Vol 43_1, Spring-Summer 2012

Dear Friends,

The 17-day London Olympics, which ended August 12th, kept many Japanese glued to their TV sets as they cheered on their athletes. The Japanese Olympians put in an outstanding performance as they garnered 38 medals. This put Japan 11th overall in the medal standings.

Two members of the women’s volleyball team (bronze medal) and one member of the women’s soccer team (silver medal) were from Kagoshima, so there was a lot of cheering for them from people here. The highlight of the summer Olympics for Japan was the women’s soccer final, when Japan faced the U.S. for the gold medal. It was a very exciting, close game, but the U.S. was able to capture the gold medal with a 2-1 win. 

The Olympics were great, but something better happened this summer at the Yoshino church. On the Sunday afternoon of July 1st, members of the Yoshino church gathered for the baptism of Aiwa Hashiguchi. Aiwa, a junior high school student, has been attending the Yoshino church with her mother since she was a baby. Aiwa had expressed her desire to be baptized several years ago, but was unable to get her father’s permission.

However, after she entered junior high, he changed his mind and even agreed to attend the baptismal service. In my brief remarks before Aiwa’s baptism, I talked about the central truth of the gospel--that salvation is a gift to be received and not earned, with the hope that it would help Aiwa’s father understand what salvation is all about. Please keep Aiwa in your prayers as she begins her Christian life.

Let’s go back now and review briefly some of the highlights of the past few months. Sunday, April 8th, members of the Yoshino church gathered at our mausoleum for our early morning Easter memorial service. Mary and I then drove to Kokubu for their Easter service and then returned to Yoshino to preach for their 10:30 Easter service.  

April 13th, we began a new term for our Friday night English Bible Class at the downtown Kagoshima church. We were encouraged to have a number of new people join our class. The result was an interesting mix of housewives, a high school student, a college student, and two office workers. It has been a joy to interact with them in English while, at the same time, sharing the basics of the gospel message. 

May 16th, the ladies of the Yoshino church hosted the annual combined women’s meeting for our churches in Kagoshima Prefecture. Forty-one ladies from six churches attended this all-day meeting, featuring a guest speaker, lunch, and fellowship time. 

June 19th, with tickets provided by my brother Greg and his wife Bev, Mary and I flew to the States so I could conduct the wedding of their daughter Meredith to Travis Pyrzynski on June 23rd at St. Ignace, Michigan.

Both of our children were there with their families, so we had a few days of family time with them and our grandkids before the wedding. During that time, I had the special privilege of baptizing our daughter’s oldest son, Lynus, who turned thirteen in July.  All of my siblings were also there, so it was a rare Maxey reunion time (click to see the photo). We returned to Kagoshima on June 27th, tired but thankful to have had a part in Meredith’s beautiful wedding and for the short time we had with family.                                              

July 6th, I was in Osaka to attend the trustee meeting at the Osaka Bible Seminary. While there, I was able to visit with Keishi Yoshimura, a young man from the Yoshino church who is studying at OBS to prepare for the ministry.

August 1st, Mary and I flew to Osaka with members of the Yoshino church to attend the 63rd All Japan Christian Convention in Kinan, Wakayama. One hundred and fifty-three people from 40 (out of 70) of our churches throughout Japan attended this two-and-a-half-day convention hosted by our churches in Kinan.

A unique aspect of this year’s convention was that three messages for the early morning prayer services were brought by Christian men who were not ministers. All three of these men had completed a two-year sermon preparation course conducted by Osaka Bible Seminary at Kagoshima. One of these men was Brother Iimure from the Yoshino church. All three men did an outstanding job, and I heard many good comments about their messages.

At the close of the convention, Brother Iimure and I, who are members of the executive committee in charge of preparations for the 64th convention in 2013, made a brief presentation about plans for next year’s convention in Kagoshima. The dates (July 31~August 2), the theme (The Blessings and Ministry of Reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21), and the venue (the Shiroyama Grand Hotel) were explained, along with a request for everyone to attend and keep the Kagoshima churches hosting the convention in their prayers.

Sunday afternoon, August 12th, members of the Yoshino church gathered at our campground in Tarumizu for our summer picnic. After lunch, the ladies and men did some cleanup work at the camp facility and grounds while the kids enjoyed swimming in the cold, clear water of the river beside the camp. We closed out the day by eating two delicious watermelons one of the ladies had brought.

We have had a very hot summer and are looking forward to the fall.  It will be here before we know it, and we would like to ask you to pray for two outreach events coming up. The Yoshino church will have an evangelistic meeting on October 27th at the church, and on November 15th there will be a city-wide outreach meeting downtown supported by churches in Korea and sponsored by Kagoshima City evangelical churches.  Please pray that the gospel messages presented at these meetings will reach the hearts of many in Kagoshima City.  

We want to close by expressing how grateful we are for your prayers and support, which make our ministry here in Kagoshima possible.

In Him,                                                                                                                                      Walter & Mary

For photos, please refer to the Photo Album page.

© Kagoshima Christian Mission  2012