While Wesley UMC began as a “Japanese Church,” it gradually became a “Japanese-American Church,” as 2nd, 3rd and 4th-generation Japanese-Americans joined the church. With the change of demographics in the area, Wesley also became much more of an ethnically diverse church as African-Americans, Caucasians, and those of other ethnic backgrounds joined the church. There are approximately 200 members attending services in English, and approximately 30 who attend services in Japanese. As is clear from these statistics, far more members attend the English-speaking division than the Japanese-speaking division, which continues to gradually decline. There are many other Japanese-American churches that cannot afford to have a full-time Japanese pastor on staff, and some have stopped having Japanese-language services altogether. I was sent to Wesley UMC to serve as an associate pastor as well as to serve the Japanese-speaking congregation, but the issue of continuing ministry in the Japanese language in this area is one that will continue to be before us.
There are a number of Japanese companies in San Jose and the surrounding Silicon Valley, so there are quite a few Japanese families who have moved here for job-related reasons. One of the missions of the Japanese division is to serve this new expatriate community. For instance, we have a story-time group for their children, when we read books in Japanese, sing Japanese children’s songs, and play with the children. There were 15 children and 16 adults who attended the April meeting, the best attended since I have been here. The parents of these children want them to retain their Japanese language skills and cultural heritage. I have two young children of my own, and I want them to have good relationships with these children while they
Serving communion to a homeless man in a park near the church
by Yamamoto Hajime, Kyodan missionaryWesley United Methodist ChurchSan Jose, California, U.S.A.
Mothers and children enjoying story time in Japanese at the church
also retain their cultural heritage. Wesley UMC has begun discussions on the possibility of beginning a bilingual preschool.
Even though San Jose is known for high-tech companies, the homeless population has increased in recent years. In 2011, there were 4,034 homeless people in San Jose, but by 2013, this number had increased to 4,770. The gap between the rich and poor continues to increase. There has also been a 20-30 percent increase in land value, which has resulted in more people becoming homeless.
Even though technology companies are doing very well, there are still people who are working in menial jobs and cannot afford a home because land values are so high. When I visited the biggest such homeless camp in the United States, called “The Jungle,” I met families, women, youth, and even a baby in a stroller.
To minister to this homeless population, members of the church bring sandwiches and toiletry items to a nearby park. We also talk to the people there and have some fellowship time with them, chatting and singing and giving them communion occasionally; 20 people received communion at the last gathering. A few made the sign of the cross while others simply put their hands together in prayer, and no one made light of it or complained.
In my opinion, the homeless situation was created by our society, and the homeless camp and parks represent the wilderness where Jesus went after being baptized. I believe that Jesus’ love and grace is given to everyone, including these people who have been abandoned by the rest of society.
In America, this tiny Japanese-speaking division is a small minority, but God has said, “Do not be afraid, little flock.” I would like to work with the people of San Jose, and especially this homeless population, to create a better society. We continue to ask for your prayers and support.
ウェスレー合同メソジスト教会（カリフォルニア州サンノゼ）教団
(ルカによる福音書12章32節)
私が2013年10月 より宣教師として遣わされたのは米国カリフォルニア州サンノゼ、
「日本人教会としてスタートした当教会も中心世代が二世、三 世、四世へと変わっていくうちに、
サンノゼはシリコンバレーにある街で、日本の企業も多く、
またＩＴ（情報技術）
であったホームレスの数は2年後の2013年 には4770名に増加しています。私がこの地 にある全米最大のホームレス村に足を踏み入れたときには、
という声を耳にしましたが、ＩＴ企業で高収入を得る者と、
このような現状の中、
この地でホームレスの置かれた現状を見ると、社会が生み出した「
アメリカ全体で見ると、日本語で 宣教する教会はマイノリティですが、「小さな群れよ、恐れるな」
Through the efforts of August Karl Reischauer and his wife Helen, the Japan Oral School for the Deaf was founded in 1920 as the first school for the hearing impaired to use the oral method. Over the 94 years since its establishment, it has continued its efforts as the only Christian school for the deaf. Along the way there have been times of extreme difficulty, but through a variety of means of support, we have continued the work of God as we actualized the prayers of our founder.
After studying at McCormick Seminary in Chicago,
Helen and August Karl Reischauer
August Karl Reischauer applied to the Presbyterian Board of Missions. In 1905, he was accepted and sent to Meiji Gakuin as a teacher from the American Presbyterian Church. His wife, Helen Sidwell Reischauer, accompanied him. He later returned to the U.S. to study at the University of Chicago and the University of New York, and after normal school for the deaf. At the same time, she enrolled attaining a PhD in Theology, he returned to Japan. He herself in the same school and studied education for the then became the head of the high school at Meiji Gakuin. deaf through the oral method.Along with making significant contributions to the study and introduction of Japanese culture, he also played Lois F. Kramer came to Japan in 1917 as a missionary an important role in the founding of Tokyo Women’s of the Evangelical United Brethren Women’s Missionary University. Society and was involved in kindergarten education. She
had studied early childhood education in Cleveland, Ohio Helen Reischauer was born in Persia as the daughter of and taught at the Alexander Graham Bell School for the Presbyterian missionary parents and lived there until she Deaf for six years. When she was 26, she resigned from was 12 years old. Knowing the difficulties of missionary her teaching position and came to Japan as a missionary. life abroad, she shared Karl’s commitment and came to Meanwhile, Karl Reischauer had a vision of establishing a Japan with him. They had two sons and one daughter while school for the deaf in Japan and was searching for someone they were in Japan. The second son, Edwin Oldfather with experience in the field of education for the deaf. Reischauer, was famous as an eminent scholar of Japan, He immediately requested Kramer’s cooperation in the and while a professor at Harvard University, mentored founding of such a school in Japan.many scholars to follow him. Later he became the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. As one born in Japan and married Following Helen’s return to Japan, the Japan Oral School to a Japanese woman, he was an extremely popular for the Deaf was established on April 8, 1920 with Karl ambassador. Reischauer as principal. There were nine students enrolled.
Dr. and Mrs. Reischauer continued their work in Japan until In 1914, Helen gave birth to a daughter who was named 1941, when health and World War II made it necessary for Felicia (meaning “abundant fruitfulness”). Just before them to leave. Helen’s purpose, “to provide the highest her first birthday, Felicia became ill with pneumonia, and standard of education for deaf children, and nurture after two weeks of high fever, she lost her hearing. After scholarship and human nature,” still continues today. her complete recovery from pneumonia, the Reischauers During the war, Kramer remained in Japan, experiencing noticed a change in Felicia, and it was then that her loss of the pressures of being identified as a citizen of a “hostile” hearing was diagnosed. In the midst of this distress, prayer country as well as the bombing of Tokyo. At the end of the led them to the decision that Helen would take Felecia with war she immediately returned to the U.S., but came back to her to America while she studied education for the deaf and Japan two years later and continued missionary work until obtained a certificate to teach. 1957. During that time, she made many contributions in the
fields of early childhood education and education for the At that time, the oral method for educating the deaf was deaf. She became a central figure in work at the Japan Oral gaining popularity around the world, but it had not yet been School for the Deaf, introducing hearing aids and early introduced in Japan. Sign language was the only method education. Much of the foundation of today’s education being used in Japan, and Konishi Shinpachi, principal of for the deaf comes from the new methods advocated by the Tokyo School for the Deaf, was greatly concerned Kramer. about this condition. His strong request for the oral method to be introduced in Japan led to the final decision for Helen The pain of the loss of a daughter’s hearing eventually led and Felicia to return to the U.S. for study. It was a decision to great improvement in education for the hearing impaired that went beyond the pain of separation from family. of Japan. This gift of grace was the result of the fervent “Felicia! This affliction she bore that was so difficult to prayer and work of Helen Reischauer and Lois Kramer. remedy; it was a thorn of grace which would prepare her as Today, after the passage of 94 years and the advent of a significant part of our family’s service in Japan.” (This is hearing aids, new technologies, and early education, the the translation of a quote from Helen Reischauer and the Japan Oral School for the Deaf continues to be blessed in Japan Oral School for the Deaf, by Oshima Isao, former its ministry as a school that makes every effort to enhance principal of the school.) the auditory sense of its students. (Tr. JS)
In 1917, Helen enrolled Felicia in the oral method —Sesoko Masatsugu, head teacherdepartment of the elementary school of the Illinois state Japan Oral School for the Deaf
Lois Kramer
日本聾話学校 教頭 瀬底正嗣
涙と祈りと神の導きによって建てられた学校 日本聾話学校
ヘレン・ライシャワーとロイス・クレーマー
日本聾話学校は1920年に宣教師オーガスト・カール・
宣教師オーガスト・ カール・ライシャワーは、シカゴのマコーミック神学校で学び、
1914年に生まれた、フェリ シア（「豊かな実り」）と名付けられた長女は、1歳の誕生日を迎
1917年、ヘレンはシカゴの イリノイ州立師範学校付属小学校の聾口話部にフェリシアを入学さ
ロイス・F・
ヘレンの帰国を待っ て、1920年4月28日、日本聾話学校はカール・
娘が聴覚を失うという 大きな苦しみが、
The 367 participants at the National Youth Conferencegathered together for worship, many expressed the feeling of being overwhelmed.The program for each of the groups consisted of two lectures and three or four periods of small-group discussion. In the small groups, all the participants shared what they had gotten out of each lecture and their thoughts concerning that. Through this, they deepened their mutual understanding, and as a result then, the small-group participants came to know each other.On the second day, the participants could choose to participate in one activity from among seven options: outdoor sports, inside recreation, orienteering, going for a hike, crafts, watching a movie, or dialoging with the lecturer. The program for the second night was entitled “A Time of Praise and Testimony.” The first half of the program centered on praise songs, and many remarked that they felt as though they were at a concert. This was in contrast to the second half, when they listened to a testimony by Rev. Abe Rintaro, pastor of the Higashi Wakayama Church, then spent a quiet time of prayer along the lines of the Taize Community.On the third day, all of the youth wrote a letter to themselves, which is to be sent to them a year later. The conference closed with a worship service where, following a time a joyous praise, Rev. Kobayashi Katsuya gave a sermon in which he called upon all the participants, to “rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ,” and then extended that call to the Kyodan and to all of Japan.It was emphasized both before and during the conference that the Kyodan had not held such an event for almost half a century. The next such event will certainly be held long before another half a century passes. (Tr. AY)—Kobayashi Nobuhito, pastorFunabashi Church, Chiba Subdistrict,Tokyo DistrictFrom Shinpo (The Kyodan Times)No. 4806
半世紀ぶりの青年大会 小林信 人(Kobayashi Nobuhito)(船橋教会牧師)
８月１９日（火）～２１日 （木）の日程で、YMCAの施設である御殿場の国際青少年研修セ
大会の主題は「イエス・キリ ストの名によって立ち上がり歩きなさい」とされ、
集められた参加者の総数は、 ユースミッション関係のアメリカ、ドイツ、台湾、
立てられた講師は３名。青年 の講演を東京神学大学学長の芳賀力牧師が、高校生の講演を、
開会礼拝の説教は大会実行委 員長の増田将平(Masuda Shohei)牧師。自らが「イエス・キリス トの名によって立ち上がらされ歩き出した者である」とし、「
大会のプログラムの中心は、 それぞれ２回の講演と３～４回行われる分団である。
２日目には選択制のプログラ ムの時間が用意された。野外スポーツ、館内レク、
三日目は分団で自分宛の手紙 を書いた。１年後に参加者に届けられる予定である。
大会前から、そして大会中 も、
Following the International Conference on the East Japan Disaster, held in Sendai from March 11 to 14, overseas guests were invited to participate in an overnight bus tour to Ishinomaki and the surrounding areas. Approximately 50 people, including the Japanese hosts, got on a chartered bus and in a couple of cars that left Sendai following the closing worship service on Friday morning. They proceeded through Ishinomaki to the nearby Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, located on an isolated inlet of a narrow peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean some 80 km to the east of Sendai.Even three years after the tsunami hit, the scars were still everywhere to be seen along the coast. We arrived at the power plant mid-afternoon and were welcomed by the staff there to take a tour of their visitor center displays. Unlike the Fukushima Daichi Plant, the force of the tsunami was deflected somewhat by the layout of the land. Likewise, one outside power line remained operational following the earthquake, which barely allowed it to shut down safely. Evidently, however, it was a close call, and so imagine how much worse things would have been if there had been a meltdown at that facility as well! The tour demonstrating how the plant works and how “safe” it is would have been quite convincing if it were not for the reality of the Fukushima Daichi disaster, and so we listened with polite skepticism, with some members asking tough questions that surely made the staff a bit uncomfortable.Prior to spending the night at a local hotel, we gathered at Yamashirocho Church in Ishinomaki for a presentation of the relief work they have been involved in since the disaster. Being located inland and up a bit of a hill, the waters had stopped a block or so below them, and so the building sustained only minor damage from the shaking.The community below, however, was devastated, so the next day we reverently went to observe the aftermath. Our first stop was Okawa Elementary School, which is located about a kilometer from the ocean along a large river. Directly behind the school is a steep hill that would easily have protected the children and teachers if they had realized such a tsunami was coming. If the kind of tsunami they could have imagined had reached that far inland, the second floor of the school would have kept them safe. But while the teachers were deciding what to do, a towering wall of water ripped through the school killing 74 of the 108 children and 10 of the 11 teachers. As we viewed the destruction, pretty much left as it had been three years ago, we wondered how even those few had managed to survive. Apparently, the fickle flood washed a few to the hillside where they could grab onto something.Participants paying respects at the memorial near the remains of Okawa Elementary School
Mr. Ogata in front of his prefab office in the ruins of his store and home
That was also the case with the few that survived in the Kadowaki section of Ishinomaki, which we visited next. It was a densely populated section of the city nestled between the coast and a cliff about a kilometer inland. If an alarm had been sounded, there would have been enough time for most of the people to make it to higher ground, but the tsunami hit without warning, killing most of the residents.There was only one structure still left standing—the steel frame of a building, the remains of a small restaurant that had been operated by a couple who lived on the second floor. I talked with the owner, Mr. Ogata, who was trying to rebuild a life without his wife. He had somehow managed to grab ahold of floating debris and was washed up to the cliff, where he was able to scramble to safety. We had only a few minutes before the bus was to leave, but he proudly showed me the prefab office he had built and his new mobile restaurant in a truck, as he expressed his gratitude for all of the people who have been helping him to get back on his feet. (You can see it at www.ishinomakiya.com/ajihei/)It was a sobering experience indeed for all of us to see firsthand the enormous destruction of the tsunami and to meet some of the survivors struggling to start their lives anew. It will be a long road to recovery for the area that will be complicated by continuing fears of ongoing nuclear contamination.(See insert, which is the declaration of the international conference, entitled: “Resisting the Myth of Safe Nuclear Energy: The Fundamental Question from Fukushima”)—Tim Boyle, missionaryKwansei Gakuin, Nishinomiya Member, KNL Editorial Committee
被災地へのスタディーツアー
ティモシー・ボイル
仙台での国際会議に続いて、
津波の被害を受けてから3年 が過ぎたにもかかわらず、
石巻市内のホテルに宿泊する前に、
しかし、その下の平地部分は壊滅的な打撃を受け、翌日、
次に訪れた門脇地区も生存者はわずかであった。門 脇地区は石巻の中でも人口の密集した地区で、
津波による甚大な被害と、被災された方々が生活を 立て直そうと奮闘する姿をこの目で見て、
A joint conference of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the Kyodan was held at the Hokkaido Christian Center from Aug. 25 to 28. This was the 14th such gathering since the conference was begun, and the theme this year was “A Road in the Wilderness, Streams in the Desert” (Isaiah 43:19). The delegation from the PCT consisted of 18 members, while from the Kyodan 28 people, including 4 officers, attended.
The opening worship began at 6 p.m. with Rev. Lee Meng-Jer, a member of the Committee on Taiwan Church Relations, as liturgist and Rev. Jo Jen-Kuei, moderator of the PCT, preaching.
Following the worship service, Tanaka Fumihiro, chair of the Committee on Taiwan Church Relations, presided at the opening of the welcoming dinner, and Rev. Ishibashi Hideo, moderator of the Kyodan, gave welcoming greetings.
On the second day, we began the formal church-to-church consultations, in line with the purpose of our meeting together. During the morning session, we listened to mission reports by missionaries sent from the PCT and the Kyodan, which was followed by a time of questions and responses. Divan Suqluman, a missionary from the indigenous Bunun people in Taiwan, came to Japan in 2005. He has served several churches in Hokkai District and in his report focused on the indigenous Ainu people there. Next, Hayashida Yoshiyuki, a Kyodan missionary who served in Kaohsiung for 30 years, gave his report.
After adjourning to have lunch on the campus of Hokkaido University, we gathered again to hear reports on mission to youth. First to speak was Rev. Chou Tsou-Wei, PCTchaplain of Taipei University Student Center, followed by Sato Takafumi of the Kyodan’s West Tokyo District and Rev. Noda Taku, a member of the Taiwan Cooperative Committee. After these reports, PCT General Secretary Lym Hong-Tiong and Kyodan General Secretary Nagasaki Tetsuo jointly presided over a lively discussion of the various topics and issues mentioned in the reports, in preparation for the joint proclamation to be ironed out the following day. As they had done the previous night, the Hokkaido District Women’s Society provided a delicious dinner, which was followed by a time of fellowship.
On the third day we went by bus to Asahikawa, where we visited the Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Memorial Center, the Asahiyama Zoo, and the Miura Ayako Literature Museum. There, even though the time was short, we were fortunate to have a chance to hear a presentation by the curator, Miura Mitsuyo (the husband of Miura Ayako).
On the final day, back in Sapporo, Akiyama Toru, chairperson of the Commission on Ecumenical Ministries, presided as a joint declaration was crafted from the statements by participants from both churches. Kyodan Secretary Kumoshikari Toshimi preached the sermon at the closing worship. (Tr. GM)
—Kato Makoto, executive secretary
北海道における教団とPCTの協議会
第14回台湾基督長老教会(PCT)と日本基督教団との教会協議会が、8月25日（月）から28日（木）の期間、北海 道クリスチャンセンターを会場にして開催された。主題は「荒れ野に道を、砂漠に河を」（イザヤ43:19）、参加者は台湾基督 長老教会から18名、教団からは4役を含め28名であった。開会礼拝は18時から行われ、李孟哲台湾協約委員が司式、羅仁貴台湾基督長老教会総会議長が説教を担当した。19時からは田中文宏台湾協約委員長の司会で歓迎夕食会が開かれ、教団を代表して石橋秀雄総会議長が歓迎の挨拶を述べた。二日目は「教会協議会」のタイトルに相応しく、充実した協議が 行われた。午前中はPCTと教団から派遣されて いる宣教師の宣教報告を聞き、質疑応答の時を持った。ディバン・スクルマン宣教師は台湾の原住民 （ブヌン族）出身で、2005年に来日。北海教区内 の諸教会の礼拝奉仕に加え、特に宣教の中心課題であるアイヌ民族との関わりについて話された。続いて教団から派遣され、高雄で30年にわたり教会に仕えてきた林田義行宣教師の報告を聞いた。北海道大学キャンパス内での昼食と散策の後、午後は青年への宣教についての発題が あり、PCTからは台北大学生セン ターチャプレンの周宇緯牧師が、教団からは西 東京教区から参加の佐藤飛文氏と台湾協約委員の野 田沢牧師がそれぞれ発題を行った。17時からはPCTの林芳仲総幹事と長崎哲夫総幹事の共同司会により、そ れまでの諸報告と諸課題を総括し、翌日作成予定の共同声明のために、活発な意見交換と質疑応答がなされた。前夜に引き続き北海教区の 婦人会が中心となった手作りの夕食が振舞われ、夜は交流会が持たれた。三日目は一同バスで旭川に行き、川村カ子トアイヌ記念館を訪問 後、旭山動物園、三浦綾子記念文学館を訪れた。特に三浦綾子記念文学館では三浦光世館長から直接、短時間 ではあってもお話を伺う機会を得たことは幸いであった最終日は秋山徹世界宣教委員長の司会 により、双方の参加者の積極的な発言を通して共同声明が作成された。閉会礼拝の説教は雲然俊美書記が担当した。(加藤誠）
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