Missionary Trunk

My grandfather and family went to Japan as missionaries in 1950. One of his first activities in Urawa was to engage in street evangelism with nationals. This trunk pictured above was purchased in Japan and screwed to the bottom of a truck bed. It held his materials and supplies—saxophone and Bibles, etc. Here is how one friend remembers the ministry’s beginnings:

“I still remember his stories of how, in Japan right after WWII, he was among the new missionaries who got a week or two of language orientation before they were sent out to do evangelism. His job was to attract a crowd by playing his saxophone standing on the roof of a vehicle. He later learned the language well enough to do his doctoral research on a Japanese cult.”

In the first picture from Japan above, my grandfather is the tall man in the center of the photograph. He is also in the center of the third photograph, sitting down.