メリディアン
日本語
帰還宣教師から
From Returned Missionaries
Dwayne N. Andersen-Excerpts from Autobiography
Mission President continued
TWO FAITH-PROMOTING EXPERIENCES DURING PREPARATION
President Shozo Suzuki of the Osaka District called me the day before he was to leave. He said the Japanese Government would not give him his passport because his name was the same as a professional criminal. They wanted to make an investigation that would take a week or so. I called the American Embassy and explained the situation, asking them to call the Japanese officials and verify that President Suzuki was not the criminal and that the United States would be willing to give him a visa to visit their country. This cleared the air and President Suzuki was able to get his passport and visa the day he left for Tokyo.
Another inspiring experience was with Brother Tei. He was a Chinese citizen with resident status in Japan and planning to marry a Japanese girl. When he asked to be permitted to go on the excursion, I suggested he check to make sure he could get a re-entry permit for Japan. He was assured that he could; but shortly before departure time, he went to get it, and was denied. They used as the reason: his father had forgotten to renew his alien registration once when Brother Tei was nine years old. Brother Tei came to see me, very disappointed and heartbroken. The next morning we went to the government officer with Brother Yamanaka to see if we could help.
After we explained the situation to the man in charge, he said that nothing more could be done. I asked to speak with his boss. Instead of getting him, the clerk took an application (which was Brother Tei’s) out of the very middle of a stack of papers, which appeared to be about 18 inches high, and took that paper to his boss. After some discussion the application was stamped officially; and we were informed that they would process it first. When we asked how long that would take, he said at least two or three days, because it had to go across Tokyo to another office, and then back. I reminded him that we were leaving tomorrow night and suggested that I could take the application to the other office. He refused, saying it had to be done by an official courier. After some more persuasion from us, he returned to his boss. In a few moments he came back and reported that they would try to have it by tomorrow noon. We returned to the mission office with prayers in our hearts that they would have it on time. That was truly asking for a miracle, knowing how slow things go through Japanese government officials. But Brother Tei appeared at their office at 9:00 a.m. the following day and just waited. About 11:00 a.m. he called by phone to report to me that he had received his re-entry permit. Only with the help of the Lord was that made possible.