Faber Ernest Neva 1977 Japan

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»«.'?owA »«» Januai^- 1977 report065 Japan

Dear Chr i s t i a n i<'riendSj

Sit t ing in our wari.'i l iving rocm it i s hard to rea l ize it i s mid-winter .

But a glance outside soon confirms the t ru th . Sh if ts of snow add to" the .weight

of snow t ha t had already covered a l l the shrubbery, Somer of th e sma lle r cars-

are barel.y vis ib le over the banks along the road. But the wea th er h as not

greatly hindered our work. Last Friday (January 14th) what appeared to be 33little " snowmen" made thei-i- way through hea vy w et

snow to the l a s t day of Vacation Bible School. WINTER

There was a t o t a l enrol lment of 35 ch i ld ren r ang- VBS

ing from pre-school to four th grade. The aver- HELD

age at tendance was 31 a-^d 22 had per fec t a t t en

dance. Except fo r the one four -year -o ld a l l

at tended a t l ea s t th ree de.ys, V/e almost ha d

:nore than we could handle sin ce th e only . Japanese avai lable to help, got s ick

and we had to combine them into t7io classes . But they were a good g roup , to work

-N-ith and we are s at i s fie d th at they all t ook home much o f th e t each ing .

The course we used was a rev is ion of one worked out in Obihiro ten years

ago under Mr. Sugiura's direction. We printed two workbooks (in Japanese) anda l l the handwork, prepared cra f t projec ts , and handled the teaching in Japanese

so it was a busy time but a -grand way to s t a r t the new year . Many of the ch i l -

ren are not Suiiday School s tudents and are r ea ch ed only throiagh VBS and spec ia l

meet ings .

Although January i s the time when fo lk go back home, th e a du lt serv ic es

iiave held up wel l , a l so . In fac i^winter i s the t ime of year when the fo lk g et

bet te r acquainted. The bus runs every t h i r ty minutes so it i s q uite n a tu ra l to

gather around the s tove and v i s i t un t i l bus t ime. We have people coming from

various par t s of th e c i ty and near ly a l l th e members were bom and reared . .out

s ide of Sapporo. But the re i s a ce r t a i n c loseness in th e f a i th t h a t grows dur^

ing inclement wea ther. The church family i s ver y impo rt an t to Chris t ians who

are from non-Ciir is t ian homes and a re a very smal l m ino ri ty in t h e i r soc ie ty .The church i s now tw o year s old and th ere a re f i f t e en adu l t s who a t tend with

some r egular i ty with at tendance l a t e ly av er ag ing abou t t en ,

Christmas serv ices were wel l at tended. The chi ldren ' s meetings were held,

on Christmas day with 59 pre-school to th ird grade chi ldren in th e early ses

s ion and 19 fou r th , f i f t h , and" s ix th graders in

the la ter session. A specially prepared movie^puppet" show, kamishibai (picture talk) , a pa- CHRISTMASgeant w ith dol ls , and film s t r ips were par t of MEETINGS

the program. The Sunday School teacher of the

older group i s very t a l en ted and ambitious and

spent a g re at d ea l of t ime and money making it

an enjoyable as wel l as i n sp i r a t i ona l program. The adul t serv ice was held on

Chris tmas Eve. Although an i nconveni en t t ime fo r many members the re were fif

t e e n a du l t s and t h r e e c hi ld re n in a t t endance . One man came f o r t h e first t ime

and a l o c a l f a rme r ' s wi fe f o r th e second t ime . One o f t h e C h ri s ti a n men d id a

f ine job of leading the fe l lowship hour.

Miss Koto Myoojits u o f Nobori be ts u, Hokkaido, r e cen tl y t ran s fe r red her

membership to th e Higashi ku Church from F i r s t

Christian Church, Napa, California. She comes RECENT

regularly from OTsai-u more than an hour away, ADDITION

She speaks exce l len t English and i s making

plans to re turn to col lege in order to q ua lif y a s a Junior High School English

t e a c h e r .



January 1977 report continued

Our eldest son, Charles, was married to Patti Miller of Bellbrook, Ohio, onDecember 18. Charles presently is completing work for a Bachelor of Arts degreein Christian Ministeries at Cincinnati Bible College while Patti takes a few moreclasses to round out her Associate Degree in "Christian Education. Following theirgraduation in May, they plan to take a three-month leave" of absence from the Mid-dlefork Christian Church, Hipont, Indiana and take an internship in Japan. They

will help with the work we are doing during the summer," as well as acquaint Pattiwith the Japanese culture and her father-and mother-in-law whom she has never met.Char les says he will be discussing with his father possible future plans to locate another -a

work on Hckkaido. Following the summer, Char

les plans to further his studies in graduate

work in the field of apologetics and philo

sophy. I f both Char les and Pa t t i f e e l t ha t

they can best serve God in Japan, they willform deiinite plans for matcing Japan their area of service,

Charles is a serious student, and is listed in the current edition of Who'sStudents in American Universities and Colleges. He was born and reared

inJapan

so is well acquainted with the cultureand

speaks thelangxaage. We

arelooking forward to his, as well as Patti*^ help in a summer camp, and VBS, as wellas_^evangelistic meetings. They can help us with the preparation of teaching materia±s, Sunday School handwork, filing of pictures and handwork, revision of EnglishBible courses, and assist in English classes. Charles will be able to do somepreaching and personal work and encourage Christians with whom he is acquainted.

They will need approximately $2000 for round trip travel expenses from Cincinnati to Sapporo. Living expenses on the f ie ld wil l be furnished by us. Weplan to use money sent as Christmas gifts for their travel within Hokkaido to acquaint them with the work being done and

possible a reas and opportunities fo rture service. Funds sent for their in— TRAVEL 51INDS

ternship should be marked Charles' travel NEEDED

fund and sent to Hokkaido Chr is t ian Mission, Box 173, Adel, Iowa 50003. Receipts will be sent out through the mission.Charles expressed the desire to visit some churches on the way to California.Charles and patti can be reached by writing him at 2827 Lehman Ave, Cincinnati,Ohio ^5204.

Offerings were exceptionally good in December. This enabled us to pay offthe Insurance loan. Funds are on hand to clear up most of our obligations. Wethank you for your fa,ithful suppo3rt.

In Chris t ian love ,

CHARLES AND PATTI

GO TO JAPAN /

FOR THE SUMKER ^



, .T lor-o 1/v;^''' BMESt («to NEVA) fABEK_ / April 1977 Report l' North 4«. East is

SS.'?OWA«»,

Dear C h r i s t i a n F r ie n d s,

The l i t t l e church that meets at North k9 and East 15 in Sapporo, Japan, seems to"be dwindling in number but not in faith. An elderly man from the area, who has attended regularly from the start, is now a part-time teacher in a distant town and sel

dom returns to Sapporo on Sunday. Dr. and Mrs, Chang, who came to Japan just a yearago and worshipped with us here from time to time, have returned to America with theirfamily. Mr. Noriaki Kimura left on April il-th for Osaka and his wife will be joininghim in the near future. We are happy to see the Kimuras .take this step, Mr, Kimurahas enrolled in th e Osaka Bible Seminary. This 28-year-old Christian left a job wi than excellent company to become a Bible student. His older brother ministers to the 'church in Tomakomai but Noriaki san has not coBimitted himself fur ther than a concentrated study of the Word and God*s leading. At the monthly meeting on April 17th thechurch pledged the Kimuras about $30 monthly assistance. This is about 1/5 of hisneeds, I4rs, Kimura works and both of t h e i r parents are assisting them.

April is the beginning of the school year in Japan and time to enroll new students in our English classes. We enroll elementary students only once a year and

l imit each class to fifteen. The popularity of the classes seems to be growing sincea l l classes are f i l led for the coming; year. Presently there are 89 elementary students. In the past we hav?^ made good contacts for VBS through these classes and thisyear graduated five into Junior Hish Dlasses where Bible is a part of the curriculum.We now have sixteen Junior High and three High School students plus the adult c la sses .In March we were able to complete th e third booklet in a series for th e Junior Highwhich teaches the Bible through controlled vocabulary and grammar development corresponding to the school terfcbooks. Students usins the Word List which we have designedto go with the series can read and understand the material though i t is written inEnglish. The booklets are used for translation work thus we are certain they understand what is being taught. This summer we hope to extend the Christian influencei n an Engl is h B ib le camp program.

There is a week in Japan that has three national holidays. These are April Z'^hsthe Emperor's Birthday; May 3rd, Constitution Day; May 5th, Children's Day. Thisweek^'is known srs The Golden Week. During this-period the Japanese-Christian Conventioxr^meets at Omi Hachiman City near Lake Biwa which is in the Osaka area. They meet fromApril 29th to May 1st. The English speaking convention meets at the Expo 70 site atSenri Town from May 1st to May 3rd. Ernest will be flying down from Hokkaido (Thanksto a friend who able to get t icke ts for this busy season,) with Mr. Suzuki of theMoiwashita Church of Christ . Ernest i s scheduled t o speak a t the Missionary Convention

and Mr. Suzuki is to speak at the Christian Convention, On the return trip Ernest willgo through Tohyo and visi t Donald and th e school. With the i:se of slides men of th echurch he2?e w i l l handle the May 1 s t VJorship Service.

February 22nd was an important day for us this year when a long distance callbrought news of the birth of our f i r s t grandchild Kevin Scott Worcester. Linda andGary of Hill City, Kansas, are the proud parents. Another highlight of the year willbe May 22nd when Charles and his bride Pat t i are scheduled to arrive in Japan to helpthrough the summer. Charles graduates May 6th from the Cincinnat i Bible College. Hei s c lass Sa lu ta tor ian with an average of 9 5 . ^ just .0 6 under the highest average of95.5 Since he received a l l of his elementary education through home tutoring we arehappy not only as his parents but cxG his elementary teachers.

Shortly after Charles and Patti 's arrival we will be in a three-day evangelisticmeeting (J\me 10-12) with Mr. Kunio Taniyamc. as speaker. Camps, VBS, mission orientation, filing, and SS handiwork preparation are on the schedule plus helping with regul a r schediole of classes and church meetings. The church youth are anxious t o s t a r t

some activities geared fo r the 20's set. This will be an ideal place for Charles andP a t t i t o become involved. All in a l l we look forward to a busy summer. They have received $975 of the $2000 that will be needed for this summer's trip. Mark your check" t r a v e l fund" and send t o t h e A d e l , o f f i c e .

May God bless you in your continued labors for Him.

: o u r s i n H i s s e i ^ / i c e ,



FABBt

e(^ Wa / Nortti 49, East 15

September 1977

Dea r Chr i s t i a n Fr i e nd s ,

A busy summer sped by rapidly. Charles and Patti arrived May 29th.While their bodies adjusted to time changes they helped prepare t ractsand printed announcements for the June 10th to 12th evangelistic meeting.With the help of three of the Christians we started on Sunday afternoonto pass them door to door. Several days were needed to deliver them to3000 homes within walking distance of the church. Kunio Taniyama of

Osaka was th e speaker .

Having found a bargain in a file cabinet in April, Neva and Patticut the existing folders to f i t the smaller fi les and a t the same timedid some ref i l ing o f mat er ia ls used through the winter and some cataloging and fi l ing of recently received SS handwork ideas and pictures. Thenthey began drawing out of the fi le to organize handwork and teaching aidsfor the July-to-September Sunday School quarter and for VBS. Poolingideas Neva and Pa t t i crea ted some i n t e r e s t i ng as wel l as educa t iona l materials .

The f i r s t Sunday Pat t i and Charles were here a l l of the children werein the s chool 's A thl et ic Day ac t iv i t i e s so Sunday School met on Monday.Because of th is unusual occasion one f i r s t grader learned of the existanceof the Sunday .School. She brought her younger s is te r and between theses i s te rs and another family several children were added to the SundaySchool. Twenty-five children came with some regular i ty during summer.

Sixty children gathered for VBS the week of July 25th to 29th eventhough several of the older members of the Sunday School were out of town.The average attendance was f i f ty plus teachers. Neva with the help of twoJunior High gir ls had the f i r s t and second grade class of 20. Charles andPat t i handled the preschool dozen while Ernest taught 1? third and fourthgraders. Noriaki Kimura, who just returned from his f i rs t term a t Osaka.Bible Seminary, took over his old Sunday School group of f i f th and sixthgraders and their friends. Their class camped a t the church Friday evening. The eleven active, noisy children expressed a desire to come again.

Don wasn't able to help with VBS this year or even take the ser ies ofpictiir<=>« bad for his phonography course. On July 20th whilevisit ing his friend in Furano, Hokkaido, he los t his balance while ridinga bicycle on a narrow rai l less bridge and fe l l fifteen feet into the r iver.The waist deep water broke the fa l l but his r ight elbow was shattered wheni t ' h i t the c on cre te abutment. He was operated on by Mr. Eguchi, a memberof the"Moiwashita Church of Chr is t , who i s pa r t o f the hospi ta l s t a f f o f

one of the medical col lege s here . The severed elbow b©saes we2?e -joftnifeidby the use of a pin, a screw and wire. His cast was removed August 26th.•He has free wris t movement but keeps the arm in a s l ing yet to preventover use as he starts his senior year at CAJ. He will be taking therapya t a Tokyo hospital to increase the elbow movement which is now 20 butimproving. Forunately the bicycle did not fal l but hovered above himhanging from one peda l .

Eight Junior High students from the English classes attended an Engl ish Bible camp out a t the ocean. Two youths and the Hiroaki Kimura family of Tomakomai joined us. Brother Kimura brought the evening messages,Ernest led morning devotions, and Charles and Pat t i led singing. Mrs.Kimura was a big help in flavoring the Japanese meals prepared mostly byher and Neva. Neva taught a class on English pronunciation and Charles,Ernest , and Mr. Kimura t augh t Eng li sh through English Bible s tor ies whichCharles and Neva had wri t ten a t appropriate grammar and vocabulary leveland Ernest and Pat t i had typed, pr in ted , and i l lus t ra ted .

Charles found time to a s s i s t h is Dad and Bflr. Kimura in repa i r ing thecross on the Tomakomai church bui ld ing and with h is Dad at tended a week

of 3-hours-a-day lectures on intra-cultural communications, Charles andPatt i were co-sponsors of a week of camp for Hokkaido International School,scout troups. Charles served in many other capacit ies including sermont rans la tor for a foreign wife of a Japanese, mission equipment repairmansong leader, and visual aid ar t i s t . He even found time to prepare the required slide presentation. Patti learned the Japanese alphabet and joinedCharles in song specials. She also outlin ed the Bible study for the women's classes. Perhaps Charles greatest accomplishment was to preach inJ apanese .

Many thanks for you continual support through prayers and contributions .

In H is service,

Faber Ernest Neva 1977 Japan

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