July 2008

Newsbrief

Greetings from muggy Japan! Summer weather has set in here with a vengeance, just as it no doubt has where almost all of our readers are (though for a few in such places as New Zealand, it’s winter.) Tim is concentrating on the work of the Buraku Liberation Center. One project we soon hope to get up and running smoothly is an English-language Web site. Some pictures are posted now that you are welcome to view. Though there are several albums to choose from, this album is the most pleasing to look at (most are simply pictures of events, but these are of spring flowers). Hopefully, we’ll have various articles available by fall, including back issues of Crowned With Thorns, the newsletter about the Buraku.

Juji is concentrating on counseling elderly residents of the Shin’ai Home and their families, and that has been a big help to the operations of that facility.

Tim now has a temporary ministry at the Kobe Union Church, whose pastor resigned as of June. An interim pastor is to arrive in October, and so Tim will be giving the sermons almost all of those Sundays until the new person arrives. The interim pastor is a retired minister from New Zealand who previous served KUC, and he is coming simply to fill in for up to a year while they are searching for a long-term pastor. The church has quite a rich history, likely being the oldest continuously operating Protestant church in Japan, as it was organized in 1871, when Christianity was still officially forbidden in Japan. Please do remember this church in your prayers, as they have been going through some difficult times.

As for family news, Jennifer will be traveling to Italy on September 2 to study art at the “Studio Art Center International” school in Florence, which runs through April of next year. We’re in kind of “sticker shock” at the plane ticket prices. The cheapest we could find in Japan for the trip was about $3,600 round trip, but we were able to get a flight on Air France through a travel agency in Europe that specializes on mission-related travel. Our first quote was for about $2300 but during the 3 or 4 days we were double-checking on other possible options, but before we had sent them the money so that they could issue the ticket, it went up another $300! On top of that, the total baggage allowance is 20 kilograms (44 pounds), with an extra charge of $50 per kilograms above that!  It looks like we’ll be mailing her winter clothes and whatever else she can’t get in one small suitcase (and 12 kilograms max of carry-on).

That makes us wonder what things are going to be like next year when we’re on home assignment. At present, our plans are to be centered in Pasadena, California, during February and March, and then in Decatur, Georgia, for April and May, flying back through Portland, Oregon, for the last week or so on our way back to Japan. Hope to see many of you then.

Blessings,

Tim and Juji Boyle

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 104