maxey mark pauline 1988 japan

8/9/2019 Maxey Mark Pauline 1988 Japan

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A

Report

by Mark and Pauline Maxey

L iN L e rreR

To

the

f ri ends o f

the Kyushu Chri st ian

Mission

Kanoya, Kagoshima 893 Japan - Box 417,

N.

Vernon IN

47265

FEBRUARY 1988

LINKLETTER

#284

Dear Christian friends, \

In the twelve year cycle brought over to Japan from China, this is the

year

of the

Dragon and

I m draggin

already.

In

ny

last letter I

mentioned

bringing

my

One

Man s Opinion column to a close in Horizons magazine.

Some

readers \

thought it

was n y ow n idea

to

end

the

column. Rather,

it

was the wish

of the

edi-

\

tors to use the page to hear from many writers

rather

than just one. \

They suggested that readers might want to write

me

a word of thanks. Many

did so. I will note just one from a doctor in Indiana.

He

said, One Man s Opi

nion

is

one

of the

few

articles written

by

Christian

Church

writers that is

worth

reading

on a

consistent basis.

Thank you

fo r

150 columns. They

will

be

missed.

I

just

might frame

that

and hang

i t

where I can

see i t

once in

awhile.

November

is a great month of

the year.

The weather is good and

lots

of things /

are happening: EBC

camp

with Joel Likins, speaker, and 29 campers; an all day Su^

daXouting

of the Kushira

church Sunday School

with service followed

by

hlkin^ -irfid

picni-e~.at our

camp

grounds; and concrete being poured

fo r

the new Faith-Love Kind

ergarten building operated

by

the

Kanoya

church.

Pauline spoke to the joint women s meeting at the leper colony in

November,

using Prayer as her topic. In January she used A New

Year

is a New

Page

as

her theme for a talk to the women s group at Kanoya church, and also at Kushira.

In

addition

she teaches her ladies' English Bible Class in the Christian Center

twice a month. This in add it ion to running her home and caring for the great number

of people who

come

our

way. Dr. Suzaki

monitors

her condi tion

twice

a month and

urges her to

rest

more and more — so easy to say - so hard to do.

A1 and Rhonda Juve, minister-missionaries at Sueyoshi church are the

stars

of our annual convention held by a different church every November 23. This year

i t

was at Sueyoshi in the

northeast

corner of our prefecture. They and the church

people did a super job in preparation and in conducting the convention.

Akimaru Kuroki, leader of the church at the leper colony,

was

the

first

speaker.

He traced the 50 year history of the

believers,

noting that we had worked with them

for 37 years. Hideto Yoshii,

from

Onga church in north Kyushu, was the second speak

er . He had a vital and energetic message for us. In addition we had

some

special

numbers by

the

Yoshii

quartet:

Hideo

Yoshii, Kanoya minister;

his

son,

Makoto;

his

brother,

Hidenobu Yoshii,

Christian teacher;

and youngest

brother,

Hideto. This

family has made a positive contr ibution to the Chris tian faith in this country.

Also, in the musical part of the program, Makoto Yoshii, accompanied by his

sister, Noriko, played his

guitar

&sang this song he had written in our honor.

It

is

called

Arigato

(Thank You ). These ar e

th e

words:

1) Like Abraham who left his home and went, you came to a strange land to

visit

us.

Knowing all the inconveniences you would face, you

cametolive

with us.

2) Like Job who endured hardships of life, you've gone through pain and sorrows.

For the sake of the Japanese people, for the sake of the Gospel, you've endured

these hardships .

3)

Like

the

Apostle Paul who dreamed

of the salvation of the

world, you ve been

praying

fo r

the salvation of this country. Ue now want to carry on your dream

and

your

work

fo r th e

Lord.

We also want

to l ive

fo r th e

world.

COURSE

Jim

ll? if?

».r

W-l H-JJ

fd. &

RHONDA JUVE, NEWBORN LAUR

4aRAH

juve

&GRANDDAUGHTER ERIN

kuSHI^ tnURC H I LES OOL GUli^

- . _ t? '

TOOURW iHTtR

M

26TH ANNUAL WINTER TRAINING COURSE-WALTER

MAXEY, TEACHER CHRISTMAS

MEETING-PAULINE S BIBLE CLA


2/10

Chorus:

Thank

you, thank you

fo r

your unceasing

work fo r

us. Thank you, 0 God

who

sent you to us.

Makoto

Yoshii

left

in December to continue his graduate

studies at

Indiana University. We

will

miss his

sincere faith gentle ways and cheerful

service. And we

will pray fo r his return to serve in Japan,

I also had 30 minutes to review

my ministry.

After which, Bro. Yoshii gave me a plaque on

behalf

of

th e

conv

ention remembering my 50 years as a preacher. Later, the Kanoya church hada fellowship gathering for the

same

purpose

There was a delicious

carry-in

supper of Japanese food followed by recollections

by

the old-timers of our early days

in Kanoya. We received a His and Hers

coffee

s et and an

automatic

coffee maker and grinder that will

make

one s i t

up and take

notice

- even without drinking

th e

coffee.

Jodi Summers

s pe nt f our

days

with

us on

he r

way back

to

Lebanon, Oregon

af ter six

months

of

service in

nort

ern Luzon.

We

had a Chinese meal

fo r

her at a

local

restaurant.

She

also

gave a moving testimony

at

th e

monthly Sun

day evening youth meeting at the Kanoya church. Her folks have been friends for many years. Her father

Wy

is a pha

macist

who

sees t h at ou r

pr escr i pt i ons

ar e soon

f i l led and on

th e

way

to

us .

December 9 was

the

birthday of

A1

and Rhonda

Juve s

second daughter

named

Laura Ruth. What a beautiful bab

she is . The Juve s have successfully completed their

f i r s t

term

of service

and

will

be

r et ur ni ng t o

th e U.S.

fo r fu r

lough

at

the end

of

March. A

year o f

graduate study

a t Cincinnati

Bible Seminary

will also

be a

part of Iheir

furloug

year . Keep them in your pr ayer s please.

Thanksgiving found 15 around our table

including

Major Pete Juve from Kansas. Christmas brought family an

friends

together in a

joyful

way.

We

talked

to

our absen t ch il d ren by phone. Here in person were Paul and Fait h Axto

and daughte r Erin from north of Tokyo; Walter and Mary,

Shelley

and

Trent

from Kagoshima; Fumiatsu and Sophia Ikeda

had a Christmas tree

sent

us from Oregon:

English teachers

Jim Scott and Luann Chapman; Julia Pananen, Rotary Exchan

~student

and

Jeff

Rada,

both professor

and

graduate student

from Los Angeles...the house was

too

small so we had

Chr

mas dinner in the big classroom

at

the Christian Center. We at e a

lot

rejoiced a lot shared our

gifts

and gratitu

with each other and to God and enjoyed th e presence

of

children

among us .

We

also

thanked God fo r a great number

of

friends like t he r ea de rs of this letter

who

shared cards l e t t e r s food and other good

things

with us . How

blessed

w e

re

So

much to be reported but so l i t t le space to say

i t

Our annual

training

course is held during the coldest

winter days. Our teacher t h i s year was son Walter Maxey, who conducted 28 hours o f teaching

a t

si x churches includ

four

n ig hts o f

two

h ou rs e ac h

a t th e

Christian

Center. His subject What the Bible has

to

sa y

a b ou t A nc e st or

Worshi

This

is

a subject re levant to every Japanese be liever. Thanks, son, for a superb job of

preparati^p^nd

presentation

You

got us o ff

to

a good

s ta r t

fo r

th e

year . Must cl ose. God

b less you a l l

IN HIS SERVICE

w

I

FALL

CONVENTION OF KAGOSHIMA CHURCHES OF

CHRIST

3

YOSHII

BROTHERS

PLUS

CONVENTION GIVE

SUEYOSHI CHURCH AL RHONDA JUVE

MISSIONARIES

^ SON SING AT THE CONV

5 TH

YEAR PLAQU

P u b l i c a t i o n

o f

C H R I S T I A N

M I S S I O N

B o x

4 1 7

Vernon Indiana

47265

re ss R e tu rn R eq ue ste d

EDI TOR

H O R I Z O N S

BO X

2 4 2 7

K N O X V I L L E

3 7 9 0 1

No n - Pro f it Or g a n iz a tio

U .

S P O S T A G E

PA I D

I


3/10

A P R I L 1 9 8 8

A Report by Mark and Pauline Maxey

/ u N K L e r r e R /

To

the friends

o f t he

Kyushu Christian Mission

Kanoya, Kagoshima 893 Japan - Box 417, N.

Vernon

IN 47265

n

LINKLETTER

2 8 5

Dear

Chris t ian f r i ends ,

A shortened

version

of

the

following

material

appeared in Horizons magazine a few months

ago. Pauline thought i t would be of interest to readers

of

the LINKLETTER many of whom will not

have read

i t in

that magazine. Therefore, please read on:

Some of

th e best

Moody Science films in their early days used what was called

time-lapse:

photography. This

is how i t

worked: a movie camera

takes

s ix teen pic tures

per

second. But the

Moody

Science people

set a camera

to

take

only five

pictures

every minute.

Mounting

th e

camera on a

tripod

setting in the

middle of a

f ield, they

would

start th e

camera

running at sunrise

and

turn

i t off

a t

sunset, many hours la ter . When

this film

was run through a movie camera a t

th e

regular speed, one

could see one

day s

l i fe of the

flowers in

that field

in

jus t

three

minutes and forty-five

seconds.Itwas

dramatic

and

beautiful but

kind

of sad as well. For th e truth revealed

was

that both

l i fe and

beauty

are short

- Just one l i f e ,

t wil l

soon be

past.

Only

what s

done

for Chrisjt will

las t .

In this

le t ter ,

however, we

will

follow th e idea above and try to give you

in

a few minutes

reading time

a view

of th e s ignif icant events in our lives

on

th e

way to

mission .

Having made a l i fe-changing decision in Minnesota under the preaching of George

Mark

Elliot,

I met him again in a class on th e Old Testament

Prophets

when I

moved to

Cincinnati^ Ohio to continue

n\y education. This was in the fall

of

1940. In

th e

same class I met iny

wife-to-be,

Pauline Pethtel of

Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania.

We

were married 15

months

later and continued our schooling

until

she got

her

degree and I

finished

two

graduate

degrees.

There

are all

kinds

of

Ideas

on what

determines

destiny, bu t I affirm

that

as

far

as the

ministry is

concerned,

marriage determines

destiny.

I don t recall all the good advice that n\y father

gave but I do recall

hi s

counsel on marriage.

He

had married a superb

woman

and advised his sons to do

the same. y wife is such a person. She followed

me

to land s end without looking back and without

complaint. She reared and taught her chi ldren there as

the

only English speaking woman in our city-

t i l l

just recently.

She has been a

true partner

and encourager and even today, with good heal th rea

sons

for staying

home,

she

is always with me

at

every meeting and

service

I hold. I

treasure

her

presence

and companionship above

all others.

We were married

just

wo

months

after I began a ministry at North Vernon, Indiana. (Get a

map eind

look

i t

up. Follow

US

50 west out of Clncinhatf.) In

North

Vernon

we

had

our

first home

our.

f irs t child and our f irs t recruits for the minis try. We left there with

regret

in 1944 when I

became

an Anny Chaplain

but i t s t i l l

remains an

Important

part of our lives. I t has been a supporter of

ou r

mission work since the beginning. Also we have had five forwarding secretaries from that

congregation

which means all our mission business is

conducted

from there. Charles Carter, th e p re sent minister,

says

with

a smile, After I

accepted

th e call to this church I soon found out that Morth Vernon meant

Mark Maxey. I

am sure th e post office knows me

very well

also.

When I was overseas,

Pauline went

to

live In Laurel

Homes, a government

housing

p ro je ct in

Cincinnati,

Ohio. Our

f i rs t

son

was born

in that

ci ty.

Pauline

soon started a Sunday School in

her

apartment. Then a church service. I t grew until i t filled the

social

hall of the complex. I t became

th e

Laurel

Homes

Church

of

Christ.

Seminary

students

came

down to

worship,

to serve, to

be

inspired

and go on to their own ministries •

Some

found their mates

there.

At the Missionary Convention in Orlando (198j^), a Black minister came over and sat down by

Pauline. He

said,

Mrs.

Maxey

I love you. Surprised, she said,

I

don t understand. o I know you?

No, you

don t ,

he

said,

bu t

I became a

Christian

a t Laurel

Homes

Church

of

Christ.

I f

i t

hadn t

been for you s ta rt ing t hat

church,

I would no t be herie today.

That

is why I love

you.

Nothing shows the church s loyalty or Its disloyalty to Christ more than missions. The most

devoted group in any church are those dedicated to

this

cause. A century ago and following,

i t

was

this

l oyalt y to

missions

that

made

th e various missionary

organizations

of

the

time

th e

vital

force

among the

churches. In 1920-1921, these organizationis combined

to

form the United Christian Missionary

Society. I t

in

turn

became

the

mightiest

force, th e decision-making body

of

the brotherhood.

When

i t was

revealed that

many

of

the missionaries sent ou t by this organization no longer

believed in

historical

Christian truths, nor were they

declaring

on foreign shores the

distinctive

principles

of New Testament Christianity for which

we stood, i t

tore our people apart- never to be

rejoined, even to th is day.

The time had

come

to write tny B.D. thesis. I determined to

write

a

history of

ou r

missionar

work in the Phi lippine Islands for

this

project. At the same time I wanted to

find out

through

n\y

own

research

just

what happened to our missionary enterprise on i ts way from conservatism to modernism an

division. I f inished writing i t in time to get n\y degree but i t was

some

later before I got i t into b

form. In making

this

study,

however, I had burned in ny mind

forever

the

result

of

infidelty

to

the


4/10

Bible

and

to Christ, no t only

on

th e mission f ield, bu t also

on

the miss ionaries i nvolved; a s well

as on the

churches,

groups and

individuals who

had supported this miss ion -

all

in good

fa ith tha t

that in which they had believed in so deeply was being

taught

and preached.

Thirty years later I had the

thesis

published as a book. (History of the Philippine Mission,

Mark

Maxey,

Go Ye Books, 147

Ave

Cota, San Clemente

92672. 8.50 postpaid.)

It has

been

a source of information

for

numerous

articles

about the Philippines but I

have

never seen

its

existence

acknowledged

in

either

footnote or bibliography.There

is

oneperson,however, who

does insist that the book be read and studied. That is the grand old man of missions, J. Willis Hale,

of

Manila

Bible Seminary. He

does

not want his students of today to forget

what happened

yesterday

lest i t happens again tomorrow.

The war ended while I was on a troop ship headed

for

the Japan invasion so i t went to Manila

instead. I

was

in the Philippines

18

months,

long

enough

for the history I

had

written

and

the people

who

had

participated in

i t

to become real to

me. From

the Philippines I went to Japan in

December,

1946.

Pauline joined

me

there after a separation of

two

years.

We

were stationed near

Kyoto,

the only

un-bombed

city

left

in Japan.

We

saw not only ancient culture but everyday idolatry in the temples and

shrines we visited. Unknown to us, the experience was leaving

its

mark.

Together,

we

looked up both missionaries and mission sites.

We

found that the churches

founded

by the United Christian Missionary Society had all been

handed

over to the United Church of

Christ of

Japan,

a church formed by

fiat

of the Japanese

government

during the war. On the other

hand

we were glad to see Owen

and

Shirley

Stfll

in Tokyo and Harold and Leone Cole in Osaka gathering

the Christians together again and bringing life back to our independent churches.

Our oldest daughter, Paula, contracted pol io in Japan, th e only

child

on the Army camp

to

do

so. A^ng

for

a compassionate assignment, I was assigned as chaplain as Fort Custer, Michigan. Paula

was

treated

a t Pfercy

Jones

General

Hospital

in nearby Battle Creek.

At the

invitation

of the owner, we began a Sunday School in the community hall of a new area

called Newtown.

This

became the Newtown

Church

of Chr is t. I t was

a

thriving

church and an

active

mission church. We

a re sorr y

to report,

however,

i t recently closed it s doors.

On

Sunday afternoons

we

drove 65 miles southwest to

Vandalia,

Michigan where a

faithful

band

of believers

were holding on.

We

preached

there

fo r

a

year

and a

half. Then

they

called

a preacher

full-time

and a few years

later

built a wonderful

facility

a few

miles

ou t in

the country.

Larry

Settles and

his w ife, Joyce,

have ministered

there

fo r 20+ years. One

of

the preachers before them

was Paul

Pratt

and

his wife, Kathleen, who later joined

us

in

Kyushu as

missionaries.

Meanwhile, on week nights, I was

speaking about

Japan in the churches of southern Michigan.

One

day, in

the

middle

of my

sermon, I paused and

said, And

we,

too, are

going

to

Japan as mission

aries. I looked at

my

wife and she nodded her head

in

agreement . Her committment had been

made

long

ago. She was waiting

for me to catch

up. 18 months from

that

day we were on our way

to

our l i f e s

work

at the southern t ip of

Japan.

The tenor of what I have written, while .seeming

to

suggest

that our decision was made on th e

spur

of the

moment,

is to

show

jus t th e

opposite

of

that.

Our

decision

was based on knowledge

of th e

field,.thorough educational preparation, an understanding

of

missionary

practice and history, the

leading

of

the

Holy

Spir i t

and

the

mutual committment

of

husband and

wife

to

serve

as

missionaries

for

a

life-time, the

Lord

willina.

Also

that both of

us had been

involved in church

planting and

encour

agement

in

our

own

count ry be fore going to

another.

(I very much

fear

that

present

day.mission

preparation,

promotion and

practice is fo r the

short term

rather

than the long term.

Is

this a sign

of

the times

or

only

of

our present generation?)

In

addition, the churches we

have

served

in

Madelia and Truman,

Minnesota;

in

Newtown

and

Vandalia, Michigan; and the church at North Vernon, Indiana have been partners in our missionary task

frora^the verx^^giTfintngr'TTrTrtttef^woTdsrTnTose who Rinew us best^have given us complete and continuing

confidence. Others of equal commitment have joined

them

through the years. Together, they insure th

_on^q^oijigjDf th^^^^

Japan both by ourselves and others. IN HIS S RVI

Have

you read

Way

Down

Here

- the 4 page biography of our first

years In southern

Japan? It is

unique record of church planting and

family

life in an isqlated

part

of Japan where there were few pos

sions and little hope for the future. But the Gospel caught on fire and great .things happened. Per co

11.50 postpaid. Buy 2- for self friend or as a gift for the church library. Two for 20 postpaid.

Order

from: Go Ye Books, 147 Ave Cota, San Clemente CA 92672. (Check with

order

please.

No

billin

U N K L C T T r R

P u b l i c a t i o n o f

KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISS ION

Box

1 4

Vernon, I n d i a n a 47265

Address Return

Requested

EDITOR

h o r i z o n s

BOX

2 4 2 7

KNOXVILLE TN 37901

C

6 4 4

Non-Profit

Organiza

U. S P O S T A G E

P A I D

Louisvil le.

K e n t u c k

P e r m i t No. 53 7


5/10


6/10

March

25 found me giving

the

commencement sermon at

Osaka

Bible Seminary. It was a pleasure to do so be

cause both graduates were from Kagoshima: Miss Naomi Omura and Motonobu Ikeda, both superior young people. Miss

Omura will remain

at

t he col lege as secretary and Mr. Ikeda will be d oi ng

graduate

work in Cincinnati.

Ap ri l 3 marked

Easter

Sunday this

year.

For

me i t

1s a more important day than Christmas. The joy of new

l i fe

as seen in a baby

is surpassed

by the greater joy

of

the promise

of

Resurrection and l ife eternal. This

April

3,1 preached early at the le pe r

church

and la te r a t Kushira church. The

afternoon of

th e same day mar ke d th e 30th

anniversary of the Kanoya

Rotary Club.

Dr. Kinkawa and I

ar e

the

only remaining charter

members and were h on or ed

as

such

Walte r held

his 31st EBC camp on the week-eno of

April

30 .

Guest

speaker was Stuart Kawasaki

using

the

theme,

The

Devil is

no Joke. Fine weather,

f in e a tt endance ,

f ine par t icipat ion

and f in e p re s en ta ti on .

I

baptized

Stuar t s

father

more

then

30

years

ago

before

he

emigrated to the

U.S.

Now

his son

is

back

as

a short-term

miss

ionary.

I urged him to make

i t

a l i fe- term

one.

May

16 found me back a t Osaka

Bible

Seminary fo r a

board

meeting in the

morning.

Then a

train

ride to

Kyoto

fo r

a thorough physical by Dr. Clark

at

th e

Japan

Baptist Hospital. He decided I was In pretty good shape

for

th e

age

I was

in

Told

me

to lose

20

pounds.

Easier

sa id

than

done

with

th e

kind

of

food

tha t

Pauline

sets out.

Back

to the men s

dorm

a t th e Seminary

t ha t night ,

spent

mostly in

ta lk ing with s t udent s . P rof .S a it o got

me

to the

7.50 a.m. homeward fl ight .

Mother s

Day and Father s day

are

a month

apart

but we w er e

cheered

on

both days

by cards, remembrances

and phone calls from ourchildren In Japan, Canada, Ohio and T exa s. What a wonder ful blessing to be

able to

talk

to

the

other

side of

the world Instantly and with perfect clar i ty .

We

a re s or ry to

report the

death by

heart

attack

of

Joe Stanes,

66,

father

of

Mary (Walter s wife) a t Hurphsboro

IL,

May 29. Mary was

able

to return in time

for

t he f uner al and to spend a month with her mother and two s is ters He was a fine,

Christian

man.

The wedding

of

Miss Ai Love) Ikeda, a very

special

young lady

to

Pauline

and

I,

to

Kazut oshi Zushi in

the Kanoya c hu rch on May

4,

was splendid. Christian weddings fo r non-Christians is the

i n

thing fo r Japanese

couples.

But

this Christian

wedding was

Christian

in

every

sense

of

the word and a

delight

to

all presentboth

a t the

church and a t t he r ecep ti on . Pauline and I sang a song t ogethe r for that .

Pauline

con tin ue s to re cle ve tr ea tmen t fo r her

health problems : ver y poor b lood circulat ion, high blood

pressure,

irregular

heart beat and t iredness. She is abl e t o f unc tion

i f

she can also

find

time

to

rest. Recently

she

visited

Dr. Ideta who operated on my eye four years ago) fo r a special t reatment to fasten

tissue

to

her

retina

in

four

places.

(It

is

called

a

posterior

vitreous

detachment.)

Later

she

will

go

fo r

a

cataract

operation

and implant in the same eye.

In

spite

of

our

remote

location,

people do find their way to see us . Wayfull and Helen Jew have done a

solid pi ece of mis si onary work in Hong

Kong

the last 20

years.

WayfulTs people came from China to the U.S. but

Helen s people

came

from

Kyushu

where she st i l l has relatives. While

visiting

them, she and daugh ter

Wayann

found

time to spend a week-end with

us.

She gave a

greeting

at

each me eti ng she

attended that

was

appreciated

by al l .

T os hi ak i Chida and

hi s wife of

one month, Sachiko, finished

their graduate studies

at Cincinnati and have come to

serve the church

at

Sueyoshi for one year.

We are

enjoying both

their

fellowship and the joy they are

showing

as th

begin their work

there.

Verney and Belva Unruh with the Genral Conference Mennonites,

began

their missionary work

in an actjoining prefecture very

shortly

after we can to Kanoya

Now

they have retired from their work in Taiwan.

We

were pleased that they visited us on the way back home were very

happy

also, that Lewis Foster, a leading New

Testament scholar and his wife, Betty, made a very special effort to spend a few

days

with us enroute to

Sydney

A

tralia for a year s study and writing at MacQuarie University.

The

title of his two hour lecture at our preacher s

meeting

sums

up hi s life and

religious convictions: Jesus

is Real, The Bible Is True and The Church

Is Alive.

I went as fa r as

Okinawa

with them as they headed south.

Last,

because she is

staying the

longest, our youngest

_ ^ ^ ^ daughter,

Hope

a graduate student

at

the Univer-

- ^ ti l Houston is spending the summer with us

» W I t is a jo y

to

have he r home

again, f^

IN HIS

SERVICE,^ ̂ ^^^

ublication of

CHRISTIAN

M I SSI O N

Verno^ Wdia na 7 65

Return

Requested

EDITOR

HORIZCNS

BOX 4 7

KNOXVILLE TN

Non-Profit Organlxati

U S P O S T A G E

PAI D

Louisville. Kentucky

P e r m i t

N o

537


7/10

A

Report

by

Mark and

Pauline Maxey

/ uNKLe r r e f i /

To

t he f ri end s

of

the

Kyushu

Chris t ian

Mission

Kanoya, Kagoshima 893 Japan - Box 417, N.

Vernon

IN 47265

October 1988 Link l e t t e r 28 7

Dear

Christian friends,

Greetings again from Japan.

Fall

is

here and

that is

always

welcome. May and October are the delightful months that make the

rest

of the year endurable.

Prime news

these

days is

the condi tion of

the Emporer,

now

in

his 63rd year of reign - the longest in world history. His hea lth has

been

failing.

Radio and press give the

details

of his

vital

signs and

treatment every day.

The

end of an era is approaching. Old memories are •

being revived.

Those who

grew up

when

the

Emperor

was

od

are praying

for his recovery. Those who suffered at the hands of the Imperial Army

ar e

no t tha t

fi l led

with good will .

If th e

sea

wasn't between us, we could drive to the Seoul

Olympics in a day's time . I would

like

to have been there in person to

see how

this

country has become a

modern

nation, especia lly in the

last

ten years . Their preparation for and conduct of the

Olympics

is proof of

that. Also keep in mind that 25 of this nation is Christian and their

numbers are growing

rapidly.

These

believers are both verbal and determined in sharing their

faith. Maybe i t will be they who will turn the world upside

down

in

this

generation.

So far,

that desi re to speak up and move out has not

reached into the heart of the majority of Japanese

believers.

Faithful

and devout they are but are not

persistent

in speaking of

their faith

to o t h e r s

Unforgetable was seeing Ben Johnson a hero as

the wor ld 's

fast

est man one day and the most

disgraced

athlete in three days t ime. Green

Bay

Packers coach, Vince Lombardi's

famous

saying was, Winning

isn't

the only thing.

Winning

is everything. How wrong he was. Ben Johnson i

knows how wrong he

was.

wish for him a

new

beginning and better days I

ahead

have seen a review of the movie. The Last Temptation. '

The K ing James Version of 2 Timothy 2:16 says.

Shun

profane babblings. '

Shunning

is the

kind

of treatment this

movie should

receive. Let's wait

Hope-home

for the summe

With Faith

Walter

-

Conv. Trio

Katsuo

Shimoda

S

Helper

-

Repairs

Pauline

with

her

Wednesday

Aft. English

Bible

Class 3

Arimura

sisters-Sat English

Bible

Clas

ONE MORE

T IME

PLEASE

We

had an

excel lent response

to

our

request

in the l as t Linklet ter

to

le t

us know

whether

you s t i l l wished to receive this paper. Of the responses we received, only a handful said

no . However, a great many

of

you did no t say anything.

So,

we are asking a

second

time

to le t us know your

wishes. P leas e

invest in a postcard. You can write your own

address

on

i t without cutting th is l e t t e r

up - i f you

wish. We

do

need,

however,

the code

number

which

goes

w ith your name on

th e a dd re ss. Also

make any corrections needed. We had 60

correc

t ions

on the repl ies received. Which shows tha t a lo t of zip codes are changing.

I t

also

shows

that

the Post

Office

people have been been kind enough to

deliver

this

le t ter

even

though th e addre ss is

somewhat

wrong.

Thank

you to them.

Anyhow,

while you are thinking

about i t drop your

card

in the mail

and

send

i t

on

i t s

way to

us.

Thank you. -mgm=


8/10

and see if Universal Pictures will also produce movies

entitled

The Last Temptation of Buddha or the

Last

Temptation

of

Moses

or

The

Last

Temptation

of Mohammed.

Don t hold your

breath.

Such movies

would result in the physical and financial ruin of the studio. Chris tians are supposed to be meek and

mild and forgive people

fo r

everything.

If

that is your view, read Matthew 23 every once in awhile to

keep

things

in perspective Meanwhile make a mental

note

to

see

What

t he f ut ur e holds

fo r

Universal

Studios

and th e

principal

actors in

this production.

Keep in mind th e words

of

the

late Francis Schaef-

fer God

i s

there and He

is not

s i lent .

Well, we are supposed to be

talking about

Japan, not

th e

world at large. Family-wise we have

enjoyed having Hope, our youngest, home fo r the

summer

-

after

an absence of six

years.

We had

time fo r long talks, long walks and visits to places on our peninsula she remembered from vounger days.

She

returned

in mid-August to resume her

graduate

studies- at

the Univers ity

of Houston and her duties

as a teaching

assistant

Not happy news was

th e

sudden-

death

of

Joe

Stanes,

in

good

health

one day and

dead

of

heart

failure three days later. He was a faithful Christian man, f at he r o f Mary Maxey, Walter s wife. She f lew

to Murphysboro IL to be with

her

mother and two sisters

Another

death

in August was

that

of Roger Chambers, 46, professor at Florida Christian

College.

He wife was Linda , daughter

of Tibbs

Maxey, my

oldest brother.

Roger was

teaching a t

a camp near Hi11s-

boro

OH.

He

laid

down

fo r

a nap

a t

noon an


9/10

A Report

by

Mark and Pauline Maxey

/ uNKLe r r eR /

To t he f ri end s

of

the

Kyushu

Christian Mission

Kanoya,

Kagoshima

893

Japan -

Box

417, N. Vernon IN 47265

DECEMBER 1988 LINKLETTER 288

Dear

Chris t ian

Friends,

Greetings

again a t

Christmas

time. Also

fo r

th e New Year. I t

is

a

time of happiness as well as a time fo r reflection

about

what Christmas

really means for us and fo r the world - beyond th e

t insel

and th e wrappings.

63

years ago th e

former emporer died on Christmas Day. The

govern

ment

advised Christian churches

no t

to have services on tha t day. The

present Emporer has lingered fo r two months now, kept

alive

by daily blood

t r an s fu s i on s .

What kind o f dec i s i on s must be

made

if he should d ie on Chr is tmas

Day? And what kind of government

will

we have

as the

new emporer begins? Will

i t be back to

th e

worship

of

the emporer as God as

th e r ight is t s

wish

or

fpr-

ward to

the

Emporer as symbolic head of state as is

the

Queen of England?

Those who want

th e status

quo to remain ar e now

in

charge

of th e

Imperial

Household Agency. So - we shall

se e

what we shal l

see.

And

what

does God have

in

store for each of us

in the

coming year?

The Psalmist said

(51:11) In God

have I pu t

my t rust .

I will no t be

afraid.

If

our

personal faith is the

same as his, we can

face the New

Year

with

courage

-

even

hope.

Since

our

last

writing, we've been a place or two and done a

thing

or two. Mainly I wanted to vis i t th e

conventions

in

India

and

New Zealand

and

see

as many places and people a long

the

way as possible. I t is seldom

that I make a

journey,

long or short, without Paul ine a t my side, bu t she

didn ' t

feel

up

to

this

journey.

She nominated s on , Walt er ,

instead.

He

accepted. With

th e cooperation of

churches and ministers who changed their

schedules and fi l led in for us, th e

journey

began

October

10 and ended Nov

ember 11. We can give th e

highlights

only:

HON KON Tw o days going and one day returning. Guests of Helen and

Wayfu ll Jew, longtime

missionaries

there.

Got our t ickets in

order and

l as t minute purchases. Had a

three

hour session with th e missionary men

going and both Wal te r and I spoke to the members of

the

Charis church which

meets

in th e

Jew's home on ou r

r e t u rn .

BANGKOK.

Almost a

full

day-the guest s of

Toshio

Morimoto and wife,

working

with Chi ld

Evangelism

Fellowship.

Also a

brief

vis i t

with

Somchai

and Georgia Pancha, working with Burmese in th e

ci ty.

Then th e long fl ight

to

New Delhi, India. Anise s eed

and toothpicks

served

on a

tray af ter

th e

in-f l ight

meal.

INDIA: 10 days. Ralph Harter met us a t the New Delhi airport late

a t

night.

One day with him

seeing

th e

ci ty.

Long train ride

southeast

to

Kanpur. Thence 3i hours by

Kulphar

Mission carry-all to

th e

western edge

of

th e

state of Uttar Pradesh. Leah Hoshier, Dolly Chitwood and Linda Stan-

ton

ar e

maintaining

a spir i tual , educational and physical oasis

for

th e un

wanted a nd abandoned c hi ld re n o f the a r ea . The s t a f f a re mature Chr i s t i an s

from this background. Dr. Leroy Garrett , Editor of Restoration Review was

also

there

on a teaching assignment. So the six of us had some long talks

together. Sunday was a very

special t ime.

In

the

evening

Walter

and I sang

and

I preached. Dr.Garrett was also

t he f ea tu re d speaker

a t

Kanpur.

KANPUR. We

went back to Kanpur by way of Agra and a vis i t to

the

the most beautiful tomb in th e world, th e Taj Mahal. We attended

part of

the Indian convent ion. I t was arranged and hosted by Ralph Harter and th e

church

in Kanpur. I t was held in a beautiful tent with comfortable

chairs.

Walter and I gave

greetings

from Japan and

th e

res t

of

th e t ime enjoyed th e

messages

and t he fel lowsh ip . Two missionary ladies , Jean Roland and Lois

Rees were

in school with

me

in

Minnesota

Bible College

a couple of

gener

ations ago, so we had some ancient recollections to share.

We went to th e Kanpur

airport

to go to

Delhi ,and onward,at

noon

on Friday. Oct 21. Place was dead. Two days

before,2

Air India planes had

crashed killing 164 people. Finally an

agent

appeared. When asked about

th e

situation

he said, Even i f no plane comes, you will get to

Delhi.

We pondered tha t conundrum

for

two hours. Then th e answer came. We were

loaded into a t ax i , driven

a t

high

speed

for two hours to the ci ty of

Luck-

now where we

did indeed

ge t a

plane

to Delhi and from

thence

on to

Singa

pore

and

to

Austral ia .

AUSTRALIA.

On this i^y

second

t r ip t o Aus tr al ia , I found

i t

super

lative

as

I

di d before.

I t

is

a

vast ,

open

country

with

a

hearty

and

friend

ly people. In Darwin we

took

an a l l day tour Into th e eastern

wilderness

and

makes

ou r

hearts

a little lighter.

mokes

ou r

friends

a little

dearer.

makes our paths

a little

clearer.

makes

ou r

lives

a little brighter.

a little bnghi

ypeacO

^ brings usall

a

little

nearer.

Walter and

I - On the

Way

Welcome to Kanpur

In

the

name of our Lord

Jesus Christ

FIFTH ALL

INDIA CONVENTION

CIIUllCIIES OF

Cl l l l lST

ANU CHRIST IAN CUURCUES

Ncfronlia

Bhairaix, Kanpuz

Ootoljer xe-23, X088

THEME: Turning th e

world

ups id e down .

i / S«

y BfOOfnt | e,,„.

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Nc«

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([ AliceSprings e«iiDONi«

JAiU ST R'A'LI Ai

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10/10

W/

Leah Moshier

at

India Conv.-Held in a

Ten

a k I L-b 7

Auckland Conv. - Held in

Town

Hall Kulpahar Mission

viewed

a

bird sanctury

(with crocodiles) and

th e

ancient

p i ctu re wr it ing

of th e

abor igines

on

one of the i r

sacred

mountains.Next,a 980 mile f l igh t to th e famous

small

city

of

Alice Springs.

The n ex t d ay , all day by bus to Ayers Rock located in

the southwest corner

of

the Northern

Territory.

This 2980 foot rock

rises

suddenly

out of

th e

desert .

Lt.

is red

and smooth , shaped l ike a

loaf of bread.

I t

offers

few hand o r foo tho ld s. A cha in l ea ds straight up th e mountain about half way. Under

Walter's watchful eye,

I made i t to

the top

in

twice

th e normal

time.

Glad I

did

i t

o n c e

Next

stop

was

SYDNE Y vi a f l ights to Alice Springs , Adelaide

and Mel

bourne with food served on every

le g

of

th e f l ight.

We were welcomed by Lewis and

Betty

Foster

and

stayed at

a

vacant apartment at

McQuarie

University

where Lewis

is

teaching,

writing and researching fo r a year. We never ran

out

of something to

talk

about as we

visited

the harbor, the

city

and an unusual

monument

that

Lewis

took us

to . I t

marked the spot where the

f i rs t

sermon was preached in

Australia,

3

February

1788 - 200

years

ago. The

text

was cut into

t he s to ne :

Whatshall I ren

der unto

the

Lord fo r all his benef it s toward me. -Psalms 116:12. A good question

waiting to

be answered by each one

of

us

everyday of ou r l ives.

Next

stop: th e cosmopolitan ci ty of MELBOURNE. We

were

welcomed there

by Fiona Brown,

former

exchange

student

in Kanoya and

her friend, Ian. We enjoyed

a

picnic together

on

t he g ra ssy

banks

of the

Yarra

plus

a

tour of the city.

That

night

we were guests of Dr. (M.D.) Kenneth Grigg fo r a Chinese meal.

There

is

no s pace her e to tel l how we go t together by mail

bu t

were

now

meeting

fo r the

f i r s t time. I was moved by

how

he could

see the

hand of God

in al l

that

happened:

how

we met, the mutual

offers

of aid and even in the exchange

of

ideas.

Later that

night we

spent an hour

listening

to 16 speakers in the

ceiling

of

his

living room pouring out glorious organ music of the great hymns of the church.

At the end of the concert, I could only say, Gloryj Hallelujah Amen

Dr. Grigg arranged an appointment

fo r

us

at

th e 125 year

ol d

Swanson St.

Church

of

Christ,

Alan

Webb,

minister.

Alan interviewed Walter and I

at

the evening

service and I preached. The church was f i l led . Two-thirds of the audience were

Asian students studying in Melbourne.

Even

though working and studying these stu

dents and members have given a million dollars to missions in the past 18

years.

And

these students are taking their

faith home

with them

when

they graduate.

NEW ZEALAND. A Monday morning flight of 1300 miles brought us to Wel

lington. With Walter at the wheel and me with the map, we had the joy of d riving

through this beautiful land two days before the convention and three days afterward.

The World Convention i tself was something of a disapointment. The venerable Town

Hall was

filled fo r all sessions but the hall

had no

side

rooms

or

restaurants

where

th e d i scussion sess ions could be held or

where

we could s i t down and

talk with

the people we had come to see. The right ending of the convention was the

Sunday

a.m.

communion service. Lorra ine Jacobs, wife of the convention president, had

personally

made 2000

pottery communion cups

for that

service. This

became

the parting gift to

each one of us as we returned to the ends of the

earth.

lOi hours of flying time

to

Hong Kong

plus 4 hours to

Kagoshima

brought us

safely

back to Japan and .not long

after to our homes of which

there

is nothing sweeter.IN IS SERVICE,'^^(^^^^^«y^

P u b l i c a t i o n

o f

Kyushu Chr is t ian Mission

B o x

4 17

h V e rn o n I nd ia n a

47265

ddress Return Requested ^

•

EDITOR

^

HORIZONS

*' BOX 2 4 2 7

V

KNOXVIL.L_E

TN

3790t

Ralph

HarterS New Church

Walter Isinging at Kulpahar

W A T C H O U R F O R K A N G A R O O

PW

A

NEXT

Much

space

-

Fewer

people

With

Dr.

Lewis

Fos ter -Sydney

Do

H ats an A u ss ie

Make?

Non-Proflt

OrKanisat

U.

S

POSTAGE

PAID

LouiaviUe. Kentuck

Permi t No.

537

maxey mark pauline 1988 japan

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