The 2019 Missionary Conference was held at Seisen-ryo in Yamanashi Prefecture March 25-28 and was attended by 25 missionaries serving in Kyodan churches or associated schools, 9 of their family members, and 8 Kyodan staff members.
The Missionary Conference is an annual event offering a chance for Kyodan missionaries to gather, establish mutual support, and experience physical and spiritual refreshment. This year missionaries, their family members, and Kyodan staff enjoyed wonderful fellowship and fruitful discussion in the beautiful environment of Seisen-ryo. During the discussion session, each participant joined a group focused on one of the following six topics.
1. Preaching to Young Adults at Schools
Missionaries serving at schools shared their experiences of preaching to students. Visual clues, such as PowerPoint slides, were suggested to enhance the understanding of students when the message is preached in English.
2. Bringing Young People to Church
The participants are aware that the younger generations are absent from most of the Kyodan churches. It was suggested that churches should collaborate together to organize public events like music festivals, game competitions, or intercultural parties to attract young people to church. Including contemporary music in worship services was also considered as an effective means of encouraging young people to participate in worship.
3. Serving as a Missionary at a Church
Missionaries serving at churches usually face a dilemma: whether to introduce new ideas to the congregation or to respect the tradition, culture, and authority of the church. Missionaries should be aware and learn from churches’ histories and should be in agreement with and committed to the mission of the local congregation. However, at the same time, missionaries want to share their ideas and gifts with the congregation. Participants hope to convey the message that missionaries are not trying to take over the church but instead want to enrich the community by sharing their gifts.
4. Best Topics to Talk about at Church
Participants stated that the Christian community should be vocal on social and ethical issues like abortion and the practice of homosexuality. In order to make a concrete stand, discussions among churches and communities are necessary.
5. Evangelism Events
In spite of the fact that outreach is one of the fundamental responsibilities of Christian individuals and Christian communities, outreach ministries in Kyodan churches are rather limited. Ideas on how to address this issue included organizing concerts as well as sports events following the Olympics boom.
6. The most Difficult Part of our Mission
Missionaries work with various people. Dealing with interpersonal relationships is the most difficult part of mission work. Besides cultural differences and barriers, missionaries and local pastors sometimes face offensive opinions or even attacks from the congregation. Prayer support and understanding from loved ones is essential during such critical times.
Seisen-ryo is located on spacious grounds surrounded by the bounteous natural beauty of Kiyosato in Yamanashi Prefecture, so groups take advantage of this location to hold a variety of programs. On the morning of the second day, the participants split into three groups. One group made butter on a dairy farm; another hiked through the forest under the guidance of a ranger; and a third group toured the Paul Rusch Memorial Museum. Paul Rusch was the founder of the Keep Association, which operates Seisen-ryo, and he is well known as the person who introduced American football to Japan. Rusch drilled three wells on the spacious property, and even today those three wells provide the drinking water for the main Seisen-ryo facility, the Seisen-ryo School of Nature, and the camping grounds. As the missionaries were really impressed by this place, the plans are to hold next year's conference at Seisen-ryo again.
The conference ended with a memorial worship service, a reflection session, and a closing worship service, with communion. The memorial worship service honored missionaries who served in Japan and have gone to their heavenly reward. They were individually named, along with their years and places of service. This was a very special moment when current missionaries could learn about and remember former missionaries and embrace their spirit of dedication to God and to the people God gave them to serve. A new planning committee was elected at the end of the conference to carry out the next conference and nurture the spirit of fellowship among missionaries who serve in the Kyodan.
The missionary conference has been a 2-night, 3-day affair, but this year, it was a 3-night, 4-day event. Also, as a firsttime experiment, a continuing overnight conference for mission personnel sent from Korea was held as a second session. Of the approximately 60 mission personnel working within the Kyodan, only 2 of those serving as senior pastors in Kyodan churches are from countries other than Korea, while 9 Korean missionaries serve in that capacity. Missionaries from Korea are becoming increasingly important to the functioning of the Kyodan. The Kyodan moderator, vice moderator, secretary, general secretary, an executive secretary and a staff member joined together with three representatives from the PCK and KMC and eight Korean missionaries for this important event in which the missionaries could share their concerns and issues.
—Kennis Lam, Kyodan missionary and
Kato Makoto, executive secretary
2019年宣教師会議
2019年の宣教師会議は3月25～28日、山梨県の清泉寮で行われ、教団の教会や学校で働く25人の宣教師とその家族9名、及び教団の職員8名が参加した。
宣教師会議は1年に1回、教団の宣教師が集まり、相互に交流を深め、心身を養う機会で、今年は宣教師とその家族、教団職員は清泉寮の美しい自然に囲まれながら良き交わりと実り多い話し合いの時を持った。次の６つのテーマ別にグループに分かれて協議した。
１．中学生にどのように説教するか？
学校で働く宣教師は、生徒対象の説教経験について語り合った。英語で説教をする場合、パワーポイントのような視覚教材が理解を深めるという提案があった。
２．青年をいかに教会に招くか？
参加者たちは教団の教会のほとんどで若者が少ないことを認識しており、複数の教会が協力して音楽祭、ゲーム大会、国際交流パーティーなど一般の人が参加できる行事を企画し、若者たちを教会に呼び込む必要がある。礼拝においても現代音楽を取り入れることが若者の礼拝参加を促す効果的な方法のひとつだ。
３．教会で期待される宣教師像
教会で働く宣教師はたいてい、信徒に新しい考えを紹介するべきか、その教会の伝統、文化、権威を尊重するかの選択を迫られる。宣教師はその教会の歴史を学び、その地域の伝道活動を理解し、それに専心すべきである。しかしその一方で、宣教師自身の考えや能力を生かしたいという気持ちがある。宣教師はその教会を乗っ取ろうとしているのではなく、自分たちの能力を生かすことで教会や地域を豊かにしたいのだということを伝えたい。
４．今教会で話題にすべきこと
キリスト者の共同体は、社会に関わる問題について、もっと意見を述べるべきだ、という意見が出た。妊娠中絶を巡る事柄や同性愛についても、具体的な意見の発信ができるように、教会間、組織間で話し合うことが必要だ。
５．教会の宣教のための企画について
地域奉仕活動は、キリスト者個人、また組織の基本的責任のひとつであるにもかかわらず、教団の教会の地域奉仕活動は限られている。この問題を解決する方法のひとつとして、オリンピックブームに乗ってスポーツの行事を行ったり、コンサートを開くなどが考えられる。
６．日本人に伝道する難しさ
宣教師はさまざまな人と共に働くので、人間関係の苦労が最も深刻だ。文化的な違いや壁があるだけでなく、宣教師や牧師はときに信徒からの厳しい意見や非難を受ける。そのような危機的状況においては、愛する者の祈りによる支えと理解が欠かせない。
清泉寮は広い敷地と清里の豊かな自然に囲まれており、その立地条件を生かした様々なプログラムを実施している。2日目の午前中は参加者を3つのグループに分け、第一のグループは酪農体験の中のバター作りを経験した。第二のグループはレンジャー（自然案内人）のガイドにより、安全に森の中の散歩を楽しんだ。第三のグループはポール・ラッシュ記念館を見学した。ポール・ラッシュ博士は清泉寮を運営するキープ協会の創設者。日本にアメリカンフットボールを紹介した人物としても良く知られている。ラッシュ博士は広い敷地に井戸を3つ掘った。現在も清泉寮本館、清泉寮自然学校、キャンプ場はそれぞれ3つの井戸水を飲料水として利用している。多くの宣教師がこの施設を気に入り、来年の宣教師会議も清泉寮を使用する予定だ。
宣教師会議は、追悼礼拝、全体報告会、聖餐式と閉会礼拝で幕を閉じた。追悼礼拝では日本で働き、天に召された宣教師の名前、勤務年数、勤務地が読み上げられた。今働く宣教師にとって神と人とに仕えた先人の奉仕の精神を学び、覚え、受け継ぐ特別な時となった。会議の最後に来年の宣教師会議を運営し、教団で働く宣教師の士気を高める新しい実行委員会が選出された。
通常、宣教師会議は2泊3日で行われているが、今年は3泊4日だった。今年初めての試みだったが、宣教師会議第2部として韓国から派遣されている宣教師のみで一泊2日の会議を同じ場所で持った。教団で働く約60名の宣教師のうち、教団の教会で主任として働いているのは韓国派遣の宣教師以外では2名しかいない。一方韓国派遣の宣教師は9名である。教団の教会形成に韓国派遣の宣教師の働きが必要不可欠になりつつある。教団からは三役と総幹事、担当幹事と職員が出席し、派遣元のPCK,KMCから3名、現場で働く宣教師8名が参加し、課題を共有する貴重な機会となった。
（林美恩宣教師・加藤誠世界宣教部幹事）
