Bamboo and Bonsai: A Life Calling Shaped by Japanese Culture

By Philip Kinley

Bamboo and Bonsai is the story of a Kansas boy who spent his entire career as a missionary in Japan. His service spanned forty-three years as a missionary of the Church of God. He was the founder and director of the Seminary House program. It was designed to prepare seminarians to become pastors in the Church of God. It offered specialized training in the theology and history of the Church of God. He directed this program for twenty-two years. He was also the principal of Tamagawa Seigakuin a girls junior-senior school in Tokyo. He led a staff of fifty Japanese nationals and four American teachers and over one thousand students in preparing young women from a Christian perspective to develop their God-given talents for life and service in Japanese society. While serving in the field of education, he also pastored churches in Tokyo assisted by unordained ministers. His duties were primarily preaching and conducting official meetings of the church. Later, assisted by his wife, Phyllis, they pioneered a new church congregation in Hagiyama, a suburb of Tokyo. It was a challenging and gratifying endeavor to introduce the people of the community to the gospel, lead them to become Christians, and nurture them as they matured in their faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098022563