by Suzuki Mikio, member Nishi-chiba Church, Chiba Subdistrict, Tokyo District
Mutual Care Ministry is a program of Nishi-chiba Church that provides care for the elderly. Preparation for this program was carefully done through workshops and questionnaires before it was launched in 1997. It marked its 20th year in 2017. At the beginning, the services were limited to 1) visiting people in their places of residence,2) helping with household chores, and 3) helping with travel to and from hospitals and clinics.
These services were provided to those who applied for them, with the church being reimbursed for the actual expenses for items 2) and 3) above. We were a volunteer organization of 45 people, including 12 committee members, and we continued to think about the meaning of these activities. Our booklet Mutual Care was written around that time with Galatians 6:10 printed on the cover: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” This idea is the basis of our ministry.
I can recall receiving these words of encouragement from Rev. Gudrun Scheer, the missionary who served as the pastor of this church and who directed its ministry from the beginning. “Some people distance themselves from the rest of the group because they are afraid of becoming an inconvenience. However, love, service, and sharing in fellowship are at the heart of what the church is all about. By putting these into practice, both those who receive care and those who give care come together as the family of God and become the driving force of evangelism. The best volunteers are those who request care. Those who request care give something to live for, and give joy to those who give care. Those who feel that they are just useless are actually God’s gift to the rest of us.”
There is a coordinator who chooses and sends volunteers to those who apply for care. The present coordinator is the fourth person to hold that position. Our organizational structure has been improved by doing such things as appointing a committee chairperson whose main roles are leading committee meetings, preparing workshops, and negotiating with other organizations.
A committee meeting is held once every three months. First, we hear reports about the care given and discuss any problems there might be. Second, we discuss the content of workshops. Third, we make sure we really understand the circumstances of elderly people. From the beginning, these words were inscribed upon the hearts of the committee members: “There is a limit to the goodness of people. If we rely on people alone, we will all fail together. No matter what, we must have Jesus standing among us.”
Missionary Scheer presented lectures at least ten times. We also have workshops once or twice a year, led by a specialist either from inside or outside the church. This learning experience is open not only to the approximately 60 volunteers but also to all church members. We study such topics as:
1. Specific directives on how to visit people in their places of residence, help with housekeeping and travel to and from hospitals, and read to people over the telephone;
2. How the public eldercare system works, and the situation of public eldercare in general;
3. The reality of the emotions, bodies, and lifestyles of elderly people;
4. The spirit of mutual care; and
5. Various activities that can delay aging.
We have implemented these various activities, making adjustments along the way. Recently the volunteers themselves are progressively getting older, so we are diligently researching the fifth topic above.
For the church worship service and other meetings, “protective assistance” has also been added. Recently, public nursing has become a complete system. Taking into account the fact that the volunteers are also getting older, help with housekeeping and help with going to and from the hospital is our response only when there is an emergency. Basically, the help we provide is in the form of introducing people to places like the regional comprehensive support center.
Currently, the main activity is visiting people in their places of residence. Most of the people who receive care are residents in a facility. Volunteers always ask them how they are doing, listen to what they say, sing their favorite hymns with them (the popular hymns being “Jesus Loves Me” and “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”), and pray with them. The cognitive functions of some people have declined, but we remember that they are companions who at one time participated in church activities together with us. Volunteers visit them and listen, even if it is something they have heard many times. Volunteers all experience the joy that comes from putting your face close to someone, holding hands, and praying together.
Sometimes volunteers also talk with family members of the elderly people and with the other people in the facility. We keep in mind that visitation by church members plays an important role in connecting our church with the families and with the facility.
This ministry has continued for 20 years, and the effect of its fruit has spread throughout our church. Awareness has formed among church members to inquire about each other’s health. In every home meeting as well as in groups of elderly men and groups of elderly women, friends check up on each other. This has become the most important part of the reports during the regular monthly meetings.
There will be more and more people who, even though they want to come to church, cannot attend because of their advancing age. We must never forget even one such companion. At all times, every step of the way, we want to put love into practice so that each one will be inside the church’s circle of fellowship until the end. To do that, we continually receive encouragement from the Great Shepherd Jesus Christ, who leads us. We pray that our ministry can go forward humbly. (Tr. KT)
From Shinto no Tomo (Believers’ Friend), November 2017 issue
Summarized by KNL Editor Kawakami Yoshiko
相互ケア活動の20年
鈴木幹雄 すずき みきお／西千葉教会員
西千葉教会の高齢者ケアの取り組み「相互ケア活動」は、学習会や アンケートを通して入念に検討をし１９９７年に発足しました。
当時作成した「相互ケアのしおり」の表紙には、「今、時のある間 に、すべての人に対して、
本教会の教師として活動を初期から指導してくださったシェーア宣教師から、「
ケアの申込者に、ボランティアを選定・派遣するコーディネーター
委員会を３カ月ごとに開き、①ケア内容の報告、その際の問題点の話し合い、②研修内容の検討、③
シェーア宣教師は10数回の講義をして下さいました。その他、
教会の礼拝・諸集会での「みまもり介助」も加わっています。公的な介護が充実してきている昨今です。
現在の主たる活動は問安です。ケアを受ける人の多くは施設入居者となりました。安否を問いつつ話に傾聴し、愛唱賛美歌（「
ご家族や施設の方々とお話しすることもあり、教会メンバーの訪問は教会とご家族や施設をつなぐ役目を果たすこともあることを心に
20年の長きにわたってなされてきた実績が教会内に浸透しています。
高齢化が進み、教会に来たくても来られない状態の人たちが多くなるでしょう。一人の仲間も決して忘れない、
(「信徒の友 2017年10月号」より）
by Suzuki Mikio, member Nishi-chiba Church, Chiba Subdistrict, Tokyo District
Mutual Care Ministry is a program of Nishi-chiba Church that provides care for the elderly. Preparation for this program was carefully done through workshops and questionnaires before it was launched in 1997. It marked its 20th year in 2017. At the beginning, the services were limited to 1) visiting people in their places of residence,2) helping with household chores, and 3) helping with travel to and from hospitals and clinics.
These services were provided to those who applied for them, with the church being reimbursed for the actual expenses for items 2) and 3) above. We were a volunteer organization of 45 people, including 12 committee members, and we continued to think about the meaning of these activities. Our booklet Mutual Care was written around that time with Galatians 6:10 printed on the cover: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” This idea is the basis of our ministry.
I can recall receiving these words of encouragement from Rev. Gudrun Scheer, the missionary who served as the pastor of this church and who directed its ministry from the beginning. “Some people distance themselves from the rest of the group because they are afraid of becoming an inconvenience. However, love, service, and sharing in fellowship are at the heart of what the church is all about. By putting these into practice, both those who receive care and those who give care come together as the family of God and become the driving force of evangelism. The best volunteers are those who request care. Those who request care give something to live for, and give joy to those who give care. Those who feel that they are just useless are actually God’s gift to the rest of us.”
There is a coordinator who chooses and sends volunteers to those who apply for care. The present coordinator is the fourth person to hold that position. Our organizational structure has been improved by doing such things as appointing a committee chairperson whose main roles are leading committee meetings, preparing workshops, and negotiating with other organizations.
A committee meeting is held once every three months. First, we hear reports about the care given and discuss any problems there might be. Second, we discuss the content of workshops. Third, we make sure we really understand the circumstances of elderly people. From the beginning, these words were inscribed upon the hearts of the committee members: “There is a limit to the goodness of people. If we rely on people alone, we will all fail together. No matter what, we must have Jesus standing among us.”
Missionary Scheer presented lectures at least ten times. We also have workshops once or twice a year, led by a specialist either from inside or outside the church. This learning experience is open not only to the approximately 60 volunteers but also to all church members. We study such topics as:
1. Specific directives on how to visit people in their places of residence, help with housekeeping and travel to and from hospitals, and read to people over the telephone;
2. How the public eldercare system works, and the situation of public eldercare in general;
3. The reality of the emotions, bodies, and lifestyles of elderly people;
4. The spirit of mutual care; and
5. Various activities that can delay aging.
We have implemented these various activities, making adjustments along the way. Recently the volunteers themselves are progressively getting older, so we are diligently researching the fifth topic above.
For the church worship service and other meetings, “protective assistance” has also been added. Recently, public nursing has become a complete system. Taking into account the fact that the volunteers are also getting older, help with housekeeping and help with going to and from the hospital is our response only when there is an emergency. Basically, the help we provide is in the form of introducing people to places like the regional comprehensive support center.
Currently, the main activity is visiting people in their places of residence. Most of the people who receive care are residents in a facility. Volunteers always ask them how they are doing, listen to what they say, sing their favorite hymns with them (the popular hymns being “Jesus Loves Me” and “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”), and pray with them. The cognitive functions of some people have declined, but we remember that they are companions who at one time participated in church activities together with us. Volunteers visit them and listen, even if it is something they have heard many times. Volunteers all experience the joy that comes from putting your face close to someone, holding hands, and praying together.
Sometimes volunteers also talk with family members of the elderly people and with the other people in the facility. We keep in mind that visitation by church members plays an important role in connecting our church with the families and with the facility.
This ministry has continued for 20 years, and the effect of its fruit has spread throughout our church. Awareness has formed among church members to inquire about each other’s health. In every home meeting as well as in groups of elderly men and groups of elderly women, friends check up on each other. This has become the most important part of the reports during the regular monthly meetings.
There will be more and more people who, even though they want to come to church, cannot attend because of their advancing age. We must never forget even one such companion. At all times, every step of the way, we want to put love into practice so that each one will be inside the church’s circle of fellowship until the end. To do that, we continually receive encouragement from the Great Shepherd Jesus Christ, who leads us. We pray that our ministry can go forward humbly. (Tr. KT)
From Shinto no Tomo (Believers’ Friend), November 2017 issue
Summarized by KNL Editor Kawakami Yoshiko
相互ケア活動の20年
鈴木幹雄 すずき みきお／西千葉教会員
西千葉教会の高齢者ケアの取り組み「相互ケア活動」は、学習会や アンケートを通して入念に検討をし１９９７年に発足しました。
当時作成した「相互ケアのしおり」の表紙には、「今、時のある間 に、すべての人に対して、
本教会の教師として活動を初期から指導してくださったシェーア宣教師から、「
ケアの申込者に、ボランティアを選定・派遣するコーディネーター
委員会を３カ月ごとに開き、①ケア内容の報告、その際の問題点の話し合い、②研修内容の検討、③
シェーア宣教師は10数回の講義をして下さいました。その他、
教会の礼拝・諸集会での「みまもり介助」も加わっています。公的な介護が充実してきている昨今です。
現在の主たる活動は問安です。ケアを受ける人の多くは施設入居者となりました。安否を問いつつ話に傾聴し、愛唱賛美歌（「
ご家族や施設の方々とお話しすることもあり、教会メンバーの訪問は教会とご家族や施設をつなぐ役目を果たすこともあることを心に
20年の長きにわたってなされてきた実績が教会内に浸透しています。
高齢化が進み、教会に来たくても来られない状態の人たちが多くなるでしょう。一人の仲間も決して忘れない、
(「信徒の友 2017年10月号」より）
by Ogasawara Akihiro, member Ofunato Church, Iwate Prefecture, Ou District
I entered Tohoku Gakuin University in 1980 and through God’s guidance joined the men’s glee club, where I had my first contact with hymns and religious music. I also studied the Bible, but only for class credit, without believing in God’s teaching; so as I approached graduation, I put my Bible and hymnal on the back of my bookshelf.
On March 11, 2011, the giant tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake descended on the Sanriku coast of Iwate Prefecture, and both the house in Kamishi where I grew up and my house in Rikuzen Takata were washed away. I could not even cry at the sight of the hellish scene before my eyes.
In the whirl of the first year-and-a-half afterwards, my body and mind did not function normally, and I continued to experience insomnia. Somehow I was able to do my job, though completely exhausted when I got home, so I distracted myself with alcohol. I commuted to Kyoto to pray at shrines and also prayed at temples, but even when I did that, after ten days or so, I felt the same as before.
One day, I went to Tsuchizawa Church in Hanamaki to pick up some relief supplies. My wife’s parents often performed ventriloquism there as volunteers. When I told the pastor that my Bible had been washed away, she gladly gave me one of the church’s Bibles and hymnals. When I got home I casually opened the Bible, and the first thing that jumped out at me were the words in Matthew 6:25-34 “do not worry.”
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. . . . So, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (NRSV)
At that moment I heard the Word of God. I felt strongly, “I need to go to church!” and I could not stop crying. Ofunato Church warmly welcomed someone like me into their church. I started attending services with my wife, who had been baptized in her youth, and eventually I too was baptized.
A little more than a year later, a man with whom Ofunato Church Pastor Muraya Masahito had previously served as a volunteer probation officer started coming to church. With a record of more than 10 offenses, he was out of prison on parole. Pastor Muraya then asked my wife and me if we would help guide him as he prepared for baptism. It is the custom at Ofunato Church for members to take the lead in preparing others for baptism. Nevertheless, we were flabbergasted to receive this request when we had only been attending the church for a little over a year. However, if it is God’s mission, you cannot refuse, so we accepted.
This man had a home and a wife and children, but he was living in a room in the church. Pastor Muraya looked after him every day, and from time to time I would go to the church and talk about the Bible and other things with him. He was a hard worker, doing routine tasks around the church like cutting grass and clearing trees and bushes on the hill behind the church. He even helped at an NPO in the city. You would often see him reading the Bible, and at Christmas he made a detailed plan for the church illumination lights. I even bought a radio and gave it to him so he could listen to the Christian broadcast FEBC every evening. He deepened his understanding of the contents of the Bible, and his preparation for baptism seemed to be going smoothly. If he successfully completed his period of parole, his sentence would be complete. However, when he had only a few days left in his parole, he ran away with a woman he had met at his workplace. He was quickly found and sent back to prison. After that, he finished his sentence, but he never came back to the church.
What happened to the positive attitude he seemed to have had? My wife and I wondered if there had been something wrong with the guidance we gave him, and we spent our days questioning God about this. But this was not the end. Now the church is involved with a boy on temporary release from a juvenile correctional facility. At the same time, someone who had been shepherded through preparation for baptism by other church members was baptized on Pentecost Sunday in 2017.
Pastoral care or preparation for baptism are not only the job of the pastor. Ordinary members also have roles as laypersons, jobs that only laypersons can do. We are not transferred as pastors are, so we can continue to guide those who come to church for the first time. We are to become “the salt of the earth” and believe in God and that we are certain to bear fruit. With this in mind, I want to continue to reach out to new people who come to church. Amen. (Tr. DB)
From Shinto no Tomo (Believers’ Friend),
October 2017 issue
Summarized by KNL Editor Kawakami Yoshiko
祭司とされた、信徒として 新来会者を導く
小笠原明寛おがさわら あきひろ／岩手・大船渡教会員
私は１９８０年に東北学院大学へ入学し、
２０１１年３月11日、東日本大震災大津波が三陸沿岸に襲いかか
無我夢中の１年半が過ぎたころ、
そんなとき、
「だから、言っておく。
まさに神さまの御言葉が聞こえた瞬間です。
１年あまりが過ぎたころ、
その男性には家も妻子もあるとのことでしたが、
あの積極的な姿勢は何だったのか、
牧会や受洗準備は牧師だけの働きではなく、
by Horioka Makiko, president Hokuriku Gakuin Junior and Senior High School
Youth Director, Ishikawa Subdistrict Youth League, Chubu District
The ministers in Ishikawa Subdistrict have been sending out “Gospel Email” for over two years, since July 2015. This is an attempt to deliver the Gospel by email every day.
Until now I think the most frequent style of church evangelism has been: “Please come to us. If you do that you can hear the Gospel.” So people who are able to go to church on Sunday morning will receive the Gospel; but can people be expected to understand the Gospel by themselves if they are unable to attend church? The leaders of the young adult groups considered this question and began an experiment: “Let’s try to take the Gospel to those who cannot attend church and nurture our own everyday life of faith as well.”
The Gospel Email is sent to young adults on the mailing list of those expressing a desire to receive it. Normally, it is sent each morning during the six-day period of Monday through Saturday. A message from the district ministers or from a speaker invited by the young adults’ training session is sent to each young adult’s smart phone or cell phone. The message is intended to be 1) short, 2) made for that one day, and 3) speaking the Gospel to the young people in that district. At this point, there are about 50 young adults receiving the email.
At present, “delivery” itself is most important, so the process has not reached the point of the sender and the receiver (a person who received the email) sharing their thoughts. There has been a period of give-and-take, but the number of contributors is limited. And if the content of the writing is long, preparation becomes complex, so the group is concentrating on “delivery.”
Essentially, there is joy in hearing the Gospel together with others, so we are hoping that in the future, even outside the tool of email, an opportunity will be created for young people to talk about the Gospel daily. A freshness of new ideas is needed to move beyond the mere tediousness of sending the email in order to continue and have the strength to deliver the Gospel. Nevertheless one day at a time, they are continuing to spread the gospel. (Tr. RT)
From Shinto no Tomo (Believers’ Friend), November 2017 issue
信仰に養われて生きるために
堀岡満喜子
ほりおか まきこ／中部教区石川地区青年会担当教師、
北陸学院中学校・高等学校校長
* * *
石川地区の牧師たちは、2015年7月から2年以上にわたり「福音メール」を配信しています。
これまで教会の伝道は「ここまで足を運んでください。ここでなら 福音を聴くことができます」
福音メールはこれを受け取るという意志を示した青年たちのメーリングリストに送ります。月曜日から土曜日の週6日間、基本は朝。
ポイントは ①短く、②その日1日に向かって、③
現在は「届けること」に重点があり、発信する側と受け取る側、あるいは受け取った人同士が感想を分かち合うところには至っていま
本来、福音には交わりの中で聴く喜びもあるわけですから、将来的にはメールというツールの外でも、
課題はマンネリ化してきたことです。ただ送られてくる……という退屈さを超えて、
On Dec. 4, 2017 I left for a seven-day journey to visit the headquarters of the Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa, located on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. I was accompanied by Rev. Akiyama Toru, chair of the Commission on Ecumenical Ministries, and Rev. Fukushima Sumio, chair of the Kanto District Commission on Ecumenical Ministries.
Due to a one-hour delay in our departure from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, we had very little time for the transfer to our domestic flight to Manado. Local staff of the airline were there to guide us, but we were told not to expect the transfer of our checked luggage. It was no joke. We told them that this was their responsibility, and after further deliberation they increased personnel, found our luggage, put it and us in a taxi, and we got to the domestic terminal. However, arriving at the terminal, we found that our gate was number 26 of 28 gates in the terminal. In other words, we walked–or rather half ran–at least one kilometer to our gate. When we finally arrived at the gate, we were exhausted.
The next day we left Manado and followed a mountain road about 25 kilometers north to the town of Tomohon. We were surprised at the number of churches we saw. In other words, most of the people living in the villages must be Christians. Even as we returned at the close of the day, we saw young people gathered at the various churches we passed, enjoying themselves. The church there is the center of community life.
Tomohon is a highland town. It is no surprise that there is only one hotel. However, there is a Bible School where 1,000 students are studying. The church also has a hospital as well as a factory for processing coconuts where 40 students are being trained. In short, the church is giving birth to industry there.
As we were returning to the hotel after a fruitful consultation at the CEC headquarters, the telephone rang. It was the travel agency, informing us that our original flight for the next day had been canceled and that the new flight would be at 11 a.m.
The next day, as we were riding the car that had been hired for our trip to the airport, we received another telephone call from the travel agency, informing us that the morning flight had also been canceled. As a result, we rushed through the lobby of the domestic flight terminal and waited in line for a taxi, where 100 taxis were lined up, to go to the international flight terminal. In the end, we were able to return to Haneda Airport as scheduled, but this was much more of an adventure than we had expected. (Tr. JS)
—Kato Makoto, executive secretary
From Niji no Tayori, Commission on Ecumenical Ministries
エールにならないエール⑬～トラベルはトラブル～
インドネシアのスラウェシ島北端の町トモホンにあるミナハサ福音
翌日、マナドからトモホンまでは山道を25キロほど北に進む。
トモホンは高原の町である。ホテルが一軒しかないのも頷ける。
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