October 2000

Dear Friends and Family in Many Places,

Greetings to you as we near the beginning of the 21st century. It is almost a year and a half since I left the pastorate of a small mission church in southwest Japan to become chaplain of a retirement center on the opposite side of Kyushu Island. Both the church and the retirement center are part of Kyushu Kyoku (presbytery), where I have worked for 18 years.

The retirement center, Izumi No Sono (Garden of the Spring), was begun in 1978 by the Nakatsu congregation of the United Church of Christ in Japan. The present director of Izumi No Sono, Kazumi Tada, was pastor of Nakatsu Church when Izumi No Sono began. His wife, Reiko Tada, is head of the Grace Hoikuen (nursery school), also started by Nakatsu Church. Grace Hoikuen celebrated its 25th anniversary this month.

Izumi No Sono began with 50 residents but now has more than 150, and this doesn’t count the many people who come to spend one day or more each week at the Izumi No Sono day-service center. As chaplain, I lead short worship services and Bible meetings three times a week for different parts of the community. In between, I participate in the general life of the community; last week, for example, I took part in five athletic meetings at the day-service center and one at the assisted-living apartments.

Besides my work at Izumi No Sono, I also have many opportunities to preach in the local church and other churches in the presbytery on Sunday mornings. In addition, I continue working with two presbytery committees and a local sub-district committee.

Another part of my work is serving on boards of four schools sponsored by the United Church of Christ in Japan. All four are over 100 years old, begun soon after the long ban on Christianity in Japan was lifted; the nearest one, Baiko, celebrates its 130th anniversary this year.

The United Church of Christ in Japan was formed in 1941, when the Japanese government wanted all the denominations centralized for easier control. After World War II, many reverted to their old forms, but several mainline denominations remained. That is why a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) missionary is serving on the boards of schools begun by Methodist and Dutch Reformed missionaries.

Because of the decreasing birthrate in Japan, every year there are fewer in the school age population, so church-sponsored schools are especially hard-pressed to recruit enough students to keep their doors open. Although none of these four institutions include elementary schools, all have senior high school and junior college levels, and some have kindergarten, junior high and/or senior college and graduate school as well. Please pray that these four and the many other Christian educational institutions throughout Japan may continue to serve their communities with education based on biblical teachings. During November I expect to be attending board meetings at two of these schools.

Next time I will tell you more about activities here. Before I close though, I would like to let you know that during June, July, and August of 2001 I plan to be in the United States for my interpretation assignment. I’ll be based in Austin, Texas, and I would like to visit as many churches as possible during that time, so let’s begin planning to see how we can arrange that.

Blessings to all of you in your daily walk,

Priscilla Abbott

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 172