Pratt Mark Lynn 1985 Japan

8/20/2019 Pratt Mark Lynn 1985 Japan

1/11

Japan

Address

340-5 Negishi

Machida

City

Tokyo 194 JAPAN

Ph 0427 91 4600

CAMPUS MINISTRY

Central Japan Christian Mission

Supported by

î ristian churches/churches

of

Christ

Forwarding Address

Rick Lydia Coyle

3357

Tallahassee

Cincinnati

OH

45239

Ph 513 385 9247

Volume 11 February

1985

Dear friends,

M A R

1 S

9 8 5

Christmas news -- We had hoped to have

our

outdoor nativity scene again

this

year. But

there

weren't enough people

who

were free

to

help with

it,

so we

had to give

up

that

idea.

We

did,

however,

manage several other small project

at Christmas

time.

Yuriko is Karis's piano

teacher.

She also plays piano

here

twice

a month.

She wanted to have a

Christmas

party for all her students. Could she use our

building

and would

I tell the Christmas story to

the

students? She

could

and

I would. About 17

kids

were

present

for this party. The church gave each

one

a

little packet containing

a

Christmas tract,

pencil,

bookmark with

a

Scripture

verse,

etc.

The Kitagawa family has

„

•

b e e n

a t t e n d i n g h

me to wear on

this oc

casion.

I

told

the

Kitagawa seated L)

Christmas story to and his adult students

about 50 children then.

Mr.

Kitagawa

seated

L)

and his adult students

T h e c h u r c h

p u r c h a s e d 2 0

c h i l d r e n s B i b l e s t o r y b o o k s . T h e s e

w e r e

g i v e n a s

gifts to the

church

children and to the

neighbor

children who are friends of

our family.

We

eliminated

our

gift

exchange this

year.

Instead, w e p u t the money

w e

would have spent into a special Christmas offering.

We added to

this

from

t h e g e n e r a l f u n d a n d s e n t C h r i s t m a s o f f e r i n g s t o : O s a k a

B i b l e S e m i n a r y ,

°

(Bibles

to

China),

Japan D eaf

School,

and Food

for

the Hungry

Ethiopia) ^

Something w e repeated from last y e a r

was

the

church

sukiyaki

party

after the

w o r s h i p h o u r o n C h r i s t m a s

S u n d a y .

T h i s

i s

a

l o t

o f w o r k .

M r s .

H a t a c h o p p e d

Hasumi brought a special cook-

i n g t a b l e

a n d

all k i n d s o f p a r a p h e r n a l i a t o m a k e e v e r y t h i n g just right

W e

had.'17

for

this

meeting.

z f J ^

i - x y x i u .

we


2/11

It

was

decided to

have a candle

service

on

Christinas

Eve, and

we went

all

out in

preparation.

The

400 Christian

newspapers we distributed had

inserts

announcing

the

service.

Other

contacts

were notified

by mail

and

phone.

Christmas

Eve

day was spent

in

decorating and final

plans. The program

con

sisted of

carols, Scriptures, and

a

short slide

program of

the Christmas

story.

Refreshments followed. All

30

in attendance

received

a packet of the

tracts,

pencil, bookmarks,

etc.

Most

of those who

came were new people.

We always get

tickled

at ourselv es for [ t h e way w e eat at Christmas and New

Year's here. We had sukiyaki

at

church

but

shared a roast beef and mashed

potatoes dinner

with

the Hasebe family. (The

roast beef was

our gift

from

the kids' school teacher.

For

New

Year's

Day lunch we ate

traditional

Japanese

food: rice

cakes with

seaweed

and lots

of mandarin

oranges. But

that night we

had the

T a k a g a k i

family

over for a

Western meal i n c l u d i n g

Kentucky corn pudding and Bluegrass buttermilk biscuits

Kids' c hurch -- We

continue

to have k i d j s ' church every Sunday during

the

worship hour. We have had up

to

10 chi ldren

i n

attendance. Lynn

i s i n c harge.

Penny has been busy helping to prepare l essons and now teaches

the

c l a s s

once

a

month.

W e

are really thankf ul fob Penny's help; wi thout this break,

Lynn

would

never get to

participate

in the adult

worship ser v i c e. Penn y and

Lynn

must make preparation to teach in

[Japanese;

but if

only

our kids and

the Hasebe

k i d s are present, the class

L L s

taught i n English.

Adult Sunday

s chool

— e have

begun

a n i

adult

Bible study time on Sunday

mornings before

the

worship hour.

W e

have been through

a

Bible survey

and

are now f i n ishin g up

a

quarter on basic theolog y. Penny , Lynn, and I wi l l

take

turns

teaching. (At lea st, that is our

present plan.)

It

was our hope

to prepare "courses" that

could be

used

over

and over

again throughout

the

com ing years. Unfortunately , so far there hasn't been m u ch interest. In

fact,

many mornings there

is

no one present

except Penny , Lynn

and

me.

One

thing's

for

sure: W E are certainly enjoying

the

study tim e together. And,

going through

the

cl ass for

the

first

time

without much

of

an audience g ives

us opportunity

to get the kin ks

out of the material

before

using it again

another

year.

The

lack of

interest,

though, is

disappointing; especial ly,

since

some of

our

people were the

ones

Who

said we

needed more

Bible

study

tim e. Perhaps

we'll have

to

arrange f o r i

a different

time

or

something.

Three

of

our girls (Mari, Mariko, and Satori) w i l l be moving their m em

bership to another church, I don't

quite

know how to explain why, but

here goes: There were some things

that

were bothering

the

girl s. For

instance, why did we ask them to help with

the

church work instead of

Lynn doing it all

herself,

l i ke

a

good preacher's wife? Why did

I

sometimes

refer

to the

Shinto

shrine^ in my sermons-- isn't this looking

down

your nose

at the

Japanese? There were a number

of

related things

piling up in the

girls'

minds. But, since

we were

oblivious to any

trouble, we were just going along in our merry way. The trouble finall y

s i _ i i ; f a . c e d

in the form

of

a v erba l exp los ion. Of

course,

we were sho c ked.

We got together about 3 times after this initial c onfrontation. We

apologized where

we

could.

And we

asked

for

understanding in matters

w e

felt

they h a d

misjudged.

To make

^ long story

short, w e h a v e reached

a

better understanding with each other.

W e

have learned

a

lot But the

girls still

feel it

is best to leavep-not only because w e have been a

disappointment

to them , but

also

because in Japan it is

a

rather un-

forgiveable thing

to "correc t" one's

superior.

So,

while we feel

we

could "make up" and go

on,

the girls] feel it is best to leave.

The girls have by

no

means lost their

faith.

W e

don

t

want you

to

worry

about that. We are praying that they

can

find a

Bible-believing

c h u r c h that

w i l l b e

a real sourc e of streng th

an d

growth to them. As

for us, this trouble has led

us

to have some in-depth talk s with the

other members here to disc uss needed c h a n g e s , their expectations of

us

and vice versa.


3/11


4/11

Campus Ministry CJCM

—

984 Financ^L

Balance carried from 1983 ...

.

Income:

Rec d from church

groups

and

i n d i v i d ^ i a l s .

Interest received

U. S. tax refund

R e c d f r o m

Penny Boggs

al

Report -- (¥236= 1.00)

2863.00

Expenses;

R e c o r d e d contributions to churches i l i d charities

Pers onal exp ense (food,

cloth ing, mi^c).

Benefits:

Life

insurance

Health insurance

Medical expenses

267.81

1493.74

84.75

Payr o l l

t a x (Social Security) . .

Fees

f o r fund-raising

(p h o t o ,

d i s p l a ii j , adv)

Interest

paid

on loans

Occupancy:

Building insurance

Building repairs

Utilities:

Heat oil (kerosene) ....

Propane

gas

Water

Electric

4

4

Equipment

and equipment maintenance

Printing

and Postage:

Printing

Postage

42.02

103.39

78.60

221.44

199.62

1131.72

460.60

837.86

Tel e p hone

Of f I ce s u p p l i e s

(paper, envelopes,

ec

Travel:

Gasoline

Required car inspection

&

insuranc

Car

tax

Maintenance

& repair

c

Evangelism

(tapes, books,

tracts,

etc

Education:

Convention, camp, etc

Kids*

school

Gov't fees and taxes:

Passport

& visa

expense

Land

loan repayments

. . .

Personal loan repayment

Bank charges

Balance

on hand

12/31/84

Feel free to

question

us

about anythin

q

Sincerely yours--and

His,

451.78

3218.01

35503.39

85.54

461.31

336.13

3554.15

10706.64

1846.30

3235.46

102.25

1213.98

674.66

255.34

177.54

215.25

2576.79

1230.51

1298.46

1745.51

147.47

1322.79

633.44

3669.79

86.82

3389.85

210.24

129.24

in

this

report.

39249.37

37099.69

2149.68


5/11

/3 ^

Japan Address

340-5 Negishi

Machida City

Tokyo 194 JAPAN

Ph

0427-91-4600

CAMPUS MINISTRY

Central Japan Christian Mission

Supported by

iChristian

churches/churches of

Christ

Forwarding Address

Rick

&

Lydia Coyle

3357 Tallahassee

Cincinnati OH 45239

Ph 513-385-9247

Volume 11

May

1985

Dear friends,

Lynn's folks were here for approximately

six

weeks. They were able

to

celebrate Karis's,

Clinton's, and my birthdays with

us; attended

Karis's

piano recital

(Granny even

performed

"Twelfth

Street

Rag"

in

the

middle of all

that

Bach and Beethoven ); and got to

see the cherry

blossoms. In

addition to

the

fun.

Granny

and

Papa helped us

with some

much-needed

improve-

inehtrs

on th e~tJux ldiiTg and yard.

-

i

The

grandma

next

door had

been in the

hospital

for

three weeks. We knew

it

was serious and

had been worried

about

her.

One

morning we

were

relieved to look out our window and see

the

grandma being brought

home. Our relief

soon

turned

to shock,

though, as we realized

it

was

her

body being brought home for

the

funeral.

Visitation, the wake, and the

funeral

all take

place

at

the

home,

so there

is much bustling

around. We

joined in with

the

other neighbors

helping as we could; parking arrangements, set

ting up tables, etc.,

preparing

food.

On

the

third

day, the family

and

other "mourners" all

stood

outside

for the final "send-off,"

when

the coffin is loaded into the hearse and taken

to

the crematory.

The family seemed to take

some comfort from one of the men in charge, who

remarked, "We can be assured that she

has

now

safely arrived in that other world."

We person

ally didn't feel any assurance. The absence of

-the

victory

that accompanies-

Christian death

made

this

a depressing experience indeed. And

the burden we daily

feel for

these people was

intensified

on this

occasion.

Some interesting

funeral

customs:

The

"mourners"

give cash gifts of

condolence.

You

would think

these

could be used to

defer the

high funeral costs. But it doesn't quite work

like that. The bereaved family gives a return

gift

to everyone

who contributes.

In

the case

of

the family next door,

this

gift consisted

of

a blanket,

a bottle

of rice wine,

and a

small

packet containing a handkerchief and a tiny

envelope

of

salt.

(The

salt

is to

be

sprinkled

over oneself before entering one's home, an act

of purification from being in

the

presence of

death.)

The priest may receive

about

$3,000 for his

services. These include

his

chanting over

the

altar decorations from

funeral

next door

Cason

invites

all his

friends to

church

school


6/11

deceased and

also the

choosing

of a

ne

Rented altar decorations and hearse

depending

on how luxurious they are.

This term at Obirin, I am in charge of

sermon,

we are using three songs from a

for which we have produced an accompany

MEET

AND

PRAY

FOR:

Haruo-- a

graduate

Buddhist

name

for eternity,

can cost

from

$600

to

$8,000

or

more.

College,

Haruo

has been working as a b i j i t c h e r in a

supermarket

for

several

years

class regularl

e has attended my English-Bible

five chapel services. Instead of a

professional tape by THE MESSENGERS,

ing slide program.

of the English department

at

Obirin

y

for

3-4

years.

Re

cently

he has

shown

more interest in the Bible

part of

the study, asking ques

tions about one's life after becoming

a Christian.

Yuki— a high

school

sophomore who lives near us.

She

has no: attended church since she was a litt

girl. She came to our

worship

service a few Sundays ago and

said

she wants to

come back. Niizaki-- a

senior 4- Obirin

College

who is

wondering abou

truth and meaning in

life.

He is

beginning

to realize

that the

Bible may have

the answers, since he has

been greatly

tific accuracy.

We have wanted to have a children s Sun

here. But

we felt we could

not

take

on

no one

else to

lead it. Penny has now

ing it "church school" and are

having

i

Bible

stories,

crafts, songs, puppets.

The

first

three

weeks of church

school

T h e M a c h i d a C h u r c h i s p a y i n g t h e e x p e n

full credit for carrying this responsifc)

.mpressed by

its

historic and scien-

lay school ever since the church start

:his extra

job

personally; and there w

idded this to her schedule. We are cal

on Tuesday afternoons. Penny is usin

i n d

English

in this one-hour session,

jaw 14 different children in attendanc

IS,

Karis is assisting--but Penny gets

lity.

ATTENTION: MISSIONS CHAIRMEN

it i s

suggeste d t h a t t h i s c h a r t o f s t a -

t i ; L s t i c s b e k e p t a s o u r r e p o r t f o r

upcom-

i l i i mission fairs and rallies.

CHURCH:

Adult Bible study -- 4 attending

r

Wor ship

--

a v e r a g i n g

15

in a t t e n d a r

Newly

begun:

Church

school

—

veraging

7

in

Re g u l a r b u s i n e s s a n d d i s c u s s i o n

Distributing 400 Christian news

CAMPUS WORK:

C o l l e g e Bible s e m i n a r -- t a u g h t i n

no Christians

Fellowship Hour

—

tten dan ce was p

those was

baptized at a

church p

several new students are attend

Chapel on campus

—

lead

5

servit

2300

FINANCES:

A

c o u p l e

of

c h u r c h e s

ha v e i ncr e a s e d

you very much ); but total support

qgularly

ce

attendance

after 3

weeks

meetings

papers monthly

i n

commun ity

Japanese, 95

enrolled

in April,

own to 2 or 3 regulars. But

one of

ear his home recently. As of April

ng

es

quarterly; total attendance of

support

in the

last year (Thank

was down.

Most of our

r egula r

expenses for

th is

year are a nticipa ted

t o b e

about

the

same

as

last

(including

land payments). However,

the

k i d s' school costs w i l l go up.

The

b oy s w i l l c o n t i n u e

w i th

c o r r e

spondence;

Karis

enrolling

at

Zama

school).

Last

year's

cost:

32001;

Middle School (U.S. military base

this year's will be $6600.

Sincerely yours and His

--


7/11

v

CO

Po - ru no Te- arni

(Paul's Epistle)

CENTRAL

JAPAN

CHRISTIAN MISSION INC.

T h e

p e o p l e w h i c h

s a t i n d a r k n e s s

s a w

g r e a t l i g h t ; . . .

M a t t .

l ^ . S . Address

Mrs. Mary Lou

Bauer

2^0

West Elbert St.,

Indianapolis, Indiana,

^621?

Tel. (317)

787-6755

Japan

Address

Mr. Mrs. Paul S. Pratt

1210

Kamikasuya,

Isehara City,

Kanagawa

Ken, 259-11, J ap an

Tel. (0^463) 95-1019

Cam pus Ministry (U.S. Address)

c/o Mr. & Mrs.

Rick

Coyle

335V

Tallahassee Dr.

,

Cincinnati, Ohio,

^5239

Tel. (513)385-92^47

Vol. XXIX, No. 2, Summer, 1'

Dear friends.

As y o u k n o w

b y

now, K A T H L E E N a n d T

w e r e

a b l e t o s p e n d

s e v e n

w e e k s of

o u r

Obirin C o l l e g e

s p r i n g

b r e a k in t h e U . S . I t

w a s

a j o y t o s p e n d

a

w e e k

w i t h

M A K Y J O Y C E

a n d

t o m e e t S T E V E

S

family before

t h e

wedding.

Our

family was well-represented at

t h e

wedding. M / i K Y LOU and

HARRY BAUER,

m y

sister,

CATHERINE

and CHARLES RUSSELL,

m y

brother RALPH and ETHEL

PRATT, f el

low-missionaries,

STAN

A N D

MABEL B UTTRAY,

GEORGE

and

ARLYCE

WILLIAMS,

of Ba ngor, Mich, and

LAWRENCE and

I D A

MAE

KEPLER, of Glen Cove, N.Y. helped share in

t h e

big

event. It

goes

w i t h

o u t s a y i n g

w e w e r e

o v e r j o y e d t h a t P A U L D A V I D , L Y D I A a n d R I C K C O Y L E a l o n g

w i t h

S H A R A

A N D

L A U R E N

could a ttend. MARK and LYNN were lined up to

sing,

too, but their voices couldn't b e heard

t h a t f a r since t h e y r e m a i n e d

in

T o k y o .

^ . T E V E

M A R Y

J O Y C E SAWCH a r e

n o w

in their

o w n h o m e a

39 S e v e n t h St., L o c u s t V a l l e y , £.Y. I I 3 6 O , T e l .

3 1 6 - 6 7 6 - 7 ^ 1 0 .

F o l l o w i n g t h e w e d d i n g ,

w h e n g o o d - b y e s

w e r e b e i n g s a i d , S H A R A

( a g e

8) c o u l d n o t h o l d

b a c k

the

tears. All were leavi ng MARY

in

New

York. PAUL

DAVID was going

ba ck to Los Angeles, the

COYLES

to

Ohio and later

KATHLEEN and I to

Japan.

Sobbing, she voiced what

all of us felt .

Why

do

we

have

to go so far to see

the

ones we love?

Would you

believe that NAOAKI

ISHII,

(Christmas

Epistle, 1984)

visited MARY and

STEVE a t

their

home a

little over

a month

after

we

left N.Y, He

had

been sent b y

Tokai

University to

a bi ology lab oratory

a t

Cold

Spring Harbor

which

i s just about ten minutes

from

Locust Valley.

On

the

same

trip

he was

sent, of all

places,

to Notre

Dame where

HAROLD

and NEOMIA AKERS were

able

to visit

him.

Congratulations are

in order

for NAOAKI

since

he will receive

his

Doctor

of Medical Science degree i n Septem ber.

While

we

were

Stateside,

three

families at Sannobara

(Isehara) called

on MARK

to have

a

bri ef Resurrection Day service

a t

each

of

their f a mily graves. Thus

i n

a

respectful

way,

the

Christians

were able

to witness to family

members, some for

the

first

time, that

Christ has

bee n raised from the dead, the f ir st

fruits

of those who are

asleep .

(J

Cor. 1^:20)

There is

joy

i n

the presence of

the

angels of G od...

Miss

KIYOKO

HARA

was

baptized

into

Christ on June 2nd.

She is

a high school

sophomore, the

daughter of

Christian parents

servin

with us.

She

and

her sister sing and

play the

synthesizer

and

are

pr act icin g with the

ISHIIS

toward having

a

singing

group

from

our

church. Pray for her and for these plans.

Flying Carp

-

Boys Day,

May

5th

KIYOKO

HARA,

Baptized

June 2, I985


8/11

The

Sannobara

Church

has

been

growing in various ways. There are more workers, more pros

and there

is a

hunger

for

Bible study and Christian

fellowship. Both

an

adult Sunday

and a

monthly home meeting have begun

by popular

demand.

One of

the

two S.S. classes is

procpects. Thursday's

Ladies

Meeting is going

well.

Following

Mrs.

COLE'S Marriage Semina

studying about Mothers

i n the Bible

and

are

reviewing

J'MES

DOBSON'S

book, Dare To

With

three

or more small

children

jbining

their

mothers it

becomes necessary

at

to put into practice some

of

the methods of discipline they have learned on the

spot.

We

enjoying the

revival

of our Saturday

Night

Y o l u t h

Meetings,

too.

The Lord Reigns

by Vivian

Lemmon

Who dares

to

say there is

no

God,

No Master of the earth or sea;

No loving friend who gives to us

Life

and love

and liberty?

Who

dares deny His majesty.

Who

rules

the kingdoms of the earth;

Knows the

emotions

of each

heart.

And

gives to each

its own

true

worth?

Look up Away from petty self—

Off

yonder

to those shining peaks.

They rise above the

storm

and cloud,

They

face

toward

heaven, as one who seeks

To

know His will, and

then

to stand

Through years to come, as they have stood

In ages past, mutely to worship

Their

Maker, God.

A. Christian Coffee

Shop

in Manhatten

Copied from

Gleam

of

Dawn,..Light

of Day

Our

experience showed us people

who

N̂.Y.

and are helpful to total

strangers.

We shal

return. Some special people

live

there.

It is

better

to go to

the

house of mourning, than to go to

the house

of feasting:... Ecc-

7:2

Yukio

Goto's father's

funeral w as

a blessing t o many.

Several

heard

the g ospel

the first

time,

the

church

w as able to'w eep

with

those

who

weep' and

thus see

the servi ce

a

means of

'ministering'

for the Lord's

sake,

purely

this

is part of the meaning of

wise

ol

words.

Pray we will

have

still

more results

through o u r

upcoming summer

of

three Christian

Camps,

visit

with the

San Jose (Calif.)

Bible College

team and

Vacation Bible

School.

Pray,

too, fo

d a n d L o i s

S i m s

w h o w i ll b e l e a d i n g a g r o u p o | f J a p a n e s e

C h r i s t i a n s

i n a t o u r

o f

t h e

U . S .

-

-.1

r-'

Japan Christian

Mi ss i on

Inc.

1919^ Helen St.,

South

Bend,

Indiana,

^6637

for;

N.A.C.C. at

Anaheim, Ca. July

9-12

All-Japan Convention

(Eng.) July 22-24

Japanese) 4-26

37th Nat. Missionary Convention

in

Orlando, Fla.

Sept.

25-28

Address

Correction Requested

BULK RATE

U.S. Postage

P ID

Non-Profit

Org

South

Bend,

In

Permit U 316

MISSION

SERVICES

BOX 2427

KNQXVILLE

RESEARCH

TN

DEPT)

37901


9/11

CAMPUS MINISTRY--Central Japan Christian Mission

Mark and Lynn Pratt

Supported

by

Christian

churches/churches of Christ

Japan Address Forwarding Address

340-5 Negishi Rick and Lydia Coyle

Machida City 3357 Tallahassee

Tokyo 194, JAPAN Cincinnati, OH 45239

Ph 0427 91 4600

Ph 513 385 9247

V o l u m e 11 September 1985 f lM

Dear friends,

The

first week of

August

Harold

Sims and

I were

co-deans

for

the Homework-English-Music

Camp.

I was in

charge

of

the English-Music part.

My

responsibilities

were

lightened

tremendously by the help of a group of interns who were visiting from

San

Jose Bible

College.

You're probably wondering

what a Homework

Camp

is.

Well, the summer

is in

the middle

of

the Japanese

school

year which starts

in

April; so all the

students receive

tons

of

assignments

for

t h e

su m m e r vacation. In the past many students

who wante d

to

go

to camp

couldn't because of the

homework.

Last year one of our

Japanese preachers came

up

with

the

idea of having

qualified

tutors to

lead a

supervised study

time

at camp. And so

t he

first Homework

Camp

was

born.

It was

successful

again this year as there vjere over

50

campers in one

of

our biggest camps ever. We had

study

time in the mornir.g (including

English-Bible); sports in the afternoon; and vespers,

singing,

games and Bible dramas

at night,

Karis invite d a

new

friend Yuko, and

Yuko

in turn Invite d her friend. It was

their

first

contact

with t he Gospe l.

Yut:o v ; a s really int e r es t ed and

stayed up

till 2 a.m. one night

talking

with Mami

(Machida me mb er ). The last night of

cam p

Dave Cole

baptized a gir l

who was one of his contacts.

We are now

back

in

the States to discuss the new policies that our mission trustees are

adopting.

There were just too

many aspects involved

to

discuss by mail.

Since the

re

turn was necessary, it seemed that the end

of

the summer would b e

a

good time, since

we could get the kids

star t ed

right

in on

t h e

new school year. For

t h e

time being,

we

are staying

with Lynn s siste r s

family (M/M

Rick Houp) in Orm^ille,

OH,

I m g o n e

I ve l i n e d up d i f f e r e n t m e n t o

c a r r y on t h e

p r e a c h i n g

r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s

at Machida. Penny Boggs, who helps us

a lot,

has recently

had

minor surgery, but

is

recovering just fine. She

will continue

with her Tuesday afternoon

Sunday

school,

high school English-Bible

class,

and keep children's worship going in Lynn's

absence.

Please

continue to pray for the

church

work

and the students at

Obirin College.

Sincerely yours—and His,


10/11

MINISTKY—CENTH L J P N

CURISTX N MISSION

Mark and Lynn Pratt


11/11

WHAT ABOUT YOU

CONTRIBUTORS?

Having resigned as missionaries, we, of course, cannot

go

on receiving mission

funds

in-

definitelye

Basically,

our brotherhood policy

has been to

continue

to list the

returned

family as

missionaries in

the

i'dlSSIONAHY DIRECTORY

for

one

year after

return. Likewise,

the supporting churches continue their support for one full

year while

the

missionary

gets

relocated

and

reestablished.

In our case, we have put

virtually

everything into the

work

in Japan.

We have

not taken

out

any

sort

of

personal

savings or benefits. Our

personal

ef

ects in

Japan have been

sold

at

a total

income

of $2,000.

We

have no

home, no

car,

no

job.

n addition,

we

had to

take

out a personal loan for

$6,000

to

bring ourselves

home.

Here is what we

propose;

1.

We plan

to

have

all

the

mission business

wrapped

up, so our

resignation

can be effective

on December

31» 1985.

2. For

6 onths —

ROM JANUARY TJIHOUGH

JUNE

1986

— our

continued

support

will help us

get

on

our

feet and will partially r eimburse us for personal

fiinds we had to

use

to

cover mission expenses.

As you think about

using these funds

to

support another missionary

after June

1986, may

we

ask

that

you consider Geof and Sarah Acker:

Introducing

Geof

and Sarah Acker

Geof grew

up in

the Niagara

Falls area.

He

has had

experience

in the

local ministry, home

missions, and mission

work

in Austria.

Sarah,

daughter of

missionaries

(M/M

Don Burney),

grew

up in

Japan. Sarah

has

served as

substitute

for

4

Japan

missionaries during their

furloughs. Both G eof

and Sarah went

to

Christian colleges. They

have

been

Bi ble teachers,

youth sponsors,

have helped

with music

and

shepherding.

With

these abilities

plus a strong

desire

to

work in Japan, it' s no wonder that Geof and

Sarah

have received numerous

letters

from the missionary community, hoping to hasten their

arrival

in Japan

Geof

and

Sarah

have

been

eager

to

go

to

Japan

for

some time, but they have not been able

to

raise

support.

The

rest

of our proposal is:

3. Please

contact

Geof and

Sarah IMM EDIAT ELY

to arrange

for

them

to present a

program at your

church.

4. From

July

I986

on,

you contributors

woUld tr ansfer

your support to them.

The loss

of

our family as Japan missionaries can

be

recovered by

the

sending

of

Geof

and

Sarah. Your

sharing

with them,

as you have with

us,

will

give

you the

opportunity

of

con

tinuing to

help

Japan evangelism. T here is still so much work to be done there.

So

we

ask

you to prayerfully consider

our

proposal. We would be glad to

talk

with you further

about

this

by phone.

Most

of you

have

been with

us as

partners

for the full

10

years.

Thank you

so

much

for your

contribution

to worldwide

evangelism. Special thanks

to Rick and

Lydia

Coyle for their outstanding work as

forwarding secretary.

"We have spoken freely

to you...and

opened

wide

our

hearts to you"

(2 Cor. 6:11 ).

"And

this

is

my prayer: that your love may

abound

more

and

more in knowledge and

depth

of insight, so

that

y o u

may

b e

a b l e

to

d i s c e r n

what

is

best" (Phil,

: 9 »

10).

We

encourage you

to

contact Geof and

Sarah

at:

Acker Mission to Japan

914 E Jefferson

Pana .IL 62557

PH

217-562-2202

Sincerely

yours—and

His,

Mark and

Lynn Pratt

6 E Oak

Orrville (home of Smucker's

jam

OH 44667

PH

216-684-1040

Pratt Mark Lynn 1985 Japan

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