A Mission Is Fulfilled as ‘Church Planting’ Takes Root

For several years Kimie Yamashita held a Sunday worship gathering in her Lake Forest home, with her husband and children and a few friends. She wanted to attend a Japanese-speaking Christian church because that’s the language she’s most familiar with. There just weren’t any in her area.

Then came the telephone call about a year ago, from Paul Aihara, fresh from missionary work in Papua New Guinea. He wanted to start a Japanese-speaking Wesleyan church. Would she be interested? It turned out--they smile about it now--they only lived one block apart.

Aihara found a place to let him share a sanctuary--the West Coast Church in Mission Viejo--and found Christian backers in Japan who would keep him going financially until his congregation could independently support a ministry.

The church is up to a couple dozen members now, and Aihara is pleased.

“In Japan, some churches have only 30 members after being in existence for 30 years,” he points out. “By comparison, we are doing very well.”

Aihara, whose ties were to Pasadena, says he deliberately chose southern Orange County for what he calls his “church planting.”

“The need was here,” he says. A growing number of Japanese-speaking Americans have moved to South County, as well as more Japanese nationals who work for Japanese-owned companies. “There is great potential here for our church’s growth.”

Aihara, 56, has a special reason for making sure this church succeeds: He’s doing it for two.

Aihara and his wife, Rebecca Kiyoko Aihara, had lived for years in Papua New Guinea, where he was a missionary. They left there in 1984 so he could attend Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. They returned to Papua New Guinea two years later, leaving their three children in America to go on to college.

Two years ago, the Aiharas returned here, with the dream of starting their own church. But just three days after their arrival, Rebecca Kiyoko Aihara died of a sudden attack of bronchial asthma.

“It was a very difficult time,” Aihara says sadly.

But he was determined to continue their plan. He went back to Fuller to take graduate courses in psychology and counseling, to prepare for the new ministry. Then he hit the telephone to find a congregation before opening in April 1995.

Aihara proudly showed me the church’s beautiful sanctuary, in a renovated industrial building. Some of the members carry Bibles written in Japanese. Others have bilingual Bibles because, while they speak Japanese well, they are less familiar with written Japanese.

Yamashita says the church has turned out to be everything she wanted.

“We had our home service, but what we really needed was a spiritual leader,” she says. She points to Aihara and adds with a smile: “We found one.”

In Good Hands: Several callers have asked where they might find a copy of Helena Modjeska’s memoirs, “Memories and Impressions.” Her turn-of-the-century estate, Arden, is now owned by the county. There’s an open house there Saturday (parking at Santiago Canyon Road, where it intersects with Modjeska Canyon Road).

The county library system has 13 copies available for check-out among its numerous branches. The history room at the Santa Ana Library has two copies. Its local history collection also includes another fascinating read, Marion Moore Coleman’s “Fair Rosalind,” a Modjeska biography filled with letters written by Modjeska that you won’t find in her autobiography.

Anne Harder, who has run the Santa Ana history room for 16 years, is helpful to anyone interested in this county’s past. “Orange County has a rich history, but unfortunately, most people just take it for granted,” she says.

One of the room’s prized possessions posted: the program for an Orange County benefit showing of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” starring Helena Modjeska as Rosalind.

Baby Scouts? Barbara Matheus of Huntington Beach urges those who play with water balloon launchers to consider the damage they can do if handled carelessly. Her 7-year-old daughter was shot in the back by one, and the picture of the injury tells you how painful it must have been. The girl was the victim of a mishap when shots were fired by a group of Boy Scouts at Catalina Island. A Huntington Beach Scout leader sent her a sincere apology (“Please be assured that the boys involved were dealt with in a manner consistent with the gravity of their actions”).

But he was mum regarding Matheus’ request that the Boy Scouts fork over some cash so her family could retake their Catalina vacation. So Matheus did what she felt compelled to do: This week she spent two hours picketing in front of Boy Scout headquarters on MacArthur Boulevard in Costa Mesa.

And the Winner Is: Alejandro Vega and Rocio Gonzalez have a couple of things in common as graduation approaches at Santa Ana High. Vega, whose straight-A grade average actually goes off the scale because of extra work he’s done, has been chosen as the school’s top male student. Gonzalez, with a 3.82 average, was chosen as top female student. Their other common bond: Neither could speak English when they first started school in this county.

Other top students at the Santa Ana Unified School District’s high schools give you a clue how diverse our county has become:

Century High: Cory Martino and Cecile Han Nguyen. Saddleback High: Boris Sam and Uyen Thy Le. Valley High: Greg Chang and Hien To.

Wrap-Up: When members of the Wesleyan-affiliated West Coast Church first learned that Aihara was looking for a home for his congregation, “there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation on our part,” says Ron Henry, one of the church leaders. “It’s worked out just great.”

The English-speaking worshipers take the sanctuary in the mornings, the Japanese-speaking congregation in the afternoons. The two have held a couple of joint music and holiday programs that left both groups elated.

Says Henry: “We live in such a sheltered environment here in this part of the county, it’s really broadened our eyes to what it is to be a Christian. We see this only getting better.”

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Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling The Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or sending a fax to (714) 966-7711.