Harvest Time TV Weblog

• Paul Broman was born in the U.S. in 1927. In 1950, he became a missionary and came to Japan, focusing his activities on the northeastern region of the country. In 1960, he married a Japanese woman and, in 1970, he took Japanese citizenship. He took the Japanese name of Masaru Iwasa.



Paul Broman, Chairman of the Board and founder of GrapeCity, Inc.

• In order to raise money for evangelism, Broman began a company which, even now, is a greatly-blessed enterprise. The name of the company is GrapeCity, Inc. and it's located on a corner in a quiet residential area of a Sendai suburb. As for the work itself, they sell software designed for schools to use in administrative tasks, as well as development software for professional programmers. They've been recognized by Microsoft® with a "Gold Certified Partner" rating.


• In addition to their activities in Japan, they've established related ventures in the U.S., China, India and Mongolia. They are clearly taking on the challenge of creating a global development enterprise.


• In 2003, they established a video production arm called Wine Studios, which is involved in the creation of DVDs, videos and commercial spots for television.


• Broman and his wife Setsuko are well-known for bringing up ther 22 children -- 10 of those are their own and the other 12 were adopted.


• Furthermore, Broman's younger brother, Phillip, is the principal of Meisen Kindergarten, a school well-known to everyone in the area. It's distinctives include a bilingual curriculum and an educational approach that is based upon a biblical worldview. The school has two locations and a total of 600 students. A further program for extending English langugage ability is offered once the children graduate.

   It's impossible for me to adequately describe in words the significance of the Broman family's work. I'll just have to encourage you to watch the TV programs.

   While I was visiting GrapeCity, I ran into the former director of our Harvest Time office in the U.S., Hirō Inaba. This was another unexpected blessing. Mr. Inaba is now serving as the director of CHEA Japan, a catalyst organization for the homeschooling movement in this country. He has invited Mr. Broman to come as a speaker to address the next CHEA Japan convention. This is, in a sense, Inaba's way of introducing the Broman family to the Church in Japan.

   When I asked him why he had invited Mr. Broman to come speak, he replied like this:

Up until now, including the time I worked for NHK television, I've interviewed a lot of people, but I've never met anyone who has made as deep an impression upon me as has Paul Broman. There are many people who could come and speak, but there aren't many who actually "practice what they preach" to the degree that he has. The reason that Paul Broman is seeing the fruit of his labor to the extent he is now, is because he has put the teaching of the Bible into practice. I want as many people as possible to know about this.

   In writing these lines, I confess my irritation at the limitation of language as I try to describe this, but I guess it can't be helped. We'll be making three programs out of the taping we did on this trip and the programs will air in August and September (September and October in the U.S.). Won't you join me this week in making it your own goal to be someone who really does "practice what you preach?" Have a great weekend.


   Kenichi Nakagawa