Sims Jonathan 1987 Japan

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promotions at work passing exams or any number of things they desire.Chris t iani ty stands out as a sharp contrast . Out Creator is f i r s t , s er vi ng o th er sis second, with se l f coming in l a s t . Watchout Be on your gu ard against a l l kindsof greed; a man's l i fe does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Luke12 : 15 .

Another anc ien t t r a d i t i on seen as a l i ve today even among youth in t he i r t eens ,as well as other people going through transitional periods in l ife, is the visi t ingof fortune tel lers . Specific forecasts of such things as Will I find a girl friendthis year? Will I have a trouble free year at work? are sought. Lucrativebusiness is made by people who feign as professionals using cards, crystal balls ,orpalm reading among other methods. Japanese who visi t recommended authorities infortune tel l ing usually accept what they want to hear. Few if any relate anythingdreadful, but a l l will say to be careful about something or other. I received atelephone call from some young man asking if I as a Christian Minister would givehim some Scripture verse which by his learn ing would give him success in gettingemployment or if I would be able to te l l him from Scripture if he would be free fromany accident in 1987. I told him I would be more than happy to relate about thegood news of Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour, but can not specifically foretel levents of the type he was interested in, nor would I t ry .SOHE PRAYER REQUESTS

Praise The Lord that the Gospel has been able to break through many cultural b a r r i e r s and t ha t the Lord wil l cont inue t o enable the Gospel to pene tra tecultures even today, so that all people will come to know accept and obey Jesushrist a s Lo rd a n d S a v i o u r .

Thank our Lord for fa i thful Christ ians in the U.S. who are praying for andsuppor t ing me.Thank our Lord for t hose p raying for and supporting a specif ic missionary,whether working in Japan or other spot on this globe which is our temporary home.Pray that hearts of Japanese will be opened and opportunity for reaching thembe s e e n an d u s ed .

Pray that the Japanese preacher here at Yokosuka can be encouraged and hisfamily be ef fec t ive as a witness.Pray that new leadership can be raised up soon in our Japanese sis tercongrega t ions .Pray that I can be as effective a servant as th e Lord would have to be.Continue to pray that our Lord provide with the helpmeet e is preparing forme when He deems appropriate .Continue to pray for new workers for Japan as well as other parts of the world.Pray that when our Lord returns to claim His own that we will not be founds leeping.Pray that we will continue to seek f i r s t our Lord Jesus Christ and Hisr igh teousnes s .One of our new s i s ters in Christ is in need of prayer as Satan is pull ing herback into the world by loading her down with work on Sunday and feelings that she isnot good enough to meet with other Chr i s t i ans .

Every one attending services here in Yokosuka seems to have some trouble orother. Pray that ou r Lord will solve each diff icul ty, giving needed strength andv is io n to grow more Chr i s t l ike each day.

I f there be anything you can add to th is l i s t , please do,knowing i n con fi dencetha t our Lord has not only cons ide red each of these items, but many more e seest ha t we don t ye t .

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF CHRIST1126 Lau r e l Avenue

Non-Prof i t Org.U.S. Postage


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CAJ ReportJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST 'S AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN

And the thingsyou.have heardme say in the presence ofmany witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who willalso be qualified to leach others. II Timothy 2:2

VOLUM 7 SE OND QU RTER / fp '/ NUM R 2APRIL RAINDROPSAmericans usual ly associate the word showers with April as usual a lo t of ra in comes aWinter melts away and Spring eases i t s way into the weather patterns. Japanese consideApril the s t a r t of a new school and f iscal year. Spring arr ives in Japan with out mucdown pouring of rain just cloudy skies some wind a few misty days and a few minotremors to a le r t everyone to the fact that Spring-is on i t s way. Our C reator p rov id erain as a blessing for th is earth and for our spi r i tua l needs provides different kinds ograce ei ther as showers or raindrops as He deems appropriate. Easter saw some raindropof sp i r i tua l blessings which was a good change af te r experiencing a rude awakenin(again) of the general rel igious clim ate o f Japan.For many Americans Apri l f i r s t is whiled away with a lo t of fool ishness . I don ' t r ea l lyapprecia te the custom as i t is one of severa l tha t c lash with my understanding of whatChr i s t i an l i f e - s ty le is to be. On Apri l f i r s t I saw a Japanese man jump in fro nt oft r a in as i t was pul l ing in to the s ta t ion . The scene was ten yards direc t ly in f ront of mand the sudden death was soon apparent . Gruesome as i t was there were some people whpeered over the edge of the platform between ra i lroad cars to t ry to see pieces of thebody. The po l ice off icers arr iv ed in about f ive minutes to confirm the suicide a f t ewhich everybody went on with t h e i r business almost as i f noth ing had ever happened.My understanding i s tha t in c lass ica l Buddhism suicide was not approved of but in modersoc ie ty it has become as one of i t s basic t ene t s the idea a f re incarna t ion which would bin te rpre ted prac t i ca l ly as Well the man fa i led in something but he wil l have anothechance in a l a t e r l i f e to make up fo r i t . Japanese fo r a l l prac t ica l purposes forgivea person who commits suicide th inking something to the e f f ec t of Well he made a mistakand by tak ing h is own l i f e i s showing t ha t he i s accept ing the blame fo r i t < so t ha t theneighborhood wil l not be adversely affected by gossip) . In sharp contras t to Japanesthought is Scr ipture which teaches tha t a person has only one l i fet ime for which he wilbe accountable af t e r which he faces e te rna l punishment or reward depending on hisresponse to God's plan of sa lva t ion through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Chris t .In preparat ion fo r Easter services we did not make a large number of h an db ills o r posteras we had made in previous years but reached out through those who at tend regu la rly tof r iends and re la t ives . A Sunday af ternoon program for chi ldren was planned for whicpromotion was made by going to two mini-sized parks in the neighborhood on a Saturday(April 4 to t e l l a s tory to children using picture posters. Kensei two Church membersand I in vite d c hild re n to come handing out just a few colorful blurbs. Some of thechi ldren sa id tha t they were interested a t lea s t in games and refreshments . Two standards iz ed pos te rs and one la rg e p os te r were made.The Sunday b efo re E as te r brought a pleasant happening with one of our at tenders givingi n d i c a t i o n o f h e r li f in J e su s C h r i s t a s Lord a nd S a v i o u r and d e s i r e t o be immerseinto Chris t . She decided to become a Chris t ian in sp i te of her parents desire tha t shewait fo r a t l e a s t a year. I t is most des i rable tha t the ent i re family respond to theGospel and in Japan i t wou ld seem tha t famil ies as such would respond but i t is noworking out tha t way one-by-one is the norm. She decided t ha t as she had been at tendingfo r qu ite a whjle^and had come to the point where immersion in to Chris t woul-d be f i t t ingit would be appropria te to begin her f reshly s ta r t ed ca ree r as a new person in Chris tShe decided to be immersed on Easter Sunday.


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activity for the precioiis few days off fron workr Up until th is year we have had a familcamp during Golden Week but with awareness recently of the s ingles in our congregationhere in Japan including myself there was felt a need for more opportunities for fellowship for singles This year the dec is ion was made to invite singles and talk abouScripture relating to Christian Marriage. The immediate response of a number of singlewas ugh not another opportuni ty for the overly eager matchmakers to apply themselves.Contrary to expectation the camp went very well in spite of the small attendance. Iwas guite remarkable that an even number of marrieds and singles were there with the twgroups being separated at recreation time and for discussion while all were together thear the messages more about Christian l ife-style than about marriage as such.I was interested in the questions which came during the discussion time as the five meand three ladies talked about various points mentioned in the messages and about the istruggle s in their Chris tian l ives . One question was What do I do when someone is ver-interested In me but not in my faith? I t is easy to say forget him (pr_her> but athe same time the response to a spouse to be used for evangelism. It seemed clear that ia spouse to be becomes a Christian i t is easier to make the decision before marriage thaonce marr ied l i f e has been s e t t l e d into. I t i s idea l f o r a C hr i s t ia n to marryChristian but in Japan where th ere are so few Christians to begin with and even fewesingles i t is difficult to meet partners to be and rare for bond to be made withouspecial help providentially. If a spouse to be is somewhat open to the Gospel there ihope for a conversion to Christianity prior to marriage. One Christian lady said to hewooer If you are really interested in me I would like you to spend thirty minutes a dareading the Bible. Consider that time as if you were spending i t with me. If you makthat commitment I will marry you. The man made the commitment and without any furtheappeal from her became a Christian on his own in about a year or two. He is s t i lcontinuing h is Bib le reading as promised.A RALLY TO REMEMBERThe fifth Sunday rally on the afternoon of May 31st is worthy of mention. Our JapanesChristians from Tokyo and neighboring areas gathered for much needed fellowship anencour-agement Our tiny struggling congregations are always in need of strength to copwith the overwhelming pressures of society to conform to the status quo of idolatry anhumanism. Four times a year is a s t a r t to build each other up and to remind each othet h a t t h e r e a r e C hr i s t ia n s elsewhere in th e same boat . Thrs t ime t h e ra lTy was aMejirodai where dad and mom are serving. The music was led by a member there who wasprofessional singer but is now a Christian housewife (accompanied by her husband who ialso a Christian) and writ ing Christ ian Gospel music. Some people went more to see hethan for the message which was brought by ray brotherinlaw Dave Smith who is here iJapan for three months with my sister Sylvia and their three chi ldren. Dad interpreteDave's message about The pearl of great price which is needed for a ll Christians thear aga in . The attendance is a new record for the rally one hundred thirty-two. Evebit of space in the building was fi l led. From Yokosuka we saw eleven in attendancehaving gone in three cars which is slightly more than our regular Sunday M Worshattendance. Truly The Lord is to be praised for the event which included a lighsupper but mainly was time for fel lowship with bothers and sis ters in Christ we need tt a l k with more frequent ly .Yokosuka is seeing eight or nine regularly for Sunday M Worship and seven for Sundaschool and four at night. Kensei and I are calling on Wednesday mornings without muresponse now but with hopes that contacts will increase. A few new s tudents a re cominto learn English but yet are not coming to services. Thursday night Bible study anSaturday night prayer meeting have not seen visitors but Kensei and I continue prayinthat maybe a home will become open where Japanese wi.ll readily go as there s t i l l is greardluctai tce^tb e n t e r the Church buildingv~ Thank you a l l for cont inuing-prayers and-silppoas The Lord b l e s s ^ H i s work here. Pray that every opportunity can be used for furtherinthe Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ .


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VOLOHB 7

CAJ ReportJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN

Andthe things vou have heardme in thepresence ofmany witnesses entrustedto reliablemenwhowill also be qualified to teachothers // Timothy 2:2THIRD QUARTER

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NUMBER 3

SCmSBSi SHOIVEBSJus t as soon as the weather fo recas t e r s declared th e a r r i v a l of sunnier^ which normallyis extremely hot and humid^ rain came in to r ren ts . Of course there were many days whenany s l igh t movement would bring rampant perspirat ion but interspersed thunderstormsbrought welcome coolness and ra in . I t seems somewhat shallow for people to continue asusual saying; i sn ' t i t hot . . . i sn ' t i t cool . . . i sn ' t i t rainy today without muchcomment unle ss be i s n ' t th e weather f r eak i sh t h i s year . Few people cons ide rexpressing grat i tude to ou r Creator for the variety in ou r environment and thep rovi si on o f much needed rain. The Lord provides not only for our physical needs butalso fo r our sp ir i tua l needs as I was reminded again a t the annual convention offe l low mis sio na rie s in Japan and again of our Japanese brethren in Chris t .Travel expense to the convention in Hiroshima was saved with eight passengers in dad 'ssmall van (dad mom my brother- in- law Dave Sm it h's fami ly and myself) . I t was a twoday drive with a stop the f i r s t night at the dorm of our Bible college in Osaka. DadDave and I took turns behind the wheel and made i t safe ly to the hote l in Hiroshima insp i te of the narrow roads in East Hiroshima. National h ighway 375 a t several pointsnarrowed to a s ing le two and a hal f meter lane with r ice paddies on both s ides . I wasdr iv ing and a t several places had to f ind a few inches on the s ide to l e t cars passcoming from th e o ther d i r ec t ion . Dad and Dave were reminding me tha t the re was no roomto spare which is normal for the country roads in some areas of Japan. werefo rtu na te in not meeting a bus and when th e road widened in to two l anes and l a t e r fourlanes we were re l ieved a t being near a c i t y .The spec ia l music a t the missionary convention was brought by the Rostvit twins whomade a s pe ci al t rip s taying in J ap an about a month. They were an inspira t ion to uswith the i r wide var ie ty of songs several with background s l ides adding to th ewonderful impact. A special number or two was sung by a men's quartet and a ladies 'chorus composed of grandparents. I t is unfortunate tha t we don't have enough secondgenerat ion missionaries in Japan to form such a group for specia l music. Regardlessa l l of those in a t tendance f e l t recharged fo r ano ther year of endeavor here in Japan.

Romtv i t Twin s

I

Hen ' s Quar t e t


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The convention of Japanese brethren in Chris t saw 325 in at tendance/ which i s not arecord/ but ind ica tes i n t e res t in meeting with brethren from most par ts of Japan. tou r of an i s l and near Hiroshima was p lann ed as an ex t r a ac t i v i t y between ses s ions .There were a few delays in the tour and excess ive heat / which d is t rac ted from theapprecia t ion of what l i t t l e we could see in the shor t t ime. Worthwhi le messages andupl i f t ing music a t the main sessions were a l l well received. Horning prayer sessionswere held a t the Peace Park very close to the ho te l / but were r e s t r i c t ed because ofmany demons t ra t ions and peace marches as well as t o u ri st s v is it in g the park. I f ee lthankful fo r the oppor tuni ty to have at tended the convention.H0HB90SK CAHP

Following the convent ion/ camp was held in the cool mountain a i r of Nagano prefecture /c l o se r home/ fo r jun io r and sen io r high s tuden ts . All s tuden ts a re given pro jec t s andassignments to do during the s ix weeks of vacat ion when normal c lass sessions arerecessed. Camp became an oppor tuni ty to inv i te s tudents to work on t he i r homework inthe morning and enjoy recrea t ion in t he a ft er noon and Bible messages and a few indoorgames in the evenings. While junior and senior high s tudents were s laving away a tEnglish and Kath/ several col lege age s tudents discussed ways of reaching otherJapane se w it h the Gospel. Weariness was f e l t by s ta f f and helpers/ but was compensatedfor by the en thus i a st ic pa r ti c ipa t ion of a l l the campers in the act iv i t ies scheduled inthe camp program. ^

Camp N EXPERIMENT

Members here a t Yokosuka have suggested ways of get t ing people to Church/ so we decidedto t ry one of the ideas mentioned. In August we had what I would ca l l a garage sa le /but they used the word Bazaar . Clothes and househo ld i tems were gathered and soldwith the proceeds a l l going to an o rphanage in a neighboring ci ty. There were severalcommunity people in attendance/ but there would have been more i f we had planned i tduring a regular week r a ther than during the midst of th e v ac atio n season. s i t wasmany people were away to v i s i t re la t ives . may t ry the project again/ but not in thenear fu ture / as i t was a lo t of e f fo r t with a very minor resu l t a s fa r as get t ingpeople to Churc h on a Saturday fo r the sa le ) / but there was a modest offer ing/ withsome c lo thes to donate to the Chr i s t i an orphanage as wel l .Thank you a l l for your continuing prayers and support for the work here in Yokosuka.There is always hope for the sake of Jesus Chris t i f we continue in the fundamentalt ru th of God s Word and in l iv ing as our Lord would have us to l ive . I f we pers i s t /The Lord will provide f ru i t in addit ion to continuing to supply us with what we need todo H is W i l l.


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VOLUME 7

jp y/CAJ Report

J O N A T H A N S I M S C H RI ST S A M BA SS A DO R T O J A P A NAn d the things yo u have heard me say in the presence o fmany witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who will also be qualified to teach others. / / Timothy 2:2

FOURTH QUARTER NUMBER 4EVANGELISTIC M TIN September A 5 / and 6 sa w a specia l ser i es o f messages b r o u g h tby th e Japanese p r each er who immersed me in to C hris t a few days b ef o r e my tenthb i r t h d a y . He ha d been to Yokosuka qui te a fe w years ag o when S t a n l e y B u t t r a y no wre t i red commuted from Tokyo, b r i n g i n g w ith hi m a Japanese preacher to preach. At tha tt ime there was an o ld b u i l d i n g where p e o p l e g a t h e r e d on Sunday an d t h o s e who came toevangelize lived elsewhere. The work made very l i t t l e p ro gr es s w ith no on e in th el o c a l community to be a w i t n e s s o f Chr is t ian l iv ing . Mr. I t a g a k i sa id th at the re ish o p e, a s there a re tw o young l e a d e r s K e n s e i and myself) an d a number o f p e o p le comingto serv ices . On F r i d a y evening Mrs. Kume a Chris t ian song wri ter who is a member a tth e co n g r eg atio n where dad m i n i s t e r s , brought s p e c i a l music. We saw s i x t e e n tha t n i g h tand twelve f o r both Saturday e v e n i n g an d Sunday morning s e r v i c e s . Each o f th e p e o p l ewho a tte n d re g ula r ly ha d a p a r t in th e p re pa ra ti on for the meeting so a ll fe l ts a t i s f i ed . Ou r a v e r a g e a t t e n d a n c e fo r Sunda y Worship has be en n i n e .

OU R G UE ST S PE AK ER MR S KUME K E N S FAMILY WITH GUEST

VISITORS One Sunday in October a lady came in to th e Worship s e r v i c e an d sa t q u i e t l y .A t t h e c lo se o f th e s e r v i c e I a sk ed h e r t o i n t r oduc e h e r s e l f . S h e s a i d t h a t sh e w a svisi t ing her s i s te r who l ived in th e commun it y a nd want ed to see how the Churchs i t ua t i on is . Sh e had come to t h i s Church a s an e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l s tuden t t h i r t y yearsago and remembered some of th e s in g in g an d fun times w ith th e people of th eco n g r eg atio n . I t was her s i s te r who ha d become a C h r i s t i a n b u t f o r many years hasnot attended an y Church s e r vic e ) who brought h er to Church in th e f i r s t p l a c e . Thereha d been more people a t th e time she came to Church th i r ty y ear s ag o according to her.In an y c a s e we i n v i t e d h er to come a g a i n , even though sh e l ives some dis tance fromh e r e .

An o th er v i s i t o r came who had n ot been to Church services in twenty y ear s . He rs i t u a t i o n i s t h a t he r husband l t th e Church wh en o n e o f t h e i r ch i l d r en d i ed and has


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joined some zealous new Japanese Shinto sect . For many years they had arguments aboutre l igion and her health has been adversley affected. But she misses th e s in gin g andwarmth of Christ ian fel lowship and wants to attend Church even t hough her husband isres is tan t Pray that her husband can be changed and that she can be able to at tendChurch regular lyA JAPANESE FUNERAL There i s a little hill b e h i n d th e c h u r c h here in Yokosuka on th etop of which a r ich family l ives. The grandmother died. As the son had come l a s t yearto our Christmas Eve candle l ight serv ice and he had invi ted me to come to an annualgarden party where he displays h is c o ll ec ti on of roses/ I thought i t would beappropriate to atte nd th e fu nera l. The grandmother was Buddhist and the family is welloff so th e fu ne ra l was very elabora te wit h f lowe rs on s ta nd s lin ed up from the gate ofthe house along the pathway from the house to the street and along both sides of thes t r e e t in both direc t ions fo r a t l eas t s ix ty yards. I r ela te d t ha t as I am a Chr is t i anI would not offer up incense or pray to the spi r i t of the departed, but would observewatch the ceremony and could say a few words of condolence.The ceremony was about an hour of Buddhist sutras and chants with some time allowed fo rseveral people to speak to the sp i r i t of the deceased. Sit t ing in Japanese s tyle withc i rcu la t ion in the legs cut off is qu it e p ai nf ul . Part of the ceremony involved bowingdown and worshipping the sp i r i t of the deceased person and the spi r i t s of the departedancestors, but I kept r igid, praying fo r the day when the Japanese can know JesusChris t as Lord and Saviour and worship the Creator of the universe , not sp i r i t s Theloss of a loved one was c lear ly expressed by weeping . 1 can not but f ee l sorrow tha tanother s ou l d ep arte d without Jesus Christ . The vast majority o f Japane se have yet tohear the Gospel. There is so much tha t needs to be done in evangelism to overcome themonopoly t ha t Buddhism and Shinto and humanism have on Japanese people.THANKSGIVING With the d ol la r g e tt in g weaker in value and the task still as d i f f i c u l tas ever , tendency is against Thanksgiving, but our eyes are so f i l l ed with physicalmatters t ha t we of ten ignore matters in which we Chris t ians have been wonderfullyblessed . At our missionary Thanksg iv ing meet ing we thought about the many designat ionso f o u r L o rd an d S a v i o u r J u s t to c o n s i d e r t h e Name and t h e characteristics a n dpersonal i ty of Jesus is a type of thanksgiving. To know that we have nothing to fearbecause of God who gave His only Son fo r us is wonderful. To know t ha t not only ourCreator loves us but t ha t there are many Chris t ians in the U.S.A. who love us is r ea l l yencouraging. Thank you a l l for your many prayers and your sac r i f i c ia l support on ourbehalf and on behalf of the spread of the gospel in Japan. I t is already Christmasseason . May you a l l have a wonderful , joyous Christmas and Mew Year.

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF CHRIST1126 L a u r e l AvenueChesapeake, Virginia 23325DDRESS ORRE TION REQUESTEDForwarding Agent for :JONATHAN SIMS, MISSIONARY TO JAPANP O Box 13277Chesapeake, Virginia 23325FIELD ADDRESS3-6 Kugo Cho Yokosuka-ShiKanagawa-Ken, Japan 238

Non-Prof it Org.U.S. PostageP IChesapeake, Va.P e r m i t No. 4 8

Missions Services AssociationBo>; 2 4 2 7KnoxVi11e TN 379U1

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Sims Jonathan 1987 Japan