Chapter 35
THINK ON THESE THINGS.
(1 August
1978)
Matsuida Town is much lower in elevation than mountaintop
Karuizawa, and about 8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. It’s muggy hot in the summer,
but the winters are far less harsh than Karuizawa, with much less
snow and with more sunshine in the winter. On many a clear sunny
winter day in Matsuida, I’ve gazed westward to see the high Karuizawa area
socked in with thick clouds that are dumping snow on the inhabitants shivering
in the cloudy gloom. On such days, I particularly rejoice to
be planted in Matsuida. The Karuizawa clouds, snow, extreme cold,
and shaded streets tended to make me gloomy. I rejoice to trade that for life
in Matsuida, as ordained by my Creator.
Trees line both sides of many streets in Karuizawa
to provide cool shade in the summer (in this cool summer resort
town), but they block out warm sunshine in the winter. One late winter
morning in Karuizawa, the sun came out brightly after a snow. So, I headed out from my house in
Christian Center walking to the post office with no umbrella, because the
skies were clear. But snow melting on tree branches hanging over the street
was like cold rain falling. I got plenty wet and chilled in that cold shower, under cloudless slies.
The many trees in Karuizawa also block the view. But I like
to see “forever”, like I did when living in Oklahoma.
Also, the interior of my little house is most
pleasant, the 2 front rooms having large windows and sliding glass doors that
let in much sunlight. This small, simply built house is “4 square”
with 4 rooms, one in each corner to put it simply. The house’s “front” faces
west, and the southwest corner room is my living room. The west (front) wall of
the living room is 8 feet 5 inches across, and has 4
sliding windows of equal size (in one window frame) that run the entire
width of that wall. Ever so much sunlight comes in thru those
windows. Those windows are 4 feet high, and I can easily lift out all 4
and set them aside, when I am using this room in pleasant weather (making it an
“open” room).
The south wall of the living room is 12 feet across and has
a pair of sliding glass doors (each slides), each almost 3
feet across. Thus, both of them make up half the width
of that wall. When the winter sun lies low in the south, its warm rays shine far
into my living room thru that 6-foot width of glass that is 6 feet high, warming
the room ever so well, along with making it bright.
Behind the living room, the south wall of the kitchen is
divided into 3 compartments, toilet, urinal stall, and ofuro (bath). Each of
these is tiny, but completely privately partitioned separately with a separate
outer door for each. The toilet is an old-fashioned Japanese “benjo”, dry tank, no flush, like an outdoor toilet, but
opening right into my kitchen. I call the septic truck occasionally to come pump it out.
“Hardship Missionary Richard, does it smell?”
‘No Ma’am, it stinks.’
“The single ladies who thought they would like to marry you
are all most blessed that you remained single.”
‘Yes,
Ma’am!’
It has no seat (no
place to sit). One squats low to ease one’s bowels.
Upon moving into this house and using that “squatty potty”
regularly, my knees painfully rebelled against that low squat for a period of time. But my knees soon improved, causing me to
realize that periodically squatting low was
good for the one’s knees, as it stretches them. Also, I immediately saw that I got a fuller bowel
movement more easily, in that low squat. And in less than a
month, I begin to feel better overall (I believe, as a result
of the fuller bowel movements).
Upon God creating this earth with “no facilities”, for many
centuries it was common for a large percentage of the human
race to ease their bowels (answer nature’s call), out in nature
in that natural low squatting position (a
God-ordained health plan), as
opposed to doing so, highly perched upon a commodious throne.
In the early 1990s, soon after arriving in the States from
Japan, to be there 6 weeks, I repeatedly banged up my right knee one day doing
heavy work. It swelled up painfully, but returned to
normal (so I thought) in a week or so. But 5 weeks or so after “recovery”, the
first time I went into a low squat back here in Japan in my benjo, terrible
pain shot thru that knee. ‘So, I didn’t completely recover. And if a low squat
is to be that painful to that knee until I go to Heaven, I won’t be able to
endure squatting low.’ With that mindset, I daily grimaced in the benjo. But by
the 3rd or 4th day of squatting low each day (painfully
stretching the damaged tendons & such in that knee), the pain began to
steadily lessen, and was gone in
2 weeks or so. (It did not heal during those 5 weeks I was in the
States, not squatting any.) Object lesson→ I would advise you to practice a
low squat a few minutes daily for stronger knees (separate from using
the restroom, is just as effective).
“Missionary Richard, I am so terribly overweight
that if I were to go into a low squat, it would take a quite large crane to
lift me out of it!”
‘Pardon my intrusion into your gluttony! I’ll pray for you.’
Amazingly, this empty house is quite new,
built just a few years before by an elderly Japanese couple who soon
died (one after the other), not long after building the house and moving into
it. (It was their daughter who had the house up for sale in late 1977 when I
first inquired about it.) Practically no wear and tear on the interior of the
house, making me feel as if I have a completely new house in all
aspects.
Three of the 4 rooms have Japanese straw mat tatami
floors, (the kitchen and short narrow hallway having attractive laminated “wood
panel” flooring). Gazing upon the natural look of these straw mats is most
pleasant. Also, they give off somewhat of that natural straw (hayloft) smell,
especially when the sun’s rays shine upon them. So
warm, cozy, and pleasant smelling in the winter. Each straw mat is 3 by 6
feet in size; with a square shaped Styrofoam interior (for padding) over 2
inches thick that holds its firm square shape. They are laid snuggly together
over a recessed sub floor designed especially for tatami.
My 2 front rooms are each 6 mats in size. The (northeast)
small back room where I sleep is a 4 and a half mat room. The partition
between those 2 rooms against the north exterior wall is 4 sliding Japanese “Shooji” doors, each made of “tough cardboard” in a light
wood frame, with pictures of ocean waves and miniature pine trees on both sides
of that sturdy cardboard. I can remove all 4 of those doors out of their
shallow floor and ceiling wood frame grooves (recesses that hold them in
place), and stand them aside out of the way, making those 2 rooms into 1 larger
room.
With tatami straw mats, the custom is no beds and almost no
furniture (sit on floor instead of in chairs). Sleep on futons (pallets), put
them away in the closets that are custom built for them, and use that space for
“living” when not sleeping. The 2 convertible factors in these 2
paragraphs make for more daytime useable space in tiny houses in this small,
crowded nation.
When this house was built (in simple, cheap Japanese style) (around 1970), all its doorways were built the standard
height for cheap houses here, that being 69 inches. My height is just over 69
and half inches. Plus, one rises up slightly higher than body height when walking, rising up
on the ball of one’s foot. Thus, since 1 August 1978, for more than 4 decades
now, if I forget to bow sufficiently (Japanese custom), each and every one of the many times I walk thru the doorways in this
abode, my pate gets a painful scraping.
“Truly missionary life is one of much
suffering, isn’t it, Missionary Boy?”
‘If you say so.’
Four
sliding glass doors make up the entire width of the front wall
of the other “front” (northwest corner) room.
My bedroom has a pair of sliding glass doors on the
east wall to go outside from that room. The kitchen has a hinged door on the
east wall (to the outside). These 2 exits are to the back of
the house.
Opposite to them, on the house’s front (west) side, the main foyer (genkan) door is a pair of
sliding doors between the 2 front rooms. Typically, in Japanese houses, the
main entrance door to the house does not open into the living room, or into any
room, no matter how small the house is. There is a separate foyer for one to enter into, take off one’s shoes, leave them in the foyer,
and step up into a hallway. Thus, this tiny four-room
house has 5 exits, one in each room and one in the foyer. Convenient,
to say the least! (Also, sliding doors in tiny Japanese houses save
room, no space required to “swing open”.)
Much
glass space in the outside walls of the 2 front rooms of my small house has
made life at home most bright for me down thru the 47 years that I have
lived in this “cottage” in Matsuida Town (to date, 2025). This house will be my
residence for well over half of the total time of my earthly journey.
Opposite to the front of my house on the far side of this
narrow street is a vacant lot slightly higher than my house lot. Along
my street, that lot is fronted by a 2 foot 4-inch-high rock wall, built long
ago (possibly a century or more) using large rocks and no mortar. The
absence of mortar makes a most natural look that I enjoy gazing out
upon, from the front of my house.
(Such ancient rock walls abound alongside many streets here, some
streets ever so narrow, and some of the rock walls up to 10 feet (or so) high,
right against the street. Quaint, as I pedal my bicycle or walk thru
such scenery. I am most blessed to dwell
here, God’s Perfect Plan for me!)
My house is on a short, narrow, back
street, those 3 factors resulting in very little 4-wheel vehicle traffic
on it. People walk by and pedal by on bicycles, only 12 feet or so from the “wide-windowed”
front of my house. I greet them verbally from inside my living room open
window. Some stop to pass a word or 2 (or too many words, and/or too
many nosey questions). Ever so close and personal (too
much so at times, but we must take the bad with the good, must we not?) However,
a most simple procedure will instantly send these talkative, nosey Buddhists hurriedly on their way; simply start talking of
how wonderful their Creator
God and Saviour of Mankind is, and they instantly depart from sight and sound. Amazing, the Power of God’s Words, to literally move
people!
(Regarding noisy, talkative people, I am most blessed to have a large vacant lot across the narrow
street from the front of my house. Perchance, houses also lined that
side of the street, as they do this side of the street, the front
windows and doors of that neighbor would likely be less that 30 feet
from my front windows and doors, fewer than 10 steps away, for us to
stare into each others faces daily, and for me, even from inside
my own living room, to entertain their too many too nosey questions coming from
outside the front of their house.)
From the area of my house in Matsuida, the rugged steep wide
range of Mount Myogi about 2 miles away (at the closest point) is lovely. To
the right of it, I have a lovely view of the live volcano (Mount Asama) (over
20 miles away as the crow flies), snow white about half the year, smoke curling
up from the crater much of the time. I live on the edge of the Kanto Plain, on fairly level terrain (apart from, but close to
those mountains) with a fantastic view of mountains to the west.
A few years after 1978, I will hike the 4-hour climb to the
top of Mt. Asama with some missionary kids, and peer down into the glowing
crater with the smoke and stinking sulfur smell in my face. It will be a great
adventure, but once in a lifetime was enough for me. Since
1974, I’ve enjoyed hiking much in lovely mountains in many areas of Japan. But
the older I get, the less I do that (for some unknown reason).
Populated areas of Japan are more densely
crowded and compact than in the U.S. From my Matsuida house, I
can easily walk to the post office, bank, grocery stores, and the print
shop (and 1 or 2 other business places I frequent). The farthest of those
places is about half a mile away. Also, I regularly walk (or bicycle) to all
these places on fairly level terrain. Many
people in Japan live in steep terrain, and if they walk or bicycle anywhere to and from their house, they ascend and descend
a steep slope as they
regularly make that round trip. The older I get, daily walking (or riding my
bicycle) on level terrain, becomes sweeter.
Walking and bicycling around town on narrow quiet back
streets, I greet others who are traveling in like manner, especially kids going to and from school. Elementary school kids are
always walking, not entombed in a large yellow school bus. Sometimes they flock
around me to chat. Junior high and high school kids are either walking or
riding bicycles. They often greet me and sometimes chat briefly. There is ever so much more warm and close personal contact with the human race around me, than there would be if I were always
zooming down the street entombed inside a fast-moving motor vehicle. O,
my Lord has given me an ever so rich life. Simple is
Best! You too, please believe it, and practice it as Our Lord
leads you personally to do so.
And little, quiet West Matsuida train station is only a 7-minute
level walk away. I walk there often to board a train. Presently (2025),
I own a utility compact van, and drive it locally, but I travel long
distances by train. If the Lord tarries and lets me live, and if I
choose to give up driving in my old age, and if I’m still able to make
that 7-minute walk, I can board a train 400 (plus) yards from my house to
travel anywhere in the world, leaving the driving and
piloting to a much younger generation.
Each night that I pillow my head on my pallet on the straw
mat floor in my Matsuida house, my head is about 8 steps away (in a
straight horizontal line on God’s earth), from the place that I pillowed my
head in an upper room in the inn behind my house the night of the first day I arrived
in this town, not knowing the name of the town and not knowing any
soul in this town. “He lead-eth me, O blessed
thought! O words with heav’n-ly comfort fraught!” Amen and Amen! Reader Friend, our Gracious Lord greatly desires to also lead you just as perfectly, if only you will
allow Him to do so.
Thank
Thee, my Precious Lord Jesus, for planting me in the perfect
place. I worship Thee for Thy Perfect Way.
With “mine eye single”, in mid-March 1975 I arrived in cold Karuizawa (amidst a
blizzard of snow). My one desire was to study my Holy Bible and the
Japanese language intensely day and night. Thank God I was able to accomplish
that. I thank God for the many days of fasting, for several cold nights of
prayer in that cave atop Mt. Hanare with the mice and bats. And I thank God even more that it came
to pass.
Leaving the sinful military environment at Iwakuni, I
looked forward to start daily associating with missionaries and other
Christians in Karuizawa. It will be most uplifting, I thought. And, truly, many of the fellow believers were a rich blessing
and a great help to me, giving offerings, food, and other substance to
poor me. I’m most thankful for them and their much
goodness to me. But I didn’t expect the degree of
unpleasant (being unreasonable) things that I experienced from
Christians.
Missionaries, Japanese pastors and Christians tried to make
me into their lackey, being desirous to put me into servitude unto them, tho I
knew each time that their desires were not God’s
Will for my life (no matter how many “good” reasons they gave me enticing me to
become their servant, and thus allow them to become lord of my life).
Some of them harshly interrogated me. “Whose
authority are you under?” I was under The Authority of my Lord God Almighty.
But the askers didn’t like that answer.
“Where will you go to do missionary work?” “What kind of
work will you do?” “What does the Lord have in store for you?” I did not yet
know those answers. But the askers almost demanded an answer of me,
like I was duty-bound to give them an answer, and like I was a dummy for
not yet knowing that which my Lord had not yet revealed unto me,
but He always faithfully led and guided me in due time, one
step at a time.
A few missionaries acted offended and repulsed by me not
raising support, but rather simply stepping out on faith, as my Lord clearly led me to do. I perceive that our Lord pricked their consciences with my
act of faith. To God be the Glory!
A few married missionary men more or less
decreed to me that I couldn’t serve God in Japan as a
single male missionary. “Get married or else,” was more or
less their ultimatum toward me, thus making themselves into my judge.
Being highly mobile as a single person, I’ve been able to aid and assist
several friends in times of injury, sickness, hospitalization, and death (of
which I’ve written). Also, I was available to house sit for weeks and to keep
children in their own home. God clearly showed me that this is the lifestyle He
has ordained for me, and that He
(my Creator God) is
to be my Lord, my Guide, and my Judge.
I praise God for each Scripture that teaches us how that
God ordained for man and woman to come together in marriage,
and teaches that Whoso
findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord.” (Proverbs
18:22) But the several preachers, that have decreed to me that such is God’s Will for me,
appear to have no regard for the following Scripture. “But
I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the
things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is
married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his
wife.” (I Corinthians 7:32-33)
And at age 30 in Karuizawa, some single missionary ladies
and single Japanese Christian ladies around me (close to my age) (who desired
matrimony, a most proper desire), went far,
far beyond the bounds
of proper etiquette in their efforts to make me their bridegroom.
Thus far (51 years plus, as I re-edit this in 2025) in my life
in Japan, my time in the Christian language school in Karuizawa was (overall)
the most unpleasant and most vexing period of time,
due to such things that I briefly capped in the previous five paragraphs. That
is most regrettable. Daily interaction with Christians
should be most pleasant, uplifting, and blessed. Each
of us Christians are duty-bound to God to strive to make that a reality.
And, an interesting side note, as for both
male and female missionaries who purposefully made themselves a pushy, bossy thorn in
my flesh during that time, as best I calculate, NONE
of them served their Lord in Japan for as long as 50 years, a good
number of them, not even half that number of years. Interesting to see how things pan out in the Long
Run, now is it not?? Thank Thee, my
Perfect Lord, for panning me out perfectly. To God be the glory!
Back in Chapter 31, as I pillowed my head in that sleeper
train berth departing from Iwakuni in mid-March 1975, I related to you how
glorious it was to then be set free from my “old life”, listing several
factors from which I was then made free. Now, as I begin life “in my
element” in Matsuida Town, please add these 2 factors I have related in
this chapter: set free from living in the cold, shaded forest
in Karuizawa Town, and set free from the Christians there who believed
I should do their will, and hounded me toward that end.
The glorious periods of time I’ve thus far spent
ministering on Guam, tremendously helped overcome the negative effects of
these unpleasant things in Japan. The last Guam trip greatly helped me
recuperate from the fierce spiritual battle in Matsuida. And it was so bless-ed that my Lord had a house waiting for me
in Matsuida when I returned from Guam at the end of July 1978.
The previous two periods of stay on Guam (that included Ponape,
& Truk), were thrilling beyond measure. The
midnight hours and constant change of people, places, and events, was like I
was constantly in a popcorn popper with the heat turned up full blast.
In 1977, I first planned to head west
from Karuizawa to Koumi Train Line area to settle
down there, attracted to the sleepy, quiet, rural area along that slow
train line. That wasn’t God’s Will, so He used persistent Brother Dick
to make me run in the opposite direction. Since then, a Bullet train
line has been built thru that area with its station there, plus an express
highway has been built thru that area with its “interchange” for access onto
and off of it. Those 2 points of “progress” resulted in a quite
long section of that quiet, sleepy rural Koumi Train Line area exploding with new shopping centers and such crowding,
changing it into a bustling place I would not care to reside in.
Meanwhile, over the years, Matsuida has
died down and gotten quieter, making it ever so suitable for me in my old age.
It is just the right distance from Tokyo to go there and back in one
day, when I have business in Tokyo. Also, it’s just the right distance
for going to either of the Tokyo airports (Narita or Haneda) on the same day of
my flight out of Tokyo (when I travel abroad), if my flight leaves in the
afternoon. If it departs in the morning, I spend the night before, in a hotel
near the airport. Truly,
Thy Way is Perfect, my Precious Lord Jesus.
Upon leaving Iwakuni for Karuizawa, I
foresaw me settling down for 2 peaceful years in Karuizawa in language study,
never traveling far from there, and then immediately moving into a rental house
in the town of God’s choosing. I never envisioned anything like my stay in Bob and Sachiko’s
house on Yokota Air Force Base and the trip to the States. I never envisioned
the rich and blessed trips to Guam and on to Ponape and Truk, preaching at
Lukop Church in the jungle to the faithful people and the faithful cur dog that
walked up jungle trails to the church.
“Missionary Boy, it certainly turned out much differently than you
expected!”
It certainly did! Think on the many rich Spiritual
blessings (written in this book), that I experienced near and far, from the
time I left Iwakuni in mid-March 1975, till I rented the house in Matsuida on 1
August 1978.
From the day I was born, God gave me a most valuable
upbringing in poverty and strenuous labor under the dominion of Christian
parents. During that time as they reared me, my parents made practically all the major decisions
concerning me. Then, from the day that Daddy totally released me from his
dominion in early June 1964, till today on 1 August 1978 when I move into this
house in Matsuida Town to be here for a long stay, thank God,
my Lord’s Hand has been ever so steadily and so graciously upon me for good.
1. God enabled me to obtain a university
degree.
2. He allowed me to obtain my dream of
becoming a military jet pilot.
3. Christ kept me safely alive thru those flying dangers.
4. And then, finally and best of all, my Lord
planted me firmly in the center of Japan, for
the remainder of my life on earth, I hope.
Thus far in this book, though I have only
written of well under one-half of
my threescore and 19 years to date (2025), I need a
break from writing, and you need a break from the boredom of reading this. As
our Lord leads you, please tell others about this book and encourage them
to read it.
I am
also adding my missionary stories onto my web site piecemeal. “My Missionary Stories For Sunday School And For Everyone.” They are under that title on my web site. The devil’s hi-tech
world has destroyed our God-given attention span. Thus, each of these
stories has the appeal of brevity. By God’s Grace,
I made them as compact and as powerfully written as I could. Please tell or
read them to all the young souls that you can. Please freely reproduce
them to spread them in every manner possible. They contain profitable
prayers, teaching souls how to pray, and leading them to pray for Japan, and
for my preaching in Japan.
Please spread the word of my short Radio Sermons, both written
and audio, on my website. As they are being broadcast on radio, pray for
Christians to be edified and challenged by them, and for lost souls to be saved
thru them. Sermons 2023-8 and 2024-1 are especially precious.
My Missionary Newsletters are also on my website, starting with
Spring 2002. (Christ-is-all (dot) us.)
“Freely give.” My paperback
books are free. I also pay the shipping to send them to you. (I humbly accept
donations with thanksgiving, but they aren’t necessary. Thank you, gracious
souls who give financially, enabling me to print my books and such!)
I especially pray that many young souls between 13 and 30
years of age will be drawn to read my writings and to listen to the audio
preaching and teaching. Please introduce me to all the “formative age” young’uns
that you possibly can.
“And they just might find your Snaky
story and flying adventures to be exciting reading.”
I hope so. I also pray for our Lord to lead Christian
parents to select portions of my life’s story to read aloud to (and explain to)
their small children who are not yet at that reading level.
Please unceasingly intercede with me in
prayer for the many lost and dying, perishing eternally, Japanese souls
to whom I daily hold forth the Words of Life.
For
He is faithful that promised
At the start of my missionary journey of
a life of faith, depending on my Lord’s Promise to supply all your need according
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, I was much more apprehensive and uneasy (scared)
than was pleasing to God. Still, in His Great Mercy to me He has supplied most
abundantly. I thank each of you dear souls who has
given a portion of that supply. (I appreciate you who faithfully send a
one-time annual offering each year, along with encouraging words to me.
Early February is a good time to send that once a year
offering. I now strive not to use the postal system from mid-November
till mid-January to avoid the holiday crunch.)
Each morning, I strive to remember to earnestly pray ‘give us this day our daily
bread’. And my Father
in Heaven speaks to souls of His Divine Choosing, to send me an offering. Thank
you for listening to His Voice and giving unto me.
Thank you for feeding me and providing the various means by which I travel and
minister in Japan, the U.S., and occasionally other nations. Thank you for each
kind and encouraging word spoken or written to me. Thank you for each kind deed you have done unto me. Sweet Jesus, please richly
and abundantly bless each missionary helper, and repay them many
fold over.
I pray that Thy Lord will use
my example of “stepping
out on faith” to encourage you to do likewise, if or whenever God thus leads
you. I pray that you will train your children to be strong in faith, to not
waver or hesitate to follow their Lord. Never fear to trust Our Lord. Never hesitate to “follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth.” (Revelation
14:4) “Wherever He Leads, I’ll go…I’ll follow my Christ Who loves me so…” Sing it from your heart, and always follow Him!
For you Christian Readers whom the Lord
has no plans to call you to quit your paying job (and your present life at
home), to serve Him at home “full-time” or in a foreign land; when a young
Christian tells you that he or she has such a calling, I pray that you will be
Spiritual enough to highly encourage that soul to be fully obedient to
follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. When God called me to “step out on
faith”, I ran to a few available older and more mature Christians (mainly
missionaries) for encouragement. Regretfully, most of them poured cold water of
discouragement on me. Shame! Shame on them! Don’t you dare do such. God is not pleased
with such lack of faith, at all.
I deemed departing from Marine Corps Air
Station, Iwakuni, Japan on 13 March 1975, to be my 6th major relocating, after going
out from my earthly father’s house. That was relocating into Japanese society. Here in
Matsuida Town, I continue in that same relocating. As I have previously
written, Japan has a strict law requiring all residents (both foreigners and
Japanese) to stay currently registered
with the town or city in which they live. As I re-edit this in late 2025, I
desire to live out my life in Japan, and desire to remain an official resident of Matsuida
Town
till I go to my Home in Heaven. Even so, come today, Lord Jesus!
Our Father
which art in Heaven, I heartily thank Thee for making me the most blessed human creature on
earth. On Thy Throne on High, Thou
doest constantly hear Christian believers thru out the world grumbling and
complaining. Seldom does one heartily confess to being the most blessed person on
earth. Please save us all from our sinful grumbling and
complaining. Please create within each and every human soul on
earth, a heart that will heartily confess to being the most blessed soul on
earth, while giving Thee the Glory for making him or her into such a soul. Amen and AMEN.
The
End of Chapter 35