Sims Jonathan 1991 Japan

8/12/2019 Sims Jonathan 1991 Japan

1/8

CAJ ReportJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPANAnd the ihinf^ s you haveheard nie say in thepresenceofmany witnesses entrusted to reliahiemen who willalso be qualified to teach others // Timothy 2:2

V o l u m e 1 1 Fi r s t Quarter 1991 N u m b e r

SEASON FOR RE J O ICIN G

December i s always a t imewhen people t end to g e t so wrappedup in g i f t giving and receivingtha t they forget the b i r th of ourLord J e s u s hrist De c e mbe r o f1990 was no different t h a n u s u a lfo r many. There were a lo t o fd is tra ct io ns to keep ones mindfrom r e f l ec t ing on the r ea lmeaning o f C hristm as. A majordistraction w as t h e fear o f w a r inthe Middle Eas t However,regardless of many thingsdemanding a t t en t i on worthwhi leChristmas meetings were conductedwith posi t ive resu l ts

The Joe l Home highl ight ofth e C h r is tm a s se a s o n w as aChris tmas Eve Candle l igh t se rv iceA record crowd of s ix teen peoplecame to hear sing ing of ChristmasCarols a s h o r t message and amusical spec ia l The a f te rglowwas vrondefful as people cont inuedto request and sing songs not onlya b ou t C h ri st m as b u t a l s o a b o u t o u rLord. The Gospel message wasclear ly del ivered with grea terimpact through the singing ofhymns than through a d i r ec ts e r m o n T h o s e who w e r e in aChurch r e l a t e d s e r v i c e f o r t h efirst t ime i n t h e i r l i v e s wen taway glad tha t they had come.Music and our daily l iving makesmuch grea te r impact than doesd i r e c t v e r b a l com m uni ca t i on o f th eGospel , when th e s i t ua t i on ca l l sf o r it C hr i s t m a s is a t ime whenthe wealth of good Carols can beused most effect ively for reachingthe hear ts of people throughm u s i c a l m o t i v a t i o n

It h a s b e c o m e a cus tom f o rme to ass i s t in the presenta t ionof Christmas music to dear peoplein a hospital in Tokyo. Thecongregat ion where dad and momserve has fo r th ree years now beenallowed forty minutes or so toupl i f t the hearts of elderlypeople who have been abandoned fo rthe most p a r t by t h e i r ownfamil ies . On Christmas Day (aregular working day in Japan) thegroup from Mejirodai Churcharrived at the hospital latebecause of heavy year-end t r a f f i cbut not la te to brighten the

hear ts of the forty-some pat i en t sw e c a n r e a c h T h e r e are s e v e r a lhundred pat ien ts and f ac i l i t i e sfo r a t o t a l of e igh t hundred, bu tthe re i s a tremendous shor tage ofnursing s t a f f and dim prospectsfo r the fu ture as many potent i a lnurses are choosing lucrat iveoccupat ions . The Christmasprogram brought te a rs to the eyesof pat i en t s and appeals to repeatou r e f f o r t s every y e a r We praytha t Japanese can and wi l l opentheir h e a r t s to th e l o v e o f J e s u sChr is t and hope tha t Japanese cansee through the imi ta t ionhappiness brought by Buddhistpr i e s t s d re ss ed a s Santa clowningaround with other small groups inthe hospi t a l

I always apprecia te a coupleof days with mom and dad in Tokyoa t Christmas and a few more daysa t th e s t a r t of a new y e a rUsually I v i s i t them ove r n igh tabout once a month. Some t a lk inga game o r two of SCRABBLE mixedwith humor and helping withsomething makes each v i s i tworthwhile. e a l l re jo iced asGod blessed my youngest bro the ra n d h is w if e w ith a s e c o n ddaughter on December 22nd, thenews reaching us in Japan a l i t t l ebit later

COLD AND HOT WINTERW i n t e r h a s h ad f i r m c o n t r o lof t h i s new year There have been

brisk temperatures and las t ingcold f ront s Overa l l temperaturesa re abou t one o r two degreeshigher than normal , but stillch i l l i ng Three var iat ions of f lurampaged th e coun try I caughtone of them in February , bu t Godgranted me recovery in ar e la t ive ly shor t t ime. Attendancea t Sunday Morning Worship has notbeen af f ec ted much by the weatherThe Saturday evening English Biblec lass at tendance has seen a drop.T h e r e is a need to r e a c h m o r epeople in the best way with theGospel of Jesus Chr is t

The s to rm i n th e d e s e r t ha sdomina ted co n v e r s a t i o n f o r whatseems l ike a long t ime. Theconf l i c t s ta r ted and ended, but


2/8

the m e d i a c o n t i n u e s to d w e l l o nminute d e t a i l s a g a i n and a g a i n .F r o m t h e st rt there w a s i sa g a i n s t t h e U.S. w i t h c e r t a i nnewspapers showing more and o t h e r sshowing l e s s antagonism. What wasamazing was how the averageJapanese expressed an opinione x a c t l y as he had read i n h isnewspaper. There w a s n t much o f ar e a c t i o n to t h e conflict until t h edecis ion was made by thegovernment to provide f i n a n c i a la i d t o th e U.S. a t taxpayere x p e n s e . The h e a t e d r e s p o n s ea g a i n s t t h e d e c i s i o n has n o ts topped any government d e c i s i o n sof a r i n th e h i s t o r y o f modernJ a p a n e s e p o l i t i c s . T he r e h a s n o tbeen any d i r e c t impact onEvangelism i n Japan w ith the mediacoverage o f s e l e c t e d m a t e r i a l bu tmission ries h a v e for t h e m o s tp a r t kept q u i e t about the war,which i s th e b e s t way t o r e l a t e t opeople . Attent ion needs to bef o c u s e d o n J e s u s C h r i s t a n d H i simpact in the d a i l y l i v e s of a l lof us f r a i l human beings.

S P R I N G

This i s the t ime of y e a r t oa p p r e c i a t e God s c r e a t i o n . Withwarming t e m p e r a t u r e s comeb e a u t i f u l l y designed b u r s t s ofc o l o r i n gardens a l l over thep l a c e . There i s not much r e a lgreenery i n Tokyo and Yokohama,however, leaving the atmospheref i l l e d with p o lle n and i n d u s t r i a lp o l l u t i o n which c a n t be absorbedby concrete j u n g l e . The r e s u l t i st h a t i n c r e a s i n g l y people a r e beinga f f e c t e d by hay f e v e r symptoms.Last year saw my f i r s t t roublew i t h it i n Japan and t h i s y e a rbr ings l i t t l e hope of a l l e v i a t i o n .

With Spring comes hope f o rnew c o n t a c t s f r i e n d s h i p s andp o t e n t i a l ways t o reach p e o p l e .P l a n s a r e i n p r o g r e s s a t t h e J o e lHome f o r a musical program i nApri l t o a t t r a c t newcomers. Prayt h a t h e a r t s can b e opened f o r t h eGospel of Jesus C h r i s t . Seedss o w n will n o t return v o i d . L e t u spray for God to bless His kingdomwith His special bless ings . Prayt h a t God w i l l s u s t a i n us t h r o u g hJ e s u s C h r i s t i n ll o f t h esitu tions we f a c e .

MUSICAL SPECIAL

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF C H R I S T1 1 2 6 L a u r e l A v e n u eChesapeake, 23325ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTEDFo rward ing Agen ts f o rJonathan Sims, Missionary to JapanP . O . B o x 1 3 2 7 7Chesapeake, 23323F i e l d / Iddrees4 - 1 7 - 1 2 R o k k a k u b a s h iKanagawa-kuYokohama-shi 221 Japan

Non-prof i t Org.U.S. P o s t a g eP IChesapeake , P e r m i t N o . 4 8

Missians Services AssociationBox 2 4 2 7Knoxville, 379


3/8

Z fl

CAJ ReportJONATHAN SIMS ( HRIST'S AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN

/inJ the things youhaveheard rr]e say in thept senceofmany witnesses entrusted to reliablemen who willalso he qualified to teach others if Timothy2:2

Vol ume 11 Second Qv c t e r 1991 Numbe r 2

MAJOR MELODIES

Is the re any kind of se rv icewh i c h w i l l attract non -Ch r i s t . he Yes. Many people have an in+^' esrin music. I t is possi l toinvi te people read i ly to aconce r t with a modest charge to rcoffee an d c a k e to b e s e r v e d arterth e performance. Japanese peoplewho would never a t t e nd anyWorship se rv ice or Bible studydo th ink about a t t end ing a musiccen te red program even i f i t has amessage about Jesus Chr is t . OnApri l 7 a t 3:00 PM a conce r t wasc o n d u c t e d at the Joel Home.Except fo r the pianis t a l l of theperformers were amateurs and themis takes were ignored by thegracious audience. Host of theperform ers a re members o f ournea r e s t s i s t e r congregat ion inYokohama. Besides a couple ofs o l o an d c h o i r numbe r s there we r ea s e l e c t i on of tunes played on avar ie ty of ins truments . Rain 1ejsome people away and o thers e t ioccupied with an e lec t i ' - . ofpo l i t i c i ans which happened .u beplanned fo r the day of theconcer t . Publ i c i ty fo r theconcert was much t o o l im i te d b u tone neighbor came who was in ase rv ice connected to Chr is t ian i tyf o r th e first t ime in he r lifeShe ind ica ted enjoyment of themus i c and desire to attendupcoming concer t s . Mr. Oka gavea ta lk about the importance of TheBible in peoples l ives .

Mr. Oka

Gue s t s

MUSICAL STAFF

American Chr i s t i a n College inTokyo i s now in i t s second year.One o f t h e l e ss o ns l e ar n ed f r omthe f i r s t year of teaching is tha tco l lege age s tuden ts t i r e quicklyof s tudy of any foreign language.During th e Winter term i t was adisappointment to teachers tof i n d s t u d e n t s a b s e n t often s e v e r a ldays a t a time. In Japanesec ol leg es a lso the re is a t endencyfo r students to mi s s classes Iti s d i f f i c u l t to expect s tu de nts tolearn how t o c ommun i c a t e inE ng lis h ad eq ua te ly to s tudy a tco l lege in the U.S. i f s tuden tsmis s more t h a n on e third o f t h eclass s e s s i o n s . To s o lv e th eproblem involves motivatings tuden ts . Teachers can preparein te res t ing sessions but withoutdedica t ion on the par t of thestudents the effort ismeaningless .

For th e second year we beganwi t h an orientation f o r t h e news tuden ts encourag ing them to se tgoa l s and s t i ck with study eventhough the going gets tough.Studen t work a t pa r t t ime jobsa f f e c t s t h e i r s t udy hab i t s aswell so we encourage good t imemanagement. To add some va r i e t yto th e language study c lubac t iv i ty has been s t a r t ed .5t\ 4Rt can-sigh up for a musicclub a drama club or a newspaperclub . Club ac t iv i ty is assignedfor one c lass period per week and^ ^ng study and free periods as


4/8

New S t u d e n t s

MINOR MOVEMENTSThere are several

consecut ive holidays in Japan a tth e s t a r t of May. This yea t l :w e e k e n d c a m e t o b e called d e nWeek. Camp was scheduled f theweekend as many people woj.o befree to attend f o r o n c e / a s oiuScompanies l imited or variedholidays to s u i t business gains.Mr. Oka preached at the Joel Home/giving me opportunity to attendcamp. The good gesture was wellappreciated/ as I needed fresh a i rand a change of scenery for a dayor t h ree . Camp attendance wass m a l l / b u t i n f o r m a l c o n v e r s a t i o nabout many t o p i c s wereforthcoming. On a hike/ where thep i c t u r e was taken/ we becamed is tr e ss ed a t the c u t t i n g down off o r e s t s to develop summer homesf o r b u s in e ss e x e cu t iv e s . Ordinaryf o l k c a n n o t afford a m o d e s t

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF C H R ^1 1 2 6 L a u r e l A v e n u eChesapeake, VA 23325ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTEDForwarding Agents f o rJonathan Sims, Missionary t o JapanP . O . Box 1 3 2 7 7Chesapeake, VA 23325Field A d d r e s s ;4 - 1 7 - 1 2 R o k k a k u b a s h iKanagawa-kuYokohama- sh i 2 21 Japan

t r a e n t f why many tt e companyc o u n t r y s idi c i t y an


5/8

Vo lum e 11

CAJ Report jPViJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPANAnd the things you have heard me say in the presence ofmany witnesses entrustedto reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others IITimothy 2:2

Th i r d Qua r t e r 1991 Num b e r

EVANGELISM

As I repor ted in the prev ious news le t t e r , there was a worthwhile mus ica lprogram held a t the Joe l Home in Apr i l . As re f l ec ted on the po ten t i a l out reachthrough a meeting which i nc luded music Mr. and Mrs. Oka and I cons ide red havinga Special evange l i s t i c mee t ing in^ June . As a s p ec i a l g ues t speaker Mr. Okathought t ha t dad would be good. Dad and Mom have been in Japan for 4 years anddad s experience in speaking in Japanese i s c lea r ly ev iden t . I have been herein Japan fo r ten years now but Mr. Oka wanted to in troduce th e Joe l Homev i s i t o r s to a life t ime mis s i o n a r y ve t e r a n . We a r r anged fo r dad and I toexchange pu lp i t s so t h a t he could speak a t th e Joe l Home evange l i s t i c meet ing .Mr. Oka would speak Saturday , June 22nd in the evening while dad would preachSunday June 23rd fo r Worship. Arrangement was made fo r spec i a l music by peoplewho have a t t e n d ed mee t ings a t th e J o e l Home. Th re e th ou sa nd f l y e r s were p r i n t e dand d i s t r i b u t e d in th e ne i ghbo rhood . They were made wi t h hopes o f a t t r a c t i n gne ighbors who l i k e music and a s h o r t no te was i nc luded abou t th e sp ea ke rs .

i We were happy to see twenty -oneI IfliJ I ^ me were either people who ht S at tended a meeting a t the Joel Home or a

programs wi th sp e c i a l mus ic , peop le comemore because of f r i e nd sh i p th an m usica li n t e r e s t . Fr i endsh ip i s still a pr imaryEVANGELISTIC MEETING tool for communication of the GospelPe r sona l r e l a t i o n s h i p is more e f f e c t i v e

than technology in rea ch in g p eo ple w ith a l i f e changing message bu t we need touse eve ry r e sou r ce av a i l a b l e when and where we can .

The fifth Sunday of June was th e occas i on f o r th e you th group of th econgrega t ion where dad preaches to hos t a r a l l y of our Churches in th e g r e a t e rTokyo a r e a . Opportuni ty came fo r using a gymnasium as a meeting place . Thet empera ture was almost unbea r ab l e , bu t t h e re was wonderfu l f e l l owsh ip . Theprogram cons i s t ed of a t ime fo r r e c r e a t i on , a s k i t , s ing ing , a message andsupper o utd oo rs . T es tim o nia ls were made by s ev e r a l peop le , one being a co l l eges tuden t who was as sau l t ed by a l e f t i s t as she at tempted to tack up anannouncemen t o f a Bib l e s tudy on a bu l l e t i n boa r d on campus . Ther e i s i n t e r e s tamong co l l ege s tuden t s in r e l ig io u s s tu d ie s , bu t a t th e same t ime t h e re a re mores igns of coming p e rs ec u ti on a g a in s t Chr i s t i an co l l ege s t uden t s .

The annua l conven t ion of Chr i s t i an Church miss iona r i e s and o ur Ja panesecoworkers i s a lways a t ime fo r renewed f r i end sh i p and encouragement in th e work.The number of c a r e e r mi s s i o n a r i e s seems to d ec re ase eve ry y e a r . Ther e a re more t en t r aaker s in Japan now t han be fo r e which seems to be some compensa t ion .However t h e re i s as much work as ever in reach ing th e Japanese peop le . A newgene r a t i on i s coming which must ca r ry on th e work. I pray t h a t we can bef a i t h f u l to ou r Lo r d s commiss ion to p r e a ch th e Gospe l to eve ryone , t e ach ingthem to obey ll t h a t He has commanded us to do .

SUMMER SCHOOL

The Summer s e s s i on o f Amer ican Chr i s t i a n Co l l ege began wi th new tivitiesplanned in hopes t h a t s t uden t i n t e r e s t would be mot iva t ed . I t i s d i f f i c u l t fo ranyone to l e a rn a f o r e ign l anguage . To l e a rn to speak , r e ad , wr i t e andu nd ers ta nd Ja pa ne se i s a majo r t a s k . Many s t uden t s g ive up midway in ani n t e n s i v e cou r s e . Through much p r aye r , th e p ra ye rs o f Chr i s t i a n s u ppo r t e r s inth e U.S . and God s s t r e n g t h I was ab l e to g r adua t e from an i n t e n s i v e cour sewhich p rov id ed th e founda t ion fo r r e a l communica t ion of th e Gospe l . X am


6/8

D I S C U S S I O N G R O U P

gratefiil b e c a u s e t h e s t r e n u o u s effortshave b een w orth it fo r p r e a c h i n g andt e a c h i n g in J a p a n e s e . I unde r s tandw e l l ho w a pe r son has to change h isway o f t h i n k i n g to u n d e rs tan d a newl anguage . I can unders t and whyJ a p a n e s e s t u d e n t s have d i f f i c u l t y int h e i r e f f o r t s a t l ea rn ing to speakE n g l i sh . Even i n t e r e s t i n g c luba c t i v i t y d o e s n o t o f f s e t th e work itt a k e s to s t u d y a l a n g u a g e . T h e r e isone t h i n g t h o u g h t h a t I w i l l n e v e rr e a l l y a d j u s t to . Tha t i s th e la rg en u m b e r of times that students w e r ea b s e n t from c l a s s d u r i n g th e t e r m .

J a p a n e s e c o l l e g e age s t u d e n t s havebeen th r ough t e d i o u s p r e p a r a t i o n s fo rpass ing exams from k i n d e r g a r t e n .Sudden ly upon p as sin g e nt r an ce

intense pressure to study w to pass ^r u l e s a r e difficult t o e n fo r c e w i t hla rge c lasses and s tuden t s can pRIEND AND HIS OUSINcunningly ge t by through exchangingn o t e s w i t h o t h e r students A n y w ays tu d en t s coming to ACC have been m iss ing too many c la s se s to get anyb en e f i t . Pray fo r th e ACC s tuden t s and th e ACC t each e r s so t h a t iis i t ua t i oTTs J e s u s C h r r s t w i l l be u p l i f t e d and H is G o s p e i ^ o c t a r m e d ^

F R I E N D C O U S I N

reala ll

August was a t ime fo r v aca tio n from ACC c las ses . The sermon prepara t ionfo r messages a t th e Jo e l Home became th e only a c t i v i t y bes ides some l essons ina hobby of lea rning Japanese ca l l igraphy and some n ee de d h ou se cleaning and yardwork. The Lord i s working on peop le in His way. Japanese c o l lege sen io r cameby one day to ask some quest ions and learn some English conversat ion in a shor tt i m e . He has become a f r i e n d i n v i t i n g me to h is house fo r meals on a fewo c c a s i o n s . H is cous in came from H a w a i i to visit so we went to a s c e n i c p a r k i ntown to see some o ld J ap anes e houses in the midst of a garden. He w i l l soon bebusy in the working force . Pray tha t I can reach him with the Gospel of JesusChrist

Thank you fo r your c on tin ui ng p ra y er s and support . The Lord i s a t work onthe hear ts of people . Pray t ha t we wi l l use every opportuni ty in the best wayfo r the sake of Jesus C h r i s t and His kingdom. Pray t h a t I can e f f e c t i v e l ypreach The Word in the J ap an es e l an gu ag e.

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF CHRIST1 1 2 6 Laurel A v e n u eChesapeake V i r g i n i a 23325DDRESS ORRE TION REQUESTED

Forwarding Agents for;Jonathan Sims Missionary to JapanP . O . B ox 1 3 2 7 7Chesapeake Va 23325Field A d d r e s s :4 1 7 1 2 R o k k a k u b a s h iKanagawa KuYokohama shi 221 Japan

N o n P r o f lt O rgU . S . P o s t a g eP IC h e s a p e a k e VaP ER M I T N O . 4 8

3 ^ ^ 7 AssociationKnoxvi l le TN 37901

titiii


7/8

CA J REPORT

JONATHAN SIMS . CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPANKnd thz th^ng^t you kuoz kzufid me 4at/ Ivi the.pAeAence oi many w ;tncAAe4 antau^t to Ae-tlablOL men Mho Mtt t al o be qualt^to^d toteach othe^A. I t Ttmothy 2:2\ b lume 11 Fourth Quarter 1991 Number 4

RAINFALLThe normal weather in Japan is for typhoons to breeze through the i slands inAugust, bringing high winds and torrential rains. When the storms have ceased,there follows a season of wonderful sightseeing type weather with clear skies andgradually rooting temperatures. This_year_was different in that typhoons continued;to pass through or skim by in September as well as August. Cloudy skies andmistyrain hampered the viewing of colorful changes in the diminishing forests. I t is areal praiseworthy thing that many Japanese take meticulous care of gardens wheresmall patches of bright leaves keep modern residential areas from losing all nat~ural flair. Everyone was relieved when Autumn type clear skies came at last inNovember. At the same time a few variations of Influenza made the rounds, causinga lot of people misery for about three weeks. I caught the flu bug in November, ata time I most needed to be in top condition. The Lord sustained me and brought meback to about usual hea l th for Thanksgiving.

Twenty years ago I graduated from Christian Academy in Japan, v/hich is sti l l providing education for children from kindergarten through high school. Vlhen I was inhigh school there were around six hundred students of which the vast majority werechildren of missionaries. There are now about three hundred fifty students ofwhich sixty percent are missionary children and forty percent children of businesspeople. The facilities are better now and there is a high school band. In Octoberpeople from the missionary and business community were invited to participate in ajoint concert. I had the opportunity to play clarinet,. There is nothing as enjoyable for an amateur musician as an opportunity to par ti cipa te in a concert. Everyone was happy and the occasional mistakes we all made were covered by the totalbandwhi^h made a remarkably f ine performance.

Mr. Oka is a type of person who keeps on with rugged determination in life. Hehas seemed to get by without much sickness. He did have an operation a number ofyears ago, but has kept a full schedule since and seems to never rest. He startedto have stomach pains but managed to keep i t a secret from even his close family.Everyone was surprized x zhen he entered the hospital on November 5 for surgery. Hesays i t was not cancer, but would have become if not dealt with. The operation wassuccessful, with two thirds of his stomach removed. On the third day he was on hisfeet. lie was released from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, the 28th.THANKSGIVING DAYJapanese people have adapted various American customs in their own way. Halloween has been adapted as a week for selling various candies and chocolates in appropriate packaging. Christmas has been given a meaning all its own and differentthan what Christians think about. Thanksgiving Day, as Americans celebrate i t hasnot taken root in Japan. There was a holiday on November 23rd, labeled LaborThanksgiving Day but no special meaning or activity is associated with i t . On the22nd, we missionaries in the Tokyo area gathered for a delicious meal and prayer.We found that working on an acrostic beginning with the letters TH NKSGIVING helpedus to think of many things The Lord has provided for us this year. When we beginto count the blessings God has given us, the clouds we see so often begin to fadeaw a y

The Joel Home Worship Service on November 24th was the second anniversary, asthe first Sunday Morning Worship Service was held on Thanksgiving in 1939. TheLord has sustained Services with someone being here every week. An average of sixor seven in attendance is hardly anything in comparison with America, but i t is astart. We pray that we can reach out to those whose hearts are opening to theGospel. There is always fruit, but only after years of patient endurance as westrive to preach and teach and live as followers of Jesus Christ.Thanksgiving Day came and went without a lot of excitement. Japanese simplywent on with business as usual. There were reminders on the radio Far East Network . I was pleasantly surprized when a Christmas box from the U.S.A. arrived tomake my day and remind me of the busiest season of the year.


8/8

C H R I S T M A SDecembet is always the busiest time of the year in Japan. Before the vacationcoming a t the end of the year and the s ta r t of a new year Japanese clean house,manicure gardens, pay bi l ls finish work or study, stock up on vacation supplies,write New Year postcards and whatever else needed to feel caught up with l i fe.Those who also th ink about Chris tmas Japanese s ty l e a re e sp ec ia ll y r e s t l e s s .

Most Japanese consider Christmas as a family meal on the 24th with champagne andChristmas cake. Children in elementary school think o f r ec eiv in g a gi f t from SantaClaus. Junior and Senior High school students are too busy w ith ye ar end exams toreally enjoy the season. Then come the years when Santa Claus provides a girlfriend or boyfriend and gifts are sweaters for men and jewelry for women. Christmas has become a time for a special date with proposals hoped for, with wishestoo often unfulfilled, but always hope. Japanese songs reflect the customs beingdeveloped. Love songs incorporate English words of the season with no relat ion tothe message expressed in Japanese. If i t were not for that fact that at times Ihave the same feelings I would laugh. For parents there are sophisticated expensivegif ts . But most parents are thinking about- going to work on the 25th as p ressureis high to achieve corporate objectives before business closes on December 30th.The New Year s ta r t s afresh on January 6, 1992.

YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORTThank you a ll for your prayers and support which have sustained me through the year. The Lord is wonderful, bringings treng th to hold on through times of storm and the times ofcalm are always good to look forward to .At the.Joel Home we wil l be conducting a musical Candlel ight Service on the 24th. With Japanese having a holidayon the 23rd (the emperor s b ir th day) th e 24th wil l be aregular workday. Love birds will be going to parties as theyare free f rom work responsibil i t ies which come after graduation from college. On the 25th I will be going to Tokyo to visi t dad and mom for a

few days .May you a l l have a joy and peace filled Christmas as we remember the birth of

o u r L o r d a n d S av io r J es us C h r i s t .JONATHAN*

FIELD ADDRESS; 4 17 12 Rokkakubash iICanagawa-kuYokohama-shi 221 Japan

LAUREL AVENUE CHURCH OF CHRIST Non-Profit Org.1126 Laure l Avenue U.S. PostageChesapeake, Virginia 23325 P A I DChesapeake, Va. RESS CORRECTION REQUESTE PERMIT NO 48

- M i s si o n s ervices ssociationForwarding Agents for; 2427JON TH N SIMS Mssionary to Japan Knoxville. TN 37901P . O . Box 13277Chesapeake, VA 23325

Sims Jonathan 1991 Japan

Documents

Transcript of Sims Jonathan 1991 Japan