in that citywere Bill and Ethel Gulick. FollowingtheConference I attended theMissionary Rally of the Indianola Church of Christ inColumbus, where my kind hosts wereMr. and Mrs. David Casdorph.

Soon after returning home I leftagainto participate in a Mission Round-upsponsored by the church at Hicksville,Ohio. On the way I spoke at the Harlan,Indiana church where LeRoy and NellieHaynie were my hosts. Mr. and Mrs.John Paul Hill, who ministers to theHicksville Church were my kind hostsduring the Round-up.

In early DecemberI visited theChurchat Huntsville, Ohio and worshipped withsome friends at the Marysville, OhioChurch.

CHRISTMASWe had planned for some time to

spend the Christmas vacation with ourdaughter, Sharon, her husband, ChrisSchuerich, and our grand-daughter,Sandy. Therefore, we did not plan anyother activities at that time. So ourwholefamily spent two weeks with them inJop-lin, Mssouri. This made our Christmasperfect. We returned to Rushsylvania onJanuary 3 and the weather has been sowintry since then that we have stayedclose to home.

(Continued on page 2)

NOELBefore wewent to Joplin our son Noel

visited a friend in Minnesota, bought aused car there, andthendroveontoloplinto meet us tlicre. While we were still therehe was able to find a job, lie rented anapartment, and we left him behind whenwe returned to Ohio. Thus our secondchild launched out on his own!

VISIT FROM AN

OLD FRIENDA few days ago we were priviledged

to have David Buttray, son of Stanleyand Mabel ButtrayinTokyo,as ourguest.He grew up with our children in Toykoand we feel as though he were our ownson. He enjoyed his visit with our sonsand they often reverted to Japanese as amedium of speech during his stay. Davidis a student at Milligan Oollege and willgraduate in the spring.

ITAGAKI TO

OKINAWA

In late October and early NovemberYukio Itagaki, minister of the Nakanochurch flew down to Okinawa to speakat an islajul-wide rally and also in anumber of our churches there. This was

his first visit to that area of Japan, but20 years ago he was in Bible college withtwo of the preachers there and it was atime of renewing friendships with theseco-workers as well as evangelism andencouraging of the (-hristians there. Re-centlv, when I was in his office talkingabout various things he showed me astack of probably over 30 letters he hadreceived from various people he had metduring his 10 day journey. He alsotold me that after one meeting the peoplestayed to talk and didn't want to gohome. Finally, the preacher dismissedthem from the small second-storv room

and told them to go home, but thev wentdownstairs and promptly came back upanother stairway and asked to hear

more. So, he felt it was a very fruitfultrip and good for the .Nakano churchpeoj>le as well as the brethren in Okinawa,and he hopes tluit the effects and friendships made will be longlasting.

PATTON NEWS(Continued from page 1)

NEWS FROM JAPANDale and Beggy Wilkinson continue

the work at Yachiyodai. Other avenues ofwork are opening up for them. He isnow teaching in the pharmaceutical college whereMr. Samejiina, withwhom Dalehas been studying the Bibleat Yachiyadai,is a professor. The Wilkinsons are nowlooking for a suitable place to start anewwork after we return to Japan in August.They would appreciate your joiningthemin prayer concerning this.

THANKSWe are very grateful to all ofyou who

remembered us by gifts and cards atChristmas time. You added a lot ofcheerto our celebration of Christmas,

FLIGHT RESERVATIONSWe have received information con

cerning tiie missionary flight we plan totake back to Tokyo in August. We willperhaps take the one leaving San Francisco on August 30 (Monday). The farewill be $300 per person, $1200 for ourfamily of four. A deposit ofS 120, or $30per person will have to be madesoon andthe balance will be due about one monthprior to flight time. We are nowreceivingfunds to finance ourreturn flight to Tokyo.If vou can help in this please send yourcheck to our forwarding agent, G. WadeHetcher, Route 6, Box 14, Rushville,Indiana 46173.

AND SO. . .

We hope to see many of you beforethe end of our furlough in August. MayGod make you abundantly fruitful andmultiply your good works during 1976.

CHRISTMAS AT MEJIRODAIHere are some of the ladies from Lois

Sims' Friday morning English Conversation Class who sang some of the songsin the Cantata we did on December 20.

The Cantata '"The Prince of Peace" byRobert Hughes was sung entirely in English by this group and a smaller mixedchoir including six men's voices. It wasenjoyable and educational for all of us towork together on this project.

F"or our Christmas worship serviceon December 21 we had a congregation of 39 people - the highest ofthe year.

On Christmas FN'e a small group

from -the church went caroling to someof the church-connected homes. At that

time flu was an epidemic here, and atfive of the seven homes where we sangone member of the family was sick withflu.

On Christmas day we had two Christmas programs for the Sunday school..•\t 2 PM the pre-schoolers had their program, <ind the total attendance of parentsand children was 57. .Vt 7PM the elemen

tary children preformed two plays anddid some musical numbers, and the totJilnumber present was 100.

^ 4^ 9 ® ®

"I THINK HE HAS COME JAPANESE PREACHER HAS BRAIN TUMOR

INTO CONTACT WITH

THE WRATH OF GOD"

At the preacher's meeting on J anuary19, Stephen lijima was telling about avery shocking automobile accident andsad funeral in their church earlier in

the month. A rather young man wastaking his wife and 14 month old babyand his wife's sister out for a drive on

Sunday, January 4. The police have noidea what caused the one car accident,but an autopsy has established there wasno alcohol involved. Anyway, the carhit a steel post in front of a servicestation with such impact that thehusbandand baby were killed instantly and thewife and sister very seriously injured,lijima-san said that it was indeed a factthat this young man had almost quitcoming to church in recent months andalso wasn't giving any offering. On thatSunday when he should have been inchurch he was out driving. But he didn'tsay anything about the backsliding atthe funeral. However, the older brothersaid publicly to the audience at thefuneral the words above - no doubt spoken with soberness, and fear and sadnessbut true discernment and courage.

Tokyo Christian

Published four times a year inJanuary, April, July and Novemberfor the missionaries of the Church ofChrist Cunningham Mission, Tokyo,Japan by Mission Services, Box 177,Kempton, Indiana 46049. SecondClass postage paid at Kempton,Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray,2-26-4 Kamiochiai, Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo 161 Japan. ForwardingAgent: Mrs. Homer Anderson, 622CuUum Street, Meadville, PA 16335.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton,3-7-8 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku,Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwardingagent: Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, R.R. 7, Rushville, IN 46173.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193Japan. Forwarding agent: FirstChurch of Christ, Orange at CenterSt., Eustis, FL 32726.Two-year subscription $ .50Subscription and

Flaming Torch $1.00

Koji Sugiura graduated from TokyoBible Seminary in 1958, and served aspreacher at Yokosuka for eight years.During this time he married a Christiankindergarten teacher, and they have threeboys who are now all school age. Almost10 years ago he went to Obihiro,Hokkaido to serve as minister of the

small church there, which also had akindergarten. This work was begun bythe Ernest Faber family who are nowserving as missionaries in Sapporo cityon the same island. Obihiro is one of

the coldest places in all Japan, and hewas rather isolated from his fellow minis

ters except by letter. In one of his letterssome time ago he wrote me that he nowunderstood how missionaries feel when

they go a long way from home and staythere a long time. He helps supporthimself by teaching English and othersubjects to students in tutoring classes athis home after school hours.

We in Tokyo were shocked to hearjust before Christmas that the doctorshad discovered a fast-growing tumor inthe part of his brain behind his forehead.He was operated on to remove this in anall-day operation on Christmas Eve in

the Red Cross hospital up there. Hisgood friendJohn Mito from Tokyo wentup there by plane to be with him duringand after the operation, and many of theTokyo Christians had special prayer andsent special offerings.

When Bro. Nkito returned he said

that the operation could be termedsuccessful. Although he had already lostthe sight in one eye and most of thehearing in one ear before the operationand this cannot be recovered, the tumorwas non-malignant and it was allremoved cleanly. Sugiura-san's trust inGod never wavered, and his attitude before and after the operation was verygood. Also, it was wonderful to see howChristians from various churches therein

Hokkaido who didn't know him personally donated blood and came to visitand offer financial and other help.

The latest reports indicate a normalrecovery and that he will be at homebefore the end of January. We hope hewill have many more years of usefulnessin Christ's service. We believe God has

answered prayer, and would like to askyou to pray for him and his family.

HOME MEETINGS IN MEJIRODAIMrs. Kakizawa (persimmon rapids),

one of our members, is very zealous ininviting people to church services; butshe found most of her neighbor housewives saying that they could not come toa meeting at the church at 10:30 Sundaymorning because(1) the husband was athome on that day only, and wanted herto be with him (2) the children were athome from school and had to be fed andattended to, (3) it is the only timeto sleepin, relax and be together as a family and(4) visitors often come at that time. Several of them went on to express a sinceredesire to study the Bible if they couldcome on a weekday morning when theywould be free to leave the house for a

while.

So she considered the situation and

her own. schedule and after telling usabout it she invited those who were inter

ested to come to her house on a Wednes

day morning at 10 AM She was afraidshe would not be able to "teach" them

anything, but we encouraged her to go

ahead on the basis that they would justread the book of Mark together and talkabout it. Lois goes to all of the meetings,but Mrs. Kakizawa, as the host, takes thelead.

An encouraging number showed upthe first time, and they all agreed to meettwice a month on Wednesday mornings.The unemployed ladies of the church tryto attend every time, and thereare alwayssome present who have never come tochurch. Lois is always interested in thevarious and often surprising questionsthey ask and comments they make. Allparticipate, enthusiastically exchangingknowledge, thoughts, experiences andhumor. Lately, attendance has beenaveraging 10 to 12, and it is growing. Ofcourse we pray that they will eventuallybe led to faith in and obedience to Christ.

Some are mothers of Sunday schoolchildren, and some are mothers of ouryoung Christians, but others are just interested to different degrees.

MYSTERY OF GODLINESS

Great is the mystery ofGodliness, andthe mystery of God's working! AfterAdam and Eve's disobedience, time passed and sin multipliedon earth. Otherthanthe Faith of Noah and his family, not onecould be found who believed in the mystery of the One God who was Holy, Righteous, Just, and All-Powerful. This broughtthe judgement of God upon the humanrace, and only righteous Noah and hisfamily escaped to tell the story.

Upon the repopulation of theearth byNoah and his descendents, once againsin and deceit reigned, and onceagain theMystery of Godliness was rejected.

But even so, fortunately, itwasduringthis elapsed time of nearly 2,000 yearsthat God, often in many ways, revealedto the Fathers and the Prophets more andmore of His mystery.

With the unlocking of the mysteriesof these prophecies came a further revelation of the Mystery of Godliness. Forthese clearly spelled out God's plan forcleansing and saving the corruptedworld from sin." And with the fulness oftime came the advent of the promisedChrist Child and the attendent miracleswhich followed, including the sacrificeonthe cross. His resurrection from the dead,and ascension into Heaven! Thesemysteries of God, hidden from the beginning of time, were now fully revealedand fulfilled before the eyes of the world.

For 1900 years now, this divine mystery of Godliness (God in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself), has beenthe priceless possession of untold millionswho have opened their eyes,understood,and accepted God's Son as Lord andSavior. Thus, victory over death, hell,and the grave is assured, and the LordJesus has become the passport unto eternal life. . .to all who apply for citizenshipin Heaven.

In this age in which we are living,the "Great Mystery of Godliness", thattranscends all wisdom, reveals the "Mystery of Iniquity" (spiritual darkness)which still plagues the populations ofthe earth.

For example, Shintoism, one of thespiritual powers of darkness in Japan,though sorely wounded by defeat in war,

is once again reveling in it's return as aworld "super power." Japan today delights in being "intellectually" equal withthe most advance nations of the world.But the sad part is - with all of its advancement in learning, Japan still, remains ignorant of, and almost in totaldarkness concerning the most importantknowledge of all; That being, "God soloved the world that He gave His onlybegotten Son, that whoever believes inHim should not perish, but have eternallife."

So it is also, for theworld ofJapan,in the middleof this century, to be saved.It was to this world of Japan, that Godcalled sixty-two Church ofChrist missionaries soon after the War ended to revealthe"Great Mystery of Godliness." Ofthesesixty-two, there were twenty-six familiesand ten single persons. During thesetwenty-seven post war years, twenty-sevenof thefirstgroup ofsixty-two missionaries,for various reasons, quit Japan as a mission field. Also, two others were called tobe with the Lord while serving inJapan.However, we do praise God, that the number of new missionaries that havecome toJapan in recent years is twenty-six. Thissort of cancels out thetwenty-seven earlierreturned missionaries. So the total number of missionariespresentlyisforty-nine-the same as in the earlier years. Five ofthe recent new missionaries are sons ofmissionaries and grew up in Japan. Withtheir wives they make up about forty percent of the newer missionaries. At the endof 1975, the total number of missionarieswho came in this Post-War era numberedeighty-eight.

As I see it, in the next tenyears, nearlyfifty per cent of the present missionarieswill have, for various reasons, left thismission field. I am praying to God, the"Lord of the Harvest," to not only sendreplacements to offset this expected depletion, but also to call and send a sufficientnumber to reach Japan. Especially, toreach those who are willing to accept thenumber to reach Japan. Especially, toreach those who are willing to accept the"Great ^fystery of Godliness, "that is, thatGod, through Jesus Christ, died for themand for the 112 million of Japan.

-Stanley Buttray

The GRBi^EST

of^LL

POSTMASTER

FORM 3579 REQUESTED

BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049

91976SLMS NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 1976

Dear Friends; i .

Last year was full of interesting experiences for us. Some of which were:

1. Our little black dog had 10 puppies one cold morning early in January, andby the time we gave the '9th one away (we kept one) we had learned a lot aboutand spent a lot of time on our canine friends. The yard had been full of happy children playing with the puppies every afternoon, and all th;e folks who ,,had ..been helping us find homes for them rejoiced that we had not had to takeany o£ them to the "insurance place" (dog pound). •

2. On Sunday afternoon March 16 Daniel broke his left.leg in a playground accident. He spbnt two weeks in a local hospital enjoying the spec.ial attentionof the doctors and nurSes, and a steady stream of visitors; then two weeks athome on the living room sofa, and the next 7 weeks in the boy's dormitory atChristian Academy where he wa_s^ catch up on the school he had missedand f inish his 8th grade on crutches, but on "scHed^uTe . The se^coird . crasrt—:removed just a few days before leaving for the U.S.

3. From June 5 until August 29 we were in the United States visiting with ourfamilies, friends, and churches in many places. This was already described insome detail in an earlier newsletter. Meanwhile, the small group of Christianshere at Mejirodai, helped by 2 students from Osaka Bible Seminary, kept theSunday School and church going. This is evidenced by the fact that the aver=age attendance at morning worship for the year was 16.5 (slightly above lastyear), and in Sunday School averaged 61, (slightly lower that the year before)

4. September 24-28 we had a 5 day evangelistic meeting, with Mr. Soto of theKamiochiai church preaching, showing slides of his trip to Mt. Sinai last March, and letting us taste water from the Dead Sea, and feel rocks from different places in Palestine. Attendance increased each night to a high of 22, butit was still below our hopes, and there were no responses to the invitation.There was only one baptism during the year, but we are very thankful for thefaithful witness to her .school mates and family, and that other Christiansare remaining steadfast.

5. One of the ladies in the church began meetings on Wednesday mornings twicea month in her home for tTie benefit of some who had expressed an interest instudying the Bible, but found it difficult to get to church on Sunday when thechildren and husbands were at home. The response to this has been encouragingto all of us. Sometimes as many as a dozen met together.

6. Lois has been teaching English conversation classes to some of the neighborhood housewives on Friday mornings for a couple of years. She encourages thereading from the Living Bible also. This fall the class grew so large thatshe divided it into two sections. She has contact with at least 20 ladies ev

ery week, and some of them have been coming to church on special occasions,and also to the above mentioned home meetings.

7. Months ago we decided to have a cantata for Christmas this year. We gotthe music and a recording of it while we were at home last summer. In October we began gathering a small choir of people who like to sing from the Mejor-odai church members and some of the English classes. Most of the music exceptparts of hymns that are in Japanese hymnals was sung in English, but one ofthe ladies worked very hard to translate all of the narrative part into Japanese. We practiced every Sunday afternoon for 11 weeks, although we never hadiOO% of the people present until the night of December 20th when we sang it.We were very disappointed at the small attendance, but were glad that throughthis some of the choir members became familar with the message we were singingabout the Prince of Peace, and we all had a good time making what we at leastthought was good music.

8. For our Christmas worship service on Dec. 21 we had 39 people present, theyear's highest. We also had a very good offering which was distributed tosome of the many places that had sent appeals.

9. On Christmas Eve we had a short candle-light service in the church, andthen went caroling. There was just a small group of six, but we were happy tobring a message of good cheer to many at that time. Flu was widespread in ourneighborhood then, and at S of the 7 houses where we sang a member of the family was sick in bed.

(continued)

10., ,On Dec. 25 (the day Japanese schools began the year-end holidays) we hadtwo Sunday School programs. At 2 PM there were 57 adults and children presentfor the pre-schoolers program. A jovial, heavy-set college student who is alsoan amateur magician played Santa Claus for us. At 7 PM the elementary childrenput on two plays and quite a few.musical numbers, and a total of 100 peoplewere present for that...one of the largest crowds ever in our little building.

;,In addition to these programs we have mentioned there were parties for Qurvar-ious English classes and several other programs and meetings to attend. So,we had another busy Christmas season. .

The year might be described as "holding our own" in many ways, but we are notdiscouraged. We trust in and humbly seek for God's guidance and power, andthe promised presence of Christ with us as we go into the new year. And, we

.,.feel strengthened. and, grateful for the many expressions of love and encourag-i;ment that have come to us through Christmas and New Year greetings from many-brothers and sisters in Christ both in the U.S. and Japan.

,Japan will not be celebrating a bicentennial this year, but overirodai we have set a goal of doubling our active membership ofIt is not impossible. Pray with us for this, please.

t * , . ' ,

Your's in His service,

... r Harold and Lois Sims

SIMS TOKYO MISSION

"irst Church of Christ

315 Orange Avenue

• 1 • ^ r

1• I't

r here in

10 this year. /

Eustis, Florida 3272^.

J-aJ. ^ <D

Non-profit Orgn.U.S. Postage PaidPermit , No. 57Eus^tis, FL. 32726

ADDRESS CORRECTION

REQUESTED

^M^EWSLETTER SUMER : gDear Friends; r ' . • ....,:

One year ago we were enjoying a 12 week trip to the United States. We would like to be on thescene again this year to participate in some of the bicentennial festivities and spirit, but8 out of our 17 adult missionaries in the Tokyo area are presently in_the homeland o^' various

'urgent trips ofrregular furlougHs~"and it is our turn to "keep the store" over here. From across the pacific we salute the Star-Spangled Banner, and you people living under it who arethe salt of the earth and the light of the world.

One does not lose love for his country by long years of geographical separation, hearing thecriticisms of its policies, or seeing "yankee go home" demonstrations. "America, America,God mend.thine every, flaw; Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law". Truly free'people are a distinct but not extinct minority in this world. May God shed His grace on ourcountry's leadersand upon each one of you individually.

It has been a long .time since our last newsletter. I am sorry for this neglect, because weknow that many of you pray for us daily, support us faithfully and, sacrificially, and are interested in the work. We also know that we need this very much.. We thank God and pray foryou daily. But it seems that with our regular weekly schedule (8 hours, of English classesfor Lois and. 7 for Harold at home, plus 4 at the local high school, plus Sunday School andchurch services and Bible Classes to prepare for and conduct) and the extra things that comeup from day to do connected with the Mission property etc., the time goes flitting by beforewe realize it and we never get everything donu. I will try to give you a brief summary ofthe happenings for which we praise God during the past few months. More detail about some ofthese things has already been published in the Tokyo Christian which we hope all of you receive.

IN THE FAMILY: On May 28th our second daughter, Sylvia Smith in Bellville, Ohio gave birthto a baby girl named Rachel Jean, our third grand-daughter. On May 7 our oldest son Jonathangraduated from Cincinnati Bible College with the B.A. degree in Missions. He will go directly into the graduate school and continue to support himself by working at the Federal Reserve Bank. A few days ago Danny finished the 9th grade, and was a member of the track team,which shows that he has fully recovered from the broken leg he experienced in March 1975,

IN THEMEJIRODAI CHURCH: Since the first of the year we have had two baptisms and one coupleadded by transfer from the Baptist Church, One of the baptisms was the wife of one of ourfaithful members, so now we have two couples in the church, whereas at this time last yearwe had none. The other baptism was a 9th grade girl who lives near the church. This reallybrought great joy to our oldest member who teaches kimona-making to her mother and led theyoung girl to the Lord.The average attendance at morning worship services has increased fromabout 15 last fall, to around 20 ncv;, and on Easter Sunday we had 49, which was a new recordand one over our "impossible" goal of 48. Eight of the people present that day were relatives or friends of the middle-schooler, who was baptised, and half of them had never been ina church before. So, these weeks have been a great encouragement not only to us but to oursmall flock here.

We had our yearly business meeting recently, and formed our total membership into 5 committees: education, shepherding, worship, and finance. We hope this will help in training oursmall number of Christians for greater responsibilities in the future.

The first funeral in our church was on May 2. A family who had recently moved into our neighborhood had a six year old girl who was bom with a defective heart. The mother is a memberof a Baptist church in another area of the city, but she attended our services one time inApril with this little girl and asked that we pray for her open-heart surgery which was scheduled for April 30 and was her only hope. The hours-long operation proved to be too muchfor the little body, and she died a few hours later. The funeral was conducted by the Baptist preacher, but they asked to use our church building because of the proximity to theirhome, and of course we were glad to help in all ways we could. Our building could not accom-odate the crowd, but the testimony to the community by the Christian mother and the people ofher church and ours was powerful.

IN OUR CHURCHES IN JAPAN: I left home on Saturday night before the funeral for several daysof meetings on the southern island of Kyushu. First I preached on Sunday at the home of Mr.and Mrs. Ben Hirotaka. who are American-bom Japanese and have come here from Oregon to evangelTze~TKeIr""peoi^e. They have regular meetings in their home in the town of Shime, Fukuokaprefecture. They haven't baptised .anyone there yet, but a total of 27 people attended the service on Sunday morning. Many of them were adults, and leaders in the community: a barber andhis wife, flower shop owner, music teacher etc. It seems that the prospects for the futureare good, and we are thankful for this new beginning.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I spoke 3 times on The Christian in Society, Worship, and Home to agroup of about 30 young employed people at a retreat held in a hotel at the foot of the act-ivevolcano Mt. Sakurajima ir Kajoshiraa prefecture v;hich had been planned by Walter and MaryMaxey and one of the Japanese pr-^achers down there. Then on Thursday I spoke to the monthly

meeting of the preachers in that prefecture and enjoyed good fellowship with them. Thatnight I spoke in the Sueyoshi church and had a good visit with old friends Mark and PaulineMaxey. We are continuing the Sth Sunday rallies here in the Tokyo area. The last one. May30 was marred by rainy weather, but we took a total of 10 people from Mejirodai down to Tse-hara in 2 c-^rs.

Camp will be held this year in a different place from the past several years. Our formercamp site had become run down, so we are using a small Japanese hotel in the same Fujiyamafoothills. This year we will have a Japanese manager for the first time.

Our annual convention was held at the end of March at a hill-top hotel east of Nagoya. Theattendance was 203 adults and 38 children and everyone took part in and derived much spiritual good from the fellowship. Following this about 50 missionaries (including the children)gathered at the same place for 2 days of discussion and inspiration using English language.This is the only time we get to see some of our co-workers, so we all look forward to it.

IN JAPAN IN GENERAL: In January I began attending the Hachioji Central Lions Club, and wasinitiated into membership in March. I am hopeful that this contact with some of the businessmen will help promote the cause of Christ in this community and overcome the image of Christianity being only for women and children. I spend at least two days a month with my responsibilities as a member of the board of the Japan Missionary Language Institute for- training new missionaries (including some of our own people) in this difficult language/culture.This school, as any other, has problems but we are doing what we can to help.

The whole nation is still astir with comment about and political movements related to theLockheed Bribery Scandal". This all came to light in the U.S. Congressional hearings, and

the example of an open investigation, swearing before God to tell the truth, efforts to control bribery and raultinatinnal corporations and all we do and say is being watched by all ofthe Japanese people.

-The economy is recovering from the inflation-recession. We can tell by the sudden increaseduring April and May of prospective buyers for the mission property in Kamiochiai where theButtrays have been living. We have been trying to sell this for about 2 years in order tousethe- money for the development of a camp ground which was purchased in 1974, and prospectshave never been better than now. Please pray for God's guidance upon us in this and allother matters. We want to fulfill our calling as servants of Christ, and we believe, andthank. Him that He is able and willing to use even us.

JAPAH ADDRESS:

3 33 7 MejirodaiHachioji-ShiTokyo, Japan T 193

FORWARDING AGENT:

First Church of Christ315 Orange Avenue

Eustis, Florida 32726

SIMS TOKYO MISSIONFirst Church of Christ315 Orange AvenueEust.is, Florida 32726

In His service.

Harold and Lois Sims

1. ^

Non-Profit Organ.U.S. Postage Pd.Permit No. 57

Eustis, FL. 32726

/r7ADDRESS CORRECTION

REQUESTED

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

Volume 75 Third Quarter, 1976

BUTTRAYS' CAMP HOME

Stanley and Mabel Buttrays' future home on the new Shinshu Bible Camp site. Designate all offerings "Buttray Camp Home Fund" and send to forwarding agent: Mrs.Homer Anderson, 622 Cullum Street, Meadville, PA 16335.

Since last writing about the new"Camp Site" in Nagano Prefecture,some progress has been made. It wastwo years ago August 10th that thesix and a half acres of land in Mimakihara(Honorable Pasture Land) near the townof Mochizuki was purchased from sevendifferent farmers.

At that time the outlook for a campbuilding program looked promising, butwas dependent on the quick sale of"Mission Property".

Much to my regret, the sale nevermaterialized. So, one of our missionaryfriends came to our rescue and loaned usenough money to start the Camp Building Project!

First a 130-meter road was built tothe land. Then another 120-meter roadwas made on the land, including a waterpipe laid in the road. Next a basementexcavation (for our still future home)and a bull-dozed area for a tennis courtwas done. Then beginning in late November 1975 the basement foundationfor our home was started and only lastweek, July 19th was it completed!This week a retaining wall for one side ofthe driveway and a drain ditch on theother side was finished.

Thanks to missionary friends 4/5 ofthe subfloor on the basement foundationhas been done. This is temporarilycovered by a canvas to keep the wetnessout of the basement.

This is progress! Even if it has takentwo years.

My Goal and Desire was to see theMission Property sold in time to see atleast a functioning Main Building beingused for campers by this summer!

We finally got electricity by the firstof this year, but still don't have water!I am planning to see the town waterofficials on the 28th of July, and amhoping to be able to resolve the problemsinvolved and get permission.

It is now a year and a half since theMission agreed to sell 2/3 of the landwhere we have lived these past 26 years.Only now has any real progress beenmade toward the sale of this land! Inthis as well as all evangelism problems. . ..Time and God's Blessing must be waitedon!

A troubling thought question thatincessantly reappears In my mind thesedays is: how much Time is Left? I amconfident of God's concern and Blessings,but am fearful that Time is Short!

At the very peak of the battle whentime was necessary for victory over theenemy, Joshua prayed!.. . Time stoodstill... Victory was assured!

As I view the lengthening shadowsof battle in selling this Mission Property,am I too bold in asking God to stop the"Hand of time" in order to assure Victory? So that a functioning EvangelisticCamp for the fulfillment of God's Kingdom from among the people of Japanwill become a reality this year!

The "Camp Building Program" is ata standstill. . .for lack of money! The

Number 3

sale of Mission Property is one God-given method to raise these finances.

Pray that God will overcome theproblems involved in the sale of thisland. Or that He will provide the financessome other way.

Pray for the four young missionarieswho are interested in this EvangelisticCamp Program.

Pray that all the Japanese preacherswill catch the Vision of a multitude ofsouls that can be won to Christ throughthis cooperative evangelistic program.

—Stanley Buttray

GRADUATION

Stanley and Mabel Buttray with their sonDavid at his graduation. Webb Hall, inthe background, was David's home thesepast four years.

It was in June 1972 that our son DavidButtray graduated from Christian Academy High School in Tokyo. And nowfour years later he has graduated fromMilligan College with a B.S. degree inBiology.

Mabel and I often have regretted thatwe were unable to return for our eldestson, Paul's graduation nor his weddingceremony. But the Lord our God isgood! For He made it possible to returnthis year in time to see David graduate onMay 16.

With four years of undei^raduateschooling behind him, he still is notquite sure what he wants to be or do inlife. However, at present he is tentativelyplanning on taking graduate work atEast Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. But this dependson whether or not he will be able tofind satisfactory part time work. For weare financially unable to supply all hisneeds while doing graduate work.

(Continued on page 4)

s-iaiririiKi saMORE TRAVELS

Our travels among the churches duringthis furlough are almost completed. Onemore trip will be made to wind that up.Since the last issue of Tokyo Christianwe have visited the following churches:Greenfield Church of Christ, Berkley,Mich.; East Liberty Church, Ohio; Mill-creek Church, Ohio; Kenton Church ofChrist, Ohio; Betty spoke at Oak HillChristian Service Ladies' Retreat; War-wood Church, Wheeling, W. Va.; BelmontRidge Church, Beallsville, Ohio; andworshipped with the Piqua and Rushsyl-vania Churches.

During this time I also participatedin 3 DaUy Vacation Bible Schools: atBurlington, Indiana; Batesville, Indiana;and Rushsylvania, Ohio.

SEMINAR

On June 14-19 we attended the Seminar on Basic Youth Conflicts which washeld at Atlanta, Georgia. My brother.Burgess, and his wife, Anne, paid ourexpenses and were our gracious hostsduring the week. 16,000 people attendedthe Seminar and 3,000 were turned awayfor lack of seating. All four of us were

benefits from it.

SUMMER

ACTIVITIES

Our final trip to churches will be tothe Pittsburgh area. There we will visitthe Duquesne and Norwin Churches.After returning to Rushsylvania we willdo our final packing and house cleaning.Then we plan to drive to Hayesville,North Carolina to spend several dayswith my parents. From there we willdrive to Joplin, Missouri for a visit withChris and Sharon Scheurich and our son,Noel. On August 25 we expect to take aplane to Oakland, California where wewill stay at the Home of Peace until ourplane leaves for Japan on August 30th.We expect to have a busy summer.

TRAVEL FUNDS

We have received only about one halfof the funds needed for our travel backto Tokyo. The time is drawing near toour departure time — a little more thana month. Our travel expenses must bemet and we would appreciate any helpyou can give us toward meeting them.Send your check to our forwarding agent,Mr. and Mrs. Wade Fletcher, Route 6,Box 14, Rushville, Indiana 46173 anddesignate it for our travel.

NEWS FROM

JAPANThe Wilkinsons in Tokyo have written

that they will be absent from Tokyoduring the month of July. They haverented a cabin near Sendai and they willbe working with the Christians there inevangelism during that time. They arelooking for a place to settle down andwork in after September and perhapsSendai is one of the places they haveunder consideration.

Mr. Saito, one of our Timothies fromthe Arakawa Church in Tokyo, graduatedfrom Osaka Bible Semin^ in March.He has been called to minister to one ofour churches on Shikoku Island. Donaldand Norma Bumey are our missionarieson Shikoku. I helped to lead BrotherSaito to the Lord, worked with him atthe Arakawa Church during his highschool days, and tried to encourage himin his studies at Osaka Bible Seminary.It now gives us a great deal of joy to seethis man enter his evangelistic work inShikoku. May the Lord help him to winmany of his fellow countrymen to theLord and to build them up in the faith.A young man named Mr. Suzuki isanother member of the Arakawa Churchwho is studying for the Christian ministryat Osaka Bible Seminary. He seems tobe doing very well in his studies and weare looking forward to a fruitful ministryfor him after he graduates.

SCHOOL

According to news received from theChristian Academy in Japan, the schoolwhere Philip and Stephen are again enrolled in Japan, the first semester of theschool year will open on August 30th.lliat means that we will be at least acouple of days late for the opening ofschool. That could not be helped due tothe fact that we already had made ourplane reservations long before we got thenews of the opening of school.

FUTURE WORK

Upon our return to Tokyo we planto enter the same work we were engagedin before our furlough began last year.We will continue to assist Brother HiroakiSato and his wife in the work at theSakurayama and Arakawa Churches.And again we will be solely responsiblefor the leadership in the new work atYachiyodai. We plan to expand thiswork as quickly as possible and also tostart other new churches in the samegeneral area as time, funds, and workerspermit us. Pray with us that the Gospelwill have a good reception in this area.

FAREWELL!

This is the last issue of the TokyoChristian prior to our return to our workin Japan. Therefore, we take this opportunity to bid you adieu and godspeed.We wish to thank each of you who hashelped to make this furlough which isnow about to end so memorable andprofitable to us spiritually speaking. Weshall never forget your kindness, hospitality, and assistance. You have encouraged us to be better servants of the LordJesus Christ. We thank all of the churchesand individuals who were such gracioushosts to us during this furlough. It isvery gratifying to us that we have beenso very fortunate as to meet so manynew Wends and to renew old friendships during the past year.

It so happened that our furloughpartially coincided with the celebrationof our native country's bicentennial.It has done our hearts good to discoveragain the old foundations and to reviewsome of the basic things that has madeour country great.

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political philosopher who visited our countrywhen she was young to discover thereason for her greatness, concluded thus:"America is great because America isgood, and if America ever^asM to begood, America will cease to be gre^T^Those are our sentiments too. He meantthat if Americans forsook God, Godwould forsake America. We must alldrink of God's well of living water andthen He can use and bless us. Then wein turn can be a blessing to those aboutus and to the nations across the seas.

THANK YOU

On Sunday morning, March 21, Ilearned that my 81 year-old mother hadfallen down the steps in her home andhad been hospitalized, seriously ill.Immediately, I began making arrangements to return home to be with her fora short time. This meant changing ofpassport, visa, alien identification andvarious other things so that I was unableto leave Japan until March 29. Afterarriving in Meadville, Pa., on March 30,I spent everyday visiting her at thehospital; watching her slowly improveduring the next six weeks until reluctantpermission was given for her to returnhome.

At this time she is slightly improvedover her previous condition having gooddays and bad days. She has been able toattend worship service once and is ableto take short walks with assistance.

My mother and I want to thank allof you for your prayers, cards and letterswhich meant much to both of us and thefamily. Please continue to pray that shemay fulfil God's purpose for her life.

—Mabel Buttray

TRIP TO KYUSHUOn May 1, at the invitation of 2

younger missionaries, I left for a seriesof meetings in two places in Kyushu.First I flew down to Fukuoka, where Iwas met by Ben Hirotaka. He has starteda work in his rented home there. Duringthe week he has various English classesto make contact with people in the area,and he insists that in return for learningEnglish they must come to the Sundayservices and study the Bible. I was happily surprised on the Lord's Day morningto see 27 people in attendance, including several couples who owned smallbusinesses like a barber-shop, flower shopetc. None of these had become Christiansyet at that time, but I think some ofthem are close to a decision, and prospects for the future of the work seemvery good indeed.

This is the group attending services atShime (Fukuoka) on Sunday May 2. BenHirotaka stands at left rear. They live inthe house in the background.

On May 4 I flew on down to Kago-shima. The city is dominated by theactive volcano Sakurashima.

For 2 days we had a retreat for youngworking people from the churches ofthat area in a Japanese hotel at the footof this mountain. (Note the Volcanicrocks in the background of this pictureof our last meeting.) I gave 3 messages onThe Christian in Society, At Work, and Inthe Home. I also enjoyed good fellow-

A brief picture story by Harold Sims

ship with missionaries Walter and MaryMaxey in their new home, and Mark andPauline Maxey in their old familiar home.

While on this trip I took quite a fewpictures for a change, and some of themare rather revealing of Japanese religiousbeliefs and customs.

People crossing the arch bridge into thefamous Shinto Shrine "Dazaifu".

Worshippers being purified by the Shintopriest. The offering box is in the middle.

Young people who have come to thisShrine to pray for the assistance of thegod in passing entrance examinations toHigh School and College. When they aresuccessful they come back to leave anoffering and to write on wooden tabletstheir names, addresses and other pertinent information.

A statue of the 13th century JapaneseBuddhist reformer Nichiren. He isspecially revered by several of the mostactive and powerful new religious movements in Japan, including the Soka-gak-kai = Value-Creating Society that is making advances in the United States.

Some people walk around the statue hundreds of times barefooted, and others sitin one place and repeat the "nam myo horenge kyo" = "Adoration to the holyLotus Sutra" hundreds of times.

Tokyo Christian

Published four times a year inJanuary, April, July and Novemberfor the missionaries of the Church ofChrist Cunningham Mission, Tokyo,Japan by Mission Services, Box 177,Kempton, Indiana 46049. SecondClass postage paid at Kempton,Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray,2-26-4 Kamiochiai, Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo 161 Japan. ForwardingAgent: Mrs. Homer Anderson, 622Cullum Street, Meadville, PA 16335.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton,3-7-8 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku,Tokyo 164 Japan. Forwardingagent: Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, R.R. 7, Rushville, IN 46173.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193Japan. Forwarding agent: FirstChurch of Christ, Orange at CenterSt., Eustis, FL 32726.Two-year subscription $ .50Subscription and

Flaming Torch $1.00

NEWS NOTESMr. and Mrs. David and Sylvia (Sims)

Smith, associate minister with the Bell-ville, Ohio Church of Christ, announcethe birth of a daughter—Rachel Jean—on May 28.

Jonathan Harold Sims graduated fromthe Cincinnati Bible College on May 7,receiving the B.A. Missions degree. Hewill continue studies in the SeminaryGraduate School for about 2 more years.

Daniel Sims has a summer part-time jobat the McDonald Hamburger stand inTachikawa, and is enjoying his first jobvery much.

The missionary convention, which followed the Japanese convention.

Mrs. Margorie Solliday, of Tustin,California, a room-mate of Lois 30years ago in C.B.S., recently visited in theSims home for a day during a tour ofthe Orient and also attended a homeBible study in one of the Japanese homes.

The monthly preacher-missionary meeting on the third Monday of June (21)was held jointly with that of the non-instrumental brethren. Speaker for theoccasion was Mr. Horton who teachesEnglish and Christianity at the IbarakiChristian College. This is the second suchmeeting, and we plan to have at least onesuch fellowship every year. A total of20 people attended.

Mr. Fumio Sato has recently publishedthe third book in a series of small 2-color booklets written for introducingpeople to Christianity. The titles are1. What kind of place is a church?

(Continued from page 1)

I am trusting and hoping that somechurch or family in the Johnson City areawill come to his rescue and help him inaccomplishing his goal.

He is presently sharing an apartmentwith a classmate at the following address:

David Buttray606 Spring Hill Rd. Apt. 1Johnson City.Tenn. 37601Telephone 929-8472

—Stanley Buttray

2. What kind of book is the Bible?3. What kind of a person is Jesus?

They are very cleverly done withdrawings, charts and designs all by theauthor who is also an artist belonging tothe largest association of artists in Japan.

The Wakaba-cho Church recently completed construction of a new parsonage.The old building, erected with relativelycheap wooden materials more than 25years ago, was in very bad shape; so thepeople contributed as generously asthey could and put up a very nice looking2 story house which was completed inJuly. It is very unusual among ourchurches in Japan for a local church toundertake a project of this size withoutany help from the missionary, but wethink it is also an indication of maturity,faith and courage that they did it. Especially this is true of this church whichwas located next to the Cunninghamresidence for almost 50 years and oftenvery dependent on their help.

The new parsonage has a total area of864 square feet and the total cost wasjust under $23,500 or about $27.00per square foot. One half of the costwas paid in cash from special contributions received from the members for thisproject and some funds that the churchhad been saving over a period of yearsfor such purposes. The rest was paid bythe preacher from his personal and familyfunds, and will be reimbursed to himover a period of several years.

Part of the crowd of over 1,000 whogathered on the roof of the Daimaru Department Store in Hachioji City to attend

POSTMASTER

FORM 3579 REQUESTED

BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049

a Sunday afternoon Easter Rally sponsored jointly by all the churches in that

The 240 people who gathered at the allJapan Convention near Nagoya in lateMarch.

This year our summer camp will beheld in another place, after using thefacilities at Lake Motosu for almost 20years. The buildings at the former placehave very badly deteriorated, and alsothe grounds were badly washed by atyphoon late last summer after the campseason had ended. So this year we willbe using a small Japanese inn and a nearby old farmhouse located beside anothersmaller lake in the same Fujiyama foothill area. Already 115 have registeredfor camp from 6 or 7 different churchesin the Tokyo area. This year all of themanagement is in the hands of theJapanese preachers.

The Mejirodai church will take theSunday School children and some mothersup to the mountains for 2 nights stayin a Japanese inn to have our VacationBible School this summer Aug. 22-24.A total of 79 have signed up for the trip,and we look forward to an interestingprogram which is now being planned.

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

Volume 75 Fourth Quarter, 1976 Number 4

PATTON NEWS

BACK IN JAPAN

After an interval of about 15 monthswe are now settled again in our home inTokyo and have resumed our work. Wehad a wonderful furlough and we thankall of you wonderful friends for makingit possible. While in the U.S.A. wetraveled many thousands of miles, metmany old friends, and made many newones.

Among the many kind and helpfulthings done for us by our friends inAmerica while we were there we mightmention four in a special way. Mrs.Louise Williams of Mt. Victory, Ohio provided us with a comfortable home againthis time and paid the utilities for us. Weare deeply fateful to her and to the Lordwho put this into her heart. The house islocated in Rushylvania, Ohio and thisallowed us again to have much contactwith the Rushylvania Church, one of oursupporting churches.

Along with this Brother Dulin of Central Church, Kenton, Ohio gave us half abeef for the freezer in the house. Thatmade some very good eating and we arevery grateful for this token of Christianlove and fellowship. The third thing donefor us was by our son-in-law and daughter, Chris and Sharon Scheurich. Theyloaned us a car which served us well during our furlough. We returned it to themon the way to California and Japan with25,000 more miles on it than it had whenwe borrowed it. We are very grateful tothem too.

Also, we would like to mention thekindness and hospitality of Betty's aunt,Gladys Stackhouse, of Fontana, California, and Betty's cousins, the Perezes, theBitontis, and the Stackhouses. Theyalways go to a lot of expense and troubleto help and entertain us when we visitthem in California. They are great andkind hosts and we are grateful to them.Thanks to them, we lacked nothing whilewe were in California.

GETTING SETTLEDWe arrived back in Tokyo safely on

August 27th and started immediately toget settled in our home. Final preparations were made for Philip and Stephento enter the Christian Academy at thebeginning of the following week. Wewrote out a check for $1,000 to the

I

•j 1^

fiiV: »

Some of the people who attended the Welcome Meeting for the Pattons at the Sakura-yama Church.

school for tuition for the first semesterfor the two of them. The same amountwill be due on January 27 for tuition forthe second semester. Now the boys aresettled in school and seem to be enjoyingit.

VISITING CHURCHES

On our first Sunday in Japan we worshipped with the Sakurayama Church inthe morning and they had a welcomemeeting with a lunch for us following theworship service. Then in the afternoon Iwent with the Satos to the ArakawaChurch to worship and renew our fellowship with them. Since I spend so muchtime in ministering to the people atYachiyodai, I regret that I have so littletime to meet with the Sakurayama andArakawa churches. I am able, however,to attend the prayer meeting and BibleStudy held at the Sakurayama Church onWednesday evenings.

Of course, the two churches mentioned above need some help, but severalothers of our churches in Tokyo areshorthanded in leadership and need help.

YACHIYODAIOn our second Sunday in Japan I went

back to Yachiyodai with Dale and MarkWilkinson who have ministered therewhile we were on furlough. They had

been having a Bible School Class forladies in the afternoons. Since resumingthe work myself I have started an EnglishBible Class for high school students andanother for men who are advanced inEnglish enough so that the class is taughtexclusively in English. Also another English Bible Class for ladies and another forchildren have been started on Thursday.Three new ladies and a man have startedcoming to the classes as well as severalnew children.

5,000 handbills have been printed andI am distributing them in the communitysurrounding the meeting place we arerenting. The people there are veryfriendly and working with them is veryenjoyable. Various opportunities for witnessing to the people are presenting themselves and we are trying to take advantageof these. I try to get the names andaddresses of all who attend our meetingsand when time permits they will bevisited at their homes. I feel that thepeople in that community are beginningto know where we meet and that we arepreaching Christ. More time will beneeded to gain their confidence and reachthem with the Gospel.

THANKSGIVINGOur Lord always leads us in triumph

and fills our hearts with rejoicing and

(Continued on next page)

PATTON NEWS the cost of weddings in japan(Continued from page one)

peace. New blessings come our way everyday and He is always near to comfort,encourage, and strengthen for any task athand. Truly, the Lord is more preciousto his children than silver or gold and toknow Him and walk with Him is more tobe prized than anything else. May He beexalted and His name praised forever.

WEARY IN WELL-DOINGRecently I talked with one of the

ladies of my Bible Class about a matterthat was giving her concern. Her conscience was burdened over it. She saysshe and her husband have been marriedalmost ten years and are very compatible.During these ten years they have neverquarreled once. But the wife's relationto her mother-in-law has soured becausethe daughter-in-law's efforts to be kindand to do good to her husband's motherhas been met by rebuff and rejection onthe mother-in-law's part. The daughter-in-law said she had given up about amonth ago and had despaired of havingany good relation with her mother-in-law.I urged her not to become weary in welldoing and suggested that maybe morekindness could break down the attitudeof rejection her mother-in-law has for her.

At the end of our talk the lady saidshe would search God's Word more, hunger for God's righteousness, and then shewould be on the right path towardcementing closer relations with her husband's mother. A proper relation to Godhelps to make a proper relation withpeople. A personal burden is helping tolead this woman toward God.

ENGLISH CLASSESMy English clsses were resumed at the

Sakurayama Church in the middle ofSeptember. Now I teach these classes onMonday and Tuesday evenings 4:00 to9:00. Proceeds from these classes are usedto help pay the minister's salary and tohelp in church work in other ways. Theseclasses bring the students into contactwith the church and Christian influence.

ADDRESS CHANGEOur forwarding agent's address has

always been Rushville, Indiana. Butrecently there has been a slight changein their address. Their present addressis: Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, R. 6,Box 14 B, Rushville, Indiana 46173.

We pray that the good blessings of theLord be poured out on each of you.

Some of the Bible School students atYachiyodai.

Recently one of my students in English made a report in class on the cost ofweddings in Japan to gain experience inspeaking English. He had just read anarticle on the same subject in a Japanesenewspaper. The newspaper report wasthe result of a survey made by a groupthat is trying to reduce the cost ofweddings in Japan to the bare minimum.

This group divided the cost ofweddings into three areas: the cost of theengagement, the cost of the wedding andreception, and the cost of the honeymoon.

Well over 100 couples were interviewed to determine the amount ofmoney utilized in their weddings, thethree areas mentioned above being combined in each case. They found that theaverage cost of a wedding here is over twomillion yen (about $7,000). The mostreasonable weddings cost between500,000 yen (about $1,700) and one mil-ion yen ($3,400). Numerouse weddingsamong these couples interviewed costover three million yen (over $10,000).Most of the weddings were what is called"Shinzen Kekkon" (marriage before thegods). In other words, these marriagestook place at the Buddhist temples andShinto shrines in Japan. Their gods arelocalized in temples or shrines. Therefore, in their minds the marriage takesplace before the gods.

It is not surprising that hardly any ofthese weddings which they investigatedtook place in churches. It is well knownin Japan that a christion wedding is veryreasonable in price. In spite of that, however, church weddings are very few. Thereason for that is that "Shinzen" marriages are more popular.

The way these weddings are financedwas also discussed by those making thesurvey. The usual method is as follows:when a couple gets married the groomand bride each deposit on the averagethe equivalent of from $2,000 to $2,500in a bank, the bride always depositing thelarger amount. This money is to financetheir children's weddings in the future.

Farmers usually have to sell a piece oftheir land each time one of their childrengets married. If one has several childrenhe has little land left after the marriage ofthe last child.

One can easily see that this works aheavy burden both on parents and newly-weds. All of this is done for the sake ofvanity and family prestige - the drainingof family wealth in order to bow to custom and the popular trend.

How blessed is the couple which canexchange their firm and sincere vowsbefore the true God who is Lord of heaven and earth and who instituted marriage, all of which does not involve a greatdeal of expense. The placing of so muchemphasis on money and prestige starts anew life together off on the wrong foundation - that of material and family pride.

It seems to me that a Christian couplewhich is planning marriage that rejectsthese worldly and vain things,is trulyblessed. We know a couple who are planning to get married in October. The brideis a faithful member of the SannobaraChurch of Isehara and, although the

groom is not yet a Christian, he hasattended church for some time and has aninterest in the Christian religion.

They will be married at the Kamiochaichurch, the missionary ladies will takecare of the things related to the weddingand reception, and missionary Paul Prattwill perform the ceremony. The couplewill have a beautiful and memorablewedding with only a very small fractionof the expense of the costly weddingsmentioned above.

Simplicity and frugality with a corresponding dignity grace any wedding andmake it a memorable occasion.

- Andrew Patton

PRAYER MEETING

The missionaries of the Tokyo areaheld a prayer meeting at the home ofStanley and Mabel Buttray on October2, 1976. This meeting was not onlyoccasioned by our desire to praytogether, but was also held in commemoration of W. D. and Mrs. Emily Cunningham and their mission work in Japan.The Cunninghams were our predecessorsin the work here.

They first arrived in Japan on October1, 1901 to start the work in Tokyo, becoming through this the first direct-support foreign missionaries of our people.This year we are celebrating the 75thanniversary of their first arrival in Japan.

Most of the little band of missionariesin Tokyo were present at the prayermeeting, but previous engagements orclasses prevented some from doing so.Stan Buttray read the Scripture andbrought a short message. Matters ofrejoicing or for prayer were brought upand the fact that the prayer meeting wasbeing held 75 years after the Cunninghams arrived in Japan brought some finecomments from those present. We weresurprised to discover that so many of usmissionaries were missionaries todaybecause of the direct of indirect influenceof the Cunninghams. Like Abel, the sonof Adam, though they are dead, they arespeaking today. Their work had notdied out but is being carried on by thosethey encouraged to enter Japan as missionaries.

After our prayers there was fellowshipover a meal. The blessings of the Lordwas on our meeting and we felt encouraged and inspired to greater efforts forGod.

- Andrew Patton

Exercises in early morning.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL '76At last January's meeting of our Sun

day School teachers we were talking overplans for the new year, and one of themsuggested a new idea for the V.B.S.Instead of having the regular 5 day seriesof lessons and handwork perhaps weshould consider a trip to some place inthe mountains for about 2 nights. Itwould be fun for both teachers and students, the total teaching time would be atleast the same, plus the added benefit ofgetting to know each other and a Christian life-style better by living together.Everyone thought it was a good idea.

In Febru^ Lois and I madea trip upinto the Fuji lake area to look at severdpossible sites for summer camp. Oneplace particularly impressed us. About10 years ago the rains from a typhoonhad caused a dreadful landslide on one ofthe steep mountains, and the majority ofhouses and inhabitants of a village wereswept into the depths of Lake Saiko inthe middle of the night. The mountainstill shows the scar. Since the survivorscould not farm the new layer of rocks,etc., the government suggested that theyestablish some small family-operated innsby the lake catering to schools, clubs andvarious oi^anizations always wanting acheap place for retreats. Tlie farmerswere not used to business, and were notsure their simple cooking would appeal tothe city folks, so training classes were setup for them and eventually it became a"people's inn village", with 20 or moreplaces clustered at the end of the lake.We stayed in the one operated by the former head of the village •• a simple, kind-hearted, chubby old man who showed uscheerful country hospitality.

In March a questionaire was sent outto find out what the response of the Sunday School children's parents would be tothis idea, giving them an idea of the plans,dates and costs. The ones who respondedwere overwhelmingly favorable, thoughfor many of the younger children itwould be the first time to be away fromhome ovemight.

In May, Mrs. Miyashige, the teacherwho brought up the idea and wasnaturally put in chaise, went up there tosee exactly how much time and money ittook to go by train, actually walk thehiking trails, see the rooms, eat the foodetc.

In June we gave out information witha registration form to our Sunday Schooland English class students and began regular meetings for planning, which continued through the summer until justbefore the VBS began on August 22.

The S.S. teachers all worked hard ontheir various assignments, and it was oneof the best and most thoroughly plannedmeetings I have been associated with.The 12 rooms were named for the 12apostles, and each class had a differentcolore name tag etc. Schedules, includingbaths, were planned down to the minute,and as registrations poured in way aboveour original estimates much time wasspent figuring out who would sleep onthe floor space available in each room.

A total of 77 registered, but becauseof sickness etc., some couldn't go at thelast minute. A total of 72 (10 teachers

and helpers from the church, 9 mothersnot members of the church, and 53elementaiy school children) went.

There is a micro-bus rental agency inour neighborhood. Generally they chargeat least twice as much as regular trainfare, so we didn't consider that means oftravel at first. But when we had so manywe inquired and they kindly made a special price for us. So we went in 3 24-pas-senger buses.

On Tuesday, August 10 a generalmeeting of all the parents was held at thechurch, and everyone seemed well-satisfied with the complete informationhanded to them in an 8 page booklet.

So sent off by a large crowd of parentswe left from in front of the church at 2P.M. on a hot Sunday afternoon andarrived at the Inn at 4:30 after one rest-stop on the way.

We settled in and had the first of 4classes on "Jesus by the Lake" that night.The four subjects were: 1. Calling of thefour fishermen; 2. Stilling the tempest;3. Walking on the water (which I actedout by stanind on a rock out in the waterduring the Monday night campfire) and4. After the resurrection. On Mondaywe took a long hike, which includedentering a cave where there was still iceremaining from the winter. We had ourlesson while resting half way.

On Tuesday the older students rodebicycles around the lake while theyounger ones played baseball or madesmall rock gardens.

We returned on the buses to thechurch Tuesday afternoon where theparents were waiting. During our daysin the mountains the city experienced thehottest weather in years, so the timingwas just right for us to be in the coolmountains enjoying clear views of Fuji.Also this year I served on the neighborhood children's summer activities committee and was able to arrange things sothat no fireworks, picnics or other activities conflicted with our plans.

In September and October our SundaySchool had a noticeable increase inattendance, and everyone is looking forward to another trip next year.

•Harold Sims

SALE POSSIBLEOn Oct. 12, the Yotsuya Mission

signed a temporary agreement for the saleof the land where Mr. and Mrs, StanleyButtray have been living for over 20years. Needless to say this was aftermany weeks of long and difficult negotiations. The sale is contingent upon thecompany buying it being able to obtainthe consent of about 40 neighbors whosesunlight, TV reception, etc. will beaffected by the erection of a nine storyapartment building there. If the peopleoppose it too strongly they cannot get abuilding permit under Japanese laws andwill but buy it. We are now in a 45 daywaiting period to see what the results oftheir visits to the neighbors will be. Weask you to join us in praying that Godwill work things out according to His will.

If the sales goes through we will givemore details in the next issue.

Arrival at the lake. (Micro-buses and innin background.

The group. Mt. Fuji can be seen dimlyacross the lake.

Resting during hike through the woods.

Tokyo Christian

Published four times a year in January, April, July and November forthe missionaries of the Church ofChrist Cunnungham Mission, Tokyo,Japan by Mission Services, Box 177,Kempton, Indiana 46049. SecondClass postage paid at Kempton,Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray,2-264 Kamiochiai, Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo 161 Japan. ForwardingAgent; Mrs. Homer Anderson, 622Cullum Street, Meadville, PA 16335.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton,3-7-8 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku,Tokyo 164 Japan. ForwardingAgent: Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade Fletcher, R.6, Box 14 B, Rushville, IN46173.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 3-33-7Mejirodai, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 193Japan. Forwarding Agent: FirstChurch of Christ, Orange at CenterSt., Eustis, FL 32726.Two-year subscription $.50Subscription and

Flaming Torch $1.00

LOIS SIMS HAS

OPERATIONLois Sims underwent sui^ery at the

Seventh-Day Adventist Hospital in Tokyoon August 31 for removal of a ratherlai^e gallstone. She had stomach painsand discomfort from July, and x-raysconfirmed the existence of the stone. Assoon as the operation was over the Doctor stepped out into the hall and told methat it was a normal operation with nodifficulties or complications and went onto add the assuring word that while theyhad the opportunity to look around inside of her they did and there was no signof any malignancy in any area.

She was in the hospital for 10 days,and of course had to take things easy athome for a month following that, but isnow back to normal activities. Thepeople of the church and even many ofher English class ladies were very kind tovisit her in the hospital. Many of thembrought us lai^e muscat grapes and musk-melons that we usually find too expensiveto buy, and some of the church membersbrought in meals for Danny and me sothat we fared O.K. We thank God for Hisfaithful and gracious healing and care.

-Harold Sims

VISITORS

People visiting with the Simses duringthe summer were:

* Mrs. Marjorie Solliday of Tustin,California; a roommate of Lois' in C.B.S.29 years ago and now a specialist inteaching people with brain injuries, etc.who was on a tour of several countries inthe Orient.

* Mr. Howard Harris from Kern ParkChristian Church in Portland, Oregonwho spent 3 weeks visiting the work oftheir missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. BenHirotaka in Fukuoka.

* Mr. and Mrs. Mike Sensibaugh whoAvere in Japan with the St. Louis Cardinals footbdl team to play an exhibitiongame.

* Miss Mary Ann Glanville of Oakland,California who spent 3 weeks in Japanwith the Lion's Club International YouthExchange program.

* Mark Maxey and his daughter, Hope.

SUMMER CAMPOur readers are no doubt familiar with

the name Motosu, which is the lake bywhich we have had our camp almostevery summer for 20 years. Earlier thisyear we decided that the buildings andgrounds there had deteriorated so muchthat we would seek a more suitable place.Some of the older young people were disappointed, because they always enjoyswimming in the cold, clear lake.

This year the camp was housed at thePeople's Village, mentioned in theMejirodai V.B.S. report - using two buildings, the inn with 70 -80 campacity andan old thatched-roof farm house nearby.

The camp was held Monday Aug. 2 -Thursday Aug. 5. The cool, rainyweather cut down the recreation schedule, but the attendance of 115 was thehighest ever. Also this year for the firsttime there was a Japanese manager.Everyone was so happy with the waythings worked out that dates for 1977were reserved before they left.

The faculty by the lake. (Fugi in background partially covered by clouds.)

POSTMASTER

FORM 3579 REQUESTED

BOX 177, KEMPTON, IN 46049

EVANGELISTIC

MEETING AT

MEJIRODAIOur Fall evangelistic meeting this year

was from Thursday September 23 ( aJapanese holiday) through Sunday September 26. There were meetings everynight from 7:30 -9:00, and on Fridaymorning from 10:00 - 12:00 for ladieswho could not attend in the eveningsbecause of having to feed and bathe thechildren. Our evangelist was MasatamiKikkawa, the young minister of one ofour growing churches in the city of Ono(no connection with the book of Nehe-miah) about one hour up from Kobe.

On the final day, three people cameforward at the invitation to accept Christas Savior, and two of them - a motherand daughter who have been attendingsince last spring - were baptized. Mrs.Nakazato's older sister, a Lutheran, whohad prayed for her to become a Christiana long time rushed across town by trainduring the afternoon to arrive here justin time for the evening service and baptism. They, aswell asSi of us, were veryhappy.

The following Sunday, the other onewas baptized. She was the 12 year olddaughter of Mrs. Nakagawa (the secondperson baptized here at Mejirodai) and astudent in our Sunday School since herfirst grade and our first year.

Although the attendance was not asgood as we hoped for we are most thankful that this meeting became the time ofdecision for these three who were higheston our list of prospects.

•Harold Sims

-

Ghristms 1976

Dear Friends,

For our family in Tokyo the "bicentenrdal" was the ;ye.?r that:DANIEL got his first job. He worked most of the summer days by ;;h-3 hotgrills of McDonald's Hamb^orger place near Tachh.kawa Stativon, g^iiningmuch experience, some money and fun along the way^ Today a T '" crew isfilming him 7.n uniform foi' a special program on hov7 and v;hy amei':; Ocinyoung people work pai"t-timei He is now in tlie tenth grada^ and his"foreign laiiguage" is Japanese^ whicxh he likescBOBBY became 21. He continuea tc work at the Teolinical College in Cincinnati, and his tapes to u.s mentioned frequently hlo work, on burUdLng aTV studio and the GB radio in his oa;r„JONATHAN graduated from Bible College with the R.A. in Missions end beganhis graduate studies in the Ci.ncinnati Seim.nary. He also ur'eached hisfirst sermons in the Price A\'e, church.

SYLVIA gave birth to a baby girl—Rachel 0ear.—on M-ay 28= HeoentCvv Davebegan a new job as co-minister with our friend Tom Frlskney at the Churchof Ghrist in Haraersvillef Ohio.HOPE and Tom and their little girls Becky (5) and Melind? (1) moveci toArtesia, Now Mex:j,co last i-'ebruar-y to manage the fa.rm at the new OhristiauCollege there. The adjustments to climate, irrigation farming and otherthings have been difficult, but they are growing and healthy physicallyand spiritually, - .. . - • .LOIS underwent surgery on Aug^ 31 to remove a rather large gallstono tne.thad bothered hc-r for a couple of mouths, but is now l;ack to noTTiial a,ctivitiesafter 10 days in the hospital and a month of recu.-oorati on atHAROLD joined the local Lion's Club in addition to ooutiniiing hits re.giAlaractivities as the local preacher, EnglisJi teacher and miss.;.ciiiry.

The Mejirodai Church had the largest increase in membership in Its6 year history, wirh 3 added by baptism and 3 by transfer. We had a yerysuccessful Vacation Bible School In August, leading to a good Increase inSunday School attendance during the fall.. other chui'ches in the Tok^yoarea are all going along steadily- The erircliment of 113 oar.ipsummer was the largest ever, Vfe h.we started a fifth Sunday Rally also..

The nation of Japan was pi'eoccupied with the Lock-heed scandal.. Acool summer and extremely heavy rains in September brought fluodlrg. laixd-slides and severe crop losses, and prices on ej.i things are on ajiothco'."mountain climbing expedition. But we still have compleio freedom '-.q preachthe gospel here—a rai-ity in Asiao

Vfe have a great many gifts from God to be thenkful for as we comecelebrate His uxapeakabl.c gift, the Vv'ord becoming FlesUe Next year we16 to the 30th anniversary of our- marriage and arri'val in Jacan. '7c lookk with contentment and gratitude ai-.d forward v/itL joy a.nd hope. f-Tay

of you have a very joyf-uL Christmas and a new year- filled vrj.-;nLgs from above-

Yours in Kis se-ivice.

2 3 6 2

(/{ Aaa^MaMa ^^ AJa^i/MX ^

(H/(/^