Courtney Barbara 1974 Japan

8/12/2019 Courtney Barbara 1974 Japan

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D e a r Friends in hr is t

J a n u a r y 1974 V LO I mTH VOU ALUIAVS

B a rb ar a C o ur tn ey1 0 7 6 IsobeSowa M a c h i I b a r a k i KenJ a p a n 3 0 6 - 0 2r e w a r d i n g Agent :Mrs . E d i t h C o u r t n e y1 7 1 0 4 S . L a Salle A v e .G a r d e n a CA 9 0 2 4 7

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I m s u r e you a l l recognize t h e S c ri p tu r e p o rt io n I h av e c ho sen f o r ac ap tio n fo r t h i s l e t t e r . It i s one o f my f a v o r i t e s . This p a s t year has come tohave a very s p e c i a l meaning fo r me. 1973 was a year o f both t r iumph and t r i a l ;p r a i s e an d p r a y e r . Through it a l l t h i s p romise h as meant a g r e a t d e a l t o me.The Lord has indeed been very c l o s e t o me. He keeps His promises .

J a n u a r y saw me g e t t i n g r e a d y t o b e g i n c l a s s e s a g a i n a f t e r t h e l o n gwinter vacat ion. For the most p a r t it was a good month with th e except ion o f th et h r e a t o f a n o t h e r d o l l a r d e v a l u a t i o n which had us a l l concerned. Kagiwada-sanand I began t o d is c us s t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f me moving t o Sowa i n o r d e r t o be o fmore h e l p i n t h e new work t h e r e .

F e b r u a r y was f u l l o f changes i n my f u t u r e . Kagiwada -s an f ou nd t h a t anapar tment house n e a r her in Sowa was soon t o be ready f o r occupants . We begant o p r a y t h a t if t h e Lord w an ted me t o make t h i s move. He would somehow show u sHis w i l l . About that- t ime the d o l l a r was devalued again. At f i r s t I f e l t t h a tmaybe t h i s was an i n d i c a t i o n t h a t I should s t a y in Sakai. However we were informed t h a t t h e r e n t f o r t h e new apartment was t o be l e s s than what I had beenp a y i n g . We t o o k it a s o f t h e L o r d t h a t I s h o u l d move.

I n March I made t h e move i n t o t h e new a p ar tm e n t w ith tKe h e l p o ff r i e n d s . We were able to g e t everything moved in one day. It was amazing whathad been accumula ted. While we moved everything ihbne day it took me s e v e r a l dayst o g e t s e t t l e d . P l e a s e be s u r e and n o t i c e t h e new a d d r e s s a t t h e t o p o f t h i sletter. ^

A p r i l saw new s c h e d u l e s s e t up. I have c o n t i n u e d t o work i n S a k a i a sI did before bu t now am spending more t ime a t the new k in de rg arte n a s w ell. Is p e n d tw o d a y s a week i n S a k a i a n d t h r e e i n Sowa. We a l s o s t a r t e d a c h i l d r e n smeet ing here on Saturday a f t e r n o o n . My schedule was expanded and many new opport u n i t i e s op ened up. We have a l s o s t a r t e d an a d d i t i o n a l E n g l i s h c l a s s f o r t h ek i n de rg a rt en g ra d u at es i n S a k a i . It meets once a week a f t e r s c h o o l .


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Jus t about a l l the people in t h i s area a re fanners . We are only about 15 k i lometers from Saka i bu t in many ways it i s ano the r world . Sakai i s a smal l townbu t t h i s area i s s t r i c t l y r u r a l . We a re busy sowing seeds fo r th e Lord, bu t itwi l l t ake t ime fo r them to bea r f r u i t . Please remember to p r ay fo r t h i s new work.

In Apr i l , one o f th e t eache r s at S ak ai a cc ep te d Chr i s t . For t h i s wea re r e a l l y p r a i s i ng th e Lord . Sh iga - san i s growing more and more in th e Ch r i s tian l i f e . It s a joy to see her as she walks dai ly with Chr i s t . She i s ea rnes t ly in p ra ye r now fo r her husband. Please jo in with her t ha t she may be ableto b r i ng him to th e Lord a s w el l .

May was th e t ime o f th e Mis s ion a ry Conven t io n . It was a t ime o f r i chfe l lowship and shar ing . Thanks to a l l o f you who made it poss ib le fo r me toattend

In June and Ju l y we were_busy wi th_p lans_ fo r the. .suinmerL_evangel ism.and-_camp work in Karuizawa. The work t h i s year was e spec i a l l y f r u i t f u l . Seve ra lcame to C hr is t as a r e s u l t o f camps, s t r e e t meet ings and cof f ee house evangel ismt h a t was done t h i s summer. The a t tendance a t th e ch i ld r en s meet ings dur ing th ef e s t i va l evangelism was higher than ever t h i s year . We had an average o f 40chi ldren each day dur ing t h a t week. It was my pr iv i lege to work espec ia l ly int h a t program t h i s yea r .

Augus t was very f r u i t f u l bu t it a l so had it s trials Kag iwada - san smo t h e r d i e d at that t im e . It was difficult f o r h e r a s h e r mothe r was n o t aChr i s t i an . Please pray fo r th e members o f th e f ami l ies o f Chr i s t i an s he re . Hei s not wi l l ing t h a t any should per i sh .

Augus t a l so b rough t me a blow from a r a t h e r unexpec ted sou r ce . Asmany, of - you know, ahoni- trf; fny inr-nmp from th e U.S. came from a non -p ro f i tfganization. In A ugust, was not i f ied tha t they had run out of funds andwould n^ J.o ng er be able t^^^ppor t me These things happen and I 'm sure theyd id the bes t th ey c ou ld , bu t never the les s it l e f t me with a ra the r se r ious problem. I had been saving money to use fo r my r e tu rn fa re to the S t a t e s bu t I hadnowhere nea r enough to f i n ance a trip home at t h a t t ime . In a dd i t i o n , I hadmade commitments here i n Sowa and Saka i u n t i l th e end o f March, 1974. Af t e rmuch p r aye r about what would be th e be s t t h ing to do , I f e l t I should s tay herea s long a s the Lord would a l low and a t le a s t t r y to keep my promises . So fa rHe-has- taken -care-of me very-wel l- ,- e ven down-to th e practica-1 deta i i r s o f l iv ing.

September and October saw a new au s t e r i t y program e s t a b l i s hed fo r me.In a way, it has been fun t ry ing to f ind new ways to c ut c orn ers . For one t h i ng ,I am l ea rn ing more abou t how to cook some o f th e s imple Japanese d i she s . I havealways l i ked them, bu t d i d n t know much about prepar ing them mysel f . Many o fth ese d is he s c a l l f o r a l o t o f vege t ab l e s w ith sm all amounts o f meat . These a rethen served over rice. ^Qnop^j^zina can be fun. I t has been for me I'm havinga good time and I'm pr^TB^ly eating better'balanced diet than I was before.Its been good fo r me.

November saw thp ove r th e energy c r i s i s . It has hit


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. . . . ? 0 1974- 3 -and I u s u a l l y have t o i n s i s t b ef o re th ey w i l l t a k e money f o r it They have'p romised t h a t I w i l l have kerosene a s long a s they have any to s e l l . The Lord,I'm sure,knew t h a t t h i s problem was coming and made provision f o r me. In addit i o n t o everything e l s e it only takes about h a l f as much t o heat t h i s a p a r tment as it d id t h e house I was i n l a s t y e a r . The Lord t r u l y has been with me,t a k i n g c a r e o f t h e s m a l l e s t d e t a i l s o f my life

I n November, d e s p i t e problems, we had reason f o r p r a i s e t o o . Ayoung woman t h a t had been a t t e n d i n g s e r v i c e s came t o C h r i s t . She i s a youngm a r r i e d woman i n h e r late t w e n t i e s . S h e h a s tw o s m a l l children P l e a s e remember h e r i n y o u r p r a y e r s .

Dec embe r was t h e month o f C h r i s t m a s programs. We were v e r y busy p r epar ing f o r th e hol idays. I t was a joy t o p r e s e n t the t r u e meaning o f Christmasto so many new people. We had f ive^^dijferent. programs 4A seven^All together, about 450 people attended these various programs. As ffie only organista v a i l a b l e I was j u s t a little busy b u t h ap pily s o. I enjoyed th e programs, buthave also enjoyed the vacation which followed them. I t was good to j u s t be s t i l lfor a while after s o m u c h excitement

Now we a r e i n t o January and I should l i k e t o s ha re w ith you some o f my^ an


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Gleanings Fb 13 78 W W

Miss Barbara Courtney re turned frommls^d^ work in Japan in May 1974 becauseof recurrent oolds and pneumonia severalt imes while in Japan. When she came homeshe was under a d o c t o r s c a r e f o r more thana year, her lungs were only operat ing a ts i x t y percent capacity. The doctor told hertha t she could not return to Japan. Barbarahas served three years as a secretary forMagnavox Beaearch Labratories. Since herhealth has improved she i s considering areturn to teaching for the I^a AngelesCity Schools. She requests your prayerst h a t God will guide her where He wantsher t o s e r v e Her address is* Miss BarbaraCourtney, I I l^ompei Apartments ^ 129,3635 West Artesia, Torrance, CA Check 4ip

Courtney Barbara 1974 Japan

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