00:00:01.440 - 00:00:22.120

OK. So uh I always start off by identifying what's happening. So, um today is June 3rd um uh 2015 and we're here with Susan G and um uh Katie Richardson and Valeria, but is also in the room. And um we're going to be talking to Susan

00:00:22.129 - 00:00:39.669

about her experience um uh with uh the college and mission in Japan. Um So I thought we'd start um Stateside just uh I think we may have covered this a little bit with your G PC interview. But could you start by telling us how you and,

00:00:39.680 - 00:00:55.729

and Terry met and, and how you, you came to be married? Ok. Uh Actually we met um when I was in third grade and he was in fifth grade, way back in church when we had just, I had just moved to Arcadia. My sister had polio

00:00:55.900 - 00:01:09.400

and my parents wanted to make a change in where we lived a little bit, a little more country which Arcadia was at the time. So we moved there and my, well, Terry lived in Monrovia at the time and we were kind of uh neighboring school districts,

00:01:09.540 - 00:01:25.599

but we were at the same church together. Uh, so I knew him and his family wasn't interested in him particularly. But so it wasn't until, uh, he was, uh, he actually went to a junior college first. Then I was in high school that we started dating

00:01:25.610 - 00:01:42.349

a little bit before I left for Pepperdine. So that's how we met. And then, uh, I went off to Pepperdine and, um, I guess he thought, well, nobody else will want her like her. I don't know what he thought. But anyway, I guess others did. And

00:01:42.360 - 00:01:59.110

he thought, mm, I better go protect my interests a little bit. And, and I think too, um, he grew up in a very large family that wasn't, uh, his mother was college educated. His father wasn't. And so that wasn't necessarily a primary goal for them. Uh,

00:01:59.120 - 00:02:17.380

but the more he explored his life, the more he realized that was a goal for him and a Christian education would have been wonderful. So he was in an engineering major at the time, uh, became a draftsman. And so then he was accepted at Pepperdine. And,

00:02:17.389 - 00:02:33.149

uh, they were very kind to give him a fairly good, um, financial assistance. But he got a job as a draftsman in a, in a local engineering firm and was able to earn enough to support himself. And, uh, through that time and, and then when he

00:02:33.160 - 00:02:47.029

came, he loved it. I guess people loved him because he became student body president. The next year. So it was a great experience for him. And of course, for me then. And so that's when our romance so solidified a little bit, shall we say? And they

00:02:47.039 - 00:03:05.750

laughed because they said I became the first lady at some time. And at that time, Norway Young was the president of uh George PEP College. Uh and he took Terry under his wing a lot when he, he became student body president and also JC Moore, who

00:03:05.759 - 00:03:22.690

is what our Heidelberg Moorehouse is named for also was a wonderful mentor to Terry and Terry needed that his father uh wasn't particularly that for him. And so that was a very precious thing in his life. And it's always meant a lot to him, the people

00:03:22.699 - 00:03:37.580

at Pepperdine who really mentored him and helped him grow into, I think a man of God and a professional man and believe in himself a little more. So we're very thankful for those uh George Pepper nine years. Uh and the people who, and I know he

00:03:37.589 - 00:03:54.500

would say this as you asked me to say, he's very thankful to have those men, those role models uh and people that encouraged and believed in him. So that was very much a part of our romance and where it began, he was a good man. We

00:03:54.509 - 00:04:10.839

miss him. He was a funny man. Uh So people always enjoyed being with him. Uh He was a hoot. Uh but he didn't take himself too seriously shall we say? And yet he did. So that was kind of the essence of who he was. Uh, and

00:04:10.850 - 00:04:27.850

when did you actually get married? We got married in December of 1960. Ok. Uh, and, um, remind me where you were, uh, in your education at that point. Was that? No, that was, of course, but that was back in the sixties, obviously. And, uh, I was

00:04:27.859 - 00:04:45.869

halfway bet in, uh, in my junior year. And he, of course, he was, would have graduated by then. But because he transferred, uh, he hadn't graduated yet, but then he did that year. Yeah. And then, uh, then I was finishing my teaching credential at that time.

00:04:46.100 - 00:05:03.250

And then he, uh, had went from engineering to religion and eventually to education as a major. So he wound up with many, many units when he graduated, but it was, it was the right fit for him in many ways, he was able to use his drafting

00:05:03.269 - 00:05:21.125

uh skills to earn a, his, his religion training and in our mission work and in our uh ministry and certainly his education and his profession. So it all kind of came together at that time. We lived in what was called Normandy Village, which was married student

00:05:21.135 - 00:05:39.910

housing on campus, uh when we married and it was just walking distance to everything. So it was great. But then after that, uh the next year then is when I finished up my teaching credentials. At that time. So, and he, uh, he, he had graduated, was

00:05:39.920 - 00:05:55.570

doing some graduate work and then, uh, decided to finish his teaching credentials too. So, um, and what sort of plans did you have for after graduation? Well, and then what we were planning, we, what happened was his, um, no, it was my senior year. I guess

00:05:55.700 - 00:06:10.809

we, uh, at Pepperdine and some of the sister schools have like the Bible lectures that we have here at Pepperdine. And they had it at Abilene Christian College at that time. I don't think it was called University at that time. Uh So we, a group of

00:06:10.820 - 00:06:26.489

us from Pepper, I decided to go to those lectures. And when we went, uh we remember Terry and I, we weren't, I don't think we were engaged yet when maybe it was my junior year when we went. Um but we went together with many other students

00:06:26.720 - 00:06:44.359

and Otis Gatewood who is probably here somewhere in this library. I'm sure he was a missionary in Germany and he spoke at that at that lecture and he spoke and the title I remember was White and the Harvest and Terry and I were sitting there listening

00:06:44.369 - 00:07:00.100

to that and I think it, it, it, it separately kind of made us think. Wow, there's a lot we could do with our life that we could make money, but we could also do good and serve. And that was kind of prior to the days that's

00:07:00.109 - 00:07:14.404

common now for service learning and all the things that students do. It wasn't as common then. I mean, we'd never been out of the country. You know, we, I, the first airplane I flew in was when I was in college. So it was, you have to

00:07:14.415 - 00:07:28.934

always couch this under the culture and the era of which I'm speaking. So anyway, we both, I on the way back kind of were talking about that and thinking about that. So after we married, I taught school in L A for a while and he finished

00:07:28.945 - 00:07:48.339

some other work and we decided that we wanted to do something in service, uh full time before we bought a house and got in debt and had kids and, you know, kind of got into that routine and that was when the Peace Corps was starting. And

00:07:48.350 - 00:08:02.309

so we thought, well, uh we were both credential teachers then. And so we considered going into the Peace Corps. In fact, we did look into that, but we found that if we did go to the Peace Corps, uh we were very limited in what we could

00:08:02.320 - 00:08:20.140

do as far as teaching the Bible or anything religious at all. So it kind of made us think, I mean, we weren't sure we wanted to do that. And uh, apparently word got out, I don't know how to, uh, people in Japan. I don't know if

00:08:20.149 - 00:08:37.840

you know the, the Fox family, there's a lot of history again. They're here in the library too somewhere. Uh, but Logan Fox, Harry Robert Fox, that, that whole family who started Ibaraki Christian College, uh, in, um, Ibaraki, Japan. And they, they got wind that there was

00:08:37.849 - 00:08:55.669

a couple at Pepperdine who were credential, teachers, trained teachers who were looking for a mission field. Now, Japan or anything in the orient was not, it was pretty low on my list of interests, I thought, oh, someplace where they speak English or, uh I had, I

00:08:55.679 - 00:09:14.460

had studied French in high school, maybe French, you know, but um, Logan Fox came to that apartment there in uh Normandy village which is very humble, um, and pursued us and he said, we really need people like you at the school. We need people who love

00:09:14.469 - 00:09:28.820

the Lord and have and my husband had a, you know, major in religion also, but also who could teach and, and we looked at each other and thought, well, let's talk about this. And I guess we just felt like the Lord was saying this is where

00:09:28.830 - 00:09:47.539

I want you to be. And um, so we said, ok, and went to adult school and studied Japanese and tried to get ready to go to Japan. Uh We didn't have much money. Uh We found a sponsoring church and yet there wasn't much there. So we

00:09:47.549 - 00:10:04.640

uh decided to take a, a freighter to Japan. And um it was uh because it was cheap And, uh, but before I get to that trip I wanna back up really to where this came from before I actually get on the freighter to go to Japan

00:10:04.650 - 00:10:22.510

because it has to do with Pepperdine's history. And that's what I wanna kind of connect us with, uh, for George Pepperdine College. Um, part of it was that, but also when I was a student, as most students do any way we can earn money is important.

00:10:22.520 - 00:10:36.950

I didn't come from a well to do family. And uh you know, I did, we did the best we could. But one of the options for me was to be a reader for the partially sighted of the blind students on campus. And uh so I applied

00:10:36.960 - 00:10:56.599

to do that and got the job. And one of my readers was a woman named Elizabeth Mia and she was partially sighted but legally blind and she was an older woman. Although at that age when it was older, she may have been uh she appeared older

00:10:56.609 - 00:11:16.895

because of her uh uh sightedness or lack of sightedness. And uh but she was the second wife of JMM Caleb. And he also is in this library somewhere. He uh was the one the first missionaries in Japan after the war and was married then had Children,

00:11:16.905 - 00:11:31.905

lived there many years, did wonderful work. He wrote this song in our hymn book called The Gospel Is For All. I don't know if you're familiar with that. But it's in the hymn book. It's wonderful hymn, old hymn. But then we sang those hymns. That's what

00:11:31.914 - 00:11:46.630

we knew. But his, this is a true story. OK. This is an amazing story, especially to me as a, as a student like you are. Do you hear this story? So anyway, she was my reader and, or I was her reader. I'm sorry. And um I

00:11:46.640 - 00:12:06.429

found out that she uh was the second wife of JM Caleb. And when he left Japan as a widower, he, before he left, he wrote his elders at Murfreesboro, Tennessee church there and said, I wanna get married again. Find me a wife. And uh so they

00:12:06.440 - 00:12:23.539

did and I guess they got several applicants and he was pushing 80 at the time and uh she was one of the applicants. She'd never been married. She was in her early forties, I think, and he selected her and they married and then he came to

00:12:23.549 - 00:12:43.260

George Pepperdine College as the, I don't know, visiting mission uh professor or some title like that. And they had a child and a little girl. But sadly, she died of that sudden infant death syndrome about three months old. And uh so, and then he died, I

00:12:43.270 - 00:12:58.440

think, not long after that. So when I got Elizabeth Mle in my life, she was a widow and had lost the child. So that's kind of the back story on this. So I was, I, I grew to love her, but her, her uh desire, her goal

00:12:58.450 - 00:13:13.510

was to go back to Japan to walk in the footsteps that her husband had walked in. And she'd never been there before. She didn't speak Japanese. She could barely see, but she was going back to Japan. And in my young years I thought, well, wow, I

00:13:13.520 - 00:13:32.950

can't imagine, you know, who am I to, to question that. So then to, to move forward, my husband and I decided to go to Japan uh got on a Japanese freighter called the Hi Harum Maru. Uh and there were five passengers. I was the only woman

00:13:32.960 - 00:13:54.440

on the ship. It was a sh an incredible journey uh and departure San Pedro nonstop to supposedly at that time, we were supposed to go to Tokyo and it was 16 days nonstop and this was not a cruise line, mind you, this was not, there were

00:13:54.450 - 00:14:11.219

no deck chairs, there were no, there was no entertainment, there was no, you know, activities, it was a freighter, you know, they were busy there again, the passengers, we got to know each other a little bit but, but it did prepare us for what was ahead

00:14:11.270 - 00:14:29.210

because we had to use our Japanese a lot. So we were working on that. Uh The food was all Japanese food. It was all served in that style. So that was good for us. The table that we dined at. Uh it was with the captain and

00:14:29.219 - 00:14:42.599

you know, because there were only five of us. Uh, but the ship was very rocky. You'd look at a porthole and you'd see the sky and then the sea and the, and so they would dampen the table cloths and to keep the sh the dishes from

00:14:42.609 - 00:14:58.140

sliding around and they had little levers that they pulled up so the dishes wouldn't fall in your lap. And so that's how we did for 16 days to get there. So then, but en route, we were supposed to again go to uh Tokyo where our uh

00:14:58.150 - 00:15:12.599

our friends who were missionaries that were gonna meet us. Then en route, we found that we're really going to go to Kobe, which is many 100 miles south. Ok. So what, so we don't have cell phones. I mean, there's no way to contact them per se

00:15:12.609 - 00:15:28.109

at that time. So we went to Kobe and uh so my husband, I thought, ok, we're on an adventure. They got a tug boat to come out to our freighter. They put our trunks on it. We got in the tug boats then in the trunks and

00:15:28.119 - 00:15:45.700

went to Kobe and that was our entrance into Japan. So it, it as a missionary, you're prepared for whatever. So our friends and so then we sent our trunks on up to Ibaraki, which is about 100 and 20 miles north of Tokyo. And um so our

00:15:45.710 - 00:16:00.809

trunks arrived and we didn't and our friends thought where are Terry and Susan? Oh, my. So eventually, of course we got there and, but because we'd studied Japanese that helped it, helped us get in the trains, helped us kind of get up there. And so we

00:16:00.820 - 00:16:17.940

arrived in Japan after that kind of putting all of that together. Uh, at that time. I know you said that you, you hadn't really considered East Asia, um, as a place you wanted to go. But so did you arrive with any expectations? I mean, you know,

00:16:17.950 - 00:16:34.799

you, of course, you know, there was World War Two. And you know, there was certain perception of Japan and you know, America was helping it to rebuild and so on. What were your um expectations of uh what you would find there? I think um we had

00:16:34.809 - 00:16:55.640

a positive view of what of Japan and the Japanese people. We knew many uh Pepperdine as students. Um uh So in fact, one of Terry's teachers with Japanese wonderful couple, we adored them. So, uh and then I had an uncle who worked with uh General macarthur

00:16:55.650 - 00:17:10.699

in Japan and my aunt worked for the Red Cross. So they brought home beautiful artifacts. They talked about it in a positive way, in many ways. So I at least had an acquaintance of it in some ways and of the culture a little bit and the

00:17:10.709 - 00:17:28.040

people. So I think our excitement was to go to work in a school because that's kind of my thing mostly I thought, well, at least it's a school. I know schools and um uh for my husband to have opportunity to teach. Uh He was more of

00:17:28.050 - 00:17:41.910

an adventurer than I was in many ways. He was always sure, let's go. And I'd say, well, let's talk about it a minute. But together we managed uh to do that. So it was good to have him be that side of me. Uh I was a

00:17:41.920 - 00:17:58.010

more practical person and he was, but he would, he would be more adventurous. I needed that, I guess. But uh so I think for us when we got there, our concern was mostly, can we be useful? Can we be helpful? In fact, one of the missionaries

00:17:58.020 - 00:18:13.420

who I've seen somewhere here too was Joe Cannon and he had moved on to, I think, where did he move? I think he'd gone to Okinawa by then. But he, we met him within the first week or so. And his advice was, and it was probably

00:18:13.430 - 00:18:28.155

very wise. He said now Terry and Susan, I just hope you don't do too much harm while you're here. So we thought, oh dear, yes, we don't want to. I, we wanna do some good. So that was kind of our beginning. We didn't know, we knew

00:18:28.165 - 00:18:47.170

one of the families that was there. Charles Mountain had been at Pepperdine with us. So we knew him, but we didn't know any of the others. And I think they were like, oh, this, these people from Pepperdine, uh, from California, what are they gonna be like?

00:18:47.180 - 00:19:02.819

Are they gonna be a little strange? Are they going to, uh, you know, I think they probably had, we wondered who we were, although Logan Fox and his team seem to want us. So we felt like, well, you know, we've been asked, it wasn't that we

00:19:02.829 - 00:19:18.750

asked them. So that was kind of the perception that we came with thinking. Uh we didn't want to do too much harm. Uh And, and of course, my concern was the language, you know, I wanted, I knew I would never be fluent in Japanese. So that

00:19:18.760 - 00:19:39.250

was my concern. Probably Terry didn't mind making mistakes as much as I did. Uh So you were describing uh arriving at Ibaraki. So then we got to Ibaraki train station and asked them, it was at night and we asked them to take us to the school

00:19:39.260 - 00:19:54.439

and we used various ways. We knew how to say that eventually they uh ha you know, and use its also. And so they got us to the school arrived and everybody was like, oh, you're here finally. We're so, you know, so that was exciting, except where

00:19:54.449 - 00:20:13.790

we live then to finish. We're part of this story. Uh So we were in a duplex. Harry, it's where Harry Robert Fox used to live wasn't there. And our neighbor in the duplex was Elizabeth mckay. Look, so I thought, whoa, the Lord knows. And she had

00:20:13.800 - 00:20:29.699

just arrived there not long before we did. And so she wound up being my next door neighbor in Japan. And so I thought, oh Lord, you know, never question him, you know, he's always got a good plan for you. Uh And so that was really quite

00:20:29.709 - 00:20:46.109

amazing to see her very uh simple, sincere faith going about. She would walk the roads at night. Of course, you couldn't see much anyway, night or day. Uh But it was not an easy place to get around and none of the roads were paved. They were

00:20:46.119 - 00:20:59.650

all just a rocky roads and we would see her at night and say Elizabeth get in the car. We had a little Renault and when you drive there, it's the other side of the road, not the wrong side but the other side. And so is this

00:20:59.660 - 00:21:15.069

the steering wheel and the stick shift? So we had to kind of learn how to drive again. Uh So she'd get in the car and, but otherwise she said the Lord's taking care of me. So she was an amazing example to me of a very solid

00:21:15.079 - 00:21:33.079

faith. But anyway, so she was my neighbor. Um So then we tried to clean up that place. It had a lot of spider webs and stuff in that. And back when the Japanese woman that was there, they tended to, how do I wanna say it? And

00:21:33.089 - 00:21:53.400

I want, I always want to say respectfully, their idea of treating strangers is different than our idea. Uh, for us, uh, we would never look through the windows of other people. Uh, they will. So I've learned to put up curtains fairly quickly. Uh, that just did

00:21:53.410 - 00:22:09.550

because we were foreigners, we were guiding and to them. Um, uh, we kind of like a possession more than a guest. They're polite people. But there's just, you know, it just was a cultural difference that I had to learn. But I was unpacking the trunk and

00:22:09.560 - 00:22:25.895

Terry wasn't there and he wasn't a real tall man, but 6 ft or so. But to them, that's monstrous. And so I was pulling out his suit and shaking it out and holding him there. 00, hey, they said which means, oh, he's big, isn't he? And,

00:22:25.905 - 00:22:40.239

uh, they hadn't seen him yet. So, but they were looking through my window, you know, I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, it was just for me just to learn how to be polite. Uh, and how to deal with that, that culture. We thought we knew some

00:22:40.250 - 00:22:54.790

things but we had ever so much to learn at that time. So anyway, we cleaned up and said, put us to work and what do we do? We got a language teacher actually, we got 21 was a, a student and one was a professor there. And

00:22:54.800 - 00:23:07.020

so because we wanted to always be working on the language while we were there. So those were some of the first things we did was to find out what that we could do and, and get, and get our language teachers and for me just to get

00:23:07.030 - 00:23:23.199

the house together and uh, laundry was an old wringer washer that was just propped up with bricks, no washers or dryers and just, you know, learning to do all of that. Uh, but that could be the and going and getting food in the house because there's

00:23:23.209 - 00:23:38.599

no supermarkets. So that would, so I, my, my language had to increase pretty quickly because you, you ask for things and you don't just go and pick up a can of this and a package of that you have to ask for it. So I had to

00:23:38.750 - 00:23:55.920

learn, uh that and did so just kind of living takes a lot more time there. So that was kind of our beginnings of our years there. Um So how did they set you up with your assignments or duties? And, uh, what was your role in the

00:23:55.930 - 00:24:10.339

college? There were a lot of roles. In fact, I was thinking of the other night as I, I, as I looked at this with all the things we did. One was, um, certainly teaching, uh, in the school they called it I Iraqi Christian College, but it

00:24:10.349 - 00:24:26.819

was really a junior high, a high school in a two year college. So that was the age span. I don't know why they called it a college even though those were the ages. So there were a lot of opportunities and different levels of teaching there. So

00:24:26.829 - 00:24:45.605

Terry taught uh mostly religion classes. But we used interpreters when we taught, we got to where our language skills we could get around and conversational. But we didn't ever, he didn't ever like preach in Japanese or formally teach because, and we always had interpreters for that,

00:24:45.615 - 00:25:03.232

which was of course helpful. So we both taught different things and that was part of our role. Uh We did Bible classes in the community. Uh I worked a lot English teachers in the community and they, they were, of course, they're always eager. It's not hard

00:25:03.241 - 00:25:15.771

to get people to want to study with you because they want to, as they would say, even on the trains, may I practice my English with you? And I want to say, may I practice my Japanese with you? But they always wanted to practice their English.

00:25:15.781 - 00:25:35.050

So that was easy to get them. So we had people especially in Hitachi. And um uh I, we, we lived in Oa Hitachi, Ibaraki, Ken. That's so that's kind of the area that we, we lived in. So um I worked with English teachers a lot that

00:25:35.060 - 00:25:50.839

came to my home and taught them, but I could use the Bible as a textbook if I chose or whatever. So that was always that we did that. Um We uh also uh he taught you company. You've probably even heard of that. Ok. That was not

00:25:50.849 - 00:26:06.839

far from our home uh in OCA. And they were eager to also have English teachers for their um for their engineers or their people who were going to travel to America. And so they would then want us to come there and they would pay us like

00:26:06.849 - 00:26:23.670

whoa, good. And they would send a limousine to our home to pick us up to take us. So we were like, this is really big time compared to my little Renault that we drove. So uh we taught there some for Hitachi company. Uh My husband worked

00:26:23.680 - 00:26:41.609

for what was called the Hikari Toy Oi. And you saw it's a printing press but that put out like um the bulletins, the newsletters that we did. And he had also in his past uh had worked with a printing press. Uh And so that was just

00:26:41.619 - 00:26:56.910

another skill he knew and he was a good writer. So anyway, we worked, he worked with that. Um He uh he also uh worked with uh like the speech and debate team on campus. And that was a lot of fun for both of us, but mostly

00:26:56.920 - 00:27:16.045

for him. Uh And so that helped him win awards. And also we did that. Um we, he preached once a month in Tachikawa at a military church. Oh, I love that because I it was in English and uh and we ate good food. So I love

00:27:16.055 - 00:27:30.594

going to tape once a month. And so he preached there. And then now the other Sundays he preached at other local churches in the area. Some, some in fact, one was Fukushima. So with the tsunami, I was very aware of that area and and it was

00:27:30.604 - 00:27:49.500

sad for me to realize because Fukushima um the town, the buildings were not solid buildings And so I could see how it could be destroyed pretty easily. But we did go there once a month also. Um We also taught the Children. Uh I taught the younger

00:27:49.510 - 00:28:03.810

ones like kindergarten through third grade. And my, these are missionary Children and my husband taught the older ones uh fourth through sixth grade uh just to kind of help the missionary family. So in our house, we had a little room that was kind of a school

00:28:03.819 - 00:28:19.609

room. So we taught them and then when the Children got the missionary Children got to seventh grade, they went to uh to Tokyo, to a boarding school. Uh and and it was so that's where they went. We did that. I worked with several women's groups. I

00:28:19.619 - 00:28:41.670

taught also they had um I guess you would kind of call it a home management house or home economics area where they were learning um uh health and sanitation, which was very important where we were um childcare relationships, um some basic cooking skills. So I kind

00:28:41.680 - 00:28:58.189

of worked with, with that. Enjoyed that. Uh, we also worked at what was called Nazare Inn, uh, which is an old folks home. We'd call it. Uh, and that was fun. Uh, in some ways they enjoyed again, my husband because of his sense of humor and,

00:28:58.199 - 00:29:15.214

and he, he u used what we in English called puns. And in Japan he would try it because it was a language you could do that in, but they wouldn't always understand that. And I tried to caution him. They don't understand your puns that you do.

00:29:15.375 - 00:29:31.724

So we did that. Uh, let's see, we had a lot of students in our home. Uh, they were always curious about, you know, our relationship, our home and, uh, how that works. So they liked coming to our home. They were, they were curious, I think a

00:29:31.734 - 00:29:50.810

lot about a married relationship that we had as Christian people that was kind of, um, strange to them and, and, and, um, their rela, their married relationships are a little different. I don't mean all of them, but it was not, they don't, didn't always marry for

00:29:50.819 - 00:30:08.655

love. They married, they did use a matchmaker. In fact, we were watched that process several times with our language teacher went to his wedding. It was very interesting completely through a matchmaker. He met her once in a group like this with the parents, he liked her,

00:30:08.665 - 00:30:26.250

she liked him. They agreed they got married, but I'm still in communication with him today. They're still married. Uh, they have two boys that are grown, they're grandparents and that's how it was done then. So they were curious about us and they would sometimes kind of

00:30:26.260 - 00:30:42.119

snicker under their hand, which they would do a lot to students and they'd say you and give you son, uh, they would say you love each other, don't you? Which was interesting. I said, well, yes. And they said, well, it shows and that to them and

00:30:42.130 - 00:30:58.290

I don't know what they saw but to them that was unique and unusual and something they would, they kind of wanted it. But it was hard to get because girls, um, especially if a girl became a Christian, it was very hard to find a Christian man.

00:30:58.449 - 00:31:14.739

One of my dear friends there who again, I still uh correspond with did marry while I was there a fine man. He was not a Christian still isn't. But he's, but he never discourages her faith. He lets her, he has her go. And so they worked

00:31:14.750 - 00:31:33.109

it out, you know. Uh So anyway, they were also, so we didn't try to bring culture to them. Just faith and how they worked it out in their country or in their culture was kind of how they work it out. But so we, the students that

00:31:33.119 - 00:31:50.000

was anyway, it's fun conversations we had with them. But for some reason that was part of it. Uh, we worked with the l the missionaries there. Of course, uh did a lot of correspondence, had a lot of company from America or people that wanted to see

00:31:50.010 - 00:32:08.089

the school or the work or whatever, that was more time consuming than I had really wanted to do. Um, it was good and not good because many people would come and they wanted us just to not do anything but show them around and we were like,

00:32:08.099 - 00:32:21.219

well, you know, first of all, we didn't have a lot of money to show them around. A lot of course, there was no Disneyland there or anything to take them, but then to feed them and kind of work that out or uh so then we would

00:32:21.229 - 00:32:33.689

hear two things if we, if we took time off to do that, they would say, well, these missionaries just don't have anything to do. They just, you know, but if we didn't, they would say they're so rude. So we were really struggling with how to work

00:32:33.699 - 00:32:49.859

with that. But so company was a big part of what we did. Uh some missionary workshops uh anyway, baptized, many kept the house going. Uh So those were a number of things that we worked on. She may know more because she's read our letters more recently.

00:32:51.160 - 00:33:05.390

Uh If you want to fill in anything, I've forgotten there. We did bring some photos, we'll get this out in just a minute. Um Now did, did all the students at the college identify as Christian. Was that? No, no. But, but they knew what the school

00:33:05.400 - 00:33:25.165

was and they were more than glad to come and study the Bible, uh, a chapel or convocation or whatever was required every day. They loved that. They sing songs. In fact, uh, one of the, the visits we had was from Pepperdine. They were called the Corals.

00:33:25.675 - 00:33:41.729

It's kind of like our, one by one group that we have now, but it was called the Corals. In fact, one of our professors here now, Stan War Ford was one of the singers in that group. And, um, so they came, Pat Boone came so many

00:33:41.739 - 00:34:01.959

people from, uh, some of the churches of Christ or others. But, uh, certainly them, they came and the students loved them, they loved, it, loved having them. Uh, and the students, they knew they were Christian, they knew of their faith. So I think the students resonated

00:34:01.969 - 00:34:22.368

with that. Uh, so, but that wasn't required of them and just like here it's not required of them, uh, to do that, but the parents know what it's all about. Yeah. So the baptisms were those students who, um, essentially converted. Yes. Yeah. And it was interesting.

00:34:22.378 - 00:34:38.829

Yes, they were. And just with the teaching the school. Uh, so we had a number of them and it was precious to read their stories and maybe read some of their stories to see, um, you know what brought them to that. I mentioned that we went

00:34:38.839 - 00:34:56.868

to Fukushima once a month to preach and we had a young man there who was a university student, Nada de Baraki who uh interpreted for Terry. And so he did that for several years and what was precious to us was one day he just said, and

00:34:56.878 - 00:35:11.090

we knew he wasn't a Christian and we knew enough Japanese to know if he was doing it accurately. And I think he was a good interpreter. He would not have not been. But when, after maybe two years, he said, you know, Gibbon, his son, I just

00:35:11.100 - 00:35:27.419

can't stand it anymore. I've just got to become a Christian. So it was very, just very precious to us that he just without our directly teaching them just by hearing and interpreting all and reading on his own when we were gone. Uh He was convicted in

00:35:27.429 - 00:35:46.370

his heart uh with that. So that was a precious baptism. So that type of thing. So we're students, uh a few professors once in a while. Uh In fact, uh the language teacher that I mentioned who got married to the matchmaker, he married a woman. He

00:35:46.379 - 00:36:02.790

had be he was a Christian. She wasn't at the time. Uh but we studied with her and then when she was expecting her first child, she wanted to be a Christian, but she was very hesitant and we wondered why, what was happening. Well, she was afraid

00:36:02.800 - 00:36:18.840

that if she was baptized, her baby would be two and she wanted the baby to make its own decision. So we wanted, we needed to talk with her about that, but those are just um, ways of listening carefully to them to see what uh you don't

00:36:18.850 - 00:36:35.929

just say it, you have to listen and, and explore what are they thinking? What is, um, in their mind? What is their hesitancy? What, how do they misunderstand or how are we not teaching clearly? So that was just a few stories about that. Uh huh. You

00:36:35.939 - 00:36:51.899

mentioned Pat Du, was he a known star in Japan? He was, he was, and he was, um and of course, for us that was like, whoa, because we knew who he was. In fact, when my husband and I were dating, that was when his movie Love

00:36:51.909 - 00:37:06.510

Letters in the Sand came out. You may not know that song. But uh and that was one of our early dates that came on in. So, uh my husband was a bit of a romantic and he would write sweet poems and letters. So I have a

00:37:06.520 - 00:37:21.229

book now of all of those and I call them love letters in the hand and my granddaughters love reading those. So when Pat Boone came, yes, that was a wonderful thing, exciting thing. And I think he came mostly just to see the work there. He didn't

00:37:21.239 - 00:37:35.689

want to necessarily come as a, a star. He, he came as a, just a Godly man that wanted to visit the work, but that just was a sideline, I think. And, and, uh, in fact, I serve with him on the board for the center for the

00:37:35.699 - 00:37:51.330

family now. And so we've talked about this, but when he came, he was supposed to have lunch at our house, my very meager humble home. And, uh, so I had prepared a lunch and then his train was going to be rescheduled. So I had to quickly

00:37:51.340 - 00:38:03.080

pack him a sack lunch. We didn't have sacks. I mean, what do we, we had fros skis which are like scarves that you tie up. So I got a frosh ski and I don't even know what I put in there. But somehow I gave him a

00:38:03.090 - 00:38:15.804

sack lunch to read in the train. I told him recently, I said Pat Boone, I can't believe, I don't know what I served you, but I was so like, this is the sack lunch for Pat Boone. Uh, but he was very gracious, but yes, the students.

00:38:15.814 - 00:38:35.810

Uh, so I think there's some pictures there somewhere when he visited. Uh, and yes, he was a known star at that time. Um Wonderful. Do you feel like looking at some photographs? Um, actually Valeria, how about you kind of hand these to her and, and maybe

00:38:35.820 - 00:38:52.139

Susan you can sort of talk to them, talk to Valeria about them. I'll move on again. Oh, ok. So what do you want me to just go like this is that, you know, you don't even have to hold them up. I can see. Ok. Well, I'm

00:38:52.149 - 00:39:09.179

teaching an English class here and, uh, as you can see all the students wear uniforms now these uniforms are a darker color, which means it's winter time and I'm wearing a suit then and I think I was explaining some kind of a story and so that's

00:39:09.189 - 00:39:25.500

why there's, I'm not much of an artist but, you know, the stick figures on the, uh, on the chalkboard. And I think I'm explaining something. So that was in one of the classrooms, very formal kind of classrooms, rows, you know, chairs. The other thing when you

00:39:25.510 - 00:39:42.969

walk into the room is the teacher, they all stand and they bow. Oh my, because you're the sensei and the sensei is a very honored position in Japan. I wish it was more honored here in America. Not that I want them to bow, but they respect

00:39:42.979 - 00:39:58.719

that. And so that was always, uh, discipline was just never a problem, you know, at all. I, I'm not sure what I would have done if it was because you never have them loose face, you never do anything to humiliate them in any way. So I'm

00:39:58.729 - 00:40:12.169

not sure how I would have handled it, but I knew I wouldn't have done anything that way. So that's what that is. I'm teaching a class there. Let's see what are the, oh, here's, now this is a baptism. Terry is baptized one of the students here.

00:40:12.489 - 00:40:32.489

Uh, he's got the name of the student here. Uh, and it is in, uh, a Japanese bath. The, the baths there are, they, they're big tubs but they're not quite a tub. They're just like a big tiled area. And, um, now this is a bath. Like

00:40:32.500 - 00:40:47.629

it, it would be in a dormitory. It wouldn't be an individual room kind of bath. But like the male boys dorm or the girls dorm where they would be, but when they bathe, they don't get in the tub and soap up and do that, they outside

00:40:47.639 - 00:41:03.540

the tub, the floor is kind of drained with wooden slats on it and they would take a wooden tub and scoop out the water and throw it over their body and soap up out there and then, and then rinse and then get in the tub to

00:41:03.550 - 00:41:20.620

soak. So many people use the same tub but they're clean when they get in. But the tub was also big enough for baptism. So that's what that was. Uh this is at, at one of the um school festivals, I guess it would be a little bit

00:41:20.629 - 00:41:38.719

like we would have here for um uh waves weekend or something like that. And they loved festivals like this. And so Terry and I are here with some of the students and they would have displays of different things, games they would do parades with silly things.

00:41:38.729 - 00:41:54.659

Just not too much different than what we would do here. Uh, oh, I didn't know. This is, um, this is, uh, I'm teaching some of the English teachers that I talked about. These are some of the local, uh, English teachers, uh, in Hitachi that came and

00:41:54.669 - 00:42:13.070

that, so that's one of the classes this, I didn't mention yet that when we were there, uh, we did lose uh a child. I was about 4.5 months pregnant. Um And at that point, uh it was difficult for a while and one of the uh doctors

00:42:13.080 - 00:42:28.179

in the Tachikawa church that I mentioned that we went to once a month, once a month, he was a pediatrician. So we told him if you ever get a baby that needs to be adopted, you know, let us know we consider that uh that was um

00:42:28.189 - 00:42:43.659

right after the Korean War and there were many babies as we know a history that needed to be adopted. And we thought surely we'll be able to get one of those, but we found that there was no way that they Japanese people would allow a Korean

00:42:43.669 - 00:42:59.919

baby to come into Japan that they're very prejudiced against Koreans. And so we thought, wow, that's just never gonna work. And uh so anyway, but then we did have a daughter and she was born in Tokyo. Her name is carry. In fact, she's a professor here.

00:42:59.929 - 00:43:15.330

At Pepperdine now, which is kind of full circle here. But that, that's me with her in front of the front of our duplex. The students love to come and see her. Oh, my. She was a huge attraction. Uh, even when she was born, she was 8.5

00:43:15.340 - 00:43:38.699

pounds. Their babies are about five pounds with masses of black hair and she was 8.5 pounds with no hair. So she was really quite an attraction. So that's that. What have we got here? Oh, ok. Um Well, this is um uh the women, the young ladies

00:43:38.709 - 00:43:55.580

here who are in Kimono. Um The older women did wear them more frequently. If you, if you go down the street, you would see them. A Yate is like a kimono only. It is more of a, how would we say it a dress down Kimono. Kimono

00:43:55.590 - 00:44:12.042

is using a very, a lovely material with a lovely obi and um it's more of a formal dress. But the ka is what a lot of the older women wore all the time and it was more like a cotton one but it was like that. So

00:44:12.052 - 00:44:30.746

these, these are girls who are um in their kimono. This is just a uh an aerial view of the campus and he's mentioned back here what it is, it's the town of Omega. Uh It was Mika really is what they would say, the town. And so

00:44:31.156 - 00:44:50.025

interestingly and it was a wonderful thing. As I told Katie this last summer, I returned uh to all of this. So it's all very fresh and dear to my mind. Uh because when we arrived in the uh train station of Omega, and you would hear it

00:44:50.580 - 00:45:06.330

hundreds of times a day till you don't hear it anymore. It's O Miko Omeo, Omi Dego Aas, which means you've arrived in Omega, the train calling and we were close enough to the station here that, well, we pull up to the station and here's a huge

00:45:06.340 - 00:45:28.560

sign that says Ibaraki Christian just as h and I'm like, whoa, this is just, I mean, the fact that it says Christian and that it's huge and the school was so respected and healthy and uh and it just doing such good things that it just warmed

00:45:28.570 - 00:45:43.370

my heart to think that we were just part of that little beginning and teaching it. But this, this and I did take a lot of pictures to them because they're doing a museum. I now I'm in a museum now. That really sounds old, doesn't it? But

00:45:43.379 - 00:45:57.959

anyway, there were some pictures there but they were glad to get some of those. But that's an aerial view of the campus there. Um This is now that's Elizabeth Michaele right there. The lady there that, so I was talking about this was part of an, I

00:45:57.969 - 00:46:13.500

think there was, I don't know if you have it here, but it was a part of the um part East Fellowship. Uh And it's when all the missionaries from the Far East got together and that happened to be the year that we sponsored it at Ibaraki.

00:46:13.510 - 00:46:30.520

And I happened to be because that was November. She, my daughter was due in December. She came early January. I was about eight months pregnant. So it was a challenge and having lost my first baby was so cautious and, you know, uh but uh so that

00:46:30.530 - 00:46:48.100

was during that time. This is uh well, that's my husband here. As you see, he's quite tall compared to them. You know, we both are uh you know, we, I could not walk down the street even if I spoke Japanese, even if I wore a kimono,

00:46:48.120 - 00:47:04.270

I never fooled them. Not that I wanted to. But, you know, it was just, I was just an attraction. I was tall. I was, my hair was very red at the time. I was just redhead and uh and we were in and then when I was

00:47:04.280 - 00:47:19.685

pregnant, it was anyway, we were an attraction wherever we went, we just wanted to kind of blend in. It was hard to blend in. Uh But it, but that's my husband wits and uh some of the um just the Japanese people that we were working with.

00:47:19.695 - 00:47:34.020

He wrote in the back here. Uh That is, oh yeah, one of the churches he was speaking at, this is the Milton family I mentioned Charles Milton also went to Pepperdine. He and I happened to be in a history class together. Uh his wife Anita and

00:47:34.030 - 00:47:50.500

their uh three boys and a girl that they had the daughter here. Her name is Bess. She went to Pepperdine also, she had a serious eye disease and um we had to it, she was in the hospital quite a bit, taking care of her eyes, but

00:47:50.510 - 00:48:06.725

it worked out. Ok. This is real, an amazing historical picture in some ways. These are all the missionaries we worked with at one time when we were there, Charles and Anita Milton. This is Ruth and Joe Betts. They're just stalwart long term missionaries there. Uh My

00:48:06.735 - 00:48:24.520

husband and I Elmer and Geneva Prout who are up north now, that's uh Lisabeth mccallum. This is Billy and Margaret Smith. They're both gone now, he was the president then. And this is Virginia and Bob Jolliff who are a young couple. She, they're from Harding University.

00:48:24.889 - 00:48:42.800

They had met there. He came to Japan decided he wanted to get married, wrote Virginia and said, how would you like to come to Japan and marry me? And sure enough she did. Uh So they're fun. This is uh let's see. Oh, this is Jo Bets

00:48:43.159 - 00:48:55.929

and some of the, this is I see, you can see Li Life Press. So that's Hikari Toin Oi. And so that was the press that we talked about uh on the, oh, I couldn't even give you all the names. But those are the people that came

00:48:55.939 - 00:49:12.189

to the Far East missionary fellowship that we did. And that year again, that's just uh Charles Melton, eating with chopsticks and all the ways we did that. I never was really good at that. Uh This is um Elizabeth M Caleb and the Betts family, they're going

00:49:12.199 - 00:49:30.610

home on furlough at that time. So that was always an exciting time. Um This is a baptism out the river and this is uh again, that's Terry and some of our students there, they always love to kind of hang out with us, shall we say? And,

00:49:30.860 - 00:49:48.439

and talk with them. This is um this is the proud family. Uh uh They had five boys, I think. Yeah, five boys and then had a little girl. Mac went to our law school here. I know he graduated from our law school. Uh One of the

00:49:48.449 - 00:50:01.379

boys is, is gone now Philip. But the other boys are around quite a family, isn't it? They lived near us. I stayed, they then went to Tokyo. They were on campus with us for a while but they went to Tokyo and when I was expecting our

00:50:01.389 - 00:50:43.360

daughter part of the time I stayed with them. Um So that's what that does that help? OK, thanks. Um I see it again. K did you wanna hear um anything more about some of the other missionaries that she mentioned? Is there anyone else that you haven't

00:50:43.429 - 00:50:59.669

talked about. Uh, that one picture I showed you were the main ones, one that when we moved there's, there were several in and out when we were there. Um, I'm kind of going in my mind geographically where they lived. Edna Pendergrass was there for a while

00:50:59.679 - 00:51:18.729

but her husband had died and she had two or three young Children. She was there very briefly when I came, but then she went home shortly thereafter. Um That's pretty much the ones who were there when we were there. Uh And we, you know, especially on

00:51:18.739 - 00:51:37.780

weekends, we kind of scattered, shall we say throughout Japan during the week, we either taught at the school or locally or Hitachi or whatever. We were kind of at the weekends. We scattered a lot. Um Mito is the next largest city and uh we could do

00:51:37.790 - 00:51:51.790

some shopping there. Um So we either shopped a little bit in Omek, a little bit of Mito. And if anybody went to Tokyo once in a while, there are a few items we needed there that we couldn't get elsewhere. But, you know, we canned and we

00:51:51.870 - 00:52:10.540

learned how to do. I made my own mayonnaise and pickles and you know, you do what you need to do. So it was OK. We shared a lot. Yeah. Uh How long was Elizabeth there with you at this? She overlapped uh maybe two years and then

00:52:10.550 - 00:52:27.139

went back and I don't think she returned and she went back to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Uh I corresponded with her for a while and then all of a sudden it stopped and I never knew really, but I assume she died. Uh But, uh I would love to

00:52:27.149 - 00:52:47.989

have known more about what happened to her when she went there. Uh um, she was, uh uh you know, a woman of faith. She was um very, um what's the word? Confident in that and quiet about that. But the students love to come and sit at

00:52:48.000 - 00:53:04.330

her feet and listen to her talk. We helped her of course with a lot of things. But uh that was just, oh the other part of kind of coming back full circle with Elizabeth's story is uh after I had my daughter, I had to knock on

00:53:04.340 - 00:53:20.320

my door and she'd say, could I come in and rock your baby? And it was just a precious moment for me because she would come in and rock my daughter and I would then knowing her history that she had lost her daughter. And so I've told

00:53:20.330 - 00:53:36.370

my daughter, I said this amazing woman of God loved to rock you when you were in Japan. And so I thought, look how that, that, that whole story came around. And a lot of it is because as a student of Pepperdine, I said yes to some

00:53:36.379 - 00:53:54.489

things I met some interesting people. We do what we do, we open the doors and and it just comes full circle. So with Elizabeth Mile, I just thought, wow, she's in there rocking my baby. Isn't this just stunning? And of course, I was thrilled because I

00:53:54.500 - 00:54:10.179

didn't have any grandmother there or anybody else, you know. So that was fine with me and I knew it gave her such pleasure, but I probably just a lot of memories. I kind of left her alone with my daughter and I let her care of her.

00:54:10.189 - 00:54:26.590

But when you have a baby there, especially an American baby, especially where we lived out in the country because Ibaraki is quite a bit north of, of uh Tokyo and it's more country. Uh A lot of people don't, didn't speak English at all. So you are

00:54:26.600 - 00:54:45.479

in that area. Um So taking a baby out an American baby was just quite an attraction and it made me nervous sometimes because they would want to take her and hold her and pass her around and I just wasn't quite ready for that. And so um

00:54:46.030 - 00:55:00.620

we, I hired a Japanese lady Wakai. So was her name. I didn't, she didn't speak a word of English, but by then I was OK with that. And uh so she would just love to come and just stay with Carrie while I would go shopping locally

00:55:00.629 - 00:55:17.649

or whatever. And um she made her a kimono. I've got some pictures somewhere of that. Uh So that was a very sweet relationship and I think for my daughter, when we went, we had planned to stay for two years, but then they needed us longer. So

00:55:17.659 - 00:55:35.120

we stayed another year and never, no furloughs, almost no phone calls, no email, no Skype. You know, you, you had to write letters, those air letters that I showed you at that time. So I think when we returned to the States, my daughter was like, whoa,

00:55:35.129 - 00:55:47.475

these people you could just see in her face a little bit. They s mom and dad speak that but I didn't hear other people speak that or they look different. You could almost see in her little face like well is that we're in a different place

00:55:47.485 - 00:56:05.465

now. Uh So because she was so used to wai on or people like that surrounding her because some of the missionaries had left by then, in fact, when she was born, um there weren't as many near me. Uh So I was kind of going it alone

00:56:05.475 - 00:56:23.840

and my husband and I were uh we chose not to have our baby locally for several reasons. One was the quality of the health care at that time. I remember on the campus once they were having a um there was a cholera outbreak somewhere. So they

00:56:23.850 - 00:56:37.560

were gonna give the cholera immunization. So we thought fine, we'll get in line with everybody else. And so I think I went first and they gave me the injection. I turned around terrier and same needle, they just use it till it's gone and then they get

00:56:37.570 - 00:56:51.280

it and I'm like, oh, I may not get cholera but who knows what I'm gonna get. So, and, and some of the hospitals that we visited, they would be maybe feeding a baby. And if the baby fell asleep, they just take the same bottle and feed

00:56:51.290 - 00:57:07.439

the next baby and, and having lost our first child, I just wasn't known, I didn't know if I was ready for that. And also I was such an attraction everywhere I went and having a baby is rather, you know, you just don't want to be too

00:57:07.449 - 00:57:21.830

big on an attraction with that. I was enough even in Tokyo. Um So we just chose to do that and that's why she was born there and I felt more comfortable with it even though it was still a bit of an attraction. But I, and my

00:57:21.850 - 00:57:37.860

doctor was in a, a seventh day Adventist hospital and it was an American doctor that spoke English, but I didn't see him until I was in the delivery room like, hello. Thank you very much, sir. I've been through hours of this. Where were you? And, but

00:57:37.870 - 00:57:53.360

Terry was with me and could interpret and, and we got through that. Uh but then the funny thing was they take you in the delivery room in those days and he couldn't come in like, you know, whatever, but he just stood outside the door and he

00:57:53.370 - 00:58:07.149

could hear and he could hear her cry, you know. But he just so that was just the way it was done then. And he said, and she was born in January and it was snowing outside. Very cold. And he said he was so excited and he

00:58:07.159 - 00:58:21.510

was a man that was delighted to be a father. Japanese men. Don't, not that they aren't, they don't show that emotion. But he was very pleased and he wanted to celebrate. But there was nobody there but just the two of us. And so he said, I

00:58:21.520 - 00:58:36.669

went outside and uh there in Tokyo and it was snowing. He just said, I'm a father and he just was kind of, you know, and they probably thought, who is that strange man? Uh but he just, it was the kind of man that liked rejoicing. And

00:58:36.679 - 00:58:49.750

uh so that was what he did. And so when we went back this summer with my daughter, we found the hospital where she was born. And I told her that story. I said, your dad stood here and he was so excited that you were born and

00:58:49.760 - 00:59:07.899

this is where he celebrated your birth. And so I think for her, that was very touching. And uh because she was born in January again, it was cold, freezing and we didn't have disposable diapers or anything like that. And so I would go outside and hang

00:59:07.909 - 00:59:19.750

her diapers on the line, but they would just freeze solid, just, you know, just like a board when I would bring them in. So I hung them inside. So once in a while he would go out and get them and the Japanese men thought this is

00:59:19.760 - 00:59:36.449

strange that a man would do that. So I think they just saw or, I don't know his joy in having a child, a daughter again. That was, you know, you want sons. And, uh, so I don't know what kind of example we were. But anyway, it

00:59:36.459 - 00:59:56.580

was, it was amazing opportunity. Yeah. And I think Pepperdine for being interested in your graduates. Uh what they've done, there's so many wonderful graduates of all of our schools. But certainly during Pepperdine College who did go on mission fields, we were part of what was called

00:59:56.590 - 01:00:12.199

the Timothy club as students. And that was what I can. It was kind of like a club of people just interested in religion in general, I guess you'd say. But many wanted to go on the mission field and some of our best friends of the Davises

01:00:12.209 - 01:00:31.169

went to Brazil that I was mentioning and then the walls uh went to Greece. And what was interesting, Lois Wall Barnhart was her name when we were freshmen. She and I became friends in freshman English. Doctor James Smyth is our professor. And uh so we started

01:00:31.179 - 01:00:49.639

a friendship day one of, of George Pepperdine College and not knowing that many years later, her son would marry my daughter and that's what my daughter's name as well. So, and they were missionaries in Greece for many years. So it all comes, comes full circle. Yeah,

01:00:50.719 - 01:01:08.479

Susan. Um, uh, just thought on technical matter, I need to change the memory cards in here and then maybe we'll just have a couple more wrap up questions. Got a lot of discouragement and, and considering what we were doing. So, and I can see why. Probably,

01:01:08.489 - 01:01:24.879

but it was just a different era though. Um, since you've been good enough to donate so much of your correspondence to the collection, uh I just had a question about what sort of role that correspondence played in your life while you were in Japan. You know,

01:01:24.889 - 01:01:41.320

um, how important was it to you? And how often did you correspond with? Yes. And that I, after my mother died, uh, as I was cleaning out her things, I found all the letters that we had written her and my mother in law also. So that's

01:01:41.330 - 01:02:00.870

where I got a lot of that. I think it was really important for, uh, my state of mind. Uh, a, a as well as feeling connected because those letters were our only way of, of communicating and now certainly as a mother and all to think. Wow,

01:02:00.879 - 01:02:16.040

I can see how important it was for them to receive that because there was no other way to know what was happening to us or what we were doing. Uh, we, they're just, we didn't have the communication we do now. I think even our mental health

01:02:16.050 - 01:02:33.419

probably would have been better. Uh, had we had some of the communication that you do now because even if someone's overseas, you, you have more of a connection than we ever. So I think the correspondence was vital was probably pretty detailed, uh, because I wrote every

01:02:33.429 - 01:02:48.149

week or at least tried to write every week. So it's, it's a lot of letters as you could find out in the work you did. But it's pretty detailed because that was our way of connecting. And then of course, we re we loved getting letters, we

01:02:48.159 - 01:03:02.479

didn't get that many letters. We, we got some, but uh my mother in law liked to write letters and so we would get letters from her. Um So I think it was really the best thing for our mental health. Uh There was a study done uh

01:03:02.489 - 01:03:20.540

even about the time we went about the mental health of missionaries. And one of the things that mentioned, which was not encouraging to us that many times people who go to the Asian countries, it's the hardest on their mental health because the culture is most contrary

01:03:20.560 - 01:03:42.330

to the American culture and the way they communicate, the way they um share or don't share. Uh that, that's, that's a real stressor for American people there. And so to find somebody that can talk to you uh connect with you, understand you and your culture and

01:03:42.340 - 01:03:56.310

where you're from without having to explain it all the time. It's really good for your mental health. So I think the, the letters were very much a part of, of that, for me to feel like I was connecting. Of course, I just had an old typewriter.

01:03:56.320 - 01:04:10.320

We didn't have computers either. And so it was all on a typewriter. We had carbon paper. If I had to write like two letters, it kind of helped the general news to be the same and then I would write personal news after that, but that just

01:04:10.330 - 01:04:27.330

saved my time. Uh, but I did a lot of the correspondence to say Terry some time, uh, with that. So, yeah, it's a good question. It was a very important part of both sides, probably of feeling connected with what we were doing and when we told

01:04:27.340 - 01:04:44.550

them we were gonna stay longer, I know that must have been hard for them. I think, uh, my mother understood that better than my father in some ways, but he was ok with it. He was glad when we got home. Yeah. And to have a granddaughter

01:04:44.560 - 01:05:03.929

that was fun. Um, you mentioned mental health. Um, what were some of the primary or, or biggest challenges that you and Terry faced while you were in Japan? I think? Um, you mean mentally as far as mental health challenge? Well, I think, uh, being able to

01:05:03.939 - 01:05:23.459

communicate on a more a deeper level with the Japanese people. You know, it was cursory, our ability to communicate. Certainly Japanese was. But even with an interpreter, there's only so much. But the friends, some of the friends I made that spoke English, you know, then I

01:05:23.469 - 01:05:43.340

was able to um share more deeper on a deeper level. I think the other surprise in some ways that we found when we went there with the missionaries who were there, they were from all over the United States, North, South East West and there were some

01:05:43.350 - 01:06:01.840

cultural differences there huge, you know, so sometimes that was as much a cultural difference as ours with the Japanese people because maybe they had preconceived ideas about people from the West or California or Pepperdine or those from the South or those from the East or the

01:06:01.850 - 01:06:17.655

no, because we had all of them there. Although in time those barriers were broken down, but we had to kind of prove ourselves first. And that was a little discouraging, I think for Terry and I then we were each other's best friends. We were because we

01:06:17.665 - 01:06:38.459

could be the best friends. And fortunately we were, but sometimes you craved more than that. So that was a little restricted, I think. Um I think those were some of the barriers with that. There was always um I didn't mind the cultural differences but trying to

01:06:38.469 - 01:06:57.659

explain uh who God is uh trying to explain in in terms, you know, we're, we assume a lot and we know language to explain it but trying to think of ways to explain it and yet we realize that the word would explain it to them. We

01:06:57.669 - 01:07:14.030

didn't have to do that. I mean, we did. But so then it was so joyful and affirming when we could see. Wow, they've read and they've listened, but they've, they've figured that out too. The, the spirit did that for them. We didn't have to do that.

01:07:14.199 - 01:07:31.689

So I think that was part of it. Um, and of course, we were very limited with finances when we made, had very little money. It didn't require much, you know, really. Uh, we didn't, we certainly managed fine as far as finances, but we realized, I mean,

01:07:31.699 - 01:07:47.459

we didn't have a lot. In fact, when we lost that first baby, you know, we had to pay for a hospital bill because, uh, at night they drove me to Tokyo and they had to have a, a little surgery there. Um, so we had a coin

01:07:47.469 - 01:08:03.350

collection. We had some American money, some Japanese money. We had some checks that we, we, I think Terry said he collected about six different kinds of money and just kind of pulled it all together as we left, you know, just to pay the bill. So that

01:08:03.360 - 01:08:22.890

was always a challenge. But I was good with making do and cooking things and we, we did fine. So those were challenges. I know that if you, if you don't go, um, whole, shall I say if you don't go solid, if you don't go, um, kind

01:08:22.899 - 01:08:38.850

of knowing why you're going and what you're going for, uh, you could be discouraged. But I think, um, we, we knew what we hoped to do, but we also knew we weren't going to save the nation. You know, we were gonna just do it one day

01:08:38.859 - 01:08:59.500

at a time and, and the joyful part is for my return and of course, letters in between is to see how many of those people are still so faithful. And that gave, I was so this trip last summer uh was just uh so affirming. But then

01:08:59.509 - 01:09:13.459

that's retrospect you, you know, you live the day at the time you don't. So I think you just live each day. True and good and let the Lord kind of take care of what comes of it. And years later you may look back and at that

01:09:13.470 - 01:09:28.040

and say, wow, look what he did with that. Fantastic. Uh But at the time, you don't always know that. And so I think it's just living with that as the story of Mrs Michaela. I was a student. What did I know? How did I know what

01:09:28.049 - 01:09:46.894

was gonna happen? And here she was rocking my baby. So I think those were some of the challenges emotionally, physically, there were some challenges. It uh it wasn't an easy place to live. It was adventurous. Uh uh with that uh spiritually, even just because you're a

01:09:46.903 - 01:10:04.430

missionary, doesn't mean you've got it all together spiritually. They're just people like everybody else. So I think spiritually it's always a daily challenge and commitment and as it is here, I don't, you know, here in America it's not any easier with our culture. So I think

01:10:04.439 - 01:10:21.180

it's true with anybody as we live that socially, it was, there was a great dirt in socially because uh that was maybe one of the hard parts. There wasn't a lot of that. There was a little movie theater in Omega that sometimes it would be either

01:10:21.189 - 01:10:36.689

American subtitle, English subtitles or Japanese, depending on the movie. It was awkward to go to those movies when it was about World War Two. And you're sitting there like, ok, here we are the only American here and, you know, kind of keep our head down and

01:10:36.700 - 01:10:54.430

look, it was a little awkward. They never, you know, it wasn't, but it was just different to be sitting there in the theater, uh which was a very, um not very fancy. Sometimes rats would run under your feet, you know. But anyway, those cities were us

01:10:54.439 - 01:11:12.200

movies with Japanese subtitles or vice versa either way. But sometimes they were the English movies with the Japanese subtitles in that we could understand or read whichever it was. But many of them, which surprised us, I mean, they want to show those movies but they did,

01:11:13.680 - 01:11:31.279

you know, and American war pictures. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so I thought that was interesting and I thought, ok, but, um, I guess they knew that what they were gonna go see and we would kind of leave quickly. I, I, we never felt that we weren't

01:11:31.290 - 01:11:49.640

safe. We never felt, uh, rudely treated although, uh, we were in Mito a few times but that's a little bigger city, a little more sophisticated area. We could really wasn't. Um, and one time we were there when they were burning the American flag and having to

01:11:49.649 - 01:12:06.770

protest and Terry, and I just felt like we needed to get out of there pretty quickly. We weren't going to deal with that. Also, interestingly when we were there, um, one morning early, uh, our professor who was also our language teacher knocked on our door. It

01:12:06.779 - 01:12:20.839

was a Saturday morning early. He was all dressed in a suit, but he always was. Anyway, he was pretty formal and he came to the door and he, because we didn't get, we didn't have a TV or radio and newspapers. We, we were, we were really

01:12:20.850 - 01:12:38.020

out of touch a lot and he came and he said, uh, I'm here to bring my condolences and we thought for what, you know. Oh, well, that's when President Kennedy had been shot and he was, you know, he was very formal bringing. We thought, whoa, we

01:12:38.029 - 01:12:55.410

hadn't heard we didn't know that and we didn't. So when we went to Tai Kawa, the next time they had been very kind to save the, their military newspaper for us. So we craved those newspapers and to get those and read them. And at first Terry

01:12:55.419 - 01:13:07.149

and I were thinking, wow, is this what's happened? What kind of, who, what kind of assassination, what was it? You know, you're, you, we didn't worry about our safety a lot, but we were a little concerned until we found out kind of what the, what had

01:13:07.160 - 01:13:20.649

happened. And we're very glad to read the newspapers where we went. So that was a lot of song that came. And he's the one that married through the batch maker and I saw him when we went to Japan. Uh this summer, it was wonderful to see

01:13:20.660 - 01:13:44.060

him. He writes dictionaries. He's an Amaz. He just sits all day and writes dictionaries. The latest one is one which I showed our minister here rich little. It's taking the Australian kind of the Aussie uh slang shall we say? And trans, start translating that to Japanese,

01:13:44.069 - 01:13:56.810

that big old dictionary. And I got this book in the mail and I thought, what is this? And I opened it up. It was from Zara. So he loves to send me the work that he does. And uh so I'm like, well, but that's what he

01:13:56.819 - 01:14:14.549

does. He just writes dictionary. It's amazing man. And then Ito on the student that was our language teacher. Um, we also visited, he's in Osaka, but we had to travel down there, which we wanted to anyway to see him because he'd had a stroke. And when

01:14:14.560 - 01:14:29.779

we got to his home, he got out of just a big three ring binder. And he said, I want you to sit at my table because I have a program for you. And I said, OK, I like programs. And so he got out this book and

01:14:29.790 - 01:14:49.290

he opened it up and he had the whole history of our family there. He had saved everything from day one from pictures, letters, envelopes, Christmas cards, birth announcements, everything we'd sent him over the years. And it was an amazing record that he had. And so my

01:14:49.299 - 01:15:06.069

daughter, the nice thing was, and of course he loved my husband. He said Gibbon, his son was my Tomodachi, which means it was my good friend. And, but I liked her hearing stories about her father from them rather than me telling her, she heard him directly

01:15:06.080 - 01:15:23.830

from the people, uh, who had been influenced by him. So he told his son he's always been good to correspond. We have over the years. Yeah. Wonderful. Well, um, I guess just to wrap up, um, how would you say your experience in Japan impacted or shaped

01:15:23.839 - 01:15:45.529

your life? Well, it's a good question. Um, I think it certainly opened the world to us, uh, is and not to be fearful of it, to uh know that people from all cultures or people to res be respected and to get to know and to uh

01:15:45.540 - 01:16:06.720

learn from and they from us to make Tomodachi are good friends uh with them. Um I think for us, especially in that era, it was a huge opening of our world for us. Um But also I think even when we returned and our encouragement for other

01:16:06.729 - 01:16:26.140

people to go our support of other missionaries through our church work and all we were very, always very involved and still am uh in that uh to kind of given that encouragement, that possibility that uh um and I think it enriched our lives in a huge

01:16:26.149 - 01:16:46.919

way. Uh And, and even as an educator, I think as I work with other cultures, um it's helped, maybe I hope helped me connect with them in a, in a, in a uh a way that's uh more, maybe more understanding and just not in a judgmental

01:16:46.930 - 01:17:03.819

or superior way. It's just we're here here. We are all people that the Lord loves and is made in their, in our own unique way. So I think for us, it was, it was huge and I would recommend all students or anybody who has the opportunity

01:17:04.149 - 01:17:22.959

certainly to travel. But if they can do something that gets into the lives of those people where they can also serve in, in our case teach or whatever, um it will it will enrich their lives and will help them also learn more about themselves and uh

01:17:22.970 - 01:17:42.959

what they're about. So, for us, it was, it was a wonderful opportunity and I'm thankful that in this case, George Pepperdine College uh had the Timothy Club and, and then the friendships and the mentoring that Terry received from Nova Young and JC Moore and others uh

01:17:42.970 - 01:17:59.859

that encouraged us that this is something that could be done not to be too afraid of it. And um and then to uh just kind of pat us on the back, I guess and say, go for it. Uh And, and so I think that was all

01:17:59.870 - 01:18:20.319

certainly something that very, very much blessed our lives. I'm very thankful for that part of my history. Yeah. Did either of you have any questions you wanted to follow up with anything you read that I forgot to tell she read more than I have recently? Probably.

01:18:20.330 - 01:18:37.069

And was there anything that you didn't get to say? Oh, well, I haven't, I think we, we did just fine. Uh uh Yeah, I think that uh I did Terry did return a few times to Japan. I wasn't able to, he went with David Davenport when

01:18:37.080 - 01:18:56.819

he was president here. Terry was on the board of Regents here at the time and uh Pepperdine was considering starting a school or some kind of an international program in Japan at the time. And so Terry went with David Davenport to Japan. Um And, but he

01:18:56.830 - 01:19:13.330

warned him, he said they would just to warn you that the Japanese people. And again, I don't wanna say this disrespectfully, but they, they'll promise something but they don't mean to do it. That's just their culture because they don't want to. You don't say, but you

01:19:13.339 - 01:19:28.180

said you were gonna do it and you didn't, you just don't say that to them. So he said they're gonna make a lot of promises. But I'll tell you right now that those aren't necessarily gonna happen. So don't sign on the dotted line until we talked

01:19:28.189 - 01:19:44.640

about this. So anyway, uh they did have a program there but not an official program. Students went like a kinda like a home stay program a little bit like B A only. There was not that formality to it. So there was a short one there. Uh

01:19:44.649 - 01:19:56.890

But Terry did say to David one day, he said, now I'm gonna take you to show you real Japan you've been in all the form all this but you and I are going, you know, so they were like, oh OK, so it was fun for him

01:19:56.899 - 01:20:11.740

to, to I hope hang out with Terry because Terry's fun and he, he, he's an adventurer, as I said, so that was a little bit part that Terry had returned. I wasn't able to then. So I was glad he was able to do that and remembered

01:20:12.069 - 01:20:30.330

that. In fact, Ito song came to visit us at our home when Terry was dying and uh Terry was um in hospice care at the time in our home. And Ito San who is our language teacher came and, and Terry spoke Japanese to him and Terry

01:20:30.339 - 01:20:44.250

was so sick then. So that was pretty amazing. And Ito San told me this summer, he said, and when I left, I cried all the way back to Japan. It was sweet. So Terry did, that was very much a part of what meant a lot to

01:20:44.259 - 01:21:02.529

him. And in fact, for a while, Pepperdine also here had a program where, um, Japanese people came to the campus, I think, to learn about American education and that I would teach a few of those classes and Terry would take them on tours. And so that's

01:21:02.540 - 01:21:17.790

how he kept up his language skills a lot. So that was dear to him. Yeah. Anyway, that's pretty much I think all I was gonna say. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Susan for sharing your stories with us. Ok? You're so welcome. And thank you for

01:21:17.799 - 01:21:19.069

even asking.