| Yoshihito Karita, ‘92, visited
Montreat College for Homecoming this
fall. Yoshi, who earned a B.A. in liberal
arts with a concentration in English
literature, returned to his native Japan
after graduation, seeking a job in the
Tokyo area that would utilize his English
skills. Meanwhile, another Montreat alum,
Tom McMurtry, urged Yoshi to visit his
sister, who was stationed at the U.S.
Navy base in Yokosuka. Through this
contact, Yoshi learned of a position
opening at the U.S. Navy base in Atsugi;
he applied and was hired as a management
intern in the human resources office. While
overseeing about 1,200 civilian
personnel, his responsibilities include
job placement, classification and wage
determination and employee relations.
Much of his time is devoted to counseling
personnel and keeping the lines of
communication open with various
supervisors to thwart miscommunication
and misunderstandings that can occur due
to the intercultural makeup of the staff
(Japanese, American, and Filipino). His
caring spirit helps him with difficult
situations, such as notifying employees
of their termination.
"Christian love is my philosophy.
I love all of the employees," he
said. Yoshi’s next challenge is law
school, where he is studying basic
Japanese civil and criminal law. He
enjoys the fellowship of the Christian
faculty and his friends in Montreat. In
Japan, he feels the challenge of being a
light for the lost.
Guy Bishop, ‘91, also recently
visited Montreat from Toyko. Guy, a
Durham, NC native, has made Japan his
permanent home. Fluent in Japanese and
recently married to his Japanese wife
Tamae, Guy "loves the people and
feels led by the Lord to serve
there." A cross-cultural ministries
major at Montreat, he credits professors
like Ron Brunson and David Parks for
"truly preparing" him. "If
it hadn’t been for them I
wouldn’t be able to do what I am
doing today," he said. "Dr.
Parks told me one day that when you go as
a missionary to another country, if you
leave your own culture behind you and see
the hearts of the people, you will never
want to come home. I’ve experienced
that."
Guy and Tamae were married on December
9, 1995, and since then they have been
teaching English to Japanese ranging in
age from 3 to 60. They have plans to open
their home for teaching soon. Their home
is in the middle of downtown where there
are hundreds of homeless men, mostly
severe alcoholics. Aside from their
English instruction, Guy and Tamae both
feel led by the Lord to minister to these
homeless. Both are on staff with the
international Youth With a Mission (YWAM)
agency. Their work and commitment are
helping YWAM create a base in the
district of Toyko where they live.
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