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}9t.
MISS IONS POSS IBLE
Volume 2 Numo er
September
199
AN
OPEN
LETTER
To: BibleCollegePresidents AcADE^^c DeaiNS Missions
Professors
CampusMlnisters Chluche
SUPPORTING
Bible
Colleges
aindCampusMinistries Students and
a l l
those
seriously intereste
IN REACHING THE WORLD FOR ChRIST.
There is a desperate need for qualified, committed workers to come/go toforeign countries as teachers ofEnglis
asaforeign language.In thelastmonth,Ihave receivedrequests forteachers forKamchatka.Sakhalin andBirobidjha
in Russia, plus Harbin and Peking inChina. Requests have also come fromTaiwan and Indonesia.
A magazine I receive asks for teachers in Poland, Hungary and Turkey. Practically every country in the world
especially developing countries, formerEast Bloc countries and Islamiccountries) that doesnot have English as its
primary language is looking for qualified teachers.
Whatcanyoudo,BibleCollege Presidents,AcademicDeansand MissionsProfessors?Wouldyou pleaseconside
expanding your curriculum to include courses which would offer your graduates credentials in
TEFL
or TESOL
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)? Then, would you personally challenge several individuals in
your school to go overseas as a teaching tentmaker? Workers can be sentto
nearly
all the world.
The
worldis indeed
within our reach. Do you have the vision? I would be more than
happy
to meet with you to discuss details fo
establishing such a program on my nextvisit to the States, if you are seriously interested. Youcan contactmebymail
fa x o rE mail.
Whatcan youdo. CampusMinisters? Pleasecheck tosee if the university/college whereyou serve offers courses
inTEFL/TESOL. If so, personally encourage members of your fellowship to take courses to prepare them towork
overseas.
It
c an make
a
real difference
in
their l iv es and
th e
world.
What can you do, Churches? Askyour Bible collegesif they are offeringsuch courses. Ifnot, ask themwhynot
Ask your campus ministers if they are encouraging their fellowship togooverseas. If not ask them why not You
can also
pray
for workers for
the
harvest.
Whatcanyoudo,students andothersseriously interestedin reaching theworld forChrist?Pleaseconsideracaree
emphasison lifetime) inworking overseas as aTeacherofEnglish asaForeignLanguage. Presently,TEFL position
are being filled overseas by opportunists trying tomakea quick buck, or to use the opportunity as a steppingstone
to some other job. Not many are interested in the eternal well-being of their
students.
What about you? WB
8/10/2019 Belew William Akemi 1993 Japan
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2
B E L E W S SP WS
The
family isback. Banzai They arrivedhome onJune ZSth.
Th e
boys have reruraed
school. The better news isAkemi has now tmished teaching and is officially retired'.
e will become afull-dme mother and homemaker. This will be an interesting transition
r her. She has caught ever since we returned to Japan, meaning she has balanced
he r
aching load with her home responsibilities. The boys and I are looking forward to her
a full-time mom.
Micah joined a baseball team when he was in the States and now it' s eat,
sleep and
nk baseball. He even wears Atlanta Braves outfits. That could be blasphemous, me
ng a native Clndnnacian. Whatcan I say? He does wear a Reds
ca p
and warmup
jacket.
. Cincinnati Benji finished the fifth grade while inNew York.
W hat
a champion He
arted the fifth grade in Americawith less than three months to go. He caught up and
nished the year with honors, inhis second language I am a proud father. Both boys have
id back intothe Japanese schooland are working tocatch up AGAIN. The school year
already threemonths gone. It's quite a burden on the boys to go back-andfofth berween
e two countries and two school systems. But, until now, they have managed with no
I
was
recently designated
'representative' of the church. That''s*an exactEnglish
nslation of the word used inJapanese. That brings with itmany responsibilities, one of
ich is doing the weekly preaching. I am also leading the weekly Bible study in Sanjo
Sunday evenings. All is well.
Running
Bill. Akemi. Benji Micah
ComouServe Address
101163 2634
AN O P E N D O O R T O C H I N A
The dooris creakingopentoChina. No kidding. It seems a real possibility that we
l be able to start an ECS in China
sometime next
year.
AN D
we
will be able to
include
le teaching inourprogram. Weare looking for teachers to work at thisnewECS. Are
interested? Is there someone you know who might be interested? Canyou put them
withme(Bill)?
Soon
IplantovisitChina earlynextyear to investigateand follow
on leg workbeing done as Iwrite.I would like for this person or family togo with me.
hing English and Bible in
China-it s
possible, but hasn't happened yet. Please pray
igently for this to become a reality. Imagine having permission to teach Bible up front,
one looking over your shoulder. It can happen Will you or someone you know be
E XCE L
P R O G R A M
Our secondEXCEL program is underway. Nine students and one sponsor. Masayo
isawa, fromECSwent toupstate New York onJuly25th and will returnAugust 15th.
hope thisprogram goes aswellas the first one, which was quite a goodexchange. As
result of theprograms, fourmembers of the Clarence ChurchDebbie Bowers,
NCM s
rwarding agent for the last nineyears and teacher of the first EXCEL program. Lois
and Karen Rowiinson. who both hosted students an d taught, and Julie Swan
high school student whose family hosted a Japanese studentwill come to visit Japan
m October 22-November 15of this year. We look forward to their visit. While .Akemi
d the boysstayed inthe States,Akemi taught Japanese to some
of
these ladies and many
hers who hosted Japanese students. Perhaps a real bond has taken place between our
students and some Christians in the States. W'B
SeDtemCsr 1993
LIKINS N E W S FR O M
KHABAROVSK,
R U S S I A
W e
a re n ow in th e
US A. D eb i a nd
th e
girls came at the end ofJune through Japan
so that
Debi
could have another dental
appointment . I had to finish up at the Uni
versity an d wanted to be with the Church as
long as possible before everyone disap
peared for the summer. I lined up speakers
an d m a d e
sure
al l
th e
services an d Bible
studies were taken care of in my absence. I
then
c a m e h o m e vi a C h i na s in c e i t s s o close
and I wanted to find out if itispossible todo
the same type of work as we are doing in
Russia. I was in both Harbin and Beijing for
several d ay s a nd found a great interest in
what we are doing. Now we need to find
qualified Christians to fill these endless
possibilities.
We have all recoveredfrom jet-lagand
are enjoying our families and visiting with
old friends. Our girls have 19
cavities
that
are being filled (ouch). I have speaking
engagements every Sunday as well as 2
VBS s and many meetings, so
I m
quite
busyon our vacation . Weare trying toget
caught up on nutrition and to expose our
girls to American culture. Thus far weather
here in north-central Ohio has been very
mild
an d
ev en
c o ol . W e i nt en d
to
return
to
Russia through Japan on the 7th
of
Septem
ber. This is a very brief account of what
we re currently doing and more details will
follow.
J o e l
a nd D eb bi e
CompuServe Address
74200 2601
K A M O C H U R C H
REVIVAL
T he K am o church isplanning a revival
fo r
this
fall. H a r o l d
S i m s v e t e r a n
m i s s i o n
ary for over 40 years to Japan, will be our
guest speaker. It is interesting that Harold
can claim to have been inJapan longerthan
most Japanese. The aim of the revival is to
invite everyone who has ever been involved
in th e
c h ur ch a n d
is
still
in
th e ar ea
to
c ome
back and give the church new life. This is
a first for the
congregation.
W e would
appreciate
your
prayers.
W
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Se D t e m be r 1 9 9 3
L a R U E S V I E W S
We've been in
che
U.S. for the summer and have seen many of you who read this.
Faces and figures change, but fortunately, friendships continue to
grow.
Having the
chance tosee you again has beengreati Our summer has been filledwith a varietyofgood
things. We have talked tomany groups of people including VBS kids, ladies' meetings,
Sundayschool classes. Sunday worshippers, andWednesdayBiblestudy groups. Among
thosepeople we visited: Troy (OH). Flybranch (KY), Ben Davis in Indianapolis (IN),
Cyntheanne(IN), Salem (IL),Bryan (OH).LakeJamesSchoolofMissions (Angola. IN),
and Em a Green (IN). We did go to the North American Christian Convention and made
contact with people interested in the work in North East Asia.
We ve
been ordering
videos, purchasing Christian books, children's materials and other tools for use in
ministry in Komsomolsk.
Besides tending toministry concerns, we have had some good relaxing timewith
both our families, from grandparents to nieces and a nephew. In between visits with
churches, we have crossed paths with friends from
ou r
days at Cincinnati Bible College.
Add toall this some visits todoctors, stops atMcDonalds and Pizza Hut,
and
a few spons
excursions,
we ve
had a good summer.
Bythe end ofAugust,we will board theplane back toRussia. Recencnews repons
have discussed legislation being passed to ban foreign missionaries from working in
Russia apart from connection with existing churches in Russia. We don t anticipate this
affecting ou r status, however, because of our ongoing relationship with a Russian
institute.
Fo r
official purposes, we are viewed as teachers.
Intalkingwith BillBelew inJapan, we learned thatTaki. aJapanese Christian, will
beattending Indiana University. We are picking him upat Indy's airport and then taking
him toI.U. We hope to introduce him toChristians inBloomington. IN who can helphim
get settled. Taki has shown great faith and is going to be a good Christian lawyer
We hope to be assisting some new faces to join the work in North East Asia. We
havetalkedwith several peopleabout helping tomeetcurrentopportunities. We trustGod
will lead
in
a ll t hi s.
Thanks for
your
continue interest in
God s
kingdom
in North East
Asia.
Made New
in Christ,
S c o t t C a r m e n
CompuServe Address 71043,2240
Some
Christians in
Komsomolsk.
Upper left ar e Cindy
an d
Scott Lund
Pag e
K O M S O M O L S K
K O R N E R
.After
we th e LaRues) returned to th
U.S.. Scott and Cindy Lund continued th
Bible studies inKomsomolsk. Theywer
e xc i t e d to tell
us
t ha t t h e L o rd ha s a d d e d
more to His church on July 2nd: .Andrey
a 17-year-old man who is faced with po
t en tia l 2 -year mil it ary service: Irina.
third-year
computer
student;
and .Albina
a
middle-aged
wife an d mother. Pleas
pray for these new Christians by name
Since
July 9th, the Lunds have als
been in the U.S.
Before
leaving, the
encouraged the
Christians
to continu
meeting on Sundays for worship and fel
lowship. The other Bible studies wil
begin again in the fall
after
some evalua
t i o n
a n d
d e c i s i o n o n
w h a t
direction
w
n e e d to
h e a d .
It s
possible that by this fall a young
Christian
man from the U.S. will join us in
Komsomolsk.
He is considering workin
with the local public school for a yea
teaching the Bible.
Other opportunities in Birobidzhan
Blagaveshchensk,
an d Khabarovsk are
still waiting to be filled. Who will step
forward tostand in these gaps? Contact u
directly
by
CompuServe or
through
ou
forwarding agents, if you are ready to
a n sw e r G o d s call
t o t he se areas.
S L
W A L K A T H O N
Ourfourth walkathon ishistory. Thirty
nine
walkers from four countriesJapan
America, China and Iranparticipated
Th ere
were
25
finishers
overall;
the
average
d is ta n c e
walked within o u r 24-hour
time
l im i t w a s 55 miles.
W e
totaled
510,856 in
contributions, and once again this was sen
to International Disaster Emergency Ser
vices. We are looking forward tohearingin
what
way IDES uses this money. We have
gathered over 534,000 in our first four
walks. All ofthismoney went toDDES who
in rum used itindifferent parts oftheworld
Perhaps you would like to organize a walk
to
a s s i s t o t h e r s in
n e e d .
W
8/10/2019 Belew William Akemi 1993 Japan
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J A P A N NATIONAL
M I S S I O N A R Y
C ONVENTI ON
A U G U S T
10-12
This year's convention, to be hosted
byushereinNiigata. isless thanone week
away asI write this. We have 39 registra
tions. The speaker. David Faust, and his
family offiveare staying withus for about
11 days. He is assistant professor of
apologetics at Cincinnati Bible College.
re than half of the participants are
igata people and their guests. By the
yo u
read this, it will be too late
fo r
u
to come. We wish you could
have
here Next year there will be an all-
Missionary Convention in the Phil
pines. Is anyone interested in attend
I have
information
about it.
WB
INTO
4//
/
PRUCH
T GOSPaj;
F IR S T
CHRISTIAN CHURCH
1 2 0 0
We s t
B o o n e
S t r eet
SaJem
lllinios 62881-1199
Correction
fiequested
Agents:
Betew: Mrs. DeObie Bowers
P . O. B o x 29 6
1 4 0 3 2
ILaPue
I Cottonwooa
^lem. IL 6288'
LiWrts:
Je
24 4
Lexingion. OH 44go4
M l ll e rd : M /M Mi li ar d
5 InoiaJuoa ParVway
S e w aJ i s P oi nt
Stuart. FL
34996
More
M/M touis Jett
5 2 3 3 W o o o l ea
Avenue
Fl.Wayne. IN 46335
September 1993
M O R T REPORT
Happy
Summer Hopefullyyou are allenjoying your summer. Forus ithasbeen
rainy
anda bit cool, althoughveryhumid. Wehaveyet to
make
itto thebeach,much
toHannah s
dismay,
duetoour
busy
schedules and
the
weather
(Murphy s
Law).
There
is always much going on inour lives, so let mefill you in.
Both
Bible
studies
are
going well.
In the
evening study,
Jerry
is
doing
a
great
job
with the Japanese. I did start a Ladies'
Study
in
May
and ouraverage attendance is5
ladies and3 children. Westudiedsomebackground informationontheOldTestament
and finished that
onJuly
23rd.
Aftera
family
beach party
and
a break durinsAuaust,
wewill resume in September and begin studying in the NewTestament. It has been
areal
challenge.
I
have been fortunate
in that
most
ofthe
ladies
who
come have
a fairly
good understanding of
English which balances
my very poor
Japanese.
So far the
materials have been in both Japanese and
English,
so weare doing fine. Our
biggest
distraction hasbeen thechildren,but Jerryhasnowagreed tobeavailable for rus rat
patrol, so
I m
hopeful thatthingswill gomuchmore smoothly. Wewouldlike tohave
a storytime for the kids if wecan get them tocooperate.
Other
bignews has alsobeen developing thissummer.
We
signed
an
agreement
on July
18th
to purchase theKashiwazaki E.C.S. We will officially take over as of
September 1st. This has been a decision fullof prayer and careful consideration and
wefeelveryconfident with it. By our oversight of the Kashiwazaki E.C.S.. Bill will
be freed todomoreworkin other areas and itwillallow us to
expand Into
the southern
partofNiigata. In fact, wearecurrently lookingforanother teachertocomeworkwith
us.
Are
youinterested? Ifyouwould like todo a one-year internship or even consider
long-term, PLEASE letus know. There are
so
many
souls
to
reachwe
need your help
Youknowthesaying:Ttneverrains butitpours'. Weil,beside theE.C.S.decision,
the Bible studies,
andjust
everyday life, we have been looking into
the
possibility
of
adopting a Russian baby. We are still waiting for all the red tapetoclear and for the
Russian
andJapanesegovernments togive
the
okay.
It has
turned
intoa long
drawn-
out process, but we remain hopeful that we will be allowed to proceed. The baby
(David) was bom January 6th. He is the sixth child and his mother wants him to have
a b e t t e r life.
Thankyou for your continued prayers and suppon. We would love to hear from
you anytime,so drop us a line. Ajid think aboutcoming to workwith us
Still Fishing,
The
M o r t s
M IS SI ON S ER VI CE S
HORIZONS BOX 2AZ7
KNOXVILLE IN 3 7 9 0 1
N o n -Pro t i t
Organization
U.S.
Postage
Paid
t
Pe r r oit
N o . 9 4
M/SS0SPOSSBt e> ^ r.