Our Activities: JELCW Board

Our Activities: Hokkaido Special District

Naoko Suzuki, President

Masako Kondo, District President

This is the last issue of newsletter for our 22ndBoard to publish. I see that the activity reports
from the five districts are full of introduction of
their new board members. I am sure they havestarted new actions in their own districts.
I would like to thank the officers of the22nd Board for their hard work. They musthave checked piles of documents repeatedly tofind out how things had been done. I believe
they felt as if they were running around andstruggling to fulfill their roles over the past threeyears. Now that their work is done, they may
finally feel relieved.
Year after year, no matter which district it is,
I hear that choosing board members is getting
difficult. There are many reasons: some needto take care of family members, others havework conflicts, and of all things, more women
are taking greater responsibility in their church
leadership, which leaves little spare time for thewomen’s league. To be sure, I was surprised tofind so many female delegates at the JELC
National Church Assembly last year.
I understand the difficulty of choosing
league officers in this situation. Nevertheless,considering how much the Internet haspermeated our lives to help ease not only
communication but also administrative work, I
wish to see more members take leadership inJELCW.
The strength of JELCW is our ability toachieve what we, the members, have determined
to do. In this way, JELCW has accomplishedvarious tasks to date. Let us focus on our way
forward and work together.

Our annual event, kelp packaging, took place in
September and October.
Thanks to yourcooperation, all 2343 packs have been sold out.
The profit is used for the children’s Bible camp,
for the district retreat, and for the nextgeneration fund.
In Hokkaido, over the last 20 years, wehave continued to support Philippine children
through Child Fund Japan. From two years
ago, when we began fostering a new child,
Sunday schools and congregations have joinedin.
Considering the transportation difficulties
we may have in wintertime, we decided last year
to shift our Assembly from February toNovember. Although we were busy in lateAugust closing the books, we could carry out thegathering on Nov. 11 without any difficulties.
We have resolved to make some changes at
the GM, including the title and term of theofficers. I was reelected not as “representative”
but as “district president” for the next three
years instead of two years. Based on the past
two year “trial period,” I hope to find more
concrete ways to overcome tough issues facing
us in Hokkaido.

Preparing for theR&GM on thevenue with Local
Arrangement
Committee

New Board (from left to right) Yuko Umehara,coordinator of kelp packing; NaokoMatsushima, LP for Child Fund Japan; EikoNoguchi, treasurer; Masako Kondo, president;
and Mikiko Oga, secretary2Our Activities: East District

Our Activities: Tokai District

Seiko Asano, District President

Kimiko Suzuki, District President

The most notable event in the last year ofour 22nd term, was co-hosting a seminar
together with Itsukushimi during the April 2014
council meeting. Rev. Sayoko Oooka, chaplainof St. Agnes University in Kyoto, gave us alecture titled, “Church seen from gender
perspective.” Listening to her, I felt she wassuggesting that we not focus only on the gender
gap, but also seek diversity in our life together.

Tokai District CW’s General Meeting washeld at Nagoya-Megumi Church on Feb. 28th.
Some 85 sisters including 35 delegates attended.
The high attendance apparently showed themembers’ great interest in the upcoming
triennial national meeting. Many ideas andremarks were made during the discussions.
Lunchtime became a precious time of interaction
among sisters. Here and there we could seethem chatting over a cup of tea/coffee provided
by the host church.

The 23rd General Meeting of East District
was held at Tokyo Church on Feb. 7. After theactivity and finance reports, new officers wereelected, the agenda was discussed, and the action
plan and budget were approved for the next
three-year term. Throughout the discussions,
we heard of the need for greater access to thedistrict CW’s programs for members who are
multitasked in the church, and of the need toreduce officer workload. The GM resolved torename “Chair Meeting” to “East District
Women’s Meeting.”
I am so thankful that our 22nd board is now
able to pass the baton to the 23rd, thanks to all
the members’ prayer and powerful support.
Above all, from the bottom of my heart, I praise
the Lord, who has led us, carried us, and blessed
us abundantly. Halleluiah!

The 21st board was elected. They are;Kunie Sakurai, President (Eikoh; below far left),
Kazuko Taguchi, Vice-president (Ogaki; secondfrom right), Yumiko Kotani, Secretary (Fuji;center), Ikumi Hori, Treasurer (Nagoya-Kibo;far right), and Mie Haga, Representative toJELCW (Oshika; second from left).

Looking back, the Lord has guided us, usedus, and nurtured us、 who have not been skillful
as officers. I pray that the new board will begiven the same blessings and joy we had.

New Board (left to right) Haruko Tuna, Chihoko
Sarai, vice presidents; Kumi Yagi, president;
Akiko Nemoto, rep. to JELCW; Takiko Kishida,treasurer; Noriko Hishida, secretary; and Kazuko
Hosaka, Communications

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Our Activities: West District

Our Activities: Kyushu District

Rieko Saeki, District President

Akiyo Iwakiri, District President

The West District 17th Board lacked a
Representative to the National League. In
addition, four out of the five officers had noprevious experience.
We were worried.
Although the board convened repeatedly, theatmosphere became relaxed and warm. By thesecond year, we looked forward to seeing one
another at the board meeting.
We have gained a lot by becoming thesubcommittee on ‘TNG,’ and by taking part inefforts to review JELCW works. During board
meetings and district chair meetings, we learnedof the great work of ‘TNG’ in raisingnext-generation Christians. We realized that itis one of the main responsibilities of Church
Women’s outreach.
During the third year, we prepared for thegeneral meeting in March to pass on our work to
the new board. However, finding candidates
turned out to be more difficult than we thought.
Everyone worked hard to fill the candidacy list.
When all efforts failed, we felt the need tounderstand what members thought about the
women’s league and conducted a questionnaire
over the entire membership. That became agreat opportunity for me to realize the strong
faith our sisters hold. I was deeply touched byreading each response sheet of the questionnaire.
I also realized the importance of the women’sleague to their faith.
A miracle happened just before the GM.
We finally filled the candidate list to form theboard. We felt that God worked for us beyond
our thoughts. How grateful we are!

The churchwomen in Chikugo sub-region met
for the general meeting at Tanushimaru Churchon Feb. 21 and resolved that they would again
have a prayer for peace in August. On thesame day, churchwomen in Kumamotosub-region gathered at Oe Church for their GM.
They have a fund to support those who attend
national general meetings and rally. Listening
to their lively discussion at the meeting, we felt
their enthusiasm to send as many members as
possible to the national GM.
Following the sub-regional meetings, the19th Kyushu District CW’s GM was held at
Hakozaki Church on Feb. 28th. One of themajor actions reported was the publication of“Beside Still Waters --- a guide forcommunion”; a booklet made by the Silver
Project Committee for the elderly. We hopeevery church will use this booklet as a guidewhen they call on those who cannot attend
church for various reasons, join in communionwith them and offer prayer together.
Finally, I would like to say with gratitude
that the past three years of our term have been
supported by the guidance of the Lord and by
the prayers of the members. In addition, wewere greatly blessed by getting to know otherofficers from different regions through thenational league.
We give thanks foreverything.

18th Board (left to right) Chieko Ikeda, auditor; NorikoTakahashi, secretary; Mari Ito, treasurer; Nami
Matsumoto, president; and Etsuko Yanai, rep to JELCW

19th Board (left to right) Haruko Rakuman (Amagi),communications; Mari Hara (Kurume), president;
Kyoko Tawara (Murozono), vice pres. & secretary;
Fumiko Sato (Murozono), treasurer; and Noriko
Sugimoto (Kumamoto), representative to JELCW

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