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MISSIONARIES TO OKINAWA AND JAPAN, 1951 - 1982
| On to Japan... | After eleven years in Yaeyama, Margaret and Harold were assigned to main Japan as district missionaries in the Okayama and Tottori prefectures of western Japan. Harold's main appointment was as pastor of the tiny Wake and Mitsuishi churches. |
| The Rickard family moved into a community of outcaste people where a new church was built to replace an old and outdated facility. It was here that they helped begin a larger parish of three churches while working with their outcaste neighbors for liberation and human rights. Margaret taught English at Seishin Joshi Daigaku, a Roman Catholic women's college, in public schools, community centers, and in the Rickard home. She also trained teachers in Church Schools. Together the Rickards led Vacation Bible Schools and helped with church summer camps throughout their district. Two special young people became Christians in the tiny Wake and Mitsuishi Churches. Harold baptized both -- and later united them in marraige. Rev. and Mrs. Nobuto now serve those churches as pastor and wife, living in the same outcaste community where the Rickard's lived. Harold and Margaret's first visit to Hiroshima was a difficult and emotional time -- and led to their participation in several annual International Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Conferences in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These conferences also led to the formation of many close friendships. Those deeply moving experiences led us to decide to return to the United States, where decisions are made that affect people in all the world. The Rickards returned to the U.S. in 1982 and have devoted themselves to Mission and Peace With Justice issues since. | |
| Next: More will come! |
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Last Revised: December 8, 2002.