No Retirement for Us!
“NO RETIREMENT FOR US” is the message you get when you visit one unusual home in Tokyo, Japan. A family of 22 men and women, averaging 70 years of age, live there. They are bound not by blood ties but by a common interest—missionary service. They have persevered in the full-time preaching work for a total of 1,026 years! The three oldest members were born in 1910. Seven of them started their full-time service while they were teenagers. Nine of them have seen the growth of the Kingdom-preaching work in Japan since its infancy after World War II.—Isaiah 60:22.
However, this six-story former Watch Tower branch building is a place of encouragement, especially because of the spirit, the dominant inclination, of the missionaries who live there. Although most of them have physical limitations related to age and poor health, none of these spiritual warriors are ready to quit. The Japanese Witnesses have completely renovated the building for them, providing a Kingdom Hall in the basement and a passenger elevator.
What Makes Them Happy
Having been in their assignment for so many years, these missionaries feel that this is their home. “When I went back to Australia for the district convention this past summer,” said one of the oldest members of the family, “I was ready to come home after two weeks!” They love the people they are serving and have cultivated deep affection for them. All the missionaries cherish letters and phone calls that recall activities of bygone days.
That is the result of a diligent ministry. Moved by love for Jehovah, the missionaries have preached God’s Word urgently under various circumstances. (Compare 2 Timothy 4:2.) “We trained ourselves to be joyful just because we are serving Jehovah,” says Vera MacKay, who has served in Japan for 37 years. “Even if nobody comes to the door, we are there to witness about Jehovah.”
Twelve of these missionaries have never been married, but they are happy to be able to serve the Lord without distraction. (1 Corinthians 7:35) Gladys Gregory, who has served as a missionary for 43 years, is one of them. She says: “In order to have greater freedom for Jehovah’s service, I went into the pioneer work, later to Gilead [Watchtower Bible School of Gilead], and then into the missionary work. Without having made any vow to that effect, I have remained single, and like a number of friends, I have never regretted that.”
Willingness to Adjust
Although some people become stubborn as they grow older, the missionaries have been willing to adjust. Lois Dyer, Molly Heron, and Lena and Margrit Winteler were in a smaller missionary home in a residential area of Tokyo. They lived there for more than 20 years and became attached to the people in that locality. In their territories, the Winteler sisters had 40 people on their magazine routes, and Molly and Lois had 74 on theirs. Then, the Society asked them to move to the six-story missionary home in the heart of Tokyo. “I was despondent and unhappy at first,” admits Lena. As always, however, they adjusted to their new assignment. How do they feel now? “Very happy,” answers Lena. “Now two Bethel brothers are here to cook for us and to clean the home. We are well cared for.” They all agree with Lois, who says: “The loving care Jehovah’s organization gives us helps us to persevere.”
Norrine Thompson too adjusted to new circumstances. “For 15 years,” she says, “I had the privilege of accompanying my husband [originally from New Zealand] in the district work when all of Japan was just one district.” However, her husband’s health deteriorated, and she had to overcome the greatest trial of her life—his death 18 years ago. “At that time,” she says, “what enabled me to continue in the missionary work was the love shown by the brothers throughout Japan, along with prayer and keeping busy in service.”
Bearing Up Under Health Problems
“Most have some kind of health problem, but they are cheerful, and their desire to serve is an outstanding quality,” says Albert Pastor, the overseer of the missionary home. To care for the missionaries, a doctor and his wife, who is a nurse, have been assigned to the home.
One day some three years ago, Elsie Tanigawa, a graduate of the 11th class of Gilead School, suddenly lost the sight in her left eye. Four months later, her right eye was also affected. “At times I do get a bit despondent that I am not able to serve as I once did. But with all the kind provisions of the Society and the loving assistance of my partner and others, I continue to find joy in Jehovah’s service,” says Elsie.
Shinichi Tohara and his wife, Masako, who were Elsie’s Gilead classmates, have faced many trials regarding their health over the past few years. For Shinichi, a capable speaker, it is a great challenge not being able to see his notes because of his failing eyesight. Although he has gone through major and minor surgery in recent years, his eyes shine when he talks about a 90-year-old Bible student whom he is now helping.
Despite having “a thorn in the flesh,” these missionaries regard their weaknesses as did the apostle Paul, who said: “When I am weak, then I am powerful.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) And powerful they are indeed! They are up for morning worship every day at seven o’clock. After breakfast, those physically able to do so go out in the early morning field ministry.
Richard and Myrtle Shiroma are among those who regularly go out in service. Myrtle has had strokes caused by the onset of arteriosclerosis of the brain in 1978, but she accompanied her husband in the traveling work until November 1987. Now Richard, who himself is 70 years of age, helps Myrtle do everything. He gets up at 5:00 a.m., gets her out of bed, bathes her, dresses her, puts her makeup on for her, and spoon-feeds her. Then he takes her out in her wheelchair for field service every morning, going from house to house for about an hour and afterward witnessing to people at bus stops. Myrtle is no longer able to speak, but the last words she uttered were Dendo, dendo, Japanese for “Preaching, preaching.”
Their daughter, Sandra Sumida, has moved into the missionary home to help them. Sandra recently lost her dear husband to a heart attack. She appreciates the Watch Tower Society’s kind arrangement in assigning her back to Japan from Guam, where she had served as a missionary with her husband. “I always felt I didn’t have much of a share in helping my parents because I was in Guam,” she says. “My sister, Joanne, looked after them in this home. So when the opportunity opened up, I felt good about it. Feeling needed here has been my therapy since my husband’s sudden death.”
Still a Going Concern
Even though the missionaries feel the effects of old age, they refuse to give up their missionary spirit. (Psalm 90:10; Romans 5:12) Jerry and Yoshi Toma, who were among the first Gilead graduates to come to Japan, still go out in the business territory in downtown Shibuya. “When we came to the two-story building that stood here in 1949, we went from dugout to dugout. Now Tokyo has changed into a metropolis. We are old and cannot do as much as we used to. But when we come back from preaching, we are so refreshed,” says Yoshi.
Lillian Samson has been a missionary in Japan for 40 years and enjoys her ministry very much. “I’m now helping an 80-year-old woman who studied with my partner, Adeline Nako, who is back in Hawaii looking after her sick mother. The woman recently became a Kingdom publisher after having overcome the problem of ancestor worship. She went to the temple and told the priest’s wife, ‘I’ve converted to Christianity!’” With such joys in her life, Lillian has never regretted the day when she, at age 19, quit her secular work and began pioneering.
Ruth Ulrich and Martha Hess, missionary partners for over 45 years, have worked from this missionary home for 35 years. They have established themselves well in the territory. Once a circuit overseer asked Martha: “May I borrow your face to go from door to door?” People knew Martha’s face and reached out for the magazines, while the circuit overseer had a hard time starting conversations.
Ruth has a woman on her magazine route who is unable to read because of health problems. Still, the woman continues to receive the magazines and even accepted the hardbound book Mankind’s Search for God. Ruth wondered whether she should continue to deliver the magazines since nobody seemed to be reading the literature. Then one day the woman’s husband approached Ruth with the Search book, saying: “This is a wonderful book! I’ve read it through twice.” Ruth started a Bible study with him and his wife.
This missionary home itself attracts interested people. One evening, a young man came to the home and said: “I understand that if I come here, I can get help to learn the Bible.” A Bible study was started with him. As a cook in a Chinese restaurant, he worked with a woman who had been disfellowshipped for many years. Magazines placed when a publisher called at the restaurant found their way into the kitchen. The young cook liked them and started to ask the former Witness questions. Unable to answer them, she told him to visit the missionary home. He is now serving as a ministerial servant and a pioneer. In time, the disfellowshipped woman was reinstated, and eventually she also became a regular pioneer.
All the missionaries in the home are appreciative of what Jehovah has done for them. They came from Australia, Canada, Hawaii, Switzerland, and the United States, and 11 were from the 11th class or earlier classes of Gilead missionary school. They have seen the progress of the Kingdom work in Japan and share the sentiments of King David, who said: “A young man I used to be, I have also grown old, and yet I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely, nor his offspring looking for bread.” (Psalm 37:25) In appreciation for God’s loving care, these missionaries are determined not to retire but to keep right on serving Jehovah.