Our Activities: JELCW Board

Activities: Hokkaido Special District

Naoko Suzuki, President

Masako Kondo, Chair

Thank you for remembering and cooperating inthe work of JELCW.
We will hold a general meeting and rally
next year.
The progress of the task isunbelievable as we look back on how we were
unsure about fulfilling our mission in thebeginning of our term.
As we had hoped, we have successfully
reserved the National Youth Center (originallythe 1964 Tokyo Olympic village) for the GM&Rvenue. The reservation was secured in August,which leaves us relatively short time forpreparation, but we will work hard andcoordinate with the local arrangement committee(LAC).
Regarding the JELCW work review, thesubcommittees on; 1. GM & R, 2. BoardElection, 3. Succession of Faith to the Next
Generation, and 4. Sabah Support, have finisheddiscussions and given back their reports. We
thank you for your sincere discussions. The
Board will further consider and make proposals
to each district. Then, the final decision will bemade at the GM.
The sale of woven sandals and hanging
dolls for the Tsunami survivors’ support goeswell, thanks to the orders made by JELCWmembers. We hear thanks from the disaster-hit
areas both for the sale and for the material
donation. The board plans to revisit the areas
in late October.
Miss Yasuda, who has contributed thearticle on page 8, is a graduate student in her
20’s. She shares with us how she felt when she
was faced with the reality of Asia. Also in thisissue, a JELCW member tells a story about her
active work overseas. She is Eimi Watanabe,chair of the investigation panel, World Bank. We
hope you will enjoy reading them.

The World Day of Prayer fell on March 7 thisyear. In Hokkaido, spring was nowhere near,
and we were concerned about snow, partly
because Sapporo and Obihiro Churches wereresponsible
fororganizing
theinterdenominational meeting for its local area.
Sapporo was going to have some 300
participants, which was well beyond the chapel
capacity, so it used Kita-Ichijo Church of theUnited Church of Christ instead. The Sapporo
members had some challenges working in adifferent church, but thankfully, all whogathered there ended up sharing the message andvideo clip from Egypt together. There were
295 attendees, which we later heard, was thelargest number in one venue throughout Japan.
The leaders from women’s groups
gathered in February and reviewed the activities
during the past several years. We agreed thatchanging the board in two years translated inhigher costs for holding GMs, and a weaker
relationship with the national league. We havedecided to hold GMs in November instead ofFebruary from now on, since it is difficult to get
together in the middle of winter in Hokkaido.
This means that we need to prepare GM
materials alongside the annual kelp packaging in
September and October.
Unfortunately, only three women’sgroups remain in our district; Sapporo, Hakodate,and Obihiro. We hope that the disbandedgroups would join us again so we could deepen
understanding and friendship as a small circle,
which is the benefit of being small.

“No-no Hana (Wildflowers in the Fields) Kai”
the circle in Hakodate

Discussion with LAC

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Our Activities: East District

Our Activities: Tokai District

Seiko Asano, District President

Kimiko Suzuki, District President

One of the action plans for the 22nd-term East
District CW’s league is to pray for and support
the Seminary for the future seminarians. At theOne-day Seminary on Sep. 23, we will have ourmini-shop for the third time in a row. We sell
Christmas ornaments made by the East district
churchwomen with love. Each year the basic
ideas of the goods are proposed by the districtboard, and our sisters add their special touch tothem.
What results is a variety of niceproducts.
We tried a new approach this year.
We organized two workshops in which sisters
from different churches get together to makegoods by the guidance of a leader; Ms. Junko
Sasaki, a member of St. Paul Church. We
made flower baskets and Christmas wall
decorations. Actually, we recycled the baskets
used to contain tea bags from Wakachiai fairtrade project. You know them all well, don’tyou? As each piece was displayed at the end ofthe day, the participants looked at them withsatisfaction.
This is how we have combined ourefforts to donate to the Seminary. It is apleasure and privilege to be joined together in acommon cause, praying, and working together
with sisters from different places.

Tokai District Subcommittee was assigned todiscuss “Board Election.” The subcommittee
has tried to find new ways suitable to the time,through the review of the JELCW history, themember survey and direct interviews.
Inaddition, with the help of President Suzuki, we
had the opportunity to talk with five pastpresidents at Ichigaya Lutheran Center, Tokyo.
The committee has added their precious remarks
based on their experiences to the report recently
turned in to the JELCW board. We pray thatthe report will serve as a base for exchanging
opinions to draft the way forward with the helpof the Lord. Through this process, we felt thatJELCW is at the crossroads to think hard andmake necessary changes in order to be
responsive to the time.

Discussion with the past presidents

In May, we had a district churchwomen’s
gathering at Minori Church.
The church
members dedicated music service and Ms. Carol
Sack performed the harp and song, “LyraPrecaria,” to sooth everyone’s heart. We are
grateful for having such a good time together
with 80 sisters attending. It was a great blessing
from the Lord. In October, we plan to have oursecond
churchwomen’sgathering
at“Fukushi-mura,” a social welfare complex givenby the Lord for Tokai District. Considering its
location, we would like to get help from the men
for the ride to and fro.

Ms. Junko Sasaki (second from right) leading
the workshop

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Our Activities: West District

Our Activities: Kyushu District“Modeling our faith for the next generation”
Rieko Saeki, District President“Hot News”

The West District CW’s was assigned to thesubcommittee on “TNG,” but the board had little
idea what TNG does. Therefore, we asked Ms.
Nami Matsumoto to be our lecturer andorganized briefings and DVD screenings
whenever sub-regional CW chair meetings wereheld. Then, the majority of the audience wasimpressed by the sincere work TNG did formodeling our faith for the next generation. As
we wanted to see their activities first, one board
member took part in “the 16th LutheranChildren’s Camp” in Hiroshima for a day. Thefollowing is the excerpt from Vice President
Ikeda’s report.
“Apparently, careful planning andpreparation were made beforehand. The day
begins with prayer for peace. After watching a
DVD that explains the atomic bomb, children
walk along the Peace Avenue up to Point #8,
group by group, led by the junior- andsenior-leaders. Each point is chosen to teachsomething about peace or the atomic bomb.
After coming back, they engage in reflection anddiscussion.
I was so impressed by thechildren’s deep understanding and the camp
staff’s dedication that I myself prayed that I
might live as a peace seeker. Thank you verymuch.”

On Aug. 5-7, the Bible camp for junior andsenior high school students in the district took
place at Lutheran Aso Lodge. This year sisters
from Oe Church supported the camp as the main
kitchen staff. Though the weather was not
perfect due to an approaching typhoon, those
who worked in the kitchen were cheerful andjoyful, praying for children’s health during thestay. The co-working churchwomen encouragedme, just as the children inspired me by their
growth each year.
“Prayer for Peace” by the CWs inChikugo sub-region was observed on Aug. 23 atTanushimaru Church. In the opening worshipservice, Rev. Miyakawa cited Rom. 12:15 andtaught us that peace begins with listening toothers and that evangelism is also listening not
arguing. After that we had discussion time that
included a few minutes of self-introduction andfree speech by all the participants.
One
participant spoke about what triggered her tocome to church, and another about her thoughts
on peace, while another mentioned her current
concerns. Every speech filled with gratitude toGod was a wonderful testimony. By talking
about oneself and listening to others, wemeditated on the blessing of God, who works
steadily among us. At the same time, we prayed
for peace to be established among us through thelove of the Lord.

Akiyo Iwakiri, District President

Lutheran Children’s Camp
(Ms. Ikeda far left end)

Camp kitchen staff at Aso Lodge

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