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W uiu fc.UA. a o \MSM$\ o DLffiggOHMil uufflllCDfeQEgtrapBQi a forty-year journey inspired by Gods faithfulness Robert H. Culpepper God's Calling: A Missionary Autobiography Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/godscallingmissiOOculp God's Calling: A Missionary Autobiography Robert H. Culpepper BROADMAN PRESS Nashville, Tennessee © Copyright 1981 • Broadman Press All rights reserved. 4263-23 ISBN: 0-8054-6323-2 Throughout this book, the name of the Foreign Mission Board is often abbreviated (FMB), as is the name of the Japan Baptist Convention (JBC). Verses marked Good News are from the Good News Bible, the Bible in Today's English Version. Old Testament: Copyright I American Bible Society 1976; New Testament: Copyright © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976. Used by permission. Verses marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1946, 1952, © 1971, 1973. Verses marked ASV are from the American Standard Version. Dewey Decimal Classification: 266.092 Subject headings: culpeppeb. robert h / /missions—japan Library of Congress Catalog Number: 80-68643 Printed in the United States of America Di\>, Sck Dedicated Si to Kay and Cathy who shared many of the experiences this book relates, to the hosts of Southern Baptists whose support through prayer and financing made our ministry in Japan possible, and to the fellow missionaries in Japan and the many Japanese Christian friends who constituted our larger family in Japan. Appreciation Deep gratitude is expressed to the following: to Dr. E. Luther Copeland and Mr. Calvin Parker, missionary col- leagues, who read the first draft of the book chapter by chapter and gave many invaluable suggestions; to Dr. John W. Carlton, my colleague at Southeastern Baptist The- ological Seminary, who helped with the tedious task of correcting the proofs; and to Mrs. Yoshiko Fujie, Miss Marguerite Styers, and Mrs. Evelyn B. Carter, who cheerfully typed parts of the manuscript. Contents 1. How It All Began 9 2. Alapaha 15 3. Impressionable Years 21 4. College Days 28 5. The Seminary 39 6. Kay 48 7. Appointment 58 8. Japan at Last 66 9. Early Adjustments 77 10. A People Ripe for the Gospel 86 11. Seminary Teaching 93 12. Early Evangelistic Opportunities 103 13. The Beginning of the Hirao Church and Our First Furlough 112 14. Trying to Communicate 128 15. Problems Equal Opportunities 139 16. Building Bridges 150 17. Seminary—At Home and Abroad 161 18. Cathy Calling 172 19. A Time of Decision 181 20. Seminary Crisis 188 21 Spiritual Renewal 203 22. The Holy Spirit's Continuing Work 213 23. A Fond Farewell 224 1 How It All Began "Mother and Daddy, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for about two weeks," I said. "I feel that God is calling me as a missionary to Japan." "A missionary to Japan? Bob, how could you think of such a thing? You know your mother's health isn't good. And it hasn't been good since you were born, and your brother James before you," Daddy answered. "If you go away over there to Japan, your mother will probably die from anxiety. Bob, don't you love your mother?" "Of course, I love my mother," I responded, "but I want to do God's will." "How do you know this is God's will?" Daddy asked. "There are plenty of people in America who aren't Christians. I believe God wants you to stay here and serve him right around here." He said that with finality, as if to say, "That settles that." "But Daddy, don't you remember that when I was sick you promised the Lord that if he would spare me, should he ever want me for his service, you would do everything you could to help me and nothing to hinder me?" I asked. "But I didn't mean this," Daddy countered. "You know God gave his Son for us all," I reminded him. "Yes, but he knew that he was going to get him back," Daddy answered. My letters home had indicated my deep interest in Kay Sanderson. Sensing that my love for her was different from what I had felt for any other girl, Mother asked, "And what does Kay think of this?" "She wants me to do God's will," I replied. "Is she planning to be a missionary?" "Yes, she is." "Now, I understand," Mother responded. "You just want to be a missionary because of her." I didn't think that was the case, but this was a hard one to answer. How much had my love for Kay influenced my decision? "Do you remember when you were a junior in high school?" Dad questioned. "Yes, of course. Why do you ask?" I inquired. 9 10 GOD'S CALLING: A MISSIONARY AUTOBIOGRAPHY "Well, if you left right now, it would be that many years in the future before we would see you again," Daddy explained. Then he added, "For years your mother and I have worked and sacrificed to try to help you get the best education pos- sible. Now you want to take it and throw it all away!" This conversation, highly condensed though it is, took place in the family room of our home in Tifton, Georgia, Christmas night, 1945. Thirteen days earlier at a Missionary Day service in the chapel of The Southern Baptist Theological Semi- nary, Louisville, Kentucky, responding to what I believed to be God's call, I had surrendered my life to the Lord for missionary service, Overflowing with joy, I had wanted to write my parents about the decision right away but had decided to wait until the Christmas holidays and tell them personally. I had strong reasons for believing that Mother and Daddy would understand. They were both Christians. I had first learned of Christ from them. Dad had long been a teacher of the men's Bible class. He had taught many lessons on mis- sions. For many years Mother had been a member of the Woman's Missionary Society of the First Baptist Church. She had often studied about missions. But they didn't understand. From about 7:30 in the evening until after midnight, alternating crying and scolding, they tried to turn me aside from what I felt God was calling me to do. The next day, and the next day after that, and until I returned to the seminary, they kept pounding me: "You're not going to be a missionary, are you? You're not going to Japan, are you?" Mother and Daddy both believed in missions, but not for their son! Here was a clash of wills. Was it simply my will against theirs, or was there a higher will involved? When accused of being stubborn and strong-willed, I have always been able to answer, "I come by it naturally." Certainly my dad was a strong-willed person. This is illustrated by an incident that occurred January 10, 1966, about three years before his death at seventy. A huge man in his mid-forties had entered the president's office of the Bank of Alapaha, purportedly to talk with Daddy about some land. After a brief conversa- tion the man left, and Daddy returned to his work at the typewriter, where he was preparing some papers for the stockholders' meeting the next day. A few seconds later he felt a tap on the shoulder and turned around to find himself look- ing down the barrel of a pistol. "Get up from there," the man ordered sternly. "I'll kill you!" Recalling in a flash two previous occasions when attempts to rob the bank had been foiled, Daddy determined that this one also must be thwarted. He got up from his chair and moved toward the gunman as if to comply with his demand. 1 HOW IT ALL BEGAN 1 Then shouting, "You're not going to shoot anybody," Daddy lunged for him and tried to take his gun away. The gunman threw him to the floor in a second and then slammed the door as he dashed out of the bank. Hearing the commotion, Charlie Matthews, vice-president and Dad's assistant in the bank for over thirty years, grabbed a revolver from behind the counter and chased the gunman out to his car, where a gun battle ensued. Several shots were exchanged. One of them grazed Charlie's head and dropped him to the ground. The gunman raced his motor and sped away. A few minutes later Charlie was rushed to the hospital in Tifton. Fortunately, the wound was only superficial. Mugshots supplied by the state patrol enabled Daddy to identify the gunman as Jesse James Roberts, a south Georgia man wanted by the FBI for bank and post- office robberies in several states. Like the infamous bank robber for whom he was named, he had turned to a life of crime. Less than an hour before this, he had stolen over $38,000 from the nearby Bank of Lenox and made a successful get- away. But he had pushed his luck too far. His abandoned car was found a few days later in a swamp near Alapaha. The rear window and three side windows were shot out. Some time later Roberts was apprehended in Mexico and brought back for trial. My brother and I told Daddy what a foolish thing he had done. "Life is of more value than money, and besides, the money was insured," we said. A 67-year-old man weighing no more than 180 pounds was hardly a match for a 6 foot-4 inch, 240-pound giant, twenty-three years his junior.

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