-;i/ CO^ft

Po - ru no Te - gami
(PAtJL'S EPISTXE)
News Report of Paul S- & Kathleen pratt
Missionaries to Kagoshima, Japan
February, 1961
Volume V No. 1.
Stateside Address

Japan Address

Mrs. Polly WilKinson

23769 V/. Edison Road

Paul s. Pratt
222 TJearata Cho,

South Bend, Indiana

Kagoshima City, Japan

"Dear friends,

Until we can get around to writing all

the letters personally which we should, please
accept our hearty thanks for your gifts, cards
and assurances of prayers over the holidays.
you who are in close

contact

with church

work were evidently as busy as were we since

Christmas came on Sunday. On the 23rd we had
a party for all our Bnglisir~Bible Classes at
our house.
After the group went home, our
kiddies put gifts under the tree and arose at
dawn Saturday to open them.
When each mani
fest such interest

in how brother

or sister

responded upon opening the gift he gave, we

Kajiki Sunday school party saw very true the statement of our Lord, "It
is more blessed to give than to receive".
That afternoon was spent in helping mother
prepare cupcakes, treats and popcorn for the
Sunday School party.
At 7:30, sixteen per
sons met at the church for caroling in Kajiki.
We closed with several songs over the loud.speaker at the National T.B. Hospital there.
All Christmas day (10-00 to 9:30) was spent
at the church." The worship service was first
with the 3.S. program and party in the after
noon. At the program some heard for the first
time of

the "Annunciation" and the "Birth of

Christ" by filmstrip. In the evening we used

a blending of scripture, songs and drama by
which to make known "The Meaning of the tarth
of Christ".

Kajiki Adult T>arty

It was our best attended

adult

program yet. For the adult party that follow

ed, as for all the other parties, refreshments
were prepared from US gift boxes. They think
that my wife is the very best baker ever. Of
course her husband always tells tne secret,
seriously, all asked us to teH you "Thankyou".
Life is never dull in Kagoshima. In Oc
tober, V/ard Patterson, fellow-preacher from
Mansfield, o. came by on his way to Melbourne
Tiniv. on a Rotary scholarship. He did a good
work for us by showing pictures of "The Holy
land" and preaching a fitting sermon in all
the churches.

Isabell and

Janet

pittemore

came for radio Dusiness^^d visited while neip-

ing with recordings.

Al H^mmon^, a Kyushu
fellow-missionary and HTs
M"s" Air Force friend
Ijt. Wayne Comstock stopped over for the local
convention. Miss Velma Weir, teacher at TachiU No ;/ho
at JOG? (Kagoshiraa) Studio kawa Air Base, and

the Alex Bills family

Korea came by after a stopover at tHe

of

Maxeys.

when Harold Sims, recently returned from furlough, held an institute

at Kanoya, we were briefed on stateside happeningsNew Years week is a great season for traveling in Japan.
Since
Kagoshima is the largest city in the south, it is the end of the
railroad line, when we took the Don Smith family of itazuki Base
to a 4:52 PM train, over 100 persons were in line 21 hours ahead of
train time. Their purpose - to get a seat.
We have learned when not to have dendo
Between Christmas and New Years is not so
getting ready to travel, taking inventory
for Hamada San a diligent Tokyo College

Christianity

as a result of our efforts.

(evangelistic meetings ).
good. Polks are cleaning,
etc.
However, do pray
Student who is studying

In that meeting

we used

the color movie "God of Creation" and preacher Tanijiri from Kushikino. As usual we were blessed but terribly chilled in that cold,
cold high school auditorium.
Kumahara San, the son of a Kajiki shoemaker is an English major
in Kagosnima university.
He attends church regolarly but his
parents are members of a new Japanese religion called P.L. (Per
fect Liberty).
As do most religions in Japan, it deals with the
things of this present life and includes no prospect or hope of
eternal life. Since he was "interested in becoming a Christian"
I accepted his invitation to visit his parents and teach them. They
listened patiently and asked questions. They seemed very impressed
with the idea of the resurrection and of eternal life.

Since Kuma

hara san had studied for some time, J asked, "Do you believe in
God?" His answer came in clear, ready English. "No, because I can
not see him." shocked and disappointed, j resolved then and there

that we must use every possible method and means to bring people to
faith. By everyday example, constant teaching and preaching, with
the printed page, radio and personal evangelism and every possible
means available, we must prepare the soil for the very seed itself.
It is necessary to cause our invisible, yet very real Heavenly Fa
ther to become visible to them thru eyes of faith.
Raving gro wn
up in an environment which takes God as a matter of fact, we cannot
imderstand the doubts and struggles which they face.
Kumahara san
is still studying reg-ularly and we have the opening for additional
teaching in their home, pray for them.
V/e wish you could have made the two hour trip with us into the
mouiTfains of Kagoshima to the Shinomiya orphanage on Jan. 3rd. We
took along one gift for each of the 47 children, a case of tangerines
and our movie "God of Creation". The gifts were sent by Mrs. Dittemore's English Bible Classes in Kobe. Needless to say, when each
heard his own name called for receiving a toy, pencil box or a game,
he was truly thrilled. When we went to the community hall, we saw
that besides the 55 persons from the orphanage, over twice as many
other people from the town were waiting to see the movie, and the
foreigners. It was a 'golden opportunity' to say the least. After
the film I gave remarks about the personal love of this Great God.
At this writing I have an invitation to visit once a month.
Kikunaga San is a matron at the orphanage

Sayonara,

.4t the Orphanage

Kikunaga (r. rear)

CO^IS:
Po-ru

Te-gami

no

Epistle)

CPaiil's

Newsletter of the Paul s. Pratt family in Kyushu, Japan

April, 1961

volume V, No. 2

Porewarding Address

Japan Address

Mrs. Polly Wiliclnson

TJearata Cho,

23769 west Edison Road

south Bend, Indiana

Kagoshima City, Japan

Bear friends.
There have been some changes made since last we

wrote to

you. (l)with the Kajiki church, we made plans to call Daikuzono San, a preacher from the other side of the bay. (2)
Having responsibilities in various directions from Kagoshima,
we felt lead to postpone bxiilding our house at Kajiki.

gifts

toward that project, are being applied

Your

toward making

this rented house in Kagoshima more livable. (3) With gaso

line and foreign car parts *sky high*,

to

trade

Daikuzono San

Your gifts help support him.

we felt it necessary

the worn-out Chevrolet for a Japanese model.

we

purchased Bob West's (o\ir Okayama missionary) economical,

van-type, 1958 model truck. (4) Plans are being formulated
for different types of evangelism.
Pray that the lord will
lead us.

we will write you the details later.

we will be paying Baikusono San's salary and in the near

future plan to build a parsonage for him and his family (a

wife and two small children) next door to the Kajiki church,
Kumahara San,
went with us to

about ^om we wrote in our last "Epistle"

the All-Japan convention.
The Japanese

have a unique plan for discussion periods.

Group 1 was for
chiirch workers, group 2 for non-Christians and group 3 was

for evangelists and missionaries.

take notice.

A GRAND

JOINT

AND ENGLISH CONVENTION WAS

ADEQUATE,

STURDILY-BUILT

OSAKA BIBLE SEMINARY.

WE THANK HIM FOR IT.

U.S. conference planners

SESSION

BETWEEN THE JAPANESE

THE DEDICATION OP THE BEAUTIFUL,

MADDEN MEMORIAL BUILDING

TRULY

GOD HAS GIVEN

OP

THE

THIS BUILDING.

Madden Memorial Bldg.

Q.B.S. (All paid for )

Mrs. Grace Madden Braley, dau^ter of

the Maddens spoke in very good Japanese aiid Mark Maxey gave
his special brand of excellent challenge to all.
That eve
ning and all the next day we missionaries thrilled to Eng
lish songs, discussions and inspirational messages. It was
a much-needed aeries of * spiritual vitamins* for all.

Though we left Osaka refreshed,

we arrived back at Kago
shima worn out from three days of driving the car home. For
the last seven hours of the trip

we were privileged to have

Phillip and Margaret of England riding with vis.

Of course
they were hitch-hikers and not royalty.
They were drawn
toward Kagoshima after hearing about our active volcano and
were enamored by the scenic beauty and industry which we saw
along the way.

For various reasons, calling in Japan is difficult.

of these reasons is

and no privacy,

tha^

due to

One

religiously divided homes

often we are not welcome.

So, the monthly

bialletin now put out by our Kago^ima preachers is doing a

fine job of reaching radio listeners, hospital patients, ovir
wayside contacts,

delinquent members,

Kagoshima City, the bay,

and Mt. Sakurajima

prospects etc. regu

larly. It is named The Bokuteki* or 'Home of The shepherd*.

May it be blessed to lead these all to "dwell in the house
of the Lord (the Good shepherd) forever". (Psa. 23s 6)

Speaking of reading materials, many of you remember the

'Digest* form of A. Cressy Morrison's "Seven Reasons Why A
scientist Believes In God".

Japanese edition printed and

the kind of approach that
for its

effectiveness

We have had

5000 copies of the

the preachers think it is just

our college students need.

in this

field

where

pray

Satan has been

reaping the fruits of atheism and agnostacism.

You've heard about the famous giant Sakurajima raddishes.

Though it is quite cold, these and cabbage and culiflower

are grown dviring the winter here.
The children are holding
the gifts presented to us by the orphanage.

You can't give

to the Japanese ?d.thout them returning the gift.

Sayonara,

Lydia 4 Mary with cabbages

Paul 4 Mark with raddishes

Gifts of Shinomiya orphanage

9^*
mm

BUILDING COMMITTEE

Martin B. Clerk, Seminary Administration; George H. Beckmon, Seminary

Faculty; H. Sugano, Seminary Counsellors; W. Roy Mings, Osaka Christian
Mission; T. Kawahara, Alumni.

DESCRIPTION

Construction; steel re-inforced-concrete throughout with flat concrete roof

Foundation : adequate for ppsslble future expansion to three stories
Size

: first unit two storles

Capacity

: first unit adequ ate for 75 students

with floor space of 4650 sq. ft.

Floor

: concrete with >/ater-proof tile surface

perforated acoustical fiber board as low as permissable

Ceiling
Windows

steel sash-north f_prjyMitiiatioR-^nd-^las^^

cenrra! forced iiir with oil fired furnace (cost listed separate)

Hooting

Lighting

: natural lighting, south glass-wall; artificial, fluorescent

concrete except folding door between chapel and study

Blackboards ; three walls in qlass rooms and two in chapel and study
Library
: coventional stack room with reading and study room adjoining
Chapel
: adequate for 5(^-75 extra space opening into study
Walls

Prayer room ; convenient and Appropriate room for individual devotions

COSTS

Building as descibed of 4650

5q. ft. @ $6 per sq. ft.

Central heating plant (oil fire(J furnace)

Ducting for forced air

Oil tank of 2 ton capacity for furnace

Septic tank (no public sewage system in Japan)

Furnishings such as desks, chairs, library shelving

$ 27, 900.00
3,000. 00
300. 00

500. 00

1,500. 00

1,800. 00

$ 35, 000. 00

To - ru no Te - garni
(TAUX'S EPISTT.E )
Newsletter of the Paul s. Pratt family in pyushn, japan

jtme, 1961

Volume V, No. 3

Stateside Address

Japan Address

Mrs. Polly Wilkinson

ijearata Cho,

23769 w. Edison Road

south Bend, Indiana

Nagoshima City, Japan,

Bear friends,

Before coming

to japan,

among other questions

we

were

called upon to answer was this one. ''Are you going to take,
your little children?" our answers were many and varied,
but now let us make just a brief but more exacting explaination about their helpfulness in Evangelism itself.
Boors are opened* when children are present, polk who
ordinarily aren't interested will start conversation with or
about the 'kids* wherever we go. interest doubles when they
discover that "those light-haired girls

talk Japanese",

Paul, Xydia, Mary & Mark

or

"the tall foreign boys speak a little Kagoshima dialect".

Paul Bavid (13) is his dad's ri^t-hand man with recorder
and projection equipment. He passes out tracts and has had
opportunities to give English talks to the Sendai High school
English-speaking Society.

He

teaches

one student twice a

week, also.

Mark (11) meets many people. He has lead various students

to our Bible Classes.

V/hile he

and paiuL were playing base

ball one day, a college student came by and began to play.

"',7o\ild your father teach my friends and I English*^" he asked.
"If you want to study the Bible, he will",was Mark's reply,
so, our Tuesday evening class was bom. It numbers eight to
ten students, now.

Xydia (10) quietly

but surely maintains a witness, 'yhen

she and friends become tired from lively games, she gets
down the "New Testament stories" in Japanese and has her

at Sendai High School

friends read to her. One day a Christian young boy was say
ing something about drinking sake (rice wine) to her. When

Xydia quietly replied, "But, Christians

don't drink",

he

stuttered, "0o, I,I,I'm sorry".

Mary (7) has taken special interest in

She gives them tracts

and she and Xydia

certain friends.

invite friends

to

Sunday School.
All of them together had a good discussion
going one day with friends about "OneGod", "Christ's church"
and then the subject of "Baptism"arose.

A special

type of their own 'evangelism'

is encouraging

students to see or taking them to see "The Ten commandments",

"The Big Fisherman" etc.

Needless to say, they are normal children with opportu

nities to play with other American missionary children, and
occasional chances to visit U.S. ships that arrive in

port,

our house is 'Grand Central station' when the Japanese stu

dents are home from school and especially, it seems, when
'distinguished visitors' come.

'Mother' vows that she has learned the most

through tea

at Shinomiya orphanage

ching them this year.

Repeated warnings and enforced dis
cipline have gradually brought former low grades up a bit.
They have experienced something of the 'one-room school*.
"Xo, children are an heritage of the Xord;
of the womb is his reward.

and the fruit

As arrows are in the hand of

mighty man; so are children of the youth." (psalms 127:3,4)

T.S. Cur "^Tew plans For Evangelism" (April "Epis'tie") areas
follows;

(1) prom July we will be responsible for continuing

the 15 minute radio program

TsabeTl Bittemore.

begun three years ago

by

Mrs.

WewxTT need additional funds toward it.

(2) We held successful Youth Rallies at Kagoshima and sendai

which will continue ptsriodicaiiy in"che future. (3) We will be

going to the city of Okuchi (pop. about 30,000) once a month

to encoura^ two ze^ous men in an effort to begin a new work.

at Kajiki Church

Fo - ra

no

(FADI'S

7e - garni

EPISOriiE )

ITewsletter of the Paul S* Pratt family in E7uehu Japan.

September, 1961

Volume T, Fo. 4-

Stateside Addreee

Japan Address

23769 W. Edison Road

south Bend, Indiana

Eagoshima City, Japan

Bear friends,

QThe heat is on in Eagoshina and of course the fans are too*

Through August
out often.

and part of September

However,

the typhoon waminge go

the Xord watches over His own.

camp croup August 1961

With so

many students gone during vacation, some Bl-ble classes

were
dismissed for awhile.
In July we went to the Eirishima Mts.

for two days

and truly enjoyed

the natural beauty, being

up

in the cool clouds and taking hot spring baths.

camp (July 31 - Aug. 6) at Mazey^s

big success this year.

rhaT^iFJ

on ng rp-r Ttrreft davs.

Christian Center

tos a

e^er typnoon winds had dump-

Final count showed over a hund

red persons had attended with an average of 67 persons at each

meal.

Just 27 of this total were our contacts, 14 of which we

brought from the shinomiya orphanage where we visit each month*

The students are pictured along with
tact lady there.

Miss Eikunaga, our con

With Mr. ikeda studying in Tokyo and Mr. Hideo Toshiionhis

way to schooling in the states, gygenes ( foreigners ) Mazey,
Hammond and pratt formed half the faculty. You woiild be blessed
if you oould have Mr. Yoshii

to speak to your group.

You may

con^55ct him at tne~Cincinnati ^bie semlne^ thru this school

year*

Paul with Jr. High students

at Shinomiya orphanage

He is a fine specimen of our Japanese preachers.

Besides camp.

Vacation Bible schools were held in

We helped with the one neid oy tne Eagosnima

August.

cEurcK" and then

held one of our own along with a Five-Bay Evangelistic Meeting

at sendai. we have always enjoyed the camp and BVBS work, and
in spite of the added strain of trying to teach in a language
not our own, we loved it.

Our new radio program calvary Calls' was heard for the first

time^n"'^3gust bth. Mrs. Exie &uitz at Csaka createa tne ser-

ies wETcn was fIFat used by Ernie Faber on Hokkaido and now on
the island of shikoku by the Bon Burney mission. She provides
the programs for us free of charge and of coxurse we (through

your help) pay for the air time, please pray for the producing
(5 min. must be done each week), for the broadcast itself and
for the correspondence and follow up work. A tribute is due

Mrs. isabell Bittemore who continued this radio work for the
past three years, she is now using some of the same programs
over a Eobe station and has plans for reaching the millions on
the mainland of China

through broadcasts from Hong Kong.

only hope to be faithful in taking uj> where she left off.

truly ask His blessings upon these her new ventures.
Oxir savior said,

we

We

Treach the good news to every creature".

We have found a particularly good method of sowing that 'good

seed' among the primary children. At $5.00 a set of five, we

Iwai San a New Christian

result of sendai meeting

are now putting a set of Bible stories in the library of ea^

eXeme^ary sci^ol in^agoshima (du an toTd; md Kaoiki Q) al

together).

We have estimated the total nximber of students un

der seventh grade to reach 22,000.

Besidesr the Kagoshima
public Library is buying two sets for their mobile libraries
which go into the country, we will give them also to Kushikino
and sendai schools later as funds permit.

These are presented

with the prayer that real interest in the 'Author* of the Bible

may be stimulated, and faith arise in many, many young hearts.

An extra privilege came to us in mid-August. Mrs. Nagata at

Ka.Uki

invited us

to present m\isic and a talk at a comai^t^

women's group about "Rearing children American style".

this
was a repetition or two such opporximities i nad while strand

ed on the island of Tanegashima because of rough seas last May.

school Bays will be different at our house this coming year.
Since Kathleen

will share teaching

with three kagoshima Bap -

tist missionary wives, she will teach Susan Oliver (a 7th Orad-

er) and paul Bavid (our 8th grader) only.

Bach of the

ladies has volxinteered to take one of our other children,

other

our

homes are close enough that there will be a minimum of travel.

cVj: "5;

Sayonara

f4Zl

Paul and Mark

preparing Books

eH^\
From the Paul $ pratts
222 TJearata Oho, Kagoshima, japan
December, 1961

in \%
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s asR i?R
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1
kajiki

. ,'5iapT30rt for a preacher

'2 weekly Sible Classes
Taul preaches montniy

;ii

KAGOSHIMA

MS

weekly Radio program

4 Weekly Bible classes

SSS *"

N Bible story Books for

^
sit

A8S

'w mm
7?2

Blemeatary schools
preaches Monthly

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SHINOMITA ORPHANAGE

AV

Monthly serTloe

JlllL<h>Vr

MAXBY-^

whose work is

centered in Kanoya.
,Tr^ -' Paul assists

\ rt every other month.l

ma
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