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April 2001
Dear Friends,
Easter Greetings from the Land of the Rising Sun! Easter is only
two weeks away as we sit down to write this letter, and so it
might very well be over by the time you read this. The cherry
blossoms are coming out and it is a beautiful time of the year
(except for the hay fever!). Cherry blossoms play a very important
role in Japanese culture, and their transient brilliance is often
used as a parable for life. This is very "biblical,"
as the Scriptures often use similar analogies. For instance, in
Ps.103:15, it says, "As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over
it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more." If
this psalm had been written in the context of Japanese culture,
the analogy used would no doubt have been that of the cherry blossom
and its fleeting but glorious existence! In our last newsletter,
we mentioned that 2001 would be our year for home assignment and
that because of our unique situation with both United Methodist
and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) supporting churches spread from
Hawaii to Virginia, we would do our itineration in two segments.
Tim spent eight weeks in California and Arizona this winter to
visit churches there, and as a family, we will be in the East
this summer, with "Mission Haven" in Decatur, Georgia
as our home base.
We have a special treat to look forward to on the trip over.
In previous letters, we’ve mentioned the international flavor
of the work we do here in Japan and the numerous people from around
the world we serve in the name of Christ. There is also quite
an ecumenical aspect to our work, as we interact in cooperation
with Christians from numerous denominational backgrounds. While
most of this involves other Protestant denominations, there is
also an active Catholic church nearby that we cooperate with in
numerous contexts. Over the last few years, we have gotten to
know Father Donegan (from Ireland) quite well, and he was transferred
recently to a position at the Vatican. He has offered to give
us a personal tour, and so we’re taking advantage of that
by going the only slightly longer route of flying to Atlanta via
Rome. We doubt we’ll be meeting the Pope or anything like
that, but we’re looking forward to experiencing some of the
history (both good and bad) that has had such an impact on the
development of the Christian Church in Europe and by extension
around the world.
Speaking of the unusually international flavor of our ministry
here in Japan, one new development has been our recent contact
with a large group of Indonesians working here in Japan. Just
before Tim left on his trip to the U.S., we got word from the
national headquarters that a group of Indonesian Christians was
seeking help to come together in regular worship. While most of
the foreign nationals we have contact with are in academic fields,
there is a growing number of foreign laborers working here in
Japan. In fact, Japan is highly dependent on the low-cost labor
they provide for many necessary jobs few Japanese are willing
to do. While Japan cannot function without them, they often are
not provided the legal status they need to protect their rights.
This and other similar issues involving marginalized groups in
Japan are issues integral to the mission of the Church, and while
our particular ministry is focused on other aspects of the total
mission God has given the Church, we nevertheless actively support
others whose primary calling is towards these issues.
In January, we visited with leaders from this Indonesian community,
who work in seafood plants along the coast, about an hour’s
drive to the northeast. Almost 200 of them gathered for a worship
service in a local public hall. "Religious meetings"
are against the regulations for such meeting halls, and so "officially"
it was registered as a "cultural event." A few of the
leaders of the community speak English, and they have asked Tim
to come and preach for them occasionally, with translation into
Indonesian. Together with Japanese pastors, we are working to
find suitable facilities where this large community can come together
on a regular basis. They are sometimes not able to procure any
facilities to meet in, and there are many restrictions placed
on them. Little did we think we would be dealing with such a situation
(and opportunity) as this here in Japan, but this is indicative
to the future trend of increasing internationalization in our
world.
It is such a privilege to be your mission representatives here
in Japan, and we thank you all for your prayers and financial
support through both the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.). While most of you will not be called by God to
go across national borders to be missionaries in another culture,
in this increasingly international world we live in, peoples of
many cultures are coming to live and work in other countries.
The United States, of course, is a nation founded on the principle
of immigration. The first immigrants to America were from Asia
(the Indians), but in the modern sense, most immigration was from
Europe. In recent years, however, the pendulum has shifted back
to Asia (as well as "south of the border," of course),
and so our population is becoming increasingly diverse.
Thus, there are many ways individual Christians and local congregations
can be involved in cross-cultural mission without going overseas.
We encourage you to learn about the cultures of people living
right in your own community and to get involved in serving them
in the name of Christ. You can be missionaries right where you
are, and that is something God has called all followers of Christ
to do and to be.
May God bless you all during this holy season and touch your
lives with the joy of the Resurrection!
In Christ,
Tim, Juji, Lisa and Jennifer Boyle
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 185
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