In the 1950s, Willis Enhle, a brother from an Apostolic Christian Illinois congregation, was drafted into the army. Due to his nonresistant convictions, he presented an appeal to the draft board and was granted noncombatant status and served as a hospital aide. During his tenure in service, he was stationed in Japan in a hospital and continued to live out his living faith in Christ. While stationed in Japan, a burden for the idol-worshiping people began to press on his heart especially because they were very receptive to the Word of GOD. After his term in the service, Brother Enhle spent some time working as a civilian in Japan, with permission from the Elders of the Apostolic Christian Church in America. In 1953, he returned to the United States to marry and be ordained minister. After his wedding and ordination, he returned to Japan, with the blessing of the Apostolic Church, where he labored in the church at Tokyo before moving to Shioda.
The Zion’s Harp has been a blessing to people of many nationalities and cultures as well as a blessing to Apostolic Churches. Understanding its worth, as the church began in Japan, Brother Enhle hired a Japanese professor who taught German to translate the Zion’s Harp into Japanese from the German language. This professor was not converted so he did not understand the spiritual meaning and his translations were very poor. The brethren in Japan examined the translation of the first hymn and felt it was unacceptable.
The translation project was stopped until a Japanese sister, Reiko Furuya, undertook the translation work. Sister Furuya used both the German Zionsharfe as well as the English Zion’s Harp. It took many years but she translated three or four verses of each hymn and wrote them by hand in Japanese between staves of music. This handwritten method produced a very large book which was used in church services and was very much appreciated by the users. Later, this same Sister (now a college professor) used a computer to print the Japanese characters and put 128 of the most sung hymns into a book which is currently being used in the two Apostolic Churches in Japan: Tokyo and Shioda.
Sister Furuya is now in her 70s, still single, and has finished her responsibilities at the university (which is owned by her family). She is now working on translating all of the verses which were not translated for the first edition.
The Zion’s Harp has been a blessing to people of many nationalities and cultures as well as a blessing to Apostolic Churches. Understanding its worth, as the church began in Japan, Brother Enhle hired a Japanese professor who taught German to translate the Zion’s Harp into Japanese from the German language. This professor was not converted so he did not understand the spiritual meaning and his translations were very poor. The brethren in Japan examined the translation of the first hymn and felt it was unacceptable.
The translation project was stopped until a Japanese sister, Reiko Furuya, undertook the translation work. Sister Furuya used both the German Zionsharfe as well as the English Zion’s Harp. It took many years but she translated three or four verses of each hymn and wrote them by hand in Japanese between staves of music. This handwritten method produced a very large book which was used in church services and was very much appreciated by the users. Later, this same Sister (now a college professor) used a computer to print the Japanese characters and put 128 of the most sung hymns into a book which is currently being used in the two Apostolic Churches in Japan: Tokyo and Shioda.
Sister Furuya is now in her 70s, still single, and has finished her responsibilities at the university (which is owned by her family). She is now working on translating all of the verses which were not translated for the first edition.
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