December 25, 2006

Dear Friends,

Christmas and New Year’s greetings from Tokyo, Japan.

With this message I send you my heartfelt thanks to all for your continued warm concern and support of my work at HELP, the Asian women’s shelter in Tokyo where I serve as a PC(USA) mission co-worker.

Your generous support of me enables my support for women and children who have survived violence and other human rights abuses.

HELP celebrated its 20th anniversary in April, and our mother organization, Kyofukai  (Japanese Christian Women’s Union, a former International Temperance Union member), its 120th anniversary in December.

HELP had an unusual experience this year. In early summer, an inspection of the earthquake readiness of the building’s third, fourth, and fifth floors, which HELP has used for 20 years, found it to be inadequate, necessitating reinforcement construction work and thus the shelter’s relocation. Kyofukai has two other old buildings on its property, and the Kyofukai board decided to move us to the first and second floor of one of those buildings. Unfortunately, it is not at all equipped for use as an emergency shelter.

Due to this development, we stopped accepting new residents at the beginning of October to start preparations for moving. Though the new facilities are ill equipped, we started accepting residents on November 20, as soon as our kitchen’s renovation was completed. Our mission must continue regardless of this temporary adversity, or women who need our help will suffer.

The Board of Kyofukai told HELP that they can only provide limited funds for HELP’s remodeling, due to the cost of the reinforcement work itself. We, the staff of HELP, began our fundraising drive so that we may continue our core mission.

During our 10-day New Year’s vacation starting December 29, one house mother and one caseworker (We have a total of two full-time and six part-time case workers) will take turns being on duty on in order to take care of residents and do telephone counseling. On January 1, 2007, I will be on duty.

On behalf of everyone at HELP, I would like to express my deepest appreciation for your support. Thanks to your support, I can continue to be part of this important work at HELP.

Today is Christmas.  Christ gives us all of the qualities of life—hope, peace, love, and joy. May hope, peace, love, joy, and faith in Christ be with us all through 2007.

Yukiko Altman

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 252