Mary: In Kobe, Milton and June got their high school rallies off the ground with that first rally that attracted 153 high school students. (blog post “Kobe Adventures”) The time frame is late 1958 to early 1959. The last post flashed back to Milton’s beginnings of organizing camps in Australia which ties right in to … More The Driving Test
Mary: This post flashes back to the mid-1940s when Milton became involved in running camps for high school kids in the Sydney area. In one of the very first blog posts, the story was told about how Milton and June met while she volunteered at a youth camp that he was running. This is the … More Flashback to 1940’s
Milton: The only way we could think of to get the new Youth ministry off the ground was to organize a rally. So I rented a hall at the YMCA that was designed to hold 70 people. I figured if we could get that many kids gathered without any padding from church members, we would … More Kobe Adventures and Awkward Moments
Mary: To refresh your memory (or if you missed reading the previous post), June and Milton were in Kobe with the JEB mission, mainly conducting services in the Mission Hall in Shinkaichi – a busy entertainment street. They felt a tug to work with young people and had gotten permission from their mission to branch … More Lost and found
In the last post, June and Milton bought a broken-down house to renovate in Kobe. The price was good because there had been a story going around that the house was supposedly haunted. June: With the help of a Christian Japanese man, we went around the district with a loudspeaker announcing a children’s meetings in … More The un-haunted Kobe house
Mary: Last post about June and Milton was about their first furlough in Australia in 1954. Probably around March of 1955 they returned to Japan and headed for the city of Kobe, where their new mission, the Japan Evangelistic Band (JEB) was based. The city of Kobe holds lots of warm childhood memories for me, … More Kobe days – the beginning
Taking a short detour from June and Milton’s missionary journey on this post – this is a continuation of the theme of grandmothers. A few months ago, I posted about June’s mother (my grandmother) and before that in the “Convict story” post, I traced back to her paternal great grandmother. So, this post is a … More Irish/Scottish Grandmother
The last blog post following June and Milton’s missionary story had them arriving back in Sydney by ship that had sailed down through the Philippines and Indonesia, after a bumpy island-hopping flight to Hong Kong. This was their first furlough – a year back in Australia, after five years in Japan. Milton The ‘farewell’ … More First Furlough
Since I did a little post last month specifically about June on her birthday, it is only right to do the same thing for Milton Wayne. His birthday happens to fall exactly a month later on July 5th. Milton (Dad, Uncle Mit, Poppa) was a joy. I am a little daunted at the idea of … More A photo essay of sorts
The story continues and the year is 1953. A church has been built, an addition to the family (Margot) has arrived and even more changes are on the horizon. Milton:We were living at the end of the rainbow and were helping people into the Kingdom of God, but we felt lonely. Here we were, claiming … More Sayonara to Beppu
This is a short little post to honor June Wayne’s birthday which is on June 5th. Ever since Mom stepped into Heaven in 2017, I have mostly tried to ignore her birthday. I think the psychological term might be called avoidance. But putting this blog together has let me revel in June and Milton’s memories … More Yoga, sprouted seeds and more
Mary: In this post Milton relates some stories that are so specifically unique to that time and place that it gives an interesting perspective of their life in Beppu. (around 1953) Unfortunately I don’t have specific images that reflect the stories but I am including pictures from a photo album that is from that that … More Life in Beppu
This post continues the Beppu years – 1952 and 1953 Milton: Post-war Japan was crushing the life out of June in those days. The lack of suitable food for her gallbladder condition and the pouring rain and cold robbed her of the vitality she had in Australia. She knew that before she wasted away too … More When there is nowhere to look but up
This short post is a little break from the Japan story – will come back to that soon. Lately I have been curiously looking through a very old scrapbook/photo album that I believe belonged to June’s mother. I came to that conclusion because many of the pictures seem to go back even further than Mom’s … More History and Mysteries
Mary: Continuing the story from the last post, the following occurs between late 1950 and late 1952. Milton: Soon after June’s arrival back from Sydney, the U.S. Army informed me that a regular chaplain was on the way. A few ladies from the chapel called on us. “Normally the chaplain on base is an officer … More Beppu Years (Part 1)
From the Land Down Under to the Rising Sun 