December 2, 2008

To our Friends and Supporters:

Christmas greetings from Japan! In our October newsletter, we updated you on the continuing saga of Kazuo Ishikawa, the buraku man who was unjustly convicted on a trumped-up murder charge, despite clear evidence of his innocence. His conviction was clearly based on prejudice against buraku people, and he spent 31 years in prison before being provisionally paroled in 1994. We are happy to report that the government granted his request for special permission to travel to Geneva to appeal to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, which had already admonished Japan concerning his case. Ishikawa gave a glowing report of his experience at the October 31 rally in Tokyo, and we are all hoping that this concession by the government will put additional pressure on the court to grant him the retrial he has been denied for so many years. Pressure from outside Japan may well make the difference, and so our prayer is that this year will be the year his "invisible handcuffs" are removed and his name cleared. Please keep him in your prayers.

Tim attended the regional conference for the United Methodist Church held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in late November. Juji was unable to go due to the timing of her ongoing treatment. (Her hospitalization this time is from mid-November to early December and has gone well.) The 40 or so missionaries from around Asia who could attend were inspired by the amazing reports, particularly from Southeast Asia, namely, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam were devastated by war 30 to 40 years ago, and the effects of that were quite evident in Cambodia, in spite of the fact that it is developing rapidly. It was a sobering experience to visit the “killing fields” and see the thousands of skulls on display in the memorial to that massacre.

While the scars of that great evil run deep and will not be forgotten, our impression of today’s Cambodia is one of great vitality and hope. Unlike Japan, with its rapidly aging population, Cambodia’s population is predominately young, and this is evident in the rapidly growing churches we visited. While still a small minority, the Christian Church is making a great impact on Cambodian society, similar to that of Japan at the end of WWII.

One ministry in particular stands out—that of Clara Biswas, a United Methodist missionary who originally came from Bangladesh. Clara is a graduate of the Asian Rural Institute here in Japan, which is a ministry close to our hearts. Prior to going to Cambodia in 2001, she spent six months with us in Tsukuba. Clara now ministers to people on the margins of Cambodian society, such as people who recycle garbage.

UMC mission worker Clara Biswas with children at Sunday school held outside a dump near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

After worshiping with a thriving church in downtown Phnom Penh on Sunday morning, and after our visit to the “killing fields,” we went to the giant garbage dump where Clara and the members of her team work to bring hope to the people. We were greeted by about 100 children attending a "Sunday school" (not just an hour on Sunday morning) in a church on the edge of the dump. The children enthusiastically sang several songs they had learned and tried out their English. In addition to introducing them to Jesus and his love for them, the ministry serves as an advocate for the children and their families by helping them connect to educational and medical services.

Tim with his friend Clara Biswas, who lived with the Boyles for six months while learning at the Asian Rural Institute in Tsukuba, Japan.

The mission in Cambodia and other countries in the region represents the holistic nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our mandate is to "feed the hungry" in both the physical sense (through social ministry and advocacy programs) and the spiritual sense (through evangelism and Christian education). The missionaries working in these countries also represent a trend we can celebrate. We are literally missionaries from everywhere to everywhere. Persons such as Clara, who come from country A and serve in country B while being supported by country C, make both the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) truly “global” churches.

Three of the missionary couples at the conference were serving in their countries of origin—Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam—and all had been refugees from the war that America had participated in a generation ago. Yet God worked through the tragedy of that war to prepare for the great spiritual harvest that is happening today. Not only do these people have individual talents and gifts to share, but they also possess cultural and experiential gifts that those of us from developed countries generally lack. We who work in Japan, with is slow growth, marvel at the explosive growth in a country such as Laos. We rejoice at the reports that the United Methodist Churches there already have 5,000 members. To view pictures of the conference and the Cambodian landscape (including Angkor Wat), see Tim’s photos on his Web site.

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior this Christmas, let us also celebrate the great things God is doing in Southeast Asia and around the world. May you all have a blessed Christmas and a great New Year in 2009. We look forward to seeing you this spring when we itinerate in churches around the country (from Hawaii to Virginia).

Blessings,

Tim and Yuko (Juji) Boyle

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