Prof. Ikuro Teshima, the head of the 50,000-member Makuya sect – Christian Zionists in Japan – arrived in Israel today to present a $10,000 ambulance to Lod Airport as a sign of the grief felt by the sect over the Lod massacre on May 30 in which 26 persons were killed by three Japanese terrorists. When news reached Japan of the mass killing, the Makuya sect conducted a three-day fast of repentance. “We were stunned and grieved by the senseless murders committed by three of our countrymen,” Prof. Teshima said. “We sought some way to express our feelings.”
Immediately after the Lod incident, Prof. Teshima sent his son Yaacov to Israel to visit with survivors and to apologize to them for what happened. The Makuyas, who are not affiliated with any western church, call themselves Judeo-Christians. As fundamentalist Christians, they regard the restoration of Jewish rule over Jerusalem as a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and a heralding of the coming of the Messiah. The Makuyas plan to send next year 200-300 members to Jerusalem which they regard as their holy city.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
