Tokyo Christian'GoyeintodU theworid and preadi thegoepd toevery creature' Mark16:15

January 1996 Number 1

=— SIMS' NEWS —

Mejirodai 25th Anniversary and OtherRelated Events and Pictures

On the back page of the November issuewe asked the readers to prayfor 7 events that were being plannedthrough the end of that month. Wethank you for your prayers and Godfor His guidance andmany blessings.We are happy to report on all of theseevents and others, including Christmas with a few words and pictures inhope that you will be able to share adeeper knowledge ofand concern forthe gospel work in this part of ourchanging world in this new year [ofthe rat] in Oriental lore.

1. Twenty-two people fromMejirodai spent one night and part oftwo days October 27, 28 in a YMCAfacility near the foot of Mt. Fuji getting to know each other better byplayinggames, discussing the futureof the church, sharing testimoniesconnected with our Christian walk

and, of course, the free talking in thecars going down and back and in therooms late at night. Osawa-san in a30-minute talk told us the details of a

dangerous operation she had on herbrain earlier in the year to separate abloodvessel andnerve thatwere caus

ing her eye to twitch constantly andone side of her face to become numb

and sag slightly. She described herfears, pains and feelings vividly butcalmlyand, ofcourse,we could all seethat the resiilt was totally successful,and praised God together.

The group of various {tges that went to theretreat.

Sitting on the floor Japanese style, except theSimsee.

2. There was a good crowd of 67people from most of oiu* Tokyo areachurches at the Minato Church onSunday afternoon October 29 for a5th SimdayRally, atwhich I spoke on"The Gospel and Culture," givingreal-life illustrations from some of theconflicts I have e^erienced whileserving as chairman of the local 500-^neighborhood association duringtheyear. The small church building haslimited kitchen and eating space, buttheyserved a supper to everyone whoattended. We took a wrong turn andgot lost on the way back home after agood time of fellowship, but of courseultimatetyfound thewaywith the helpof a policeman somewhere out there.

3. Mr. & Mrs. Kishimoto, 3-yeai^old son Ko and 2 ladies from the Mejirodai Church rode with Lois and mein our 8-passenger light van on the515 km (322 mile) trip to Osakafor theannual Seed-Sowing Meeting at ourOsaka Bible Seminary. 135 peopleattended. I spoke on "Walking in theLight" duringthe secondsession, andLois led the singing and I played thepiano for the 45-minute song serviceat the start of the final session. It was

the first time we had done that for

someyears, and it might be the last, asmy time forserving on theCouncillors

• V''-- committeethere has now

' ' expired. WeI * • ' returned home

on Saturday,enjoying thebeautifulfall fo-

liage in themoimtainsand

the

apple trees

Harold Sims preach- along the ex-iDg at O.B.S. pressway.

Tanemaki crowd in front of O.B.8, main building.

Senior student Shlngo Tsudn from Mejirodai(his mother rode down and book with us) giving aslide presentation of his trip to Indonesia duringAugust 1995 to visit our Church of Christ Missionsthere. He hopes to become a missionary to thatfield in the future.

Haroldand Loisgettingready forsongservice.Next to Lois is Mrs. Yamaguohi, a student ofTokyoBible Seminary about 40 years ago who coarrled aChurch ofOodministerand now lives in I^oto. Sheoame to visit us in Osaka. It was the first time we

hod seen her for about 20 years or so.

Harold Simsspeakingat the 25thAnniversary.Over his head is the banner from Clovemook

Church. On his left in Japanese writing Is '25thanniversary* emd to his right is "Memorial Servicefor those gone to Heaven.*

Lois got out an old album of pictures of the church and those attend

ing that day which all present members were interested to see. We had

an above average attendance of 41adults and 7 children for that morn

ingworship service, and avery happyand meaningful time. Also on thatanniversaiy day everyyearwe have asimple Memorial Prayer time remembering those (now 11 in number) whohave gone on to heaven ahead of us.After the worship service we had afellowship meal together in the annex they call Sims Hall.

Mrs. Nittono and daughter near end of concert.

tion was the accompanist. The attendance was 50 adults and 7 children,and over 10 percent of the audiencewere in our church for the first time.

We £tdvertised by inserts in the newspapers ofthe Etrea, which is expensivebut evidently effective.

6. This year was a rare one inwhich the Japanese and AmericanThanksgivingDaywere the same. OnNovember 23 theTokyo areamissionaries gathered here in our church foreating the traditional turkeyand trimmings and a time of worship. Eachone shared briefly something theywere especiallythankful for this year.We had two families from the U.S.

Military share this goodI time with us, so it was thelargest prayer meeting in alongtime-31 adults and 15children, reminding us ofthe old 1950s and 60s when

all of us had several chil

dren of school age. Afterthe planned program theyall enjoyed the time together so much nobodywanted to go home, so Loisand I were still cleaning up

rentof dishes after 11PM, but talk-those iughappilyand "thankfully"tarUy- about the end of a perfect

day.

The ooDgregBtion at the 25th Anniversarygathered in the front ofthe church. The pictures on the white-covered table are of thosemembers who have departed from this life and our midst temporarily.

Ko (3), Daiki and MasumiKiahimoto in Osaka.

4. November 5 was the 25th An

niversary of Mejirodai Church. Thefirst service was held on November 1,1970. Atthattime CliffandBeaNelson,an elder of the Clovemook Christian

Church in Cincinnati, Ohio werepresent - visiting us on the way backfrom visiting their son who was inTaiwan at that time. Mrs. Nelson sent

us a nice letter and tape made at thattime, vividly recallingthe experience,and also a check for flowers to be

provided for the anniversary service.The Clovemook Church also sent a

longpaperbanner reading, "MayGodContinue to BlessYourMinistiy" withthe signatures of 140 members on it.

5. For about 10 years we havebad a Chapel Concert eveiy fall in anattempt to get people to know aboutthe church, get inside of it and acquainted with some of the people.This year on Saturday PM November18, Mrs. Nittono, who attends our sei>vices sometimes and lives down thestreet from the church, volunteeredto give a Mandolin concert for us. Sheplays with a group at the professionallevel, and has appeared publicly inconcerts and on TV. This also is the

100th year since this instrument wasintroduced to Japan, so she has beenbusier than usual. She arranged anunusual program, featuring somehymns that fit that instrument. Herdaughter, studying it now also performed. Mrs. Ito from our congrega-

7. The Mejirodai Church has anannual potluck lunch together afterthe worship service at Thanksgivingtime. We introduced this type ofmealto them at this time many years ago.Afterthe servicewe always beginwiththe youngest and go to the oldest,making short speeches beginningwith "I am thankful for...". This yearsome of the members asked Lois to

bake a turkey, as this might be the lasttime to enjoy that. So she did, and allshowed their appreciation by goingback repeatedly for seconds. We hadalmost all desserts last year, but thisyear they laughedbecause there wereno desserts - "potluck." We had 33adults and 7 children in chuich at

AM, and most of them stayed for theafternoon, during which there weresome very good speeches - one who

survived an automobileaccident, andothergood humored and informativeones showing each personality.

This finishes the events listed in

the previous issue. But the biggestnews during November was the sudden announcement shortly beforeThanksgiving by our son, Jonathan,that he would be resigning his jobs asmissionary with the Joel Home inYokohama and as Treasurer of the

Yotsuya Mission Corporation andgoingtoAmericato seekanothertypeof work. All of us here were qmteshocked and disappointed at this, buthe had evidentlybeen thinkingaboutit for some time and we can under

stand some of the reasons for it.

As a result ofthis, we are forced tomake some alterations in our plans,and there will be changes in varioussituations in the comingmonths. Weare trustingGod to g^de andworkallthings out together for good, as Hehas done many times in the past. Wewill make announcements regardingthe future ofJonathan and Verla and

their baby, Benjamin, when the information comes in, and we pray thatGod will bless and use them for His

glory wherever they go.

8. We reported the hospitaliza-tion ofStephen lijima in the previousissue. Since he has a heart pacemaker, and often totalanesthesiahas

a bad effect on that machine, we understand there was quite a debateamong the doctors at the largeYamanashi Prefectural Hospitalabouthowtoproceed. Itwaaobvioushe needed an operationforgall stonesthat showed up distinctly on the X-rays. He also needed a prostate glandoperation and some hemorrhoidstaken care of. The head doctor sug^gested that while they had him "out"theygathera team ofsiirgeons and doall three operations simultaneous^.Aftersome time, his opinionprevailedover those that contended a 74-year-old with a pacemaker would not beable to endure all of that.

We are thankful to report that hewas operated on in early Novemberand it was such a success that he was

able to attend and preachat the Christ^mas service at Minato church on De

cember 24.

9. On a cold F^day PM, Decembers, Kyoko Kawamura was baptizedinMejirodaiChiirch. Shehadmadeadecision at Shinshu Camp earlier inthe year, but wanted to be immersedinto Christ on her 20th birthday. Shehad studied the Bible privately withBro. Kishimoto every Tuesday after-

Bro. Kishimoto bsptizlxisB^ko Kawamura.

The group who witnessed and rejoiced in thebaptism included her mother and father (on theright), members of another church group. Mrs.Tsuda and her two daughters (Kyoko's aunt[mother's sister] and cousins).

noon for a number ofweeks in preparration. ThefoUowingSimdayAMshesiirprised all ofthe otheryoungpeopleand otherswith the announcement of

her engagement to be married thiscoming spring.

10. On December 12 the Adult

English Conversation Class that I hadbeen teachingfor about 22 years helda farewell meeting for us at a smallItalian Restaurant in downtown

Hachioji, with appropriate shortspeeches and a nice gift for us to takeinto retirement. I have a lot of goodmemories ofconversationswith those

men about many different subjects,and we had veiy good humor eveiytime.

11. The Japan Missionary Language Institute closed anothersemester with a Christmas party on December 15, which included a very nicefarewell for me. I have served on the

advisory board of this school for missionaries for about 20 years and asChairman for the past 10 or more, sonow as our retirement nears the

present students and the staff andteachers planned a nice programvrithmany sincere and good-humoredspeeches, gifts, music, etc., which weappreciated deeply.

Harold and Lola and the JMLI teaobers and staff.

Presenting a oertifloata to Mr. Sims, whopresents diplomas to the studentswhoget throughthe course.

12. Our Christmas at most

churches inJapan this yearwas all onChristmas Eve, because that fell onSimday and most people had that dayoff from work or school. We had the

year's high of 60 adults and 15 children present for the worship time,which meant chairs in the aisle and

entrance hall, twice the usual volumein singing, and a happy atmosphere.(The Japanese are used to crowds intrains, streets at concerts and games,etc. and enjoythe festive atmosphere.)I preachedon Tetusgoto Bethlehem."Among those attending were twopeople who had never been in anychurch anytime before, and a goodnumber of others who had not been

for a long while for sickness, simpleneglect and perhaps other reasons.So it was a very happy time for everyone.

Almost evezyone stayed for thelunch ofapackofsaran-wrapped sandwiches, two cookies, a Mandarin or

ange and a cup oftea, and thenwe hadthe program. This consisted of threeparts: the children's song, the "play,"and the chorus. The young people'sgroup planned the whole thing. Because of lack of time for rehearsal,two narrators read the play and theactors just pantomimed their parts.Each one was to plan and prepare hisown costume and actions. I was to be

King Herod, so Lois made me a crownof gold painted cardboard from a giftbox, and a robe. I thought it would behaphazard, but was pleased at howeach one did his best and how well it

A Boene from the drama.

by our local people, who promised tohelp edit and print it. But with thepress of other things I did not makevery good progress. Finally at 10 PMon Saturday night, December 30, Ihad the satisfaction of completingone of my goals for the year by writing the last line of that work.

14. On Friday, December 20 wedrove down to Yokohama for a final

visit with Jonathan and Verla and

little Benjamin. TheyleftJanuaiy 9.

15. Sunday.December31ShingoTsuda preached the sermon atMejirodai church.

16. Monday, Januaiy 1 at 1 PMwe had the New Year's Day worshipat Mejirodai with 28 present to getthe year started off right byworshipping the God of all the earth andasking His blessing on the comingyear.

The ohUdren's Chriatmaa program.

went in conveying the stoiy and allowing all who wished to take part.The chorus included many who donot normally do that, but they worematching white shirts and blouses,bowties for the men, and used matching green books shaped like Christmas trees. The last number was an

enthusiastic rendering of "SantaGlaus is Coming to Town" in English,and then at the finale, rather heftyMr. Shioya burst into the room wearing a Santa suit to the delight of oldand yoimg. A great time was had byaU.

The afternoon program endedabout 4 PM, so we didn't expect agreat crowd for the Candlelight Service that night at 7 PM, but werereally surprised to see 50 adults and14 children there, including quite a

Mr. aad Mn.StanleyButtny(retired),RD.S.BoxlBO.MeadviUe.PA 16339.

Mr. and Mre. AndrewPatton (retired),#6 Tanglewood, Carl Junction, MO64834.

Mr. and Mn. Harold Biine, 3-33-7

Mejirodai, HaohioJl-sU, Tokyo 193 Jarpan. Forwarding A^tent: FintCburohofChrist, 319 E. OrangeAvenue, Bustls,FL 32726^194.

One year donation—$2.00

Tokyo Christian (U8P8 776^20)

Publiabed four times a year in Janu-ary, April, July, and November for themissionaries of the Church of Christ,

Cunningham Mission, Tol^o, Japan byMission Services Association, 7929Hodges Ferry Rood, Knoxville, TN37920^31. Second Class postage paidat KnoxvUle, TN 37901-2427. POSTMASTER; Send address changes toTokyo Christian, o/o MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Box 2427,

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The ohorua.

Santa CUua arrives.

few newpeople who were notthere inthe morning.

13. Someofyouknowthatlhavebeen occupied the latter half of thisyear in writing a short book in Japanese about my life and work here inJapan. This was urgently requested

Some Things Plannedfor 1996

March 20 (Japanese holiday) -Farewell ceremoz^ and party for theSimses on closing 25 years of missionary work at Mejirodai church.

March 31 - Ordination and in

stallation of Shingo Tsuda as assistant minister of Machida Church of

Christ where missionary TimothyTurner preaches.

May 10 - Target date for Haroldand Lois Sims to leave forthe U.S. for

furlough.September 16 - Target date for

Harold and Lois Sims to return to

Japan and live and work for a periodof months at the Joel Home inYokohama.

Before you move, please send the label with a oopy of your new address toMISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Box 2427, Knoxville, TN 37901-2427.

Form 8579 RMjuestod, PO Box 2427, Knoxville, TN 37901-2427.

Tokyo Christian'Go ye into all the world and preach the goapel to every creature' Mark 16:15

Volume 95 AprU 1996 Number 2

SIMS' NEWS

Harold and Lois Sims Preparing to Leave Mejirodai,Visit Friends and Family in the United States and

Return to Work in the Joel Home in Yokohama

In the January issue several ofthe news items reported were connected with the 25th anniversary ofMejirodai Church. Nowweareinourclosing days of the ministry with thislocalchurch, and in the midstofpreparations for moving out of this housewhich has been our home for over 25

years. As all can imagine, duringthese years too much "stufT has accumulated, and we must decide dailywhether to 1. take it to the U.S. (veryexpensive), 2. try to sell it or give itaway to someone, 3. throw it away or,4. take itdown to the JoelHome (whichhas comparativelylimited space). Mr.and Mrs. Kishimoto and their little

boy, Koh, who just entered kindergarten onApril 10,will be moving in heresome days afterwe leave in earlyMay.He has already been working herewith us about 4 years, and has beengradually assuming various dutiesand leadership, and we don't thinkthere will be anydifficulties about thechange.

During the weeks so far this yearwe have been gradually having ourfinal English Classes and Bible Studiesand consequentfarewell meetings,meals and visits, but the responsibilities as chairman ofthe neighborhoodassociation continue even imtil the

end of this month and those at all

other organizations were until theend of March. Of course I am still

preachingregularly and the prospectof our leaving seems to bring an unusual amount of other demands on

my time for consultations about various problems. So being able to concentrate on packingforanysustainedperiod of time has been quite difficult. But we have been trying to dosomething every day and taking onedayat a time, and we believe ourLordhas been answering the prayers ofmany on our behalf and giving Hisenabling grace and g^dance to be

able to get this far along.Now it is time for another issue of

the Tokyo Christian, so I want to justshare with you some of the recentevents and experiences we have enjoyed, to outline our plans for a summer trip to the U.S. and then to giveyou some informationaboutourplansfor return to Japan for a short periodof service in Yokohama and our new

address there.

other ways. A total of 160 peoplecame. We had not seen some of them

for a long time and, of course, manyare seen every week. Each person(except for us) paid a fee, which paidfor the Irmcheon and the expensesconnected with the event. Lois and I

sat at a large table, and many peoplecame up there to get a picture of uswith them to keep as a memory of theoccasion. Itwasatimeofgoodhumorand also serious commentsandmanymemories.

The program was planned andcarried out by the Mejirodai churchpeople, and we agreed with the comments ofmanyfrom otherplaces whoattended that it was "like Mejirodai."The first part, beginning at 11:15 a.m.was a worship service. Bro. Saitohpresided, and Mrs. Ito was at the piano. The first hymn was "Crown Himwith Many Crowns," and the openingprayer was offered by Bro. Cho whohad recently returned from a numberof years of pastoring a church in theU.S. Northwest for a second ministrywith theMikawashima Churchwhere

we served in the early years. Then

Recent Events

1. On March 20 (aJapanese holiday connected with the spring equinox. and coincidentally the day before our 49th Wedding Anniversary)the Mejirodai Church had a kind of"farewell" meeting for us at a popularand very nice Hall used for weddingsand other festive occasions on a hill

top at the edge of the city, with abeautiful Japanese garden, waterfall,plenty of parking, etc. Neither theynor we wanted a tearful, over^-emo-tional atmosphere, so they called it,

riages per- Missionaries Standinformed and in Rtoki Clark. Ethel Beokm

Missionaries standing behind Harold and Lois Sims are: 1. to r., Paul andRtoki Clark, Ethel Beokman, Leone Cole, Betty Turner, and Tim Turner.

Lois Sims singins-

Bro. Ito gave an introductoiy speechgiving in brief the basic facts aboutour 48 years of service in Japan, the25 years in Mejirodai and our children, grandchildren and other information. Then, long-time friend andco-worker Stephen lijima preached ashort sermon on Matt. 20:20-28, titled"An Exemplary Servant." This wasfollowed by Lois' favorite hymn, "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us," and aclosing prayer by Paul Clark, president of Osaka Bible Seminary.

It was then noon, and lunch wasserved. While they were eating, oneof our high school girls, Emi Ito,played some classical violin musicwith her mother accompanying onthe piano. Also many came up to ourtable to say a few words of greetingand take pictures.

The second part of the programbegan at 1 p.m., before the meal wascompleted. ThiswasemceedbyYoheiAkioka, one of ouryoung men. Therewere four short speeches: first byKozo Kobayashi, an elder of theMinato Church and friend from our

earlydays until now, secondbyHideoFukuda, a former student of TokyoBible Seminaiy and writer of severalBible commentaries and a monthlymagazine and the preacher of ZushiChurch in Machida; third by ShigeruAkada, preacher at Onta Church inHigashi-murayama, and a formermember of Nakano Churchwho wentto study at Osaka Seminarywhile weministered there; and fourth, byYonako Nakagawa, ayoungladymember of Mejirodai church who grew upduring ourministiyhere. In betweenthese there was special music by the"Ladies' Chorus" group that Lois led

Lois and Harold receiving flowers at the end ofthe meeting.

for a number of years. Yonako askedme (without any forewarning) to express in one sentence what I thoughtabout Lois, so I kissed her instead,which brought quite a gasp horn theaudience, because such a thing is notordinarily done in public in this culture. But it seemed appropriate atthat time.

The third part of the program wasled by Bro. Kishimoto. He showedslides he had made from some old

pictures of our early days in Japanand some more recent ones that gavea brief picture of our lives. Then Loissang, "GreatisThyFaithfulness,"withme playing the piano. The Mejirodaichurch sang special music to thewords of the 23rd Psalm and I made a

short speech in response. The meetingwas closedwith a prayerbyan oldfriend, John Muto, at 2:30 p.m.

On April 17, the Sunday beforethis, during the afternoon most of thechurch people stayed to work on thedetails of the program, seating, registration, etc. Lois and I knew whattheywere doing,but thought

be

proper for us tobe over there in-

the

were sitting qui-etly at homewatching T.V. Iwent over to call sEHKsomeone to the

telephone, andlooked into the

roomwhere theywere

and zealouslyworking to

gether, and felt I had gotten a glimpseinto the future of this church. MayGod bless them on and on, as He hasdone, and as He has promised to keepdoing.

2. Along with the program thatday, each person present was given acopy of my book. Carrying the Torch.which is a little over 100 pages, written in Japanese language at the request of the Mejirodai congregation.I spent many hours on that projectduring 1995, and wrote most of itdependingonmemoryalone. Itisnotso much a biography or historicalrecord as some stories about various

things that happened during this halfcentury, beginning with my decisionto become a missionary. I have beengratified that so many people haveexpressed after reading the book thatthey can feel and clearly see how Godwas guidingus all alongtheway. Yes,indeed. After I finally finished it atthe end of the year, 3 of the churchpeople spent a lot of time editing it,adding some pictures, etc., and it ax-rived from the printer just 2 or 3 daysbefore the meeting.

3. The annual Spring Gamp washeld in Shinshu March 25-28. Thiswas the first time I had not attended

in years, but the press of other thingswas justtoo much this time. Atotalof12 people went from Mejirodai, including some for the kitchen staff.There were 35 people at the camp.This time there were more than everfrom the local area, which is a goodsign. There was some trouble withthe boiler, and the weather has beencolder than usual for April in Japanas well as the whole northern hemi

sphere of the planet this year, as all ofus know, so unfortunately quite a fewofthe campers caught colds. But thecampwascompleted safely, and plansfor the summer one are already on.

4. TimTurnerbroughthis 8-pas-senger van here to our house andunloaded those from our church who

Spring Camp

were riding with him. Then 1 got inand he and I started out for Osakaright away. It was 4:30 p.m. Wearrived at the Seminary there a fewminutes after midnight. One of theSeniors was waiting up to show us tothe room in the dorm where we were

to sleep. His mother and sister and afriend and Bro. Kishimoto had ar

rived direct from the Camp earlierthat day.

This Senior is Shingo Tsuda, thefirst member of Mejirodai to go. intothe ministry. He graduated from theOberlin College in Tokyo, and wasfinishing three years ofgraduate levelstudy at the Seminary there. Twoothers also graduated, and both ofthem were also graduate level students, but theytookthe 2-year course.They had a veiy nice graduation ceremony in the OBS Chapel, and then asimple but meaningful luncheon/reception at the school following that,with various short speeches.

I hadn't thought of it until someone mentioned it, but it was exactly12 years to the day since I had baptized him in the cold Chikuma River

near the Shinshu Camp when we wasa i4-yeapold boy. Since then hismothertransferred membership herefrom the Church of God, and his twosisters have been immersed into

Christ.

Tim Turner and I drove back to

Tokyo on Fridayafternoon, March 29,and the others came back the follow

ing day.5. Onthe afternoon ofMarch 31,

Shingo Tsuda was ordained in theMachida Church where he will be

servingas assistantministerwith missionary Tim Turner. There were severalthings thatwe are speciallythankful for about this ordination. First,there were about 90 people present,most from our area churches. (It wasan unusual kind of5thSundayRally.)

Mejirodai Churoh delegation in OBakaforOraduatioD. Front row: L.toR.,TomooOtanl.YoheiAkloka(life-Iongfriend), Shingo,Mrs.HlrokoTsuda,youngerBifitarMakiko,andMrs.KayoAkioka. Baokrow: L.to R., Mrs. Maaumi Kishimoto, Koh Kishimoto. Mr. Daiki Kishimoto, and Harold Sims.

Ordinatloa of Shingo Tsuda In Machida Churoh. March 31.

Second, the smallchurch did a

paring sandwichesand cupcakes for ev-eryone, and their se-rious faces showed

they felt the mean- |ing of what was tak- A

among those attend-ing were Shingo's

both sides, uncles,aimts, cousins, etc.

gather like this for

als, butyou could tellthat evenforthe non- I!., nChristian relatives. Ordinationthis was important -an only son goinginto the Christian ministry doesn'thappen very often in Japan. Andfourth, ourMejirodai folks also turnedout in force, and on their f^es waswritten with joy and pride. This isour boy!" Itwas great encouragementtoallofus. One missionaiy is leavingfor retirement soon, but there areyoungJapanese leaders risingup andtaking up the work.

Six people laid hands on Shingo:three missionaries, Tim Turner, PaulClark and Harold Sims (I alsopreached the sermon, "Keep onPreaching," from Acts 18:9, 10) andthree Japanese, Mr. Oka, an elderfrom Minato Church, Bro. Nishiyama,of the Sannobara Church in Isehara

and Bro. Kishimoto from Mejirodai.6. On Resurrection Sunday we

had chairs in the aisles at Mejirodai Shingo Tsuda preaching at Mejirodai Churoh.

as 53 adults and 7 children were in

theworship service. Thenmanyofuswent to the city hall where thechurchesofHachiojisponsorayearlycily-wide meeting. This was the 21styear for this event, and the 1500 seatauditorimnwaswellfilled. Eachyemrthey have a different outside evangelist come, and this year's man was aveiygood preacherandhis daughteris quite a singer. Several of ourchurches in the curea had baptismsthat day, and we were expectingtwo,but both of them had to postpone itfor different reasons. Wenowe^ectboth the young office girl and themiddle-agedhousewifetobebaptizedon April 21.

7. OnAprill4LoisandIwenttoJoel Home. I have been preachingthere once a month for some time.That day we had a plumber from theneighborhood come to the servicefor the first time. He is 79 years oldnow, butrememberedattendingSunday School about 60 years ago anddecided to come and see. His wordswere veiy encouraging to the smallgroup there.

Summer Trip

We plmi to have a truck come tothe house onApril 26 and load up thepart of our belongings which will beshipped to second son Robert's garage in Kentucky. (We are takingmainly personal effects, files, books,pictures, etc. and hardly any furniture.) Then during the early days ofMay we will be moving our winterclothes and some daily necessitiesand "leftovers" to the Joel Home inYokohama for usewhenwe return to

Mr.aodMn.6taiil8yButtnsr(tetired).RD. 8, Box 180. MoMtvUle, PA 16339.

Mr. andMn.Andiewl^tton (retized),#8 Tanglewood, Carl Janotion, MO84834.

Mr. and Mta. Harold Sims, 4-17-30RoMiakoliaahtKitaMe«'«>*"YolmtMma-shi 221, Japan. PoxwardlnsAeent: FtatChorohofChilst,315E.OrangeAvenue,Bustt8,FL327204104.

One year donation—$2.00

Tokyo Christian (DSPS 770420)Pablished four times a year In Jano-

aiy, i^zll, July, and November for themissionaries of the Churoh of Christ,Cunningham Mission,Tokyo,Jqmn IqrMission Services Association, 7529Hodges Ferry Road, Knoxvllle, TN370200731. Seconddass postage paidat KnoxvUle, TN 37001-2427. POST.MASTBlfc Send address changes toTokyo Christian, o/o MISSION SEBrVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Box 2427,Knoxville,TN 37001-2427.

Japan for another short term of service.

Our travel plan in the U.S. is notcomplete, but the outline will be:

May 10 - Leave Nmita (Tokyo) andarrive in Los Angeles. Visit sonDaniel and family.

May 17-19 - First Christian Church,Yuma, AZ

May 20-24 - Visit Lois's sister andhusband and other friends in AZ

May24-31 -VisitSylviaandJonathanandfamily in Cummingand Ames,lA Grandson Joshua graduatesfrom high school in Ciunming onMay 26.

June 1-9 - Visit brotherEarl and family in Cincinnati, OH

June 2, 3 - Clovemook ChristianChurch, Cincinnati, OH

June 9 - Alexandria, KY Church ofChrist

.Tunft 10-12 - AE. Sims children re

union in Gatlinburg, TN areaJune 20-30 - Florida ^ustis and

Englewood, Jacksonville)July 7 - VirginiaJuly 14 - PennsylvaniaJuly 21 - Warwood Church, Wheel

ing, WVJuly 25-31 - With Bob and family,

Shelbyville, KYAugust 1 - Visit Hope and family in

Kendallville, IN. Second daughter(nowa thirdyearstudentat Cincinnati Bible College) is to be marriedto fellow student Brian Mayo onAugust 3.

August 14-18-FaithPromiseRallyatMarkle, IN

September 13-15 - First ChristianChurch, Napa, CA

September16-DepartfromSanFrancisco for yet another trip to Japan.

As you can see, there are stillsome dates open orundecided at thetime we are -writingthis. We will notbe able to get everywhere and seeeveryone, butwe are lookingforwardto another good furlough. We askthat you pray with us that God willgfuide us about place, time, lype ofwork and other matters related toour retirement plans. If it is His willwe hopeto g^taplace decidedduringthis summer of travels and lookingaround and getting opinions. If youneed to contact us, you might try:

Sylvia Smith: 515-981-0817Robert Sims: 502-633-7334

Hope Schmidt: 219-347-2904First Ch. of Christ,

Eustis, FL: 904-589-2235

New Address in Japan

From the time we get back toJapan, we will be living in a differentplace, so please make a note of ourchange of address:

Harold and Lois Sims4-17-30 Rokkaku-bashiKanagawapku Yokohamapshi 221JAPAN

Tel.: 045-413-2200

Ourtime ofservice there will not

be definitely limited by any "conditions" but our ag^s would certainlykeep it fix>m being anywhere near aslongas any ofthe previous places wehave served. We hope a preachermay be found within a reasonablelength of time, and have only committed to stay until about May of1997, which is about 6 months fromourplannedreturn this fall. Wehopeto continuetheTokvo Christianuntilthe time ofour retirement in the U.S.

Before yon move, please send the TTt»iHng label with a copy of your new address toMISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Box 2427, KnoxvUle, TN 37001-2427.

Form 3579 Requested, PO Box 2427, KnoxvUle, TN 37801-2427.

ChristianVolume 95

'Go ye into ail the world and preach the gospel to every creature' Mark 16:15

July 1996

— SIMS' NEWS —

Epistle from the Middle of Sims'Eighth Missionary Journey

Number 3

As we begin this July issue of theTokyo Christian, we are at the middle

point of our 4-month trip through theUnited States. We flew as far as Kan

sas City and have driven the 1983BulckRiviera (purchasedfrom a goodman In Des Molnes, lA) about 4,400miles so farwithout mishap ortrouble,and we have enjoyed the fellowshipwith manyfriends and relatives alongthe way veiy much. In this Issue Iplan to: 1) tell a few things aboutthings that happened In Japan dur-Ingthe days betweenwriting the AprilIssue of this paper and our departurefromNaiitaAlrportonMay 10, 2)givebrief answers to questions we havebeen asked In various places aboutourpresent situation andfuture plans,and 3) give a brief report on our tripthus far. We appreciate your continued prayers for God's guidance uponourdecisions, oursafety In travel, ourhealth, and theworkofChrist's churchIn Japan.

l.a) On April 18 Harold attendeda luncheon given by the Prime Minister ofJapan In honor ofU.S. PresidentClinton and his wife and entourage.The guests were selected on the basisof "contributing to mutual understandingand betterrelatlonsbetweenthe U.S. and Japan" during the 50-year post World War II era.

I was put on the Invitation list bythe U.S. Embassy because of an article which appeared In the Englishlanguage dally newspaper, JapanTimes, last Sept. 16. The article wasconceived and written by one of theirreporters who Is also a member ofourMlnato Chxirch InTol^^o, a native andconvert from K^shuwhere the MarkMaxeys work, and the son-in-law ofBro. Oka who Is the founder of the

Joel Home In Yokohama. It emphasized not only my long-term serviceas a missionary, but also the fact thatI served from April 1, 1995 - April 30,1996 as the chairman of the local

neighborhood association In

Mejlrodal where we have been livingsince 1970. This is something likebeing the "mayor" or "commissioner"of a small community of 540 homes,or about 1600 people.

The newspaper did research anddiscovered that I was the second for

eigner In 2600 years of Japanese history to hold this local, grass-rootspolitical office. (I had been asked andurged to do this by the local committee members In Feb. 1995 because I

had lived In this neighborhood longerthan any of them, and would soon beleaving for retirement in the U.S. andalso because I was "known by everyone and able to do It.")

As anyone can Imagine, this jobtook a lot of time In various meetingswhich I was required to attend, andthere were various troublesome problems like bumed-out street lights,noisy dogs, not following the rules ongarbage and recycling, etc. But thepeople kept their promises to cooperate with and assist me, and there wassome joy In being greeted and bowedto by everyone when walking In thestreet, shoppingIn the store, andhearingfifth-grade boys stop playingcatchand say, "There goes Harold Sims, theChairman," after I passed them.

Of course. It was my first time toattend such a gathering and to see aPresident of the U.S. while he was

serving In the office. (We saw GeraldFord oncewhile waitingat the airportfor someone, but he was not President at that time.)

Lois regretted that she was notIncluded in the Invitation, but she

saw the speeches broadcast live as apart of the noon news on NHK thatday and, while both ofuswere shockedwhen we heard my name mentionedby the Prime Minister, she had themost fun because she got to receivethe phone calls all afternoon fromvarious church and communityfriends who had heard It, from newspapers wanting to Interview me and

from friends from the past and distant places with whom we had beenout of contact for years happy to getsome news about us by that means. Itwas an unforgettable experience forus.

The securitywas tight, so I did notget to shake hands with the President, but I did reach the Prime Minister and tell him, "I am the missionaryyou mentioned In your speech." Hesmiled and replied, "Oh, yes, do yourbest." (A typical encouraging wordoften used by politicians in Japan.)

l.b) On April 21 there were 2 baptisms at Mejlrodal church. Theywereoriginally scheduled for Easter, butbecause of sickness and Inconve

nience they were postponed for 2weeks. The first one was Aklko Urata.

She studied English with me awhile10 or 11 years ago, and then went withher family to the New York City areawhen her father's company sent himthere for at least 3 years. In mostcases, when children are in the upperyears ofschool, the family remains in

DalkiKiahimoto, mlnisterofMejlrodal Churchof Christ.

Japan. Butthismandidn'twanttobeseparatedfrom his family. The motherwas worried about the safety of the 2girls. But, when it was decided theywould go, she asked me to teachthem.Akiko graduated from high schoolthere, and then went on to St. OlafCollege in Minnesota.

I still don't know or understand

why she went to that Lutheran College so far away from family, but shewent, graduated and came back toJapan about 2 years ago. Soon afterthat, she came to visit. She had written a letter to us every Christmasduring all those years, reporting onher progress and experiences. Shehad not become a Christian, but hadpicked up some interest in and knowledge about the Bible and Christianityduring her college years, and startedto attend ourchurch. Butwe were not

like the Lutherans that she had be

come used to and she told me she

wanted to go to a Lutheran church inJapan.

We didn't see her for about ayear,but eventually she came back aftergetting a good job in an office whereshe can use her English ability. Shesaid, "I went to the Lutheran church,but they were rather cold and unfriendly to me, so Ihave decided yourchurch is better." By this time shewas willing to accept immersion, butshe didn'twantherparents to know ofher decision. She said she would tellthemwhen the appropriate time came.

The second baptism was Mrs.Hiroko Kurasawa. She had come tochurch regularlywhen she was abouthigh school age in the early 70s, buthad not been for about 20 years. I haddifficulty rememberingherwhen shecame to our door one day, but finallycame up with her maiden name. Herfather had died last fall, and 2 of ourchurch ladies who had become members way back when she was attending went to the funeral and told her,"Youshouldbe in church." Thissimplestatement on that occasion reallyreached her heart, and she deeplyregretted that she had failed to become a Christian years ago and howmuch she and her children, raisedtotally outside of any church influence, had missed over those years.

She soon began coming prettyregularly. Often her 10thgrade daughter was with her. After the first of thisyear, she came and said she had toldher husband she wanted to be baptized and he had indicated that it

would be all right vrith him. It turnedout that he surprised her bysayinghewas going along with her to church tosee her baptism. It was the first timehe had been inside of a church in his

l.g) From the first day of May Mr.Takatani, a 1995 graduate of OsakaBible Seminary, who had been working with Warren and EileenChristiansen in Nagano Prefectureforayear,movedtoToi5yo. He will beattendingandservinginvarious waysat Mejirodai churchwhile supporitnghimself by secular work for thepresent time.

l.h)Mr. Obana, now in his thirdyear of study at Osaka Bible Seminary, is preaching at Joel Home during the months ofJuly and August togain some experience and fill thepulpit responsibilities there this summer.

l.i) Kensei Yokomizo, ministerfor the past 8 years or so withYokosuka Church of Christ, and whowas baptized some years before thatin the same place, graduated from aregular 4-yearcollege andfrom O.B.S.,is married and has 2 children, madehis first trip to the U.S. this summer.He traveled as far as Los Angeles withHarold and Lois Sims and then -visited the home of Ogden and ElsieRobbins in Yuma, AZ and the churchthere. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins startedthe Yokosuka Church as a home Biblestudy for Japanese employees at theNaval Base there where he was serving as a cook. He put up a largepercentage of the money to buy theproperty on which the church nowstands. Yokomizo-san had heardabout them, so was most delighted tofinally meet them (both now in theirlate 70s and infirm). He went on toCincinnati, OH and, while taking afew weeks of summer courses at theBible seminary there, •visited a number of churches in that area with theassistance of missionaries Paul andKathleen Pratt.

She called us the following morningoverflowingwith happiness aboutthe events of the previous day - especiallyherhusband's good impressionof the church people. The day beforeour final Sunday at Mejirodai (May 5),we received a large bouquet of flowers from him, with a note saying,"Thank you for your kindness to my•wife."

l.c) April 2, 3 Shingo Tsuda(graduation and ordination mentioned in previous issue) moved intothe Joel Home to take care of the

buildingwhichhad been emptysinceJonathan and Verla had moved out in

January. It is some distance from theMachida Church where he is now

serving as associate minister, butbeing rent free, it is a help both to thechurch and him financially.

l.d)On April 30 I signed the contract and made the first payment onthe construction of a new church

building at Arakawa. The local authorities had pronounced the building in danger of collapse if a majorearthquake occurred, because it wasover 40 years old and the parsonagebeing upstairs and the church meeting room downstairs, gave too fewwall supports. Also there were termites, plumbing, and otherproblems.

l.e) OnMaySatMejirodai churchwe had an engagement ceremony forRyusuke Akioka and his girlfriend.They plan to be married on Sept. 14.He is working now for an insurancecompanyinAsahikawa on Hokkaido,the northern island.

l.f) On May 71 went to NHK studios in downto^wnTokyoand recordeda half-hour program to be broadcaston short-wave radio on May 21 world-•wide. The interview dealt •with mynearly 50 years of missionary work, my im- r~"pressions of Japan andofthe religious attitudesofJapanese people, and ^other things. Iwassur- J01Mprised at how they en- .^couraged me to freelyexpress my religious imotives and convic-

tions on that public,secular station. I could

notfindanyscheduleof ishort-wave broadcasts ^ ^inne^wspapers,etc.,dui>ing that day when wewere in Arizona, so wasunable to hear the

broadcast. I would be

interested in hearingfrom anyone who mighthave happened to hear Ayakaandit. atNaiitaAiiDC

Ayakaand MasaklShioyasaying, 'Good-byeanddon't forget us,*at Naiita Airport.

Left: Harold and Lois with Lara and Michelle in front of Dan's bouse in

California.

Below: Harold and Lois with Og^en and Elsie Robblns atShraders' house inYuma, AZ.

Dave and Sylvia Smith with son Joshua Ben at High School Graduation in Iowa.

Harold and Lois on Earl and Willa's back porch with Joel,Amanda and Joanna, the children of Bob and Helen.

Joshua and Benjamin, our oldest and youngest grandsons.

Left to right: Bob Cunningham, Earl and Willa Sims, Margaret Cunningham, Lois,Donna and Harold. (Ralph Sims took the picture.)

2) Now, to answer some questions people have asked us as wehave beentravelingthroughthe Eastand South.

(1) "Why do you have to goba'cl^" There are some importantmatters connectedwith the adminis

tration ofthe Mission properties andfunds in Japan that have not beensettled yet, and I am still the Chairman ofthis "Zaidan" (non-profit holding corporation, wldch was established after the death of Mr.

Cunningham in 1939). We werehopeing Jonathan would fill this position, butwith his leaving, someoneelse must be selected and it should

be done with care, prayer and dueconsultation. Also, I promised toserve on an interim basis as minister

at the Joel Home until they can getsomeone else. This gave some peaceof mind and encouragement to thesmallgroup downthere inYokohamaafterJonathan and Verla left, and forwhich I felt some sense of responsibility. I estimate these 2 things willtake until the end of May 1997.

(2) "Where are you going to retire?" Just recently we have made apretty firm decision to make our retirement home in Sunshine State

Christian Home in Tavares, FL. Theplan is that the Church in Eustis, FL,whichhas beenourforwardingagentfor a longtime andhas been accumulating a retirement fund for us fromfunds designated for this purposefrom our 2 younger sons and othersupporters and from interest on CDdeposits, will buyone ofthe units yetto be constructedthere forouruse. It

Mr. andMrs.StanleyButtray(rstirod),RD. 2, Box 180. MeadviUe, PA 18335.

Mr. andMrs.AndrewFatton (rstirod).#6 Tanglewood. Carl Junction. MO64834.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims. 4-17-30Rokkaku-bashi,Kanagawa-kuYokohama-shi221,Japan. FbiwardingAgent: FirstChurchofChrist.315E.OrangeAvenue.Eustis.FL 3272&4104.

One year donation—$2.00

Tokyo Christian (USPS 776-320)

Published four times a year in Janu-aiy, April. July, and November for themissionaries of the Church of Christ.Cunningham Mission, Tokyo. Japan byMission ServioeB Association. 7525Hodges Ferry Road. Knoxville. TN37820-0731. Periodical postage paid atKnoxville. TN 37601-2427. POSTMASTER! Send address changes to ToliyoChristian. c/oMISSlONSERVICESASSOCIATION. PO Box 2427. Knoxville.TN 37901-2427.

is called a "life-lease." Thiswill avoid

tax and other problems and complications for us, and will, of course, bea major financial help to us. Thebiggest problem in this plan is thegreat distance firom all of our children. But, ofcourse, it ismuchnearerthan Japan has been all these years.Otherplaces we looked atwere quitea bit more costly in both originalpayment and the monthly maintenance fees.

(3) "When are you going to retire?" The target date for movingintothe Florida location is July 1, 1997,and for closing the books on SimsTokyo Mission about Dec. 31,1997.

(4) "Didn'tyoualreadyshipsomeof your furniture and belongings tothe U.S." We shippedveryfewpiecesof furniture. Most of our things hadbeen used for 30 years or more andwere not worth the high cost of shipping halfway around the world. Butwe did ship 94 cardboard boxes and20 other packages from our house inMejirodai onApril 26. The shipmentarrived in Shelbyville, KY on June 24and is now stored in Bob's garage.Most of our clothes and a few small

things are atJoelHomeinYokohamaand still in the Mejirodai house, andsome ofthose will go later in a muchsmaller shipment next year.

(5) "HowandwhatareJonathan,Verla and Benjamin doing?" Theyrecently were called to the ministiyof the Christian Church in Goldfield

(NW) Iowa. We ask that you pray forthem during this time of another adjustment and ^rpe of work.

Notices

Malcolm McCall, a retired Sheriff of Lake Coimty, FL has been servingmost faithfully as ourforwardingagent for a good number ofyears. Heis now retirement age and is busytaking care of his aged mother's affairs, so wishes to give up this job.We thank him for his zeal and faith

fulness and carefulness during thislong time, and, of course, he servedtotally on a voluntary basis.

The new forwarding agents willbe Mr. Reuben and Mrs. Connie

Nichols, who are also members ofthe First Church of Christ in Eustis,FL. He is the son ofthe late mission

ary Edgar Nichols, who served inTibet, S. Africa and otherareas oftheworld and she is the daughter ofDanand Jo Roth who have served as mis

sionaries inHawaii and inothermin

istries in the U.S. They both work indaily jobs in Eustis, but have agreedto do this work for us also.

The address of the Sims from

September will be:

4-17-30 Rokkaku-bashi

Kanagawa-kuYokohama-shi 221Japan 413

Tel. (from U.S.): 81-45-413-2200Tel. (inside Japan): 045-413-2200

We don't have space here for areport on our trip so far, so perhapsthat will have to wait imtil our next

issue orthe Christmas letter. We are

onthe schedule outlined in the Aprilissue, and still plan to return to Japan on Sept. 17.

Before you move, please send the mailing label with a copy of your new address toMISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION. PO Box 2427. KnoxvlUe. TN 37801-2427.

Form 3579 Requested, PO Box 2427, KnoxvlUe, TN 37901-2427.

Christian'Co ye into all the worid and preach the gospel to every creature" Mark 16:15

Volume 95 November 1996 Number 4

SIMS' NEWS

Back in JapanNew Arakawa Church Building Dedicated

During the 4 months we spent ona furlough in the U.S., the workmenwere going on steadilywith construction of a new building in crowded,working-class Arakawa ward on thenorth side of downtown Tokyo. Before WorldWar II, there was a churchthere for some years which was destroyed, alongwith the neighborhood,by the bombings during the last yearof that war.

During our early years in Japan,when we lived and worked at

Mikawashima, about 10 or 12 blocksfrom this place, I used to go overtheresometimes to Sunday Evening meetings in the home of a pre-warmemberof the congregation. They were poorand had several children who would

usually be sleeping at the rear of thecrowded "upper room" where thegroup met for Bible study and prayer.But Mr. and Mrs. Ushiyamawere zealous and devout. One daughter wasnamed Ruth (pronounced "rutsu" inJapanese). When the little girl entered first grade the mother and father both worked, so they sent heralone. The teacher didn't know that

was a Bible name and concluded that

the child had gotten the sounds backwards and her name was

"tsuru," which means "Crane" HBinJapanese.andisconsidered ^H|apretty and even lucky name. ^^9The mother discovered this

when she attended the

daughter's graduation fromelementary school. Thedaughter had endured the mis-takeall those years,because it HHis not educationally OKin the HHOrient to correct a teacher. I

also, on one occasion,was able

to meet the aged former pas-tor of the church. All of these

folks have passed on from thisearth to eternal life manyyearsago, but the fruit of their livescontinues.

The former building was

erected in the early 1950s. But inrecent years, it had badlydeterioratedand the ward fire department andother officials had visited and warned

that itwould not stand an earthquake.We concluded that it should be re-

builtinstead ofmerely"repaired." Thechurch could not afford the cost, sothe Yotsuya Mission, which owns theland and building, signed the contract to build a somewhat smaller

building.There were two unexpected "hap

penings" afterthis decision was made- one bad and the other good. Thegood one was that a neighbor (non-Christian, but friend of the Suzukifamily) had renters move out of anapartment just three or four housesdown the street from the church and

offered to let the preacher's familylive there during the constructionperiod and even church services to beheld in the apartment for a very lowcost - most convenient and much appreciated offer. The bad thing wasthat the building companies are nowrequired to take soundings andborings of the land to determine if itwill support the building, and theconclusion was that this land did not

New Arakawa Church building.

qualify. It is sandy, because a majorriver runs not far away, and this waspart of the original basin. So theywere legally required to mix concretewith the soil to a depth of several feet,and the cost of about $15,000. Thesmall church of about 20 members

had been saving up some money tobuy a cemetery in the future, and theysacrificedthat andgave some more tomeet that need, and the work proceeded.

The new building has a small auditorium that will seat 36 people comfortably on the pews and a few morein the aisles, entrance, etc. The family living room doubles as a cry-roomfor mothers and small children, andthe family kitchen can also be usedfor church meals - they put a pass-through place in the wall for thatpurpose. Also, the toilet and bathroom are downstairs. The Suzukis

have 3 children: a boy in 7th grade, agirl in 4th, and a boy in 1st.

The father's name means "First

Grace," so each of the children'snames contains the Japanese character for "Grace," which is, ofcourse, thedaughter's name. The three childrenhave small bedrooms upstairs. Also

upstairs are a study for theI preacher and a room for the

wife (a Jr. High Schoolteacher) to teach piano lessons. It is compact, but well-designed and built. They are

_ very happy and thankful toShavethe nice new house andwe are happy for them.

The building was completedonSept. 20 and the dedication was Sunday, Sept. 22.That day the biggest typhoonin some years hit ToIq'o withvery high winds and heavyrains, hittingthe peak in earlyafternoon as peopleweregathering. We left Yokohamashortly after noon, but thetrain was going much slower

thanusualbecauseoftheweather,andwe barely got there in time for theservice atwhichI was topreach. Mr. S.met us at the train station. Butas I gotout of the car in front of the church, agiistofwindcaughtthe umbrella Iwasopening and ripped it to shreds in asecond. IwassoakingwetbythetimeI got in the door, and the preacher'swife tried to diy me out a little with asmall hair diyer before I spoke.

Asusualatdedications, the chim:hwas filled with people. All ofthe membershadpreparedweUandwerehappy.But the best thing is that they hadinvited the non-Christian neighborson all sides, and they all came. One ofthem told me they had beenwatchingand wanted to see the inside. That

little gesture should count for something in evangelism in the future, because it was the first time for most of

them to see a Christian worship service. The text I chose was "Salt of the

Earth, light of the World."After the service was over and

most had looked through the building and gone back home, they ordered in eel for Lois and me and other

special guests to eat. As we wereleaving the church the typhoon weisgoing on north and the western skywas a beautiful orange. The trainswere still running very slowly, so wewere a little late getting home. Thewhole area near the station was justcarpetedwith hundreds ofbroken anddiscarded umbrellas, but it was amemorable and happyfirst Lord's dayback in Japan.

Yokomizo (YokosukaChurch) News

The July issue told about thepreacher of Yokosuka Church goingto the U.S. with us la.st May at his ownexpense and visiting the couple whostarted that church who now live in

retirement in Yuma, Arizona.He went on to Cincinnati, Ohio

and was able to audit three different

one-week summer courses in the

Seminaiythere. With some help frommissionariesPaulandKathleen Pratt,he was also able to visit a number of

churches ofvarious sizes in that partof the countiy. But he received aphone call from his wife during Jimethat his fatherwas seriouslysick, andhad to change his plans to visit otherpeople and places in the U.S. andmake arrangements to fly back toJapan as earlyas possible. He arrivedin Japan the day after his father'sdeath, but was able to attend the funeral. We were traveling and heard

the details of this much later.

Not long after we returned h:omthe U.S., he came to visit us, and toldus that his two children had asked to

be baptized, and he had done that onSept. 15. Of course we were all veiyhappy to hear about that. He also felthis trip to the U.S. was veiy worthwhile and educational in everysensein spite of the unexpected call to return to Japan and the lost money inchanging discoimt tickets, etc., thathe had to do.

Saku Christian Center

BeginsWarren and Eileen Christiansen

have lived and worked in a small

town in Nagano prefecture (wherethe 1998WinterOlympicswillbeheld)for some years now. The largest cityin that area is called Saku, and theyhave wanted to start a work there for

a long time, but rent costs have beena big problem.

This summer the owner of a 2-

stoiy buildingWarren had been lookingat told him that he would give hima special price - less than half ofwhathe had been asking - because hecouldn't find suitable renters at the

higherprice. Sotheynowhavetheuseof a location near the city office withsome parkingand a location that anyone would be able to find easily.

Warren has been doing the necessary carpet laying, dividing wall constructionand otherworkhimself. This

includesfommoveablebookcasesthat

willdivide themainupstairs into classrooms during the week and serve as aback-drop for the pulpit for Sundayservices. The first floor will include a

coffee house on one side and a ping-pongtableon the othermakingit easyfor yoimg people to come for the firsttime and mix together.

Theyare alreadymakingplans forusing the space almost eveiy day forvarious classesand otherevangelism,including moving some Englishclasses they have been teaching athome and otherplaces to the newcenter.

This place is not too far from ourcamp and we hope that some youngpeople reached through these meetings vrill also go to the camp.

Fifth Sunday Rally atMinato Church

On Sept. 29, from 3:30 - 6:00 p.m.,the Minato Church hosted a Rally

attended by about 50 people. Thatchurch is much closer to where we

live now than it was from Hachioji. Itis on the north side of Yokohama -

same city. They had asked me tospeak about things I had seen andexperienced during our 4-month tripto the U.S. I used the text from Isaiah

54:2, "Lengthen your cords,strengthen your stakes," which wasthe theme of the MarUe, IN FaithPromise Rally in August. I also toldthem about several of our living-linkchurches which have supported usfaithfully for half a centuiy, whichwas an inspiration to all of them.

It was a great joy to see a goodnumber of old friends we had not

seen for half a year or more and visitwith them briefly and be welcomedwith open arms and hearts on thisside of the Pacific also. It has been a

most blessed year. Several chiurcheshad veiy few representatives therebecause of various activities at the

localplaces. Forinstance, one chiirchhad men comingto remove roofsolarpanels, which had been dislodged bythe typhoon winds of the previousweek and were about to slip off theroof.

The organist was NaokL Akada,the son ofthe preacheratOntachiurch.He is now a Senior in college and hastaken up pipe organ studies thisyear.Itwas annoimced thathe has decidedto enter Seminary and study for music related ministry next year. (Hisfather once told me when Naoki was

in high school, he "only plays theguitar and doesn't study" and wasworried that he wouldn't be able to

pass the entrance examination for agood college.) But it seems that hismusic appreciation has improvedquite a bit in the meantime.

Hosting the meeting for theMinato people included preparingrice and noodle dishes, fresh pearsfor dessert and a g^eat big pot ofporkseasoned vegetable soup for supperfor all after the preaching. Stephenlijima was there and looking verywell at 75 after several operationsduring the past year.

Visiting MejirodaiAgain

On Oct. 6, Lois and I left JoelHome about 7:30 a.m. for the bus and

train trip to Mejirodai to attend theworship service there. It was Lois'first time to see the house, churchand people there since early May. (Ihad been once on a week day to loadandmove somemore ofourstuffdown

to Joel Home.) It was a very great joyto us to see those familiarfaces again,and to visit briefly with many beforeand after the worship service.

Mr. Saito was in Egypt on business for his company and Mr. andMrs. Ito and some others had other

engagements and had left word theycould not attend. But even so, therewere 32 people present, which wasabout the average before we left. Itwas encouraging to see that thepeople are keepingfaithful and thereare few changes. God has blessedwith a smooth change-over.

Many of the people brought covered dishes - macaroni salad was the

most popular that day - and we enjoyed a good fellowship meal withlots of talk and laughs until near mid-aftemoon. Then Bro. Kishimoto took

us to the hospital to visit Mrs. Morita,who had suffered a stroke on August6. Her left side does not function, buther mind was clearand conversation

happy and her face showed the joy ofseeing us again. After that we weretaken to the nearest railroad station

and made our way back home. Anothergoodwelcome home again day!

Making Ourselves atHome at Joel Home

We left Portland, Oregon about2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16 and,after a 10-hour routine flight, without any night, arrived at Narita Airport about 4 p.m. on Wednesday,Sept. 17. The International Dateline is the only explanation for that.

Bro. Kishimoto met us and

brought us to Joel Home, where Mr.and Mrs. Oka were waiting to greetus. We put our suitcases down,visited a little while about the trip,and then they took us down to aChinese restaurant at the bottom ofthe hill for supper. When we finished it was before 9 p.m. inYokohama, but according to California time by which we had gottenup at 4:30 a.m., it was now almostexactly 24 hours since we had beenabed. So, when we got home, wejust dropped into bed and off tosleep.

For several days we would wakeup in the middle of the night and wewere always sleepy before normalbedtime, but we soon got over thejet-lag. We began unpacking andsettling in right away, of course, butit is hard finding places to put stuffand deciding what to put where.Lois has been doing very well ingetting the kitchen organized, and

we have emptied a good number ofthe boxes we used in packing forthe move from Mejirodai down here4 days before we left for the U.S. Butstill there seems to be a lot to do. So

we just try to do a little every dayand be happy about that.

The greatest inconvenience wasnot being able to find our knives,forks and spoons. Finally, when wehad some rainy and cool days andfelt the need for umbrellas and rain

coats and other shoes than the ones

we had taken to the U.S., I calledand asked when Bro. Kishimoto had

some free time. On Oct. 2 I went upto Mejirodai by train and we filledthe van we used to use with the

above-mentioned items and several

boxes of the number we had been

unable to load on the truck back onthe moving day in May. In one ofthose boxes we finally found the"silverware." So almost every dayhas an added joy of finding something or finding a good place to putit.

We have worked out a schedule

for me to preach here eveiy secondand fourth Sunday. Mr. Oka willpreach on the other Sundays. Loiswill take turns with Mr. Oka's daughter in playing the piano for the services. One Sunday a month we planto visit Mejirodai, and the other Sunday we will leave open in case I amasked to preach at another of thearea churches. The attendance now

is averaging from 7 to 9 per Sunday,counting us.

We don't have a caryet. There isa chance we may be able to rent onefor these months from a missionaiyfamily we know that has 2 cars, butwe have felt we are getting goodexercise by walking more thanusual, and we are saving the expense of toll, parking, taxes, etc.,related to owning a car in Japan.The only trouble is that all the stepsin the stations getting up to theplatforms and changing trains arehard on Lois' knees.

The neighborhood here is different from Mejirodai in that housesare much closer together, there aremany more hills and valleys to walkup and down and the streets seemto be so much narrower. But we

have been pleased and surprised athow people greet us in stores andalong the street and seem to knowthat I am Jonathan's father by theresemblance. They are also helpfulabout delivering things, telling uswhere stores are located, etc. So wewant you to know that we are getting along all right and getting adjusted well.

Summary of Sims'Summer FurloughI have a one-word reply to the

Japanese friends who askme howtheU.S. trip was. In Japanese the word"yokatta" means something like, "itwas very good," and that would be thebest summary. We needed a breakfrom the tensions of the final year atMejirodai; we wanted to attend thefirst wedding of one of ourgrandchildren; and we felt the time had cometo decide ona placeto retire. Wewereable to do all of that and had waymuch more than anticipated of goodlaughter, memories of old times andnew experiences day after day.

We were away from Japan 128days. Of those we spent 48 nights inthe homes ofour 5 children, 29 nightsin the homes of brothers, sisters,nieces, cousins and other relatives,37 nights in homes or motels whichhad been arranged for us by thechurches we were visiting - many ofthemwith folks aboutourages (whichmade for good conversations, mealsthat matched our ages, etc.), 6 nightsin the homes of personal Mends oflong standing but not directly connectedwith oursupportingchurchesand only 8 nights in motels where wepaid. Talk about the gift of Christianhospitality! We received it in abundance and style! This is inadequate,but we want to thank each one againfor putting up with us and our heavyluggage, and going the second milein truly entertaining us and sharingyour homes and lives with us.

We were privileged to visit 26 different churches, ranging in averageSimday a.m. attendance from lessthan 50 to 700 or above, and got thefeel of a cross-section of our brotheiv

hood in 16 different states. We were

also on the campuses of four of ourBible colleges (during summer vacation) andatLakeJames. We sawmostofourfellowJapan missionaries whonowlive in retirement in the U.S. and

saw Jonathan and Verla at their new

place of service in Goldfield, LA.Again, it was veiy good.

We bought a 13-yearold BuickRiviera from an elder of one of thechurches in the Des Moines areawho

keeps Sylvia and Dave's family furnished with used cars, and drove itover9,000 mileswithoutanyaccidentandonlyroutinerepairs suchasbrakelinings, shock absorbers, etc. At theend of the trip we sold it to Dave andSylvia for half of what we paid for it,and both sides were happy with thedeal. Averaging over 100 kilometersper day of driving amazes the Japa-

We know that many people onboth sides of the ocean were prayingfor us, and we thank God for Hisgracious guidance, guarding presence and good care. We do not feelwe suffered reverse culture shock, assomeJapanese feared for us sincewehad been over here so long, and wealso did not feel in dangerofour lives

from criminals, as we might imagineafter watching news. In general,people were gentle spoken and kindto us in service stations, restaurantsand other places not connected withchurch and, of course, this was truein churches.

We were able to watch part of theAtlanta Olympic games and the 2major party conventions on TV also,

although that was not a main goal ofthe trip. We think we didn't evengain any weight this time, which willplease our doctors. The whole summer reminds us ofthe old storyaboutthe fourth gradegirl inSundaySchoolwho was asked by her teacher whatshe wanted to become in life. Her

answer was, "A missionary on furlough."

Hope, MelindaandTom Schmidt onAugust 3 (Melinda's weddingday) at South Milford Church of Christ in Indiana. The groom wasBrian Mayo of Greenwood, Indiana. Both are students at CincinnatiBible College.

Part of our family gathered under the old apple tree onTom and Hope's farm afterthe wedding.

Stanley and Mabel Buttraywhen we visited intheir home in Meodville, PA on July 17. This fallthey both will be 82 years of age.

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Buttray (retired),R.D. 2, BoxlSO. Meadville, PA 1B335.

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Patton (retired),#6 Tanglewood, Carl Junction, MO64834.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sims, 4-17-30Rokkaku-bashl,KanagawarkuYokohamarBhi22i, Japan. Forwarding Agent: FirstChurch o(Ghrist,3iS E.Orange Avenue,Eustis.FL 327284104.

One year donation—S2.00

Tokyo Christian {U8P8 776-320)

Published four times a year in January, April, July, and November for themisaionarleB of the Church of Christ,

Cunningham Mission, Tokyo, Japan byMission Services Association, 7525

Hodges Ferry Road, KnoxviUe, TN37920-0731. Periodical postage paid atKnoxviiie, TN 37901-2427. POSTMAS

TER: Send address changes to TokyoChristian, c/o MISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Bo* 2427, KnoxviUe,TN 37901-2427.

L.toR.: FosterSizemore.RichardBurtonand

Dan Eynon, veterans of the Lake James School ofMissions, present for its 60th week at the end ofJuly. It had been 50 years since my first visit thereas a recruit in 1646.

Harold Sims with Andrew and Betty Patton atOzark Christian College on Labor Day weekend.Andrew is now 76.

Before you move, please send the mailing label with a copy of your new address toMISSION SERVICES ASSOCIATION, PO Bo* 2427, Knoxviiie, TN 37001-2427.

Form 3579 Requested, PO Box 2427, KnoxviUe, TMT 37601-2427.

CHRISTMAS LETTER 1996Dear Friends,

Our memories of this year divide into 3 distinct, different & goodparts: 18 final weeks in Mejirodai and the preparations for moving out

18 weeks visiting family and friends in the United States8 weeks (at this writing) back in Japan settling in to Joel Home.

We joyfully acknowledge our loving Heavenly Father's guidance andcare during the thousands of miles traveled and the hundreds of variedexperiences, and are also thankful for the host of family and friendsnew and old who opened their hearts and homes to us. May God's lovingcare be ever more deeply recognized by all of us as we celebrate thebirth of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and approach the start of anew year and the end of the second Christian millennium,t Jan. 1-May 10. Winding up at Mejirodai.

- Preached 8 times at Mejirodai, and 4 times at other area churches.- Baptized 2 people. Participated in the ordination of Shingo Tsuda.- Had 4 deacon's and 2 congregational meetings about various business.- Attended 8 meetings with missionaries and Japanese preachers.- In April had final meetings of Hon. afternoon and Tues. AM Biblestudy groups. Lois finished her Eng. classes, and her ladies chorusgroup of 8 closed with a very happy birthday party for her on Mar. 4.- Attended 3 Board meetings and March Graduation Ceremony of JapanMissionary Language Institute, and resigned as Chairman after being onthe board for over 20 years.- Attended 11 small committee, 3. large comm. and 1 general meeting ofthe Neighborhood Association, as well as 6 funerals and 6 other publicfunctions as Chairman & Representative. Duty ended April 28,- Went to Osaka Bible Seminary for my final meeting of the Counsellorgroup, on which 1 had served some years as secretary and also thegraduation ceremony for 3 young men on Mar. 29.- Mejirodai Church held a "Thank You" luncheon for us on Mar, 20 at arented hall, with attendance of 160 friends and a memorable program.- Just before this a 100 page book about our years in Japan which 1 hadwritten during last year was published by the Mejirodai church, and acopy given to everyone who attended the meeting and other people.- On April 18 Harold was invited to a luncheon with President Clintonand Prime Minister Hashimoto, along with 100 other Americans and 100Japanese who had "contributed to Jap.-Amer. understanding and goodrelationships during the post-World War II 50 years." My name wasmentioned in the Prime Minister's speech, much to ray surprise,- This led to interviews with 3 newspaper reporters and articles inthem about our lives and work, and also a 30 minute radio program 5/21.- Jon and Verla and Benjamin left for the U.S. on Jan. 9. 1 took overtemporarily his treasurer job with our Yotsuya Mission Corporation, andspent some time on business connected with that, including the annualbusiness meeting on Apr. 9, making the report to the government officearranging for a Mejirodai member who works in an office to do thebookkeeping, and signing a contract for a new church house in Arakawa.

We appreciated the help various people volunteered in sorting,packing and moving, Sylvia came on Jan. 12, and stayed until Feb. 5,packing and listing contents of 30 cardboard boxes of pictures, dishesand keep-sakes from Lois' almost endless accumulation of those thingsin drapers, boxes and closets. Also we had a lot of laughs and she wasable to visit a good number of personal friends in addition to the work.Daniel came Feb. 9-11, and spent most of his time packing our recordsand other music tapes etc. Robert came on business April 19-29, andwas a great help in sorting through my tools and other things in theshed and packing the final stacks of books and doing some heavy lifting.He was here to see the stuff loaded on the truck, so he could size upthe job to come when it got to his house in the U.S. on June 24. It isnow stored in his garage.

I worked increasingly long times in the study from early in Feb.,'sorting through 12 filing drawers and the desk and all those shelves.We kept to the system Sylvia began, and reached box #60 on Mar. 21, our49th anniversary, #79 on Apr. 23 and #94 the night of 4/25, before theAllied Truck came the next morning. They packed 10 additional piecesof furniture and boxes of best dishes, and that part was taken care of.

As soon as the truck pulled out, we began filling our packing roomand other space with boxes of things to move to Joel Home, and some ofthe ladies from Hejirodai church spent hours helping Lois pack stufffrom the kitchen, throw out many things and prepare for the move toJoel Home in Yokohama. Also the Rishimotos began moving some of theirthings into the now almost empty study, the church, yard etc.

Sun. & Mon. May 5,6 is like a blurred fast-forward tape in ourmemories, and it would take another letter to describe everything. Ipreached at a well-attended morning service, and following that thepeople had a carry-in lunch and a sort of farewell meeting for us withspeeches and a sizeable monetary gift. A good number remained to helpwith the final packing etc. for our move, and also many people from theneighborhood came with gifts or for brief farewell visits with us, andthere was some picture taking.

Mon. morning early I went to pick xip a truck Lhad rented for themove. When I got back home with the truck, the house was full of folksthere to help us. Some younger men carried things down from upstairsand started stacking our bed and some other furniture into the truck.After the truck was packed, and they were tying the ropes, Lois openedthe upstairs window and called that they had taken her high-bloodpressure medicine. She probably needed it more that day than any other,but we couldn't get into it then. One van had already left, and thetruck pulled out well before noon. Lois came in the second van load.When we got to the Joel Home in mid-afternoon we had great difficultyin even getting all the stuff under roof. The bed-room was stackedwith boxes to the ceiling, and we could barely squeeze by them into bedthat night, but at least we were moved. We had left 20 or so boxes inMejirodai. When I went back by our former house on the way to returnthe truck at dark that day, we definitely didn't live there anymore.

The remaining days were very busy trying to get a little settled intothe new and smaller house, and taking care of necessary Missionbusiness before leaving. Also during that time I had an interview onthe Japanese radio about my impressions after 50 years living in Japan.We spent all day May 8 packing our suitcases for the coming trip.On May 10 some friends from Mejirodai came down here and drove us outto Narita airport where we checked in and left on time,n May 10-Sept, 16 Visiting Family and Friends in the United States(This was our longest time spent in the homeland since way back in 1968)5/10-16 we were in Danny and Jean's home in Orange County, OA. gettingover jet-lag, swiniraing and playing with the 2 little girls, shoppingand sight-seeing. We were in church with them at Mission Viejo onMother's Day, and also waded in the Pacific at Newport Beach after that.Kensei Yokomizo, the minister at Yokosuka Church was with us until there,and ru^hied on to Yuma, Ariz, and Cincinnati where he attended 3 weeksof the summer sessions at the Seminary there.5/17-19 was spent at long-time supporter First Christian Church in YumaAriz. I preached at the 3 morning services there on a topic suggested:[Why I Went, and why I Stayed] and we greatly enjoyed the hospitalityof the Shraders home, including eating grape-fruit from the tree intheir yard and stimulating discussions with them and the MissionsCommittee, of which she is a very active and capable Chairlady.5/20 we were driven to Tempe by Ogden Bobbins—a retired Navy cook whowas instrumental in starting the Yokosuka Church when stationed in thebase there over 40 years ago and is still deeply interested in it.There we visited old friends Lester and Donna LeMay, and enjoyedtalking of days when Donna was one of the girls in the dormitory Loiswas overseeing at C.B.S. in 1953,54. The following day they took us toNorth Phoenix to visit Rheba Pratt Bledsoe, who has supported andprayed for the work in Japan for many years, and kept up correspondencewith one of our Japanese preachers regularly through his long ministry,5/21-23 Lois' sister and husband Alex Havelicsek picked us up there anddrove us to their home in Cottonwood for a good but brief visit: Walksin the morning, going by the church they attend, where the minister isthe son of former missionary A1 Hammond and was born and raised in Japan.5/24 we flew to Kansas City. Not one empty seat on Memorial Day weekend. Sylvia met us and drove 3 hours up to their home in Cumming, Iowathat night. This completed the first half of our round-trip air-planetickets for the trip. We were greeted with the shocking news that Davehad recently been fired by the church where he had been for some years,but they seemed to be coping well, expressed no bitterness, andcertainly had many other things to think about in those busy days,5/25 Sylvia took me over to the auto repair shop on the other side ofDes Moines operated by an elder in one of the cities Christian Churcheswhere they buy their used cars and get them repaired. She and theelder had picked out a car they thought would be suitable for ourtravels from that point: a 1983 Buick Riviera. I wrote a check for$2,000 on the spot, and went home with the light blue car that many of

you saw us using for about 9,000 miles of summer travel in 15 States,5/26 we worshipped with 28 people in an organ store in Des Moines(which folks who had left the former church because of dis-satisfactionabout the way they treated Dave and other things had arranged to use asa temporary meeting place). After a quick sandwich lunch at the housewe went in several cars to the High School Graduation Ceremony for sonJoshua. It was a small-town school, with 46 Seniors, and a very gooddown home spirit among all attending. All 4 grand-parents were thereto share in the celebration, and we were proud of his part in the musicand that he received a $500 scholarship to Iowa State University.5/27 there was an open house reception planned, so from early AM Loisand I help Sylvia and the 2 children clean the living, dining rooms andkitchen and preparing the refreshments. From 1 PM various friends,(including some of Sylvia's Japanese lady Eng. students) neighbors,class-mates teachers and church people—total of 67—people visited thehome and brought gifts and congratulations. A very good day.5/28 we had Japanese style lunch in the nice home of one of Sylvia'sfriends, met several of the others whose husbands work for BridgestoneTire Co. etc.5/29 Lois had arranged through a Japanese doctor both she and Sylviaknow to have a medical check-up at the large Methodist Hospital in DesMoines, and she got some prescriptions. That afternoon we went to the"Madison County" seat to get the license plates for the car. That

evening we took a walk and picked wild asparagus beside the road whichwas part of daughter Rachel's birthday supper.5/30 we drove up to Ames to visit Jonathan, Verla and Benjamin in theapartment they were renting and talk about job possibilities etc,5/31 on a cool, rainy day we began our many miles in the car. We spentthat night with long-time friend Velma Held in Davenport, lA.6/1 we crossed the Mississippi at flood stage and drove for miles justinches above flooded fields in the Rock River part of Illinois and onacross Indiana in rainy weather to brother Earl and Willa's house inthe western side of Cincinnati, Ohio. A little late for supper becauseof the time change, but wonderful talking when we finally arrived,6/2 we attended Clovernook Christian Church Dorcas/Everyman (Senior)Sunday School Class and the large worship service. Yokomizo-san waswith us for the day. Lunch with people from the class. In the afternoon we went to Paul and Kathleen Pratt's apartment for a visit, andthat evening we attended Western Hills Church,6/3 I did some business in Cincinnati, banking, registering to vote byabsentee ballot, replacing head-light on car etc, and in the evening wewent back over to Clovernook for a meeting with the Missions Committee.6/4 Lois and Willa went shopping and I went to CBS to walk around thefamiliar but changing campus and talk with some who were there on thosesummer days. We ate lunch at Skyline Chili.6/5 we had lunch with the D. Langs and talked about retirement mattersand other things and stopped by Chr. Rest. Assn. for some business.Earl and Willa showed us around possible living places in that area.

5

6/6 Helen and the 3 grand-children came up to Cin, to visit, and theywanted to play checkers with Grandpa. The littlest one (Joannah 5)beat me. That night Earl's son Scott & family came over to visit some.6/7 we had lunch with old friends Charles & Velda Matthews and drove inrain out to visit Mason Christian Village and some friends there.6/9 we were at Alexandria, Ky, for the morning services, and that nightwe went down to Rising Sun, Ind. to attend the closing program of theirlarge Vacation Bible School and visit nephew Andy and family who atthat time was dressed in a borrowed Delta Airlines uniform as^Captainof the airplane". He is the minister of the the growing church there.6/10-12 the 4 children of Alfred and Grace Sims and their spouses metat Wonderland Hotel, near Pigeon Forge in the Smoky Mountains for somegood times talking together on the front porch and around the table inthe dining room, and seeing Cade's Cove, Dollywood and some other showsand scenery and heraring some very good music while in the area. Ablack bear came out of the woods and got into the garbage dumpster inback of the hotel almost every night.6/13-16 we stayed with Ralph and Donna in Johnson City, and were ableto visit both of their children and the 3 grand-children. We hadbreakfast with the Missions Committee of First Christian Church on Sat.

A.M. and then were at the 2 morning worship services on Father's Dayand gave brief updates on our work and future plans. We met severalold friends there, including cousin Bert Allen. That afternoon weenjoyed a visit with Nellie Leigh Brown at the Appalachian ChristianVillage, and were surprised at her memory of all our children's namesand other things from years ago when she lived in Charlottesville.That evening we visited the church in Greeneville where Ralph ministerspart time and spoke about our work in Japan to a large group.6/17 we drove to Atlanta Christian College, looked over the muchimproved campus, and spent 2 nights in the lovely lakeside home ofPresident & Mrs. Ed Groover. Supper that evening with them and hisparents who have been close friends for half a century.6/18 Mrs. Ruth Groover took us to Christian City to see the facilityand so we could ask about things connected with retirement there.6/19 we drove down to Bainbridge where the church folks had prepared asupper that included peach cobbler pie and ice cream. We spoke to agood group of interested supporters there, including Mrs. Belote (96).Good renewal of fellowship after the passage of some years.6/20 we drove down to Eustis, Fla. through heavy rains part of the way,and forwarding agent Malcolm McCall and wife met us and escorted us outto Sunshine State Christian Homes where our friends had arranged for usto stay in an eim>ty apartment there, and had even stocked the refrigerator for our use.6/21,22 we relaxed, checked in at the church office and spent some goodtimes with Kenneth and Ethel Bain, who lived across the street from usthere. I walked with some residents there in the mornings. Sat. AMall who were there that week ate breakfast together and we met many.6/23 I preached at the morning worship in Eustis to a large crowd.

It was 53 years (to the day, I think) since I had been ordained on thesame spot, and a great reunion with some old friends. We were invitedto lunch with Bains and McCalls, and in the evening service we heardthe young people report on their trip to a ClY Conference at MilliganCollege. Two girls had decided to go to College there, and 2 of theyoung men sounded like good preacher candidates. After the service agood group went together to a Wendy's place for food and fellowship.It recalled the "Friendship Circle" we used to have there every Sun. PMover 50 years ago. A happy day.6/24 1 drove down with Mr. Bain and McCall to the Church DevelopmentFund of Fla. office in Altamonte Springs to talk about our TokyoMission business and our retirement plans. Bill Twadell there is aformer minister in Eustis and old friend also.

6/25 Lois had a h^ad-ache. Mrs. Bain had been measuring her blood"pressure with her machine, and it was too high, so a doctor's appointment was arranged for that afternoon. She went every day that weekbefore it began to go down to somewhat normal levels, but we wereappreciated very much the attitude and help the doctor gave us.6/26-28 we had meals and visits with friends from years past, and onevening we went with friends to Mid-Lakes Christian Church for theirsupper and Bible study and some fellowship with the folks there.6/29 we drove up through the national forest to Jacksonville. Westayed with Bill and Betty Halliday who were new friends and wonderfulhosts for several days. He served in the China theater in World War 11,and was an interesting person and interested in many things.6/30 we visited 2 morning services and a Sunday School Class at Engle-wood Christian Church. Again that night there was a report by a youthgroup on a trip they had made to KCC.7/1,2 we wrote letters etc. during the day, and Tue. PM we had ameeting of the Tina Circle at Halliday's house, with 18 present for themeal and some talk about Japan. Lois wore her kimono. It was thefirst time that a real live missionary had visited one of the circlemeetings in the church there, and they had prepared well for it.7/3 we drove up through Georgia to Athens and the home of Brad andPolly Allgood. She was in school with us, and we exchange Christmasletters, but we hadn't met face to face for 50 years. We spent the 4ththere with them, sight-seeing around the area and watching local fireworks at night, and meeting their relatives and friends, including thebrother-in-law of Donna. She arranged for us to talk by phone withother friends from days at Atlanta Christian College days.7/5 we drove across to Raleigh, North Carolina all day, and spent onenight with my cousin, Welford Sims and family. First time to meet hiswife and daughter and see their nice home.7/6 to Charlottesville, Va. Church had reserved a Hotel room for us.7/7 AM 1 preached at First Christian Church which has supported us fromthe beginning of our work. The number of young people who don't knowus has noticeable increased, which is encouraging. They serve donutscoffee and juice before services, and had a covered dish lunch for us.

7

Another cousin from Louisa also came to see us at church that day.That afternoon we drove to Northside Church in Newport News, where I

lived from age 3-13, and was baptized 62 years before. I spoke at theevening service at 6t30 PM. There were a few present who were oldenough to remember back that far, and many went to a nearby WaffleHouse to eat and talk after the service. We spent several nights withold friend Louise Butler in Hampton.7/8 we visited some old friends in nursing homes in the area,7/9 we spoke at a combined ladies Circle meeting in the morning, andenjoyed lunch with them before driving up into Louisa County to thefarm home of distant cousins, the Wares.7/10 I spoke to a large Prayer Meeting at Bethany Christian Churchwhere my grand-father had been an elder.over 100 years ago. It is theoldest of our churches in that state, arid still a country church.7/11 we enjoyed a drive through beautiful northern Virginia and aroundpart of the Washington D.C, beltway to the home of Mark and Gayle Brooks,Lois' niece where we stayed 2 nights. The first night we ate dinner atthe home of her brother Bruce Havlicsek in another town in Maryland.A happy visit with some of the next generation who are activeChristians and their children whom we hadn't seen for some years.7/13 at mid-afternoon we got to Lois' sister's home in Irwin, Penn.I preached at Turtle Creek church the morning of 7/14, and we enjoyed alunch and fellowship time in the church basement following that,7/15-19 I got some needed repairs and service done on the car, and wecaught up a little on letter-writing etc. as well as some rest. Wecould only talk with Norma when she was home from her real estate work.We enjoyed a wonderful evening with one of Lois' girlhood friends, andcontacted some other friends by phone, including one couple from Japan.7/20,21 we went to Warwood Church in Wheeling, W. Va. I was shockedwhen they looked up their records and said it had been 17 years sinceour last visit there. We stayed with a member who lived near the church,and a young couple took us out to supper Sat. PM at a place beside therain swollen Ohio River. The next day they had a baby boy. I spoke atthe Bible School hour and at both morning and evening services on Sun.7/22 we went down to Kentucky Christian College, and spent the nightwith Penny Boggs who used to work with us in Japan and is now Dean ofWomen there. We also enjoyed some time with Missions ProfessorGemeinhart looking at his extensive files and records.7/23 about 4 PM we got to Bob and Helen's house, and saw our boxeswhich had arrived from Japan on June 24 and were neatly stacked in hisgarage. Her parents were just ending a visit there, so that night weall ate out on their deck, and the children were happy with 4 grandparents, I played a little catch ball with Joel in the yard till dark.7/24 we went to a puppet show with the children in the AM, and did alittle record keeping etc.7/25-27 we drove up to Lake James to attend part of the School ofMissions. I was the speaker on Friday night. I attended that meetingfor the first time way back in 1946, as a recruit. We had brief visits

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with Hope and girls during that short time in northern Indiana. Gotback to Ky. in time to watch a large hot-air balloon launch in lateafternoon. Watched some Olympics on TV during those days also.7/28 we attended SS and church with Bob, Helen and family, and at PMthat evening I spoke about our lives and work in Japan to a good group.7/29 we went with Helen and the children to a park called KentuckyKingdom, where we swam and got wet in a sudden rain storm.7/30 Bob and I went to see Joel play in a little league baseball gamewhich they lost in the last inning.7/31 we drove down to Bardstown, Ky. and after seeing the well-preserved home that inspired Stephen Foster's song "My Old KentuckyHome" we saw the dramatized musical story of his life in an outdooramphitheater on a beautiful summer night. Home about mid-night.8/1 we all packed and did other work in preparation for going to thewedding in northern Indiana. We drove steadily up to Rendallville, Ind,by about 3 PM Aug. 2, and 4 couples stayed at the same Motel overnight.The rehearsal was that night, and afterward the bunch of us gottogether and had a lot of laughs. It was Josh's 18th birthday also.8/3 was the wedding day for Mindy (Hope's second daughter) and BrianMayo. The weather was fine, the ceremony was beautiful, and we werehappy that so many of our family were able to be there for the happyevent. It was good to meet his parents and many others there in thesmall town of South Hilford, Indiana.8/4 we all gathered at Hope's for a "house church" worship service.The group of 19 filled the living room chairs and floor and sang withgood volume and harmony one after another many old hymns we couldremember one verse of, and we also had the Lord's supper, prayer and ashort sermon. That afternoon most left for various destinations,8/5 there was a big rush to get borrowed things taken back to wherethey belonged, stuff delivered for the girl's 4H contest etc. Sylviaand her 2 children who had come started back to Iowa that afternoon.Tom was busy combining in the fields all day.8/6-10 we stayed at Hope's place doing some letter-writing, phoning inconnection with plans for the rest of the trip and also helped somewith the house-work and enjoyed talks with them when opportunity came.8/11 we spoke at Garrett Church in the morning. Grand-daughter Beckyis on the Missions Committee there. We spent the afternoon with herand attended their VBS program in the evening.8/12 I got some repairs done on the car and watched the opening nightof the Republican Party Convention on TV.8/13 we went to Becky's apartment for supper and visit, and watched TVagain after walking around the neighborhood.8/14-18 we were in Markle, Ind, for the annual Faith-Promise Rally. Ispoke at the Fri. evening session, and we were thrilled at usual at thepromises made after the Sun, AM service. We enjoyed spending time withold friends there, and making new friends also. One afternoon a groupwent up to Ft, Wayne to visit the Lincoln Museum there. Interesting.We ate lunch and supper each day at the church there.

8/19-23 we stayed at Hope's house. The 2 girls started school on lues,and Becky also enrolled for part time graduate study 2 nights a week inFt. Wayne. Hope applied for a job as Teacheer's assistant at the localschool where her daughters attended, and is now happily doing that.Tom's parents came over one day and we enjoyed visiting with them. Acouple of calls and some mail came from Japan, starting us on plans forreturn and even some schedules for after we got there. One night wedrove up to Lake James for a Senior Citizen's program, which we enjoyedvery much. Several members of the family and some friends called fromdifferent places to wish us well on our trip back to Japan.8/24 we drove across Indiana to Munster. In Gary we got lost on adetour, and saw some of the "lower side" and felt in some danger beforegetting back on the right road and going the rest of the way safely.We spent 2 ni®^*with Tappers—new friends near our age— who took usout to Cedar Lake and Michigan Lake shore to look across to the Chicagoskyline in the sunset The time we had for talking with them was prime.8/25 I spoke at the First Christian Church at Munster that morning, andwe enjoyed lunch and visiting with the Missions Committee at aresturant in the area and sightseeing in the afternoon.8/26 we drove down 1-65 the long way across Indiana and into Kentucky.Stopped at the Visitor Center to get a map, and were persuaded by theman there to go to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace which was right on theway to Campbellsville, Ky. where we were to spend the night with Ray &Mattie Mings whom we hadn't seen for 15 years. We really enjoyed thatnight in their nice home, with Japanese cherry tree in the front yard.8/27 we directly through the country "over hill and dale" to MammothCave. After eating lunch we checked the tour times and decided on acruise along the river where we saw some blue herons, deer and otherwild life and a short cave tour. During thelatter, a thunder-stormturned off the electricity for a while, leaving us in total darknessand hearing rushing water. We spent that night in Bowling Green, Ky.8/28 we drove all day, through heavy traffic around Nashville, and onacross to Memphis. We got to a Motel there in late afternoon, to findout that our friends from Mississippi who were to meet us there had notbeen able to come because of illness. But we were too tired and outand unfamiliar with the area to attempt any sight-seeing or Jazzlistening that night. We called our friends and talked a while.8/29 we drove across The River, Arkansas and all the way to CarlJunction, Missouri and Andrew & Betty Pattons place by about 5 FM. Hewas getting over a laser operation for kidney stones, but was feelingwell enough to enjoy some good laughs and talking about time in Japan.8/30 we went to the Ozork Christian College, attended a faculty lunchas they were starting another school year and visited with some oldfriends there and at the nearby Spring River Christian Homes.8/31 Patton's son Phillip came from Oklahoma and I helped him clean upthe yard and we enjoyed a good visit. Also Stephen stopped in briefly.In the evening we visited the Tibbs Maxeys and had more laughs.9/1 we enjoyed speaking both AM & PM at Iron Gates Christian Church and

halso lunch with Sharon and her children after the church services,9/2 (Labor Day) we visited John Hill, former missionary to Korea, Donand Mrs, Whitman, who taught music to Lois 50 years ago and she hadn'tseen him since and in the evening we went to the home of Cloyd andHelen Christman who lived in Japan over 40 years ago and showed us somemost interesting slides he had carefully saved from those days.9/3 we drove up Sylvia and Dave's place. We had driven 8440 milessince pulling out of that drive-way on May 31. Over the next few dayswe did some sight-seeing of John Wayne's birth-place and locations forthe movie "Bridges of Madison County", some letter-writing and sortingand packing for the trip back to Japan. Sylvia and Dave were busy withtheir jobs and Suzi was started in school. I even went to their firstHigh School foot-ball game of the season on Fri. night. Josh was in afraternity house in Ames busy getting adjusted to college life, but wemanaged to see him a couple of times, at-home and at the University.9/7,8 we drove from Gumming up to Goldfield where Jon, Verla and oneyear old Benjamin are now living in a nice parsonage next to the ParkChurch of Christ in Goldfield (about 100 miles north of Des Moines).We enjoyed hearing Jonathan preach in the morning worship to thecongregation of about 40, and also teaching a Bible study at night toabout half that number, and getting to know a few of the people there.9/9 we finally had an appointment with a dermatologist to look at somespots on Lois' face she had been worried about for a long time. Heoperated on the worst one right then, and treated the others.9/10 was a local election for school board, and the neighbor for whoseelection Dave had been working won. Lois went with Sylvia to her classfor Japanese ladies. We were packing for return to Japan daily then.9/12 in the afternoon Sylvia drove down to Kansas City with us, and wespent the night in a Motel, and played a farewell game of Scrabble,9/13 we went by fully loaded plane to Salt Lake City, changed and on toSan Francisco a little delayed because of the weather there. As westood to get off an announcement said,"Passengers Harold & Lois Sims:the agent is waiting for you at the top of the ramp with a message."It was from Donna Crane in Napa, saying they could not come into thecity to meet us, but telling us to come by bus and time and place for it^We got our baggage and went to the place. When the bus showed up Iwaved ray hand saying we wanted to ride, and then in excitement turnedaround quickly, tripped over the curb-stone and fell flat on my faceshattering the right lens of my glasses. But we got the baggage on andmade the trip to Napa OK and were met by George Crane, who had justbeen out of the hospital a few days after some heart trouble. Thatnight we ate a supper of salmon he had caught, vegetables raised intheir garden and rice (returning to Japan) on their patio. LIVING!9/14 we drove up the Napa Valley to Calistoga—great scenery, goodcompany, perfect weather. We ate a picnic in a park up there.9/15 I taught an adult Bible School Class and was introduced in bothcrowded morning services and met some people in between those times.9/16 we left on the bus before daylight for the, return plane trip.

The first day in Napa, by the way, I was able to buy temporaryglasses that served until I could get back to Japan and get the othersrepaired. Napa has given us good welcomes and send-offs often.Ill Back in Japan, Settling in at Joel Home.9/16,17 we had a long and routine day in airplanes to Portland and thenTokyo, with no empty seats. There was no night-time, but because ofthe date line it was Tue. afternoon when we arrived. Delta Airlineshad notified Narita that Lois' legs were bad, so they had 2 girls witha wheel-chair waiting for us at the top of the ramp, and we breezedthrough the Customs process with much better than normal speed, andwere met by Bro. Kishimoto and driven to Yokohama in our former 8passenger van, arriving at Joel Home not long after dark. Mr. & Mrs.Oka T?ere' waiting to greet us, and after unloading our baggage we allwent down to a localTChinese Resturant to eat supper and answer theirquestions about our trip. By the time we got home and into bed we hadbeen up for 24 hours, by California time, but this is now Japan time.9/18 we spent all day sorting through mail that had accumulated over 4months, and straightening things up in the house. In mid-afternoon theJapanese version of UPS delivered a bunch of flowers from a Japanesefriend and a package we had mailed from Hope's place.9/19 we went to the local Ward Office and started the process ofchanging our residence from Hachioji to Yokohama—needed for healthinsurance and various other purposes.9/20 I spent the day in Tokyo doing important Yotsuya Mission business,including making the final payment on the new Arakawa Church building.Felt we were quickly getting back into the pattern of life in Japan,and we were eating more and more Japanese food regularly.9/22 we were here at Joel Home for the morning service, and soon afterthe service left for Arakawa Church, where I was to speak for thededication of the new building at 3 PM. The center of Typhoon 17 wasto pass over Tokyo in early afternoon, so it was pouring rain when weleft the house, and the electric train was running very slowly becauseof high winds, but Mr. Suzuki, the preacher met us at the station, andtook us to the church. When I got out of the car and raised my umbrellaa gust of wind tore it to shreds, and I was soaked by the time we gotin the church door, but we made it. The church was full, in spite ofthe weather, and the best thing was that quite a few were non-Christianneighbors whom the members had invited—many in a church for the firsttime in their lives. Mrs. Suzuki tried to dry my suit coat with herhair dryer, and we went ahead with a service full of thanks and Joy.No one will forget the weather that day if this building lasts over 40years as the previous one did. When we started home from the church,the setting sun was shining brightly under the still gray overhead, andwhen we got off the train in Yokohama the sidewalk was paved with manydozens of discarded, broken umbrellas from the winds of the typhoon.9/23-28 we spent more time getting settled in the house here, and somepulling weeds in the yard. One large bush was blown over in the storm.25th I again spent most of the day in Tokyo on Yotsuya Miss, business.

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On my birthday (27th) we went to a Hotel to talk about a temporary jobthey wanted me to take—performing weddings in their Chapel onSaturdays for the remaining months of this year. After I accepted thattemporary job, we went to hear a classical music concert at the SuntoryHall (our first time to be in that famous place with the large organ).9/29 I preached here at Joel Home, There were 8 attending, including us.In the afternoon there was a 5th Sun. Rally at the Minato Church, and Iwas asked to tell them about our trip to the U.S. There were about 50people there, and we enjoyed seeing many of our friends for the firsttime since returning and also the good supper served by the localchurch people. I used the Theme of the Markle Faith-Promise Rally[Lengthen your cords. Strengthen your stakes] (Isa, 54:2) as the text.9/30 we had cold rain all day, and it was the first day to use heatershere. The approach of fall was in the air.10/2 I went back to Mejirodai for the first time since Hay, Rishimoto-san helped me to load up the van with some of the things we had left inthe house there since spring, including coats and other things we wouldbe needing soon. He drove down here with me, and helped unload the carfull of stuff into our house and ate supper and visited with us a while.That day the refrigerator here quit on us, but we soon got it fixed,10/5 I did the first weddings at the Hotel on the waterfront of TokyoBay, and have done a few every Sat. since then.10/6 Lois and I left here early and went by trains to Mejirodai where Ipreached for the morning service, ate lunch with the ones who were ableto stay and then some of us went to visit Mrs. Morita who was in thehospital recovering from a stroke, but able to talk and happy to see us.10/8 we carefully marked out absentee ballots for the U.S. election andsent them off at the P.O.10/9 I went to Hachioji and did various business at several officesthat was necessary for changing our residence, tax-base etc. to Yokohama.10/11 we had the a missionary prayer meeting at Tim & Lisa Turners place.10/13 I preached again at Joel Home. Nine attended. That week I sentmaterial for the fall issue of the Tokyo Christian,10/15 Lois went to a hospital in this ward, easy to get to by bus, andestablished contact with doctors for her blood pressure and kneeproblems—different sections of same hospital. She is going regularlynow and seems to be doing OK, She gets good treatment —one of fewforeigners, it seems.10/25 Tim 8 Lisa came down to visit in the evening, and are lending ustheir small car to use during the winter. The stairs when changingtrains are hard on Lois' knees, We were planning to get along withouta car, but appreciate very much this kindness, and have used it a lot.

Perhaps this will be sufficient to let you know that we are settledpretty well into life here in Yokohama, and keeping busy and things aregoing along perhaps better than we expected, We value very much yourfriendship, letters and prayers for us.

Yours sincerely,r o I d ._a.n d . L Q i s..