A MONTHLY REPORT BY THE MARK G.

MAXEY FAMILY

WRrOMF.
l/OMf

J-'

'"F
TO THE FRtNDS OF THE KYUSHU CHBISTIAN MISSION

KANOYA. KAGOSHIMA 893. JAPAN - SOX 417, NORTH VERNON. ND. 47265

Dear Christian friends,

January, 1977

Twelve years have passed and in the Oriental cycle it is

the year of the snake again. If you ask a Japanese to try to
think of something good to say about the snake he may come up
with two good points: wisdom and patience. He'll need these and
more to see the year through.

"WE'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS"

Through neglect or overwork or both we have let

this paper become more of a quarterly than a monthly,

One New Year's resolution is to get it out more often

this year. The news piles up so we must leave out much.^^^^l

The fall EBC (English Bible Camp) was held the last
week-end in October. This camp was started by son Walter to gather his students together for a couple of
days and discuss the vital themes of life. Carolyn
Barriclow of Hiroshima and I developed the theme; "For
What Am I Living?" Hard work but satisfying.

BH
*

WITH CAROLYN BARE^C^LOW -^.B.C. CAMP

f

WITH Ca

When our own camp ground is a reality we want

to have such gatherings often. The latest word on the
test borings is that there are positive signs of water. We will keep you informed. Thank you for your

continued prayers and sharing in this project.

Pauline has given important messages each

^ETVHH

month to women's groups at Kanoya, the leper colony

and Kagoshima. These ladies came all the way to Kanoya to hear her to make i t easier on Pauline.

She

CHRIST
CHRISTMAS

was the favorite speaker at the annual New Year's

T BK
UK
Youth Banquet hosted by Bro. Koichi Homori. She spoke ' TTJb

PROGRAM AT THE ORPHANAGE

on marriage. I had a more somber title: "A Life Worth

Living." My one point: Christ only makes such a life.

I jotted down in my Daytimer the away from
home (mostly) activities for December: Week night

Bible studies - 10; counselling sessions - 6; articles WBf

written - 3; English Bible classes taught - 23; Christ-iW
mas gatherings participated in - 10; showed Christmas
^
movies (2 each time) - 9 times; persons baptized - 2
\\
Led forum on International Service for Rotary Inter
^
City gathering; and spent 46 hours in my Toyota car

wj
V

m
M
^
KAGOSHIMA LADIES COME TO HEAR PAULINE
KAGOSHIl

to get it done. Now 7 years old, it is showing its

age by turning up zero on the speedometer, using oil

and grinding its gears loudly in overdrive. Maybe itfs

trying to tell me something.
Bfe

The nicest drive the old Toyota made was to

A
fl

the airport(two hours) Hope waited in Tokyo a couple

of days after her school was over to meet Faith as

she arrived from the U.S.. They both came down together on Monday morning, December 20. There was a

welcome sign on the door and Pauline had fixed the

girls' room inside super special. With the daughters
safely home, Christmas was officially and happily

here. It had been four years since Faith was here for

Christmas and she had forgotten how many times we went

^
B

V
1

||H|^ y

WEDDED 35 HAPPY YEARS - DEC. 29, 1976

to church Christmas week but that way she got to meet all the Christians again quickly.

What can we say about Christmas? The mailman put Christmas cards in our box from

caring friends every day for weeks. The little red postal trucks carried up packages pre
pared by thoughtful and loving hands many weeks in advance. Gifts of money - which are
shared love and concern - were used to bring Faith home & buy new springs and mattress,

the firmest we could get for the benefit of Pauline's back. To cover this bed the ladies
of Pierre, South Dakota made a guilt. Each lady embroidered a block of her own design all of them beautiful and personal.

Here is a bedcover that will warm us twice every

time i t i s used.

Christmas Day - up at 6. a.m. to the sounds of "Merry Christmas!" and merry,

bountiful and blessed it was. At 8.45 to the leper colony for their traditional Christmas

worship. How welcome and loved they made us feel. We sang for them. Back home we prepared
a box of good things and gifts for the Yamashita family of Takasu - both parents handi
capped but two lovely children that are not. The richest in faith but the poorest in
goods of any family we know. They received our gifts with gratitude but they had prep^ed
a gift of money in an envelope for us - 2000 (S6.66). It was gift like the widow's mite
- out of their very living - but too precious in meaning to refuse

I cried.

Now a month later, the father is dead at 46 of a wasting disease.

I carried him

in my arms into the sea November 18, 1951 to baptize him and I watched him die quietly in
"his tiny home very'early" in~the morning of January
1S77T-His funeral-conducted by Bro.
Yoshii and the Kanoya church was a moving Christian witness to each of us and to his town.
The afternoon of Christmas day we spent at the orphanage sharing gifts and enjoying
their Christmas program. The unseen hosts of this pcurty are the-Christians at East Orange,
NJ who for many years have taken a Christmas offering in October for these children. With
this money plus some from our own family we prepared gifts for 79 children plus a sack
of goodies, fruit and Christmas stoiry books. Shared happiness is real happiness.
DecenODer 29 was our 35th wedding anniversary. The memory of the first day I met
her has never faded.(Read all about it in Way Down Here.) It didn't take me long to know
that she was the one I wanted to spend my life with. When I asked her a few months later

if she would, she agreed. We rejoice in the years God has given us together and in the
family he has given - our own five children, the wives and husbands of three, the six
grandchildren and the Christian family both here in Japan and in the U S. and around the
world. What greater riches could we have than this? To celebrate the day we took a train
trip around the bay to Kagoshima, went to see the movie "Victory at Entebbe " and had a
sukiyaki supper together.

Now we're looking forward to the 36th.

New Year's day, the honorable elder sister of the Maxey clan, Isabel Dittemore
arrived from Taiwan on her way to the US for furlough. With her was Kathleen Smith, an
Englishwoman carrying on the wonderful orphanage work of Gladys Alward made famous by the
movie, "The Inn of the Six Happinesses." These added to our blessing and fellowship. They
were the first to use our re-built guest room - now with cement floor, new linoleum, built~iirshower, ^d i^d-proof" aa\MihmnrwindQws;"^rt^as been^ome^to many wanderers"atid-will
be for many more. Faith was'the last to leave on Janueury 13. It was a sad farewell but

we rejoice in
WAY DOWN HERE
The \oy% and torrom of preadiltig the gocpd

"wiy down hcre^bithe Mutficffn ^ of|t^ M

Bved by Mark and PauBne Maxey dnce 1950. A

must for your home and churdi Hivaiy. 49S

IMSe*- $6.95 addSJOpoftase&handBng

COVE BOOKS

147AveCoa Sui Ckmwte, CA 9X72

by MARK MAXEY

the four weeks we had together. Saying "good-bye"

is the one missionary hardship that gets harder and harder to

bear. In closing, Pauline wants to say that your prayers gave
her th'e ability to take Ccure of her family and guests and parti
cipate in all the year end activities. She doubted that she would
be able to do so. She weuits tor^hauik you for them. And now i t is

time to say again those sad but beautiful words^^'^Good-b

which mean, "God be with you." IN HIS SERVICE

Non-PrcfitOi^nization

UNKLETTER

Monthly Publicttkm of

U.S. POSTAGE
PAID

KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

Box 417

NorthVemon.Indiam47265

Return Requested

Louisville, Kentucky

DICK BOURNE
KEMPTOM.

IN

Pennit No. 537

46049

A MONTHLY BEPORT BV THE^ARK G, MAXEVjFAMILV

A''

iiwKLerrefi

'id

TO THE FRKNOS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOYA, KAGOSHIMA 8S3. JAPAN - BOX 417, NORTH VEANON. IND. 47265

Dear Christian friends,

The hours

April, 1977

fade into days and the days into

weeks without pause. Each day is full and when it is ^

Ijjjn

gone it is hardly missed in anticipation of the next,

ml

The bite of winter has passed and just now we can en-

^3-

'jfe. ^

joy the beauty and strength of the cherry trees we

planted as saplings over twenty years ago.

ji

Bro. Yukio Itagaki of Nakano Church of

Christ in Tokyo (where Hope attends) was with us

for ten days, Jan. 29 - Feb. 8, to conduct our annual

training coiirse. His subject: "Job and the meaning of

places he held four two-hour sessions at the Kagoshima church and

^SSMSS^^^^^AS^ScuSHIR^HURai

also at the Christicin Center,

Kanoya with 21 students registered at each, This was his first time with us in eleven years and
his message and inspiration was well received.(My camera was on the blink so no pictures)
Pauline continues her work with courage and joy in spite of pain. She has taught the

Kanoya ladies meeting and started a new monthly women's meeting in Kushira. Both of us taught
courses at the week-end training course for Bible School teachers , March 20-21, held in Kagoshima
and sponsored by Bro. Homori. Pauline went with me to a camp near the top of Mt. Kirishima where
for 8 straight hours I taught basic English phrases to 42 young men who will soon go to the U.S.
as agricultural trainees. What they learned I do not know but they were worn out and so was I at
the end of the day. We had a lot of fun together and naturally I put in a good word for Jesus.
My regular schedule of preaching and teaching continues. At Kushira after the Sunday ser
vice, we gather around tables for another hour of study of the Vizualized Bible Study series. As
the last class ended, we were discussing Constantine who made Christianity a state religion. I ask
ed Mrs. Hidaka what she would think if the Emperor of Japan would suddenly become a Christian,

make Christianity the national religion and start destroying all religious institutions in the

country. Hardly pausing to think she said, "I think that would be great." I discussed the implica
tions of such a decision briefly and said that's where we would begin the? next lesson. I think
i t will be a lively session.

As the years go by, more and more we are being called upon to share our faith and wisdom,
such as it is, and ourselves with those about us.

Mr. A.

Here are a few recent examples:

A young man, 22, a student in my English Bible classes for many years but now it

has been three years since I saw him. He burst into my study without knocking leaving the doors open
to the winter blasts. I am able to get him seated. He begins to talk, to write, to draw diagrams
and the word 'doom* again and again. Obviously he is mentally unbalanced. He comes every day for
two weeks and we make him welcome as best as we can. He asks me to visit his parents. He plays the

piano with two-fisted volume in one room while I share the pain of his parents as they tell of their
only son drifting down the road to insanity. A week later he bursts into our house late Saturday
night and cringes on the floor crying that six men in white are coming to get him. Then he runs
out of the door carrying his shoes in his hands. Finally the police find him and he is committed to
a mental ward again.

Would that I had the faith and power to heal him.

Mr. B. A young man of 24, a junior executive in an insurance fii^. He has a keen mind,
a sound body, a handsome face and is well-equipped he is sure to have a happy life without help from
man or God.

Every Saturday night at English Bible class he lingers to ask questions. He wants to

know, for example, if there are any moral or ethical implications of the gospel. I lead him through
the Sermon on the Mount and then, because of what he has read there, to the discussion of sexual
sins in I Corinthians. He reads, "the immoral man sins against his own body." He is stunned. What

could possibly be wrong with sleeping with somebody he wants to know. We talk for an hour but he is
unconvinced. Two weeks later in the same class we are discussing the meaning of Christ s death on

the cross. He asks, "Did God know that His Son was going to die that way?" "Yes," I replied, "God
not only knew it. He planned it that way from the beginning." His disgust was evident. "That's ter
rible!" he burst out. There was no opportunity then to discuss it in depth. He has not been back
since. I reach out after him.

So near to the Kingdom and yet so far.

Mr. C is the supervisor at the orphcinage where we go.

years. His sister and our oldest daughter, Paula, grew up together.

We have known each other many

He has a drink problem and

a tenper problem. He is also the oldest son. His aged father lives with him and is an ardent Budhist. He offers daily prayers at the family altar in the home and makes regular visits to the fam
ily graves with offerings eind flowers. He e^^ects, demands, that is son and wife join him in thes^
religious exercises. His heart is not in it but as a loyal eldest son he doesn't know how to refuse.
I have challenged him to follow Christ. Late one Saturday night he comes with his wife and two
children to cinnounce that he wants to do just that. But he has a condition. He doesn't want anyone

to know that he has been baptized and become a Christiem. We study the Bible together. I tell him
there can be no such thing as a secret Christian. That even if I keep his secret, people will dis
cover what he has done by the way he lives his new-found faith. The next Saturday he comes again
with his family. Both he and and his wife insist that they want to be baptized and to start a new
life but they ask that I tell no one. At last I agree to baptize them both & do so in the presence
of four witnesses. Do I have the right to baptize a man who wants to keep it a secret? Do I have
the authority to refuse to baptize a man who believes .and jrequests^baptism -even though J^^ha^a
condition?

I still do not know. Do you?

0, for some of the wisdom of Solomon!

Mr. D. The problems of this young man resemble a Japanese soap opera except that they
are real. He has been studying with me for many weeks. He is graduating from high school & taken
entrance examinations for three universities. He comes one day with good news and sad news. He
has passed all his exazns but he is not happy. He thinks he^would like to preach instead. Only he

is not a Christian yet. He believes but is not sure he wants to make the committment. Also it is
too late to take the exam for Seminairy and the Seminary does not admit non-Christians. The deci
sion must be to enter another university and transfer to Seminary at a later time. Then he comes
again with cuiother problem. He and his younger brother have just discovered that they man they had
known as their "uncle" since childhood was really their "brother", born to their Mother before her
present marriage. The older brother can accept that but the younger brother goes into shock. He
quits studying and loses interest in life. His teacher phones that \anless he studies he will not
pass the exam for high school. A third time the older brother comes. The worst has happened.
The younger jL>rother has failed his high school entrance exam. He can not enter. He is only 15 and
the bottom has dropped out of his world. The older brother is taking it hard, too. I take a New
Testament and outline all the passages on suffering, enduramce, hardship, hope and faith,, write

a message on the front and send it to the younger brother. He gives me a gift of a plaque he has
made - the head of Christ wearing a crown of thorns. By the time you read this the older brother
will have been baptized. Pray for the younger brother, too.
Family E. This family has a special place in my heart. 15 years ago the husband came
asking if I couldn't "give" faith to his wife as she was having great mental suffering. Instead it
was he who believed. The wife did not become a Christian for many years later. When she did I bap
tized her and the two eldest daughters, too.

I held weekly Bible studv

WAY DOWN HERE

in their home in Koyama for three years and now go once a month to
A mhiloMfy atitoUognphy of our llmcf
their home at the end of this peninsula. The oldest daughter went away
By pc<^ that you know
The l<m aad Mnrowi of preachlns the goi^ to school, c[uit school unknown to her parents and became a bar girl.Her
"waydown iiafe" In loutfieni Japan ai Dved by parents paid $1000 to ransom her from a gang. Jan. 3 she attended our
Markand PauHne Maseyalncc19S0. A mud for
your home and church ubrary.495pittn.
youth rally in Kagoshima and has not been seen since. I weep for her
^9S plut $JO postage and hand^
and for her family.Psalm 126:6 says, "He that goeth forth and weepeth,
(Aik for tM of other boob Iw Maifc Maiey)
bearihg seed for sowing. Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing
COYS BOOKS
74rAv8 CotaSan Oemente, CA SWTS

(AhoBox 14,Kanoya, KagoMma Ml, lapuO

his sheaves with him."

IN HIS SERVICE,

Non*Profit Organization

UNKLETTER

Monthly Publicatioti of

U.S. POSTAGE
PAID

KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

Louisville, Kentucky

Box 417

North VeihOQ, IndtenA 47265

Permit No. 537

D I CK BOU.^NE
BOX

177

KE u:PTON.

!N

46049

!
A MONTHLY REPORT 8Y THE MARK G.

MAXEV FAMILY

uNKLerref^
/X 417.

TO THE FRKNOS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOVA. KAOOSHIIMA S93, JAPAN -

417. NORTH VERNON. INO. 4726S

June, 1977

Dear Christian friends,

If old age begins when you start looking backward, in

stead of forward, this will be an "old age" letter.

After graduating from high school in Circleville, Ohio

in June, 1935, my Father took me to Minnesota to "put me in the way

of opportunity," as he put it.

What the "opportunity" was I didn't

know and he didn't say but with the eye of faith I think he knew.
Elder brother, Tibbs, was already in the North coiint-

ry, preaching for a country church and soon to be married. I worked

in the wheat, rye and barley harvests till fall and then enrolled in
the pre-medical course at the University of Minnesota. I used my en
tire savings the day I registered. For meals, I worked three hours
a day in a restaurant; for room, I worked all night once a week in
my brother's print shop; for tuition I worked two afternoons a week
and all day Saturday as a janitor at the University Hospital. (I
can still swing a mean mop if you give me lots of room.)

I was living in two worlds with one foot planted in a

world that offered service and relief from poverty and the other in
the world of faith. I lived in the dorm at Minnesota Bible college,
attended ore class and attended University Place church. George Mark
Elliott, now Dean emeritus at Cincinnati Bible Seminary, was the

MARK MAXEY -

FORTY YEARS AGO

preacher there - and at the height of his powers. When he preached,

he ignored everyone else and preached to me. At least that's the way
I remember it. One Sunday night in May, 1937 I could withstand it no
more. With the encouragement of my good friend. Max Randall, and him
standing up front with me, I promised God I would serve Him as a
preacher of the gospel.
Soon after I went back to Circleville and drove back

to Minnesota with my Father in the '29 model A Ford - all night long
and the next day, too, on a tank of gas. He was on his way to South
Dakota to hold some meetings with Tibbs. He preached at the Madelia
Church of Christ on Sunday morning, announced that I would preach for
them the following Sunday and departed for the west.
I was stiinned. I recall Bro. Davies coming up to me

and saying, "Your Father tells us you are going to preach for us." I

KAGOSHIMA CHRISTIANS AT CONVENTION

didn't know whether it was a question or a statement but I nodded my

head in agreement. As memory serves me, I preached my first sermon in

that church on June 20, 1937. That was forty years ago and I was 19.

years old.

Ten minutes was a long sermon and $5 was a large offering.

That fall I enrolled in Minnesota Bible college. In my

senior year I began preaching at Truman, 12 miles south of Madelia.

I was in Minnesota five years

but those years and the ministries at

Madelia and Truman left their mark on me for the good. I thank God
for the faith these churches had in me and the encouragement they

gave me. They have continued their encouragement by sharing in this

missionary work since the beginning. It is a great satisfaction to

AUDREY WEST LEADS MORNING DEVOTIONS

return to these churches and be welcomed as one of the family.

In my Madelia days, I preached McGarvey's Commentary

on Acts Sunday nights, sometimes word for word. (Thank you J.W. McG.)
For a long time on Sunday mornings I used two sermon books by Clovis
Chappell, Sermons on the Parables and Sermons on the Miracles. One
of his sermon titles still sticks with me, "The Best is Yet to Be."

The past Wets great. Thank God for it. But the best is still to come.
Thank God for that, too.
**********

Now for a quick transition to the present. Faith grad

uated from Cincinnati Bible College, May 10, 1977 and received a
special award for outstanding achievement in the field of Christian

Education. Pauline's brother, Boyd Pethtel and wife, Edith, came

down from Cleveland. The Cooper and Schmidtendorff families came down
to represent the Pleasant View Church of Christ at Cassopolis, Mich
igan, her living link church since before she was born. Members of

ik

4.

>/'

BURIED WITH CHRIST-RAISED WITH If

MRS. KONO and SHIMOKUBO SAN '

the Maxey clan from all over were there. Maybe only Pauline and I were mii
but our hearts were there. Brother Victor and wife, Lois, had a reception i
all at their home. Faith will study two more years at Xavier University in
cinnati.

Hope has finished her sophmore year at Christian Academy, Tokyo

is home for the summer -

sweet sixteen.

As the Yanagimoto family were preparing to put a down payment on a

piece of farm land near Grande Prairie in Alberta, the Japanese Consulate phonet
Kiyoto and asked if he would come work for them in the area of public relations.
They went down to Edmonton, the capital city, to talk it over. Agreed, put a down
payment on a house instead and moved there the first week in May. They will be mem
bers of the King Edward Park Oiurch of Christ there.
Mary has finished her language study and Walter his class room work
in Asian Studies for the Master of Arts degree at the University of Indiana. He

hopes to con5>lete his thesis by the end of June. They will arrive back in Kagoshima
August 20, a day that we are looking forward to.
Greg and Bev continue their studies at the University of Cincinnati
at their former full-time jobs.

while working part-time

Here in Japan, Resurrection day was an outstanding time. In fact, we

observed
twice. April 3 with the churches at Yoshino and Kokubu and April 10
with the churches at the leper colony, Kushira and Sueyoshi. Christ lives! He
BOOK DISPLAY AT CONVENTION

lives indeed!. We felt i t in our own lives and in the lives of the Christians here.

Two confessed their faith that day and the baptism that night of Mrs. Kono and Miss
Shimokiibo of the Kushira church brought the day to a glorious close. How sweet was
the rest that night. A month later we baptized
Satomi Nagasato at the orphanage.

April 29 to May 1 was convention time. A new ferry service has begun
at a port 45 minutes from our house. It leaves at midnight and arrives in Osaka
at 3 p.m. the next afternoon. A great convenience. We filled the ceir with books top, back seat and trunk and departed. The Japanese convention had outstanding at
tendance and top quality preaching, including a sermon by Bro. Hideo Yoshii from
Kanoya. A delegation of 23 came from Okinawa. They will host the convention next
year. The Osaka ministers and churches did a thorough job of preparation and
hosting a convention which brought a blessing to all.
Our book display was a lot of hard work but a great success. One Japan
ese man brought a con^lete set of Latourette's History of Christianity, Bro Oda's
Greek-Japanese lexicon of the New Testament and an English-Greek New Testament.
After he got home he wrote me a wonderful card of thanks ending with, " I've got

enough to study the rest of ny life," Indeed he has and hat's off to him.
From Omi-Hachiman on Lcike Biwa, the site of the Japanese convention,

we moved to Zion Lodge

in Osaka for the annual missionary convention hosted by

the Osaka area missionaries. Again a time of inspiration and blessing for us all.
Hope took a couple of days off from school so she could attend. My part on the
program was to give a review of current and available Christian books in English
eind Japanese. I conducted a survey by mail of the missionaries's reading and
study and included a summary of that as well. They gave me an hour, I took an

hour and a half

-. 45^ (

and still didn't get finished but nobody left or went to sleep.

That night I led the singing. I picked out 45 songs from variou?
book - songs that I liked and I assumed that the rest would like as well. I made

two copies of each^"niiiribeted them, gave one stack to the pianist, CarolyfTBarriclow
and off we went. We sajig for 35 minutes without

and kept one stack for myself

MORAO SAN, EIGHTY YEARS OLD

a break.

At the end our voices were gone but our hearts were full. That's joy.
So much to tell. So little space. Pauline was honored by all her

WAY DOWN HERE

The joys and totrotn of prcAchlng the go^Ml
"way down here" In the Mtilhcm tip of )apan at
lived by Marfc and Paidhw Maxey ilncc 1950. A

muft for your home and diur^ Mbrary. 495

pages. $9.95 add $.30postage & handling
M7

CO Vf BOOKS

Cola San Chmtttt, CA 9207

family by mail on Mother's Day and by the women at the leper colony by a special
bouquet.We were deeply touched.

In turn Pauline has honored Morao-san,faithful

Christian since girlhood and a member of the Kushira church. She gave her a
special gift on Mother's day and baked her a special cake for her 80th birthday.
Morao-san expects to live till she is 150 and we are all expecting that she will.

She seems to grow in faith and physical strength as the months roll by. .
it be so with you. Until the next time then - IN HIS SERVICE,

by MARK MAXEY
UNKLETTER

Monthly Publication of
KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION
Box 417

North Vemott, Indiana 47265

Return Requested

Non-profit Organization
U. S. POSTAGE

r.: 1331 ON
BOX

sE.-^vicsj,

KE?.:PT0N.

Asno

PAID

Louisville, Kentucky

177

in

4S049

Permit No. 537

A MONTHLY REPOflT BV THE MARK G. MAXEY FAMILY

^umLexrea
TO THE FRFCNDS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOVA. KAGOSHIMA 893. iAFAN - BOX 417. NORTH VERNON. IND. 47265

LINKLETTER #230

August, 1977

Dear Christian friends,

June, 1973 you received Llnkletter #216. That was Just before furlough
There were Llnkletters In March, July, October and December, 1974; February, Ap
ril and October, 1975; February, May, August and November, 1976; and April and
June, 1977. If the above count Is correct this would be Llnkletter #230 and with
that numbering we begin again. If any reader has a complete file and finds
that the above count is Incorrect, please let me know and I will make a change.
Uhere has the summer gone? Gone where all good summers go with a lot
of outside activities and preparations for the future. Our pre-fab metal mission
house, now in Its 27th year, has had the rust removed, holes repaired and been
repainted. The sagging storm doors and windows have been replaced with aluminum
sash. We are expecting it to serve us well on into the future. Hope has used
some of her sommer hours painting inside and outside and
keeping the lawns mowed. It has been a Joy to have her

BETTY, GAIL & LEWIS FOSTER

home from school and watch her grow in grace and knowledge. By the time you read this she will be back in Tokyo for her Junior year. The house will be lonely again.

July 2 was the wedding of Koichi Komorl, minister of the Kagoshima church and his bride, Keiko Mlgita
of the Kanoya church. It was different. First of all, Bro.

Homorl wanted to find his own bride rather than having it

9||n

arranged by somebody else. He found a wonderful girl indeed and often called on Pauline for advice and assistance.

Second, Pauline and I stood up with the couple for the

ceremony which was performed by Bro. Yoshii. This was the
first such experience for us. In a Japanese wedding^ the
couple who have arranged the wedding take the place of

KOICHI & KEIKO HOMORI WEDDING

the bridesmaid and best man familiar in the western world.

By standing with the bride and groom, the older couple are

offering a gxiarantee that this marriage is going to work.

No trouble here. This couple is dedicated to each other
and to the Lord. We are happy for them.

Dr. Lewis Foster, wife, Betty, and daughter, GalL

were with us for five days from July 8 en route to a five

month teaching assignment at Woolwich Bible College in Aus-

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tralla. They were here 12 years ago so they were seeing

again familiar faces and places. Lewis preached at the

MARY,SHELLEY,TRENT & WALTER RETURN

TEACHING A CLASS TO WALK WITH JESUS

26th ANNUAL SUMMER CAMP - 104 IN ATTENDANCE

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church, lunch with the Kanoya church leaders, Sueyoshl

church Inthethemonthly
same day.
We stayed
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Cher's wives as well as both our families. Tuesday we had a

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-wimming, talk together at length and enjoy a picnic in our front

family. We were blessed by their presence and sad to see

> August began,

Mark and Lynn Pratt, missionaries in the Tokyo area

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as here with the Ohio Singers a few years back so both were revisiting

.s known to them and the Lusbys were seeing "the center of Japan" for the
it time.

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.parents, the Lusbys from Kentucky came for a visit. Mark spent some of

^Vy years in this area with his parents, Paul and Kathleen Pratt, and

WH|^

We had a very fine time together Indeed.

I had to leave them very early on Monday, August 8 for our 26th annual

junmier camp. We had 104 in attendance, half from our side of the prefecture.

They went by bus and ferry and bus again to the camp site rented from the

60th BIRTHDAY CAKE-BY HOPE

oOth BIRrHDAY LAKb dx tlUJ

prefecture. 14 went from Kushlra church alone, part of the fine Sunday school

taught by Mrs. Tamakl and Mrs. Shibahara. Due to scheduling difficulties we were

only able to have four days of camp but they were good days and full days led
by Kolchl Homorl, camp manager. Bro. Hattori from Shikoku was camp preacher.
I taught The Life of Christ to a large class of juniors and Walking with Jesus
to a smaller class of intermediates.

I enjoyed every minute of it. There w"

confessions of faith from each church.

Sunday, August 14, I baptized Norlko

/Furulchi in the Sueyoshl river and Kiyomi Aral of Yoahlno on August 14. Happy H
/days for them, their churches and for us who labor here.
About our project tfl
a. opp-site - after drilling three holes and

failing to fincTenough"' water^^^^^_^gJ^jap the,.option to buy the camp site

/we had been telling you about. It is a great dlsapolntraeht as well as a loss of
labor, time and money. We are actively looking for another site. Meanwhile the
money you have sent us (about $15000 so farj is on deposit at Interest in the
Kanoya branch of the Kagoshima^ntTwaiting to be used the instant the right
spot appears. Thank you for sharing in this project. Please continue to do so
and be praying for its success as well. We were greatly encouraged by an off
ering of $860 from a group of Senior Campers meeting on the Campus of Roanoke
Bible College in North Carolina for our camp - campers thinking of other camp

PTIZING IN SUEYOSHI

ers without a camp site on the other side of the world - a great encouragement.

For the past 15 months I have preached twice a month at the church in

Yoahlno and the preaching point at Kokubu for son, Walter. I closed my ministry with them f ^unday^gua^
when by happy coincidence I also finished teaching the Book of James which we had been studying tog^lier for
over a year. Like all teachers, I learned more than ray students and was blessed thereby. Then we traveled 45
minutes to the airport for the early afternoon arrival of Walter and Mary Maxey and Shelley and Trent i^eturnIng from furlough. About fifty people were at the airport to"greet them - truly a show of affection for their

past ministry and of expectation for their future service. Now we are enjoying a few days together before

they begin their work. We like being "grandma and grandpa" again to Shelley and Trent.
One sad note. Walter and Mary visited the Yanaglmotos in Edmonton, Alberta on the vf&y back to

Japan. On the first day of their visit., Paula fell and broke het^left leg just below the knee. She will have

three months in casts of various sizes as she recovers. Already she is'navigating on crutches taking care o -

her family. Remember her when you pray.

Pauline and I both have Aug. birthdays, hers on the 2nd, mine on the 10th. We decided to mlt

till Walter &Marv arrived before having a birthday party, especially since this wa^^^6^^Mrthday. In

the Orient to ^^0 "eans that you have completed the 12 year zodiac cycle five times and you are now ready ^
to begin again - hence, a very special day. Special it was. Hope baked the cal a ^sterpUce. Each ^^er
of the family prepared special messages and pictures for an album to mark ^ 60th. It ^s a touching ti^
for me to read the tributes that each of them had prepared. I cried a little and laughed a little and J^k

ed God for each of them. I thought being 60 is so nice I am going to stay that way fr^ nw on. I shall not

pass that way again nor count any more blrthdaya. 1 am 60 and_JiDldln8. God bleas you all. IN HIS SERVICE,

UNKLETTER

^ )l\ .

Monthly Publicttlon of

U. S. POSTAGE
PAID

KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

Box 417

I.:iS3I0M SE:^VtCE3, A3S0t

North Vernoiv, Indiana 47265

BOX

Return Requested

Non-ProntOrganization

Louisville, Kentucky
Permit No. 537

177

KE:.:pro:u

i:i

4C04d

yy\ 0-\M
A MONTHLY REPORT BY THE MARK G. MAXEV FAMILY

-Vv.LLf ; T

iWKLerrefi
TO THE FHNOS OF THE KYUSHU CHRISTIAN MISSION

KANOYA. KAGOSHIMA 893. JAPAN - BOX 417. NORTH VtBNON. INO. 4726&

December, 1977

Dear Christian friends,

A popular song of the 40's went: "Gonna take a sentimental

journey, Gonna take a journey home. Gonna take a sentimental

WITH M/M S.M.

CHANG,

KOREA

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journey, To renew old memories."

Between September 17 and December 8, Pauline and I did just

that and much more. Back in August, 1974, when we preached at
the dedication of the new building at Southglen church. Anchor

age, Alaska, Fred Green, the minister, asked if we would not

return in the future and hold a Faith-Promise rally , for the
church at a later time. This year as Walter and Mary returned
from furlough it seemed a good time since I could shift some
responsibilities to them. In addition we wanted to renew our
ties with our families, revisit the churches where we first

preached

and the churches that first sent us out to Japan and

to find a new forwarding agent. Along the way we would preach

and recall old memories as time permitted.

First to Korea to preach the fall revival for S.M. Chang

and his college of 2500 students in Busan.We are always encour
aged by the warm, energetic faith of these people.

WITH FRED GREEN,SOUTHGLEN CHURCH,ANCHORAGE

On to Hawaii, preaching at the Pearl Harbor Christian and

Kaimuki Christian church. To see the many races at Kaimuki wor

shipping together in warm and loving faith is to know the gos

pel is truly universal. We spoke to the island ministers and
missionaries and lingered a little.

We arrived in Alaska September 28 to be greeted by their

it '-i

first snow fall. Fred Green is a man who plans his work and

works his plan. He knew how to put us to work as well. But we

enjoyed every minute of it - and every mouthful of it, too. He

scheduled us at Kenai on Cook Inlet where we had a true taste

of Alaskan Christian hospitality and generosity. And at Homer,

the end of Route 1 {only 7 highways in the state.) We stayed at
the Cookson Hills home and preached for three nights. Then back

MEMBERS OF 40 YEARS AGO.MADELIA,

MN

to Anchorage for four days of preaching. We felt the homes we

got to visit and the families we got to -meet were just as im

portant as the church meetings.

linger longer, here, too

Thanks Fred. We wanted to

Alaska as a people and in the church

as well is a country of young people facing the future with

confidence".

October 10 is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. That's the day

we arrived in Edmonton for week's stay with our oldest daugh
ter Paula, her husband, Kiyoto Yanagimoto and the four grand

children, Megumi Pauline, Temujin Mason, Takanobu Maxey and

Tamon Leroy. We all talked and listened at once getting ac
quainted again. Pauline spoke twice in Edmonton and for the
Christian Women of Grande Prairie, a special trip by air. I

spoke at King Edward Park Church, Edmonton; Avondale church,

Grande Prairie; South Hill Christian Church and Alberta Bible
College, Calgary.
YANAGIMOTO FAMILY-EDMONTON,ALBERTA,CANADA

Pierre, South Dakota, the geographical center of North

America , was the beginning of our stay in the lower 48. We
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have begun msuiy a journey here - received by the church, refreshed at the home of Ed and Kay Hoist and sent on our way
with the use of a car courtesy Hoist Motors. This was no exception. We had a beautiful and comfortable car to drive and
returned safely without accident or incident 5000 miles and five weeks later.

We had many churches we wanted to visit. Some we could but most we could not. But five churches must be included.
Three associated with our first ministries and two in relation to our decision to be missionaries.

Church of Christ at Madelia, Minnesota

where I first began. It was a

First was the

wonderful visit. Seven were there from my preach

ing days 40 years ago, including the first person I baptized, Maurine Evenson (center of picture.) Unforgettable also
was Mrs. Davies, now 100+, still keen of mind, who always had a room for me when I came. The second church was at
Truman, just a few miles south. After my father's death, my mother and two younger brothers came to live with me there.
Many came early so we could have longer to visit. We were warmly received. The third church was at North Vemon, Ind

iana where Pauline and I began our married life and where our first child, Paula, was bom. Unforgettable days for us.
It was touching, humbling and a blessing to be remembered and loved by these congregations after the passage of three
decades and more.

North Vemon has been our legal and banking address since 1941 The same for the Kyushu Christian Mission since
it was first formed in 1949. Our .three forwarding secretaries, Gladys Auerswald, Mary Deiotte and Shirley Smith have
come from the church there. Now, because of continued poor health, Shirley and ourselves mutually agreed we should
try to find a new forwarding secretary. Our joint prayers were answered when Carol Couchmah, staunchly backed by her
husband Larry, happily agreed to serve. Carol began her duties December first. The address will be the same; Box 417,
North Vernon, Indiana 47265. Only the person has been changed. Theuik you, Shirley! Welcome, Carol!
Two other churches we visited went back to our missionary beginnings. My last assignment as an army chaplain

was~ai:~Fort~CUster'r near Battle creek, Micnigan. ~It"wa~while~serving there~th'at~wiTiade a choi^ to retufn to Ja^sm.
We visited the grave of our little son, Charles, laid to rest just before we left. While in Battle Creek, we aided in
the starting of the Newtown Church of Christ. Our Sunday night ministry at the church at Vandalia, some 60 miles
away, may have been the turning point from possible death to its present vital existence. Both of these churches recei
ved us warmly. They have been faithful supporters since the beginning. Christian ties are binds that never slip.

We wanted to see our brothers and sisters - three brothers and two sisters for me, four brothers for Pauline.
We saw hers all at one time - in Akron, Ohio, November 12. Three brothers live in the area: Allen, Boyd and Roy.

Guy Pethtel made a special trip from Salt Lake City. It was the first time all five had been together in one place in
50 years. In spite of snow and ice, seventeen of us sat down to a meal hosted by Allen, the oldest brother. We re-'
mained for an evening of picture taking and renewing family ties. It was a high point of our trip.

Isabel Dittemore, now on furlough in Joplin, Missouri, is the oldest of the Maxey tribe. Tibbs and wife, Norma,
flew up from El Paso Bible College. We had three wonderful days together including Maxey day at Ozark Bible College
chapel service where I spoke. We saw younger brother, Victor, Librarian at Cincinnati Bible College, there when he
conducted the chapel service when I spoke. This service included a warm reunion with Prof . George Mark Elliott, a very
important person in my spiritual pilgrimage, and many other friends who came from a distance for this service. That
'evening Victor and wife, Lois, had open house ctnd buffet supper for fifteen of the kith and kin in that area. We had
two days with youngest brother Bryan and wife, Kathryn at Defiance, Ohio where he is minister. We completed seeing
all of my family in Iowa heading west.
Mary Ellen is the younger sister. Her husband, Alvin Giese, like a brother to
roe, has served the Church of Christ at Storin Lake for almost thirty years. We are glad to report all family members
in good health. We mutually rejoiced in being together again.

We wanted to spend time with our two other children living in Cincinnati, Ohio: daughter, Faith, and son,
Gregory and his wife, Beverly. All three are working part time and going to college full time so we had to visit
in the evening and at add times between classes and work. Even so we had many precious hours together. On Thanksgxvxng
Day, Greg hosted a meal for the family and Bev's mother at the Golden Lamb, Ohio's first inn, operating in Lebanon,
Ohio since the 1820's It was a fitting close to our visit. Faith went with us as far as Iowa before we bid a tearful
farewell to hor also.

We concluded our trip in California, preaching in Long Beach, Sunday, I3ecember 4 and left that night for Japan.
!To cront 7A
snhonl near Tokvo and arrived in Kagoshima, Wednesday night to the excited squeals

of Trent and Shelley and the warm embrace of Walter and Mary.Great to go! Great to get bacJET ^a\^eft ouirmore
than I have told including most of the churches we visited. Forgive me! It would take pages to begin to ta^ a^ut the
wonderful people we met, the joys and sorrows, faith and hope mutually shared and to mention the fantastic hospitality
we have received. Every place we went, without exception, we found not only new friends but those we had known elsewhere
in former days. So great to be a part of the family of God.

Pauline spoke 10 times and I spoke 66 times in 3 countries and 12 states including 23 churches and 6 Bible col
leges and one T.V. program, "To You With Love" in Calgary. We slept in 34 different beds, ate meals in 55 different ho^s.
33 restaurants, 15 church suppers, 2 picnics and 15 airplanes. We apologize to all those we would like to have seen but
couldn't. When Hope graduates from high school we will be coming for regular furlough. See you then!.

us on this joumey. We have tried to be a blessing in return. Pauline stoood the journey well. IN HIS SERVICE
Ncn-Profit Organization

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