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After a siirvey t r ip in 19^6the Fabers decided to begin a worki n eastern Hokkaido. Obihiro, thecenter of a l ar ge a gr ic ul tu ra larea, was chosen. Here in th esouthem par t of the c ity in anarea called Tetsunan (meaning southof th e tracks) the Fabers bu i l t anew home and noved in Jxine of 19$6The f i r s t evangel is t ic meeting washeld by Mr , l i j i n a of Tokyo, whosehometown i s Obihiro This meetingWas held in the l iv ing room of thePaber*s home# The church con t i nued t o meet t he r e un t i l th e churchbuilding was buil t in 1958*

Although there have been over60 baptisms the past ten years iti s d i f f i cu l t to lay a good foundat ion since a large percentage ofthe C hris tia n young people movefrom the country a rea toc i t y areas#

From th e chu r ch t h e r e is oneyoung man enrolled in Osaka BibleSeminary, 3Cn March, 1967, twogi r l s grad\iated w ith threeye ar-certificates.

The vfork is essen t i a l ly th esane as t ha t of the aver age chu rchin America, There i s one preachingpoint outside of Cfbihiro, Memuro,where t t e re i s a Sunday school andEnglish classes. At the Ctoihirochurch t he re a re th e r e gu l a r worship services, Sunday school, Engl i sh Bible classes, and a Christ iankindergarten. Besides this throughth e year, there axe special services for the children as follows:Winter TOS, Children's Day, SuimerVBS, Jr . can?), and Christmas services, Specia l s er vi ce s fo r theadults are Easter se iv ice , evangel i s t i c serv ice, canp, ThanksgivingChristmas, and New Xears services.

In September, 1966, the Tet sunan Church cal led Mr, Koji Sugi\u'ato be thei r minis ter , Mr, Sugiura,a gradxiate of the Tokyo Bible Serai-naiy, 1958, is married aiid has 3ch i ld r en . His mother also l i ve swi t h t h em .

Although the Fabers wi l l notbe returning to Obihiro, th e mission s t i l l has some obligationst he re , A mission loan of $L666 wasgiven the church in 1966 fo r t h e i rnew parsonage. They are repayingthi'.5 by monthly instal lments. Presently the mission pays $55 (2/5)of the minis ter ' s sa lary and wi l lcontinue to s'cqjport on a diminishing bas i s un t i l the church can assume the ent i re respons ibi l i ty .The land and biiildings wil l continue to be he ld in th e miss ion nameun t i l there i s suf f ic ien t adu l tleadership

B I H I R O

Tetsunan Church of ChristMr, Koji Sugiura, MinisterHo, 9, ffishi 1, MLnaad 20Obihiro, Hol&aldo, Je^an

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Mr, S\igiura, hi s wife, Hideko, hi smother, and their three boys (ages5 years, U years, and 1 year.

The chitrch building as seen from Odori park

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LL V i 5 t i ^ ^ cA^'5 M% m'

TOM AKOM A1Tomakonai i s one of the major

to an area kncrwn as CenIfokkaido. This a rea has been#2 industrial area bye Japanese government. By 1970area i s expected to containof the island's 5>360,000 peoe o r l, 8h l, 000 people This i sn expected increase of 6% overTonalcoraai, i tself, has in-^eascd from 5l>000 to 85,000 ine l a s t f ive years and th e ci tya popialation of lli5>000 byTomakoiEai City ha s th e largestmills in Japan and 17 new-

a re committed to moveth e city . I ts man made harbor,was opened in 1963 i s beingyearly to accomodate i nin t r a f f i c . The c i ty i s a te crossroads of highways fromHokkaido and main land J aan leading to the capi ta l c i ty of

The c i t y l i e s on the Paci f icTdth its back to th e moui^Therefore it can grow intwo waystoward Sapporo in andesignated ind ias t r ia l - res iden-

o r toward the wes t i n an a r ear e s i d en t i a l .

In December of 1966, eiftersevera l months of s\inrey and negot ia t ions , the Fab ers p urc ha se d alarge lo t for the chxirch buildingand a sma l l e r lot f o r a new miss ionhome in th e Wes te rn r e s i d e n t i a la rea c a l l e d Itoi.

In 1968 the Fabers, upon comple t ion of the i r furlough wi l l begin a new work in t h i s i^^x)^tantc i t y o f Cen t ra l Hokkaido.

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Shaded otva a ra-w housing area nttw drffioffit/g.^2 - Arva enclosed u/ithdotU-d liu*- is fo h\r a n ivbousing

area trt th t nvtir futurt#? - Proposrd fffw churt/f /of.^/o/./ '/ sr rr fs mapu/ Hokkaido 'shoti iu^ city,^afiftoro. am i thv home ot fahrts^. OhihircTAi* sh f idvd ar ea si th e 62 indusfr tat area.

Erne s t D. Fabe r was b om atIfijibum, Iowa, in 1926. Aftergraduating from high school in19Uli, he served l-l years in theArmy being discharged in 19i;6* I twas during his Amy days as an Oc-ciq)ational soldier in Japan t ha the became in te i^sted in the J ^ a -nese people. In 19U8 he went toTh e Cinc inna t i Bible Seminary andgraduated in 19$2.

Hsva E. Faber (nee Fate) wasbom a t Clay Center, Nebraska, inI92O, and graduated frcm highschool in 19U5 She attended sua>-mer school a t Hastings Collegea f t e r which she began to ' teach ina ru ra l school. In 19U7 s he wen tto The Cinci nna t i B i bl e Senlnaiygraduating in 195l

The F abe rs w ere mar r i ed inJune of 1952. They served Fo\urbhChurch of Chris t , C in ci nn at i, 0 ,while Ernest cor[5>leted a year ofgraduate study p r i o r to being rec ru its to Japan. They went to Japan in August of 195)4. After 1^years of language study they wentto Obihiro to beg in the work the re .The Fabers were home fo r finrloughin 1960-1961.

The Fabers h^we four chi ldre:^Linda ( March 2. 1953)j Charles(March 13 , 1955), Allan (Apri l 1,1^6 , and Donald (September 2U,I960.

FCBWARDING ADDRESSJohn NoeBox 173Add., Iowa 50003JAPAM ADDRESS (After Sept. 68)E r n e s t and Neva F ab e rGeneral DeliveryTomakomai, Hbldcaido, Japan

FURLOUGH ADDRESS

ERNEST FABER516 SHERMAN ST .

DANVILLE, ILL. 61832PHONE 443-4598