Ressler, Rhoda M. (1910-2008)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2008 Sep 1 p. 10

Birth date: 1910 jun 10

Pioneer Japan missionary dies at 98

By Mennonite Mission Network staff

MEDINA, Ohio — Rhoda M. Ressler, the younger of two sisters who helped pioneer the Mennonite church in northern Japan, died Aug. 5. She was 98.

With her sister, Ruth, Ressler spent 25 years in Japan — 21 of those years with Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor of Mennonite Mission Network.

The Ressler sisters were instrumental in establishing a Mennonite church in the town of Kamishihoro in the country's northernmost region of Hokkaido, where they taught the Bible, made friends and offered themselves ans a Christian presence.

Yukari Kaga and Mary Beyler, current workers in Hokkaido, remember previous generations of Japanese Mennonites speaking fondly of the Resslers.

Former Kamishihoro leader Keisuke Matsumoto, who died in 2005, told Beyler and kaga that the Resslers' dedicated ministry is the only reason a Christian church exists in the village.