March 1, 2026
Sarah moved south of Tokyo in 1919 to Okitsu-machi in Shizuoka Prefecture, with Oiki San and Oiki San’s mother, and established a Bible school and kindergarten. Periodically a Japanese evangelist (Otoshige Fujimori)3 would be invited to conduct a meeting in their home. They made friends with the parents of their students and invited them to the meetings. Their work, which also included benevolence and Bible distribution, resulted in the planting of at least four congregations (in Okitsu, Shemedza, Numazu, and Shizuoka City), which eventually grew into eight.
When World War II broke out, although U.S. citizens (including the McCalebs) were evacuated from Japan, Sarah was determined to stay. She was concerned that if all the missionaries left, the Japanese government would seize property and force the Christians into a government-controlled State Church. She was imprisoned in 1942,4 and because of damp conditions and a starvation diet, she contracted tuberculosis and was sent to her home in Numazu, Shizuoka to die.5
Seventeen wounded soldiers were brought to Sarah’s house for her to nurse. She was allowed only one cup of rice each day, and at times was so weak she had to crawl between cots. She had to sell her furniture, piece by piece, to buy food. She boiled leaves and cornstalks for nourishment, used seawater for salt, and ate grasshoppers. Neighbourhood children, to whom she had ministered, supplemented her measly diet and helped prolong her life. In July 1945, near the end of the war, the city was bombed while Sarah slept. The entire area was devastated, and the only house left standing was hers.
For nearly three years there was no communication between Sarah and her loved ones in the States. Her sister, Mrs. T. B. (Myrtle) Thompson in Tyler, Texas, regularly invited air force men for Sunday dinner, and she gave each one the last known address for Sarah. Weeks after General Douglas MacArthur entered Tokyo, a Christian soldier and two comrades, with an address Myrtle had provided, drove a Jeep 70 miles to find Sarah weighing only 75 pounds and near death. The soldiers left their emergency rations, returned to Tokyo, and came back with groceries and supplies, saving her life.
Sarah continued working with churches in Japan and opened a rest home for women whose husbands and sons had died in the war. Although she didn’t like leaving the work,6 periodic furloughs to the U.S. were necessary because of her poor health. While at home in 1958, only three years before her death, Sarah’s family begged her to stay. She simply replied, “It is as near to heaven from Japan as it is from Tennessee.”
Back in Japan, where she had lived 46 of her 69 years, Sarah Andrews suffered a second stroke and died on the 17th of Sept. 1961. A monument was erected for her by both Christians and non-Christians, inscribed with these words: “She dedicated her whole life to her beloved Japan and Japanese people. She taught and trained many believers in Jesus Christ and gave all the glory to God. When she knew it was her time to leave, she recited Psalm 23 for hours, which moved those attending her death bed to tears.”7
Back in the United States, the year before Sarah’s death, a baby girl was born who would grow up to continue the legacy of Sarah Andrews as another outstanding servant of God. Her name was Roberta Edwards, and she will be the subject of the next post.
—Kevin L. Moore
~ Kevin Cleary