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December 2001
Dear Friends,
Christmas Greetings from Japan. Given the tragic events of September
and sustained violence throughout the world, our Advent reflections
this year have focused on peace and thanksgiving. In this way
we rejoice for the opportunity we had to attend the eighth Presbyterian
Youth Triennium at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana,
from July 20 to 29 with 17 youth and a pastor from Japan. We would
especially like to thank the Reverend Keith Geiselman, Mrs. Kathy
Tobias, and members of the First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti,
Michigan, for the wonderful home-stay program before the Triennium.
Also, many thanks to the congregations of Westminster Presbyterian
Church and First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor.
This summer 146 delegates from 42 countries were invited to attend
the Triennium. These included delegates from the United Church
of Christ in Japan (the Nihon Kirisuto Kyodan), the Korean Christian
Church in Japan, the Reformed Church in Japan, and the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church in Japan. They joined 6,000 Presbyterian youth
from the U.S. and Canada for a dynamic week of praise, worship,
Bible study, and Christian fellowship. Let us introduce you to
a few of these remarkable young people:
Shingo Maezawa is 21 and has been working for the Kyodan national
office in Tokyo before entering university. Triennium gave him
needed direction for the future. He writes, "I was deeply
moved by how people gathered together in the Name of the Lord
from so many different cultural backgrounds and put their differences
aside. Participating in Triennium helped me to realize that it
really is OK to openly express what is shouting out inside of
me." Recently, he applied and was accepted to enter the theology
department of Doshisha University in Kyoto. He is not sure if
he wants to be a pastor but rather, "I want to become a leader
in the Christian community so I can help youth in Japan have experiences
like Triennium."
Dressed in yukata and kimono, the Japanese delegation performed
in the "Rockin’ the Planet Global Cabaret." Opening
with a judo demonstration that brought thousands to their feet,
they next sang a Japanese hymn which again elicited loud cheers.
Ahkija Park, a national youth leader in the Korean Christian Church
in Japan, then stepped forward to explain the cruel history of
discrimination against Korean residents of Japan. The group embraced
Ahkija’s painful words as they joined to sing "The Line,"
a popular song by Christian singer Sawa Tomoe, the daughter of
a Korean and Japanese Kyodan clergy couple. The audience sang
along as the lyrics blazed across huge video screens: "Where’s
the line between love and hate…the line is me, the line is
you, (join hands) There’s no line, no line anymore…."
Intended to demonstrate their solidarity as Christian youth in
Japan from different backgrounds, the entire conference seemed
to become one as everyone sang the moving lyrics. Through their
loving concern for one another, the Japanese delegates showed
remarkable Christian unity.
Mariko Minami is 18 and a senior at Keiwa Gakuen, a Christian
boarding school in Niigata prefecture. She is a soft-spoken but
powerful black-belt in judo who enjoyed tossing her classmate
Koji Inagaki over her shoulder during the presentation. "The
whole Triennium experience made me strongly aware that God loves
me," she said. "That is the main reason I have decided
to be baptized and devote myself to God by becoming a minister.
As for youth evangelism today, the common impression of worship
is that it is boring, so I think it’s important to create
a fun environment by utilizing gospel and praise songs and other
forms of creative worship to touch young people’s hearts."
Mariko is already practicing what she learned at Triennium—that
"there is no set way to praise God"—by gathering
her hall mates together several times a week "to relax and
sing hymns and praise songs." Mariko will be baptized on
December 23 at Niigata Church and, along with Shingo, will enter
the theology department of Doshisha University. To the delight
of her missionary English teacher, the Reverend Susan Adams, Mariko
recently said, "I want to become a minister and missionary
just like you."
When the delegates reunited in our home in September, it was clear
they had formed a common identity as Christian young people in
Japan and wanted to introduce new forms of youth ministry and
worship in their home churches. We are currently assigned to facilitate
a national youth leadership network in the United Church of Christ
in Japan. Since the Kyodan has not had a national youth program
for over 30 years, it is a critical but monumental task. Yet,
the Holy Spirit worked through our Triennium experience to create
the nucleus for a national team of Kyodan youth leaders. Further,
becoming close friends with youth from other denominations in
Japan exposed these young leaders to the joyful power of ecumenism.
Triennium affected the participants in more ways than we ever
thought possible. Shingo has started a "Love Hug Committee"
in his church after learning the practice of giving and receiving
"love hugs" from the Triennium staff!
Please keep these 14 young people and the Reverend Yoshinobu
Kouchi, the RCJ pastor who attended the event, in your prayers.
Through the mission of the PC(USA), these youth leaders were exposed
to Presbyterian congregations, young people, leaders, and events
which transformed their understanding of the Church and ministry.
As Christmas draws near, these youth and all of you, our friends
in Christ around the world, are the blessings for whom we rejoice.
May the hope and promise of the Savior be with you always.
Christmas Blessings,
Christian and Kay Zebley
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 185
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