St. Louis County MO Archives Biographies.....Wengler, Jessie December 13, 1887 - July 22, 1958 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/mofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Judy Stevens rbsjudy@aol.com October 2, 2005, 6:07 pm Author: Judy Stevens The Wengler family home was noted as a very good, loving home. The Wengler's were active in their community and business people. Jessie Wengler’s dad served as Deputy Sheriff, County Clerk, County Treasurer and President of the Clayton Co. School Board over his adult years in Clayton, MO. He also was the railway agent. The family were strong Republicans and very devote in their Methodist faith. Their daughter Jessie was educated in the Clayton public school system. She studied the piano and music for six years and the summer of 1909 taught music and piano in the Denver, Co. Normal school. She probably was there staying with her older sister Katherine who had recently married Howard Sullivan and they had moved to Denver in about 1908. Jessie studied religion at both the Moody Bible School and the Brookes Bible Institution. She also did clerical work for a religious organization in Chicago. In 1919 Jessie applied to the Assembly of God for an assignment as a missionary. She requested Korea, feeling that she was called by God to Korea. Her application states that her mother strongly supported her decision to become a missionary although she does not include the rest of her family in that statement. In her first letter home from the ship SS Mounteagle in 1919 she tells of her emotions as she leaves her family at the railway station in St. Louis. She then goes to Vancouver Canada where she boards the ship for the journey to not Korea but Japan. She describes as the shore fades away, her feelings of leaving everything and everyone she loves to this venture into the unknown. She exclaims that her faith will keep her whole. Jessie letters are regular and filled with the many experiences that she encounters as she forms a new life and starts to establish a church of her own. As her ability to communicate improved she develops strong friendships that will last through out her life. One of her very descriptive letters home she tells with great detail of the terrible earthquake that hit the Kanto plain and destroyed Tokyo, Yokohama. About 140,000 people fell victim to this earthquake and the fires caused by it. During the 20’s and 30’s Jessie busily built her church and worked with the people she had grown to love. Japan had become her home and although she occasionally made a trip back to the states she felt that her congregation and her adopted country were now her real home. She determined that unlike most of her fellow missionaries that she would remain in Japan during the war years. These years were very difficult for many reasons. She was watched and suspected by the government but never abused. As the war lengthen, rationing and food supplies became very bad and as a foreigner, Jessie would have starved had it not been for the kindness and goodness of her flock. Jessie writes a poignant story of a Christmas toward the end of the war. She is going to have company and she has nothing to provide as food.. Then with the goodness of others and by the grace of God, he provides so that she can entertain her guest. Jessie who normally weighted about 110 lbs., weighted 75 lbs. at the end of the war. Her letters are informative but never the least bit of self pity or complaining. She just writes about her daily life and her work. In the post war years Jessie and her church were often helped by US GI’s. One note in some of her papers indicate that she was a contact for Douglas MacArthur. Not sure of how much she helped in the post war time but with her extensive knowledge of Japan, the people, the language, she probably was a valued consultant. Then in 1958, after a battle with cancer, Jessie Wengler peacefully passed away. She is buried in a quiet spot, close to her beloved church and near the friends she had made in all her years in Japan. The following information was sent to me via e-mail on May 25th, 2004 from one of the current missionaries of Jessie’s Wengler’s still active church. “We celebrated 80th anniversary of our church, Mejirodai Zion Chapel, last year, and we are also compiling a memoir, and this is the record that we have of Miss Wengler.” “Miss Wengler came to Hachioji City (geographically the largest city within Tokyo, with a population of half a million at present) in 1923. She rented a place and started a children’s meeting, and the landlord’s daughter, Kimi Sakamoto, began to help her. Miss Sakamoto became a Christian while listening to the messages, and went to a Bible Institute to become a pastor herself. Miss Sakamoto inherited Hachioji Church from Miss Wengler, and became its first pastor. There were other Assembly of God missionaries and pioneering works in Japan before 1923, but as far as denominational record is concerned, Hachioji Church is the oldest among the Assemblies of God in Japan! Miss Wengler then went on to pioneer other Assembly of God churches in the Tokyo area. The church moved from the original location to Mejirodai (another part of Hachioji) about 25 years ago, during the time of the third pastor, Kazuo Uehara. Keiji Wada became the fourth senior pastor in 2001, and since he had a vision of team ministry, the Ueharas are staying on as pastors also, and we, the Kisakis work with them as assistant missionaries from the British Assemblies of God. Currently, we have 2 services on Sunday morning, Bilingual (English & Japanese) service in the evening, and another service on Tuesday morning. Prayer meetings are held on Wednesday night and Friday morning. Children’s church is on Sunday morning, and another children’s meeting on Wednesday afternoon. We have a balanced congregation from babies to elderly, young people and couples; about 120 adults and 40 children attend every week. We run a Bible school for the church members on Friday, and offer an introductory Bible study course every day of the week except Mondays, so people are coming to the church all the time. We thank God that He sent Miss Wengler to pioneer our church in Hachioji City. We are so pleased to let you know that the church your Auntie started 80 years ago has now grown to fourth biggest Assembly of God church in Tokyo, and has planted 2 daughter churches in rural areas of Japan where there were no Assembly of God churches before. The letter is signed by Tom Kisaki, Asst. Missionary to Mejirodai Zion Chapel. Additional Comments: Those wishes further information may reach me via email at rbsjudy@aol.com or write PO Box 4360, Fayetteville, AR 72702. The Assembly of God headquarters in Springfield, MO has an extensive file on Jessie Wengler that they are happy to share with interest parties. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/stlouis/photos/bios/wengler41gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/stlouis/bios/wengler41gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mofiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb