. . . But other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit. . . . Okinawa had been good ground for the Word of God. Planted in the years
of peace, it had taken root, brought forth good fruit. War did not lay
the ground waste. Said Army Chaplain Garland Evans Hopkins, in last
week's Christian Century: “Perhaps no such witness to the durability of
the Christian faith has been borne in our time as by the Okinawan
Christians.” His testimony: “. . . Not expecting to find even one Christian among [Okinawa's 15-man
Advisory Council], I yet asked if any of them were Christian. No official of
Military Government knew, but one remembered that a member by the name
of Toyama refused a cigaret once and someone had explained that he did so
because he was Christian. . . . “I soon learned that four of the 15 councilmen are Christians, and that
they hold the most important posts in local government. . . . Four out
of 15, when today there remain only about 800 Christians out of a
postwar population of 365,000! . . . We have found regular services
being held in six centrally located villages, serving at least 25
neighboring hamlets. These have an average weekly attendance of about
400 persons. In addition to these services, Sunday schools are being
held in at least five towns. . . . “All this activity is proceeding with no central organization, no church
buildings, with few Bibles and hardly any hymnbooks. . . . The only
Japanese Scripture in Ishikawa [Okinawa's capital] is ten pages of
foolscap, which Mr. Toyama had written down from memory for his own
devotions. . . . “In Mr. Toyama's words: 'Send us missionaries. We need them. But tell
your people to send us men who are not so much concerned as to whether
or not we smoke or dance. Send us men who have a message of
internationalism through Christian brotherhood, whose devotion is to
truth and love, not passing fads and fancies.' “
