In the midst of a never-ending conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that seems to have no solution, one Japanese woman shares her work for reconciliation through “Musalaha,” a NGO working to build mutual understanding and trust across the divides of ethnicity and religious worldview.
Musalaha is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 by Professor Salim Munayer, an Arab Israeli Christian, to work for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Following the principles of reconciliation taught in the Bible, it strives to implement various programs to build bridges across the several chasms that have developed between Israeli and Palestinian societies.
対話がもたらす真の和解
＃＃
和解のミニストリー
イスラエルとパレスチナの隔ての壁を越えて
＃＃
小野山 翠
おのやま み どり／ NPO「ムサラハ」インターン
＃＃
解決の糸口が見つからないまま長期化するパレスチ ナ紛争。
異なる民族、異なる宗教観での相互理解と信頼関係 構築の
ために地道な取り組みを続けているイスラエルの
NGO「ム サラハ」で働く日本人女性が
その働きを紹介しつつ、自らの
和解の体験を語る。
＃＃（ムサラハとは）
ムサラハ（Musalaha）
アラブ系イスラエル人クリスチャンであるサリム・ ムナヤー博士が、イエス・キリストの生き方と教えに倣い、
＃＃（本文）
by Chibana Sugako, pastor
Paraguay Pirapo Free Methodist Church
The country of Paraguay is located on the continent of South America, surrounded by Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina, and is roughly 1.1 times larger than Japan. Its climate is subtropical, and as of the year 2015, its population is approximately seven million people. The main industries are agriculture (wheat and soybeans), cattle breeding (for meat), and forestry. The capital is Asuncion, the center of the country’s government and economy. The Gross Domestic Product per capita is about 4,368 dollars. It is certainly not a wealthy country, but the citizens are cheerful and generous.
The native people of Paraguay are the Guaranis. However, in 1535 Paraguay was colonized by Spain and was under Spanish rule for 276 years until it became independent in 1811. During that period, due to intermarriage with Spaniards, the number of native Guarani people continued to decrease, and at present they account for less than two percent of the total population. It was the Spanish Jesuit monks who introduced Christianity to Paraguay in the latter half of the 16th century. Now, 90% of the country is Catholic, and 6% is Protestant, which means that 96% of the people are Christians.
In Paraguay there are six settlements for people of Japanese ancestry. The immigration from Japan to Paraguay began in 1936, and this year marks the 80th anniversary. Immigration to Pirapo (where Pirapo Methodist Church is located) happened in 1960. At present, the population of Pirapo is about 10,000 people, about 1,300 of Japanese ancestry. The farmland averaged 30 hectares per field at the time of immigration, but it has since increased tenfold, so now the average field is 300 hectares. The land yields abundant crops of food, like soybeans and wheat. Generally speaking, people of Japanese ancestry have a wealthy lifestyle. Japanese language and culture have been taught and passed down very well.
Two evangelists, Sakai Kotaro and his wife, lit the fire of the gospel in this land in 1960. The following year, 1961, Pastor Tsukamoto Noboru was sent by Brazil Free Methodist Church, and Pirapo Free Methodist Church was founded. In 1962 the church building was built, and many people from the village were led to the church.
Settlements were pioneered not only in Pirapo but also in Encarnacion, Iguazu, and Lapaz. The first pastor to those areas was Tsukamoto, and he traveled frequently to the churches, providing pastoral care. The second pastor, Sugiyama Hoshinori, resided at Pirapo Church for four years and endeavored to build up the church. Pastor Sugiyama also worked as a teacher at the Japanese language school. He built a dormitory at the side of the church building for the Japanese-language elementary school children who came from far away and looked after them. He contributed greatly to the education of the children in the settlement.
Around 1975, Sugiyama accepted a position in Brazil. For 40 years, from that time until last year, there was no pastor at this church. The church members, praying desperately that the flames of their faith not be extinguished, observed Sunday worship every week. Fortunately, while there was no pastor at the church, other pastors, such as Pastor Arihara Shigeru and Pastor Nowada Mitsuteru came from churches in Encarnacion and Asuncion once a month, serving God by preaching the Word. This was certainly very encouraging for the members of the church in Pirapo, for which they gave thanks.
I had been given a vision for mission to Paraguay. In February 2015, I went to Paraguay. As I was looking for a place to work as a missionary, through the wondrous leading of God, I arrived at the church in Pirapo. I have since been formally sent by the Kyodan to serve there. I have been given by God everything that I need for missionary work, including health. Every day I live in thankfulness to God.
Now the church has 12 members, and the attendance at worship is a small flock of 4 to 6 elderly people, worshiping in Japanese. Church activities include Sunday worship, Wednesday meetings, evangelistic visitation, and meetings once a month in the homes of brothers and sisters who have immigrated to Asuncion.
On March 27, two elementary school students and their grandmother attended Easter worship for the first time. For us, it was a very joyful occurrence. We pray and ask the Lord that not only these three people but also many more citizens of Pirapo may be led to the church from now on, and that God will raise up a harvest of many people whose souls have been saved.
Please pray that the Lord will bless this church and use it.
ピラポ自由メソジスト教会牧師 知花スガ子
主の御名を賛美いたします。
パ ラグアイは南米の内陸に位置し、ブラジル、ボリビア、
パ ラグアイには、原住民グワラニー族(Guaranies)が 暮らしていましたが、1535年 スペインの植民地となり、1811年 に独立するまでの276年間その支配下にありました。
パラグアイには、6つの日系移住地があります。
この地に福音の火がと もされたのは1960年、信徒伝道者の酒井好太郎(Sakai Kotaro)夫妻によってなされました。翌1961年にブラジ
初代の塚本牧師は、ピ ラポ移住地だけでなく、エンカルナシオンEncarnacion
その後、1975年頃、杉山牧師はブラジルへ転任なさい、
私は、以前よりパラグ アイ宣教の幻を与えられていました。
現在、当教会の現住陪 餐12名、礼拝出席は、ご高齢の方々4～6名の小さな群れで、
先日（3月２７日）のイースター礼拝には、2人の小学生と祖母が
主が、当教会を祝し用 いて下さるよう、どうぞご加祷下さい。
(Tr. KT)
by Ando Akiyoshi, pastor
Shunan Church, Ou District
Martin Mosser Smyser (1875-1955), who came from Pennsylvania and had been invited by Yokote Middle School to be an English teacher, began the evangelistic work of Shunan Church, starting with an English Bible class for neighborhood children in his home. Smyser, who believed that “evangelism in Japan should be done by Japanese,” chose two baptized youth from that class and sent them to Meiji Gakuin High School, then on to the seminary there. Following graduation, these two men, Seya Shigeji and Suzuki Kozo became as Smyser’s right and left hands. They moved ahead to promote the evangelization of southern Akita Prefecture. The unique characteristic of Smyser’s evangelistic work was his non-affiliation with any denominational body. Smyser’s support of the two young men covered not only their educational expenses but all their living expenses as well. To do that, he continued his work as a missionary, receiving financial support from his friends in his homeland.
As a band of believers was born in one region, they extended their work to another region. Spreading the gospel through the southern area of the prefecture was their priority. When there was no pastor present, the believers maintained the meetings with testimonies. The meetings did not have any particular building but continued their existence as “house churches.” This method of evangelism also appeared among those that were called the ”Fukuin Kyodan” (Gospel Band). Before the band became a “church,” they identified themselves by saying, “We are a brotherhood led by the Reverend Smyser.” I think this style was a breakthrough for rural evangelism in Japan, which had been frustrated so many other attempts by various churches.
However, in this brotherhood, the waves of history beat upon the shore. Under the “Religious Organizations Law”(enacted in 1940), the Smyser band, as a religious association, changed its name to “Shunan Christ Church,” and in the midst of these difficulties, it became a part of the Kyodan. Concurrently, the church itself was also making decisions that were greatly changing its character, namely, Smyser’s retirement. He had initially resisted returning to his country, but the thought-control police made that a precondition. Seya Shigeji was ordained and became the head pastor. At the same time, Suzuki Kozo left Shunan Church.
Seya was sent to Indonesia during World War II. When he returned to Japan, the meetings in the region were reopened and new churches in the bands formed after the war were also added, but the “house church” base did not change. The Reverend Murakami Eiji was invited as Seya’s successor, and the gatherings planned to build meeting halls in each area respectively. All the believers gave offerings, and in turn six meeting halls were dedicated. Formerly, there were more home meetings but only six remain that were able to construct meeting halls and one place where a house meeting is still being continued. This is Shunan Church at present.
Missionary Choi Jang-Soo and I are partnering and serving in rotation. Worship services at Yokote sanctuary and Asamai sanctuary are on Sunday from 10:30 a.m.; Uenodai sanctuary and Obonai sanctuary worship services are on Sunday afternoon from 2:00 p.m. Worship at Kakumagawa sanctuary is from 7:30 p.m. on Monday, and Omonogawa sanctuary worship is held twice a month at 7:00 in the evening. The house meeting is held in the home of a believer in Kakunodate on the third Friday afternoon of every month at 1:30. The board of trustees meeting is held each month on the second Sunday from 2:00 p.m. at Yokote sanctuary. Yokote was Smyser’s beginning base of evangelism and continues presently as the center. Naturally, in order for the minister and the missionary to be present at the board of trustees meeting, the afternoon worship services are held with the support of neighboring area pastors.
As a matter of principle, both Choi Jang-Soo and I attend worship services together on days other than Sunday. The meeting halls are shelters for the protection of the believers’ faith, but as believers age, maintenance of the meeting halls is presently becoming a burden for Shunan Church. But even so, believing that our active evangelism will contribute to a revitalization of the evangelization of our nation, we continue to move forward. (Tr. RT)
秋南教会の成り立ち
日本基 督教団 秋南教会牧師
安 藤 昭 良
秋南教会の伝道は1914年、 に英語教師として招かれた米国ペンシルバニア州出身のマーティン
ひとつの地域に信者の群が生まれる と、彼らは他の地域へ足を伸ばしていきました。県南全域で、
しかしこの教団に、歴史の波が打ち 寄せます。「宗教団体法」（1940年施行）の下、
戦時中インドネシアに派遣されてい た瀬谷牧師が帰国することによって、地域集会が再開され、
The Kyodan Tohoku District Nuclear Disaster ReliefTask Force, “IZUMI,” was formed in October 2013, in accordance with a resolution passed at the 68th Tohoku District Annual Assembly in May of that same year.
Presently, this task force is comprised of a director, an adviser, and a steering committee of five members, including the director, who work with four active full-time staff and a number of volunteers. The office is located in the annex of the Tohoku District Center in Sendai. This was previously a two-story missionary residence called “Maggie House,” which was renovated for our use through funding from the Kyodan and Tohoku District. The steering committee meets once a month, and a staff meeting is held every week. At these meetings there are detailed accounts of the work being done, and ample time is taken in planning future steps. This is because engaging with the problems of radioactive contamination calls for a variety of approaches. Our activities focus on health consultation and examinations, recuperative programming, visitation, and listening. From our first month of activity, we developed programs for recuperation. In December 2013, the physician who performed the first thyroid examinations also gave a lecture. This lecture, as well as five others that followed by other lecturers, was about radioactivity. In the beginning, Dr. Yamazaki Tomoyuki came to us from Airin Church in Osaka District to provide health consultation every month. This was very important for the care of families of children attending church-related kindergartens and nurseries in Fukushima Prefecture. It is impossible to talk about the cooperative relationship we have with the Information Center for Radioactivity in Aizu, located in Wakamatsu Sakaemachi Church in Fukushima Prefecture, without mentioning Dr. Yamazaki.
The first thyroid examinations were given in December 2013. The 24th series of examinations was held in January of this year. Over 1,000 children have been examined. Recently, examinations are being performed every month without fail. Children under 18 at the time of the disaster in Fukushima, who are now living in Miyagi Prefecture, have been the main focus of the examinations that we have arranged. For a brief period, we rented an echo machine, but with full funding from the Kyodan, we were able to obtain our own echo machine. We are extremely grateful for this. Since obtaining our own equipment, we have been able to take it throughout Miyagi Prefecture as well as to places close to us in southern Fukushima Prefecture, such as Marumorimachi, Kakuda City, and Shiroishi City. We were also able to take it to Kurihara City in the northern part of Fukushima Prefecture, which was said to have a high degree of radioactivity.
When visiting areas throughout Japan and reporting on our work, we are asked why we are working only in Miyagi Prefecture and not in Fukushima Prefecture. There has been no decision not to go to Fukushima Prefecture. We have visited the Kawatani Church kindergarten in the southern part of Fukushima Prefecture twice for thyroid examinations. One of the reasons we do so much work in Miyagi Prefecture is that the prefectural government has decided there is no danger of radioactivity and sees no need for thyroid examinations. However, at the local level, there is a different understanding. For example, due to the cooperation of the town of Ogawaramachi, we did thyroid examinations in that community. When a notice of our examinations was posted on the official town site, there was a flood of applications. The same thing happened in Shiraishi. In Ogawaramachi, the local government provided its facilities for the examinations, and the mayor came to observe. In one day, about 100 children received examinations. Normally, about 50 are seen in one day. The challenge of continuing thyroid examinations is finding doctors who will volunteer for only a travel subsidy. This year we were concerned because the doctor who had helped us was transferred, but we are thankful that suitable help has been provided.
There are two recuperative programs: one short-term and one long-term. The long-term program is held in Hokkaido during the summer and in Okinawa during the spring. It is a five-night, six-day program, with much cooperation from Hokkaido and Okinawa districts. In March we are planning to have our ninth long-term program at Amami Oshima in Kyushu District. It has been five years since the Great East Japan Disaster. The work of “IZUMI” began as an effort to protect the lives of children who, through God’s creative activity and providential guidance, are living here. This an ethical issue about life. When compared to the enormity of the nuclear disaster, this is a very small effort. However, for me, it is an effort I hope to continue. Please support us with your prayers.(Tr. JS)
From Kyodan Shinpo (The Kyodan Times), No. 4835
—Hoshina Takashi, pastor
Fukushima Church, Tohoku District
東北教区放射能問題支援対策室「いずみ」は、2013年5月に行
現在は、1名の室長と1名の顧問、室長も含めた5名の運営委員と
毎月一回の運営委員会と毎週一回のスタッフ・
甲状腺の第一回の検査は2013年12月で、2016年1月末で
日本各地に運営委員が出かけて活動を報告すると「
保養プログラムは、短期、長期の二つです。
東日本大震災と福島の原発事故から五年を迎えます。「いずみ」
The Kohitsuji (Little Lambs) Camp in Taiwan series, which began in January 2014 with an invitation from the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) and an offer of support from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), held its sixth and final camp in Chaghua County, southern Taiwan, April 2-5.
The six camps were attended by a total 195 people: 161 children and parents residing in Fukushima, who were seeking an opportunity to spend even a short time away from their radiation-contaminated environment, plus 34 staff persons. The first camp was held in Chiayi County (hosted by PCT’s Chiayi District), the second in Yilan County (Qixing District), the third in Tainan County (Tainan District), the fourth in Taitung County (Tungbu District), the fifth in Hsinchu County (Hsinchu District) and this time in Changhua County.
At each event, the campers received from the host district and churches a wonderful welcome that far exceeded their expectations and were able to play with abandon in the unspoiled splendor of nature. On the second day of the final camp in Changhua, the Kyodan hosted a special thanksgiving service at Yongfu Church, at which Kyodan Moderator Ishibashi Hideo delivered a message of thanks and PCT General Secretary Lim Hontiong offered warm words of response.
This program, which arose in response to the East Japan Disaster, became an important support activity for survivors of that catasrophe, which transcended the boundaries of Taiwan, the U.S. and Japan.
Also, at the PCT General Assembly that preceded the final camp, Kyodan General Secretary Nagasaki Tetsuo included in his message some words of gratitude on behalf of the parents and children who attended the camps and presented a certificate of appreciation to the PCT. This heartwarming scene was immediately uploaded to the PCT website, together with a detailed commentary.
The Kyodan extends sincere thanks to the PCT and UMCOR for the partnership and support that made this three-year, six-camp program possible, and we pray that the collaborative three-way relationship nurtured through this project may be strengthened even more in the days ahead. (Tr. DM)
—Iijima Makoto, executive secretary
East Japan Disaster Relief Projects
Relief Planning Headquarters
「こひつじキャンプin台湾」（全６回）、成功裡に終わる！
３・１１東日本大震災救援対策本部担当幹事 飯島 信
2014年1月、PCT（台湾基督長老教会）からの招きとUMC
の計195名が参加しました。そして、
東日本大震災を契機として、台湾基督長老教会・UMCOR・
又、このキャンプに先立って行われたPCT総会では、
3年間、6回にわたるキャンプを実現して下さったPCT及びUM
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