sa^a (BBrisiian dltlssion, tSno.

(of t^merioa)
1^11
JUN 9 J983
MISSIONARIES
George St Ethel Beckman
Jenann Beckman
8-40 Kamizono-cho
NlBhinomiya 622, Japan
0798-71-7170
(Not-for-Profit Corporation)
&sa^a S^ominary FonyfAnmuG agejits
April 20, 1983
Roger St Beryl Johnson
3320 Westgate Parkway
Rockford, Illinois 6110 3
1-815-399-3690
Dear Christian Friends,
"Therefore, if any man is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" II Corinthians
5;17 (NIV)
God speaks to us as in a parable of this new creation as we see new plants springing up from seeds that have lain
dormant buried in the ground throughout the winter, new leaves budding on the trees and bushes replacing the old
ones that have gone away, and blossoms bursting forth all around us. The cherry blossoms have never been more
beautiful than they are this year, causing us to sing with the Psalmist, "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of
praise to our God, " Psalms 40:3 (NIV)
God has blessed.us with five new
students to begin the new school year in
MjEBH the Seminary. Miss Nakamoto from
Okinawa and Miss Fjuii from Hiroshima
' .. are college graduates. Mr. Imoto and
Mr. Nakahara from the church in
Tanabe where Dave & Ruth work, and
Nagahiro from Hirakata, Osaka
prefecture are high school graduates.
It is a real joy and a challenge for
Ethel to teach these young people their
^9|^b r ^ first course inOsaka Bible Seminary,
WROO S jin overview of the Old Testament.
V i Mr, Oda teaches them their first New
^^^^9 M ^^9 Testament course from the Gospels.
^*V George taught a in the Inter-
Tg Biblical Period and an exegesis of Ga-
latians'to Hebrews last term. 'This
term he is teaching an exegesis of Ro-
mans and Corinthians.
Let us go back to the beginning of
the year and catch up with the highlights
From Left to Right: Mr. Nagahiro, Mr. Nakahara, Mr. Imoto, since our last newsletter.
Miss Nakamoto and Miss Fujii
We began the new year entertaining Lev! and Miriam for four days while Dave and Ruth were studying an intensive
coarse on the Chinese character writing with several other missionaries in Okayama.
On January tenth thirteen preachers and missionaries of the surrounding area held a one day retreat at Ikoma,
east of Osaka, The topic of the retreat was "The Mission of the Church. "
The school year ended on March 25 with a closing worship service and fellowship hour. Miss Hashimoto, the
only graduate, had completed her work for a two year certificate the first term of last year and chose not to come
back to Osaka for a graduation service, so her certificate was sent to her.
During part of our vacation between school years we were blessed with guests in our home as Mr. & Mrs. Har
vey Beard and Mrs, Joy Collins stopped here on their way home to the States from the Philippines. We took them
down to Tanabe to meet Dave and Ruth and Miss Vivian Lemmon while they were here.
A8 of April 15, a total of 17, 300, 000 Yen had been received toward the new dormitory for the Seminary. Of this
total 7,000,000 has been received from the churches in Japan. Converted into dollars at an average exchange rate
of Y235 to the dollar, this total comes to about $73, 600, a little over one-third of the amount needed to build an ade
quate building. We ask for your prayers for these needed funds and that nothing serious happens to the old building
before it can be replaced.
Yours co-workers in Christ,
THE BECKMANS
Jenann says
Two young members of the Rokko Church happen to be railroad enthusiasts. So when the youth group began dis
cussing a get-together for the young people of the area churches, we turned to them for advice on a good place to
meet. We ended up going on a "mystery trip" March 21; the leaders told us how much money to put in the ticket
vending machines and we followed them onto a train not knowing exactly where they would tell us to transfer or get
off. It started raining while we were on the way to our unknown destination and did not stop until we were on our way
home, but that did not dampen our enthusiasm for becoming better acquainted with fellow Christians.
April is the start of the new year in the Sunday school as well as the Seminary. I am now teaching first and se
cond graders while my mother's class of second and third graders have become third and fourth graders. One morn
ing we learned about the seventy disciples Jesus sent out ahead of Him. A first grade boy said he wanted to become a
disciple like the seventy, and several other children said they did, too. One second grade girl wanted to become a
disciple, "but I'm afraid of dogs. " Please pray with me that these children truly will become Jesus' disciples and go
out to different parts of Japan and the world with the gospel. Pray especially for the middler and junior high school
students. The latter have almost no time they can call their own, even on Sundays.
Thank you,
JENANN
saSa QRristian dKission, ^nc,
(of t^morica)
MISSIONARIES
George & Ethel Becktnan
Jenann Becktnan
8-40 Kamizono-cho
Nishinomiya 622, Japan
0798-71-7170
(Not-for-Profit Corporation)
0saSa iSiSle Setninart/ forwarding agents
September 3, 1983
Roger & Beryl Johnson
3320 Westgate Parkway
Rockford, Illinois 6110 3
1-815-399-3690
Dear Christian Friends;
Greetings from a very hot summer in Japan. This is expected to be the hottest summer throughout the archipelago
in over fifty years. Coming after a very cool rainy season it has seemed especially severe.
The last four months have brought many joys and sorrows. In all of them we have seen the hand of the loving Fa
ther working for good to those who love Him.
On June 5 the Rokko Church held a spe-
' i I' evangelistic meeting with Mr. Mori-
Bekawaof Tanabe preaching in the afternoon
and evening. The following Sunday Yosh-
inobu and Kazuo, the two sons of Mr. &
Mrs. (Naomi) Saitoh, and Mrs. Ghara, a
woman about Ethel's age, were immersed.
Mrs. Ohara was a member of a small de
nominational group in Shikoku until she
moved to Koyoen several years ago. Her
family had suffered much har.dship and
T persecution during the war. Shortly after
^ ^ moving to Koyoen she began attending Ethel's
f f ^ ' Bible class and the Rokko Church. At that
i time she began to consider becoming a mem-
"T ^ I ber oFthe church, but Be'tore she did, she
: moved to Nagoya to live with her son. Now
' j that she has moved back to this area, she
' iias become a part of the congregation here.
The end of the first school term of the
Seminary ended July second. One of our
first year students, Miss Fujii from Hiroshima, became ill with a bleeding ulcer and had to drop out of school for the
rest of the term. Now, she is reported much improved and plans to return to classes this fall.
Immediately after school was out, we tore out the old, rotted wooden floor that was in one of the basement rooms,
that the church was using. With the help of students we put in a concrete floor, painted the room and made new cur
tains so now it makes an attractive class room.
The 34th National Convention of the Churches of Christ in Japan was held at Port Island Hotel in Kobe., with the
Ono Church of Christ as hosts. There were 522 registered and attending at least one of the sessions of the convention,
the largest number so far. The theme for the convention was "The God Who Fills Us with Abundant Hope" Romans
15:13. This was ably developed with sermons and workshops. Ruth and her family and four students stayed with us
to attend the convention. The convention next year is scheduled to meet in Yokohama with the Minato Church of
Christ as hosts.
After the Japanese convention the missionaries journeyed to Nara for two days of convention at a new Youth Hostel,
under the capable planning and leadership of Lonnie and Coral Mings. The main messages were brought by Mr. Sher
man Nichols of the Central Christian Church in Colorado Springs. Four Bible Studies and three workshops were also
very ably presented by our men and women. Belinda Harris from Portland, Oregon, who was here visiting her grand
father, had classes for the children. Ethel had charge of the coffee breaks, for which she had baked cookies and
prune bread. Rachel Burney and Ruth Hinson also brought cookies and Evelyn Clark made banana bread.
After the convention Ruth and her family stayed over to help celebrate George's birthday. His birthday cake was
a cherry pie with ice cream.
The Seminary students have all been busy this summer helping with camps and Vacation Bible Schools in Okinawa,
Kyushu, Okayama, Karuizawa, Shinshu Bible Camp in Nagano Prefecture, Tanabe and here. Mr. Yokomizo has also
done supply preaching at Mijirodai Church in Tokyo, Senri Church in Osaka and here.
We have been saddened by the deaths of several people the last two months. First Mrs. Fultz brought back news
of the death of Roy Emmanuel, the young preacher of Central Christian Church, Waukegan, Illinois, shortly after his
marriage and the beginning of his ministry there as a full time minister. Then came the news of the accidental death
of Lisa Wolfe, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Willard Kelley of Rockford's Central Christian Church. About the same time
the son and grandson of Mrs. Ueki, one of Ethel's Bible Class members, were killed in an automobile accident. News
of the deaths of several old friends at home have also come to us. Truly life on this earth is only a brief sojourn in a
foreign land. Whether we are here only a short while or long, it is still only a fraction of eternity where our real
home is.
What a blessing it is to know God's love and the hope that we have in Him. May His love keep and guide you day by
day is our prayer!
Your Co-workers in Christ,
Jenann says
One of my blessings this summer has been a willing helper one day a week. Mr. Nagahiro, one of the freshmen
at the Bible Seminary, told me before vacation began that he did not plan to go anywhere this summer except his part-
time jobs (as a tutor and as a clerk at Lawsons) and an occasional movie (his hobby - he saw "Chariots of Fire" three
times). I said, "If you have so much free time, why don't you come over and do some typing for me on my Japanese
typewriter? " So he has finished typing the cards we use to file visual aids and handwork for the Bible school lessons
on the life and teaching of Christ, plus an index for the harmony of the Gospels in Japanese which my mother and I
pasted together. This card Ale, based on the harmony, is a project we began four years ago but have not touched
since I returned from furlough and we began teaching a series of lessons from the Old Testament. I pay for Mr.
Nagahiro's transportation, he gets meals here like he has never tasted before, and we made a deal that I pay for his
ticket when we go to see "Gandhi. "
The school year here is from April to March. This means that students are in the same grade in September
that they were in from April to July. Their teachers give Japanese children homework to do during the six weeks
that school is out for the summer. Some classes go on excursions at the start of those six weeks and clubs meet
at the school all through this "vacation." So it seems impossible to pick three consecutive days when all the Sun
day school children are free to attend Vacation Bible School. We held it on August 23-25 and out of the total of 27
children only ten attended all three of those days. We had four teachers for kindergarten up through sixth grade.
Mr. Nagahiro enrolled the children and added the scores for the contest between the gold star team and the red
star team. We learned about that dreamer, Joseph, and after classes were dismissed the last day the staff mem
bers put on a play about him. It was written for us by a junior high student. She could not stay after the play, but
four other girls came and ate supper with us out in the back yard. Then Miss Hosokawa led them downstairs for a
Bible study of Joseph while we straightened up after V. B.S. upstairs. They saw one girl home and brought back
another to "camp" overnight, four students and their teacher, in our spare bedroom. Please pray for these young
people and their teachers.
MN 8 1984
(Bsa^a SRrisiian emission, tSnc.
(of Jimerioa)
MJSiaNARlS
George & Ethel Beckmai
-Xe.^iip feecki
8-40 Kamizono-cho
Nishinomiya 622, Japan
0798-71-7170
(Not-for-Profit Corporation)
(BsaRa ^iSlo Seminary forwarding agents
November 30, 1983
Roger & Beryl Johnson
3320 Westgate Parkway
Rockford, Illinois 6110 3
1-815-399-3690
Dear Christian Friends:
May the grace and peace of our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. May the love of God which sent our
Savior to earth for our redemption keep you and strengthen you throughout the new year.
The last two months have been busy and happy months. On October eleventh Ethel's brother, Roger Brown, and sis
ter, Geraldine Nelson, came to spend two weeks with us. It was two weeks of joyous fellowship together. They were
able to visit all of our church services, Ethel's classes and the seminary, and Dave and Ruth and Vivian Lemmon in
Tanabe as well as some historical sites. One of the happiest times was a visit with Mrs. Aono, our first teacher and
friend in Kyoto. She had visited Roger and Geraldine when she went to the States over thirty years ago.
On October 26 over 300 women of the Kobe area met for the semi-annual Christian Women's Luncheon in Kobe.
Several women of Ethel's Bible classes attended. The speaker for this meeting was'Mr. Irifune, who had spent ten
years as a missionary from Japan to Indonesia. Using some of his experiences in Indonesia as illustrations he gave a
very good message on the need for the only living God who loves us and who is never changing but always absolute and
dependable.
"Tanemaki Kai" at the Seminary on November 2nd and 3rd was a great meeting centering on the theme "The New Man
in Christ. " There were 124 who registered and attended at least one of the sessions. The theme was very ably developed
by four main speakers - Mr. Nakano, Osaka Bible Seminary professor; Mr. Kimura, Mr. Nashiro and Mr. Nomura,
all preachers.
Mr. Floyd Clark, formerly of Johnson Bible College in Tennessee gave a special presentation on the afternoon of the
third. We had Ruth and her family and the Don Burney family here overnight for the meetings.
Mr. Clark has been with the Seminary the last three weeks speaking each morning at chapel, giving encouragement
and help to both students and faculty. We were privileged to have him share our Thanksgiving dinner with us. He also
preached for the Rokko Church Sunday afternoon, November 17.
This month, too, we have enjoyed visits with Gerald and Grace (Madden) Braley who were visiting places Mr. Madden
had worked as a missionary and friends of Grace in Japan.
On November 20 the Rokko Church had a spe
cial meeting afternoon and evening with Mr. Hat-
tori of the Noichi Church in Kochi Prefecture on
Shikoku as evangelist. Mrs. Machida (left), 82
years old, made her confession and Mrs. Sakoh
(right) decided to be immersed and join the Rok
ko Church. Both women were baptized in our
bathtub on Sunday, the 27th.
On November 7 Exie Fultz entered the hospital
on Port Island, Kobe, for eye surgery. Ethel
went with her 8t visited her nearly every day.
Exie was released from the hospital on Friday,
the 18th, and spent a week with us until her next
appointment with the ophthamologist before re
turning to her home onAwaji Island.
This year marks the lOOth anniversary of the arrival of missionaries of the Churches of Christ (Christian Churches)
in Japan. December 28 will be the 35th anniversary of our arrival in Japan.
On November 19 ground was broken for the new dormitory at the Seminary and on November 25 cement was removed
from the area where the new dormitory will be built. The new building is scheduled to be completed for occupancy by
the beginning of the new school year next April.
We thank you for your prayers that continue to help us in all our activities.
Your Co-workers in Christ,
THE BECKMANS
Jenann says....
Preparing for "Tanemaki Kai" is a lot of work! Besides sending out publicity and arranging the program in advance,
lining up speakers, song leaders and accompanists, we take two days to clean the campus, prepare for overnight guests,
and put up decorations. My father usually cuts back the wisteria vine that shades the office windows. I usually vacuum
the drapes and carpets in the chapel, library, and reading room. Teacher-student teams wash windows, scour and wax
the auditorium floor, trim the shrubs and grass, make up beds on the classroom floors, and set up chairs in Sugano Hall.
Then we spend another day after the meeting putting things away and setting up chairs and desks for classes again.
Each year the theme for "Tanemaki Kai" is displayed above the stage in the auditorium. To remind us to walk as new
creatures in Christ, the lettering of this year's theme was done with SOCKS!
Please pray for the leaders and teacher of all Japan, that they may "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with their
God. " (Micah 6:8)
Thank you,
JENANN