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July 2000
Dear Friends,
Grace and Peace to you from Kamakura, Japan! We are thrilled
to write and share all that God is doing in our lives. Many of
you have made our journey possible with your support and encouragement
over the years. For those of you who are just meeting us, we are
excited for the opportunity to grow in faith and ministry with
you.
Our mission journey together began at 6 a.m. at the Swarthmore
Presbyterian Church Easter Sunrise Youth Worship Service in 1991.
I (Kay) was a junior in high school at the Baldwin School in Bryn
Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Christian was a junior at Swarthmore College.
Christian spotted me from the audience as I was preaching the
sunrise sermon. God’s hand was at work as he providentially
sat next to my mother at the following pancake breakfast. Our
history together began as I took my place at the only open seat
left next to him. Christian was just coming out of a rebellious
phase as a minister’s son. He had renewed his faith and was
planning to attend seminary in preparation for mission work in
Africa or Vanuatu. When Christian told me he wanted to be a missionary
I quickly said, "How about Japan?" Christian vehemently
said, "You can’t be a missionary in Japan!" Our
experience has taught us that God uses our final judgments to
show that indeed "through Him all things are possible."
When we first arrived in Japan we taught English at the Zenrinkan
Good Neighbor Christian Center in Morioka, a beautiful city 200
miles north of Tokyo. The Zenrinkan ministers to people of all
walks of life through a variety of programs. Besides teaching
English we also visited local churches and began a bilingual worship
service in the Zenrinkan Chapel. This was a valuable opportunity
for Japanese and foreigners to experience Christian fellowship.
We were privileged to participate in the broad ministry of the
Zenrinkan during our wonderful year in Morioka.
In March of 1999, we left the Zenrinkan to attend the Japanese
Missionary Language Institute in Tokyo to prepare for a new position
in youth ministry with the United Church of Christ in Japan (Nihon
Kirisuto Kyodan). We were sad to leave Morioka after just one
year, but we felt God leading us to this new position since we
had sensed a calling to youth ministry in Japan for several years.
Yet, in the midst of uprooting from our faith community in Morioka,
we quickly learned that God had another special place for us to
serve. Amazingly, we discovered an empty PC(USA) mission house
located less than three kilometers from where I used to live as
a child in Hayama when my father was stationed at the Yokosuka
U.S. Naval Base for three years. During this time I had attended
the Japanese elementary school in our neighborhood, and I was
surrounded by wonderful friends and a great teacher named Totsu
sensei who often tutored me during recess to catch up with the
other students. Everything was going smoothly until we studied
the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Having come from a two-generation
Navy family, I was deemed personally responsible for the bombings
by my classmates. Everyone except my best friend, Akiko, and Totsu
sensei turned against me.
During this time, Akiko supported and defended me when I was
weak. I now believe that the love Akiko showed me was of God,
since the Bible tells us that God is love and all love is of God.
I know now that it was Christ working through Akiko that brought
me through the toughest time that any
ten-year-old should ever have to face. My calling in life is to
help the Akikos of Japan and even the bullies to realize the light
and love of Christ that is in each and every one of them. We see
it as a miracle that we are living only one train-stop away from
my childhood friends! The vegetable man even says he remembers
me and greeted me by saying, "Welcome home!" Now if
that’s not providence I don’t know what is! It’s
a miracle that God would call us to live and minister right next
door to the place where my love for Japan began. Recently, we
even attended the wedding of one of my childhood friends, and
Akiko and others have been to our home and attended church with
us!
As we learn to express our faith in Japanese during our last
year of language school, we know that the most important thing
is to communicate in a spirit of love. Please pray that we might
always be filled with the spirit and mind of Christ as we endeavor
to communicate the gospel to our friends and neighbors. We also
ask your prayers for the Nihon Kirisuto Kyodan and especially
for those who will decide how our youth ministry assignment will
be implemented next spring. The Kyodan has been without a national
youth program for over 30 years, and our hope is to help initiate
a network to empower pastors, lay people, youth, and missionaries
to help young people understand themselves as loved children of
God. Jesus said,
"This is my commandment, that you love one another
as I have loved you" (John 15:12)
As we minister in Japan, it is our hope and prayer that youth
may be touched by the powerful love of Christ at work in our lives
and theirs.
Faithfully,
Kay and Christian Zebley
E-mail: zebley@gol.com
The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 172
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