sims jonathan 1988 japan

8/12/2019 Sims Jonathan 1988 Japan

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CAJ ReportJ O N AT H A N S I M S C H RI ST S A M BA S SA D O R TO J A PA N

An d ihe ihingxyou have heard me say in the presence of many nitnesses entrusted to reliablemen who willalso be qualified to teach others. / / Timothy 2:2

^ V/

VOLUME 8 FIRST QUARTERMARCH 1 9 8 8

NUMBER 1

WHERE I S WINTER?

While th e U.S. was endur ing b i t t e r co ld with seve re winter storms* Japanwas experiencing re la t ive ly mild temperatures and very l i t t l eprec ip i ta t ion . Sk i resor ts were in a quandary without seasonal snowfall*bu t few people sought our Lord. Li t t l e i f an y gra t i tude was expressed toou t Lord and Crea to r fo r th e many days of c l e a r blue s k i e s . E ve ry bo dy h ada r a t h e r h e c t i c schedule dur ing th e l a s t fe w weeks of 1987 an d th e f i r s t of

t h i s year. From the t ime my normal schedule of c l a s s e s was f in i shed in1987 u n t i l i t was resumed t h i s year I sa w l i t t l e i f any chance f o r a goodr s t

Becember saw l a s t minute mai l i ngs of l e t t e r s an d c a r d s and a l o t ofdeta i led prepara t ion fo r Christmas, After Worship on the 20th we had aca r ry - in -mea l . y con t r ibu t ion was a choco la t e cake with a f r o s t i n g madefrom s c r a t c h . Because of my mistake in us ing r e g u l a r suga r r a t h e r t hanc o n f e c t i o n e r s suga r without compensating fo r th e change* on e b i t e off r o s t i n g gave everybody enough energy fo r th e season* not t o speak ofc u s t o m e r s f o r t h e l o c a l d e n t i s t s . A t l e a s t t h e c a k e m ix w as d e l i c i o u s .Th e fo l lowing s h a r i n g t ime seemed t o o s h o r t . e t o l d o f C hr istm as memorieswhich were ou t s t and ing . Everyone spoke up wi th many good i deas to bet r i e d . The c losed Bible quiz based on Matthew 2:1-12 an d Luke 2:1-20 washard f o r most e ve n th ou gh a t Kense i s r eques t I made as s im ple ques t ionsas I thought appropr ia te fo r the group a t Yokosuka. Pr izes were a s tap le r*a compass an d a memo pad respec t ive ly fo r our exper ienced Sunday schoolteacher* Ken s wife and our newest Sunday schoo l t e a c h e r. P resen t sexchanged were p r a c t i c a l an d apprec ia t ed .

C HR IS TM AS F OR C HIL DR EN AF TER T HE C AN DLE LI GH T SERVICE

Japanese chi ldren are in school unt i l the 24th the morning of which isspent cleaning t h e i r own classrooms an d ge t t ing everything put away

un t i lth e s t a r t of school in January. As f a r as I know t h e r e a re no j a n i t o r s fo rpubl ic schoo ls in Japanstudents are given the work of scrubbing hallwaysand rooms. The sc ho ol y ards wil l see people trimming th e shrubbery . Inthe Japanese soc ia l system the re are many jobs a t taxpayer ex pen se s o tha tmost everybody is kept busy. The af ternoon of the 24th i s the best timefor a program for children apparently as we welcomed twenty s ix for a timeof ex pla in ing the ce lebra t ion of the b i r th of ou r Lord Jesus Chris t ,Japanese love pa r t i e s and will use any excuse to make more par ty t ime.Even Buddhist temples an d secu la r organ iza t ions wi l l have a Christmaspar ty complete with Santa Clause* but no mention of Jesus unless incidentalin some o f th e songs sung in December. Our program c o n s i s t e d o f a shadowp i c t u r e p lay w it h c ar db oa rd f igures moving ac ross a sc reen with co lo red

s l i d e s i n th e background. With Sunday school a t t endance down an d i r r e g u l a rthe re were few c h i l d r e n ab le to have an y p a r t in a p lay, so Ken h is wifean d I had t o make do us ing a prev ious ly recorded c a s s e t t e tap e fo r th ed ia logu e w ith m usic . Although t h er e h as n t been a p o s i t i v e impac t on ourSunday school a t tendance* a l l who a t t ended th e program enjoyed th ef e s t i v i t i e s * a nd r e t u r n e d home w i t h some i d e a o f t h e meaning o f C h r i s t m a so th e r t h a n t h e u su a l S a n t a C l a u s .


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Our Christinas Eve cand lel igh t se rv i ce was a rea l t r ea t . All of ou r membershad some part/ either reading a Scripture passage or singing a specialnumber One of th e visitors brought hi s violin and played beautifully.About seventeen people came with some staying af terwards fo r refreshmentsand a picture. On th e 25th I visited mom and dad and helped in theirprogram f o r Sunday s c h o o l c h i l d r e n

TH E YEAR OF TH E DRAGON

There is a movie about the violence of th e Chinese crime syndicates withth e t i t l e The Year of the Dragon but beyond offending many people i td i d n t adequately p or tr ay t he whole s i tua t ion . By t he i r nature movies arelimited and ca n only deal with outstanding highlights of any scene, or whatth e producer feels significant. When Orientals hear the word dragon theconcept of good fortune comes to mind with the creature having wings andf ierce countenance being shown ascending from misty seas to the highheavens. There is no image of ev i l as people with European and Americanbackground pic ture with the word dragon . In Scripture the symbol of are d dragon i s used to depict Satan. Anyway th is year of the twelve yearcycle in the Oriental calendar is anticipated to be a prosperous year, withsp ec ia l b le ss ing to people l ike myself who were born in the year of th ed ragon .

Japanese love eloquent word play, but my e ffo r t s a re mostly mediocre a tbest. In the New Year postcards I sent to many Japanese fr iends I used anexpress ion with a word sounding l i k e dragon , bu t meaning to be usefu l .An e f f o r t a t f ind ing a good homonym is now being f u l f i l l e d p r a c t i c a l l y int h e w o r k h e r e i n Yo k o s u k a

Hy reques t t o be usefu l in t h i s year has been answered in s ev era l ways an dI am conf iden t t h a t t h e r e i s much more in s t o r e I t began with tw o j u n i o rhigh orphan boys s tay ing here in my b ac he lo r p ad , t ak ing f u l l advantageof my hosp i t a l i t y by ea t ing a l l of the generous port ions of food I s e tbefo re them an d en joy ing games toge the r dur ing th e New Year vaca t ion .This year i s seeing a new Ministry a t the orphanage through a SaturdayBible c l a s s where Ken another member an d myself t each t he c hi ld re n. TwoSundays a month sees jun ior high students from the orphanage a t tending ourSunday Worship. Pray tha t we ca n es tabl i sh long las t ing fr iendshipswi tn se ed s n ein g s b i ^ T d r ^ t h e Bake~df our Lord Jesus Chr i s t J

On January 31st we hosted a meeting of Japanese bro thers an d s i s t e r s inChrist here a t Yokosuka in the afternoon. The theme was hope withrequest for those who came to share in s t a t ing e i the r a personal hope inwalking with our Lord or a hope fo r t he i r congregation, such as a newoutreach. We saw f o r t y - t h r e e adul t s an d two babies . Our members werere luc tan t to undertake th e p ro je ct of h os tin g the meeting, but afterwardsa l l w e r e s a t i s f i e d

February saw WINTER with sudden drops in temperature and a wet blanket ofp r e c i p i t a t i o n Var ious co lds an d f l u v i r u s e s a f f e c t e d m u l t i t u d e s ,including myself. But w ith p ra ye r and a remedy learned from mom The Lordsaw me through the severa l weeks of being down ( for tunate ly only missingtwo days of English classes). Thank you for your continuing support of theministry here in Japan. Thank you for your prayers as well.

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF CHRIST11 2 6 L a u r e l Av e n u e

Chesapeake, Vi rg i n i a 23325

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Forwarding Agent f o r :JONATHAN SIMS, MISSIONARY TO JAPANP O Box 1 3 2 7 7

Chesapeake, Vi rg i n i a 23325.

FIELD ADDRESS

3-6 Kugo Cho Yokosuka-ShiKanagawa-Ken Japan 238

Non-Prof i t Org.U.S. Pos tageP I D

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

M i s s i o n s S e r v i c e s s s o c i a t i o n

B o x 2 4 2 7K n o x v i l l e TN 3 7 9 0 1


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VOLUME 8

CAJ ReportJ O N A T H A N S I M S C H R I S T S A M B A S S A D O R T O J A PA N

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

SECOND QUARTER NUMBER 2

IN SEASON AND ODT OF SEASON

I t seemed t h a t Spring would never comef bu t a t l e a s t i t came. The prolonged coldwea the r de layed p l a n t l i f e from blooming f o r a fe w weekS/ but in t ime t h e b e a u t y Godhas crea ted for us was seen. As we cont inue our t ask of reaching th e l o s t with th eGospel of Jesus Chr is t we see many de lays an d hindrancesThe L o r d w i l l b r i n g f r u i t w h e t h e r s o o n o r l a t e r

b u t we c a n b e on f iden t t h t

MISSIONARY CONVENTION HOPE AND WENDY WITH US

The a nn ual m ee ti ng of our m is si on ar ie s i n Japan was held th i s year in snow countryin March instead of during the hea t of summer. I rode with da d an d mom an d as th e carwas f i l l e d w it h p as se ng er s qui te a b i t of savings was made in t ravel expense. I twould have cos t s l i g h t l y more than $ 10 0.0 0 e ac h way by train whereas a l l in the carpa id only t h e i r share of the gas and t o l l However due to ca r bu re to r malfunc t ion andclogged fuel f i l t e r we were detained fo r th ree hours in get t ing to the convention. TheLord took care of us by providing mechanical service a t a reasonable price. At th e

convention we were pr iv i leged to have Tom Friskney a professor a t Cincinnati BibleCollege my alma mater) as a guest speaker. The fellowship was warm and encouraging inc on tras t to the dreary cold r a in outs ide . Thank The Lord for peace a f t e r a storm whenwe were able to take a group p ic tu re and enjoy the scenic view in re turn ing to ourvar ious work p l a c e s .

s i s te r ope and youngest daughter Wendy were able to vis i t Japan for about s ixweeks. Wendy simply smiled and sa id several Japanese words winning immediatepopulari ty. In comparison with th e m ajo rity of people who v i s i t Japan af te r a longabsence ope di d not comment on how Japan has become so modern in outward appearancesbu t on how the Japanese people are s t i l l vir tual ly the same in character as they havealways been. On the da y Hope and Wendy returned to the U.S. we ha d the mosts ign i f i can t s no wf al l o f the year. I t was April already and we had no t had much snow inthe season when snow is appropr ia te .

MISSIONARY PRAYER MEETING


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Meeting each month fo r prayer i s a n e c e s s i t y as we fee l so burdened in s t r i v i n g tor e a c h th e Japanese . Th e Lord has power t o c a r r y a l l burdens and can enab le us t ocon t inue a t th e t a sk of shar ing th e Gospel. Our number i s smal l / but t h e r e i s hope f o rnew r e c r u i t s . Th e on ly m a t t e r keep ing some r e c r u i t s from t h e f i e l d i s t h e l ack off i n anc i a l backing fo r coming to Japan/ where cos t s are high. But t h e r e can only behope fo r b re a kt hr ou g hs w i th f r u i t coming. I t seems l ike many young people a r e g e t t i n gaway from t r a d i t i o n an d looking toward America an d Europe/ but u n f o r t u n a t e l y most ofwhat i s seen does not g ive g l o r y and honour t o our Lord Jesus C h r i s t .

*EASTER GOLDEN WEEK CAMP

There i s no th ing in Japanese f e s t i v a l s which cou ld be comparable t o E a s t e r a t l e a s ta s used t o commemorate t h e r e s u r r e c t i o n o f o u r Lord J e s u s C h r i s t . J a p a n e s e f e s t i v a l sc e l e b r a t e r i c e p l a n t i n g and h a r v e s t i n g and t h e ve rna l and autumnal equinox . Othereven t s have been added on t h rough t h e y e a r s and C h r is tm as h as ev en be en i n c l u d e d in t h ec a l e n d a r / a l t hough ment ion of J e s u s C h r i s t i s n o t made u n l e s s i n c i d e n t a l l y t h r o u g h afew c ar o ls a ir e d a t t h e t ime . Var ious o p i n i o n s a bo ut having an E a s t e r program and

what kind i t should be were expressed by th e members with some c o n f l i c t i n g i deas / bu tp r e p a r a t i o n s were dec ided on and we sa w a bo u t 26 c h i l d r e n i n a tt e nd an ce a t t h e Sundayaf te rnoon a c t i v i t y. a re ab le t o borrow a video tape of Luke produced by TH GENESISPROJECT t r a n s l a t e d in to Japanese . At th e l a s t minute we were a l so a b le to borrow a V Ran d TV wi th enough s c r e e n s i z e f o r eve ryon e t o be a b l e t o s e e t h e t a p e . Everyone wa ss a t i s f i e d with th e t u rnou t / even though th e program d id not f i t p r e c o n c e p t i o n s . Eggswere hidden in th e smal l Church yard an d found almost immediately/ excep t f o r one foundt h r e e weeks l a t e r as I was p u l l i n g weeds. Somehow I ha d missed i t in t h e i n t e r im / ins p i t e o f tw o o r t h r e e t i m e s c l e a n i n g t h e y a r d .

With th e advent of S pr ing came hay f e v e r symptoms. Hay fever seems t o be on t h ei nc rease here i n Japan due t o p o l l u t i o n and s t r e s s in d a i l y l i f e / but t h e blame i sbeing placed on dryness and p l a n t l i f e imported from th e U.S. A fe w days in th e f r e s hcool a i r of th e mounta ins brough t welcome r e l i e f from a usual h e c t i c schedu le . GoldenWeek camp was an o p p o r t u n i t y f o r making new fr iends as well as fe l lowsh ip w ith f am ilyin C h r i s t . Th e theme a g a i n d e a l t wi th C h r i s t i a n Marr iage w ith fo cu s on l i f e i n

h r i s t

The work in Yokosuka is in a p la teau . have not seen an y new faces f o r a while andeven among our smal l group t h e r e i s some t i r e d n e s s Sa tan i s t r y in g t o th ro w a rr ow s t of a c t i o n a l i z e th e group/ smal l as i t i s . Pray t h a t we can c la im th e v i c t o r y throughJesus C h r i s t and breakthrough in l ove t o see new people come t o s er vi c es and obey Th eLord. There a re always r easons t o r e jo ic e. On Apri l 19 Th e Lord b l e s s e d Ken andYoshie with a daughter which they dec ided t o name M GUMI meh goo mee Grace . Prayt h a t we can con t inue t o proceed fo rward in th e work with much ene rgy from our Lord

Jesus C h r i s t . Thank yo u f or co nt in uin g prayer s an d support . The Lord br ings on lygood/ no m a t t e r what k i n d o f s e a s o n i t ma y be .

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF C H R I S T

1 1 2 6 L a u r e l Av e n u e

Chesapeake / Vi r g i n i a 23325


F o r w a r d i n o A g e n t f o r ?JONATHAN S I M S / MISSIONARY TO JAPAN

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

C h e s a p e a k e / Vi r g i n i a 23325

F I E L D ADDRESS

3 -6 Kugo Cho Yokosuka-ShiKanagawa-Ken/ J a p a n 238

Non-Prof 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

Missions S e rv i ce s A s so c ia ti onB o x 2 4 2 7K n o x v i l l e TN 37901


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VOLUME 8

CAJ ReportJ O N A T H A N S I M S C H R I S T 'S A M B A S S A D O R T O J A P A N

And the things yo u have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who will also be qualified to teach others. / / Timothy 2:2

THIRD QUARTER OCTOBER 1988


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Japanese people ace i m p r es s iv e l y h y p e r ac t iv e . I t seems they became t h a t way in havingt o c o n s t a n t l y r e b u i l d v i l l a g e s a f t e r th e annual typhoons not t o ment ion v o l c a n i cerup t ions an d ea r thquakes . The e d u ca t io n M i n is tr y i s a f r a i d t h a t c h i l d r e n w i l l g e ti n t o t r o u b l e i f no t loaded down wi th school work t u to r ing s p o r t s c l u b a c t i v i t y ands p e c i a l hobbies ( such a s ca l l ig raphy m usic and so on) so a s s i g n s t u d e n t s p r o j e c t s andwork t o be done d u r i n g t h e summer s i x weeks when r e g u l a r c la ss es a re no t i n s e s s i o n(a l though t u t o r i n g an d o the r a c t i v i t y keeps on with compulsory at tendance except

during, a fe w days of r e l i g ious f e s t i v a l s ) .

have found t h a t Bible camp can becomean a t t r a c t i o n when a four day camp i s des igna ted homework** camp dur ing which s t u d e n t sin ju n io r h igh can spend t ime in concen t ra t ed e f f o r t to f i n i s h th e work in th emornings wi th a f t e rnoons f or r ec re at io n and evenings fo r Bib le messages . This yearsa w a fe w a d u l t s as wel l so a d i s c u s s i o n group was conducted f o r them d e a l i n g wi thC h r i s t i a n l i f e s t y l e . With th e camp open f o r people of a l l ages a fami ly atmospherewas produced t o eve ryones advantage .

All of th e p r e p a r a t i o n f o r our Evange l i s t i c meet ing in Yokosuka on September t h i r d andfour th brought some b l e s s i n g . Even though a fe w **regulars** were no t present t h e r ewere a couple o f peop le each day who f o r th e f i r s t t ime a t t ended a C h r i s t i a n meet ing.Pray t h a t t h er e w il l con t inue t o be new fa c e s in Sunday s e r v i c e s a s wel l a s s p e c i a lmeet ings . There i s always hope when Our Lord an d H is Kingdom i s f i r s t .

A LL TO HOVE - The Lord has blessed th e work in Yokosuka during th e f i v e years Ih a v e b e e n t h e r e . I am c o n f i d e n t t h a t He w i l l c o n t i n u e t o b le s s t h e w o r k t h e r e w i t h

Japanese l eadersh ip . Working with Kensei as a Japanese co-worker f o r t h r e e years hasbeen a l ea rn ing exper i ence f o r b o th o f us . In f i v e years I had probably **settled** asmuch a s a *'foreigner** c o u l d s e t t l e in Yokosuka being f a m i l i a r w i t h neighborhoodshopping an d ta kin g l es so ns in Japanese ca l l ig raphy as well as t ea ch in g E n gli sh t o afew people in th e community. Personal f r i endsh ip beyond th e s u p e r f i c i a l i s s t i l l atask e s p e c i a l l y wi th my t endency t o be r e t i c e n t t o most people . However a c a l l camef o r s t a r t i n g a new endeavor which made me t h i n k aga in about a l l o f my e f f o r t s and whati s f i r s t i n God*E Wil l . Fo r a number o f months I men ta l ly meandered a b o u t w he the r t ogo o r s t a y. A f t e r d e c i d i n g t h a t go ing would be bes t I r e l a t e d t h e i n fo rma t ion abou tth e new endeavor t o th e Yokosuka peop le . They f e l t t h a t th e p r o j e c t was good bu twere not th e l e a s t anx ious f o r me t o go. T h e i r r e a c t i o n d i d n t help making me havesecond thoughts again. But I have accepted th e c a l l to move t o th e new placet u r n i n g th e main l e a d e r s h i p o f th e Yok os uk a w or k t o Kensei who I know i s capab le . I

an d 4 th ) with th e orphanage and h e l p wi th th e p u l p i t minis t ry o f Yokosuka on mostSunday mornings u n t i l March o f 1989. From Apri l 17 t i l l th e end o f August I w i l l got o th e O.S. f o r a fur lough a f t e r which a l l o f my e f f o r t w i l l be c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t h en e w l o c a t i o n .

JOEL HONE - An e l d e r o f a s i s t e r congregat ion (when becoming a C h r i s t i a n he was g ivent h e name o f J o e l h e n c e t h e J o el home ) h a s b u i l t a h o u s e w hic h h e w a n t s t o b eused f o r t h e sake o f Th e Church o f C h r i s t . I t i s no t a Church s imp ly a house where

Bible s tud ies an d Worship s e r v i c e s can be s t a r t e d an d where newly a r r i v e d miss ionar iesto Japan or Bib le c o ll eg e s tu d en t s can s t ay fo r lim ite d t imes in t r a n s i t i o n fromschool t i l l t h e i r m i n i s t r y l o c a t i o n s have been found. My j ob i s t o he lp e i t h e r newmiss ionar i e s g e t a d ju s te d t o Japan o r he lp Bib le c o l l e g e gradua tes g e t s e t f o rmin i s t ry w hile upkeeping th e home and l ead ing in Bible s tud ies an d Serv ices . I f agroup wants to s t a r t a congrega t ion th e group wil l need to f in d a convenient loca t ionas th e home i s s t i l l th e p ro p e r ty o f th e e l d e r (even though used f o r t h e sake o f J e s u sC h r i st ). D e ta il s o f my m i n i s t r y w i l l be worked ou t a s need a r i s e s . Please n o t e my newaddres s t o t h e l e f t o f your a d d r e s s l a b e l .

Thank yo u so much f o r your con t inu ing prayer s an d support . Th e Lord has opened upt h i s new door an d I am c o n f i d e n t He w i l l provide th e b e s t .

L UREL VENUE HUR H OF CHRIST Non-Prof i t Org.1126 Laure l Avenue U.S. Pos tageChesapeake Vi rg i n i a 23325 P I

Chesapeake Va.ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED P e r m i t No . 4 8

Forward ing Agent f o r :JONATHAN SIMS MISSIONARY TO JAPAN

P. O . B ox 1 3 2 7 7

Chesapeake Virg in ia 23325M i s s i o n s S e r v i c e s A s s o c i a t i o n

NEW FIELD ADDRESS B o x 2 4 2 7

K n o x v i l l e , TN 3 7 9 0 1J o n a t h a n S i m s

4 - 1 7 - 1 2 R o k k a k u b a s h i

Kanagawa KuYo k o h a m a - S h i 2 2 1 JAPAN

T e l . 0 4 5 ( 4 1 3 ) 2 2 0 0


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VOLUME

ON TH E GO

CAJ ReportJO NA TH A N S IMS CH RIST S A M BA SSA DO R TO JAPAN

An J Ihe things you have heard me 5av in the presence of many witnessesentrusted to reliablemen who willalso be qualified to teach others. if Timothy 2:2

F OU RT H Q UA RT ER 1 9 8 8 NUMBER ^

I t is marvelous how The Lord provides th e r igh t thing a t the best t ime. Inappreciat ion fo r our helping with th e work at the orphanage/ th e di rec tor gave us ane igh t passenger van. As Kensei and s Ibe ^ee beh> already had t h e i r own cars I wasmore than happy to accep t . The s i t u a t i o n was t h a t a brand new veh ic le ha d j u s t beendonated t o Kobo C ot t age and t h e seven y ea r o ld one was going t o be d i s p o s e d o f I ttook q u i t e a l o t of paperwork t o t r a n s f e r th e v eh ic le to my name/ no t t o ment ion t imeand money/ b ut i t wa s done and I sa ve d a bo ut S200.00 d o i n g t h e foo twork m y s e l f . Butth e b i l l s of In su rance / maintenance an d i n spec t ion coming up in March make th e f r e ev e h i c l e seem r a t he r c os tl y Bu t h a v i n g t h e l i g h t van has made i t p o s s i b l e t o c o n t i n u e

commuting f rom Yokohama t o Yokosuka and back/ n o t t o ment ion o p p o r t u n i t i e s t ot r a n s p o r t p e o p l e t o an d from mee t ings / camp an d so on.

THE VAN ANOTHER IMMERSION

BACK AT YOKOSUKA

I have c o n t i n u e d t o a s s i s t w i t h t h e work i n Yokosuka a t l e a s t o n Sundays a n d tw oSa tu rdays a month. Yokosuka i s s e e i n g a s t a b l e a t t endance / which i s a c o n t r a s t t o i t sh i s t o r y of ups and downs wi th change in l eade r sh ip . With Kensei a nd I having workedt oge the r fo r th ree plus years , ray move to th e new minis t ry was not as t r a u m a t i c as i thas been with one leader coming and going. Kensei i s adjust ing to h is new load withGod p r ov id in g c o nt in u in g b l e s s i n g s . Namely/ a man who has been a t t end ing s e r v i c e s f o rsome time was immersed in to Chr i s t . Thirty-odd years ag o he was spr ink led in to adenominational congregat ion/ but he sl ipped back in to soc ie ty. Through circumstancesh e f e l t l e d t o come b a c k t o C h u r c h t o r e n e w f a i t h When K en se i an d I a s k e d him a b o u timmersion he eager ly accepted the i n v i t a t i o n , looking a t i t as a way t o s t a r t a l lover again in f a i t h . He i s a brush writ ing teacher an d joyfu l ly makes p o s te rs fo rs p ec ia l s e r v i ce s

The orphanage ministry i s cont inuing, with th e chi ldren eagerly learning new songs andBible lessons. The day I took my camera saw vis i tors from a h ig h s ch oo l w o werelearning about ou r work with the chi ldren. The chi ldren were happy to see v i s i t o r sand were re la t ive ly quiet . As Christmas approaches more time is spent in prac t ice ofChristmas Carols. After an opening session of a ymn or two a prayer and shortmessage, t ime i s spen t in t each ing songs an d in d iv id ed c l a s s e s Bib le l e s s o n s a re

s tud ied . Pray t h a t the seedssown

now wi l l bear f r u i t in l a t e r yea r s an d t h a t th echi ldren will remember the Bible verses and songs they a re le arn in g now.

AT TH E ORPHANAGE MY C L A S S


8/8

FORTH TO THE NEW WORK

The JOEL HOM is seeing outreach through two act iv i t ies an English Bible class onTuesday even ings and a service on Saturday evenings. For th e Tuesday class one of mynext door neighbors and a f r iend are coming to learn conversation. They are notopposed to using Bible so we are r ea di ng p o rt io n s of Scripture between learningdialogue material . Pray t ha t t h i s o pp or tu ni ty w il l bear f r u i t in a d i r ec t way. Thech i ld ren of th e neighbor a re a l so l ea rn ing English. L i t t l e by l i t t l e c on ta cts w il lbe made in the community.

T HE M EETIN G ROOM

Th e Sa turday Serv ice i s see ing abou t s i x o r so . W e be gin w ith a hymn p r a y e r an dmessage with a meal a f t e r an extended t ime fo r sha r ing or d is cu ss in g t he message. Th epeople a tt en d in g a re most ly f r i e n d s of J o e l who are in te res ted in th e pro jec t* bu twe are praying t ha t people in th e community will know t h a t meetings are being held an dw i l l come. Twice a month I d e l i v e r a n In form al message wh i l e on o t h e r S a t u r d a y s Im.c. with Jo e l o r a gues t as speake r.

BACK AGAIN

Thanksgiving saw me f i l l the p u lp i t in Hachioj i while dad was on a t r i p in SouthernJapan Kyushu) to speak the re . I t has been s l i g h t l y more than f ive years s ince I l e f tHachioj i to preach a t Yokosuka and my Japanese a b i l i t y a t t h a t t ime was q u i t e l imi tedin comparison with my presen t l eve l o f c on ve rs at io n. A number of people expressed th epro gress in my language a b i l i t y as being very good while most s a i d I spoke almostexac t ly l i k e dad. I a l so spoke a t mom s Thanksgiving womens meeting. That group haveknown me s i n c e be fo re I can remember and expres sed g r a t i t u d e in my coming t o Japan asm i s s i o n a r y t o fo l l ow i n d ad s f oo ts te ps .

Chris tmas w i l l soon be he re w ith a number of programs scheduled a l l over th e p l a c e . Iwill be h elp in g h er e and there in various ways going back and for th to take par t ins e r v i c e s t o remember t h e b i r t h o f o u r Lord and S a v i o u r J e s u s C h r i s t . May you a l l h a v ea special Christmas with The Lord blessing you with His love and peace. I amg r a t e f u l fo r how generous yo u a l l have been t h i s year in your prayers an dencouragement fo r my smal l p a r t in our g r e a t t a sk of reaching the l o s t with th eGospel. Thank you an d may the S p i r i t of our Lord be with yo u always.

J o n a t h a n

LAUREL AVE NU E C HU RC H OF C H R I S T

1 1 2 6 L a u r e l A v e n u e

Chesapeake* Vi rg i n i a 23325


F o r w a r d i n g Agent f o r :JONATHAN SIMS* MISSIONARY TO JAPANP. O . B o x 1 3 2 7 7

Chesapeake* Virg in ia 23325

F I E L D ADDRESS4 - 1 7 - 1 2 R o k k a k u b a s h i

Kanagawa-KuYok oh am a- Sh i 2 21 J apan

N o 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

Missions Serv i ces Associat ionB o x 2 4 2 7

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

sims jonathan 1988 japan

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