Pratt Mark Lynn 1984 Japan

8/20/2019 Pratt Mark Lynn 1984 Japan

1/10

MISSIONS UPDATE JANUARY 1, I98U

Eric

Johnson is

a

missionary in

India.

He spends

his

days teaching Indians goo d

farming techniques, and

he

witnesses about Christ every opportunity he gets. He

is

often away

from

his w ife, and two of his children are 500 miles away

at

school. E b i c is

frequently exhausted,

and sometimes wonders

if the

sacrifice is

worth

it since converts

are

so

few.

Nancy Johnson i s Eric s wife. She is often lonely, with only 2 year old Adam

for company. She misses

her

other children terribly, and worries about them,

even though she has placed them

in

God s hands.

She

misses her own parents, too.

It would

be

easy for

N anc y

to become

depressed.

Mark Clark is a printer,

working

in a Bible-printing ministry in

Africa. He

preaches

regularly

i n

several villages, as

well.

Though Mark is

married,

he

finds

himself very much attracted to

a

single woman missionary with whom

he

must

work.

Carol

and

Rick Anderson serve the Lord in Ghana. They are involved in numerous

missions activities inclu ding teaching, preaching, and medical work. Since they

are extremely busy

and

often tired, their occasional evenings

a t

home h a ve

turn

ed

into bickering sessions, with each one

feeling

the other

is out

of step.

All

of these people are fictitious.

They

have never existed. But—were

you

shocked

at

the

suggestion

that

missionaries could have s uch

problems?

Be honest,

ow

Missionaries are different, aren t they? Special? Immune t o such problems?

Surely the situations outlines here are

reserved

for Christians

in

this

countiy,

people

like

you and me.

Not at all.

A missionary

IS just like

you, just

like me.

On days

when John

Q.

Missionary

is

upheld

in

prayer, living

close

to hi s Lord,

submitting his concerns

to

God, he

is okay. On days when

he is

depressed,

sick,

exhausted, or just

too

busy, it

is

easy for him to neglect quiet time, t o forget Bible Study and

prayer. It is just

as easy

for a missionary

to get

priorities confused a s it

is

for you and me.

When we pray

for

Mark and lynn Pratt,

for

Steve and Ann Plettner,

for

Mike and

Janice

Richards, let s

make

sure

we pray

knowing

that

they are real

people

with

real

problems, just

as

vulnerable

to Satan an d his wiles, and to

sin,

as we are.

When we pray knowing this, we will pra y fervently, holding up their han ds, lest

they

weaken

and the

battle be

lost.

Remember

how Aaron and Hur held up Moses

hands i n the battle

against Amalek? When

Moses hands

fell,

Amelek

made gains.

Bu t when Moses friends su pported

his

hands, the

battle

went well.

With

this kind of support from us, our missionaries will wage a

successful battle

against Satan. Without it? Well, they w i l l be as successful a s

w e

w o u l d be if

cast

into Satan s

territory without

the

support

of

God s

troops. There is noth

ing Satan likes

better

than to wound or capture

a

Christian, and I m

sure

missionaries are his favorite targets. If h e c a n defeat a missionary, he can

snipe

at

the cause of Christ, A

missionary supportee

by

the

troops (you and me

in prayer) is

hard to

defeat, however.

Let s

remember that.

—Pat

Lassen


2/10

MISSION

TJPMTB MBRHABT

1, 1 9 8 1 ^

Perhaps you've noticed a

stack of pre-addressed

air

mail

forms on our

Missions

table.

Eave

you

taken

one and written to one of our missionaries?

Some

of you no doubt have,

but

uspect there

are some who have noticed the

forms and

thou^t "I'll let

someone

else do the writing."

Am i^t?

Writing

letters today is

something

of

a lost art.

A

tankful

of

gas, and Ma Bell

(well, A T d d ? ) , have caused letter writing to be

pretty

much

unnecessary for

many

people. Since we do it so little,

we

are uncomfortable doing it,

and

many people

never

do.

But what if someone you love moves where phone calls are prohibitive or

impossible?

If

it's

your

child, without

a doubt

you will write. And what

if

it

is

your

business partner,

and

you are vitally interested in his doings? You surely will

write

then.

Well,

your partner—^your

missions partner—is in Asia. He

is preaching, teaching,

visiting,

evangelizing.

In short, he is

doing

his beet to

promote

y o T a r common in

terest;

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ.

And

he

needs to

hear

from

you, the

home office

partner, often. How else can

he

know you remember him, care about his needs, appreci

ate what he is doing? He NEEDS you

O k a y ,

you

s a y ,

"I'll

w r i t e .

But

w h a t

d o

I

w r i t e ?

I

a r d l y k n o w

M a r k Pratt

(or

lynn Pratt, or

the

Plettners)."

Let me suggest

a few things

that

may

make letter writing

easier—maybe

even

fun.

First, make y o i r r letter

newsy. Americans abroad

hunger

for

bits

of

news from the

States. This

can

be V news, family

news,

or anything that happens

to

interest you.

iDiclude church news—tidbits not in the Headlines. Anything about the church; people,

plans, activities, goofs.

Next, be

sure

to

include something

funny.

Believe

it or

not,

a lau^ is

just

as

good for

your

missionary as it is for

you. Heard

a good joke

lately?

Your missionary

needs to hear

it.

If

you

haven't heard one, check your magazines

or your

friends and

find one. This is

not

only fun for the reader,

but

it's fun for you, too.

Are you praying for your

missionary?

Tell him so. Do you pray daily? He'll be

thrilled

to

hear that. Heading

a

good book. Heard

a

thou^t-provoking sermon? Seen

an interesting TV Program?

Share

this.

Your missionary

is missing all these good

things, you

know.

He is so busy

giving out that

he rarely gets to take in.

You can't do

this

with an air mail form, but

for

a

couple

of 2 0 j 5 stamps you can send

along

a clipping or

two, or a

i c t i i r e .

This will

be

appreciated.

Head

about

the missionary's country and work, and comment on

these

subjects.

Show

your interest in what

the

missionary is doing, but

try

not

to ask

specific questions

that demand answers.

Most

missionaries do not have time

to

answer every letter,

thou^

you

surely will

hear from the

missionary

if

you

become

a

regular

correspondent.

Must your letters

do

all these things every time? I hope

not—mine

don't But try

some of them, and t n k f t a

missionary's day bri^ter.

Do it

this

week, and

often.

You

mi^t even find you enjoy it

"Is

writing

to missionaries so important?" you ask. If it were not,

would

"Write to

me " be near the top of

every m i s s i o n a r y ' s list

of

things

for

p a r t n e r s at home

to do?

A

d a y with

no

news

from

home

can be a

d r a b one. L e t ' s keep

that

from happening

to

our missions

partners.

—PatLassen


3/10

CAMPUS MINISTRY —•

Central

Japan Christian

Mission

— ark

and

Lynn Pratt

I

Japan

Address

340-5 Negishi

^fechida

ty

Tokyo

194,

JAPAN

Ph 0427-91-4600

Forwarding

Address

Rick

and

Lydia

Coyle

3357 Tallahassee

Cincinmti, OH 45239

Ph.

513-385-9247

This is sue marks

beginning

of new numbering system—

based

on

campus ministry's

first letter

having

been

printed

in 1975.

friends,

SCHOOL ALUMNI GAME

I

got

to

play in

the alumni

basketball

for my old alna mater,

Christian

Aca

in

Japano It's

a

good thing I

wore

my

shirt

to

warn up in, because I

was

oldest one on the

team

and needed all

I

could

get. I

did

manage I2 points

7 rebounds,

but we lost

anyway.

It was

lot of fun to play and to see two of my

Habbestad

and

Howard Blair, who are

still in Japan.

Volume 10 March 1984

^pus

i n i s t r y C J C M — 9 8 3 F i n a n c i a l

R e p o r t

C * 2 3 8 = 1 . 0 0 )

Balance

carried from

1982

2373.89

Income:

Rac'd from

church groups and

Individuals

Designated

for

land fund

Rec'd

for

published article ......

Refund

from health insurance

Interest

10 Old

Boys

Expenses:

kecorded

contributions to

churches

and

charities

Personal expense—food, clothing, misc...

Benefi

ts;

Life insurance .....

.

267.81

Health insurance

2670.27

Kedical expenses 787.22

Payroll tax (Social Security)

Fees for fundraislng

(photo,

display,

advertizing) ..

Interest paid on loans...........

Occupancy:

Building insurance 450.99

Building repairs ..... 27.33

trtillties:

Heat oil

(kerosene).

....

112.48

Propane gas

. 68.66

Water ...

.

.....

49.08

Electric

52^.9^

Equipment and equipment maintenance. .

Printing

and

postage:

Printing 304.53

Postage

1428.66

39432.74

50.00

30.00

208.76

8.18

42103^57

3971,62

11346.18

5725-30

1206.61

444.9H

1377.61

Telephone

Office

supplies

(paper, envelopes

Travel

ravel: f f i

Partial air fare

from

O.S.

Gasoline

Required car inspection and

insurance

Car tax

Car

maintenance

and repair

Car

rental

Hotel fees

etc.)

1915.00

901.25

872.73

177.23

146.45

2575-70

260-09

1232-07

467.22

1733-19

1330-68

173-86

The

reason

this action

shot

(I'm

14)

is

a

little

blurred

is because I'm moving with

such great speed.

Evangelism (books, tracts, tapes,

etc.)

.

Education:

Kids*

schooling 1122.14

Hark—1 seminar 6^.05

Gov*t

fees and taxes:

Passport and visa expense ...

...

Land loan repayments

Bank charges

Loan

t o Penny Boggs

6848.45

426.37

1185-17

49-00

3361-36

24-83

336.15

39240-57

B a l a n c e

o n

h a n d

1 2 / 3 1 / 8 3 2 8 6 3 - 0 0


4/10

C T?-1 A-.

LIVDJG NATIVriY

t-

Was

it

his frantic in

Bethlehem

on that first

Christmas?— Staging an outdoor nativity

scene

was Penny's

idea, (That's

Penry

Boggs, mission

ary, who helps

us out

whenever

she

can escape

from

language

school.) The church people had

never

heard ofthis but were enthusiastic.

Preparation was

hectic

and difficult:

nailing,

painting,

and

s t a b i l i z i n g the stable; cast

i n g a n d c o s t u m e w o r k ; m a k i n g a b a c k g r x D u n d

tape of

Scripture in

English

and Japanese

along with

Christmas

music by professional

Japanese singers;

assembling li^ts, cords,

props; and advertizing.

Rain and sleet

threatened,

but

r e m a n a g e d

5

performances on Dec. 22 and 23. The stable

scene

and

PA

system

were set up

near

the road;

the

shepherd

scene

was

farther

back, conplete

with a

ampfire;

and our angel was precarious

ly perched atop

a

adder on the balcony. Penny

ran

around

directing

everything,

naking sure

the proper lights

came on

at

the proper

time.

Others handed

out tracts to passersby. In

between perfarmances,

the cast

warmed

up

with

hot drinks and apple crisp.

While not many people went out

of

their way to

come,

hundreds saw and heard us clearly as the

slew-moving rush

hour traffic

crawled along,

scmetimes caning to

a

onplete

stop.

Both

spectatOTS and cast were in^jressed with the

outccme. T his nay becane an annual project

9̂ v V l f c

̂

M«nlco t r \ d I n l o

Co t'umcS


5/10

ÔO

SUKIYAKI

PARTY

So much time

and energy

had been spent on the

outdoor nativity

scene project

no one was

willing

or

able to do a n y t i i i n g - s p e c i a l for

Chrisbias

Sunday.

We

had

C h r i s t i n a s

story

Scriptures

and carols for the

worship hour;

then a l l

enjoyed

a

sukiyaki party together.

CThe Japanese traditionall y have sukiyaki at

the

end

of the

year.l

MISSIONARY DINNER

W e hosted

the

missionary Christmas

dinner

on

Dec. 29. There were

24 of us

to

enjoy

a

great ham dinner

w i t l i

a l l

the trimmings.

I gave the

nickel-ninety-five

tour

of

the

property far those

who

had

not

b een here

before. And we

had lots of talking

and

la ug h

ing. Our work

becomes

less lonely b ecause

of

times like these.

T v r n c i -

f

RKen^A ^wvc Erm ^ e n i b c c k f c

new book

/ \ f a . c k o s t r i r c s u f o sokN^ki

Mr.

t

r \ A

C a S o r v

W f t r p c h

C J i r i i . h a r \ s d n

.

o n e

was i4\l«

B i l l T o r n e r - OK d m e , U / f t r r e n .


6/10

*T^e ObirtW

f r K t

m c « . f

V > ^

FOCUS d l l l THE FAMILY

Three

of the

James ttobson Focus

on

The

Family films

have

been translated

into

Japanese.

We

scheduled

the

showing of

all

three for

the

weekend of January 22. To

that

end

we

distributed 600

flyers

and hung posters

in

strategic locations.

We made many new

contacts

as we

talted

with

people

during this

advertizing

campaign. U nfortunately,

the

long-

awaited weekend brought the

worst

snow this

area has

seen

in years. We

still had

a

otal

audience

of

33,

including

children.

Many

of

those who came had never been here before; so

we felt

good

about

introducing

them

to

the

church through

the

films.

One

of

the

families

shews considerable interest and

has

been back

to

church

2

of

the

3 Sundays following

the

film program.

Mr*. oin

Mr.

FOCUS ON F MILY

Meet

the Hasebe family.

The

Hasebes

met and

married

in

America

and

lived

in

Hawaii

for

some time before coming back to Japan.

Masaji spent 8 years studying and working

in the States,

so

he has b ecome rather

westernized Pam is an

American

citizen

of Japanese descent.

So, while she looks

like everyone

else in this country, her

native

language is English. A s a result, th

Hasebes

have their own

unique problems livi

here in Japan, They have

been worshipping

with us the past few mont hs; Masaji has pla

his membership

here.

H 0 . 4 e b e 5 ( , - . + o

r

) * ,

Rlna,

Jwrt,

C a i T p u s Ministry — JC M

Jenra Houp

8704 Bristol Oaks

Ct.

kxiisville, KY 40299

S i n c e r e l y

y o u r s —

n d

H i s ,

address correction requested

Nonprofit

Org.

U.S.

Postage

PAID

Louisville,

Ky

Permit

NO.

1806

Mission Services

F

o

x 2427

Knoxville

TN 379.01..


7/10

COT

1

9 8

MINISTRY--Central Japan Christian

Mission 4

Mark

and

Lynn

Pratt

Supported by

Christian churches/churches

of Christ

Negish

a City

194, J

h 0427-91-4

Forwardinq Address

m.

T&m

i/.JH'i- S *

rin

chapel,

I do m

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this chapel

hour

that

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services

music,

too,

is rat

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and I

can spend

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were received with

rtunities

whenever

ponsor the

Ohio

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a few

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preparing

music

The

slide

program

we

used

last furlough is available for loan.

Rather than giving you a play-by-play of our work

in particular,

these slides (with Scripture commen tary) will help you see what

working in Japan is all about. You ll get

new

insights concerning

the problems faced by the prophets, the apostles, and present-day

missionaries.

Order from

our secretary

or through Mission

Services

( 1236*83).

_

^


8/10

CONVENTION. Summertime

is

convention time. The missionary convention was

held on our Shinshu Bible

Camp

grounds, which some of

the

missionaries were

seeing for the first time. Lynn's and

my

contributions were

l rgely

in the

humor area, but

we

were

refreshed

by both

the

serious and fun parts

of

this

gathering.

The All Japan Christian Convention followed in Yokohama. There were 400

registrations.

We attended

the Sunday morning

session

along with Lynn's

aunt Norma Lusby, cousin

Paula

Lusby,

and

friend Barbara Hopper

who were

visiting from the

States.

While our convention is small compared to U.

S.

ones, Barbara

observed

that she was

struck

by how much work and dedication

went

into

making such a thing possible in a

land

of shrines and temples.

CAMP.

I

was

the

dean

for

the English-music camp

this

summer.

We prepared

lots of music, had devotions, English-Bible class, saw The

Ten

Commandments,

and had

recreation

time. In spite of doing a lot

of advertizing,

we

had

a

very small

crowd. So we are considering a different time slot for this camp

next year.

Even

though the size of the group

was

disappointing, the

program

was not--it was

a

good camp.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

1.

LAN D LOAN. When the land-and-building project began (we bought the

land

in

1978)

we

had

some

savings

to get

started.

Then we took

out

a

loan. When we built the building (1981) people cooperated to send

almost-total funds for

the

building; and, for

some time

after, sent

designated monies toward the

land

loan.

Now

that the new has

worn

off,

it's easy to forget--but there are TEN YEARS of loan payments

left. The amount to

pay slightly decreases each month, but

to

give

y o u

an

idea,

this month's

payment

was ^583.J)

There

is

another small

loan

that we

took to fill in the

gap for

the

building money and also to help

sponsor

the singing group that

came

in

1981. Th^re are only about two

years

left

on

that

loan; payments are

around^70^per month.

2. KIDS' SCHOOLING. There is no easy

or

cheap way for

missionaries

to

get

their children through school. It is interesting that

denomi

national mission boards automatically send school funds as needed to

their missionaries, but Church

of

Christ

missionaries

must

still

convince

supporting churches that

this is a need, not an

extravagance.

If the wife does any mission work at

all

and tries

to also

teach

the children, she will need to hire some kind

of

help. O r if she

hires a teacher, that costs. If

the

kids

go

to a military

or

Christian

school, that costs.

If

we want missionaries to

go

overseas,

we

must

realize that the

schooling

cost if just

part

of the

package.

Last year

we

hired a teacher for $240 a

month. This

year Clinton

joine_our little house school, so

we

are raising the

teacher's

pay

to

T 6 0 ] ) a

m o n t h . T h i s

i s

still not

m u c h of a

s a l a r y a n d

is

l a r g e l y

a Christian service project by our teacher.

Sincerely yours--and

His,

Campus Ministry--CJCM

Jenna Houp

8704

Bristol

Oaks Ct

Louisville

KY

40299

Ohio

Singers III

address

correction

requested

lB.ssion

Services

* F

0

bx 2if27

Knaxville T I T

37901

Nonprofit

Org.

U.

S

Postage

PAID

Louisville,

Ky

Permit

NO 1806


9/10

MINISTRY--Central

Japan

Christian

Mission

Mark and Lynn Pratt

Supported by

Christian churches/churches of

Christ

JAN IA

Address

Forwardina Address

Rick and Lydia Coyle

3357 Tallahassee

JAPAN Cincinnati, OH

45239

0427-91-4600 Ph

513-385-9247

Volume 10 November 1984

Dear

friends.

In my college Bible seminar class

I

have

120 students. I

asked

how

many were

Christians.

Only

2

raised their hands.

But it s worse

than that:

one of those

is

a

Mormon; the other isn't a believer,

but

only

plays

piano for

a church.

This

work

is a

challenge

I was

able to

show

a Moody science film

to about 60

adults for the semi-annual

PTA meeting

at Obirin.

Obirin

also

hosts an annual lectureship

for

adults

in the community. The afternoon sessions

are

Bible-related.

I was invited to

lead one of these recently. I

showed

a Dobson

film

to about 45 adults.

Here at the church

--

We are ordering

several issues of

a

monthly Christian

magazine which our people

are

to read,

then

pass

on

to

a

friend

or

leave

in

the

beauty shop,

doctor's office,

etc. Also

every month we're ordering 400 copies

of

the Christian newspaper's colored

4-pager

which

is evangelistic in

nature.

It is

quite

a

job

to

distribute these

around

the community,

but

we're trying

it

for

several months, at least.

All junior

hi

students

are

required

to

attend

weekly chapel service

Over

500 college students

attend

chapel

weekly

The first of November we headed for

Kagoshima to the Walter Maxey

home.

We

decided to make

a

family

trip out

of

it and see Japan;

so

we went by

Bullet Train.

We stopped for a

night

with

our

good friends, the Hideto

Yoshii family. Hideto

has

worship

services in

his

home. Masako

and her

mother both teach for Sunday school.

We

sang for the

high

school chapel

service

at

the

girls'

school where

Hideto teaches. Our kids played with

the Yoshii

kids,

and we

just

had a

great (but too short

)

visit. The

Yoshiis

are

doing

a fine work

there

in

Fukuoka.


10/10

Back

on the

train

and on to

Kagoshima.

Our

kids hadn't seen Shelley

and

Trent for al

most 4 years. They

had a

ball--I don't

think they even fought once Lynn talked

Mary's ear off and was entertained by

Sunny

the

bird

who

does a fantastic m l

tation of Mary sonlding the childre-D. We

men

had

work to do, but that was fun, too.

I

went with

Walter to the English-Bible

camp. Over 20 were present.

I

had two

talks

on "Are

We Here by

Chance?"

We had

lively discussions on science-related

issues, including evolution and abortion.

I

believe this camp strengthened

the

Christians and gave

the

non-Christians

some food for thought.

November marked the 10th

year anniversary

of

the

construction of the Sanno-

bara Church of Christ

building (where Dad is).

Hideto Yoshii

and Shigeru

Akada, who

worked_with

the

church

in its

early years,

came to bring special

messages. Those in

at

tendance enjoyed

remi

niscing

through

old

home

movies. Prayers for an

even better

ten

years

ahead

Wg

O Tl^

JC 3L

FROM

The Mark Pratt

Family

Campus

Ministry--CJCM

Jenna Houp

8704

Bristol

Oaks Ct

Louisville KY 40299

address correction

requested

Nonprofit

Org.

U. S,

Postage

P I

Louisville, Ky

Permit NO.

1806

Pratt Mark Lynn 1984 Japan

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Transcript of Pratt Mark Lynn 1984 Japan