December 2000

Dear Friends,

This July, I began my new assignment with the Korean Christian Church in Japan and the Council on Cooperative Mission. It has been a time of learning, as I adjust to a new office and to working with people of another cultural background. I’m happy to report that I am now getting a taste for kimchi.

In early September, a special meeting was held here in Japan to consider youth ministry in Japan. At this time, I had a conversation with one of the Korean church pastors in attendance. I shared with him my desire to get to know some of the young people in the church. As a result, he asked if I would work with the youth in preparing for a district Christmas service. We met again when I asked him to speak at our orientation program for new missionaries, and we were able to follow up on the conversation. I began joining the youth in September as they gathered to prepare for their special program on December 3.

Who am I?

I remember asking myself this question when I was in high school, and later in college. "Who am I?" It’s not an easy question. Neither particularly bound by nationality or culture, I felt that the answer for me was in recognizing myself as a child of God and as part of God’s family.

Every Sunday night this fall, I joined young people from the Kanto district of the Korean Christian Church in Japan as they put together a Christmas service that would help them express both their frustrations as well as hopes for a church that met their needs. During this time, I heard the question come back once more—"Who am I?" Neither born in Korea, nor Japanese by nationality, these young people struggle with shaping their own identity. The KCCJ helps to provide them with answers to this question, both as a group of people sharing Korean descent as well as through being a people of faith.

Why am I here?

This was the theme of the Christmas service, as young people shared their thoughts on life in the church. Among the things they shared were the frustration of lacking a voice in the church, boredom in services, uncertainty as to why they were in church, feeling their talents didn’t fit in with those of other youth, and lack of close friendships. To express what they would like to see in the church, they composed their own play in which they interspersed their opinions, demonstrating these with various types of music and dance.

A lot of effort went into preparing for the Christmas service. As I looked back on the service, I realized it asked pastors for greater flexibility in worship to make room for a new generation of young people. They will be the future of the church. Thankfully, many pastors and parishioners share in the desire to see more youth active in church and thus appear open to hearing suggestions for change.

Who are we?

One of the KCCJ youth prepared the following song in order to characterize the feelings of young people in the church. I have tried to translate it, since I think the words say something about their group.

I am now singing
Not on behalf of love or tender passion,
Not on my own behalf either,
(but) on behalf of you, whom I call friend.
I am now singing,
Not for the sake of laughing, joyful people
Not for my own sake, either
(but) for my friend carrying heavy burdens.
Don’t carry your burdens alone
Don’t be worried or sad on your own
Joy is that we are greater together
Share that sadness with all of us
This is our being
This is our being

My hope for this coming new year goes with this song. May we not carry our burdens alone, but know the presence of our Lord within a community of believers who come alongside us as friends.

Gail Beran

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 173