Pratt Paul Kathleen 1959 Japan

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TEB

1853

7 i r ^ l (D

X

^

(Paul's Epistle)

Mr.

&rs.

Paul

S.Pratt

Missionaries

to

Kyushu, Japan

February 1 , 1959

Foreward Address

Mrs. Polly Wilkinson

23769 W dison Road

South Bend,

Indiana

Volume

I I I , No.1

Japan Address

79 Kamizono Cho,

Nishinomiya

Shi,

Hyogo Ken,

Japan

y

Paul's

English Bible

Class

a t Osaka^Dantal College

Dear Friends,

Christmas

and

New

Years

h o l i d a y s have come

and

gone. Though

the

commercial i n t e r e s t s t r y to push

g i v i n g

and S a n t a

G l a u s , s t i l l t h e 2 5 t h o f December s

n o t a n a t i o n a l

h o l i d a y

h e r e . The c h i l d r e n

a r e

o f f

from

s c h o o l but

b u s i n e s s

goes

on

as

u s u a l .

O f

c o u r s e ,

l e s s than

1^ f

Japan

i s C h r i s t i a n

i n

any s e n s e o f t h a t word

which

causes the

lack o f i n t e r e s t in

the

b i r t h of

C h r i s t . Our

Koyoen English Bible Class

i d

i t s best

to

present

the irth of

Christ

i n an outdoor

drama

on

the

23rd.

However,

a heavy

r a i n within two

hours

of

the

drama

discouraged some from

coming. Those who took

part (about 18 young people) were b l e s s e d

with

a

v i v i d

knowledge o f

what happened when God came

down i n

human

f l e s h . Only about four

of these young

people

are

C h r i s t i a n s .

Pray

f o r the others

to w i l l i n g l y

submit to His w i l l .

We

ere

hosts to

a l l

our

missionaries in

this

area

for

Christmas

dinner. The

Martin

Clarks,

the

Ray

Mings,

the George Beckmans,

Mrs.

Dittemore and

Janet

and Mrs. F u l t z

b l e s s e d us with t h e i r

p r e s e n c e . A l s o ,

we

were

happy to

have Don Ahlstrum

of

Mankato,

Minnesota

with us.

He

was discharged

fr om the

army

in

Germany

and i s touring the

world v i a s c o o t e r b i k e . He

has many n t e r e s t i n g experiences

to e l l .

We nvied

him

for his months v i s i t

to the holy

land.

New

Years i s quite

a

i f f e r e n t

holiday. The

s t , 2nd

and

3rd are l e g a l

holidays. Actually,

many take

o f f

for

the e n t i r e

week.

I t

was

necessary for us to buy bread for over t h i s period since

the

bakeries begin

making r i c e cakes instead. I t i s t h e i r

custom

to eat these over the new years

holiday.

We eceived many of

these

as

g i f t s .

The people v i s i t friends, feast and

drink

and

many i s i t the Shrines or Buddhist temples at

that time.

Of

course,

as

in

our

own country,

many

try to get the

s p i r i t

of

the

holiday

from

t i p p i n g

the

b o t t l e . The t o r e s t r u l y

cash

in

on

the s a l e of

g i f t packages

of v e g e t a b l e s ,

f r u i t s , canned

goods

and

every

thing imaginable.

By the way,

he

criticism of our December aul's Epistle ame

only from our friends

i n Japan.

Maybe that

s because

you couldn't t e l l

that the scripture

(John

3: 16) in

Japanese

was printed upside down.

All

I

had

to do in explaining to them was say, t was p r i n t e d in

U .

A. .

The

young

lad

pictured

at

the

l e f t i t F u j i t a .

He

ttends

Mr.

Clark's

English

B i b l e c l a s s . Though he j u s t became

a

C h r i s t i a n l a s t A p r i l , he

began

the

English Bible class

at the

Osaka

Dental

College where he

i s

a

student. Though he doesn't know English conversation

very

w e l l ,

s t i l l he found that as a means of interesting

h i s classmates

in Bible

study.

After

we

arrived,

we were

invited

to take over the class.

Rem



Words cannot e x p r e s s our tha nks to

a l l

o f you f o r t h e boxes o f used c l o t h

g i f t s , f o o d and remembrances o v e r t h e h o l i d a y s . We

o n ' t

n e e d t o e x p l a i n

you

who know u s about

what

we i d with t l i e food

and g i f t s .

We ere

on December 2 8 t h

o f a t r e m e n d o u s f i

r e

a t

K o n i y a , Kagoshima

d e s t r o y e d

1 , 7 0 0

homes and l e f t

7 , 0 0 0

h o m e l e s s .

However, we p u t y o u r

c l o t h i n g

along

with th at of

the church here

and

sent t

to h e l p

g i v e

a i d

some.

We

h a v e a church that meets t h e r e . The boxes of

toys

and

other

were u s e d

t o

m a k e t h e orphan

c h i l d r e n

a t Kanoya happy. Thanks a g a i n

a l l of you.

For on c e, I made out

ok e y

in car

dealing.

Maybe t h a t i s bec a use I did i t

by

proxy. Don Augenstine at the Mc Kin l ey Indian Mission, who

i d e d

us

our emb arkation

at S e a t t l e ,

s o l d the

* 5 5 Ply mou th for ?100 0.

T h e n , Mark

p i c k e d u p a

'52

C h e v r o l e t C a r r y - a l l i n Kyushu f o r

4 0 0 .

That i s good

Japan,

even

a f t e r

the

1 5 0

overhaul

j o b .

This

c a r r y - a l l w i l l

prove

h e l p f u l i n

Kathleen's

vibra-harp. Already s l i e

h a s

helped Mrs. Dittemore

t a p e s

f o r

h e r r a d i o

b r o a d c a s t s

o v e r

t h e Kagoshima

s t a t i o n . Which r e m i n d s u s ,

t h i s

i s

a t r u l y

w o r t h y

She

h a s a 1 5

m i n u t e

s u s t a i n e d

b r o a d c a s t a t

8;

0 ( v e r y g o o d

t i m e )

e v e r y Sunday m o r n i n g .

I n

j u s t

ew months she

has

over

sevent y students

e n r o l l e d i n

correspondence

c o u r s e . Pray

for t h i s

broadcast a n d

i t

a n y

assistance you c a n ,

PLEASE PRAY

FOR

OUR VISA EXTENSION. At t h i s

writing

we

t i l l do

not know

about

whether

n o t o u r e x t e n s i o n f o r v i s a w i l l go t h r o u g h . On

o n e

h a n d , we r e e n c o u r a g e d b u t o n

t h e

o t h e r h a n d ,

i s

f o r

c e r t a i n . I f you remember, o u r

v i s a was

u s t f o r s i x months i n c e i t

was

t e m p o r a r y . I t e x p i r e s

9 t h .

Of

c o u r s e

we an

g e t

f u r t h e r

e x t e n s i o n

( i f

n e c e s s a r y )

t o g e t

t h i s s e t t l e d .

However,

we

want

for t h e limit of three years. That s t h e usual missionary s t a t u s .

Pau l &• Nakatoni

San

who

was

b a p t i z e d

S e p t. 24t h

—Our-8

i l n r

is -now

traveling among our l i v i n g - I i n k churches.

I t

should

b e a\âbTe7br

offieF

a f t e r March o r A p r i l . T h i s f i

l m

c o n t a i n s p i c t u r e s o f

our

s a i l i n g , o u r t r i p t o

Kyushu,

h e

c o n g r e g a t i o n

a baptism and our s c h o o l s . Correspondence

about

the f il m s h o u l d be w r i t e e n to

Robert

Wittenmyer.

Nort h Beville S t . ,

Indianapolis,

Indiana.

We thank

God

for

your response

t o our

appeals

for

l i v i n g . l i n k support, Since

our

l a s t

a n no un c emen t

f o l l o w i n g c h u r c h e s h a v e b e e n a d d e d a s r e g u l a r s u p p o r t e r s ; The Church o f C h r i s t , Plvmouth, I n d i a n a ;

Church, North

L i b e r t y .

I n d i a n a ;

Church o f

C h r i s t

B i b l e S c h o o l ,

Chadron, Nebraska; t h e J u n i o r

E . , V a n d e r b i l t , Pennsylvania;

and

the Northway

Church

o f C h r i s t , South

Bend, n d i a n a .

We have been

asked as

to

whether or not we a v e enough. You who know church work

and missions

e a l i z e

that

the more

you

h a v e to

do

with,

the more freedom

you [have i n a c c o m p l i s h i n g

your

t a s k . Too o f t e n

works

are h i n d e r e d

because o f som e

l a c k .

We are

c o n f i d e n t

that the

Lord

w i l l continue

to

supply our

n e e d . We do

thank

you each

one

f o r

your wonderful

p a r t .

He

i l l provide for

you,

l s o .

We hought you would enjoy t h i s shot

of

Mary

and her f r i e n d .

T h e p i c t u r e

was taken l a s t September

wh en we were aboard the

f e r r y

r e t u r n i n g from Kyushu. T h e straw m a t

i s

a tatami and the lady

i s

wear

i n g

a

kimono.

Pray

f o r

our

study, our

two English B i b l e

c l a s s e s , our

v i s a a p p l i c a

t i o n

and

f o r the s a l v a t i o n of Japan. May the Lord r i c h l y b l e s s you as

you serve Him t hru the new year.

s

:



tH- U

( T )

X

( P a u l ' s

E p i s t l e )

Newsletter

of

the Paul

Pratt

family

M i s s i o n a r i e s

to Kyushu, Japan

Forewarding Address

Mrs. olly Wilk in son

23769 W. dison Road

S ou t h

Bend,

ndiana

April,

1959

Japan

Address

79 Ka miz on o Cho,

N i s hinom i ya Shi,

Hyog o Ken, Japan

V o l u m e

ni,

N o.

2

Dear

f r i e n d s ,

Paul

D., Mark,

Lydia and

M ary a d d r e s s i n g

l e t t e r s

*

praise

t h e l o r d

f o r

answering

o u r

prayersII

A t

e x a c t l y

4 : 0 0

CST), F e b r u a r y 2 4 t h , t h e o f f i c e r

a t Kobe

p u t a

t h r e e y e a r

e x t e n s i o n

stamp

o n

our

p a s s p o r t . We

were

a l s o

g r a n t e d r e g u l a r m i s s i o n a r y s t a t u s i n s t e a d of

temporary s t a t u s as b e f o r e . When I a r r i v e d

home,

I b e San, a Japanese f r i e n d

M ^ j o i n e

u s

f o r

p r a y e r s

o f

t h a n k s g i v i n g

t o

G o d

f o r H i s g o o d n e s s T h a n k y o u e a c h o n e

f o r y o u r

prayers.

L Ishida San

w h o s e

f a i t h f u l h e l p m ak e s

i t

p o s s i b l e

for

Kathleen

to

a t t e n d

I s h i d a S a n language s c h o o l .

She

i s a l s o an e x c e l l e n t t y p i s t and

s e r v e s

as i n t e r p r e t e r

w h e n

we

are

'

t um ped'

n

c o n v e r s a t i o n

with c a l l e r s . She answers almost as m a n y

q u e s t i o n s

about

the language as o ur

sc h ool

teachers do. She attends

the

Kobe church with w h i c h M r s. Exie

Fultz i s working.

By h e time you r e c e i v e t h i s l e t t e r , t h e c h e r r y t r e e s

w i l l be blooming

and

we

i l l

be e n j o y i n g t h e

wonderful

f e l l o w s h i p o f t h e A l l - J a p a n Tenth C h r i s t i a n C o n v e n t i o n

a t

Nagoya. We r e l o o k i n g

foreward

t o

h a v i n g

Ralph

Harter with us on

h i s way

o

America

f r o m India

and

the M a r k Max e y s w i l l be with

us

during that season. This

w i l l be a l i f t f o r all

o f u s .

Paul David i s P r e p a r i n g f o r a p a r t

i n

t h e p a n e l d i s c u s s i o n f o r

youth

at t h e c o n v e n t i o n .

His

s u b j e c t

i s

r o b l e m s

of

a New

Missionary

i n

Japan

and Some o l u t i o n s .

Undoubtedly

the

problem (?)

of o root

beer

w i l l

a r i s e with h i m o n

the

p a n e l . S e r i o u s l y ,

the

c h i l d r e n have been good m i s s i o n a r i e s and Paul

i s

doing s o m e

s e r i o u s thinking

o n h i s s u b j e c t .

A

few da y s

ago, Mary balked at mothe r's urging that s h e eat h e r egg.

M o t h e r

said,

' Tamango

o

tabenakereba

nar i mas en To h i s

Mary

r e p l i e d , can't

understand

what

y o u are

saying,

so I

don't

h av e

t o

eat

i t I s n ' t that j u s t l i k e s o many people r e p l y to

God

? I don't understand w h a t the B i b l e says, so

I

do no t

need

to

o b e y y o u r

commands

Who are we ooling?

Lydia

i s

l o s i n g h e r t e e t h one by one. We

r i e d

d e s p e r a t e l y t o

p r e s e r v e

a r e c o r d i n g

o n which

she s a i d ,

j u t h t p u l l e d my t h i x t h

tooth", but she

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

favor

o f another o n e . She t r u l y e n j o y e d p l a y i n g

t h e

part

o f t h e

queen

o f h e ar t s i n

a

drama at school.

L i v i n g . I i n k

Churches



Mark

i s a l l enthused about the cub s c o u t s . He earns things f a i r l y w e l l

and

i s handy with art

c r a f t s .

However,

the foreward and

backward

r o l l s were hard on h i s head.

He

s

c e r t a i n l y

determined, though. We are

encouraged

by

the way the three o l d e r c h i l d r e n are reading the B i b l e . We e l l ourselves that the award we have

o f f e r e d

t h e m w h e n they each complete i t has nothing to d o with i t but

we inda'

think i t does.

Japan

i s

t r u l y

education-minded.

While

you are

b a t t l i n g t r a f f i c to and from work,

the

Japanese r i d e

the

e l e c t r i c

t r a i n and

read

or

study.

Youth are

challenged to

study

to obtain

good jobs, b u t

the olde r folks study

as well. My

cquaintance with Nao

San (a man

of

65) began wi t h an English

conversation

on t h e t r a i n .

He s

r e t i r e d an d i s

studying Greek

on

his own.

I

oaned

h i m my Greek

New Te s tame n t

for his t e x t . Pray that th e

Lord can

reach

h i m wi t h

o n e

or

a l l three of the languages. Pray

we h a l l take advantage

of

t h i s

yearning for

learning

wi t h the

Book

of

Books".

It

s

t h e

p ow er of

God u n t o salvation to

every

o n e

that

believeth."

Do

you

have

a son,

brother, h u s ba n d

or

boy-friend i n the

P a c i f i c

fleet? Kobe s

a

port c i t y

and

ships of

t h e

f l e e t

t i e

up

h e r e .

We

want

t o

c o n t a c t y o u r

f r i e n d s

o r r e l a t i v e s

i s w e

c a n . P l e a s e

w r i t e t o

^

n d

t ^ l

^

h e

name

o^

i s s h i p .

We a n

n d h i m e a s i e r

t h e n

h e c a n l o c a t e u s . He

w i l l

e n j o y

a

g o o d h o m e - c o o k e d m e a l and a

soft b e d

and

we

w i l l be able to v i s i t wi t h

someone from

home. We

o p e

t o

serve them

for t h e Lord.

Since

our February "Epistle", we e j o i c e

to

report f i ve other l i v i n g - l i n k

groups.

They are

the

Christian

Church, H o p v i ^ o o d , P a . , the

Mountain

Vi e w

Church

of

C h r i s t ,

Brownstown, Washington, the

C h r i s t i a n

Church,

Ban-

gor,

Michigan; the Sauktown

Church,

M i l l Creek Ind.;

and

the Heaton Church, Elk

Park,

N,C.

We r a i s e

the

Lord

for

a l l your

h e l p

and

promises.

A c o r r e c t i o n

i s

i n

order regarding th e

December "Epistle". T h o u g h

the

Harold

Cole

family

has served t he

Koyoen

Church

(where

we

i v e )

f o r

s e v e r a l years

r e c e n t l y , the

work wa s

be gu n by

the Paul N i e l s e n f a m i l y .

Thp

Japanese

Board-pf

Education

has urged

that morals

be

tau g h t as

a

subject

in

t h e

schools.

The

Teacher's

Union

has

opposed

t h i s

very s t r o n g l y . Recently 1 was

asked

to teach a volunteer E n g l i s h

B i b l e

c l a s s i n a high

school in

Osaka.

Thank God for principals

l i k e

t h e o n e at

this

school who s e e

the Bible as t h e

true foundation of

moral

standards.

** Mr.

Hyakomoto,

our language

s c h o o l

p r i n c i p a l

had announced t h a t t h e t u i t i o n f o r each s t u d e n t

was ¥24,000

($66) per term. A classmate who k n e w

that

we were under

n o o r g a n i z a t i o n

or mission board

s a i d , We

o not

h a v e t o w o r r y .

Our

m i s s i o n b o a r d

w i l l p a y

t h a t " I r e p l i e d ,

"God w i l l s u p p l y

o u r needs " I t h o u g h t i n m y

h e a r t , ho can

s u p p l y

more, Gcd

o r an

o r g a n i z a t i o n ?

ur

l a n g u a g e

s t u d y

h a s b e e n

a

good

t h i n g

f o r

us

i n

more

ways

than one. This c o n t a c t with d e n o m i n a t i o n a l m i s s i o n a r i e s

has

taught

us

to a p p r e c i a t e

more

than

ever

t h e p l a n God

h a s

g i v e n f o r H i s c h u r c h . W h e n w e r e c e i v e y o u r g i f t s

a n d

l e t t e r s w i t h a s s u r a n c e

o f

y o u r p r a y e r s ,

we

thank

God

f o r

each

o f

y o u .

This

draws

us

c l o s e r

to

God and

t o

His

p e o p l e

w h o

s u p p l y

our

n e e d s .

This

s

j u s t

one

o f

t h e many

b l e s s i n g s we

e c e i v e

as "independent"

m i s s i o n a r i e s ,

because we

r e more

dependent on ou r

Heave n l y Father.

We r e remined t o e x p r e s s

our

s i n c e r e

thanks

t o e a c h o f you f o r s u p p o r t , n a n c i a l l y ,

t h r u

f o o d boxes

e n c o u r a g i n g l e t t e r s

a n d p r a y e r s i n

o u r

b e h a l f . We b e l i e v e w e h a v e r e c e i v e d e v e r y g i f t y o u

h a v e

s e n t .

I f

y o u

have

not

r e c e i v e d r e c o gn i t i o n (for g i f t s

sent

d i r e c t to Japan) from u s ; p l e a s e write

to

u s .

Mrs. W i l k i n s o n ,

2 3 7 6 9 E d i s o n R d . , S o u t h B e n d . I r d . w i l l

h a v e b o o k s f o r

V a c a t i o n

B i b l e

S c h o o l S t u d y . J u s t

w r i t e to

her

fcr them.

$

h

Sayonara



0)

PATTIi

EPISTLE

Report

from the

Paul S. pratt family

Missionaries to Kyushu, Japan

June,

1959

Porewarding Address

Volume

III,

No.

3

® N E V i r

jmN

jPRESS

5^1

cnome KagoiKe pori

pukiai Ku

Kobe,

Hyogo Ken, Japan

®) As

of

July 1st

23769

West

Edison Road

pukiai

Ku

3S8

South Bend, Indiana Kobe,

Hyogo

Ken, Japan

With the

spiritual inspiration

of the Tenth

An-

nual

Convention at

Nagoya and

relaxation of our

one

day visit to historic

Kyoto,

we are ready

for

the

home

stretch

of

this year's language study. School

will be

out

July 9th.

We

will attend

another year.

Koîma

San has been living

with

us for the past

Kojima

San

(an

three months.

He hopes to

go to America via

the

Am- ^sterner; a n d

erican

pield service

plan. So, he is

learning to

live,

eat, speak and

act

like Americans. He is

a

fine young

Christian

and

speaks

English v ery well.

We have

all

(Kojima

is

if)

enjoyed his visit with us.

Meet

our

friends

at the Osaka

Bible

Sem- I I I

inary. This is

the

only preacher-training

I

I

institution of Churches

of

hrist

in

Japan.

(L

Though

it is

small,

it

has

been a faithful

^ d e f f i c i e n t

s e r v a n t o f

t h e L o r d

W e

h a v e

^

improvised

army

buildings. Construction

be- n

g i n s n e x t

s p r i n g .

A l o n g w i 1 i i o t h e r

m i s s i o n -

HIH

aries,

we have

offered

to speak of

this need

and to receive

funds

personally toward

the

new

building.

If

you have

an extra $1.00

or

$2 0 or $3*00 or

more, send it

directly to

us

in Japan and

mark

it

Semin^y^ I^wIIl

be no

problem

for the~5 ank

or

America to

ex-

change c ash, money order, check etc.

into

yen

and as friend 'Mac* M CReynolds says, The I

best dollar you spend is

that

g iven to help

The Os aka Bible seminary has 16 graduates

and

former students serving

throug hout japan.

Of

her

present

student body

of

some 17 students (and

4

auditors)

10

young m en are

ser-ving congregations.

Pull-time fac ulty

m em

bers number

6,

two of v d i i c h

are native Japanese,

of other

missionaries,

7

erve

as

part-time

faculty

members.

Needless

to

say,

the

young

ladies

of the student body

are

busy

teac hing, s inging

and in

radio work.

h o u s e . T a n a k a S e n , t h e c h u r c h

t r e ^ u r e r

b e -

came Mrs. Nakakoji.

Though she

is wearing a

b e a u t i f v i l k i m o n o in t h e p i c t u r e , s h e w o r e a

western

style white gown. We hope that he

too, will become a cîstian. Naoka san, who

is next

to t h e

bride was

e n g a g e d

to a

young

1-^^^

man in a

ceremony

in o i i r

living

room last

fall

BH

He

is

working in

Philadelphia

where she

plans

N a o k a

s a n

i s A t a k a

S a n

w h o w a s

b a p t i z e d

o n p f

hh

April 12th.

She

sings with Mrs. Isabel pit-



temore'e radio trio. The gentleman kneeling

is o v a c

0 SI

p r e a c h e r

P u j i m o t o S a n . A s o f M a y 7 t h h e

is

n o w

c a l l e d

; i i

£jLj|l | | 1

f a t h e r * . H e h a s a s o n . ^ ^ ^^1

March 3rd

is

Hina Matsuri or Girl's Festiyal Hay.

Onr

'egg

lady's*

t w o little daughters

invited

Mary and

X y d i a

t o

t h e i r h o u s e

t o

see t h e i r

d o l l d i s p l a y

a n d

h a v e

j^r

\

j

refreshments.

They

are

pictured here with

o u r girls

and

f l

we a r i n g b e a u t i f u l k i m o n o s a n d z o r i (s l i p p e r s) . You've

guessed right, the

girls are

asking

mother for the same.

Buddhism has many sects and

viewpoints.

However,

it

has

little

or

no

dogma.

Recently, two sources gave

X L S first

hand information

about it. 1) Buddhist

C l e r i c w r o t e a l e t t e r to

o x z r

B n g l i s h n e w s p a p e r

a b o u t

o u r

gPitjH

P r e s i d e n t ' s G e t t y s b u r g a d d r e s s . He s a i d ,

It

is h i g h

time

that

someone

tell Mr. Eisenhower

(and his

fellow-

missionary,

Mr.

Hulles)

t ha t

Buddhi st Asia,

at lea st, is Tvdia

A

Marv

a t he is t ic ....

We

Buddhists

t a k e p r ide i n

o u r atheism,.

f r i e n d s

He wanted

it

known, however, that with incidents like

t h o s e in

T ib et-_th a t they

d i d n o t s i d e wi t h C o m m u n i s t s .

(2) Ou r s e c o n d c o n t a c t wa s diiring

t h e d a y

o f vis it i n g

with

o u r l a n g u a g e

s c ho o l t e ac he r s

a t t h e

Bu ddhis t Te m p l e s

a t Kyoto.

Am o n g

o t h e r t h in gs, we at e d i n n e r a t o n e t e m p le . Fo llowing

the

m e a l, t h e ze n

Buddhi st priest spoke

f o r

a

few

m i n u t e s t o

us. Bei ng

just

a

bit

over

five

f e e t

tal l , he

said,

i t is possible

fo r

me

t o encompass

t h e e n t ir e

un i

verse with in myse l f . This

h e

sa i d

was by

t h e p owe r o f c o n c e n t r a t i o n .

He

felt that

if

he c o u l d u n d e r s t a n d s e l f

it

was a r e p l i c a of t h e u n i v e r s e .

All

emphasis was upon

self

a n d n o ment ion was made

of God

o r even g o ds .

We sung

Everybody

o u g ht t o Know who Jesus

Is

i n Japanese and

He

lives

in

English, for him. We

t h o u g h t

of Jeremiah' s stateme nt, 0 lord, I frow

that the

way o f

n « n is not

i n himself: it i s no t i n

man

t h a f

waiKetn to

dIrecTnssteps~(j^r n:07^3 5 EeT us~^ e tHe r

InvoEe (Jo^s

blessing

upon

these

v r t i o need Him so.

o p le ase t a k e n o t e of o u r c han g e of add r e ss .

Of

course, the South Bend

a d d r e s s • r ^ m f L ± n a

tHe

s a m e • T h s u k s t o y o u wh o n a v e i n f o r m e d us o f c h a n g e s .

Ka thleen has

played

a

few

t i m e s f o r

r a d i o programs. About

t h e

middle

o f

April

my

first message to

t h e

Japanese i n their languag e went over radio

i n

Kagoshima.

I

have

sung with the

Mings

brothers i n a

trio. I

sing the

sounds without

understanding

the

words.

May t he

l o r d

above

continually attend your way i n

return

f o r your

gifts and

prayers in o u r

behalf. 0 love the Xor d, all

y e his

saintsf

r-



7 i : î

( P a u l ' s

E p i s t l e )

Report

from the

Paul

S. Pratt family

M i s s i o n a r i e s to Kyushu, Japan.

August, 1959

Forewarding

Address

Mrs. Folly

Wilkinson

23769

W.

dison

Road

South Bend, Indiana

Dear

friends,

Volume I I , No.

J a p a n Address

5-1 Chome,

Kagoike

Dori,

Fukiai

Ku, Kobe,

Hyogo Ken, apan.

S i

f r s

Language

School

Though

s c h o o l h a s

b e e n o u t

f o r a

month

o r s o , we t h o u g h t we w o u l d g i v e you a

v i e w

o f t h e s t u d e n t s an d

f a c u l t y o f

o u r l a n g u a g e

s c h o o l . Maybe you c a n l o c a t e two P r a t t s i n t h e

p i c t u r e .

A l s o , C l a i r e B o u l t o n , o u r m i s

s i o n a r y t o t h e Ryukyu

I s l a n d s ( b e t w e e n

Formosa

a n d

O k i n a w a ) i s t h e t h i r d

f r o m

t h e

l f t

i n t h e f o u r t h r o w .

O t h e r s a r e

from d e n o m i n a t i o n a l

c h u r c h e s i n E n g l a n d , Norway, Sweden,

Germany, Canada and t h e U . S . The e a c h

ers

only

dress

i n

kimono

for

p i c t u r e

day.

In June

Mrs. George

Beckman with the a i d of Carol

Mings, Karlyn and

Pauline Clark and Janet

Dittemore

(not

i n the picture) conducted a

Vacation

Bible

School

for

our missionary

children at Osaka Bible

Seminary. Needless to

say,

t was

a

small school but

most

of

the

children

h ad perfect attendance. To

speak to

the

children, y o u wo uld think i t was

the

greatest

one

ever.

They

pre

sented a i

n e

program for

us .

We av e

f i

nally

moved

to o ur

new

location (see

the

new

address

above).

The

house i s part Japanese and

part western

s t y l e . With

tatami

f l oors

woven

straw

and

reeds)

in

part of

the downstairs, we

sometimes s i t on the f l oor a n d

always

remove

our

shoes

while

walking.

The

l i d i n g

doors

to

the

outside

an d

those between

the

rooms

allow a

breeze

i n ever y

room during these hot

days.

With

the

3 6 ' ' '

ofuro (bath

tub)

heated by wood

f i

r e , we

must

sponge

down

and rince

f i

rst

and

then enter

the tub

to soak

as the Japanese

do. I t ' s quite

different.

D. V. B. S.

Rice p l a n t i n g i s a

very

important

season

i n

Japan. The rainy

season begins

i n

e a r l y June and

the

farmers

depend

o n

the

rain

to give the young

plants a

good s t a r t . I t i s

necessary

to

keep

the f ields level

so

the water

w i l l

not

run o f f .

Everything

i s done by teamwork and

clockwork.

I f i r r i g a t i o n i s used,

a

couple

o f

men prepare

f i

e l d s and

channel the water

t o

the f i

e l d s , one a f t e r

another. T h e n the man

with

an ox drawn drag

comes

olang

to

l e v e l the ground, which

was previously

furrowed for whea t

o r strawberries. Then

men

with

squares

and lines set out starter

rows

to be square with the

world.

Some

ladies

carry young

plants

from the beds while others (see p i c t u r e ) set th em i n

th e

mud i n

neatly

measured

rows.

According to various

Bible

i l l u s t r a t i o n s ,

spreading the gospel

c a l l s for

the

same kind of

teamwork. Paul declared, h av e

planted,

Apollos

watered ;

but

God gave

the

increase."

However small our task may

seem,

i f i t

i s

for God,

we

must look at i t as a part of

the great

process

of

the

saving of

s o u l s . Do

your

task

well

Serve

f a i t h f u l l y

Let

God

give t h e increase

We

have seen

how Shintoism (the way of

the

gods) i s

rooted

in

feeling and custom

in the

l i f e

of Japan.

Superstition R i c e P l a n t i n g

i s the

basis for many

holidays

and

ceremonies.

We

ttended the

G i o n

Festival

at Kyoto.

We

saw

large

two-

storied temple-like f l

oats drawn by

crews of

men

with

ropes. On the

f i rst elevation of the f l oat

were several men



w i t h

drums

a n d

b a l l s . The s i d e s w e r e d e c k e d w i t h b e a u t i f u l

t a p e s t r i e s .

E a c h f l o a t h a d so me

d i f f e r e n t

G o d s i m a g e

o n t h e u p p e r t i e r . A l o n g t h e p a r a de r o u t e t h e m e n t h r e w d o w n h e a l t h c h a r m s m a d e

o f r i c e

s t r a w a n d

b a m b o o

l e a f , f o r w h i c h t h e p e o p l e g r a b b e d . T h o s e who

d i d n o t

r e c e i v e o n e c o u l d b u y

i t f o r

30¥ (9 e n t s . I t a l l s t a r t e d

n e a r l y

1 0 0 0

y e a r s a g o d u r i n g a p l a g u e a t K y o t o , H u n d r e d s o f p e o p l e h a d

d i e d .

The

i

r s t

s u c h

f e s t i v a l w a s g i v e n

a t t h a t t i m e t o h o n e r t h e Go ds and

t o

c a u s e t h e r e t u r n

o f

good h e a l t h t o t h e p e o p l e . T h e s e h e a l t h cha rms

w e r e

a p r o d u c t o f t h a t f e s t i v a l a n d p e o p l e h a n g t h e m o v e r

t h e

d o o r o f t h e i r h o m e s

h o p i n g

t o

t h w a r t

o f f

s i c k n e s s .

T h e r e

a r e

many

t o d a y

who j u s t

h a n g o n t o

t h e s e

a s j u s t t r a d i t i o n ,

w i t h o u t r e a l f a i t h

i n t h e g o d s .

H o w e v e r ,

T h e

M i g h t y

C r e a t o r

n d he G r e a t P h y s i c i a n r e r e l a t i v e l y

unknown

o m a n y . P r a y t h a t w e m a y

b e e q u i p p e d

t ^ t h e

t a s k

of introdu cing

them

to

o u r

blessed

L o r d .

During

o u r

language s t u d y

v a c a t i o n w e went t o Kyushu. W h e n

w e l e f t Kob e J u l y 2 4 t h , K a t h l e e n s J u n i o r H i g h S c h o o l E n g l i s h B i b l e

C l a s s

gave u s

a

s e n d o f f

an d g i f t s a t t h e s t a t i o n . On the w a y , by

steam t r a i n , w e p a s s e d t h r u USA, apan.

After

18

hours we

r r i v e d

a t

Kagoshima. Mrs.

I s a b e l l D i t t e m o r e m e t

u s , e n t e r t a i n e d

u s

i n

h e r

^

home

a n d

t o g e t h e r

we r ecor d ed the

A u g u s t

r a d i o

p r o g r a m s

at the

Kagoshima station CJOCF).

From

there

we

made

th e

two

h o u r

ferry

and b u s

ride

ac r os s th e

ba y to the

Mark Maxey

h o m e .

The

unior

Camp,

a mi ly ( w e e k - e n d )

Camp an d

S e n i o r

Camp w e r e

a l l h e l d

at the

C h r i s t i a n

Center which

a d j o i n s t h e M a x e y p r o p e r t y .

Kathleen

p l a y e d

t h e

v i b r a - h a r p ( a n d

they

loved i t )

at camp

a n d I s a n g a

f e w

times b e s i d e s

spea king

o n c e

a t

Famil y Camp

a n d

eve ry

evening at Senior Camp.

.inner

time

at camp

P r a i s e

the

Lo rd

f o r the

t h r e e s e n i o r c a mpe rs w h o

d e c i d e d f O j .

Christ at

camp a n d w e r e b a p t i z e d

at

t h e i r own

churches. Also, we

were

a l l

t h r i l l e d

a b o u t Koba San, a stout, young

war vete ran who

went t h r o u g h

Mrs. D itte m or e ' s 56 c o r r e s p o n d e n c e

l e s s o n s

from John

i n a b o u t s i x w e e k s . H e w a s b a p t i z e d o n

A u g u s t

1 4 t h .

D u r i n g o u r

s t a y

we v i s i t e d

six

ch u rc h e s,

th e

leper

c o l o n y and

o r p h a n a g e

(Mark

M a x e y s r e g u l a r r o u n d s ) p r e s e n t i n g o u r m u s i c a l

p r o g r a m i n

addition to

my es s age. Paula

Maxey wasmy n t e r p r e t e r .

S e n i o r carnp.

We

hav e b i g d e c i s i o n s t o m a k e a t

t h i s

t i m e .

T h o u g h we

have

another

y e a r o f language s c h o o l ,

we

o p e

to

decide s o o n

i n

w h a t

general

area

we i l l begin

o u r

w o r k. The p r o b l e m

i s

that we

l o c a t e i n

the

p l a c e

w h e r e we

ca n

m e e t

the n eeds

o f g r e a t e s t

n u m b e r

of p e o p l e .

S o many

v i l l a g e s h a v e

n ever h a d a n y witness

of

C h r i s t a n d

other churches

h a v e

b e c o m e

w e a k

because of the

lack

of

l e a d e r s h i p .

When I

arrived t h i s

time, I suggested

that

both

Mark

a n d I

b e c o m e t w o

people

a n d

that

we pro po se a 48 ho ur da y. Now,

I have

r e t r a c t e d

that

proposal

because w i t h

a l l he

has

t o

do,

he

has

a l r e a d y

been

f o l l o w i n g t h a t p l a n . P ra y

to

the Lord f o r s t r e n g t h

f o r

him

a n d

for

w i s d o m for

u s i n

m a k i n g

o u r p l a n s .

^ i :

b

S a y o n a r a

p a ^ Q ,

p.

P^tt

P . S . T h e

Mishawaka Church t e l l s us

t h e y h a v e b e e n s e t t i n g

a s i d e

a

Bring

M a r k

Home

u n d .

H e s n o t

r e a d y

to

g o

j u s t

y e t .

S e r i o u s l y ,

M a r k Maxey

s a y s

t h i s

i s q u i t e a n exception.

Acco rding

t o

him, o t o n e church

i n

100 makes

plans for

bringing i t s missio nary

h o m e .



-A 7 )

f

f \

aul pistle

)

A report from the

Paul

s. Pratt

family

Missionaries to Kyushu, japan

Octoher, 1959 Volume III. No. 5

Forewarding Address

Mrs. poiJ.y wiiKinson

25769 West Edison Rd.

South Bend, Indiaaa

Bear friends,

Japan Address

5-i Cnome xagoike Dori

Pukiai Ku, Kobe,

Hyogo

Ken,

Japan.

During

the

summer

months, I had the privilege

of

teaching

Mrs. Isabel Bittemore*s Sunday evening

class,

we

had four students

attending

regularly

besides the

teacher, an

interpreter

and Kawahara /t

- t o

r iwaki Kawa-

S a n , t h e

K o b e

p r e a c h e r . O n

S e p t e m b e r

2 7 t h ,

w e w e r e ^ J ^ ^ ^ f t

s u g a i

S a n ^

overjoyed

to see

two

of

these

young

men

baptized

^

into

Christ.

Sugai

San

is a pre-medical student

and

Iwaki San

is

in

a

college

preparatory school. They

will

serve

as

members

of

the

Kobe

Church

which

was begun as

a direct result

of

Mrs.

Exie Pultz«s

work.

The

children have

become

well adjusted since moving

and

like it

in

the

city.

Our

community

is#g

Aotani which

means blue

valley .

However,

this

is

Just a name becSise it is on the side of a hill. There are many

other foreigners

here

and our house is in the

midst of

a

primary

school,

three high schools, a small college and a Lutheran seminary. Japanese

students

attend the

school

of

their choice

and

more often

than

not

they

choose the one across town.

Mark speaJcs readily in Japanese

to

whomever he chooses.

He

is able to

imitate the

Japanese pronunciation very

well. He and paul

played

baseball

with a

foreigners

team all summer.

Now, paul

is

trying to integrate the

Japanese boys into the great American game of football. They are catching

on

but he becomes disappointed when

they

call for the

ball

and bat again.

Lydia and

Mary

play well together and enjoy

playing with

the Boulton girls

who are near their ages.

Lydia

has become strong again following her/

sickness

and

accompanies

Mary to the

dentist

on

her regular visits.

May

be she

has

learned throu^ her sickness to sympathize.

Prom

time to

time

we

have

had inquiries about our needs. A few have

asked, How is youir support coming through? We are thankful to the Lord

that our family has

been provided for.

However,

though we

are

yet in

the

study of

the language, we

must be

prepared

next summer

for

some

heavy

ob-

bligations. (1)

We

are

planning to

buy

land

on which

to build.

(2) We

will need

to

purchase

building

materials

for

our home. (3) We will need

office filing

equipment.

4) For the kind of evangelism we

plan, we will

need

a

better

car t o

replace

the old *52

Chevrolet. Any who

are

inter

ested in

regular support, these will

be

under what

we

call

Service-Link and all

such gifts will

go

toward mission

work

as

opposed to

family support or Living-link .

At the left is a picture

of my

Bible

Class at the

Miyakojima

Technical High

school which meets every Tuesday. Hashi

moto

San (kneeling and

wearing

glasses)

is

a

fine

Christian, Electrical Enginaer-

ing teacher and

my interpreter.

The group

sponsored a booth with teaching filmstrips

at the school's culture day program. The

other

teacher (next to

me)

is

an

English

teacher.



we had

firsthand

experience with

the Ty

phoon ^ r t i i c h

visited

Kyushu

while

we were

there

and thank (Jod we were not effected

by

it. on

September 26th, again we received severe winds

from

Typhoon Yera

îch

rought its worst dam

age at Nagoya, about

75

miles east of Kobe.

The

Davis family

(otir missionaries

there) had

sailed

to

the

states for fxa-lough

over

a month

before,

but

their house and furnishings suffer

ed severe

damage, one of

the

church buildings

and

four

persons

who had

attended

church

were

lost when tide

waters came in.

We were

able

to

take some supplies from Christians here when we

made the trip in

our

Chevrolet. Pray

for

the

preachers

as they

meet

the needs

and for the

Christians as they

rebuild home and

church.

Mrs.

Erma Lewis

Boxiltons

ickersons

At right are friends

who visited

with us.

Mr. and Mrs. Don Rickerson, returning to Miyako

from

furlough

visited with

daughter

and her

hus-

band

Mr. Mrs.

Claire Boulton

and

with us. To-

gether these will serve in

the

Ryukyu-Islands.

Above

is Mrs. Erma

Lewis, member o f

the

Yandalia

Michigan Church where we ministered for a year. y

We were especially

happy

for her

one day visit

here

on

her Round the world Tour. She ate some

Japanese

food,

visited

some sights,

we visited

at the

ship

and the

ladies

shopped together.

A f a t p e r s o n a

h i g h

s c h o o l b o y w i t h

l o n g

l

'

HlHIII

hair and

pie

cherries in

the

land of the cherry

Boxatons &

Rickersons

blossem are all

rarities

in Japan. Native prea

chers

with

fearless conviction and self supporting congregations are

silso

rare.

Though we cannot and would not

try to

change the first three

items,

we hope

to

be able,

with

the help

of

God,

to

do

something about

the

latter

two.

It will take hard

work,

zealous example and constant prayer on our

part. We tremble at the responsibility before

us

but know God is o x i r

sufficient sourse of supply.

Do

continue to remember

us before

him.

n W e

h o u g h t

a

g o o d

w a y

t o

s h o w y o u

h o w

y d i a h a s

ecovered from her recent illness was

to

show you

a

\

picture

of

her

healthy,

smiling face.

Her

actual

time

in the hospital was Just one week, but it was filled

with anxious moments and ardent prayers. We are so

thankful

to

all

of

you

for

your prayers

and to

o\ar

Great God who faithfully fulfilled his promise that

Before

they

call I will answer, while they are yet

speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24) Thanks, too, /

for

the

encouraging

cards

and

letters

to

ub and hery

Pood and gift boxes from many

of

you

also seemed

tof

come at that time and we appreciated them so much.

Here is a last minute

flashi

Nishimura san, the

third la's oT

that

same Sunday night class

has

made

his

decision to

become

a

Christian.

He

will be baptized

October 11th.

Again, we can praise the

Lord

who is able to do exceeding abundantly

above

all that we

ask or

think .

Mrs.

iwaki, the foxirth

member of

that

class is already a Christian.

Don*t

worry

about the world

situation,

pray about it. Then, promise

God

to

serve with heart

and soul thru the

only

institution

that can save

it; The Church of Christ. May

the Lord

bless

you.

if fib

Sayonara,



December, 1 9 5 9

i ; ^ o r e w a r d i n g

M r s .

P o l l y

W i l k i n s o n

2 3 7 6 9

W.

d i s o n

R d .

S j u t h

B e n d , I n d i a n a

^ L ' C D^

( P a u K s E p f s t l e j

A R e p o r t f r o n , t h e P a u l

S .

P r a t t

f a m i l y

M i s s i o n a r i e s

t o

K y u s h u ,

J a p a n

Volume

I I I , Mo. 6

Japan Address

5 - 1

C h o m e ,

K a g o i k e D o r i

F u k i a i K u ,

K o b e ,

Hyogo

K e n ,

J a p a n .

Dear f r i e n d s ,

E p f s r ^ H i s T d e X r

.

_ ' y y o u c o u l d h a v e

b e e n

w i t h m e

a f w

e x a m p l e

t o

t h e

s t u d e n t s

T

• T T - n a v e b e e n with me . 'Âumpie to the

s i

J u m o r

H i g h

S c b o o l

a g e . Y o u w o u l d h a v e h e a

d

o n e ^

k n o w t h a t

J e s u s

r e a l l y d i d

t h e s e

t h i n g s / p e r b'T

^ e

^

e k n o w

G o d

r e a l l y

m a d e u s ?

H o w

a n ^ o w

W e

w e r e h a p p y

t o h a v e t h e c h a n c e t o g u i d e t h e ^ ^

b e c o m e

a C h r i s t i a n ?

t h i n g s .

I t

I S

i m p o s s i b l e

f o r

y o u

t o

u n d ^

t

^

T

f i

n d i n g a n s w e r s

t o t h e s e

t h e h e a r t s o f t h e s e p e o p l e a s t L y c o m e t r t h

V

P ' - e

i n

t r u e a n d l i v i n g G o d . k n o w l e d g e a n d

b e l i e f i n t h e

W k e s

a n d

P a r a d e w S ^ o u T B o y ^ s l u t

J g o

o n

W e h a v e B i b l e S c h o o l

a n d

C h u r c h

i n o u r i f

™ ^ ^ o i n c o l l e c t i o n , t o o

l e a d i n g s i n g i n g i n

B i b l e

S c h o o h I t a k e

i u r n s

•

s a s

s o n .

. T a p a o e s e

h o . s

w h o

a r e

i n

, r a d e ,

I

g o i n g Ztn'lZt U ' ' ' r - - P - a

i s

M i s s

W h i t e M a r k ' s r l

^ t e a c h e r ' s n a m e

J(,

OCL

W e

c ^ V f n T r d i n r ; c ^ r i o : ' ' ; ' ; ^

s e r m o n s

a r e

q u i t e

a n o t h e r t h i n ^ R

r

a b o u t

f o u r t i m e s i n c h u r c ^ t l

T n

IT'

^

e a c h h a v e p r e s e n t e d t w o

J a p a n e s e

t a l k s ' a ^ r ^ ' T o n d t S *

y e t

w e

u s u a l l y r e a d t h e m .

F o r

a b o u t

a

v l a n g u a g e s c h o o l c h a p e l s e r v i c e P

p-

f

^

~

^ f T—

W e p r a i s e

h i m

a n d

w a n t

t o c a u s e 1 0 ^ 1 0 P a - a a o d i n g a b u n d a n t y aCe ^1

™'



Q e e t i n g s

_ _ _ _ S a p i 3 £ L ^

0

kanoya

M

A

.4

J

KO E h e r e

We Now

W h e r e

We

i l l L i v e A f t e r J u l y

JIKI

R i c e P l a n t i n g

Tanegasliima

KAGOSHIMA

W h e r e

T h e

M a r k M a x t y s L i v e

W h e r e T h e C h r i s t i a n

C e n t e i I s

W h e r e T h e A 1 H a m m o n d s b e g a n t h e i r

W o r k T h e y a r e n o w

o n

f u r l o g

r e

M r s .

I s a b e l l

D i t t e m o r e H a s

a

l l y

K a d i o

B r o a d c a s t .

Pratt Paul Kathleen 1959 Japan

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