April 2004

Dear Friends,

Easter greetings from Nagasaki, Japan!

Let us praise God together for this time of renewal of life. In Nagasaki the cherry trees have been full of blossoms, as students come to start the new academic year.

Kwassui Gakuin, where I am a professor of English, will celebrate its 125th anniversary later this year. The name Kwassui means “Living Water” and comes from the Bible (John 4:14) where Jesus offers this water to a woman of Samaria. Every year at Kwassui graduation, part of the ceremony involves the handing on of the spirit that inspires Kwassui students. This is shown by symbollically presenting a traditional wooden water bucket with colored ribbons on the handles. The colors are chosen by a graduating student.

This time, Yurika was selected as the receiver, who not only responds during the graduation ceremony but also explains the significance of the ribbons for the remaining and incoming students. A white ribbon was selected to indicate hope for the future, and a leaf-green ribbon represents the leaves of the camphor trees that our founder planted on campus, and pride in being recipients of the “living water” of God’s truth through education at Kwassui.

Also at graduation, top graduating students give a speech. At Kwassui Junior College, this time Nagisa spoke for the English Department. In part she said:

Kwassui is famous for solemn worship. At the beginning, I didn’t know how to pray in chapel, and I felt embarrassed at singing hyms. I sometimes wondered why we had to attend worship and what it was. But while I was there, I noticed its importance. If I was angry or had some worry, I could forget the annoyances and ease my mind when I listened to the beautiful sounds of the pipe organ and the prayers. Now I understand the meaning of it. I think that by believing and praying in our daily life, we receive hope and power to live.

Like most Japanese, including our students, she is not a church member, but we pray that the seeds that are planted in the spring of life will bear fruit according to God’s timing.

Kwassui Girls’ High School also emphasizes the spirit that sustains us. In the early 20th century, the third president, Ms. White, used the letters of KWASSUI as a memory device for this. (See box.)

Let us pray that the spirits of Kwassui students and staff may grow closer to our Lord as we strive to live according to God’s will.

Kwassui has grown through the years and continues to do so as it has just opened two new departments in the Faculty of Wellness Studies in the College: one is called Life Design; the other is Child Development and Education.

The International Student Exchange Center, which was restructured last spring, has brought us students from China and Korea as well. Last month we said farewell to Cissy, one of the Chinese students who had been active in the Bible class at the College residence hall. Now we are looking forward to meeting new members of that class along with Mayuko and Sawako who plan to continue as second-year students. Yurika, who was also in this group last year, has moved to an Anglican church-sponsored residence hall. We rejoice that she was bapized at Christmas last year. These three students, along with another Sawako, Yasue, and Yoriko, from the afterschool Bible class, are among the 10 students who have helped with English orientation for the new students in our department. We hope that their encouragement will help bring more students closer to knowing Jesus Christ personally.

With prayers for God’s renewed blessings for all of you,

Barbara Easton

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 92