sims jonathan 1982 japan

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CAJ ReportJONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPANAnd the things you haveheard mesay in the presenceofmany witnesses entrustedto reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others II Timothy 2:2I Timothy 2:2

VOLUME 2 EIRST QU RTER 1982 NUM ER 1

CONTINUING STUDYThe major pro jec t of th i s new year Is the at tempt to^ f in ishthe course of s tudy ing Japanese a t Tanguage school . The work hasbecome tedious and sometimes one might eas i ly be tempted to qu i t . y class has been covering the material a t a quicker pace than

other c l a s se s which has seemed to add to the pressure t h a t i s already a lmos t u nb ea ra ble through s tudying f ive days a week beingin a c la s s four hours a day The t eache r s have helped to ease thes t r a i n a little by adding new types of l ea rn ing expe r i ences espec ia l ly as we are get t ing up in to more advanced levels of s tudy.For example par t of the c lass period each week is a l lo t t ed fo rgiving a shor t ta lk about our hobbies and th ings t ha t we are inte re ste d in . Each s tuden t a lso has the chance to speak in chapelsevera l t imes a year . I spoke in February on the 23rd Psalm whichcon t inues to be a source of comfor t during the s t r a i n of languages tudy .

Tes ts a re con t i nu a l l y making every s t ud en t humble by r evea ling weaknesses in language ab i l i t y . As one seems to fee l good inf i n i sh ing a new l e s son the t e s t always proves he has no t r e a l l ymaste red th e mate r i a l as he might have t hough t . In any case myt e s t scores have been lower t h i s term than I would have p r e f e r r edbut my t eache r has al lowed me to s tay with the c l a s s and proceedi n to lev e l fou r . I am l ea rn ing to adap t to more d i f f i c u l t t e s t swhich now inc lude such ass ignments as def in ing new words in Jap an eseexplain ing the meaning of some sentences in the lesson and makingsen tences using pa r t i cu l a r express ions in add i t ion to what we haved o n e efore

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Helping with the loca lcongregat ion here in Mejirodaiproves to be a wonderful opportun i ty to apply my languagel ea rn ing to p rac t i c a l s i t u a ti on s . I have been given opport un i t i e s to preach in addi t ionto the weekly chance to leadthe song s e rv i c e the respons ive r ead ing and read ing th es cr ip tu re te xt during the Sunday Worship Service . I preached


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tongue-t ied trying to explain the meaning of the lesson, but af te reach experience I fe l t l ike I had accomplished something. Havingobserved the teacher and helping each week by asking quest ions, thenew ex pe rie nc e o f teaching the class solo seems not real ly as demanding as might have been months e a r l i e r

NEW ENGAGEMENTS

u n i

An Engagement Service Another Engaged Couple

One o f the d i f f i cu l t i e s of the work in Japan i s making possible for young Christ ians to find other Christ ians to marry.When the Churches are small and few people a t tend who would be apotenti al p ar tn er , i t becomes quite f rust ra t ing. The major consequence is that Christian gir ls marry non-Christian boys or in a fewcases v ice ve r sa That has been the case fo r the couples in thepictures abo.ve^ _.The _gi rls. have .become Ch.r.Tstians , but not fi ndingL__Christ ians to marry are now engaged to non-Chris t ians .

Engagements in Japan are formal, being conducted off ic ia l lyas an engagement ceremony . The services for both couples wereconducted here a t the Church and was the f i r s t time fo r many, i fnot a l l of the re la t ives and friends to be in a Church. Whetherthe f ian ce s w il l become Chr i s t i an s i s ye t to be seen

I m very grateful for your prayers and hearing of additionalsupport being designated fo r y work here in Japan. The Lord hasanswered your prayers on y behalf through keeping me healthythrough the full schedule of language study and Church work and omforting during frustrating times in language study. Without yourprayers i t might be easy to think of giving up working in a difficult fie ld where the language, even for a missionary kid is noteasy to understand. But with your prayers, I know the Lord can use here to lead the Japanese to respond to the Gospel of Jesus ChristFie ld AddressJona than Sims3-33-7 Meji rodaiHachioj i -ShiTokyo, Japan 193

Forward ing AgentJesse Inge909 Neptune AvenueVa. Beach, Va. 23464804 420-6028


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I L 22 98C J REPORT

JONATHAN SIMS R I S T S AMBASSADOR TO JAPANAnd the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrustedto r el iable m^ who will also be qualified to teach others. I I Timothy 2:2Voltane 2 Second Quarter 1982 Number 2

MOVING RIGHT ALONGPerseverance In the study of the J apanese language has broughtpos i t ive re su l t s One week of the summer term Is over and my c lasshas finished level four of the course at the Japan Missionary Lang ûage Institutê. ~Iin.s excit ing to~eirteRP^the f i f th andr hlg^hest 1e v ôf study a t the school . At the complet ion o f th i s lev el f iv e wewil l be able to graduate from fu l l time study to fu l l time application of our learning. I have become stronger through the st rain

of language acquisi t ion, but I t Is primarily through strength tha tthe Lord has provided In answer to prayer on my behalf , tha t I havebeen ab le to cont inue In my s tudy Thank you a l l fo r your praye rsThe goal o f g ra du atio n on December 17 I s becoming c lear ly seen asp o s s i b l e

L e v e l f i v e h a s until now c o n s i s t e d o f a book o f n i n e longlessons mainly fo r th e a cquirin g of new vocabulary, learning more ofthe many characters used In the writ ing of Japanese and study offormal language. As former students have seen weakness In the book.I t Is In the process of being revised My c lass wil l be the f i r s tto t e s t a new revision of the contents of the material In level f ive .I t promises to be a cha lle nge, but a t the same time direct ly applicable to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Chris t to Chris t ian newspaper and Chr i s t i an jnaga7.1nes r a t h e r than from secu la r Japaneseschool mater i a l s The new nine l e ssons w i l l provide us with s k i l l sfo r f inding def in i t ions of words on our own, using s tandard Japanesed i c t i o n a r i e s With th e o t h e r skills we w i l l b e l e a r n i n g p r e p a r i n gsermon s and such In Japanese w i l l be smoother and meanings o f ourmessages w i l l be more r e a d i l y unders tood

THE WORK PROGRESSES

In a dd it io n to h elp ing In Sunday School and lead in g In th eSunday A.M. Worship serv ice every week, I have the opportunity topreach on s p ec i a l occas ions On May 2, Dad and Mom were a t a camp,so I preached. Again on the 30th of May I del ivered the message.Dad usual ly preaches fo r ty min utes each Sunday, while my sermonshave been j u s t twenty m inut es o r so On the 30th , my message tookth e norma l t ime fo r Dad s messages The d i f f e r e n c e b a s i c a l l y between Dad s sermons and m ine I s th a t Dad w r i t e s an o u t l i n e InEnglish and f ree ly communicates the message In Japanese. In my case ,I spend almost a l l of the preparation time I have writ ing out amanuscrip t in Japanese. Because of the t ime demand of fu l l t imelanguage school as wel l as prepa ra t ion fo r the Sunday Schooll e s s o n s t h e re i s l i mi t ed t ime fo r me to re he ar se th e d e l i v e ry o fth e sermon. Reading any mate r i a l i s no t a good way to communicatea message was one o f th e p r in c ip l e s I l ea rned In preaching c l a s s


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Every f i f t h Sunday, our congregat ions in Tokyo ga ther fo r fe l lowship and mutual encouragement ill the work of communicating the Gospelof Jesus Chr i s t . On May 30th we had th e l a rge s t gather ing t ha t Iknow about- nine ty people t o t a l from about ten congregat ions . TheJames Dobson f i lms Focus on th e Family have been adapted and t r a n sla ted in to Japanese . We saw t h e se f i lms which a re r e a l l y apprec ia ted here in Japan. Fami l ies are drawn apa r t because o f s t r e s s onl oya l t y to company and f a l l i n g apa r t from once he ld va lue s by a newgene ra t ion where many t end to r ebe l aga i n s t va lues o f m o ra li ty ands tandards he ld by prev ious gene ra t i ons . Much p raye r i s needed sot h a t Chr i s t i an p r i nc i p l e s o f a new l i f e s t y l e in Chr i s t can be seenth rough s t rong Chr i s t i an f am i l i e s be fo re t h e r e is no t ime l ft

A BUSY SUMMER AHEADOn Ju l y 23 th e l a s t day o f th e summer t erm o f l anguage s choo l .Dad and Mom wi l l be l e av ing fo r th e S t a t e s fo r abou t s ix weeks .During t h e i r absence , I wi l l be ma in ta in in g th e work here in Mej i r - .odai . Vacation from language school wi l l allow fu l l time to prepare

fo r camp, VBS preaching and a tte nd in g th e ALL Japan Convention ofour Churches of Chris t Ch r i s t ian Churches). At the miss ionaryga ther ing I am scheduled to d e l iv e r a message in Engl ish fo r achange. The Monday a f t e r Dad and o a r r ive back in Tokyo on September I wi l l resume language s tudy fo r th e l a s t leg before completin g th e cou r se o f s tudy a t s choo l .

I am very gra te fu l fo r the support which you have been providingf inanc ia l ly and espec ia l ly through praye r . There i s no be t t e r sourceof s t rength than t ha t which comes through our Lord and Sav io ur J es usChris t . He has and i s providing a l l t ha t I need to do His Wil l .Let us continue in our e f fo r t s to procla im the Gospel of Jesus Chr i s tas time i s running out , praying t ha t a l l may be able to hear and re spond to t h a t Gospel befo re it i s too l a t e .

F ie ld Address ; Jona than SimsMej lroda l , Hach io j i-Sh iTokyo, Japan 193

Forwyding Agent: Jesse Inge909 Neptune AvenueVirginia Beach, Va. 2346ii804) 420-6028


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f ct th t seemed eWdent t the conention was tha t i s get t ing timefor some of the missionaries to re- Morning Devotions at the Japenese Conventi

t i re although few wa nt to because ofthe work t h a t needs to be done, andthere are not very many new missionaries coming. Christianity sti l l has not made much ofan impact on the Japanese society.

One of the major highlights of the convention was the celebration of the eightiethbirthday of one of our si ngle lady missionaries. Vivian Lemmon came to Japan to workin the 1930 s, so has worked in Japan for almost fifty years. She had to return to theStates during WW but is still active in the work _ It becomes very difficult formissionaries to retire to America when t he y have lived the major part of their liveshere in Japan working to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Japanese,

The Missionary Convention Viv ian Lemmon

FIELD ADDRESS Jonathan Sims, 3-33-7 Mejirodai, Hachioji-Shi, Tokyo, Japan 193FORWARDING AGENT Jesse Inge, 909 Neptune Ave. Virginia Beach, Va. 23464(804)420-6028


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/ JAN 7 J SSC . A . J REPORT

JONATHAN SIMS CHRIST S AMBASSADOR TO JAPANAnd t he t hi ngs you hccoe heard me say in th e presence o f many witnesses entrusted to reliable men who will also be q ua li fi ed t o teach others, Timothy 2: 2

VOLUME 2 FOURTH QUARTER 1982 NUMBER 4

CHRISTMAS ACTI VI TI ESThe time for th e special rememhrsuice of the birth of our Lord and SaviourJesus Christ ha s arrived. Here a t Mejirodai we are having th e u su al f u ll schedule o f a c tivitie s to c el eb r at e t he season. Even though this report is l a t e , I

hope that t w i l l help to keep th e mood j o y f u l fo r a l i t t l e l onger .On the nineteenth we had a noimial Sunday School, a f te r which we rememberedClirist s birth through a Worship Service and an afternoon musical program in

which everyone participated. Groups and individuals sang, played various musicalinstruments and acted in skits. The program c lo se d w it h a gif t exchange in whicheach age group gave presents to others in t h ei r same age group. The room wasfilled to capacity with 6 adults junior high included) and 14 children upthrough 6th grade included).As soon as I finish this report, I must resume preparation for th e upcomingevent s. A fter the Christmas Eve Service on th e 24th, th e Sunday School programwill be held on Christmas Day. As Japanese school children begin their wintervacation on that day, the program will help to set the mood fo r the season. Aswe give attendance awards at that time, children will attend in anxious e3q)ecta-

t i o n

GRADUATION FROM LANGUAGE SCHOOLThe main reason that this report is late is that the pressure of languagestudy put on by the teachers did not stop u nt il a ft er the last class session wasover, I have been set for th e proper joyfulness of this season in tha t I havebeen enabled to coii5)lete th e course of study at th e Japan Missionary LanguageInstitute. Through th e grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and th estrength He has provided, I have been able to persevere through the struggle ofintensive Japanese language study. Now I can direct my efforts toward directcont act an d comimmication o f th e Gospel o f Jesus Ch rist.This Autumn term of study has been my best. Ufy classmate and I have finished reading a book written by a Japanese as m introduction to Christianityfor other Japanese people. Being a graduate of Bible college, much of the materia l is not new although i t is interesting to note how the author expressed hisviewpoints of Japanese Christianity. In addition to reading the book we alsoread se le c te d art icles from one o f th e t hree major nat i onal Japanese newspapers.It is a good feeling to be able to more and more understand how the Japanese feelabout various things and how they, express themselves in the ir own special unassertive way excepting th e overly aggressive newspaper reporters and sales

men).


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The teachers were more l en ien t during th is Autumn term, than they havebeen.in previous terms. aybe i t s6emed that \ray because the grading this,termwas based not on regular tests as we have had previously, but ofi essays we havewritten in class on various assigned topics. Even so, af ter every class sessioni t was easy to feel inadequate in e3preSsitig myself. Members of the local congregation here have .continued to remark on my progress in communication ability.But i t takes a lifetime to r ea lly leam a ll of the Ins and outs of a language.I am gra te fu l for this painful experience of formal classroom study, withoutwhich I feel nobody can really get a grasp of the foundation necessary tocommunicate adequately any important message, especially the Gospel of JesusCh r i s t

ay everyone continue to remember the joys of this season, and have aappy New Year. Ihank you all for your continued prayers and support throughwhich the Iiord has susta ined me i n thi^~year7 ^ ~~ - -

Fie ld AddressJ on a t h a n S im s3-33-7 Meji rodaiHachioji-ShiTokyo, Japan 193

Laure l Avenue Church o f Chr i s tC. A. J - Jonathan SimsP.O. Box 13277Chesapeake, Virginia 23325

M i s s io n s Se r v i c e s ssoBox 2427Knoxvi l le , TN 37901

Forwarding AgentJesse Inge909 Nep tune AvenueVa. Beach, Va. 23464804) 420-6028

Permit 48Non-Profi t Org.Postage PaidChesapeake, Va.

sims jonathan 1982 japan

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