September 2004

To our Friends and Supporters:

Greetings from Japan! As we write this, we hear news of Hurricane Frances battering Florida, and our prayers are with everyone there. We have had our fill of typhoons here in Japan this year, as well, and a couple of new ones are headed our way. The first of those is a huge storm over Okinawa now, and it is expected to affect much of the rest of Japan over the next few days. It is already the 6th typhoon to come ashore in Japan this year, a new record. Fortunately, we are not where the damage has been extensive, but numerous other areas in Japan have experienced significant storm damage, including a couple of cities in our Kanto District that were inundated with floodwaters when levies broke. It seems that the predictions that global warming would increase the frequency of severe storms and other anomalous weather is coming true.

As we begin the fall season, we have a busy schedule. As mentioned in the July newsbrief (email only), Tim is to begin serving as field representative for the Presbyterian Mission, the legal entity that oversees the property that was originally from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.), often known as the “southern church,” which merged with the “northern church” in 1983 to become the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). (For you United Methodists reading this, while Tim’s ministerial orders are in the UMC, we are also sent to Japan by the PC(USA) under a dual appointment, and so we relate equally to both church structures in the United States.)

Included in this position is being a member of the Board of Regents for the Yodogawa Christian Hospital, which operates under the legal status of the Presbyterian Mission in Japan. It will take some time to “learn the ropes” and will involve at least one trip each month to Osaka and Kobe to do the necessary work. It is our prayer that this added responsibility will not be just another “burden,” but an opportunity to serve God in meaningful and productive ways.

These various activities, however, will all be on temporary hold early next year, as we are scheduled to take a three-month home assignment in the United States. We plan to leave on New Year’s Eve so that we can begin visiting churches the first Sunday in January, starting in Hawaii and then going to California until late February. Our “base camp” then switches to Atlanta, Georgia, where we’ll be through the first Sunday of April. While there, we will go through a thorough medical screening as well as visit East Coast supporting churches. This will be the first time we’ve taken home assignment during the winter months, but with our children past high school now, we no longer need to plan around their school years. Hopefully, this will be a better time for churches to host us. We look forward to seeing many of you then. Our schedule will be coming together over the next few weeks, and so those of you who want to host us at a specific time, please get your requests in early. We have housing arranged for both our California and Georgia bases, but as is usually the case, we will need to come up with a car for transportation. If you have any ideas on that, please let us know.

Again, we wish to thank you all for your prayers and financial gifts that allow us the privilege of serving the cause of Christ in Japan.

Tim and Juji Boyle

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 92