Homecoming, Exercise Shows, & Changes

Well sometimes things come up and you just have to run with it.

Last Thursday I found out that the missionary I worked with last year in Nagoya was unexpectedly returning to England after sixteen years of ministry at the youth center. I was asked to substitute while they look for a replacement. So I have packed a month’s worth of clothing and am residing in Nagoya for the next month or so. Going back to Nagoya was like returning home. It has been wonderful seeing friends and former students. I also loved returning to my wonderful St. Stephen's Church family.

While they were fixing the apartment I will be living in, I stayed with one of my coworkers and my Japanese grandmother. My coworker speaks fluent English, loves American TV shows, and is an amazing cook. So I felt right at home. My Japanese grandmother is also an amazing cook and a very lively person. One evening after dinner we watched a concert on TV. The entire time she and I made fun of the young singers. I know it’s kind of bad but we were enjoying ourselves. At point in the evening we changed the channel to an exercise program. You should have seen us! We were trying all the exercises right along with the people but most of time we just laughed at how bad we were. 

Most of my work in Nagoya is comprised of teaching English at St. Luke’s youth center. But I have also taken up the task of organizing all of the materials. Never in my life did I think I would enjoy this task so much. Occasionally I also eat with the kids of ELCC. During the day at the St. Luke’s Church there is a school for Filipino children. This school prepares the kids to go onto Japanese school or to go to school in the Philippines (if they end up going back). Last year I taught English, art, and helped with a PE class there. During lunch there is a mixture of at least three languages (Japanese, Tagalog, English) being spoken. I love listening to them go back and forth. There is never a dull moment. 

While I am working in Nagoya I am also continuing some of my work from Sendai. I have recently taken up writing a weekly blog about the events happening in the project. Please check out letuswalktogether.blogspot.com. This last week was the second year anniversary of the disaster. I know I say this a lot but there is still so much that needs to be done for the victims. Please continue to keep the victims and the Let Us Walk Together Project in your thoughts and prayers.

Katie

Yujiro, Bibles, & Friends

Last weekend I went to Tokyo for a young adults gathering of the Anglican Church in Japan. Like the church in the US, Japan is rapidly losing members. The young people in Japan want to be more involved and have more of a voice in the church. Therefor last year many young members met up and created “Yujiro” (Somehow it means “under 26 years old” I was a little lost in the explanation). This group has met two times since. They gather together to talk about activities in their home churches and dioceses, to talk about what they would like to see happen in the church, and to have a Bible study.

It was interesting to hear their thoughts and ideas. The concept of young adult's gatherings is a rather new thing for them so they are still working out the kinks. That also means they are open to anything, which is great. You could tell by the way that they talked that they are passionate about God and the church.

During the Bible study (or Bible sharing as they called it) I was blown away by how intensely they poured over the reading. We spent several hours discussing the meaning of the verse and looking at other passages for reference. I only understood about half of it but I am ok with that. I asked one of my friends if they have Bible studies at their church. She told me that it is very rare to study the bible as a group outside of Sunday worship. Because of this weekend and the bible study they had, many want to start a regular bible study in their home churches. In fact we are going to start one here in Sendai as well.

This was my first time to be around so many young people in the church in Japan and it was great. I don’t think I have laughed so much during a weekend in a long time. I love meeting new people but it is really frustrating to do so in Japan. I never know when/if I will see them again. But of course this means that I have people to visit all over Japan and they all have a place to stay in Texas whenever they visit. FYI Mom I offered our house to any/every one that comes...hope you don't mind!

 Thanks for tuning in!
        Katie Young

Slides, Lanterns, and Martyrs

This past Sunday three friends and I drove out to Yonezawa to “dig” a church out from under the snow. One of the sweet men, Mr. Onuki, who volunteers for the Diocese, invited us out to his church. Another fellow staffer was already there when we arrived. While the boys worked on the front of the church we three girls worked on the back of it. I promise we really did clear a lot of the snow off the church but we also managed to make an igloo and a slide from the top of the roof to the ground. It was AWESOME.

In Yonezawa this past weekend there was a Lantern festival going on. So some of my friends decided we would join in on the festivities. They built several snow lanterns in the wall of snow by the church. So incredibly beautiful!

During the Edo period, Christianity was banned from Japan. During the banishment many Christians were martyred because of their faith. In Yonezawa, 53 Christians were killed. The thing that was different about Yonezawa is that these 53 people walked to their death voluntarily. Because of their kindness and love that they gave to others in the village they were respected. Non-Christians lined the streets to honor these men and women as they walked to their death. It wasn’t until 300 years later that they were officially recognized for the sacrifice they made. Now in Yunozawa there is a memorial to honor these men, women, and children that died for their faith. Once we finished making our own lanterns we went to this memorial. It was dark out and there was too much snow for us to actually walk up to the memorial. But the story of these people and examples they left were not lost on us. We walked back to the car in silence, maybe all pondering the same thought “if we were them what would we have done?”

We finished out the night by walking around the actual festival and then eating a delicious meal at the church. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. 

Thanks for tuning in!

Katie 

Adventure hats, Communication, & the Future

Well I have failed at my promise to write every week. Therefor I will write two posts this week so stay tuned.

Now on to our regular scheduled program…

Last weekend, we had a general consultation for Non-Japanese of the Tohoku region. Throughout the weekend they discussed problems that come from being a foreigner living in Japan. The language, lack of jobs because they are not Japanese, the inability to fully communicate with their husband, abusive spouses, government , and not being able to understand the Japanese that is on official documents...just to mention a few. In groups they wrote down all the problems they have faced as individuals and then tried to figure out the core of those problems. Then the next step was to find a way to resolve those issues. Some of the ideas we will submit to the local government like having translations of all documents, having translators available to answer legal questions, and having exchange cultural events so that an understanding of one anothers' cultures can be appreciated.  Three of the groups represented would even like to build migrant support centers.

While the meetings were going on my fellow coworker, Shota, and I took care of thirteen kids. It was a long weekend for everyone. With the kids we played lots of games and made various crafts. One of those crafts was an adventure hat. I had them make a hat out of newspaper and then they were told to write down where they wanted to go in the world. Some of the kids were too young to understand that there is a world outside of Japan so they wrote down Tokyo. One kid wrote down Italy and then drew a Brazilian flag. I had to prompt some of the others with various country names but eventually everyone had a place they were going to in their adventure hats. Love seeing what kids will come up with.

 Now that weekend is over with we have to focus on the next steps for foreigners in Japan. This means writing proposals to governments, defining what it is they need, and figuring out ways to start their migrant support centers. It’s going to be exciting to see these discussions become more than just talk.  

Thanks for tuning in,

Katie 
 

Bananas, Slippers, & Hope

We had a wonderful weekend here in Tohoku. On Saturday, my fellow colleague, JP along with two Filipino friends of the project, Ging and Charity, went to a youth center like facility. We were invited to give a presentation on the Philippines for the children. The kids spend most of their Saturday at this center. They play games and learn about the world around them. The center frequently invites foreigners to come talk to the kids about their countries. This is so the kids grasp an understanding of the world outside of Japan and how we are all connected in some way.

JP and Ging told the kids fun facts about the Philippines. Such as, the Philippines is comprised of over 1000 islands and most of the bananas that we eat in Japan come from the Philippines. Ging showed the kids two traditional types of dances, the Tboli and the Tinikling. The kids also got to participate in the Tinikling dance with Charity. Basically you have to keep in time while dancing between two moving bamboo poles. Charity then taught the kids an outside game of tag that involves throwing your shoes at a can. Since it was too cold to play outside we played it inside replacing the can with a plastic bottle and the shoes with slippers. The kids had a blast! I think that these kids will now be annoying their mothers with this game at home. We had a great time and might go back sometime soon to help with other Saturday activities. 

 On Thursday evenings two friends of mine from the office and I go to choir rehearsal at Sendai Christ Church. Due to scheduling and my inability to get to the church early enough to robe up (it is a 40 minute walk from my apt and I try not to take the subway), this past Sunday was the first time I actually sang during the service. I am so used to standing out in a crowd in Japan that I forget how much I stick out among a crowd of Japanese. So on Sunday when parishioners I know came up to me with wide-eyes asking if I was singing today, I was a little thrown off.

The next day we met at 7:20am to go to Koriyama. The church there had recently finished rebuilding the hall that had been damaged by the earthquake. On Monday they had a blessing ceremony for the new hall. People were recognized for their contributions and speeches were given. One of the women, that was a huge part of designing the building and fundraising, passed away in December. The completion of the building was something she was looking forward to. They placed a picture of her in the hall so that she would be a continued presence during the party. In honor of her life and work in the church, we sang Mrs. Michiko Hashimoto’s favorite hymn as a closing to the celebration. The choir sang three songs as well. All of which had some, if not all, verses in English. It was fun practicing these songs with the choir. As we were driving back in the 6 inches of snow that accumulated that day I realized that the rebuilding of this church hall is a sign of hope. It is a sign that people are recovering and able to look to the future. We weren't just celebrating a building we were celebrating life and all that is to come.

Thank you for tuning in,

Katie