December 3, 2007

Dear Friends,

Advent greetings from Nagasaki, 2007.

As we approach the end of another year on the calendar, Japanese office groups and others hold many drinking parties to forget the concerns of the year that is disappearing. However, I would like to concentrate on remembering thankfully how you have supported the mission of the Christian body through your prayers and gifts and efforts throughout the year. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission emphasis in October, called Mission Challenge ’07, seems to have been very well received. God’s holy Spirit is at work bringing people together from east and west, north and south. Let us praise our heavenly Father particularly at this Advent season for the gift to human beings of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Some years ago Japan adopted Valentine’s Day as a marketing target to increase sales of chocolate, particularly for women to give to men in their personal or business lives. This was then followed by “White Day” in March, when the favor might be returned, further increasing sales. In a similar way, Christmas has been picked up as a focal point by stores hoping to attract more customers from early November, and also as a theme in public park illuminations in the area around where I live. There are decorated trees and Santa Claus figures all over central Nagasaki. Restaurants play American and European Christmas music, and hotels plan special dinner events, especially for romantic couples. Although Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan, and so most people are at work on December 25th, the emperor’s birthday on December 23rd is a national holiday; and because that is a Sunday this year, the 24th will also be a holiday.

The chapel choir participating in the worship service at the time the Christmas tree lights were turned on.

Traditionally, New Year’s has been the important time for family gatherings in Japan (along with summertime commemoration of ancestors). Celebrations used to last for three days, with visits to Buddhist temples on New Year’s Eve and to traditional Shinto shrines at the beginning of January. Many millions of people continue to visit shrines with family or close companions, although most young people see this merely as a holiday custom rather than as a religious activity. They buy special pieces of paper for fortune-telling purposes. They hope this will bring them good luck; but if the prediction they receive about the year is not good, this is generally ignored.

The nativity scene inside the entrance of our main college building.

Kwassui Women’s College, where I teach English and Bible, tries to help students think about the real meaning of Christmas. We also have lights on trees, but when they are first lit (in the week preceding Advent) there is a ceremony to show the biblical basis of waiting expectantly for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a nativity scene that is set up in the entrance hall of the main campus building by members of the College YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) and chapel choir. The local Kwassui alumnae association singers take part in an annual Christmas worship service, with a message from a local pastor. For the all-college weekly chapel service one week, a pastor comes to speak and encourage making connections between campus life and local congregations. The student residence hall has a special worship service in mid-December followed by a celebratory dinner.

During the last week of classes before winter vacation there is a special longer chapel service so that all of the students can see a Christmas pageant and learn about the birth of Jesus Christ, as it was prophesied in the Old Testament and described in the New Testament. A special offering is collected in order to help people who are less fortunate: particularly, contributions are made to aid a home for children with mental challenges; for overseas medical assistance provided by a Japanese Christian organization; and development of infrastructure for Afghan refugees in Pakistan—especially providing water, in keeping with the meaning of the name Kwassui, which symbolizes the “Living Water” of God’s Spirit that Jesus offered to the Samaritan woman in John 4 in the Bible.

There are also Christmas concerts, of course, by Kwassui students in the Faculty of Music and by various groups as part of a community celebration of Christmas.

December is a very busy month for all of you, too, I imagine. I pray that you will take time to feel the expectation of hope and peace and joy that comes to us because of the birth of our Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ, and that you will be able to help other people to know how greatly God’s love has been given to each and every person who responds to God’s grace.

Yours in Christ,

Barbara

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 249