14 August 2016
Dear Phyllis,
I believe one of the reasons the Lord sent me to Japan this time was to see the Hirotas.
There is dark side of life that is almost concealed. It is as prominent as birth but because of its depressing unattractiveness we avoid discussing it. It is so discouraging I am reluctant to write about it today, but this is a major component of life.
The English expression “over the hill” is very descriptive. We have a tendency to think of life as an ascension up a hill where every step is a move up. From birth to retirement we like to think of our advancement. And, of course, we like to give the Lord the glory for leading us from victory to victory, to an ever higher position. Then in our elderly years we are revered by the younger and held in honor for our success.
But life is not always that way. Several years ago a Japanese pastor was showing me the pictures of his trip to the states. He showed me one of a pitiful, bumbling, old man and said, “This is Shelton Allen”. I couldn't believe it. Shelton Allen was the one of the most energetic, fluent, missionaries in Japan. I couldn't imagine that pitiful old man was Shelton Allen. It isn't supposed to end like that. But, by far, the end of some of God's greatest servants is a pitiful form of helpless humanity.
As I thought about this problem it came to me that even Jesus was not exempt from this depressing end. The Body that Joseph and Nicodemus took down from the cross was not a pretty sight. It was a bloody, mutilated, mass of flesh. There was nothing attractive or victorious about it.
This depressing trash-can end is an enormous mystery to me. I see no victory, no glory, nothing praise worthy about the end of valiant servants who spend their lives holding up the banner of Christ and then wind up in a pitiful end. How, or why, should they wind up so ingloriously? The only thing I can think of is that this is not the end but the prelude to the resurrection. In the resurrection all will be restored and they will be beautiful. But what a terrible close out of the world.
It seems like it was only last year that Hirota came to our house in Ikoma to talk about airplanes. He was saved within weeks. It was shortly after that that Miyuki called one day asking if she could come to see us. She has one of the more unusual testimonies and was saved the first night. They were a fantastic couple. He was an undisciplined, big kid, playboy. But he was highly intelligent and was into everything. Miyuki was a very serious minded business woman who was as diligent as they come. Together they made an unusual couple, and the Lord placed them in the front ranks of His fruitful servants in Japan. Hirota would have been worthless without her, and she never would have been so spectacular as a single lady. Together their home was a terrific lighthouse for Jesus. They were the last family I had in Japan where I could show up any time and say “Tadaima' (I'm home). That is the only image I had of them, and that was what I expected for this trip to Japan.
My first inkling came when Hirota wrote me that Miyuki was suffering from initial dementia and was not driving any more. She was always the strong one of the family but he was the driver. The last I saw them he was losing ground with diabetes and was slowly losing his sight. Consequently Miyuki had to step forward and be the driver for the family. What I was not prepared for was the sight I saw when I first arrived at their home last Sunday night. Miyuki had aged 30 years since the last I saw her. I remembered her as a fairly young woman but now she looked like she was 90. But the big shock came the next morning when Hirota told me that Miyuki has had Alzheimer's disease for two years. She is not a vegetable yet but is incapacitated so that she does nothing in the home. The weight of the entire household is resting on his shoulders. What that has produced is indescribable. By nature he has always been a pack-rat. If there was anything for sale he bought one. The house was stacked to the ceiling with every electronic gadget made. For 30 years Miyuki had her hands full keeping things sorted out and maintaining a well organized house. Now he is in charge. The kitchen now looks like they are in the process of moving and everything they own is stacked on the floor, table, and counter. There is not one foot of flat space in the kitchen that doesn't have something sitting on it.
Miyuki's 95 year old mother is living with them. All three look like they just came out of a POW camp starved to death. Previously everyone was very healthy but now they are nothing but skin and bones. I was there two days and there was not one meal served. It looks to me like they just aren't eating.
Their future is set in concrete. Miyuki's mother should be in a nursing but they have chosen to take care of her there. It may be that Miyuki will die before her mother, But one thing is clear, both Miyuki and her mother are simply waiting for death. Then Hirota will have to sell the house and move into a smaller apartment. But what can be done about the horrendous pile of junk is a question that totally exceeds my imagination.
Where is the glory of God? Where is the victory? Where is all the praise? What an indescribable sad end of one of the finest families I knew in Japan. How is it possible that it could end like this? That is a mystery that blows my mind. This is the back side of the hill and every step gets lower. They hit the top of the mountain two years ago when Miyuki first started to complain of headaches. When she stopped working the slope could only go down. I don't see where any amount of prayer is going to change anything. In time mother will die; barring an unimaginable miracle Miyuki will die, and Hirota is left with a huge mess on his hands.
I had no idea that this was the condition of the Hirota family. My heart is heavy but I believe it was to show me this sight that the Lord brought me here.
But Jesus has overcome and next will be the resurrection,
Praise God, bill
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