Our activities: Hokkaido Special District“Give Me a Straight Heart”
Testimony:
Representative Yoshiko Ogane“I See God’s Plan in Mother’sLife Story”

On February 20th, in snow and cold, the 12th
District Women’s General Meeting was heldin Sapporo. In Hokkaido there are three
JELCW member congregations, consistingof 20-some members. This term, rural
churches could not send representatives, so
Sapporo church chose its three members forthe district board. It is a bleak situation.
At the General Meeting, we confirmed
the goal -- to grow in faith and carry out
ministry -- and talked of spreading the circleof fellowship. The spiritual theme of“Christ Wants You”—Joy, Prayer andGratitude—each congregation hopes totransmit this message.
“Unite my heart to fear Thy name” (Ps.
86:11)

Yoko Otsuka (Hakodate)
My mother is 84 and lives in a Catholic
nursing home. Last July, while in criticalcondition because of heart disease, doctors
told us she could pass away within 2 days.
My husband and I prayed late that night in
the ICU, “Lord, take her to your side.” Butfrom that point, her blood pressure, which
had been under 40, began to rise, sheregained consciousness, and recovered in astartling way. Her doctor told us this wasnothing less than a miracle.
Mother had attended church in her 20’s
but it was in the ICU after becoming
bedridden that she received baptism from
Pastor Sakamoto.
Looking back, it was over 10 years after
first signs of dementia set in, that she agreed
to go together to see a doctor, to allow me tohelp with medicines and daily tasks, andmanage her finances. I recall my own
feelings of not being able to be truly patientand kind with her, not really understanding
her suffering or solitude.
After theseexperiences, now I sometimes read to herfrom a book of poetry and illustration by
Tomihiro Hoshino, in love, realizing that
this is a special time given to us by God.
We thank the Lord.

Now and increasingly, many of ourchurch women are nursing their parents,
husbands, or siblings. Let us introduce
this testimony by sister, Yoko Otsuka, on“Caring for Mother”.
== Inauguration of the District Boardfor the next two years ==Representative:
Masako Kondo
Co-representative: Tomoko Kurihara
Treasurer:
Mikiko Oga

Ms. Otsuka andher mother2

Our Activities: East District
One of the activities our volunteers carryout is that of reaching out to homeless,namely, “Hoshikuzu-no-kai”.

Churches in Transition—Tokyo Church—
Celebrating 100 years of Ministry

20 years ago, this project began in
Sanyo by Catholic sisters. Since then, it
has grown to include non-denominational
volunteers who run a day activity facility,“Hoshi-no-ie” and the Lutheran branchwhich
cooperates
iscalled“Hoshikuzu-no-kai”. Every Tuesday, we
pitch in with cooking rice and making riceballs and miso soup, and doing night
rounds.

On October 28, 2012, Tokyo Churchcelebrated their centennial with a special
service, and over 250 attended.
It started with a prelude, a solemn
chant by the choir, which was Pastor
Nozomu Utsumi’s translation from Bach’swork. After a sermon by Pastor Tadahiro
Tateyama, JELC President, dedication of
the baptismal fount was performed by theformer pastors of Tokyo Church. (photo:below)

Participating, one can see that dependingon the recipients of a particular meal,
kitchen staff answer to the individual needs
in areas of salt intake, amount of miso, andthe size for cutting ingredients. Then at
8pm, a warm meal of rice balls and miso
soup is handed out in various parks. For 20
years this service has been made possible by
the work of love of many hands. It is one
action of filling a need, in which we dowhat we can do, for our neighbor plainly inneed. We plan to continue to fill theimmediate need.

Following was a baptism service ofseven new members and confirmation
service of five confirmants, and the whole
congregation was wrapped up in festivity.
In the afternoon was a celebration party.
Pastor Naoki Asano, who leads the East
District, delivered a congratulatory message,
and then there was a presentation of the 100year church history, titled, “Journey ofLight”, through light show and music andnarration. A new musical piece based on“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” wasdedicated, performed by the congregation.
(photo: left)3

person’s story of thedisaster, but one oldwoman next to me wasvery sun tanned, and to
my inquiry she told ofhaving been working inthe seaweed industry,
but of course she had to give up that work. I
prayed that before her tan faded too much, theseaweed industry could be revived.
Although our time for socializing was
short, I received the impression that thesevictims, although burdened by sadness andsuffering, were striving to move on positively,and I will never forget our encounter.
Later I received a letter from a resident ofVienna who had helped during the summer
with distributing hot dish mats in Sendai. It
had been a moving experience to be able tohelp in the cause. I give thanks in realizingthat what started out as a mere small act ofcharity, being blessed by God, grew into agreat happiness.

Our Activities: Tokai District
We introduce Sister Sakai of Nagoya Kibou
Church who, living out our district’s theme,“Prayer and Joy at Being Given the Gift ofLife” has called upon the whole district toparticipate in donating to disaster victims inEastern Japan, 360 patchwork hot dish mats,and also offered a training course there.

At Kesennuma

by Shigeko Sakai

In July, 2012, a friend and I were able to visit
the Emergency Relief Center at Sendai
Church, as volunteers. The morning after
our arrival, a nurse, the Sasaki bothers, and we(5 in all), rode in a car driven by by Pastor
Noguchi for 4 hours, touring the disaster sites
as we went towards our destination, thetemporary housing district at Kesennuma.
Along the way, at Okawa Elementary
School, where there stands a memorial
monument, it was all we could do to offer
prayers for the children killed in the tsunami
and their grief stricken families.
We wereto teach a patchwork quilting course and tookwith us the makings enough for 20
participants.

Churches in Transition—Numazu Church—
When Numazu Lutheran Church wasestablished by the AELC in 1954, the first
pastor there, Rev. Conrad Armot, performed adedication ceremony on Christmas Day. 60
years later, in 2005, the building wasrenovated. Upon seeing the original stairs,
one is reminded of the height of ceilings alongwith the strong beams in those days. Thischurch building is witness to countlessencounters
andpartings, and stands tonuture the followers aslimbs of the Christ’sbody. For this house ofprayer in Numazu,
Tokai,
wegivegratitude and glory toour Lord.

At first I wondered if each participant
could successfully finish her project, but inthe end all members held up their completed
work and smiled so radiantly that I felt theeffort was certainly worthwhile. As weproceeded, every one was so diligently
working, that I wasn’t obliged to ask into each4

intently. We feel it is our mission to hear andtransmit “Mugen”’s small, weak voice.

Our Activities: West District
String Telephone

Churches in Transition—Ube Church—

by Kazuko Nishikawa (Mihara)

Ube Church is 60 years old. If compared toa human lifetime, this marks the end of thefifth cycle of the Chinese Zodiac calendar, theauspicious year for the mature to restart,“Kanreki”. The first time I stepped over thethreshold of the church was in 1962, theautumn of my last year in middle school. At
that time, the majority of members both menand women, were mature adults. Next innumbers were high school students. Thosestudents grew into young adults, and many
moved away. Just as in urban society there
is a turnover of the population, so there should
be in churches a “metabolism” or flowing inand flowing out of youth and older members.
But in Ube Church, those who did not leave
for the city stayed and have carried theburdens which go along with supporting thecongregation, together with retired people
who have returned from their jobs in the city.
As “Kanreki” means “calendar turns over”,
we understand that one does not only sit still,
waiting to be overcome by age, but receives
renewal, gives thanks for being given life, andmoves on forward.
On Feb. 2nd, one of our brethren who waswith us at Ube Church for 50 years, seeking
God’s righteousness, passed away. He was
74. In him God gave us a wonderfulexample to follow.
As the average membership age is 65, wefeel a big challenge in how to hand our churchover to following generations.
(Kazue Ishimaru)

We would play “string telephone” as children,using two paper cups, the bottoms being
connected by a string. Speaking into one
paper cup, the vibrations of our voices weretransmitted by the thread, and on the other end,
one who held the cup to her ear could justmake out the words spoken, by carefully
listening.
We at Mihara Church areconnected with “Mugen” in Matsuyama,
which is located across the Inland Sea.

“Mugen”, as some may recall from vol.
141 of this newsletter, is the shortened nameforNPO
Corporate
Peer
LutheranOccupational Center Mugen. Several years
ago when the pastor of Mihara Church alsoserved Matsuyama and Fukuyama churches, aclose connection to these churches and to“Mugen” evolved. “Mugen”, which supports
the mentally handicapped, has created an
atmosphere where anyone can feel at homeand engage in the activity of their choice.
Specifically, they work through reforming old
kimonos into new, beautiful products.
Matsuyama Church, which helps run“Mugen”, has no women’s group, so it isthrough connection to Mihara Church thatthese products are advertised and marketed.
In addition, Fukuyama Church participates intheir local “Rose Festival” by putting on abazaar at that event, where “Mugen”’sproducts are sold. When playing string
telephone with paper cups, the only way tosucceed in communicating is to listen very5