Sermon series on Heroes

1. Konicchiwwa

2. Chiune Sugihara
& Calculated
Goodness
Alvin L. Reyes MD

3. Matthew 6: 1-4 (GWV)
"Be careful not to do your good works
in public in order to attract attention. If
you do, your Father in heaven will not
reward you....When you give to the
poor, don't let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing. Give
your contributions privately. Your
Father sees what you do in private.
He will reward you.

4. In the course of human existence,
many people are tested. Only a few
soar as eagles and achieve greatness
by simple acts of kindness,
thoughtfulness and humanity.

5. This is the story of a man and his wife
who, when confronted with evil,
obeyed the kindness of their hearts
and conscience in defiance of the
orders of an indifferent government.
Eric Saul

6. The Way of the Warrior
Bushido, is a set of Japanese
Samurai values stressing honor and
loyalty to authority of both country and
family.

7. Warriors were to fight to the death in
battle to preserve the honor of their
family or overlord, and in the face of
imminent failure or disgrace, suicide
(seppuku).

8. Bushido required warriors to exhibit a
strict sense of honor and self-control
at all times. They were to be
benevolent yet detached towards life;
caring for the earth and people
without developing passions that
could cloud their judgment.

9. Chiune Sugihara born in Yaotsu,
Japan (1900)
The second of six children, Chiune is
born on January 1 to Yoshimizu and
Yatsu Sugihara in the Gifu prefecture
on Japan's main island.

10. His mother hails from a long line of
Samurai. And Chiune is reared in the
way of Bushido.

11. The Sugiharas moves to Korea
(1910)
Sugihara's father, Yoshimizu, leaves
Japan for business in Japanese-
occupied Korea. The family follows
him.

12. Sugihara enters Waseda University
(1918)
Excelling in languages, foreign
cultures, and with a strong will,
Chiune enters Tokyo's progressive
Waseda University to study English.

13. Defying his father's wishes that he
become a doctor, Sugihara works odd
jobs to pay his own way.

14. Sugihara begins his diplomatic
training (1919)
Sugihara passes a Foreign Service
exam & studies Russian at Japan's
diplomatic school in Harbin,
Manchuria.
The spirit of the school is expressed
in its founder's moral creed: "Do
much for others, and expect little in
return."

15. In Harbin Gakuin University

16. Sugihara at the Japanese Embassy in Harbin
(1924)
Sugihara works as a clerk at the
Japanese Embassy in Harbin,
Manchuria. During these years he
witnesses firsthand the cruelties of
the Japanese occupation in
Manchuria.

17. Sugihara as deputy consul (1932)
Japan establishes an independent
state in Machuria called Manchukuo,
and installs a puppet regime. The
Japanese-controlled government in
Manchukuo appoints Sugihara deputy
consul.

18. Sugihara resigns his diplomatic
post (1934)
Anguished by Japan's brutal
treatment of the Chinese,
Sugihara resigns.

19. He says, "I resigned from my post in
the Foreign Ministry because the
Japanese dealt with the Chinese
cruelly. They didn't consider them
human. I couldn't bear that.“

20. Sugihara returns to Tokyo (1935)
Sugihara returns to Tokyo and trains
for reassignment to foreign service in
Europe, where persecution of the
Jews continues to escalate.

21. Chiune meets Yukiko
While in Japan Sugihara marries
Yukiko Kikuchi, a beautiful woman
impressed by Sugihara's
sophistication and his "very kind
eyes."

22. Yukiko Kikuchi

23. They have a son, Hiroki, the following
year. At some point, Yukiko and
Hiroki also convert to Christianity.

24. Soviet Union rebuffs Sugihara
(1936)
Sugihara is assigned as a diplomat to
Moscow. However, the Russians do
not allow him into the country.

25. Sugihara is posted to Helsinki
(1937)
Sugihara, a Russian expert, is posted
with his family to the Japanese
Embassy in Helsinki, Finland, to help
observe Russian movements in the
region.

26. Nanjing Massacre (Dec 1937- Mar
1938)
Japan invades China's eastern ports,
including Shanghai. Chinese civilians
and POWS are brutally killed
Tens of thousands of Chinese women
are raped by occupying Japanese in
what becomes known as the Nanjing
Massacre.

27. World War II begins (1939)
Austria & Czechoslovakia falls to the
Nazis. England and France declare
war on Germany when Hitler invades
Poland on September 1. Later Russia
attacks from the east, trapping Polish
Jews. More than 15,000 flee over the
border to Lithuania.

28. Europe in World War 2

29. Sugihara is appointed Japanese
consul to Lithuania
In the fall, Sugihara opens a one-man
consulate in Kaunas, with his family.
His is to report on Nazi and Russian
troop movements.

31. Germany tightens grip; Russia
annexes Lithuania (June 1940)
The Soviet Union annexes Lithuania
and orders all foreign consulates
closed. The invasion of Lithuania
becomes imminent.
Jews wishing to leave must obtain
entry, transit and exit visas.

32. Europe in World War 2

33. Sugihara issues visas to Jewish
refugees (Summer 1940)
Sugihara prepares to close his
consulate in Kaunas. On July 27 he
wakes to find hundreds of Jewish
refugees massing at the gates.

34. Visas for Life
Many have managed to obtain entry
visas to the Caribbean island of
Curaçao, but now need transit visas
through Japan.
As the crowds build, Sugihara spends
days agonizing over his decision,
seeking authorization from his foreign
ministry, to no avail.

36. Finally, despite the dangers, Sugihara
decides to act on his own to help the
refugees; he works obsessively
throughout August, writing countless
visas each day.

37. Within a month he has issued at least
2,139 visas, though in many cases
entire families manage to escape on a
single visa.

38. When we started there
were about a hundred
people waiting for visas.
Later there were
hundreds. We knew that
down the road it would
mean saving thousands
of lives. We issued the
visas even though in
doing so it meant that we
would be risking our
careers and our lives.
--Yukiko Sugihara

39. By September, the Soviets insist that
Sugihara close the consulate.
Exhausted, he moves his family to
Berlin for reassignment.

40. By spring 1941, the refugees that
Sugihara helped will have arrived in
Japan; the Jews who do not manage
to escape Lithuania are later
murdered by the thousands.

42. Sugihara moves throughout Nazi-
occupied Europe (1941)
From Berlin, Sugihara is assigned to
the consulate in Prague. He is
ordered by the Japanese government
to submit a report of the more than
2,000 visas he issued in Kaunas.

43. Prague

44. The War Nears Its End
Through the war's conclusion in 1945,
Sugihara serves as Japanese consul-
general in several European
embassies, including Konigsberg,
Germany and Bucharest, Romania.

45. Konigsberg

46. World War II Ends
In June, overrunning Lithuania and the Baltics,
Germany launches "Operation Barbarosa,"
invading the Soviet Union with 3 million troops.
On December 7, Japan attacks the U.S. at Pearl
Harbor and U.S. enters the war
The United States allies with England, Russia
and 23 other countries in declaring war against
the Axis of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
1945 World War II ends
Following three more years of intense fighting,
Germany surrenders to the Allies on May 7,
ending the war in Europe. On August 6 and 9,

47. Sugihara and family are interned
Still in Romania, Sugihara and his
family are detained and imprisoned in
a Soviet internment camp for over a
year in austere conditions.

48. The Sugiharas return to Japan
(1946)
The Soviets release the Sugiharas
and they set out across Siberia for
home. The family is detained again
for months in Vladivostok, before
arriving in Japan in spring 1947. They
settle outside Tokyo.

49. Sugihara resigns from the foreign
service (1947)
Sugihara reports to the foreign
ministry and is told to await
reassignment. Three months later, he
is asked to resign. The true reason is
reprisal for the visas.
Months later, his youngest son Haruki
dies, only 7 years old.

50. Sugihara works odd jobs in
obscurity 1948
Deeply dispirited, lacking a career
and in financial straits, Sugihara
supports his family with menial jobs.
Making use of his Russian, he works
with a trading company in Moscow,
living there for 16 years under the
alias Sempo Sugiwara, while his
family remains in Japan.

51. Questions
1. Should we do good because of the
promised reward?
2. What is wrong with expecting
returns?
3. If you were the Sugihara’s would
you help?

52. Sugihara is "found" by a survivor
(1968)
For over 25 years he never knew if
his visas helped the refugees,
One visa recipient, Joshua Nishri,
now an Israeli diplomat, finally
succeeds in finding him.
The next year, at the government's
invitation, Sugihara visits Israel with
his son Nobuki, but in subsequent
years resists accolades repeatedly.

53. Israel (Chiune at 74 years old)

54. Israel honors Sugihara (1985)
Israel's Holocaust Memorial, Yad
Vashem, declares Chiune Sugihara
"Righteous Among Nations," and a
tree is planted in his name.
Now 85, Sugihara is not well enough
to travel; Yukiko and their oldest son
Hiroki go to Israel to accept the award
in Sugihara's behalf.

55. Chiune Sugihara dies (1986)
Sugihara dies at the age of 86, having
proved beyond doubt that one person
can make a difference. More than
40,000 people alive today have him to
thank for their very existence.

57. Yukiko Sugihara, 1995

58. Lessons we can learn
1. Special privileges are to be used
for good and for God.
2. We are not to expect rewards. Or
seek accolade and praise.
3. Life is not always fair. No rewards
always in this life (John the Baptist).
4. The majority is not always right.

59. Privilege of Position
I urge upon you as the reason why
you should show a forbearing,
courteous, Christlike spirit at all times
and under all circumstances. Your
words, your spirit, your deportment,
even the manner in which you treat
your brethren are sowing seeds for
good or evil. EGW Christian
Leadership 30.1

60. Calculated Goodness
We are not to think of reward, but of
service; yet kindness shown in this
spirit will not fail of its recompense.
"Thy Father which seeth in secret
Himself shall reward thee openly.“
EGWhite MB 81.2

61. Not in this life…
No act of kindness shown in His
name will fail to be recognized and
rewarded.
– Ellen G White: Conflict & Courage 207.3

62. Final Words from Sugihara
"I may have disobeyed my
government, but if I didn't I would be
disobeying God."

63. "In life, do what's right because it's
right, and leave it alone

64. Arigato Gusaimas