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 PrintableVersion A Geordie in JapanFrom North East to Far EastA GEORDIE IN JAPAN This book is the life story of an intelligent young Geordie from a socialist home, the story of a most unlikely missionary candidate who eventually spent a lifetime of service in Japan. Her father taught in the evenings for the Workers Education Association, loved to argue a reasoned position and took a firm socialist stand. Diligent in her studies, Olga passed the Cambridge University entrance at 17 and studied at Girton College. Communist girlThe Labour Party group at the university were not socialist enough for her, so she joined the Communist Society. As an energetic and gifted sportswoman, she became captain of the university hockey team and discovered that the goalkeeper was a committed Christian. Olga made clear that she did not believe a word of Christianity, and many heated discussions followed. She turned down an invitation from the Christian Union to go to their freshers tea. ‘As I don’t believe a word of it, I do not feel I should eat your tea.’ ‘Come and eat as much as you like’, came back the response. Surprised that she was allowed to argue her atheistic views there, a series of discussions followed between the captain and the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper was a student doctor who became a well-known missionary in the Congo, and who gave as good as she got in the discussion. Eventually Olga discovered that Helen Roseveare did not just believe in Jesus, but that she knew him. Her father firmly believed in following a conviction with a commitment, and his honest outlook eventually convinced Olga that she too must respond to her own new conviction and become a Christian. The change in her life was noticed by her friends and family. Readers will be glad to read of local culture in the North East of England, of adventures in the sea and in swimming in difficult waters, and of affectionate remembrance of cobbled streets and the Castle and Cathedral in Durham. Missionary callOlga was early on convinced that she had a missionary call to China but many uncertainties dogged the lives of prospective missionaries aiming to go there, especially as the Communist forces of Mao Tse Tung swept across the country. Eventually she visited the training home of the China Inland Mission in London that was still ready to prepare young people for service, but they could give her no guarantee of acceptance. A young man in training there learnt to play tennis in order to spend time with the lady with whom he had fallen in love, and they subsequently became engaged. Asked if they were prepared to go to Japan instead of China, Doug and Olga eventually agreed, even though it meant his going on ahead because of an imbalance of the sexes in the language school, and the rule that they had to spend two years in language learning before being able to get married. A special gift of £500 had confirmed to the CIM leaders that they should accept a ministry in Japan and new workers could be sent. A fascinating story of life on board a P & O liner travelling to Japan in 1952 is followed by first experiences of language and culture. This is a wonderfully human story of learning to adjust to another country and culture, making mistakes in a new language, first contacts with local people, learning to appreciate different ways of living, getting to know fellow workers from different cultural and language backgrounds, and becoming familiar with new customs. From first culture shock to feeling at home at last is a long and slow journey, and this is well described in the book. Being overseas often involves two weddings for each couple, one religious and the other consular. Doug and Olga had one wedding in the northernmost island of Hokkaido, and the other many miles south in Yokohama, with a long journey in between. Described well by Olga, with its hurried changing of trains and careful description of fellow passengers and a brief honeymoon between the journeys, the newly weds eventually found their way to their home on the Pacific Coast and began their missionary work. Developing ministryThe rest of the book can be paralleled in many missionary lives; a gradually developing ministry, the real life stories of this person and that, a mixture of joy and sorrow, blessing and trial and the gradual emergence of new churches and congregations. We read of a first baby who was stillborn, of a flood that nearly wrecked the first evangelistic campaign, of the joyful arrival of three healthy children, of the joys and sadnesses of parenthood, and the inevitable missionary experience of separation from children for the sake of education We read of the growing effectiveness of the witness to individuals and groups, all accurately described. As the years go by we read of ‘interludes’ in a missionary’s life; those times when a time back in the homeland brings culture shock in reverse The ups and downs of the churches ‘back home’ remind each person that not all problems occur overseas. Sometimes there are distinct advantages in the outlook and attitudes that prevail in another culture. Missionaries come to appreciate them more and more. The break in the homeland that was at first anticipated with joy eventually becomes a part of the routine of life As we feel more at home in our adopted country, we begin to look upon it as ‘home’. Perceptive and honestOlga Abrahams writes honestly and perceptively about all of this, right up to the time when age and family relationships called for a more permanent return to the homeland. We read of work growing in the larger cities, and individual churches growing into fellowships of churches which need decisions about how relationships should develop. We see those relationships grow and change between missionaries and national leaders, as leadership matures and changes and seeks for the churches to fit more naturally in its own surroundings. Then the time comes for the missionaries to disappear from the scene into the background and the church goes on. I love the personal and intimate detail and honesty in this book and commend it to those who read this review, as a good read, written for the glory of God, but then, Doug and Olga Abrahams are two of our dearest fellow workers and friends. Denis Lane, © Evangelicals Now - July 2011 |
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