Faber Ernest Neva 1975 Japan

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February 1975

i Report from

Erne s t and Neva Fab e r

North 49» East 15

Higashi ku , S ap por o

065 Japan

Dear Fr i ends in Oi r i s t ,

I t is with joy and praise to the Lord that we s i t dov7n to te l l you of the beginnings

of the Higashi ku Ch\lrchôf Christ here in Sapporo. "The preparations of the heart in manand the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." We encourage you to continue to pray forthe sai^/ation 01 so\ils here. Already we have seen what the Lord has brought about throughth e ir-avers cf Obristiansf fox he has prepared a people to give ear to His word.

li'ie house of the Lord was f inished and ready fo r dedica t ion on December 19th . It

vas a Stor1:1}' night "but 16 people case to praise the Lord for his provision and offer prayer

fo r guidance in the work. I t was a joy to have the preacher from Toroakomai b rin g th e message and -co see Christ ians from the work in Obihiro and Tomakoraai as well as a f ine group

cf old friends from the Moivrashita Church of Glirist. I-tr. Suzuk i b rought a greeting and

these fc,it.hful folk brought along a hundred dollar offering (in yen) to assis t in thefur therance of Gvoc.'s kingdoin in t h i s cap i t a l c i t y . We are indeed g ra te fu l f or the fel low

sh ip of ou:c s i s t e r church which was es tabl ished under the l eadersh ip of wêsley Walker,

We hs.d a b i t of exci tement d-jr ing t he d ed ic at io n . There was a smal l ch i ld in a t t en

dance and hs began to r e s i s t being held so Neva s l ipped over to the house fo r some toys fo r

the nursery a dj oi ni ng t he ^neetiYig roc.Ti. Sut when whe entered the house she immediately

smeiied ioine-'ihing burning. The men vrho hooked up the gas l ines the day before did not

carefu l ly check t he i r wvork and tvo good s i^ ed l ea ks were burning l ike blowtorchs having

been igni ted by the even pi lo t . The main l eak was harmless s ince there was asbestos

i ini : ;g tn i v a i l but the second leak caused by a care l ess bending of the l i ne re ac he d o ve r

to the til&d -;.re-d arid had 'already turned the t i l e red hot. Because it was propane gas' it

was easy ro sj^t inguish the f lames but Neva missed most of the message while sh e cooled the

red hot t i l es w5,th wet towels s ince there was danger of i gn i t ing the th in plywood back ofthe t i l e s . The guesxs came over to see th e house a f t e r the se rv i ce bu t we were unable

to serve the t r ad i t i ona l gTeen tea s ince the re was no way t o hea t water*

Suiiday afte rn oon o f Deeenber 22nd 3^ children from the area gathered fo r Chil-.drsn'- 'c Christina?-. Kiss Fu j i i , a graduate of the Osaka Bible Seminary an d conver t of th e

Obihiro >:ork who l ives here in tcvrn, a ss is te d in regis ter ing# p repa rin g t he program, and

gree ting paren ts . .Among t h i s group were seven Junior High s tudents . A college youth

new >rork-;--,2; .ir;. the ;-oiw".shita churrch spent a good par t of two days preparing posters and '

helping with the cleaning and p re pa ra ti on o f the bui lding. This young man/ Masaini 'Gof iach i,

was our f i r s t .S^-inday School pupi l in Obihiro near ly 20 years ago.

ne iniierted an announceiuent of the opening of the church in the loca l newspaper and

had severrceen people in attendance fo r a ChristmHis eve cand le li ght se rvi ce. Mrs. Nakayamap

who l ives -about two blocks from here , had been wait ing fo r the church to be bu i l t having

seen o^xs: îgin posted near the proper ty . Mr, Harata, a member of a Menonnite church across

tc.wn, Oc.p.e saying he des ired to worship with us par t of the t ime s ince h is church i s so

fa r away. An e lder ly lady and two young g i r l s came but would not t e l l us t h e i r names.It vras t h e i r f i r s t t ime to hear the gospel . Since then an e lder ly man who l ives about '

e l even blocI^B f rom the- chu rch has s t a r t e d to a t t e n d . Ke ha s a Ch r i s t i a n home bu t h i s wi f e

i s a shut - in and unable to a t t end . Besides .îss Fuj i i , who has p lac ed h er membership here ,

t h e oh ree a d u l t s me nt io ne d h av e all c on f e s s e d a faith i n C h ri s t in some denom in a t i o n a l

church a-id join js reguls-rly In .•orship of our Creator . It i s much e as ie r fo r new people

to 002:8 snd 5 great addition to the service to have beleivers who join in the praise, ferayfor us as v.-e try to le?.d the;n -.ccording to the wil l of the Lord', They also add to the .î t -

ness with regular offorings. -nA by leading children into the Sunday School. Two membersfror: th^-. Moiv.-ashita Churcn who l ive in Nor th Sappo ro have a l so been to church.

We lo l iowed up the chi ldren v i t h personal i nv i t a t i ons to VBS held from the 5 th t o the

10 oh of January , We enrol3.ed a t o t a l of seventeen ch i ld ren with a n a ve ra ge at tendance of

t .vslve, Gur t o t a l enro l lment fo r Sunday School i s now eighteen . We have reached 28 ch i l

dren through VBS ajcd Sunday School. One of these wi l l soon be enter ing Junior High and

She has no^ siissed a meeting. At p res en t th e fu l l teaching load i s being handled' by Ernest

and Ive v a . " •

On January fouz'th it was Srnes t ' s pleasure to c on du ct a n engagement service fo r one

of Tor-iakomai^s members. The two famil ies gathered to hear th e young people announce t h e i r

vlans fo r . e s t ab l i sh i ng a Chr i s t i an home. Following th e service we had a sm^ll recept ion -

at t h e h o u s e , .

We apprecia te an d give thanks fo r your f a i th fu l suppor t . Support t ha t we a re depend

ing upon to clear the building debt this year. Your receipts are enclosed, VJe are sorzy ;t h a t you nad -iô wai t so long fo r them. '



March 1975

Report from

Ernes t and Neva FaberBox 173f Adel, lA 50003 North 49, East 15

Higashi ku , Sappo ro

Dear Friends in Christ, JAPAN

shining. Spring is here and weloone. The paved road in front ofneighborhood children irregardlessthe traffic, ihe weather reminds v;s that its time to write again as the last

time we wrote the snow was up to tlie vrindoors.

to English classes are now in session. They began with the start of the newschool year which in Japan is April. There are seven classes for kindergartenthrough aaults, En:ro.llinent is around

school attendance is vepr irreg-alar. ' The '4-th-6th grade class (nowinclude- a couple oi uunic-r Kigners) h-,s the steaaibst attendance. Korning wor-

present. Mr. Yanada, a foraer member of Obihiro's — -his membership in the Higashi ku Church of Christ. In February a

nIH ^ neighborhood began attending and last Sunday a 37-year-ôes brought two girls for Sunday School and then stayed for church ser-

ago Ernest with the help of Mr. laMda dismantled the prefab stor-Tomakoitai. It is being erected on the property here in Sapporo and

S erection is completed some ofur things remain in the yard under a tarp.

est rftes'^^ho!!<.»^r" fluffish last year but the government has lowered inter-""" available houses are going ud. From

iSt Sfr/® sight-household apartment hoiê hasthis uSk? ^ ^ Private house is to be built just east of the church in

week ago the city transportation office checked the area preliminary to5/8 of a mile north'^f the Smi^l

th^tu^ irfrmr«f ti:® ^ extended to makehe turn in front of the church rather than turning around at North 43th,

property. The contractor has been very gen-

SS^d^t "*""""""«• "•

®widower, chose to marry here at the churchtoest performed the quiet, private wedding on March 28. Their adult children were

to Chvla+tri+ Christians but both were introducedvear^^ô through Christians kindergartens that their children attendedrt?drXo ago®

Ei^nest, with the aid of Mr. Suzuki of Southside Hoivashita Church of Christhas been working on the incorporation of the Higashi ku Church of Christ It has

S aô^r T°f'r the papers ha^^ beef submitted to anotSr ofkoe f^'tS TomffeomI? ^ ^ ^corporation should be approved within the next week or so.omakomai church is also in the process of incorporating,

Your receipts are enclosed and with them we send along our heartfelt thanks.

Yours in His servj



Dear Priends» in Chr i s t ,

^ - July 1975^ ^ Report from

Ernest and Neva Faber

T. no-i TA '^000'^ North East 13Box 173, Adel, lA 5 3 Higashi ku, Sapporo065 JAPAN

^ n;s'iv.ais s'?r.s

Si";™ s."VoZi«T»s*a :s.Tr,=Sd ?»'?«. .«.meaningful contacts .

sr-sssi'sji=|S.firwsssSv iBS&siSsmi : .r«nr»2't.rs°:s?HS s r ws>*

sr;i»"w SiS° T.S5h asr.i2is:."ih:s\ K.bi«.SHSk IS ;s£:=c.3rSxmeeting with onlv temporary assistance from the mission. They <are also PayingfSSngfanfo^^^^^ Although the group is s.^11 they are faithful steward s .

~ :fss s rsLS

T^S 1... ein.«. .. Mi of tt. l.=or,«.llo., .«« .pprm. «1.W=.

a EN on June 27. Linda will be raaxrled to Gary Worcester of Hill City, Kansas, July iyrfViavles and Allan recently completed thelx second and first year at Cincinnati Biole

College. Tbey Sre now living at Grandmother Faber's farm home at Minbum, Iowa. Theyhave slides of the work if anyone is interested.

Besides her English and Sunday School classes Neva goes toSchool every Wednesday to take care of the library during thesuimer.camrthirSet EmZt borrowed the church bus from Moiwashltatook the scouts out Monday. He will pick them up Saây noon

The Hokkaido International School's Junior High department, -his fall he will taone JeS^co^S from University of Nebraska's High School Division and then go to Tokyo sChristian Acadamy High School.

The following information was recently noted in the English Malnichl 2S^J2|J:.Thirty-three percfnt of married women in Japan have ted abortions. Among the Ibb cîeôf 100,000 people with hl^h crime rate Hokkaido has four among theAsahlk^wa, Kushiro, Sapporo, and Obihiro. There are only four Churches of Christ in Hok-kaido and none in ei ther Asahikawa or Kushiro.

We became acauainted with two little second graders at winter Vacation Bible School.They did not continue In Sunday School but in early spring we talked with them while theywere playing in the area. They have been, regular in Sunday School since ^her SS leaflets with her 2i^ year old sister and encouraged her to come to church after her

SSter re^L ftr^cfwrLd left in the home. The other girl told her mother to go to themeeting. The result was that two neighbors met at thehad an interest in Christ. The sister comes regularly and the mother ocoasionally.little ch i ld sha l l lead them.

We welcome to our list of supporters the Christian Church at Brioknel, Indiana. Theî°r¥ilLs is a friend of ours. Alady recently wrote that she saw Neva's arti

cle, "Winter Vacation Bible School In Japan," and sent an offering with a request to be puton the mailing l ist . She visited Hokkaido a few years ago.

Thanks for your faithful support and prayers. Pray especially for the Christians andthOwOC: who a re seek ing Mis way.



^2 Box 173^- - ^ /7 . -Âdel, lA 50003

September

The telephone r ings . On the o ther end a young

nian asks , "How do we go.about having a church wed

ding?" It was Saturday a ft er noon but Ernest immed ia te ly s et as ide t ime fo r a conference w ith th e

coup le . The law requ i res only t h e i r s igna tu re and

those of two other persons. But the couple chose

to make t he i r vows to one another in a simple p r i

va te ceremony a t the church. He i s a graduate of

a Chr i s t i an high schoo l and she ' s a nurse from a

ci ty north of here , They had found the church

through the recent ly publ ished telephone di rec tory

wh ich listed th e c hu r c h ' s name f o r th e first t im e .

We pray they wi l l des i re to cont inue to fol low His

leading.

Vacation Bible School was held a t the Higashi

ku Church of Christ from July 28 to August 1. Miss

Yooko Fu j i i , a Bible col lege graduate and loca l

member spent the mornings of her vacat ion week

teaching the l arg es t c la ss , the Beginners and P r i

maries. She was ass is ted by Miss Okazaki, a young

woman who a tt en d s r egu la rl y . She helped the Begin

ners with handwork and kept the attendance recoit is.

Neva was as s i s t ed by to*. Yoshih i ro Yahata , her

f i r s t Sunday School pup il in Tomakomai who i s nowa high school Jun io r and member of th e Tomakomai

Church. They taught the Midd le rs wh il e Ernest was

re spons ib le fo r the Junior c l a s s . Mrs. Kimura,

s i s t e r - in - l aw of the Tomakomai minis te r , was in

charge of the g i r l ' s handwork the two days she could

be present . Donald l en t a hand with th e b oy 's c r a f t

Mrs. Nakayama, a denominat ional member who a t t ends

regula r ly , was on hand each day a t the close of the

sess ion to c lean th e church. These and o the r busy

hands helped w ith the advert is ing and preparat ion

o f v i s u a l a i d s . The en ro l lmen t was 27 wi th an ave r

age a t tendance of 23. The VBS week c losed wi th apicnic a t a near ty park.

Af te r VBS th e Sunday School at tendance h i t an all

t ime low—in f a c t th e nex t Sunday fo r th e first t ime

no one showed up. Family and r ec r ea t i on programs

kept the chi ldren ac t ive in other th ings . With the

b eg in nin g of sch oo l we s e n t a reminder and nine

ch i ld r en were in a t tendance on A ugu st 31 . Var ious

activities and lack of parental encouragement always affects regular Sunday School attendance .

Even the worship services were not well attended during the summer months. Mrs, Naka

yama, Mr. Muyari, and Miss Fuj i i are a source of encouragement. They are usually paresent

and a l l three have made pledges fo r the work here, Mr. and Mrs, Kimura do not at tend

every week but Mrs. Kimiara comes every Friday morning to do the weekly cleaning. She

r ides the bus 3^ blocks each way to give th is service to the Lord, Mr. Oofuchi, the f i r s t

conver t in Obihiro, works outs ide the c i ty but wri tes a pos ter with the t i t l e of each Sun

day 's sermon which i s placed in f ront of the church. Ther« were e ig ht adu lt Japanese inthe services las t Sunday ranging in age from 25-68. Ernest has been printing an outline

81915

r e p o r t from

THE FABERS

North 49, East 15Hlgash i fcu, Sapporo

065 JAPAN

1975



of the sermon with the -scr iptures

in e ac h Sund ay 's bu l le t in to as

s i s t those who at tend and to pro

vide a home Bib le s tudy fo r those

who cannot a t tend . Pray fo r thewi t n e s s h e r e ,

A word about the family, Don ' pis now a tenth grader and study- îng at home in a University of il 1 ^ yyNebraska extent ion program. He ^was r ec e ntly e le c te d Senior

her hom^ since her July 19th wed-

take placeCharles gave the bride away inplace of h is Dad, Charles

preached at Indiapola, Iowa, during ' the summer, Allan preached his well received sermon—his f i r s t— at the same place h isDad preached his f i r s t sermon 26 years ago. Allan and Charles have s ince returned to Cin

c inna t i Bible College.

We would l ike to. encourage you to se t aside a day to emphasize in a spec i a l way our

needs. We must pay the contractor $4000 by the end of December. Your special contribut ions a t th i s t ime wi l l be of immense help and encouragement to us.

At the monthly church meeting i t was decided to use1^

of t he o ff er ing toward repaying a port ion of the funds spent fo r the bu il di ng s her e. The English classes have cont r i

buted $480 and together with the church's contribution we hope to have another $1000 topay toward the f i na l payment on December 31s t .

The picture showing the in ter ior of the church building was taken during the evange

l i s t i c meeting with Mr, Nakano in May. Miss Fuji i arranged and cont ri bu ted the largef l o r a l ar rangement .

A new one-family dwelling i s going up next to the church bui lding. I t s shape and

heigth largely l imi t the access of l ight to our classrooms. The carpenter 's hammers gave

us some compet it ion dur ing DVBS, In fac t one day during classes they decided to break upthe wal l and enlarge the window area—jus t njne f ee t away. But we re jo ice t ha t the areai s growing. The other bui lding i s an eight-family apartment bui lding. Down the s t r e e t a

block a five-room house i s being bui l t pn a small lo t and i s fo r sa le . They have priced

i t a t over $50,000 and the const ruct ion does not compare to the quality of the church andhouse heare. Other houses are also going up in the area and with the increase in popula

t ion we now have the convenience of bus service with a bus s top a t our f ron t door, Alarge portion of the local population comes dai ly to the very doorstep of the church, and

our ac t iv i t i es are well observed by the community as the people wait a t the bus stop. We

a re planning a bu l le t in board to announce s e rv i ces and to provide a s i l en t witness from

the Word of God, It wi l l be at tached to the wal l under the sign which gives the church 's

name. You are a par t of t h i s witness .

Yours in His name.

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Faber Ernest Neva 1975 Japan