A MONTHLY REPORT BY THE MARK G. MAXEY FAMILY

TO THE FRtNDS OF THE KYUSHU CHBISTIAN MISSIONKANOYA. KAGOSHIMA 893. JAPAN - SOX 417, NORTH VERNON. ND. 47265

Dear Christian friends, January, 1977

WRrOMF.l/OMf

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"WE'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS"

WITH CAROLYN BARE^C^LOW -^.B.C. CAMP

Twelve years have passed and in the Oriental cycle it isthe year of the snake again. If you ask a Japanese to try tothink of something good to say about the snake he may come upwith two good points: wisdom and patience. He'll need these andmore to see the year through.

Through neglect or overwork or both we have letthis paper become more of a quarterly than a monthly,One New Year's resolution is to get it out more oftenthis year. The news piles up so we must leave out much.^^^^lThe fall EBC (English Bible Camp) was held the last BHweek-end in October. This camp was started by son Wal- *ter to gather his students together for a couple of fdays and discuss the vital themes of life. CarolynBarriclow of Hiroshima and I developed the theme; "For WITH CaWhat Am I Living?" Hard work but satisfying.

When our own camp ground is a reality we wantto have such gatherings often. The latest word on thetest borings is that there are positive signs of wat-er. We will keep you informed. Thank you for yourcontinued prayers and sharing in this project. ^

Pauline has given important messages each ^ETVHHmonth to women's groups at Kanoya, the leper colonyand Kagoshima. These ladies came all the way to Ka- CHRISTnoya to hear her to make it easier on Pauline. Shewas the favorite speaker at the annual New Year's T UKYouth Banquet hosted by Bro. Koichi Homori. She spoke ' TTJb on marriage. I had a more somber title: "A Life WorthLiving." My one point: Christ only makes such a life.

I jotted down in my Daytimer the away fromhome (mostly) activities for December: Week nightBible studies - 10; counselling sessions - 6; articles WBfwritten - 3; English Bible classes taught - 23; Christ-iW wjmas gatherings participated in - 10; showed Christmas ^ Vmovies (2 each time) - 9 times; persons baptized - 2 \\Led forum on International Service for Rotary Inter ^ ^City gathering; and spent 46 hours in my Toyota car KAGOSHIlto get it done. Now 7 years old, it is showing itsage by turning up zero on the speedometer, using oil ^and grinding its gears loudly in overdrive. Maybe itfs Atrying to tell me something. Bfe fl

The nicest drive the old Toyota made was to ^the airport(two hours) Hope waited in Tokyo a coupleof days after her school was over to meet Faith as ^she arrived from the U.S.. They both came down to- Bgether on Monday morning, December 20. There was a 1welcome sign on the door and Pauline had fixed the ||H|^ ygirls' room inside super special. With the daughterssafely home, Christmas was officially and happilyhere. It had been four years since Faith was here forChristmas and she had forgotten how many times we went

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM AT THE ORPHANAGE

BK ^ ^ 1

m MKAGOSHIMA LADIES COME TO HEAR PAULINE

VWEDDED 35 HAPPY YEARS - DEC. 29, 1976

to church Christmas week but that way she got to meet all the Christians again quickly.What can we say about Christmas? The mailman put Christmas cards in our box from

caring friends every day for weeks. The little red postal trucks carried up packages prepared by thoughtful and loving hands many weeks in advance. Gifts of money - which areshared love and concern - were used to bring Faith home &buy new springs and mattress,the firmest we could get for the benefit of Pauline's back. To cover this bed the ladiesof Pierre, South Dakota made a guilt. Each lady embroidered a block of her own design -all of them beautiful and personal. Here is a bedcover that will warm us twice everytime it is used.

Christmas Day - up at 6. a.m. to the sounds of "Merry Christmas!" and merry,bountiful and blessed it was. At 8.45 to the leper colony for their traditional Christmasworship. How welcome and loved they made us feel. We sang for them. Back home we prepareda box of good things and gifts for the Yamashita family of Takasu - both parents handicapped but two lovely children that are not. The richest in faith but the poorest ingoods of any family we know. They received our gifts with gratitude but they had prep^eda gift of money in an envelope for us - 2000 (S6.66). It was gift like the widow's mite- out of their very living - but too precious in meaning to refuse I cried.

Now a month later, the father is dead at 46 of a wasting disease. I carried himin my arms into the sea November 18, 1951 to baptize him and I watched him die quietly in

"his tiny home very'early" in~the morning of January 1S77T-His funeral-conducted by Bro.Yoshii and the Kanoya church was a moving Christian witness to each of us and to his town.

The afternoon of Christmas day we spent at the orphanage sharing gifts and enjoyingtheir Christmas program. The unseen hosts of this pcurty are the-Christians at East Orange,NJ who for many years have taken a Christmas offering in October for these children. Withthis money plus some from our own family we prepared gifts for 79 children plus a sackof goodies, fruit and Christmas stoiry books. Shared happiness is real happiness.

DecenODer 29 was our 35th wedding anniversary. The memory of the first day I mether has never faded.(Read all about it in Way Down Here.) It didn't take me long to knowthat she was the one I wanted to spend my life with. When I asked her a few months laterif she would, she agreed. We rejoice in the years God has given us together and in thefamily he has given - our own five children, the wives and husbands of three, the sixgrandchildren and the Christian family both here in Japan and in the U S. and around theworld. What greater riches could we have than this? To celebrate the day we took a traintrip around the bay to Kagoshima, went to see the movie "Victory at Entebbe " and had asukiyaki supper together. Now we're looking forward to the 36th.

New Year's day, the honorable elder sister of the Maxey clan, Isabel Dittemorearrived from Taiwan on her way to the US for furlough. With her was Kathleen Smith, anEnglishwoman carrying on the wonderful orphanage work of Gladys Alward made famous by themovie, "The Inn of the Six Happinesses." These added to our blessing and fellowship. Theywere the first to use our re-built guest room - now with cement floor, new linoleum, built-

~iirshower, ^d i^d-proof" aa\MihmnrwindQws;"^rt^as been^ome^to many wanderers"atid-willbe for many more. Faith was'the last to leave on Janueury 13. It was a sad farewell but

we rejoice in the four weeks we had together. Saying "good-bye"is the one missionary hardship that gets harder and harder tobear. In closing, Pauline wants to say that your prayers gaveher th'e ability to take Ccure of her family and guests and participate in all the year end activities. She doubted that she wouldbe able to do so. She weuits tor^hauik you for them. And now it is

WAY DOWN HEREThe \oy% and torrom of preadiltig the gocpd"wiy down hcre^bi the Mutficffn ^ of|t^MBved by Mark and PauBne Maxey dnce 1950. Amust for your home and churdi Hivaiy. 49SIMSe*- $6.95 addSJOpoftase&handBng

COVE BOOKS147AveCoa Sui Ckmwte, CA 9X72

by MARKMAXEYtime to say again those sad but beautiful words^^'^Good-bwhich mean, "God be with you." IN HIS SERVICE

UNKLETTERMonthly Publicttkm ofKYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSIONBox 417NorthVemon.Indiam47265 DICK BOURNE

Return RequestedKEMPTOM. IN 46049

Non-PrcfitOi^nizationU.S. POSTAGE

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Pennit No. 537

A''

Dear Christian friends,

A MONTHLY BEPORT BV THE^ARK G, MAXEVjFAMILV

iiwKLerrefiTO THE FRKNOS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOYA, KAGOSHIMA 8S3. JAPAN - BOX 417, NORTH VEANON. IND. 47265

April, 1977

'id

The hours fade into days and the days intoweeks without pause. Each day is full and when it is ^ Ijjjngone it is hardly missed in anticipation of the next, ml 'jfe. ^The bite of winter has passed and just now we can en- ^3-joy the beauty and strength of the cherry trees weplanted as saplings over twenty years ago. ji u

Bro. Yukio Itagaki of Nakano Church ofChrist in Tokyo (where Hope attends) was with us ^for ten days, Jan. 29 - Feb. 8, to conduct our annualtraining coiirse. His subject: "Job and the meaning of

places he held four two-hour sessions at the Kago- ^SSMSS^^^^^AS^ScuSHIR^HURaishima church and also at the Christicin Center,Kanoya with 21 students registered at each, This was his first time with us in eleven years andhis message and inspiration was well received.(My camera was on the blink so no pictures)

Pauline continues her work with courage and joy in spite of pain. She has taught theKanoya ladies meeting and started a new monthly women's meeting in Kushira. Both of us taughtcourses at the week-end training course for Bible School teachers , March 20-21, held in Kagoshimaand sponsored by Bro. Homori. Pauline went with me to a camp near the top of Mt. Kirishima wherefor 8 straight hours I taught basic English phrases to 42 young men who will soon go to the U.S.as agricultural trainees. What they learned I do not know but they were worn out and so was I atthe end of the day. We had a lot of fun together and naturally I put in a good word for Jesus.

My regular schedule of preaching and teaching continues. At Kushira after the Sunday service, we gather around tables for another hour of study of the Vizualized Bible Study series. Asthe last class ended, we were discussing Constantine who made Christianity a state religion. I asked Mrs. Hidaka what she would think if the Emperor of Japan would suddenly become a Christian,make Christianity the national religion and start destroying all religious institutions in thecountry. Hardly pausing to think she said, "I think that would be great." I discussed the implications of such a decision briefly and said that's where we would begin the? next lesson. I thinkit will be a lively session.

As the years go by, more and more we are being called upon to share our faith and wisdom,such as it is, and ourselves with those about us. Here are a few recent examples:

Mr. A. A young man, 22, a student in my English Bible classes for many years but now ithas been three years since I saw him. He burst into my study without knocking leaving the doors opento the winter blasts. I am able to get him seated. He begins to talk, to write, to draw diagramsand the word 'doom* again and again. Obviously he is mentally unbalanced. He comes every day fortwo weeks and we make him welcome as best as we can. He asks me to visit his parents. He plays thepiano with two-fisted volume in one room while I share the pain of his parents as they tell of theironly son drifting down the road to insanity. A week later he bursts into our house late Saturdaynight and cringes on the floor crying that six men in white are coming to get him. Then he runsout of the door carrying his shoes in his hands. Finally the police find him and he is committed toa mental ward again. Would that I had the faith and power to heal him.

Mr. B. A young man of 24, a junior executive in an insurance fii^. He has a keen mind,a sound body, a handsome face and is well-equipped he is sure to have a happy life without help fromman or God. Every Saturday night at English Bible class he lingers to ask questions. He wants toknow, for example, if there are any moral or ethical implications of the gospel. I lead him throughthe Sermon on the Mount and then, because of what he has read there, to the discussion of sexualsins in I Corinthians. He reads, "the immoral man sins against his own body." He is stunned. Whatcould possibly be wrong with sleeping with somebody he wants to know. We talk for an hour but he isunconvinced. Two weeks later in the same class we are discussing the meaning of Christ s death on

the cross. He asks, "Did God know that His Son was going to die that way?" "Yes," I replied, "Godnot only knew it. He planned it that way from the beginning." His disgust was evident. "That's terrible!" he burst out. There was no opportunity then to discuss it in depth. He has not been backsince. I reach out after him. So near to the Kingdom and yet so far.

Mr. C is the supervisor at the orphcinage where we go. We have known each other manyyears. His sister and our oldest daughter, Paula, grew up together. He has a drink problem anda tenper problem. He is also the oldest son. His aged father lives with him and is an ardent Bud-hist. He offers daily prayers at the family altar in the home and makes regular visits to the family graves with offerings eind flowers. He e^^ects, demands, that is son and wife join him in thes^religious exercises. His heart is not in it but as a loyal eldest son he doesn't know how to refuse.I have challenged him to follow Christ. Late one Saturday night he comes with his wife and twochildren to cinnounce that he wants to do just that. But he has a condition. He doesn't want anyoneto know that he has been baptized and become a Christiem. We study the Bible together. I tell himthere can be no such thing as a secret Christian. That even if I keep his secret, people will discover what he has done by the way he lives his new-found faith. The next Saturday he comes againwith his family. Both he and and his wife insist that they want to be baptized and to start a newlife but they ask that I tell no one. At last I agree to baptize them both & do so in the presenceof four witnesses. Do I have the right to baptize a man who wants to keep it a secret? Do I havethe authority to refuse to baptize a man who believes .and jrequests^baptism -even though J^^ha^acondition? I still do not know. Do you? 0, for some of the wisdom of Solomon!

Mr. D. The problems of this young man resemble a Japanese soap opera except that theyare real. He has been studying with me for many weeks. He is graduating from high school & takenentrance examinations for three universities. He comes one day with good news and sad news. Hehas passed all his exazns but he is not happy. He thinks he^would like to preach instead. Only heis not a Christian yet. He believes but is not sure he wants to make the committment. Also it istoo late to take the exam for Seminairy and the Seminary does not admit non-Christians. The decision must be to enter another university and transfer to Seminary at a later time. Then he comesagain with cuiother problem. He and his younger brother have just discovered that they man they hadknown as their "uncle" since childhood was really their "brother", born to their Mother before herpresent marriage. The older brother can accept that but the younger brother goes into shock. Hequits studying and loses interest in life. His teacher phones that \anless he studies he will notpass the exam for high school. A third time the older brother comes. The worst has happened.The younger jL>rother has failed his high school entrance exam. He can not enter. He is only 15 andthe bottom has dropped out of his world. The older brother is taking it hard, too. I take a NewTestament and outline all the passages on suffering, enduramce, hardship, hope and faith,, writea message on the front and send it to the younger brother. He gives me a gift of a plaque he hasmade - the head of Christ wearing a crown of thorns. By the time you read this the older brotherwill have been baptized. Pray for the younger brother, too.

Family E. This family has a special place in my heart. 15 years ago the husband cameasking if I couldn't "give" faith to his wife as she was having great mental suffering. Instead itwas he who believed. The wife did not become a Christian for many years later. When she did I bap

tized her and the two eldest daughters, too. I held weekly Bible studv in their home in Koyama for three years and now go once a month totheir home at the end of this peninsula. The oldest daughter went awayto school, c[uit school unknown to her parents and became a bar girl.Herparents paid $1000 to ransom her from a gang. Jan. 3 she attended ouryouth rally in Kagoshima and has not been seen since. I weep for herand for her family.Psalm 126:6 says, "He that goeth forth and weepeth,bearihg seed for sowing. Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringinghis sheaves with him." IN HIS SERVICE,

WAY DOWN HEREA mhiloMfy atitoUognphy of our llmcf

By pc

A MONTHLY REPORT 8Y THE MARK G. MAXEV FAMILY

uNKLerref^TO THE FRKNOS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOVA. KAOOSHIIMA S93, JAPAN - 417. NORTH VERNON. INO. 4726S/X 417.Dear Christian friends, June, 1977

If old age begins when you start looking backward, instead of forward, this will be an "old age" letter.

After graduating from high school in Circleville, Ohioin June, 1935, my Father took me to Minnesota to "put me in the wayof opportunity," as he put it. What the "opportunity" was I didn'tknow and he didn't say but with the eye of faith I think he knew.

Elder brother, Tibbs, was already in the North coiint-ry, preaching for a country church and soon to be married. I workedin the wheat, rye and barley harvests till fall and then enrolled inthe pre-medical course at the University of Minnesota. I used my entire savings the day I registered. For meals, I worked three hoursa day in a restaurant; for room, I worked all night once a week inmy brother's print shop; for tuition I worked two afternoons a weekand all day Saturday as a janitor at the University Hospital. (Ican still swing a mean mop if you give me lots of room.)

I was living in two worlds with one foot planted in aworld that offered service and relief from poverty and the other inthe world of faith. I lived in the dorm at Minnesota Bible college,attended ore class and attended University Place church. George MarkElliott, now Dean emeritus at Cincinnati Bible Seminary, was thepreacher there - and at the height of his powers. When he preached,he ignored everyone else and preached to me. At least that's the wayI remember it. One Sunday night in May, 1937 I could withstand it nomore. With the encouragement of my good friend. Max Randall, and himstanding up front with me, I promised God I would serve Him as apreacher of the gospel.

Soon after I went back to Circleville and drove backto Minnesota with my Father in the '29 model A Ford - all night longand the next day, too, on a tank of gas. He was on his way to SouthDakota to hold some meetings with Tibbs. He preached at the MadeliaChurch of Christ on Sunday morning, announced that I would preach forthem the following Sunday and departed for the west.

I was stiinned. I recall Bro. Davies coming up to meand saying, "Your Father tells us you are going to preach for us." Ididn't know whether it was a question or a statement but I nodded myhead in agreement. As memory serves me, I preached my first sermon inthat church on June 20, 1937. That was forty years ago and I was 19.years old. Ten minutes was a long sermon and $5 was a large offering.

That fall I enrolled in Minnesota Bible college. In mysenior year I began preaching at Truman, 12 miles south of Madelia.I was in Minnesota five years but those years and the ministries atMadelia and Truman left their mark on me for the good. I thank Godfor the faith these churches had in me and the encouragement theygave me. They have continued their encouragement by sharing in thismissionary work since the beginning. It is a great satisfaction toreturn to these churches and be welcomed as one of the family.

In my Madelia days, I preached McGarvey's Commentaryon Acts Sunday nights, sometimes word for word. (Thank you J.W. McG.)For a long time on Sunday mornings I used two sermon books by ClovisChappell, Sermons on the Parables and Sermons on the Miracles. Oneof his sermon titles still sticks with me, "The Best is Yet to Be."The past Wets great. Thank God for it. But the best is still to come.Thank God for that, too.

**********

Now for a quick transition to the present. Faith graduated from Cincinnati Bible College, May 10, 1977 and received aspecial award for outstanding achievement in the field of ChristianEducation. Pauline's brother, Boyd Pethtel and wife, Edith, camedown from Cleveland. The Cooper and Schmidtendorff families came downto represent the Pleasant View Church of Christ at Cassopolis, Michigan, her living link church since before she was born. Members of

!

MARK MAXEY - FORTY YEARS AGO

KAGOSHIMA CHRISTIANS AT CONVENTION

I

AUDREY WEST LEADS MORNING DEVOTIONS

ik 4. > /'BURIED WITH CHRIST-RAISED WITH If

MRS. KONO and SHIMOKUBO SAN '

BOOK DISPLAY AT CONVENTION

-. 45^ (

MORAO SAN, EIGHTY YEARS OLD

WAY DOWN HEREThe joys and totrotn of prcAchlng the go^Ml"way down here" In the Mtilhcm tip of )apan atlived by Marfc and Paidhw Maxey ilncc 1950. Amuft for your home and diur^ Mbrary. 495pages. $9.95 add $.30postage &handling

CO Vf BOOKSM7 Cola San Chmtttt, CA 9207

by MARK MAXEY

UNKLETTERMonthly Publication ofKYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSIONBox 417North Vemott, Indiana 47265

Return Requested

the Maxey clan from all over were there. Maybe only Pauline and I were miibut our hearts were there. Brother Victor and wife, Lois, had a reception iall at their home. Faith will study two more years at Xavier University incinnati.

Hope has finished her sophmore year at Christian Academy, Tokyois home for the summer - sweet sixteen.

As the Yanagimoto family were preparing to put a down payment on apiece of farm land near Grande Prairie in Alberta, the Japanese Consulate phonetKiyoto and asked if he would come work for them in the area of public relations.They went down to Edmonton, the capital city, to talk it over. Agreed, put a downpayment on a house instead and moved there the first week in May. They will be members of the King Edward Park Oiurch of Christ there.

Mary has finished her language study and Walter his class room workin Asian Studies for the Master of Arts degree at the University of Indiana. He

hopes to con5>lete his thesis by the end of June. They will arrive back in KagoshimaAugust 20, a day that we are looking forward to.

Greg and Bev continue their studies at the University of Cincinnatiwhile working part-time at their former full-time jobs.

Here in Japan, Resurrection day was an outstanding time. In fact, weobserved twice. April 3 with the churches at Yoshino and Kokubu and April 10with the churches at the leper colony, Kushira and Sueyoshi. Christ lives! Helives indeed!. We felt it in our own lives and in the lives of the Christians here.Two confessed their faith that day and the baptism that night of Mrs. Kono and MissShimokiibo of the Kushira church brought the day to a glorious close. How sweet wasthe rest that night. A month later we baptized Satomi Nagasato at the orphanage.

April 29 to May 1 was convention time. A new ferry service has begunat a port 45 minutes from our house. It leaves at midnight and arrives in Osakaat 3 p.m. the next afternoon. A great convenience. We filled the ceir with books -top, back seat and trunk and departed. The Japanese convention had outstanding attendance and top quality preaching, including a sermon by Bro. Hideo Yoshii fromKanoya. A delegation of 23 came from Okinawa. They will host the convention nextyear. The Osaka ministers and churches did a thorough job of preparation andhosting a convention which brought a blessing to all.

Our book display was a lot of hard work but a great success. One Japanese man brought a con^lete set of Latourette's History of Christianity, Bro Oda'sGreek-Japanese lexicon of the New Testament and an English-Greek New Testament.After he got home he wrote me a wonderful card of thanks ending with, " I've gotenough to study the rest of ny life," Indeed he has and hat's off to him.

From Omi-Hachiman on Lcike Biwa, the site of the Japanese convention,we moved to Zion Lodge in Osaka for the annual missionary convention hosted bythe Osaka area missionaries. Again a time of inspiration and blessing for us all.Hope took a couple of days off from school so she could attend. My part on theprogram was to give a review of current and available Christian books in Englisheind Japanese. I conducted a survey by mail of the missionaries's reading andstudy and included a summary of that as well. They gave me an hour, I took anhour and a half and still didn't get finished but nobody left or went to sleep.

That night I led the singing. I picked out 45 songs from variou?book - songs that I liked and I assumed that the rest would like as well. I madetwo copies of each^"niiiribeted them, gave one stack to the pianist, CarolyfTBarriclowand kept one stack for myself and off we went. We sajig for 35 minutes withouta break. At the end our voices were gone but our hearts were full. That's joy.

So much to tell. So little space. Pauline was honored by all herfamily by mail on Mother's Day and by the women at the leper colony by a specialbouquet.We were deeply touched. In turn Pauline has honored Morao-san,faithfulChristian since girlhood and a member of the Kushira church. She gave her aspecial gift on Mother's day and baked her a special cake for her 80th birthday.Morao-san expects to live till she is 150 and we are all expecting that she will.She seems to grow in faith and physical strength as the months roll by. .it be so with you. Until the next time then - IN HIS SERVICE,

r.: 1331 ON sE.-^vicsj, AsnoBOX 177

KE?.:PT0N. in 4S049

Non-profit OrganizationU. S. POSTAGE

PAIDLouisville, Kentucky

Permit No. 537

A MONTHLY REPOflT BV THE MARK G. MAXEY FAMILY

^umLexreaTO THE FRFCNDS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOVA. KAGOSHIMA 893. iAFAN - BOX 417. NORTH VERNON. IND. 47265

Dear Christian friends,LINKLETTER #230

August, 1977

June, 1973 you received Llnkletter #216. That was Just before furloughThere were Llnkletters In March, July, October and December, 1974; February, April and October, 1975; February, May, August and November, 1976; and April andJune, 1977. If the above count Is correct this would be Llnkletter #230 and withthat numbering we begin again. If any reader has a complete file and findsthat the above count is Incorrect, please let me know and I will make a change.

Uhere has the summer gone? Gone where all good summers go with a lotof outside activities and preparations for the future. Our pre-fab metal missionhouse, now in Its 27th year, has had the rust removed, holes repaired and beenrepainted. The sagging storm doors and windows have been replaced with aluminumsash. We are expecting it to serve us well on into the future. Hope has usedsome of her sommer hours painting inside and outside andkeeping the lawns mowed. It has been a Joy to have herhome from school and watch her grow in grace and know-ledge. By the time you read this she will be back in Tok-yo for her Junior year. The house will be lonely again.

July 2 was the wedding of Koichi Komorl, mini-ster of the Kagoshima church and his bride, Keiko Mlgitaof the Kanoya church. It was different. First of all, Bro.Homorl wanted to find his own bride rather than having it 9||narranged by somebody else. He found a wonderful girl in-deed and often called on Pauline for advice and assistance.Second, Pauline and I stood up with the couple for theceremony which was performed by Bro. Yoshii. This was thefirst such experience for us. In a Japanese wedding^ thecouple who have arranged the wedding take the place ofthe bridesmaid and best man familiar in the western world.By standing with the bride and groom, the older couple areoffering a gxiarantee that this marriage is going to work.No trouble here. This couple is dedicated to each otherand to the Lord. We are happy for them.

Dr. Lewis Foster, wife, Betty, and daughter, GalLwere with us for five days from July 8 en route to a fivemonth teaching assignment at Woolwich Bible College in Aus- w|01tralla. They were here 12 years ago so they were seeingagain familiar faces and places. Lewis preached at the

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church, lunch with the Kanoya church leaders, Sueyoshlchurch In the same day. We stayed all night In a hotel H^pHH^SHb||||SH||||Hg attended the monthly preacher's meeting where Lewis gave |;

jt Timothy and a special noon meal together which includedCher's wives as well as both our families. Tuesday we had a wfr ^ I-wimming, talk together at length and enjoy a picnic in our front F g/a.

* family. We were blessed by their presence and sad to see p y^> August began, Mark and Lynn Pratt, missionaries in the Tokyo area ^

.parents, the Lusbys from Kentucky came for a visit. Mark spent some of WH|^^Vy years in this area with his parents, Paul and Kathleen Pratt, and F

as here with the Ohio Singers a few years back so both were revisiting ff .s known to them and the Lusbys were seeing "the center of Japan" for ther it time. We had a very fine time together Indeed.

I had to leave them very early on Monday, August 8 for our 26th annualjunmier camp. We had 104 in attendance, half from our side of the prefecture. oOth BIRrHDAY LAKb dx tlUJThey went by bus and ferry and bus again to the camp site rented from theprefecture. 14 went from Kushlra church alone, part of the fine Sunday schooltaught by Mrs. Tamakl and Mrs. Shibahara. Due to scheduling difficulties we wereonly able to have four days of camp but they were good days and full days ledby Kolchl Homorl, camp manager. Bro. Hattori from Shikoku was camp preacher.I taught The Life of Christ to a large class of juniors and Walking with Jesusto a smaller class of intermediates. I enjoyed every minute of it. There w"confessions of faith from each church. Sunday, August 14, I baptized Norlko

/Furulchi in the Sueyoshl river and Kiyomi Aral of Yoahlno on August 14. Happy H/days for them, their churches and for us who labor here.

About our project tfl a. opp-site - after drilling three holes andfailing to fincTenough"' water^^^^^_^gJ^jap the,.option to buy the camp site

/we had been telling you about. It is a great dlsapolntraeht as well as a loss oflabor, time and money. We are actively looking for another site. Meanwhile themoney you have sent us (about $15000 so farj is on deposit at Interest in theKanoya branch of the Kagoshima^ntTwaiting to be used the instant the rightspot appears. Thank you for sharing in this project. Please continue to do soand be praying for its success as well. We were greatly encouraged by an offering of $860 from a group of Senior Campers meeting on the Campus of RoanokeBible College in North Carolina for our camp - campers thinking of other campers without a camp site on the other side of the world - a great encouragement.

For the past 15 months I have preached twice a month at the church inYoahlno and the preaching point at Kokubu for son, Walter. I closed my ministry with them f ^unday^gua^when by happy coincidence I also finished teaching the Book of James which we had been studying tog^lier forover a year. Like all teachers, I learned more than ray students and was blessed thereby. Then we traveled 45minutes to the airport for the early afternoon arrival of Walter and Mary Maxey and Shelley and Trent i^eturn-Ing from furlough. About fifty people were at the airport to"greet them - truly a show of affection for theirpast ministry and of expectation for their future service. Now we are enjoying a few days together beforethey begin their work. We like being "grandma and grandpa" again to Shelley and Trent.

One sad note. Walter and Mary visited the Yanaglmotos in Edmonton, Alberta on the vf&y back toJapan. On the first day of their visit., Paula fell and broke het^left leg just below the knee. She will havethree months in casts of various sizes as she recovers. Already she is'navigating on crutches taking care o -her family. Remember her when you pray.

Pauline and I both have Aug. birthdays, hers on the 2nd, mine on the 10th. We decided to mlttill Walter &Marv arrived before having a birthday party, especially since this wa^^^6^^Mrthday. In ^the Orient to ^^0 "eans that you have completed the 12 year zodiac cycle five times and you are now ready ^to begin again - hence, a very special day. Special it was. Hope baked the cal a ^sterpUce. Each ^^erof the family prepared special messages and pictures for an album to mark ^ 60th. It ^s a touching ti^for me to read the tributes that each of them had prepared. I cried a little and laughed a little and J^ked God for each of them. I thought being 60 is so nice I am going to stay that way fr^ nw on. I shall notpass that way again nor count any more blrthdaya. 1 am 60 and_JiDldln8. God bleas you all. IN HIS SERVICE,

UNKLETTERMonthly Publicttlon ofKYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSIONBox 417North Vernoiv, Indiana 47265

Return Requested

^ )l\ . ^I.:iS3I0M SE:^VtCE3, A3S0tBOX 177

KE:.:pro:u i:i 4C04d

2

PTIZING IN SUEYOSHI

Non-ProntOrganizationU. S. POSTAGE

PAIDLouisville, Kentucky

Permit No. 537

yy\ 0-\M

Dear Christian friends,

A MONTHLY REPORT BY THE MARK G. MAXEV FAMILY

iWKLerrefiTO THE FHNOS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOYA. KAGOSHIMA 893. JAPAN - BOX 417. NORTH VtBNON. INO. 4726&

December, 1977

-Vv.LLf ; T

WITH M/M S.M. CHANG, KOREA

^ACRosA popular song of the 40's went: "Gonna take a sentimental

journey, Gonna take a journey home. Gonna take a sentimentaljourney, To renew old memories."

Between September 17 and December 8, Pauline and I did justthat and much more. Back in August, 1974, when we preached atthe dedication of the new building at Southglen church. Anchorage, Alaska, Fred Green, the minister, asked if we would notreturn in the future and hold a Faith-Promise rally , for thechurch at a later time. This year as Walter and Mary returnedfrom furlough it seemed a good time since I could shift someresponsibilities to them. In addition we wanted to renew ourties with our families, revisit the churches where we firstpreached and the churches that first sent us out to Japan andto find a new forwarding agent. Along the way we would preachand recall old memories as time permitted.

First to Korea to preach the fall revival for S.M. Changand his college of 2500 students in Busan.We are always encouraged by the warm, energetic faith of these people.

On to Hawaii, preaching at the Pearl Harbor Christian andKaimuki Christian church. To see the many races at Kaimuki worshipping together in warm and loving faith is to know the gospel is truly universal. We spoke to the island ministers andmissionaries and lingered a little.

We arrived in Alaska September 28 to be greeted by theirfirst snow fall. Fred Green is a man who plans his work andworks his plan. He knew how to put us to work as well. But weenjoyed every minute of it - and every mouthful of it, too. Hescheduled us at Kenai on Cook Inlet where we had a true tasteof Alaskan Christian hospitality and generosity. And at Homer,the end of Route 1 {only 7 highways in the state.) We stayed atthe Cookson Hills home and preached for three nights. Then backto Anchorage for four days of preaching. We felt the homes wegot to visit and the families we got to -meet were just as important as the church meetings. Thanks Fred. We wanted tolinger longer, here, too Alaska as a people and in the churchas well is a country of young people facing the future withconfidence".

October 10 is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. That's the daywe arrived in Edmonton for week's stay with our oldest daughter Paula, her husband, Kiyoto Yanagimoto and the four grandchildren, Megumi Pauline, Temujin Mason, Takanobu Maxey andTamon Leroy. We all talked and listened at once getting acquainted again. Pauline spoke twice in Edmonton and for theChristian Women of Grande Prairie, a special trip by air. Ispoke at King Edward Park Church, Edmonton; Avondale church,Grande Prairie; South Hill Christian Church and Alberta BibleCollege, Calgary.

Pierre, South Dakota, the geographical center of NorthAmerica , was the beginning of our stay in the lower 48. We

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have begun msuiy a journey here - received by the church, refreshed at the home of Ed and Kay Hoist and sent on our waywith the use of a car courtesy Hoist Motors. This was no exception. We had a beautiful and comfortable car to drive andreturned safely without accident or incident 5000 miles and five weeks later.

We had many churches we wanted to visit. Some we could but most we could not. But five churches must be included.Three associated with our first ministries and two in relation to our decision to be missionaries. First was theChurch of Christ at Madelia, Minnesota where I first began. It was a wonderful visit. Seven were there from my preaching days 40 years ago, including the first person I baptized, Maurine Evenson (center of picture.) Unforgettable alsowas Mrs. Davies, now 100+, still keen of mind, who always had a room for me when I came. The second church was atTruman, just a few miles south. After my father's death, my mother and two younger brothers came to live with me there.Many came early so we could have longer to visit. We were warmly received. The third church was at North Vemon, Indiana where Pauline and I began our married life and where our first child, Paula, was bom. Unforgettable days for us.It was touching, humbling and a blessing to be remembered and loved by these congregations after the passage of threedecades and more.

North Vemon has been our legal and banking address since 1941 The same for the Kyushu Christian Mission sinceit was first formed in 1949. Our .three forwarding secretaries, Gladys Auerswald, Mary Deiotte and Shirley Smith havecome from the church there. Now, because of continued poor health, Shirley and ourselves mutually agreed we shouldtry to find a new forwarding secretary. Our joint prayers were answered when Carol Couchmah, staunchly backed by herhusband Larry, happily agreed to serve. Carol began her duties December first. The address will be the same; Box 417,North Vernon, Indiana 47265. Only the person has been changed. Theuik you, Shirley! Welcome, Carol!

Two other churches we visited went back to our missionary beginnings. My last assignment as an army chaplainwas~ai:~Fort~CUster'r near Battle creek, Micnigan. ~It"wa~while~serving there~th'at~wiTiade a choi^ to retufn to Ja^sm.We visited the grave of our little son, Charles, laid to rest just before we left. While in Battle Creek, we aided inthe starting of the Newtown Church of Christ. Our Sunday night ministry at the church at Vandalia, some 60 milesaway, may have been the turning point from possible death to its present vital existence. Both of these churches received us warmly. They have been faithful supporters since the beginning. Christian ties are binds that never slip.

We wanted to see our brothers and sisters - three brothers and two sisters for me, four brothers for Pauline.We saw hers all at one time - in Akron, Ohio, November 12. Three brothers live in the area: Allen, Boyd and Roy.Guy Pethtel made a special trip from Salt Lake City. It was the first time all five had been together in one place in50 years. In spite of snow and ice, seventeen of us sat down to a meal hosted by Allen, the oldest brother. We re-'mained for an evening of picture taking and renewing family ties. It was a high point of our trip.

Isabel Dittemore, now on furlough in Joplin, Missouri, is the oldest of the Maxey tribe. Tibbs and wife, Norma,flew up from El Paso Bible College. We had three wonderful days together including Maxey day at Ozark Bible Collegechapel service where I spoke. We saw younger brother, Victor, Librarian at Cincinnati Bible College, there when heconducted the chapel service when I spoke. This service included a warm reunion with Prof . George Mark Elliott, a veryimportant person in my spiritual pilgrimage, and many other friends who came from a distance for this service. That'evening Victor and wife, Lois, had open house ctnd buffet supper for fifteen of the kith and kin in that area. We hadtwo days with youngest brother Bryan and wife, Kathryn at Defiance, Ohio where he is minister. We completed seeingall of my family in Iowa heading west. Mary Ellen is the younger sister. Her husband, Alvin Giese, like a brother toroe, has served the Church of Christ at Storin Lake for almost thirty years. We are glad to report all family membersin good health. We mutually rejoiced in being together again.

We wanted to spend time with our two other children living in Cincinnati, Ohio: daughter, Faith, and son,Gregory and his wife, Beverly. All three are working part time and going to college full time so we had to visitin the evening and at add times between classes and work. Even so we had many precious hours together. On ThanksgxvxngDay, Greg hosted a meal for the family and Bev's mother at the Golden Lamb, Ohio's first inn, operating in Lebanon,Ohio since the 1820's It was a fitting close to our visit. Faith went with us as far as Iowa before we bid a tearfulfarewell to hor also.

We concluded our trip in California, preaching in Long Beach, Sunday, I3ecember 4 and left that night for Japan.!To cront 7A snhonl near Tokvo and arrived in Kagoshima, Wednesday night to the excited squealsof Trent and Shelley and the warm embrace of Walter and Mary.Great to go! Great to get bacJET ^a\^eft ouirmorethan I have told including most of the churches we visited. Forgive me! It would take pages to begin to ta^ a^ut thewonderful people we met, the joys and sorrows, faith and hope mutually shared and to mention the fantastic hospitalitywe have received. Every place we went, without exception, we found not only new friends but those we had known elsewherein former days. So great to be a part of the family of God.

Pauline spoke 10 times and I spoke 66 times in 3 countries and 12 states including 23 churches and 6 Bible colleges and one T.V. program, "To You With Love" in Calgary. We slept in 34 different beds, ate meals in 55 different ho^s.33 restaurants, 15 church suppers, 2 picnics and 15 airplanes. We apologize to all those we would like to have seen butcouldn't. When Hope graduates from high school we will be coming for regular furlough. See you then!.us on this joumey. We have tried to be a blessing in return. Pauline stoood the journey well. IN HIS SERVICE

UNKLETTERMonthly Publication ofKYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSIONBox 417North Vemon, Indiana 47265

DICK BOURNEReturn Requested BOX 177KEMPTOM. in 46049

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PAIDLouisville,Kentucky

Permit No. 537