Chapter 8 - The Voice of Joy

A hospital patient shuffled down the hall in his wooden clogs toward me. When he was near enough to be heard he bowed politely and asked, “How much does a New Testament cost?”

“They’re thirty cents,” I told him.

“I would like so much to buy one from you, but I don’t have enough money to pay for it all at once,” the man said, holding out a few coins in his hand. “Would you allow me to buy it from you by installments?”

I felt stricken as if by a sword and tears filled my eyes. As soon as I returned home I told Peggy about the incident, and we knelt together in prayer. “Help us, Lord, by Your grace” we prayed, “to be able to distribute literally tens of thousands of Bibles in the hospitals, placing them in the hands of these patients who are so poor they cannot pay for them.”

Not all Japanese hospital patients are poor. Single people who are covered by insurance may have pocket money to spend, but when the father or mother of a family is stricken the family is often destitute. The hospital diet is basically rice, low in protein and vitamins, so that it is not adequate for the nutritional needs of the patients, who are expected to supplement it by buying their own fruit, cheese, butter and even fish.

They must also purchase their own bare necessities of life such as soap, tissues and note paper. It is only at great sacrifice that many of the families are able to supply these necessities for their sick ones in the hospitals.

It would be a luxury beyond the reach of many to buy a Bible, and yet often patients would buy Bibles with money that they should have spent for food.

Not long after we had prayed over this need, sharing the prayer request with their staff, an unexpected gift of $55 came in designated for the distribution of Scriptures. This gave me an idea and I called in Minoru Sato, the treasurer and leading staff member who was honored by the title “Sensei,” a term of respect meaning “Teacher,” “Master” why don’t we buy $110 worth of Bibles from the Bible Society and then sell them for half price?” I asked. “That way we can distribute twice as many.”

Sato Sensei agreed. He had begun writing a paper called “The Fountain of Joy,” which was duplicated and distributed among the hospital patients and ex-patients who had become Christians. In it we would write a short message for the month and list prayer requests. So the very next month “The Fountain of Joy” included a special announcement. “During the month of December,” it said, “we are going to sell Bibles at half price. Anyone who asks for one may buy them from us at half price.”

This plan was such a tremendous success that by the 10th of December they discovered with consternation that the entire $110 worth of Bibles had already bean sold, and still the orders were pouring in from near and far. The Bible Society must have been confused by the Sudden influx of orders for more Bibles, and the poor delivery man, as he groaned under the weight of the heavy loads must have wondered, “Whatever are these queer foreigners up to now?”

The “queer foreigners,” for their part, fervently wished that the end of the month would come quickly! All the money was gone, and still the requests came in for small Bibles, big Bibles, small print Bibles, large print Bibles, Bibles of all shapes and sizes, even including an order for one in Braille for a poor blind leper.

“Sato Sensei, what shall we do?” I asked in dismay.

“We have made a promise,” he replied, “that we would sell Bibles at half price during the month of December, and I believe we must keep our promise.”

I called a special prayer meeting about this problem. And still the orders came in so fast that finally a prayer meeting was called for every day, for no money was coming in with which they could repay the Bible Society. To make matters even more difficult financially, some of the patients who bought Bibles at half price could only pay for them by installments, so that it would take months for them to pay even half the cost.

One day late in the month Sato Sensei prayed, “Lord, we are going to sell Bibles at half price until midnight on the 31st of December, but not a minute beyond that. You know that we are in trouble financially. You are the only One Who knows where the money is coming from for us to repay the Bible Society for these large orders. We do not know.”

Desperately the entire Mission pled with the Lord in prayer to cover this deficit, for in Japan it is considered a terrible thing to have a debt. Most Japanese try to clear their debts by the 31st of December each year, for it is considered a shame to start the new year with a debt. Some people work night and day during December, if necessary, in order to pay their debts by that time. Others commit suicide if they cannot deal with their debts. So it was even more important to the Japanese workers of the Mission to clear this debt before 1960 began than it was for Peggy and I.

At long last December 31st came, the reckoning day, and what a reckoning it was! approximately $550 worth of Bibles had been sold. The original $55 gift which had loomed so large at the beginning of the plan took on a distinctly insignificant and dismal shape in comparison to ten times that amount that had been distributed in Bibles!

In order to pay the wholesale bill that had accumulated for the Bibles, $225 was still needed.

One morning in December in far off South Africa, one of God’s servants got up very early in the morning for prayer. “Lord,” he said, “You know that I want to do something very special for You for Christmas this year. Show me what you want me to do.” As he waited before the Lord, it came to him very clearly that he had $280 in the bank. God made it very plain to him that he was to withdraw this money and send it immediately to Japan.

He got off his knees, wrote a letter to us and enclosed a check for $280. Then he called his son to get on his bicycle and go mail the letter at once. Thus at the time everyone at the Mission was praying so earnestly, this enormous gift was started on its way to Japan to do its Master’s service.

What amazement and thanksgiving rang through the headquarters that day, when this wonderful answer to prayer was delivered at the door! All of us were speechless with wonder to discover that not only did this gift pay the entire debt, but there was exactly $55 left over–the amount we had had at the outset of our plan!

With this additional amount 100 New Testaments and 25 Bibles were purchased to give away free to those who had been too poor even to take advantage of the half-price offer. A few days later still another answer came, for the Gideons offered to help supply Bibles to the patients and to nurses during 1960.

Thus a wonderful God provided His Word to those in such great need in most miraculous ways, not only during 1960 but during every year to come. During the latter part of 1974 we ordered 20,000 New Testaments, and when the bill arrived we were not able to pay it. Although Word of Life Press agreed to let us pay the balance during the first part of the new year our workers felt that this bill also must be paid by December 31st.

We needed about $5000 more to complete payment for the New Testaments, and trusted God along with our workers to supply this amount in time. I wrote to the chairman of our board in South Africa, explaining the situation in detail. He in turn wrote to one of the friends of the Mission, a medical doctor, and told him of this need.

Years ago this doctor had bought a diamond ring for his wife which she wore regularly. But three years before the chairman wrote them of our need they had said to the Lord, “Any time you want it, You can have this ring. Just show us, Lord, where You need it.”

From then on they looked for an opportunity to give this gift for the Lord’s work. When the letter from our chairman reached them, immediately they both looked at the ring and began to laugh. With real joy they realized what God wanted them to do. The ring was sold for about $5000, and they had the joy of sharing in the gift of 20,000 New Testaments sent out to inquirers in the needy land of Japan. Their check arrived just in time to pay up our account in full before the end of the year, and everyone in the Mission rejoiced. I wrote them and said:

Not only will that ring sparkle in the hearts of many, many Japanese but somehow or other, one day when you reach heaven you will find that ring again. The shape of it will be so magnificent, the sparkle so brilliant that you will scarcely recognize it.

By 1960 the Japan Mission was reaching out in ministry to patients in eighteen different hospitals, and yet within a radius of 100 miles from the headquarters there were 1,117 hospitals, which were still only a fraction of the 7,500 hospitals throughout Japan. What method could be used to reach out to all these hospitals? As we visited patients we noticed that many hospitals were equipped with radios. Patients could listen to at least four stations through earphones. Less modern hospitals without radio equipment often had many patients with private transistor radios. It seemed that almost everyone in the hospitals was within listening distance of some radio.

I made some investigations, and discovered that there are 19 million radio sets in Japan, with 400 transmitters, many of which were open to Gospel broadcasts. I learned that the Pacific Broadcasting Association, begun by missionaries from the United States, was broadcasting from some 90 transmitters, putting out 50 Christian programs a week. They had made 40,000 contacts requesting correspondence courses, about half of which came from tuberculosis patients.

Suddenly I realized how the 3,000,000 tuberculosis patients could be reached by the mission–by setting up our own broadcast! But we did not have the technical knowledge necessary for starting one. Peggy and I shared this burden with the workers, and after prayer it was decided that I should approach the Pacific Broadcasting Association in Tokyo for some help.

I discussed the idea with two of their missionaries in Tokyo and learned that a fifteen minute program would require a budget of about $900 a month. Of course the Mission did not have this kind of money.

“Who don’t you do this,” the PDA missionaries suggested, “go home and pray for a radio sponsor who will pay for the broadcast. Ask the Lord to give you someone to sponsor the program for you.”

I went home, and we began praying for a radio sponsor. For three months we prayed, “Lord, either give us a radio sponsor, or give us enough money to make a start with this radio broadcast.” But nothing happened.

As a matter of fact, the funds for the work became less and less. For three months we prayed earnestly, but the more we prayed, the deeper our financial difficulties became, and funds for all our needs became so low that there was barely enough funds each month to pay the workers their living allowance. There was political turmoil in South Africa at this time, and since a large portion of our funds came from that country during these years, our source of supply seemed to be drying up.

One morning I said to Peggy, “Maybe we ought to stop praying about this broadcast, because the more we pray the less the money comes in for the rest of our work.” I was utterly discouraged. It seemed to me that the Lord was not interested in starting a broadcast for the sick in Japan. Finally I said, “Lord, I’m not going to pray about this any more.”

A few days later the Lord had an opportunity to speak to me through Isaiah 40:9, “Behold your God.” And as I waited quietly before the Lord, it was as if the Lord was telling me that this did not say, “Behold, difficult financial circumstances.” It did not say, “Behold, difficult political upheavals in South Africa.” It said, “Behold your God. ”

As I was there on my knees the Lord reminded me of great men of faith and what they had accomplished by believing Him. I remembered how Hudson Taylor had left the shores of England with nothing, so far as finances were concerned. But before long, because this man had believed God, there were almost a thousand missionaries in China doing God’s work.

I remembered George Mueller, and the story I had heard as a child in South Africa about how George Mueller had gone to bed one night when there was nothing for the 3,000 orphan children he cared for to eat for breakfast the next morning. But George Mueller had gone to bed with real peace in his heart after telling his Heavenly Father about this need. That night about 3 O’Clock the Lord woke the baker and told him to deliver bread, so the children would have something to eat for breakfast. And He woke the milkman and told him to deliver enough milk for the 3,000 children to have something to drink.

And then the Lord showed me the biggest mistake I had ever made in my life. He showed me that I thought of God only as the God of famous people. That morning the Lord showed me as clearly as He could show to any human being, “Behold your God”.

He was not just the God of Hudson Taylor, not just the God of George Mueller. I humbly acknowledged that morning that this miracle working God was my own. “I see- it now, Lord. You are my God!”

I walked out of the room telling everyone I met, “WeÅfre going to make an immediate start with radio evangelism.”

When I said this to Sato Sensei, the latter replied realistically, “There isnÅft any money to start this radio broadcast.”

“I know,” I said, “but this God is our God, and if we take a step of faith He wonÅft let us down.”

“But you canÅft just make a decision like this on your own!” Sato Sensei told me. “The responsibility is too big. ThereÅfs no money in the treasury.”

After talking with him a little while I could see the wisdom of what Sato Sensei was saying. This decision was going to affect every worker in the Mission. It would not be right for me to make a decision alone.

A day of fasting and prayer was set aside to consider the matter, and after the period of prayer and fasting was over I looked into the faces of the young Japanese workers around me. “What if we were to broadcast the Gospel for the sick of Japan, and we had no money to pay for food and clothes. Would you still be willing to go ahead with this broadcast? If there is no food to eat, and no money to buy clothes, then I donÅft want you to say the missionary made the choice. Today, before the living God, every one of you must choose.”

The Lord came preciously near that day, as one after the other of these workers made their choice and said, “We must broadcast the Gospel, no matter what the cost is going to be to us personally.”

After this willingness to trust God for the impossible had come into every heart, before dismissing we started to plan for the broadcast, by faith. We decided on the format of the program. It was to be different from other religious programs, and not be just a sermon. The fifteen minutes would include about four minutes for a personal testimony, perhaps of someone in a tuberculosis hospital who had received Jesus Christ. Then there would be a three to four minute sermon. The rest of the time would be covered by the Announcer, good Christian singing and music.

It was decided that the two most capable evangelists, Sato Sensei and Mr. Karasawa, would be the speakers for the program. Mr. Maekawa was appointed to learn how to be a radio technician. Mr. Kakiuchi would he the first to give his testimony.

Before the day was over we even taped the first sermon and testimonies that would he used. We still needed a name for the broadcast, and as we thought this over, it was agreed that this should be a joyful program, radiating the joy of Christ, penetrating even the darkest hospitals with cheer. Just the right name was found in Jeremiah 33. The broadcast was to be called “The Voice of Joy.”

The very next day I left for Tokyo, taking with me the tapes of the testimonies and sermons, as well as all the money I could gather together for the first broadcast, which was $18. This had been given to us by a woman just moments before she had died of cancer. She had placed it in our hands and said, “IÅfve heard of this radio project of yours, and I trust God will be able to use my gift to help get it started.”

This time I told the Pacific Broadcasting Association missionaries that up until now everything which we had undertaken for God had begun in faith. “I just cannot imagine,” I added, “that if we step out in faith and make a start in this broadcast, the God or Heaven will let us down.”

They were very sympathetic, but said, “We will do everything we possibly can to help you. We will help you technically. But just remember one thing–we cannot help you financially!” I understood their position very well.

The missionaires accompanied me to the Radio Osaka officials. I asked one of the Representatives, “How much would you charge us for fifteen minutes of broadcastinq time a week? In other words, what would be the cost for one hour of broadcasting time a month?”

The man looked it up in a book and then quoted the price, $480 a month. I fingered the $18 in my pocket, realizing that I needed plenty more money!

“We arenÅft going to broadcast to make money,” I told the official. “We are here to help desperate people. Sometimes some of these patients fill their pockets with stones and jump into the lake near our home, because they want to end it all. Sometimes they just disappear, going to commit suicide at some,lonely place where they think no one will find them. Won’t you give us an opportunity to reach desperate people like this, by giving us a discount for the broadcasts?”

So this man went to an official higher up, as they do, in Japan, and that official again went to someone higher up. How high they went that day I didn’t know. But one thing I did know–this case went up as high as God. For when the first official came back again, he offered us a discount of $300 a month.

But three things would first be necessary. In the first place: $180 would have to be paid immediately. Secondly, each month $180, would have to be paid a month in advance, rather than at the end of the month. And in the third place, a contract, must he signed for,one year.

I stood thinking of the $18 in my pocket, not knowing what to say! But then one of the men from the PBA said to me quietly, “If you can believe God to supply your needs at the end of the month, surely you can trust Him to supply your needs at the beginning of each month.”

This missionary did not know how really desperate the Mission was financially. At that time only one remittance a month came from South Africa, and a smaller remittance each month from EngIand and both of these had already come for the current month, and had been barely enough to cover the allowances for the workers. Before I had left for Tokyo that morning, I had even walked up and down the house looking for objects that I might sell in order to make the first broadcast a possibility, but I hadn’t found anything worth selling.

After thinking it over, I said to the-radio official, “Don’t sell this ideal broadcasting time to anyone else. IÅfll be in touch with you about it very soon.”

I thankel the PBA friends for having come with me to make this contact, and returned to my lodgings. But as I walked, the Devil was at my side and whispered to me. “How on earth can you start a broadcast that’s going to cost you hundreds, and later on thousands of dollars, when your capital is only $18! How can you make a mistake like that? Turn around and tell them you can’t do it!”

I almost listened to the voice of the Devil, but then the Lord reminded me of the words, “Behold your God.” I walked the streets of Tokyo that day, crying to the God of Hudson Taylor not to let me down, praying to the God of George Mueller to do a miracle for me too.

The next morning before leaving for the radio office, I received a telegram from Peggy. Suddenly and unexpectedly a large gift of money had come in. Now I could write out the first check for the broadcasts! When I went to the offices of Radio Osaka, God also gave me the faith to sign a contract for one year.

Two things had to happen in order for me to have received this money right at this ciucial time. The first minacle was when someone in South Africa suddenly felt that they had to send a large gift to their headquarters in Pretoria. The second miracle occurred when their representative in Pretoria strongly felt that they should not wait until the end of the month to send this money as they usually did, hut should send it on to Japan at once. It arrived just at the moment when it was most needed, just in time for mn to write out the check for the first month of broadcasts.

But as I returned home I said to Peggy and to the workers, “We must pray that God will supply the next $180 on time too.” A prayer meeting was held about this money every day, and God answered.

In South Africa there was a woman whom I had never met, whom I didn’t even know had received one of our circular letters. She knew nothing of our great need. One morning she got up early, and as she was praying she said, “Lord, you know I love you. You know I’ll do anything You ask of me.” (That’s a dangerous prayer!)

As she prayed, the Lord reminded her of the $180 she had saved to fix the-inside. of her home-, which needed repairs. It had taken her three years to save. that much. “My child,” He said, “I want this money to go to Japan.”

Immediately she got up and obeyed the Lord, sending a letter to us with this amount enclosed. It arrived just a few days before the first of the next month, when it was needed. What would have happened if that woman had not listened to the voice of God.

There was one more serious problem which needed to be resolved as soon as the hroadcasts had begun. Who was to take charge of the correspondence that would come in as a result of the broadcast? No one at the Mission was really qualified to handle this.

Someone was needed who had three basic qualifications. It must be a graduate of some good Bible school. It must be someone who could write Japanese characters very well, for often a letter is judged by the characters theselves. And thirdly, it must be someone who could clearly explain the way of salvation.

We asked missionary friends if they knew of anyone who could help, but they did not. We inquired of the churches if anyone was available, but there was not. The more we searched, the more hopeless the situation seemed. Day after day we pleaded with the Lord to send just the right person for this task.