In Recent Events

In my newsletter from this last month, I requested prayer God to bless the opportunities that Christmas brings to share its true meaning and joy with people. Goodness- has God been answering these prayers! In my classes yesterday and today I witnessed wonderful things!

In my 5th grade class, we opened the doors on an advent calendar, revelaing a picture and a corresponding verse from the Bible. I taught the students how to find the verse, and we read it in both English and Japanese. One student, Daiki, who often comes early and reads the Japanese Manga Bible, could not put the Christmas story down- he was just devouring it! He came to the church's kids event last weekend too- and was captivated throughout the pastor's message.

In a private lesson this morning with a middle-aged woman, we got to talking about Christmas and what she liked about it. She said it was a time of joy and happiness, but that the "heart" of Christmas in Japan and America are different. This lead into a conversation about hope- and the gift of love and forgiveness through the Christ child. She said for Japanese people, New Years is a time of hope too- they even have parties, called Bonenkais, in which they seek to forget the bad from the past year, and hope for or look forward to the good. They do this by consuming large amounts of alcohol! (One university student told me he has five bonenkais this year to attend!) My student then spoke about hope for the future- how she, every year, has many hopes that she, by her own power and strength, sets out to accomplish. At the end of the year, every year, though, she always feels disappointed in her inability to accomplish or change things. This lead into a conversation about the source of hope- in Japan at New Years, people put their hope in themselves and their own abilities. In the church at Christmas, we put our hope outside of ourselves because we know we fail- but there is one, God, who doesn't. Instead he comes to our aid, serving us and saving us from sin and our hopelessness.

And then, walking home from worship last night with my friend Yuko, we had a wonderful conversation about Christmas, and the difference between its meaning to Japanese people and to westerners/christians. I sent her, earlier this week, the page number of the Christmas story so she could read it in her new Bible. She was so excited to read it for the first time! She expressed how much she was looking forward to her first christmas attending church. Somehow this led to the the topic of other important celebrations in the church- and I got to tell her about Easter for the first time too! And, she said again, "I can't wait to celebrate Easter in Church this next year for the first time too!"

OK- one more story. Last week I had a long conversation with a grandmother whose daughter wanted to study English but couldn't because of her young son. (In Japan, babysitters are almost unheard of.) As a high school and college student both, I worked part time at early childhood centers, and loved it! So, in talking with this woman, an idea sprouted- creating a class for mothers and their young children- an English play group of sorts. Research has shown the value of early exposure in langauge ability and development, and so many of these moms are itching to get out of the house and interact with other people. It's all just been in the idea stage this last week- but God seems to be taking the lead and the phones have suddenly been ringing off the hook with people who are interested in just such a class. Though its the last week of class for the semester- observers just keep walking in the doors, wanting to join the English school! Today a woman called wanting to join the English Bible study. What a reminder- we may be gearing up for vacation, but God's sure not!

Especially at this time of year, it can feel difficult being away from family. But I am so thankful that though I can't be with my own family, God is blessing the ministry here and has given me many brothers and sisters in Christ with whom I can celebrate His gift in Christ and the ways He is working here and now among us in the hearts of people.

The Motions

I had such an interesting experience today. One of the two kindergartens where I teach has no Christian teachers there, though it is a "Lutheran Kindergarten". The kindergartens were started by the churches in the area a number of years ago, but in recent years at this kindergarten, the need for staffing has led to hiring people who aren't Christian, and after a while, because there are so few Christians, the staff is now completely non-christian. The kindergarten is still connected to a church in the area, maybe a 20 minute drive away, by a man who serves as a sort of lay minister/Chaplin of the kindergarten. Every week when I teach there I attend the morning chapel with the kids, led by this older Japanese Christian gentleman. He leads the children in prayers, gives a message, and singing with the help of the teachers.

Today this man was absent, and tomorrow is the kindergarten's big Christmas family event. I watched today as these teachers led a rehearsal of the next day's worship with the children. None of them are Christian, not the teachers, not the students, and not the parents or families coming. So why are they having worship? Externally everything looked right- the acolyte bowed in all the right places, the standing and sitting, the sermonizing; they even practiced taking the offering. And, true to tradition and in fulfillment of western-Christianity stereotypes, they ended in candlelight, singing "Silent Night". But my heart was just heavy as I watched people go through the outward actions of something that has so much meaning for me. But what I witnessed instead was worship coming not from a thankful, believing heart, but rather following a prescribed pattern carried out for the sake of duty and tradition. Duty and tradition are not bad in and of themselves, but when it comes to worship, I believe without faith they are meaningless to those involved. The absence of God's presence was acute in that place.

The religion of Japan, being a blend of Shinto and Buddhism, is something that is followed by many in as far as prescriptions, rituals, and requirements, but if you ask a Japanese person whether or not they actually believe it, many will say "no" while others will stare at you blankly wondering what that has to do with anything. Religion often then is something that is culturally ingrained, rather than something that contains a genuine faith to which a person subscribes. So it's not so much of a stretch to see how, from their perspective, it is entirely possible to go through the motions of Christian worship without entering into worship.

I know I've asked before, but please pray for this site and these teachers- and also for the Christian leadership of these kindergartens, that they would discern God's leading in their ministry and bear fruit.