Sims Jonathan 1984 Japan

8/12/2019 Sims Jonathan 1984 Japan

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2 884PS

VOLUME 4

C A J R epo rtJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN

An d th e things yo u have heard me say in th e presence o f many witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who will also be qualified to teach others. II Timothy 2: 2

FIRST QU RTER 1984 NUMBER 1

THE YEAR OF THE RAT

The New Year is well under way with many various t rad i t ions being continued from sea-Son to season and being t ransmitted from generation to genera t ion . Japanese t rad i t ionshave been imported mainly from China with revisions being made along th e way. Some which

haven t changed much through time are the i n t r i c a t e d e ta i l s deal ing with the characteri s t i c s o f p eo ple b or n in a given year o f the twelve y e a r cycle o f th e o ld Chinese ca lendar. There are a lso new t r a d i t i o n s being s t a r t e d with what i s commonly ca l led s c i e n t if ic s tudies o f cha rac te r an d persona l i ty through ana lys i s o f blood types corre la ted withvarious behaviour pa t te rns . In o the r words, i f I was born in such an d such a y e a r, undersuch an d such a sign an d have a ce r ta in blood type, i t ca n be expected t h a t I wil l havea predetermined character. Sure ly, with a l l th i s data s c i e n t i f i c a l l y studied andcomputer analyzed, these expectations can t be fa r from th e t ru th , is t he s ta te me ntt h a t many people make. In my opin ion , a supers t i t ion is s t i l l a supers t i t ion , whether inputted into a computer or not. I have no in teres t in study ing the basic tenets which giver i s e to horoscopes and re la ted a r t i f i c i a l t r u t h s , which lead people away fr om the t r u t h ,which we know revealed to us d i r e c t l y from th e C rea to r o f the universe through Hi s OnlySon , o u r Lord an d S av io ur J es us C h r i s t , as w r i t t e n w i t h o u t e r r o r in th e Word o f God, the

Bible , ou r standard fo r l i v i n g . In Chris t , we are not bound to man-made t r a d i t i o n s , butf ree to l i v e in a new, close re la t ionsh ip with o ur Creator an d o ur b re th re n in Chris t .

SNOW IN VOKOSUKA

This w i n t e r has been se v e r e a l laround the globe, as a l l o f yo u canaff i rm, e s p e c i a l l y in Northern S t a t e s .In Japan, we watched t e l ev i s ion repor ts o f severe win te r storms in theU.S. w hic h se em ed too f a r away t oa f f e c t Japan. That was in December,

when re la t ive ly mild was th e ordero f the day. I caught a common cold t t h e t i m e o f C h r i s t m a s a c t i v i t i e swh ic h c o n t i n u e d f o r t h r e e w e e k s . Whent h e u n u s u a l c o l d n e s s s t r u c k a n d t h esnow came, the Lord ha d r es to r ed meto about normal health probably sot h a t I could help dig neighbors ou tof the snow . I t usually doesn tsnow in Yokosuka, people to ld mewhen I moved here , but t h i s y ea r ha sproved otherwise . I t has snowed alm o s t a t r e c o r d l e v e l s . F i v e t i m e ssnow f e l l , tw o tim es a bo ut t h r e einches and three tim es ab ou t e igh t inches . The cold which accompanied the snow causedqui te a b i t of damage. The w at er p ip es in more than three thousand homes in the Tokyoarea burs t because of lack of proper protection aga ins t f r ee z in g t em p er at ur es . Yokosukatemperatures were j u s t a few degrees warmer than Tokyo, j u s t enough to keep most pipesfrom breaking. I ns ul at io n i n Japanese homes, apartments and buildings i s f ar in fe rio r toanything allowed to be constructed in the U.S. (at least according to standards, that i s) .But a problem almost as bad i f not worse is the failure of a number of automobile andmotorbike drivers to take extra precautions when attempting to drive on ic e and snowcovered s treets . s ci t ies in th i s part of Japan ar e no t equipped fo r heavy snowfall,t r a f f ic became almost impossible to maneuver. Even the railroad systems were affected,with some services canceled temporarily. th e to l l roads, only cars equipped withchains, those notorious studded t i res , or four-wheel drive vehicles, were permitted throughth e gates. I t would have been much easier with the heavy equipment and t ra ini ng o f people

S n o w n Yo k o s i i k a


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in n orth ern and along th e west coast o f Japan, but those areas had more snow than usualand were espec ia l ly burdened, even with t he i r equipment and t ra in ing . Anyway, th eseveres t i s over an d Spring i s around the corner.

N W CLASS OPPORTUNITIES

People are i n t e r e s t i n g an ds om et im es f un ny when yo u ge t toknow them a l i t t l e . For example,people in the community seem tohave an i n t e r e s t in learningEngl i sh . They want to l ea rn howto communicate f ree ly in Englishwith Americans o r B r i t a i n s bu tdo n o t w a n t t o t a k e t h e e x t r ae f f o r t needed to t r y to th ink inEnglish. They ca n eas i ly memorize a sen tence and f a i r l y welld e t e r m i n e a t i m e t o u se t h e s e n tence, but r a th e r than l e t t i n g aphrase s ink in and become a na t -

they i n s i s t upono f what the Japan-the phrase would

t h a t s tu d e n t s i n

u ra l re sp on se ,an explanat ionese meaning o fb e . seems

so a s n o t t o

c l a s s e s s h o u l d

in Japanese. Maybehave an i n t e r e s t in E ng lish ,

An E n g l i s h C la ss S tu de ntmy c lasses want to say everything th e Japanese way but by using English words and phrases . Americans don ' t say things inthe same way t h a t Japanese do. There are a lso words an d phrases t h a t d o n ' t t r a n s l a t esmoothly, word fo r word. The thought behind an expression i . e . thank you for. . . ) maybe the same, but the way of saying i t may d i f f e r . At t imes, i t i s f r u s t r a t i ng , but tohear the various i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f what i s being sa id

makest e ac h in g e n jo y a bl e .

At th e present moment, I am teaching four c la s ses . One i s di rec t ly from the Biblein Engl ish , an d the others are bas ica l ly English conversat ion. The f i r s t c lass i s f ree(but with any donations to th e Church welcomed) and the others I charge a very modest fee,

bUraen tTie~CTiLirch~for an y ex t ra u t i l i t y cos t s an d such . I t h i n k t h a t fourbe the l im it fo r Engl ish , as my main ambition i s to communicate the Gospel

the c lasses will bring f r u i t but the majori ty of Japanese, who d o n ' tneed to be reached somehow with the Gospel.

I had a cold fo r three weeks, but the Lord co nti nu es to provide opportuni t ies to meetpeople and us e a l l kinds o f s it ua ti on s so t h a t His Name can be honored. Pray t h a t th e

newly s t a r t e d English c lasses can br ing f r u i t . Pray t h a t I ca n cont inue to make c o n ta c t s ,some to respond favorably when conversation turns toward things related to the Church ofChrist and to ou r Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . Pray that I can be as effect ive as possibl e in y present situation, and no less so when the Lord provides that special one to beby my s ide in th e work here in Japan. Even though I am s ing le , th e Lord i s close by a t al ltimes to comfort and strengthen in the task. Letters from you all as well as the knowledge of your prayers and support , goes fa r in l i f t i n g me up fo r th e work. I am gratefulfo r your f a i t h f u l n e s s and am conf iden t t h a t a l l prayers on my beha l f wil l be answered inthe bes t way. The Lord knows a l l our d e ep e st y e a rn i ng s even before we mention them in ourp r a y e r s .

L a u r e l Avenue C hurc h o f C h r i s tC. A . J . - JON TH N SIMSP. O . Bo x 1 3 2 7 7Chesapeake, Vi rg i n i a 23325

FIELD ADDRESS

J o n a t h a n Si m s

3-6 Kugo Cho Yokosuka-Ski

Kanagawa-Ken, Japan 238

FORWARDING AGENT

Jesse Inge909 Neptune Ave. Va. Beach 8 04 ) 4 20 -6 02 8

V a. 2 3 4 6 4

P e r m i t 48Non-Profi t Org.P os tag e P ai dChesapeake, Va.

etoqm e j ayo rv T sa ltd bebbud? suor to jon saorid t t tiiDuin n e e d s v s d b f uow d l


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

C.A.J. - JOMTii l\I SE.S ^ J9B:P.O. ox 13277 \

Chesapeake Virg in ia 23325

January 20 1984

Greetings in th e name of Jesus Christ from th e forwarding agent of Christ sAmbassador to Japan - Jonathan Sims.

S t i l l another year has passed since we wrote to you. We wish there was a newway to say thanks to each of you for your expression of Christian love to Jonathan.Your continued support of Jonathan has certainly helped immensely to encoizrage him.

As you know from his newsletters the Lord has truly blessed Jonathan this pastyear. His health has been very good and he has been quite busy with the LDrd swork. He moved to Yokosuka l a s t Ivlay to become th e re gu la r m in is te r o f th e YokosukaChurch o f C hri st. He moved from h is p aren t s home and now l ives in a second f loorapartment above the meeting room and classroom. He has had to do his own cookingcleaning and laundry which he has managed without too much difficulty. He ispreaching and teaching and working toward an increase in new members. The churchhas a history of ups and downs with only one lady who could really be classified asa member. Continue to pray that as Jonathan labors he wil l see an increase ofprecious souls in to His church.

In his l as t le t ter he was eagerly anticipating Christmas as he had receivedpackages from some of you and could hardly wait to open them. He was to spendC hr i s t m as w i t h h i s p a r e n t s

I t will soon be three years s ince Jonathan l e f t for Japan and he is s t i l lliving and working with only 800.00 per month. In view of the fact that he is nolonger living with his parents and the state of the economy I m sure his livingexpenses have increased but he is managing on the same amount. Actual committedsupport for the past year was 776.66 monthly. Thanks to the regular supporters whosent a l i t t l e extra a t times and to those who sent only occasionally we havemanaged to keep things in balance. Jonathan always says he knows the Lord willsupply a l l h i s n eed s .

If you are not one of the regular contributors we ask that you considerJonathan in your budget for the coming year. And for those who can send only occas ionally please continue. All support serves to greatly encourage the missionary n s w o r k

We thank each of the churches groups and individuals who are sharing theirmaterial blessings and prayers with Jonathan. Msy God bless each of you.

Yours i n C h r i s t

J e s s e and E l l a IngeForwarding Agents


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C A J R ep o r tJUL 2 98

VOLUME 4

JONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPANAnd the.things you haveheard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who willalso be qualified to teach others. II Timothy 2:2

SECOND QUARTER 1 9 8 4 NUMBER 2

GOLDEN WEEK CAMP

The f i r s t week of May in Japan i s f i l l e d with holidays, so i s ca l led golden weekvMiany Japanese w i l l arrange to have the e n t i r e week o f f from work to v i s i t r e l a t i v e s o rgo on scenic tou r s . Others w i l l take one o f t he h ol id ay s to go fo r a d r ive in to themountains to g e t away from h e c t i c c i t y l i f e an d f o r a hre ath o f f resh a i r . A fe w o f usmissionaries and Japanese Chris t ians gathered a t our Shinshu Bible camp for a time ofs tu d y, f e l low s h ip an d r e f r es hmen t .

Th e camp wa s a wonderfu l change o f pace f rom t h e normal schedu le o f a c t i v i t i e s .The weather was good, al though s l i g h t l y cool , an d the scenery was b e a u t i f u l . The a ttendance was l e s s than hoped fo r, bu t enough fo r i n t e r e s t i ng discuss ion . The theme Marriage and Family Life (Chris t ian Home d id n t exact ly f i t my s i tua t ion , but Ilearned a number o f th ings . One o f the main i tems t h a t came up during discuss ion t imeswas th e r e l a t i o n s h ip between a Chr is t i an an d h is o r h e r non-Chr i s t i an spouse. I t i scommon i n Japan fo r such to take place , al though praye r i s fe rven t fo r more people torespond to the Gospel o f Jesus Chr i s t so t h a t more t r u l y C h r i s t i a n homes can be es t abl i shed . I am amazed to hear of s i tua t ions where a f t e r ten years of zealous prayer an df a i t h fu ln e s s th e wife o f a Chr is t i an a cc ep ts Je su s Chr is t as Lord an d Sav i o u r. I hadalways thought t h a t i f a husband were a Chris t ian , th e wife would soon fol low, bu t Iguess the pressures of Japanese s oc ie ty a ga in st people becoming Chris t ian (and thusvio la t ing th e s ta tus quo) i s as equally grea t on wives as i t i s on husbands.

Golden Week Camp

A HOSPI TAL CALL

A D i s c u s s io n P e r i o d

A fe w weeks ago, a ma n c a l l e d wanting t o know th e t e l ephone number o f th eprevious missionary a t Yokosuka. I explained the s i t ua t i on t h a t the missionarywho ha d been a t Yokosuka i s now working a t ou r B ib le can^ i n th e mountains i n th efootsteps o f y e t a n o th e r m i ss io n a ry who had r e t i r e d l a s t year ) an d t h a t I am nowworking a t Yokosuka. The man i s i n th e h os p it a l f o r problems fo l lowing a l i f e t i m eof excessive dr inking , but ha s recent ly developed an i n t e r e s t i n the Bible andwanted someone t o t a l k t o as h i s wif e and c h i l d r e n have abandoned him a s we l l a so t h e r r e l a t i v e s . I c h i n o s e s a n an d I w e n t t o s e e h im an d t a l k w i t h h im a w h i l e .


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^ 98I a v /

C A J Repor tJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN

And the.things you haveheard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who will also be qualified to teach others. U Timothy2:2

VOLUME 4 THIRD QUARTER 1 9 8 4 NUMBER 3

A HO T AND HUMID SUMMER

According to the weather fo re ca sts i n the early par t of the y ear , summ r was to beshort and mild. But in contrast there have been a number of days where n w r ec or d h ig htemperatures w ere m ea sure d and the h um id it y so high a towel was needed to wipe o f f the

perspiration resul t ing from even a minor b i t of ac t iv i t y. Besides using a ir conditioners to the f u l l e s t , going in to the mountains i s a way to escape from the Intense hea t .Since we have a camp in the mountains, m ot iv at io n t o go was high.

This year our annual missionary convention was held a t the camp. I t was a wonderf u l t ime o f fe l l o wsh i p an d mutual encouragement. Th e c leaness an d r e l a t i v e co o l n ess ofthe mountain a i r with in the wonderful an d b e a u t i f u l scenery God has crea ted fo r man toapprec ia te made th e t ime e s p ec i al ly r e fr e sh i ng . The messages were qu i t e upbui lding an dbrought o ut some l i v e l y d i scuss ion a t t imes . I was a l s o asked to lead in one o f theBible s tud ies . Being given l i b e r ty to se l ec t any t ex t of the wri t ings o f John, I choseRevelat ion chapters two an d t h r e e . From the seven l e t t e r s to the s ev en c hu rc he s I spokeon seven Cha rac te r i s t i c s o f a Mature Christ ian which seemed c l e a r l y evident to me.1 . His/her f i r s t love i s Jesus Chris t Rev. 2 :4 ,5 ) . 2. He/she remains t rue to JesusChr i s t , no matter what th e cos t may be 2 :13) . 3 . He aims to obey a l l tha t Jesuscommanded 3 :2 ,3 ) . 4. He s ee k s f or em o st , heavenly t reasures 3 :18) . 5. He perseveres 2 :3) . 6. He t e s t s to see what i s r i g h t or wrong t rue or fa l se , avoiding thewrong an d f a l s e t h i n g s 2 : 2 . 7. He does no t t o l e r a t e any kind of wickedness 2 :6 ) .

Th e Ohio S i n g e r s I I I The M i s s i o n a r y C o n v e n t i o n

To supplement a l l o f th e good t h i n g s o f th e convent ion, we were b l e ssed to have amen^s quar te t from the Cincinnati Bib le Seminary come an d s ing fo r u s . put them towork f o r a l l o f t h e t ime t h a t they were i n Ja p a n , a r ran g i n g f o r them t o s i n g a t anumber o f p la c es t h r o u g h o u t th e co u n t ry. I t i s th e t h i r d t ime a m us ic g ro up has comefrom th e U.S. an d each time many J ap an es e y ou th a re ab le to be reached w ith the Gospelt h ro u gh good m us i c .

T HE J A PA N ES E C O N V E N T IO N

I m m e d i a t e l y f o l l o win g t h e m iss io n a r y c on ve nt io n a bo u t f o u r hundred o f o ur J ap an es eb r e t h r e n g a th e r e d f o r an annua l c o n v e n t io n . They met i n t h e c i t y o f Yokohama,


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which i s nex t door to Tokyo on th e South s i d e . J u s t a l i t t l e f a r t h e r South , s t i l lcont inuing along th e edge of th e Tokyo bay yo u w i l l reach Yokosuka, where I amworking. Yokohama i s now th e second in popu la t ion j u s t behind Tokyo and ahead ofOsaka) i n J apan . But due t o inadequa te c i t y planning t h e r e a r e l i m i t e d f a c i l i t i e sf o r c on v en ti on t yp e a c t i v i t i e s . I n s p i t e o f t h e v a r i o u s hand i caps t h a t t h e c o n v e n tio n p r e p a r a t i o n commit tee f a c e d , t h e Lord b l e s s e d t h e e f f o r t s .

The J a p a n e s e Conven t ion A S es s ion o f th e Japanese Convention

Because of the season when tourism i s high and a lo t of small hotels pu t emphasison elaborate wedding ceremonies where relatives from a l l over gather for a day ortwo of c o st ly c el eb ra ti on , the convention had to make the best use of s pa ce a llow ed .A public h a l l meeting room was rented for several sessions and spaces fo r out of townconvention attenders were rented in two l a rge nearby hote l s . Attenders from Tokyocommuted and I commuted from Yokosuka . Anyway there was good fellowship and ed if i c a t i o n r e g a r d l e s s of th e l i m i t a t i o n s .

Dear D i a r y,

I have pu t my foot in my mouth again, by mentioning the name of a young Japaneselady. I have already apologized to o and dad for my jumping to wrong conclusionsand misunderstandings of th e conversa tion wi th them. Dad was only wanting to se e myreact ion and understand my viewpoint on some th ings . Inc identa l ly, the person ment

i on ed , a cc or di ng to what ha s been brought to my at ten t ion , ha s a sui tor in whom she i si n t e r e s t e d . My t im e h a s n o t y e t come.

The VBS a t Yokosuka th i s year was enjoyed by t he c hi ld re n who came but the at tendance wa s l e s s than normal Sunday School a t t e n d a n c e because o f th e number o f f a m i l i e swho make t r ip s to v i s i t re la t ives and home towns during August, the vacation time forpub l i c sch o o l s in Japan .

Thank yo u f o r your con t inu ing p ray e rs an d s u p p o r t . I am c o n f i d e n t t h a t t h e Lordw i l l prov ide th e b e s t a t th e a p p r o p r i a t e t ime i n H is s chedu le .

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF C H R I S T

C . A . J . JONATHAN SIMS

P . O . B o x 1 3 2 7 7

Chesapeake, Vi rg i n i a 23325

F I E L D A D D R E S S

J o n a t h a n S i m s

3-6 Kugo Cho, Yokosuka-ShiKanagawa Ken, J apan 23 8

FORWARDING AGENT

J e s s e I n g e909 N ep tu ne Av e. , Va . Beach, Va . 23464 8 0 4 ) 4 2 0 - 6 0 2 8

P e r m i t N o . 4 8N o n - P r o f i t Org.P os ta ge P a i d

Chesapeake , Va .

ss ps ervices ssoo

Knoxville Tn 379 1


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uJkJ^

Dear Brethren in Christ , ^iugust 28 , 19^^

I a r r i v e d i n J a p a n t o b e g i n ray f i r s t tei m a s acareer missionary in May of 198I. F ol low ing t he adviceof many preceeding me on the f i e ld , I promptly beganformal Japanese language study a t the Japan MissionaryLanguage In s t i t u t e in Tokyo. Even though a second ge ne ra t ion missionary, I ha d never r e a l l y s tu d i ed the l a nguage as such. In a land where more than 99 are l i tera te i s e s s e n t i a l to be ab le to read , v / r i te and speak toeffec t ive ly communicate th e v i t a l Gospel of Jesus Chris tin a way that t he J ap an es e will understand. I graduatedfrom J .k .L . I . i n December of I982.

During school I had stayed^v/ith my parents l ivingin the V/estern part of Tokyo in jdnc city (Hachioji) in agreater city. Greater Tokyo consists of 23 wards anda number of smaller c i t ies- In XX f April of I983 I movedfrom Hachioji to the c i ty of lokosuka, which i s South ands l i g h t l y E a s t o f Tokyo-

My present work i s j^inistpring at the TokosukaChurch of C h r i s t . There have been a number of miss io n ar i esand Japanese preachers v/ho have served f or short periodsof t ime in the work in the community, each being able togive some sort of analysis of the situation. The communityseems to be a d i f f i c u l t place to work by most an y s tandard .V/ith a ?avy base nearby a number of our servicemen havebeen able to come and fel lowship, a t l e a s t when in por t ,but more of ten than not the Japanese coraraunity as a wholei s antagonised by the majority 01 servicemen who are no tChr i s t i an . Being young, s ingle and American makes my taskquite di ff icu l t , even though I communicate in Japanese.Besides tke s o c i a l i s t s an d Japanese comuiunists in the area(there are also a number of right-wing nat iona l i s t s tok ep matters hjt) there are a number of zea lous Buddhist sas well as the m ajori ty of Japanese who do not claim tobe c 1 igious yet without fa.il maxnts-in t rad i txons ana

customs deeply rooted in Shinto and Buddhism. The localcongregation has never real .y had a change to gain a solidcore of members. V. hcn th e previous preacher s l e f t fo r

ftore rerponsive so i l , the new converts stopped coming,leaving each new preacher about nothing to s t a r t v/ith.With a l l t h i s bac :ground, I a r r ive on tlie scene, withnumbers of fa i th fu l Christ ians in America supporting mewith high expectations of immediate fruit because of raybacl:ground as a second generation missionary, having beenb o r n a n d r a i s e d i n a p a n

As f a r as being able to r e p o r t nunbers of immersionsin to Christ , I am l imited, bu t I can report what I am tiy in gto do. There i s one lady fa i th fu l eacl week in attendance.


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She wa s th e f i r s t to become a C h r i s t i a n and h a s been f a i t hfu l every week in spi te of th e turmoil that th e work ha sbeen through. There i s a young m n from the congregationv;ho i s a s t u d e n t a t o u r B ib le c o l l e g e i n Osak a , who i st r a in ing to be a preacher. There are a number who a t onetime came but haven t been f a i t h fu l . So in my considera t i o n , the work i s j u s t l i k e a new work, beginning fromvery l i t t l e i f anything to make a new s t a r t . There i sa building which ha s been around for a while, and v/hichw a s r e b u i l t a fe w y e a r s a g o .

y present work c on si st s b a si ca ll y of preachingeach week fo r the Sunday s e r v i c e s an d t each ing some o fth e c h i l d - e n who a r e coming f o r Sunday sc hoo l . y o u treach a t the p resen t time i s through a few Z ng li sh B i bl ec la sses , where a few people i n the community have cometo learn English from an American l i r a very modest fee .Standard English Conversation classes would cost f ive t imesas much. The people in my c la ss es h av en t shovm an y i n t e r e s tin Chris t iani ty as such, but hopefully I will be able toso w somet s e e d s t h a t vr i l l l a t e r b r i n g f r u i t Also t o cont inue the Sunday school should br ing more pos i t ive f r u i ti n t im e .

Near fu tu re goals are to ge t a number of Bible s tud iess t a r t e d i n the homes of pe op l e , where peop le who would ber e l u c t a n t to da rken th e do o r o f a Church bu i ld ing v/ouldf e e l more a t home t o t a l k a b o u t s p i r i t u a l m a t t e r s . Mypresent goals are to try to m ke contacts and meet peoplethrough normal routine a c t i v i t i e s such as get t ing to knowlocal grocery shop people and such. Long range goals areto get established a core of Japanese who will assume leade r s h i p r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .

P ra y e r r eq u e s t s :

I n a l l th ings Glory an d honor may be brough t too n r Lo d a^id Sovioui r J e s u s C h r i s t .

That-tW^the L o r d s l ead i ng , I can make new cont a c t s and be able to communicate th e Gospel e f f e c t i v e l y

through r y ac t io n s as well as v>;ords.T h a t th e Lord w i l l prov ide t h a t s p e c i a l he lpmee ta t th e b e s t t ime an d i n the b e s t way. I n Japanese soc i e t y

I r-L-iPinjli r m r r i o g e i ssUll^considered a norm ocpooiallT - putting prooouro an

3 . ^


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VOLUME i

C A J R epor tJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR T O JAPAN

And th e things yo u have heard me say in th e presence o f many witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who willalso be qualified to teach others. II Timothy 2:2

FOURTH QUARTER 1 9 8 4

f \h n1984

NUMBER 4

A NEW ENDEAVOR

For some time I have had an Interest in th e many Chinese pictographs used^n th eJapanese written language. At language school I learned numbers of these pictographs, butnot how to write them with a brush. One day I decided to inquire at one classroom in th earea about learning Japanese call ig raphy. I began shortly afterward to study the art ofwriting with a brush. The teacher was hesitant at first, since I was a foreigner, butwhen rea li zing tha t I can converse in Japanese and read a number of characters , she becamemore a t ease. The f i r s t day consisted of learning how to hold th e brush and make dots andl ines that are basic elements of characters. At the end of the session I made an attemptat drawing a character or so, which she had drawn as a model In seeing work she saidI could s t a r t r i gh t away in the adul t course.

The text cons is ts of four characters in Chinese word order (incidentally, Chinese iscloser grammatically to English than is Japanese) and having some sort of meaning whichfew people in Japan seem c lear ly to grasp. Chinese i tself is precise with each pictographhaving a specific pronunciation and meaning, but when the Japanese imported the characters,

pronunciation was changed and varying meanings were applied resulting in ambiguity hardfor foreigners learning Japanese to appreciate. The four characters differ each month.When th e main s t y l e i s m as te re d w it h a l lof th e v ario us techniques of holding th ebrush, applying and r e le a si n g p r es su re ,t u r n i n g an d t w i s t i n g th e brush w ithou ts ign i f i c a n t wris t movement, at tempts a rethen made a t other s t y l e s each witht he i r own pecu l i a r techniques. What i si n t e r e s t i n g i s t h a t th e most d i s t o r t e dcur s ive s t y l e s a re p op ula r, b ut i r o n ic a l l y only a h an dfu l o f s p e c i a l i s t s ca nr e a d o r w r i t e t h e m .

T h i s y e a r d a d s b i r th d a y p re s en tw as s p e c i a l . I c o n f e r r e d w i t h my c a l l ig r a p h y t e a c h e r and d e c i d e d t o w r i t e s imp ly t h an k yo u dad on a s p e c i a l paperand f r ame t A f t e r p ra c ti c i n g q ui t e ab i t t o d u p l i c a t e t h e mo d el s he w ro te Iwro t e th e c h a r a c t e r s an d gave dad t h eu n e x p e c t e d p r e s e n t f o r h i s s i x t i e t hbir thday ( for which Japanese custom demands spec ia l kinds of g i f t s and ce lebra t ion . ) Dadwas very g r a t e f u l and encouraged me to cont inue s tudy of the a r t of Japanese ca l l ig raphy.

4 J

Some J apanes e C a l l i g r a p h y S t y l e s

F R I E N D S H I P DA Y

As t h e r e i s a U.S.N. base i n Yokosuka, I have offe red th e r i g h t hand o f fe l lowshipto s a i l o r s from ou r Churches. Usual ly th e sh ip s a re o u t , but when in por t I have ha d ano c c a s i o n a l v i s i t o r . I n O c t o b e r t h e b a s e C h ap la in e xte nd ed an i n v i t a t i o n t o J a p a n e s epreachers and missionaries from a l l denominational groups to go to the base to se e the workof the Chaplain s t a f f . The program consisted of a b r i e f ing of th e v ario us du t ie s keepingthe chaplains and t h e i r ass i s tan t s ( Religious Program Specialists ) loaded down, a luncheon a t the Officers Club on chapel expense) and a b r i e f tour of th e base f a c i l i t i e s . Theturnout

wasnot very

goodbecause of strong local an t i -

U.S.mili tary sentiment incited

( con td . back page)


11/11

p a r t l y by p a ran o i a (Hi roshima w i l l neverbe fo rgo t ten nor the U.S. ever forg ivenf o r d r o p p i n g t h e a t o m i c bombs o n H i r oshima an d Nagasaki ) an d p a r t l y by commun i s t propaganda funded by t h e USSR. Mosto f t h e J a p a n e s e p r e a c h e r s and m iss io n r i e s who c a m e w e r e f r o m o u t o f t o w n .

Anyway, th e t o u r wa s i n t e r e s t i n g and th e Navy Clergy Fr i en d sh i p Day i s l i k e l yt o b e c o m e a n a n n u a l e v e n t .

MY S C H E D U L E

My v a r i o u s a c t i v i t i e s a r e c o n t i n uing a s normal wi th Sunday M Worsh ip an dSunday Schoo l C l a s s e s . I made a n o t h e re f f o r t t o s t a r t a g a i n t h e c l a s s f o r Ju ni o r High s t u d e n t s b u t t o no a v a i l . Th eM i n i s t ry of E d u c a t io n p u t s a heavy load on s t u d e n t s so Church a c t i v i t y ends up b e in g pu tlo w on th e p r i o r i t y l i s t . Sunday PM i s fo r preachers meetings once a month (usuallya f t e r which I v i s i t mom an d dad f o r a day o r two) o r o c c a s i o n a l c a l l i n g on a man i n th eh o s p i t a l who has some i n t e r e s t i n C h r i s t i a n i t y b u t n o t y e t w i l l i n g t o a c c e p t J e s u s C h r i s ta s Lord and S a v i o u r and obey Him i n a l l t h i n g s . Monday i s f r e e f o r yard work , h o b b i e s o ro th er th in gs t h a t need to be done . Engl i sh c l a s s e s a r e Tuesday PM, Wednesday an d PMan d Thursday an d Saturday M Thursday PM i s c a l l i g r a p h y. Fr i d ay I usua l ly schedulef o r bank b u s i n ess a s I am bookkeeper f o r a loan fund s t a r t e d by one o f our e a r l y miss iona r i e s to h e l p new congregat ions. Between c l a s s e s i s se rm on a nd l e sson prepa ra t ion . Sa turday PM i s fo r ty in g up l oose ends a s f a r as Sunday prepa ra t ion i s concerned.

A V I S I T O R I N TOWN

The F r i e n d s h i p Da y To u r Group

On a r e c e n t v i s i t w i t h dad and mom i n H a c h i o j i I had o c c a s i o n t o b e t h e t o u r gu i defo r Dr. Floyd Clark as he wanted to see some p laces in Tokyo an d dad and mom had prev ious ly sch^u l . ed a c t i v i t i e s to keep them busy on t h a t Monday. He staye d~ wth~dad arrd~mom Saturday n ig h t th ru Tuesday AM.) We ha d a good t a l k about a number of th ings . Heb ro u gh t e n co u ra g in g word about prayers on my beha l f , which I already know, but i t i s s t i l lw o n d e r f u l t o h e a r him t e l l o f t h i n gs .

Thank yo u f o r your c o nt in u in g p r ay e rs an d s u p p o r t . Th e Lord i s s u s t a i n i n g me each

day. L ea rn in g J a pa n es e ca l l ig raphy w i l l be a r e a l advantage when making pos te rs and adver t i sement about u pc om in g C hu rc h a c t i v i t i e s . I t may a t t r a c t a t t e n t i o n in a way o t h e rmethods d o n t . Pray t h a t in every s i t u a t i on and a c t i v i t y I ca n say an d do th ings t h a t w i l llead Japanese to accep t Jesus Chr is t a s Lord an d Saviour an d obey Him in a l l t h i n g s .

A

L a u r e l A v e n u e C h u r c h o f h r is t

C . A . J . - JONATHAN S I M S

P . O . B o x 1 3 2 7 7

Chesapeake , Vi r g i n i a 23325

F I E L D A D D R E S S

J o n a t h a n S i m s

3 6 Kugo Cho Yo k o s u k a - S h iKanagawa-Ken, J ap an 238

FORWARDING AGENT

J e s s e I n g e90 9 Neptune Ave. Va . Beach, Va , 23464( 8 0 4 ) 4 2 0 - 6 0 2 8

M E R RY C H R I S T M A S A N D H A P P Y NE W Y E A R

No n P r o f i t Org,U . S . P o s t a g eP I

Chesapeake , Va,P e r m i t N o . 4 8

Miss ions Serv ices Assoc.B o x 2 4 2 7

K n o x v i l l e , TN 37901

Sims Jonathan 1984 Japan

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