A Grandfather’ s Legacy:
Building Blocks of the Mission
By Kaylee Kriese, Marketing & Communications
Editor’ s note: OMS was honored to have the Sumida family attend the 125 th anniversary celebration in June. We are thankful for the faithful legacy of many believers associated with OMS throughout the years.
“ I sensed the enormous gift Grandfather was given by the Lord to be a leader in his field.”
This is just one of the many memories 98-year-old June Nakada Sumida recalls about her grandfather, Juji Nakada, one of One Mission Society’ s( OMS’) founding members and first President. A faithful evangelist in 20th-century Japan, Juji is revered throughout OMS history. But to June, he was simply“ Grandpa Juji,” the dynamic man of her childhood who passed away when she was only 11 years old. Still, her childhood memories of him remain crystallized in her mind.
June immerses us in images of a house
with tatami( mat) floors and the warm scent of miso soup, a stark contrast to June’ s Western-style home in the Tokyo suburbs. Whenever her family arrived for their usual New Year’ s visit, Juji— always clad in a kimono— greeted them with an eager,“ Come on in, come on in.”
Known for his clear, direct gaze, June recalls him sitting alongside her, slightly amazed that he was looking at her so steadily.“ When he looked at you, you knew he was looking at you.”
There are other images, of course, that come to June’ s mind. Although many knew God had gifted Juji with a resonant preaching voice, few knew he
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