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February 1999
Greetings From The Land Of The Rising Sun!
It is with mixed feelings of both great sadness and great joy
that we write this newsletter. Over the last few weeks we have
been ministering to a dear young lady with terminal cancer who
went to be with the Lord on February 10. Yuki Namekawa was only
24 years old. Juji first came to know her about a year ago, when
they were both hospitalized in the same room.
As Juji’s relationship developed with Yuki, as well as with
Yuki’s mother, they became close friends. Doctors did everything
they could to cure Yuki’s brain tumor, but her condition
only worsened. By December, her condition had deteriorated to
where her doctors thought she would only live a few more weeks
at most. It was nearing Christmas, and Yuki expressed her wish
to visit the church Christmas Eve and see the Christmas lights
we had put up. Everyone knew it would be her last trip out of
the hospital. Japanese doctors and hospitals are not usually prone
to granting such wishes for critically ill patients, as they are
afraid of criticism and even lawsuits if something goes wrong.
Dr. Matsumura, however, bucked that trend and made special arrangements
for an ambulance to take her on a stretcher to the church late
in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. In fact, he and one other doctor
accompanied her the entire way. They arrived to a warm welcome
from the choir, which was preparing for the Christmas Eve service,
and we all sang several Christmas carols for Yuki, and the organist
played a special mini-concert on the pipe organ he is building
in the church (more about that in a future newsletter!). It was
truly a moving experience for all, Yuki was thrilled, and her
family expressed their great joy at seeing her satisfaction.
In the weeks that followed, both of us frequently visited Yuki
in the hospital, and prayed for her. She and her family had had
a bit of Christian exposure in the past, but otherwise they followed
the typical Buddhist and Shinto traditions. Yuki indicated that
she wanted to receive baptism, and in fact, as things developed,
both of her parents likewise indicated that they now believed
in Jesus and wanted to be baptized together with their daughter.
So on January 15, Rev. Wakatsuki, along with both of us, administered
the rites of baptism and Holy Communion right there in her hospital
room to all three of them (again, with the special permission
of Dr. Matsumura, who told us we could ignore the hospital regulation
against such religious services).
We should mention that it was Dr. Matsumura who last year made
heroic efforts to work with us to help fulfill the dream of another
young girl dying of the same type of brain tumor to return to
her homeland in Peru. As a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation
in Japan, Tim made the arrangements for Sylvia and her family
to fly back to Peru where Sylvia could see her friends and grandmother
before she died. They had a beautiful memorial service for her
at the Tsukuba Catholic Church that several of the doctors and
nurses attended. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will continue
to work in the hearts of Dr. Matsumura and other medical personnel
to witness through these events and draw them to faith in Christ.
Funerals in Japan involve two separate services, with one in
the evening and then the regular funeral the following day, just
before the body is taken to the crematorium for cremation. Tim
gave the messages at both services, while Rev. Wakatsuki directed
the ceremonies. Needless to say, tears flowed freely during the
services, but Tim stressed that while it is proper and necessary
to grieve for the great loss of Yuki from our midst, we shouldn’t
grieve as one without hope. We spent the rest of the day with
the family, seeing them through to the end of the process of picking
up the ashes and taking them home in an urn, where they will be
temporarily until placed in the family grave. When we say "picking
up the ashes", we mean that literally, for here in Japan,
it is the family that gathers the bones and ashes from the cremation
table and puts them in the urn. It sounds rather gruesome, and
indeed it is. While we personally feel that the family should
be given the option of not having to do that, it is a strongly-held
tradition that we have to adapt to.
The time at the crematorium ended with another tradition that
definitely presented us with a problem. The attendant took the
urn and put it on the shelf in front of the flower-draped picture
of Yuki and commanded us to bow in worship! It was meant just
a simple bow of the head to show respect for the deceased, but
he obviously was unaware of the problem this presents for Christians,
as he used the word "worship". He did this, of course,
from the Buddhist/Shintoist perspective of the deceased becoming
a god. Not knowing it was coming, we had not specifically requested
that he not do so. Needless to say, we’ll be prepared for
the next time. This, however, is a good example of the type of
worldview clash one runs into here in Japan.
Please remember the Namekawa family in your prayers, as they
have much grief to go through. Pray that their new-found faith
will be strengthened and that other family members will join together
with them in Christian faith. Also pray for an upcoming evangelistic
campaign in May, with Hugh Ross, on his next trip to Japan. We’ll
have a great opportunity on Tokyo University campus as well as
other important venues. We also ask you to continue lifting Juji
and her health concerns in prayer. Her recent operation to create
a shunt in her arm for future plasma exchanges went well, and
we hope this will make her future treatments much easier and safer.
We wish to thank you all for your continued prayers in our behalf
and your financial support through either the United Methodist
Church or the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that allows us have
the privilege of serving the cause of Christ in Japan.
Tim, Yuko (Juji), Lisa and Jennifer Boyle
The 1999 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
167
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