“If one part of the body suffers, all parts suffer with it.” (I Cor. 12:26)*

Rev. Pusin Tali, moderator of the Presbyterian Church inTaiwanarrived inJapanonSaturday, March 9, 2013to express PCT’s solidarity with the Kyodan and the people ofJapanon the occasion of the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Disaster. On the day of his arrival, he attended a charity concert atAsagayaChurch, sponsored by the Kyodan’s West Tokyo District, where he gave greetings from the PCT. He then went toSendai, where on Sunday he preached at theSendaiKita-SanbanchoChurchand spent some time visiting the disaster area. On Monday morning, the day of the anniversary, he visited both Asian Rural Institute inTochigiPrefectureandUtsunomiyaChurchinGunmaPrefecture. Later in the afternoon, he gave a speech to a gathering held by the Kyodan’s Kanto District atUtsunomiyaUwamachiChurch. It was a very full schedule, with little time for Moderator Tali to relax.

The response to theMarch 11, 2011disaster has served to deepen the bonds between the PCT and the Kyodan. One manifestation of this was the response of the PCT general secretary to Kyodan Moderator Ishibashi Hideo’s statement at the beginning of the third year after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Facility. The result is that the PCT and the Kyodan are walking hand-in-hand as together they work to bring about the termination of operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants in both countries. Another demonstration of these deepening ties was Moderator Tali’s visit toJapanand Kyodan Moderator Ishibashi’s visit toTaiwanin March, where he attended anniversary services of the disaster inTaipei, Hsinchu, and Changhua. A third example is the number of local congregations throughout the PCT that have held special offering campaigns to raise funds for disaster relief inJapan. At present over 80 million yen has been received by the Kyodan from Taiwan, which makes up more than one-third of the total funds from overseas for the disaster relief. Now there are even plans to initiate new fundraising for the relief effort. (Tr. AKO)

—Iijima Makoto, executive secretary

Kyodan GreatEast JapanDisaster

Relief Planning Headquarters

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The subtitle of this article comes from the greetings of newly appointed PCT General Secretary Lyim Hong-Tiong to the Kyodan General Assembly in October 2012: “’If one part of the body suffers, all parts suffer with it.’ In its continued solidarity with the Kyodan, the PCT has translated these words from First Corinthians into tangible actions.

一つの部分が苦しめば、すべての部分が共に苦しむ

―　台湾基督長老教会議長の来日　―

3月9日（土）、台湾基督長老教会（以下PCTと略す）議長の布興大立牧師が来日しました。東日本大震災２周 年を迎えて、復興への連帯を表明するためです。布興議長は、来日した日に西東京教区主催の「チャリティー・コンサート」（阿佐ケ谷教 会）で挨拶した後、仙台に向かい、翌日は仙台北三番丁教会での礼拝説教と被災地の視察を行いました。3・11当日は、午前中にアジア学院と宇都宮教会の視察を終え、午後は関東教区主催の記念集会（宇都宮上町教会）で講演を行うなど、休む間もなく4日間の日々を過ごしました。

PCTと教団は、3・11をめぐり、両国の絆をより一層深めつつ あります。その働きの1は、石橋秀雄・教団議長の「福島第一原子力発電所事故三年目を迎えるに際しての議長声明」に対するPCT議長・総幹事両名による「応答声明」です。声明を通して、教団は「原子力発電所の稼働停止と廃炉」を、PCTも又「原子力発電所の運転停止と廃炉」を求め、お互いに協力することを確認し合いました。その2は、布興議長の訪日と石橋議長の台湾訪問です。石橋議長は、3月22日（金）から１週間にわたり、台北、新竹）、彰化の各地で震災記念集会を行いました。その3は、PCTの諸教会で始まる震災募金です。すでに台湾からは海外献金総額の3分の1を優に上回る8,000万円を超える献金が教団に送られていますが、今回、さらに又新たな募金の取り組みが開始されます。

タイトルに掲げた「一つの部分が苦しめば、すべての部分が共に苦しむ」の言葉は、新し く総幹事になられた林芳仲牧師の昨年10月の教団総会での挨拶の言葉です。PCTは、言葉だけではなく行いをもって、教団への連帯の意思を表し続けています。飯島信救援対策本部担当幹事