Sign up for our free newsletter:

A Gift for a Reluctant Bride

Who really arranged Miyoko's marriage?

by Matsu Crawford

If you keep your eyes open, you learn a lot about life. On the mission field, in another culture, life lessons come thick and fast.

One of the most powerful for me took place in 1931 when my husband Vernon and I were working in Kochi, Japan. I helped at a Home for Girls. At that time 65 girls from poor families were being trained in the Christian way of life. Along with music, Bible study, and English language classes, they were learning practical skills like cooking, sewing, and embroidery.

Some of the girls, after leaving the school, continued their education to become teachers. A few returned to the Home for Girls as staff members.

One such staff member was Miyoko San, a lively young woman. She had been brought to the Home as a child and been raised there. Over the years when it became evident that she was talented musically, she left for further training in piano and organ. When she returned to the school, she became head of the music department.

One winter day she came to our apartment distraught. She reminded me of a bedraggled sparrow as she sobbed out her story.

When she was ten years old, her parents had betrothed her to a neighbor's son back in the mountains of Tosa Province. Miyoko had forgotten all about it, but the parents and the boy had not. Her father had called the day before to inform her that the young man would expect to claim his bride when school was out in July.

Miyoko was shocked, but my indignity was even greater.

"It's an outrage! Surely you can refuse to have any part in their plans for you," I said.

Miss Dowd, founder of the school, listened to Miyoko and me without saying a word.

"Why should Miyoko be married to a backwoodsman who is not a Christian and will not know how to treat a wife like her?" I cried.

Finally Miss Dowd spoke, "You were not sent to Japan to change the customs of the people. Granted, their ways are not ours, but our business here is to preach and teach the Word of God, to share Christ's gospel with them, to help plant among them the Kingdom of God. Only his power can bring about change. Let's trust him to do it. Miyoko is a child of God—not our child. Let's trust him to look after his own.

"My 45 years here have taught me patience. I have seen changes during my years here. When they do come, it is the Japanese themselves who will make them.

"It will do you no good to rebel nor will it change this situation. In the long run it could hurt the good that we are doing here or hurt only yourself."

I reluctantly accepted Miss Dowd's advice.

On the day the groom came to visit his bride-to-be, I watched from an upstairs window. A large Japanese man, looking uncomfortable in a Western suit, pushed open the garden gate, and looked at the surroundings. Later, when I met him face to face, I sensed an unusual humility in him. It was a momentary consolation, but it still seemed wrong for Miyoko to marry him.

Miyoko came down the aisle, beautiful in her ceremonial wedding kimono of black silk with the family crests on the shoulders and the back and white motifs of pine, bamboo, and plum blossoms adorning the front panel. She wore snowy feathers in the coil of her jet-black hair. There was no evidence of the past weeks of turmoil as she serenely walked to the altar.

We didn't see the couple until the following June. I didn't know what to expect.

Miyoko was definitely in love. It shone in her face and in her description of her married life.

"My husband is helpful, considerate, and appreciative. From the first day, he knew that I had been given opportunities denied to him. He asked me to teach him all that I had learned here at the school. I began to teach him English. We have studied the Bible together; he is now a believer in Christ as Lord. Together we have started a church in our house. Now there is a small group of believers who study with us.

"Knowing how much I would miss my music, he somehow saved enough money to buy an organ for me. It was his wedding present to me. It is the first organ seen or heard in our village. Now I am teaching the children in our village to love music. Some of them are even learning to play the organ."

Suddenly my outrage seemed so foolish. God's plan had been better all along. Through this arranged marriage, his message of salvation was being proclaimed in the mountains by one of the village's own. Seeing the change in Miyoko's life, others were committing their lives to the Lord.

God's ways are not our ways nor his thoughts our thoughts. I had to be proved wrong to really understand that.

Editor's note: Matsu Crawford turned 99 this year. She and Vernon served in Japan until 1940 when they were asked to leave the country. Twenty years later they returned, rekindling the friendship with Miyoko and her family.

Condensed from Christian Observer, © 1988 Matsu Crawford. Used by permission.

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
Click here for reprint information.

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Order a gift subscription!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help