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Mian "Even so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." NUMBER 15 Shizuoka-Shi, Japan. DECEMBER 1954 Editorial Staff Nettie Lee Ewing, Richard F. Baggett, William L. Carrell ON A SIX MONTH'S LEAVE FROM JAPAN Brother and sister William L. Carrell and their two children, Srevie and Joyce Ann, are to sail away to their • native cojntry, our beloved United States, on October 25 We will miss them very much indeed for they have been lively missionaries, and most loving and co-operative with I all the workers in localities other than their own chosen place of work, which is Uenohara, Yamanashi-Ken. It is good that they plan to be away from this field for only six months, for we need this type of couple whose hearts are v/ am --f already so wrapped up with love for the work here, that 1 -^JK ""-." •-- J , .: 11 fc. * i *> lyi they wish to call it "Home." The picture to the left presents them as they were seen shortly before their departure. UENOHARA CHURCH OF CHRIST Wm. L. Carrell As we drove through Uenohara on August 15, our first day in Japan, we noticed small fires kindled along the road in front of all the houses. It was the annual pagan festival ot "Obon," in honor of the dead, and the fires were to guide the spirits of the dead back to their homes. We had no idea then that in the Lord's plan we would shortly be coming to this town to make our home and to establish a church. We had come to Japan intending to live in Otsuki and to work with brother and sister Edward Brown there. But only two months later we began teaching the Bible in Uenohara. At that time there was only one Christian in this town, sister Masako Hosoda. She asked us to hold a Bible class in her home. With no knowledge of r Japanese, I began teaching. Every English sentence was translated by an interpreter, brother Kazuo Hagiwara. The first night of our meeting, Mrs. Kato requested a children's class to be started in her home. Eventually the attendance in that class worked up to over 300. A little later Mrs. Sato began attending the class from a village about two miles from Uenohara, and she asked us to begin a Bible class in her home. By April 1951 six persons had been baptized and we also began meeting for Sunday worship services. This made four times each week we were driving from Otsuki to teach in Uenohara. Up to this time we had not yet considered building in Uenohara, although they had asked us to do so. But about this time Mr. Nara from Uenohara came to Otsuki offering the gift of a large track of land for the purpose of building a church. He told us that he had known a missionary some forty years ago, and he hoped the people of this town might learn about Christianity. Through his generosity and the kindness and zeal of those whom we met in Uenohara we were persuaded to change our plans and move to this town. During our first year in Japan we baptized 36 people in Uenohara. By the contribu- tions of brethren in America a building was constructed with four classrooms at the side which have served as our living quarters. Several gospel meetings with both Japanese and American brethren preaching have strengthened the congregation very much, and over 100 people have been baptized. Among the faithful ones we have many zealous and hardworking Christians who have endeared themselves to us, and we believe to the Lord also. Of course we have made mistakes in the work, but through the grace of God the church has continued to grow. At all times we have felt the guiding hand of God. Often times we were disappointed to see our plans fail, only to rejoice later when we saw that God had worked things out much better than we had anticipated. Trusting in him, we believe that the Uenohara church can continue to grow and prosper. MEET TWO OF OUR MEMBERS Wm. L. Carrel . In the picture are two members of the Uenohara church who have been a real inspiration to all of us. Sister Kato (right) encouraged us to move to Uenohara. She invited us to teach a children's class in her home. She and her husband, both doctors, moved the furniture from their office, including hospital bed and medical equipment in order that we might have space for the children to assemble. She organized them into three classes of 100 each and kept records of their attendance. She is like a dear mother to the copied my lessons verbatim, and at young people of the church and many her own expense she printed them come to her with their problems. and distributed them to her friends. Sister Sato (left) is not now Through her efforts three of her living in Uenohara. But in the years jfts daughters and several of her friends she was with us, you could count became Christians. She was sometimes the times she missed a service on ridiculed for her zeal and faithful- the fingers of one hand. If she had ness, and even ostracized by some of to be absent her daughter took notes her neighbors, but she always remain- on the sermon for her. She always ed faithful to the Church. THE CHURCH IN NAGOYA Kiyoshi Maeda One of the six great cities of Japan, which has over a million population, situated in the central part of Japan, and the center of the light industries, particularly textile weaving and china manufacturing, is Nagoya. it takes nearly five hours from Shizuoka and ten hours from Tokyo to reach Nagoya by local train. You will be surprised to hear that there was none of the Church of Christ in this large city until recent months. But you should know this doesn't mean that Nagoya has been neglected and without labors of a few who have strived to teach the gospel there. Miss Ewing with some of the teachers among us in Shizuoka put her hand to the plow two years ago, and since then our laboring in this field has continued on with Sunday schools and Bible classes, and is still going on. Sometimes the soil seemed too hard to sow the seed of the gospel, so it was many weary trips to Nagoya. "Wherefore, we faint not," as it is the Lord's will to, "preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season." I do believe however, that without the support it of some 17 members of U. S. Army brethren of Iwakuni which has been most liberal and steady, both spiritually and financially, would have been next to impossible to have done this work. September 19, 1954 is the commemorative day for the Church to open in Nagoya, where our evangelistic meeting was held for the first time from Sept. 13 to 17. For five days it was held under bad typhoon weather. Brother Saito of Mito, Ibaraki prefecture, was tha preacher of this meeting and several brethren of Shizuoka co-operated to make the meeting a success. As the result of brother Saito's efforts one sister obeyed the gospel and was baptized on a stormy evening as a first fruit of two years labor. We have young brother Hagiya located in Nagoya as a teacher of children and young people's classes; also three of Shizuoka young ladies of the church have moved to Nagoya. thus making five Japanese members there now. A few days before this meeting we were contacted by the G. I. members of the church meeting in the American Village there, which was a great joy and encouragement to us. On the next Sunday after the meeting the Americans and Japanese members began worship together in a rented room of a public building. It was an impressive service to us because we had been waiting for this day two years and Miss Ewing and some of us in Shizuoka had labored to come to this day of harvest. Now the Church of Christ is in Nagoya, the third largest city of Japan and the center of this country. The Americans and Japanese have separate Bible classes in their respective languages but have joint worship in both languages. We pray that the church will grow soundly and the souls to be saved will be added day by day. We appreciate very much the outstanding influence and support of Iwakuni brethren and we know it will be well remembered by our Lord Jesus Christ. "Now he that planteth and he that waterth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." How to Contact For Lord's Day Worship in Nagoya For finding the place of worship in Nagoya, you may call Mrs. Charles E. Carlisle, whose telephone number is 45-521. The present place of worship is on the 2nd floor of the Educational Hall, located one-half block north of the corner of 1st Avenue and, 3rd Street W. We ask all readers of the Japanese Christian to pass this information on to any members of the Church whom you may know in Japan. By chance they may be transferred to the Nagoya area, or may be passing through on the Lord's Day. PROVERB IT'S THE FOOD BUDDHIST APHORISM : Richard F.

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