Beckman George Ethel 1989 Japan

8/11/2019 Beckman George Ethel 1989 Japan

1/6

Osali^^

Ghri^t i^n

^iioiL

oj ^meric^^

No t - f o r -P ro f i t

Corpo ra t i on

FORWARDING

AGENTS

Roger & B er yl J oh ns on

3320

Westgate Parkway

Rockfo rd , XL 61108

8 1 5 - 3 9 9 - 3 6 9 0 J a n u a r y 20 , 1 989

Dea r

F r i e n d s

and Fe l l ow Work e r s ,

1^/9

OSAKA

BIBLE SEMINARY

MISSIONARIES

George & Ethe l Beckman

J e n a n n Be c kma n

2-415

Kiyoshikojin

Takarazuka

Hyogo Pre.

665

JAPAN

Phone

0797-86-1261

H e

who

sits

upon

th e th rone say s ,

Beho ld ,

I am

making

ll

t h i ng s

n ew . ( R e v . 2 1 : 5 .)

At th e beg inn ing o f

t h i s

new

yea r ,

we a re very

consc ious

o f new

t h i ngs

and even ts . e are deeply g ra t e fu l fo r your

prayers

and suppor t

t h a t

have

made ll

t h i s

po s s i b l e and

we p ray t h a t t h i s

new

yea r i s as ex c i t i n g and

c h a l l e n g i n g

i n

t h e Lord f o r each o f you

a s it

ha s so

f a r

been f o r u s .

We

have

a

new worke r

on

ou r team to b eg i n t h e work h e r e . Mr. Da ik i

Kishimoto gradua ted from I b a r a k i Ch r i s t i a n Col lege in

March

1988 and

became a

s t uden t

o f

Osaka

Bib l e Seminary . He preached h is first

sermon

on

Chris tmas

day to

which

s ix teen people

came

fo r our first Lord s Day

wor

sh ip . He wi l l preach th ree

Sundays

a month

and

George wil l preach

one

Sunday. Mr. Kishimoto i s a very

zealous

young man with a winning personal

ity

As

mos t

o f

you

know

we

have

been

p l ann i ng

and

l o ok i ng

f o rwa rd

t o

moving

to a new area and beginning a

new

work

fo r

the pas t

year . That

dream

became

a r ea l i t y

when

we

moved

to

our

new loca t ion on December

19

1988.

Tha t move was so much a b i gge r u nd er ta kin g th an

we

had dreamed t h a t

if

it

had no t been fo r th e h e lp o f

many

f r i e nd s we neve r would have made it We

had dreamed

and

planned to

be

here

in p l en ty o f t ime to ge t s e t t l e d

and

beg in work with a Chris tmas meet ing, bu t because o f th e many days

o f

r a i n

l st

summer

th e

cons t r uc t i on had been de layed so t h a t we were unab le to

move un t i l

Monday December 19

and

still

t h e re

were workmen around

t ry ing

to g e t

t h ings

f i n i shed . They f i n a l l y f i n i shed by

four

o c lock

Sa turday

af ternoon so

tha t the meeting room could be

cleaned

and furni ture

put in

p l ace in t ime f o r th e Chr i s tmas Eve mee t i ng we had

p l a n n e d .

On

th e twen t i e t h

Mr.

Kishimoto

and

f ou r

semina ry

s t ud en t s

d i s t r i b u t e d

tr cts

in

t h e ne i ghbo r hood telling

o f

t h e mee t ing t o be

he ld

on

Chr i s tma s

Eve.

Before

the

day

was over one

o f our neighbors

came to

the door

saying

t h a t

she

wanted to

come

to

th e meet ing and beg in a t t end ing E t h e l s

Bib le

c l a s s and worsh ip

on Sunday .

Our h ea rts r ejo ic ed

when

t h i r t y

people most

of them our neighbors ,

g ath ere d fo r ou r first

mee t i ng .

We

showed

a

v i d eo o f

t h e

Chr i s tma s

Can t a t a

A

Christmas Glorious

produced by the Southland

Chris t i an

Church Lexing

t on , Kentucky. So

t h a t

th e people

cou ld

under s t and it we

prepa red

a book l e t

with Engl ish s c r i p t on one page and Japanese s c r i p t on the fac ing page.

The even ing was n ot w ith ou t o t h e r exc i t emen t a s w e ll , fo r when we

r e t u rned home

we

cou ld hea r wate r r un nin g somewhere in th e house , bu t

we

c o u ld n o t

f i n d

where it was . F i n a l l y we l o oked

unde r

th e

f l o o r and found

s e v e r a l

i n che s

o f

wa t e r

t h e r e . The

j o i n t

to th e

p ipe

l e ad i ng to

th e

second

f l oo r had given

way.

We rece ived

bucke t s

o f water from o ur n eig hb or to ge t

us

t h rough th e

n i gh t

and th e p lumbe r came th e n e x t morning to f i x

it in

t ime fo r us

t o

g e t ready to

go to

worsh ip .

New

Years

i s always a b ig

th ree

day hol iday

in

Japan. Many people go

to

th e

t emp le s

and

s h r i n e s to worsh ip

in

o r d e r to ga i n f a vo r s fo r th e

new

year .

In

sp i t e of t h a t

the re were s ix

of us in

pra i se and

worship

to the

Lord ou r God. E ach S un day s i n c e t hen we have had an i n c r e a s e in numbe r s .

Not only

do

we have a new

year ,

bu t we have a

new

e ra

in Japan

as the

emperor

d ied

on J an ua ry s ev en th and the crown pr ince was made

emperor

t h a t

day. The

name

of the

re ign of H irohito was

ca l l ed

Showa

meaning

harmony

and

enlightenment

.

The

new

era

of Emperor Akihi to i s

ca l l ed

Heise i , l i t e r a l l y


2/6

meaning achieving

peace. During

the

long i l l n e s s of H irohito there was

mu h controversy over the role of the

emperor.

Since Hirohito s death

m ny

people a re speaking

o u t and o p i n i o n s

a re being s t a t e d which

no

one would

d o a s l o n g a s

h e

l i v e d .

E t h e l s

E n g lis h B ib le

c l a s s

h as begun th e

new

y e a r w i t h t h r e e

new

members from

t h i s a r e a : Mrs. Tanaka who had come twice to

Koyoen

to

th e

c l a s s

Mrs.

I k e h a t a who

came t o

th e d o o r in r e s p o n s e to th e

t r a c t s and M rs.

A s a n o whom w e

h a d m e t o n e

t i m e w h e n w e

c a m e t o

s e e

t h e

h o u s e .

he

church

a t

Koyoen

had

t h e i r

l a s t

meeting

in th e

house

on

January

15 and

work on demolishing th e

house

began

th e follow in g

Wednesday. They

a r e

m e e t i n g i n a s m a l l t u t o r i n g s c h o o l

b u i l d i n g

w h i l e

t h e i r

ne w

b u i l d i n g i s

b e i n g

c o n s t r u c t e d . P r a y t h a t

t h e y

w i l l

b e

a b l e

t o

r e a c h o u t i n t h a t n e i g h

b o r h o o d i n a g r e a t e r w a y .

We

w a n t

t o e x p r e s s

o u r

g r a t i t u d e

t o all o f y o u

who

a r e m a k i n g t h e

w o r k

h e r e

p o s s i b l e

t h r o u g h y o u r p r a y e r s an d s u p p o r t . We e s p e c i a l l y t h a n k a l l o f

y o u

who r e m e m b e r e d u s

at

C h r i s t m a s

t i m e . May

yo u b e

r i c h l y

b l e s s e d o f

t h e

L o r d . V

P le a se n o t e o u r new a d d r e s s and t e l e p h o n e number.

2 - 4 - 1 5

K i y o s h i k o j i n

T a k a r a z u k a

H y o g o P r e f .

6 6 5 J A P A N

T e l e p h o n e

0 7 9 7 - 8 6 - 1 2 6 1

We will b e w a i t i n g

t o

h e a r f r o m

y o u .

f

Y o u r s in hrist

t c L L

G e o r g e E t h e l

J e n a n n

/ . V .


3/6

^iioit ,

oj

^meric^^

Not - f o r - P r o f i t Corpora t ion

FORWARDING AGENTS

Roger & Beryl

Johnson

3320

Westgate

Parkway

Rockfordy XL 61108

815 - 3 9 9 - 3 6 90

May

1 ,

1989

jdll

OSAKA BIBLE SEMINARY

MISSIONARIES

George & Ethe l Beckman

J e n a n n

Be c kma n

2415 Kiyoshikojin

Takarazuka, Hyogo Pre f .

665 JAPAN

Phone

0797-86-1261

Dea r Ch r i s t i a n F r i e n d s :

May the

grace of

our

Lord Jesus

Christ be

with

you.

We continue to thank

God

for

the

fellowship

that we have

with

you in proclaiming

the Gospel here

in

Japan.

In

the four

months

that we have been living in Kiyoshikojin

we have

been constantly reminded of His grace in

leading

us

to

t h i s

place to work.

After we had become

almost

set t led so that

the

house began to look like a home

Ethel

inv i t ed

the

neighbor women in

fo r

tea one af ternoon. So fa r one

of

these women

has

been

coming regularly

to worship on Sunday

mornings.

On March 12 , E th el re ce ived word that her youngest

sis ter

had gone

to be

with her Lord.

Though

Stel la s

body has always been handicapped , she had a great love for people

and

for

her Lord. She

never

complained even though

the

last months

she

was

in pain.

On March 21 over

eighty

people

gathered

to help us

dedicate

Grace Church of Christ (Megumi

Kirisuto

no

Kyokai .

Many

others

who

could not

come

sent congratulations

and gifts

to

the

new church. The archi tect who

designed

the

church

said

that

he wanted

to

build a

church

where people could

find

reset

for

their

souls

and

strength for their

l ives, and

everyone

who

enters

the small and simple room says that

is

th e atmosphere they feel . The windows

on the west side of the room face a

grove of

green trees;

this

ad_ds_ to the beauty

of

the

room. Of

course, the

peace and rest they

find here

will depend on

th e

people they

meet,

and i t is our constant prayer that they will find the love of God that gives th is rest and

s t rength

re f l ec t ed through

us .

On March 24 two young women graduated from Osaka Bible Seminary. Miss Sach iko Oshiro

returned

to

Okinawa and she began

working

as a

chaplain

in a Christian hospital . Miss Hiromi

Iwaasa returned

to her

home in

Tokyo;

she

will

look for

work to

support herself

and plans

to help

in

her

home

church.

The All Japan

convention o f

the

Churches

of Chris t

was

he ld a t a new ho te l in Okinawa

from March 28

30, with over

400

attending.

The theme

of

the

convention

was

taken

from

John

15:16

You

did not choose

me, bu t I chose you

to

go

and bear

f ru i t . Jenann

and

Mr.

Kishimoto

wen t f rom Grac e

c h u r c h .

Five new

students entered

Osaka

Bible

Seminary

April

11 ,

th e

beginning

of the

new school

year,

bringing

the to ta l

enrollment to

eleven regular

students

and two auditors. Mr. &

Mrs. Shimabukuro

come

from Okinawa, Mr. Hiroyuki Sakasegawa from Tanegashima, an

island

off Kagoshima, Mr. Shinya Matsushita from Kagoshima, and Mr. Shiro Tanaka from Wakayama.

From May

21 Mr. Matsushita

will

be coming here

to help in the Bible

School on Sundays.

The semi-annual meeting of the Kobe Women s Luncheon

was

held on April 19. Our speaker

was Dr. Keiko

Fujii ,

a

ped ia tric ian i n

Hiroshima. In her search for the meaning of

l i fe

she had studied Buddhism and become a Buddhist nun, but found no answer there. When a church

moved

into

a new

building next

door

to

her home

she

began

attending

and

there

found

the

Truth, the answer to her search. Since then she has won all of her family and

many

relatives

and

others

to

Christ.

Although she

is

a very busy

doctor.

Dr.

Fujii travels

many

places

to t e l l

her

s to ry .

Specia l

i tems

fo r prayer :

1) The people who have been coming

to church, especially

Mrs. Fukuoka who

also

comes

to

s tu dy S at ur da y a ft er noons w i th

Mr.

Kishimoto.

2 For guidance in

trying

to reach our neighbors.

3

Please

pray

for Jenann.

One

of her

livin g lin k churches has asked

her to look for

some

other church es

to supply the support

they have

been

giving

her.

She does not want

to

go on furlough to raise more

support right now

just as

we are

beginning a new work.

4) The new

students

in

the seminary.

Yours

min i s t e r s

to Japan ,

George &

Ethe l

Beckman


4/6

New

Students of Osaka Bible Seminary

pr i l 989

Mr

Matsu sh i t a

. Mr

Tanaka

.

Mr Shimabukuro

Mr

Sakasegawa

.

Mrs

Shimabukuro

Ded ica t i o n o f Grace

Church o f

Chr i s t

mt

h

I

4lm


5/6

^iioiL,

oj

^meric^^

No t fo r P ro f i t Corpora t ion

FORWARDING

AGENTS

Roger &

Beryl

Johnson

3320 Westgate Parkway

Rockford , IL 61108

815 399 3690

D e a r

C h r i s t i a n F r i e n d s :

November 4 1989

p /f

OSAKA BIBLE SEMINARY

MISSIONARIES

George & Ethe l

Beckman

J e n a n n

B e c k m a n

2-415

Kiyoshikojin

Takarazuka,

Hyogo Pref .

665

JAPAN

Phone

0797-86-1261

I don t know about tomorrow, but I know

who

holds

my

hand. How

often

have we

heard

Martin

Clark

sing this song that he loved so well. On May 9, 1989 Martin attended and had a

in the funeral of a Christian friend and neighbor. After the funeral he

was

telling us

how t rim and f it he had kept, saying, See this black suit I have had so many years st i l l

fits

around the

waist.

The next morning he had a light heart

attack

and was

admitted to

the

coronary

section

of

Yodogawa Christian Hospital. Though he seemed

to

be

recovering, after

a

series

of

three severe attacks

he was called home by

the

Lord

to

his reward. Martin

is

greatly missed not only by the faculty and students of

Osaka

Bible Seminary, but by mission

aries

and

Japanese

Chritians throughout

Japan.

Paul Clark, Martin's son, was made acting president by the councillor body of the Sem

inary

just

before Martin s death and was officially

made

President at the meeting of the

councilors on

November

2 ,

1989.

We were again

made

aware of the

uncertainty

of l i fe

on this

earth

when we received

word October 25 of the

accidental

death of the two-year-old son of Gary Jones in Hiroshima

and grandson of Lee &Sandra Jones, our fel low-missionaries in the

same

city.

Our hearts

sorrow in

sympathy

with

these

f ami l i e s .

We

Joined the missionaries in

July for

the annual all Japan Missionary Convention held

this year in

Kagoshima,

Kyushu. The hosts for this year s convention,

were

Walter &Mary

Maxey, Mark &Pauline

Maxey

and Afred &Rhonda Juve. We were challenged and encouraged by

five

messages on

the

theme: I

m

Not

Ashamed

brought by Charles Faber . Two

discussion

periods were centered on the questions,

Where will

the

next

generation of missionaries

come

from? and Where will the next generation of Japaneses preachers

come

from? Evelyn

Clark went on the plane with us while Paul

and

his family drove and camped along the way to

t he c o nv e nt i on .

Even before Mr. Kishimoto began to work with us in Takarazuka, he had promised to take

care of the work at Mejirodal while the Simses were in the States during July and August.

While he was gone students

from

the Seminary

and

George preached on alternate Sundays. Like

most

other

churches in Japan,

the

attendance was

down

during the month of August; but

i t

has

Built back up and Increased in September and October until the average for the last two

months has been almost double that of the months before August.

Two very hot days Seminary student

Mr. Sakasegawa

came and

distributed tracts

through

out our neighborhood. Jenann helped him the second day. Then in August with

his

help Jenann

held

a

vacation

Bible

school for three days.

From

October

13 we had an

enjoyable

week as Marge Robinson from

th e

Central Christian

Church in Waukegan, Illinois, visited us. We were sorry we did not have time to take her to

see more of the sights here. Ethel took her on a tour in Kyoto on Tuesday. She went with

Jenann and George to the Seminary on Wednesday and visited

Ethel s English Bible Class

on

Thursday. After

class

we ordered in lunch and had a time of fellowship.

Then two

of the

members

took

Marge

to the botanical garden In Nishlnomlya.

Then again from October 31 until November 6 we were greatly blessed by the visit of

Willard & Janice Kelley from Central Christian Church, Rockford, Illinois. They had been in

the Philippines holding evangelistic meetings for

two

weeks

and stopped here on

their way

back

to the

States.

Here we kept them busy, too, as

Willard

gave two

l ec tu res for the

annual

Tanemaki

Kai

at

Osaka Bible Seminary November 2 and 3, and preached for Megumi (Grace)

Church

of Christ on Sunday. Janice also spoke to Ethel 's English Bible class on Thursday.

We were able to squeeze in one day of

sight

seeing Kyoto on Wednesday, where we saw the Nijo

detached

cast le,

famous for I ts nightin-gale floor,

th e

golden pavilion, and the handicraft

center . Since the co ronat ion pa la c e

was under

reconstruct ion we were unable

to see

it

The theme for the Tanemaki Kai this year The Church in the ew Age (in Japan),

George spoke on Evangelism: The 50 s, The 80 s, and th e Future on th e

morninc

of the

rd

Sunday afternoon we went to see the church building in Nlshinomiya

that

was being built

on the s i te of

ou r

old

house.

I t is

scheduled

to be

finished

by November 19, and dedication

has been set for

November

23 ,

a

national

holiday.


6/6

want

to

thank you

fo r

your

continued

support In

prayers

and concern for

the

work in

Japan.

thank od fo r a wonderful student body and faculty at Osaka Bible Seminary, and

for

their cooperation in the

transition

since the time of

Martin s

death.

have

great

hopes for the future of the Seminary, our only preachertraining school in Japan.

thank od also for Mr. Klshimoto, our young preacher, and for the many opportuni

t ies

we

are

having in making the Gospel

known

in Kiyoshikojin. ar e grateful to Rockford

Central Christian Church for let t ing Willard and

Janice

have the extra week to come here to

help

and encourage us .

I t

has been a real blessing to us .

May

the

Lord bless you as you also serve

im

and witness to others. May you grow in

S p i r i t

and

in love in

the

Lord.

Yours

minis te rs

to Japan,

GEORGE

ETHEL BECKMAN

JENANN

A NOTE FROM THE KELLEYS

I t

was our p le as ur e t o

v i s i t

with George,

Ethel ,

and Jenann on the i r home ground.

What a th r i l l to se e their new faci l i ty

(both

hou se and church building), i t s fine

location

and good cons t r uc t i on

and

the enthusiasm

the Beckmans have fo r

t h i s new work. We

v i s i t e d

also

th e

si te of

their home

for

40

years, th e beautiful

new building under construction

which wil l house th e church that

met

in th e

Beckman

basement for

so many

years. We Just

pray

tha t

both

fac i l i t ies

are

only

a

shadow

of th e

stable

and

secure

church

bodies

which

wil l

meet

in

them

for

many years to come. I t was equally rewarding to

v is i t

Osaka Bible

Seminary, to meet

the

facul ty an d student body, and witness

the

enthusiasm fo r

Kingdom-

building manifested there. The Beckmans

lead

a

busy

schedule. pray for the i r strength

heal th in the good

work they

do.

WILLARD JANICE KELLEY

Vacat ion Bible Schoo l , Megumi Church o f Chr i s t

A u e u s t

1 9 8 9

Paul

Clark

b e ing in tr o du c ed as the new

President

- of

Osaka Bible

College,-

tudents

of

O s a k a ible

Singing a t Tan emak i K ai - 11 3 89

Documents

Beckman George Ethel 1989 Japan