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December 2000
Christmas Greetings from the Land of the Rising Sun!
Even though it is only early November as we sit down to write
this letter, Christmas Japanese style is already beginning to
pop up all around us. Stores are playing Christmas music, and
Santa is already beginning to make his gradually lengthening yearly
appearances. No need to wait until after Thanksgiving here!
Likewise, as we wonder along with everyone else in the world
just who on earth the next American president is going to be,
a local Japanese election is going on around us. What a contrast
that is to the American system! While the official campaign period
is limited to only a week or so, what that involves is several
days of nonstop noise, with candidates driving around in "sound
cars" with loudspeakers blaring "Please vote for me!"
and occasionally stopping in central locations to spend several
minutes shouting out their message. And since we are located downtown,
we hear it all. We certainly will be glad when next Sunday, the
day of the election, arrives with some peace and quiet!
One interesting development in our work since we last wrote you
is our welcoming a short-term missionary here at the Tsukuba Christian
Center. It was an unplanned and sudden development, but this fall
Ms. Clara Biswas from Bangladesh came to Tsukuba to utilize her
gifts in the work of the Kingdom. Clara, a Christian social worker
with many years of experience in Bangladesh, came to Japan for
a two-year term to work with the Sendai Student Center a couple
of hundred miles north of us. She finished her term there this
past summer and is to be appointed to a position in the Philippines
from next year under the United Methodist Church. But as she has
to go through an orientation process that doesn’t begin until
January, there was a gap of several months. That is where we stepped
in to facilitate her coming here for a short, interim assignment.
Clara has been helping out at our local international school when
there are no speaking engagements or other duties she’s involved
in. She has been visiting numerous local churches, where Tim often
translates for her, and she will remain with us until mid-December,
before visiting home in Bangladesh and then going to the United
States to prepare for her next assignment. Her presence among
us is a testimony to the width and breadth of God’s family,
and how in this day and age, mission has become increasingly international—a
Bangladeshi serving in Japan while preparing to go to the Philippines
supported by the American Church! Her very presence, coming from
another Asian country—and one that is predominantly Muslim
at that—is a great encouragement to the Japanese church as
well as a witness to Japanese people in general.
As mentioned in our last newsletter, Tim is rewriting the book
he put out in Japanese six years ago entitled "Bible Stories
Hidden in Chinese Characters." This time, however, it will
be in English. The first draft is now complete, and so at the
very least, photocopies will be available by the end of the year.
Hopefully, it will be in published form by next spring. All of
our supporting churches will be sent a copy.
Speaking of supporting churches, this coming year will be the
time of our next home assignment, when we plan to visit as many
of you as possible. Due to our having supporting churches from
Hawaii to Virginia, in two denominations, our itineration schedule
tends to get a bit complicated. To make things easier, we will
do what we did in 1997, with Tim being on the West Coast in the
winter and the whole family on the East Coast in the summer. Tim
arrives in Arizona on January 24 and will spend a couple of weeks
there before going to Pasadena, California, where he’ll be
headquartered until returning to Japan March 21. Then, as a family,
we will head to Atlanta in mid-June for about nine weeks to take
care of medical check-ups, denominational meetings, and most importantly,
visiting churches in the east (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, West
Virginia and Virginia). We’ll then fly to Oregon for the
latter part of August to visit our churches there before heading
back to Japan at the end of August.
As is the case each time we come back on home assignment, our
housing needs are well taken care of, but procuring a car and
insurance for short-term use will likely be a headache. Any information,
suggestions or offers any of you would have towards that end would
certainly be appreciated.
Juji’s battle with "Isaacs’ Syndrome" is
basically the same. She was in the hospital for treatment again
for about five weeks this fall, and is doing okay for the time
being. Counseling fellow patients continues to be the core of
her ministry. Lisa and Jennifer are both juniors, except that
one is in college and the other in high school. Lisa is still
taking pre-med courses with the goal of becoming a missionary
doctor. Jennifer is not yet decided which field she wants to go
into, but she is leaning towards computer science and wants to
serve God in that type of field.
We wish you all a very blessed Christmas this special Jubilee
Year! May God richly bless you all! We thank you for your continued
prayer and financial support that allows us to serve the cause
of Christ in Japan.
Love,
Tim, Yuko (Juji), Lisa and Jennifer Boyle
The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 172
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