Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
Part 1
Part 2
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Sermons by Eli Hofer
03/14/01
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The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
Volume 1
Volume 2
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Volume 4
The Anabaptist Voice
10/28/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear friends in Christ,
Grace and peace to you from the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that this
finds you happy, healthy and peaceful.
We are having wonderful weather here in southern Arizona, with the sun
shining every day and the temperatures in the 70s. Our front yard is
overflowing with flowers. Most houses in this area use a desert type of
landscaping but we like the flowers and trees.
We had another telephone conference call with our whole family, except
Mike, on Sunday. It was a blessing to us. Mike called us on Monday and we
talked about his grandfather and great-grandfather.
On Sunday we attended a different church, one near by that a number of
friends who used to attend the CDO church with us now attend. However, we were
not happy with the loud music and the songs that we did not know. The sermon
was on the subject of grace and based on Ephesians 2 where the apostle Paul
teaches that we are saved by grace and not by works. Near the end of the sermon
the minister said, “Do not focus on obedience.” This made Don think that we do
need to obey the Lord and realized that while the Lord Jesus spoke many times
about obedience, He never once spoke about grace. Quite a difference from what
many people teach today.
Michi’s Parents in
Japan
For our daily evening church service at home, we are reading the Gospel
of John now. Don and Michi read the following day’s Bible passage just before
bedtime then again at breakfast. So their minds are more focused on the
verses. They are meditating on the Bible teaching before the evening church.
We are reading about the death of Lazarus in John 11 and verse 4 has been
a special passage for Michi ever since her mother shared her testimony about her
marriage in Japan.
While they were engaged before they were married, Michi’s future father
coughed out blood. They learned that he had tuberculosis. At that time, in the
1920s, tuberculosis was deadly, like cancer is nowadays and also tuberculosis is
contagious. So his family told Michi’s family that the engagement should be
cancelled.
However, Michi’s mother, the bride-to-be, received a word from the Lord and
told her father, a Christian minister, about it. It was from John 11:4 where
Jesus said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but
for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
After much prayer and discussion Michi’s parents got married in 1927.
(Here is their wedding photo.) Her father was Takamasa Ota and her mother was
Hideko Koyama. When they were married her father changed his name to Koyama
because of a Japanese custom. He had brothers but his new wife did not so to
keep from losing the wife’s family line, the husband changes his name to hers.
Japanese Samurai Class
Both of Michi’s parents are from of the Samurai class. In Japan there
were four classes of people, and their class was recorded on their birth
certificate. Usually people did not marry out of their class.
The Samurai were the warrior class, the highest of the four
classes of people in Japan. They had special privileges, such as wearing two
swords - a long one and a short one. (Commoners were not allowed to wear any
weapons at all.) The Samurai were even allowed to behead a commoner who
offended them.
Michi’s Grandfather, Yoshitakamaru Koyama
In Japan at the time of Michi’s parents’ marriage in 1927 there were very
few Christians. So her parents and grandparents were very unusual in that
respect also. Her mother’s father, Yoshitakamaru Koyama, was raised in the
common Buddhist religion and was converted to Christianity. When he
was baptized on May 27, 1905, at the age of 30, the
minister said of him, “That was a hard delivery!” as he was rather headstrong.
Michi’s grandfather prayed 
a
long time for his mother Umeno's salvation. One summer, at a convention in
Arima, he fasted and prayed earnestly for three days for her salvation. During
that time, she wasn't feeling well, and was resting in her upstairs room alone.
There, in the middle of the day, she saw a vision of Christ. Jesus answered her
son Yoshitakamaru’s prayers and fasting. Umeno repented of her sins with tears,
and received the salvation of the Christ. At once, the pain that she was having
went away. From then on, she helped with the home meetings that Yoshitakamaru
was holding, and invited the neighbors to the meetings, and lived the wonderful
born-again life in her late years.
That year, 1919, his mother Umeno, his wife Matsuno, and his eldest
daughter Hideko (Michi’s mother) were baptized. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and
you shall be saved, you and your household.” This word of God became true to
his house. Thus, there became a beautiful Christian home in one corner of
Japan.
In 1926, Michi’s grandfather, Yoshitakamaru, started to travel around
Japan holding tent meetings in many cities. With him were his two beautiful
daughters (Michi’s mother Hideko and her sister Masako) and a young man named
Takamasa Ota who would marry Hideko in 1927 and then
attend a Bible college and become a Christian minister. Here is a photo of them
in the big tent. Michi’s grandfather is on the left in back and her father is
next to him. In the front row, third from the left is Michi’s mother and to her
right on the other side of the tent pole is Michi’s aunt Masako.
Michi’s grandfather Yoshitakamaru received the gift of healing and
used it to manifest God's power. One summer a family asked him to pray for the
healing of their son who was in the University of Okayama hospital with infant
cholera. His condition was very bad. He was in a coma and not allowed
visitors. The boy had received so many shots that his arms were swollen and
purple. The doctors decided that he was beyond help of medical treatment.
Yoshitakamaru went up to a mountain to pray for the boy whose life was in
danger. The doctors expected him to live no more than a week. Yoshitakamaru
prayed on that mountain for the boy's healing and then went to that hospital
where he got permission to visit the boy. There he prayed for the boy,
expecting the Spirit of God to heal the child. His earnest prayer was answered
and the boy was healed. Yoshitakamaru prayed for God's power and his prayers
were answered. He was overjoyed with the manifestation of God's power in answer
to his prayer.
"Hidden Man of Love"
In 1935, a newspaper reporter and a photographer from the Chugoku Minpo
newspaper came to Osafune and interviewed Michi’s grandfather Yoshitakamaru.
They published a beautiful story of the Kogisho (lecture house) that
Yoshitakamaru built, calling it "a House of Love". The story described
Yoshitakamaru as a "Hidden Man of Love" and said that he was a devoted member of
the Kagato Christian church. Yoshitakamaru was described as a man who takes
care of people who are sick in body and/or soul. One by one he leads them to
Christ. More than ten 
testimonies
of healings were noted in the story. The article said, "Truly, Yoshitakamaru is
a praiseworthy person. This is a man who built a home of love, a humble man of
love. He worked diligently and devoted his life to God. He was blessed by a
Christian wife who supported him without reservation. People gathered to his
house as thirsty deer gather to quench their thirst in the stream of life."
Michi’s father Takamasa died in 1942. Here is
a photo of him preaching at an outdoor meeting. He had four children, a girl
(Michiko) and three boys. He died when Michi was in 3rd
grade. His body was in the house for three days as was the custom at that
time. The family could see a hint of smile on his face. They talked, “Dad is
in heaven with Jesus, that is why he is smiling.”
The doctor told the family the cause of death was a heart attack. The
doctor was not a Christian, but he told the family that it was a miracle that he
could live that long with such damaged lungs. Praise God.
May the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with
you. (2 Cor 13:14)
Your brother and sisters in Christ, 
Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org
Jesus said, “People will know that you are my disciples
by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)