Mining the Japan Harvest archive

The closest I’ve come to mining was visiting a disused tin and copper mine that dates back hundreds of years. Deposits were rich and tunnels stretched under the sea. Imagine 300 miners digging ore with candles stuck to their helmets.

We’re going to mine the Japan Harvest archives,¹ with 70 years of deposits, digging for nuggets or seams of wisdom and insight into missionary member care. So, grab your helmets, shovels, and pickaxes!

Deep down in 1954, we discover a nugget to encourage missionaries’ spiritual life. “The Place of Power” shared secrets for effective prayer. For example, the article includes a quote from Robert McCheyne: “I ought to pray before seeing anyone. Often when I sleep long or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o’clock before I begin secret prayer. . . . Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place . . . it is far better to begin with God—to see His face first!”²

In 1957 lies a seam of wisdom with advice on spiritual, mental, and physical health. Have we learnt these lessons, or do we need reminding?

1. “Give yourself adequate emotional outlets, such as prayer, praise, music, art, hobbies, friendly games, fishing, hunting, sports, gardening, and wholesome fun of any kind. Avoid emotional suppression . . . Laughter, talking and sometimes weeping are good outlets.
2. Practice sociability . . . Self-confinement is bad. Fellowship is good and important. . . . Make some time to play each day or week.
3. Plan your work and life. Don’t take on more work than you know you can do in a day, thus getting a back-log. With God’s help do your best, and leave the rest to Him.
4. Don’t be over-ambitious . . . Take a sane, sensible, and realistic view of your own abilities and accept them as such . . . Don’t drive yourself to impossible goals, for this will be like ‘running with an overheated engine’ all the time. The result will be nervous tension.”³

In 1960 we find a gem: “We can be certain that the devil will use every device to bring us low. He will magnify our brother’s faults. He will stimulate imagined grievances. He will distort supposed wrongs . . . ‘We need to be watchful, for there is a watchful devil who never sleeps.’”⁴

Miners who reach the depths of Spring 1975, are challenged to examine their attitudes (as I was) by a nugget entitled, “Seven deadly attitudes”: anger without trust, work without enjoyment, opinions without humility, leadership without flexibility, love without expression, closeness without empathy, and charisma without depth.⁵

Family issues

This rich seam occurs throughout the mine. Dig this seam and you’ll find “Preparing the family for Japan,” which says, “two principles then, Christian parenting and family calling, should direct the new missionary family’s preparations, move and settling.”⁶ Also, “Your children are leaving You!”⁷ is about children going to their passport country for education. Another gem about education says, “Each missionary family faces unique challenges, but four issues impact every family: (1) the potential to be bicultural, bilingual, and biliterate, (2) field relocation, (3) home assignments and (4) re-entry into ‘home’ culture.”⁸ Hilary Lynch says, “Our journey of homeschooling has been both a joy and a trial. But in all honesty, I think the hard times are making me a better person and I pray that for my children, too.”⁹

A personal and moving article, “When parents need us,” addresses missionaries with older parents—“The decision if and when to become personally involved in caring for parents is rarely a simple one.”¹⁰

The family issues seam includes the TCK-themed issue (Summer 2013); it covers friendship, schooling, identity, and resources. The Missionary Family Life issue (Winter 2018) also contains advice on family rituals, vacations, combining family and church planting, and testimonies of God’s care. Try mining these issues for yourself!

Resiliency

The other rich seam found in the Japan Harvest mine is resiliency or thriving in Japan.

Nuggets of wisdom along this seam include “Team Resiliency”, which says, “There are three ways to undermine a team—or a family . . . don’t talk, don’t feel and don’t trust.”¹¹

Sue Plumb Takamoto reported in 2004 on difficulties in adjusting to Japan. She included: cultural differences, inability to communicate, extended isolation and loneliness, identity issues, feeling insignificant, and social base or family issues. Sue’s suggested helps for adjustment were: empowering mentors, unique community, the Word, calling, and worship.¹²

Faith de la Cour offered keys to resilience: self-care, friendships, thankfulness, practicing and giving forgiveness, humour, and laughter.¹³

A particularly rich deposit is the Member Care issue (Autumn 2013). It covered physical, emotional, spiritual, and marital health; survival tips for new workers, singleness, and equipping rural workers. The issue “Thriving in Japan” (Autumn 2019) contains wisdom on finding rhythms, elements that are foundational and help missionaries thrive.

There are gems, nuggets, and seams of useful “member care wisdom” to be found in the Japan Harvest archive mine. The struggles we face today haven’t changed much over the years. Someone once said, “It is helpful, when planning for the future, to draw on the wisdom of the past.”¹⁴ Let’s dig in and find the treasure!

1. All the Japan Harvest articles mentioned can be located online here:
https://japanharvest.org/japan-harvest-archives
2. “Selections from E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 3-3 (May 1954), 1.
3. Rudolph C. Logefeil, “Spiritual, mental and physical health,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 5-3 (Summer 1957), 42.
4. Joseph Carrol, “Spiritual Warfare,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 9-3 (September 1960), 7.
5. William Cessna “Seven Deadly Attitudes,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 25-2 (Spring 1975), 33–35.
6. Paul Theule, “Preparing the family for Japan,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 41-3 (1992), 7.
7. Ann Springer, “Your children are leaving you!,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 29-3 (1979), 22–23.
8. Hydi Peterson, “MK Education in Japan,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 49-3 (Winter 1998), 3.
9. Hilary Lynch, “Homeschooling – Our Journey,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 56-2 (Fall 2004), 26.
10. Beth Fuhriman, “When parents need us,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 45-3 (Winter 1995-96), 16–18.
11. Kelly O’Donnell, “Team Resiliency,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 49-3 (Winter 1998), 20.
12. Sue Plumb Takamoto, “Missionary adjustment to Japan: A reality check for Leaders and Mentors,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 56-2 (Fall 2004), 8–10.
13. Faith de la Cour, “Resilience,” Japan Harvest, Vol. 59-1 (Summer 2007), 26.
14. Raphael Daoud Jackson, “Planning for Your Successor: Lessons from Our Predecessors,” Library Worklife, https://ala-apa.org/newsletter/2009/06/13/planning-for-your-successor-lessons-from-our-predecessors/ (accessed March 8, 2023).