<Begin Segment 8>

KA: Oh, another thing that happened, too, was right before evacuation, maybe a couple months before, the Holy Spirit came upon my father and said, "I want you to go to church." 'Cause, see, they were so busy, they couldn't afford to hire anybody to work on the farm, so they would work seven days a week. And the children, us kids, went to Sunday school with our neighbor, Caucasian family, they were real nice. And the Lord, the Holy Spirit told my father, "I want you to go to Beaverton to the Church of Nazarene." My father had never heard of that. He was converted in the Oriental Missionary Society, Holiness Church. And He said, "I want you to go there. Not every church is mine." And we didn't know that, but anyway, and it's a miracle he found the place. 'Cause he had never driven before Selleck, I mean, we never had a car. And the first car was when he leased the farm. And he managed to drive to Beaverton, town of Beaverton, and I believe God directed him. Because to this day, I wouldn't know how to get there myself. But over there, God had prepared a man who happened to live right above our farm, close by, he was a member of that church. And he had prepared him to take over our farm. And his name was Mr. and Mrs. Baker, and since we were just new in the community, we really didn't know them. But here they were at that church, and the Holy Spirit told my father, "Ask him to give you ninety percent of the profit." Now, my father would have never had the nerve to ask, you know. Most farmers had to just drop everything and leave. Just like Art's parents, they had a grocery store, and they were offered such a low amount, that what's the sense of selling it, you know. But He said, "Give Mr. and Mrs. Baker ten percent. But be diligent 'til the very end to work on the farm, to care for the farm. And to make the carriers, prepare the carriers." So my father and mother, they worked 'til the very last day. And it was truly, truly a miracle. And he was so honest that he would send the receipt from the cannery, you know, how many pounds he took to the cannery.

SP: Strawberries.

KA: Uh-huh. And then send ninety percent of the money. It was really awesome how God...

TI: In a similar way, did the Bakers get a message from God to do this?

KA: Probably. I mean, inside, you know? They must have known that it was God. It's just like in the Bible, when Saul was supposed to go to Ananias or something and he prepared (him) that he would be coming or something. And in the same way, God prepared Mr. and Mrs. Baker. And they were the most loving people. And they corresponded.

SP: While you were in camp?

KA: Uh-huh. I'm sorry that us children lost track after a while. But it was truly God who honored my father's faith, because he had such faith in the Lord. And we were all Baptized there.

SP: At the Church of the Nazarene.

KA: Uh-huh. My parents figured we might be separated, we might be sent to Japan, we never knew what was gonna happen. So they wanted to make sure that all the children were Baptized. And so we were Baptized. So anyway, that's the story in Beaverton. And we had the nicest teachers. They were Christian teachers in the grade school. She was so loving, I think I was in the (ninth) grade when I was evacuated. But she would send Christmas presents while we were in camp, and clothes, and here she was a single parent. And kept in touch with us and sent us pictures of herself and her family. I still have it in my album.

TI: So it sounds like, by your parents being Christian, the family being Christian, you were helped by other Christians.

KA: Yes, uh-huh.

TI: How about the other Japanese in Beaverton? How did they fare?

KA: Oh, we didn't know any Christian Japanese.

TI: But how were they treated? I mean, were they treated as well as your family in terms of having their property taken care of...

KA: I don't know what happened to them.

TI: Or teachers writing to them?

KA: Because it happened so suddenly, you know. We only had about how many weeks or months? So I really don't know what happened. Because, of course, I was just a kid then, too. But my father's friend who had forty acres, I think maybe their lease was about to expire. So while they were in camp, the lease expired, and probably the owner took over.

TI: Yeah, I'm curious because I know a little bit about Hood River, and there, it was difficult for the Japanese. I mean, they, for the most part, I don't think the neighbors were that, were that receptive to the Japanese. And so I was curious if Beaverton was different.

KA: Oh, it's amazing how God gave us the nicest friends: our neighbor, who used to take us to Sunday school, they were so friendly and loving. And the schoolteacher, Mrs. Neill, she was so loving and so kind to us; she embraced us. But we were, let me see, there was only one other Japanese family who had children attending that school, Kaga's. But all the classmates were very loving to us, and here we were new in the community, we just moved in 1940. And evacuated in 1942, so we were only there in school for maybe about a year and a half or something. But they were all so nice to us.

TI: Yeah, so this is unusual.

KA: I know. I remember once when we went to Portland, (and walking), I remember somebody saying, "You dirty Japs." But that's the only time I sensed that discrimination. I looked at him and... we were kids then. But that was because of the war. But we never experienced that when we were in Beaverton. It was truly the Lord protecting us and meeting our... and we never went hungry, not once.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.