| Then, for three weeks in July
and August, we accompanied a delegation of thirteen youth from
the United Church of Christ in Japan and the Korean Christian
Church in Japan to the 7th International Christian Youth Conference
(ICYC) sponsored by the World Methodist Council in Belfast, Northern
Ireland, followed by a week at the Taizé Community in France.
After returning to Japan, we soon departed for the United States
to begin our mission interpretation assignment in late September.
It was an exciting but exhausting year of global travel (almost
30 flights!). Thankfully, our travels allowed us to speak and
fellowship in many of your churches.
These days, images of war bombard us through the media. The daily
flood of violence can sometimes test our beliefs about God’s
loving activity in human affairs. In this vein we offer a story
of reconciliation from our experience at Taize last summer. As
you may know, Taizé is an ecumenical community founded
in 1940 near Lyon, France, by Brother Roger. (http://www.taize.fr/)
The community is famous for the “Songs of Taizé”
and draws thousands annually for worship, study, and contemplation.
The Japanese delegation joined a program with 5,000 international
youth. After returning to Tokyo, we were surprised to find the
following piece in the monthly “News from Taizé”
distributed around the globe:
Koreans and Japanese: at Taizé this summer (August,
2002)
Among the young adults from many nations taking part in the
meetings in Taizé this summer are some from Korea and
from Japan. These two countries have a difficult colonial past
in common, which makes the relationship between them often ambiguous,
and sometimes tense politically. So for these young Christians,
the meetings provide an opportunity to discover one another
and to establish friendship. For most of the Koreans, this has
been the first time they have ever been able to sit down and
really talk with the Japanese. One Japanese woman student said,
"In my sharing group there are Croatians and Serbs. This
is not easy because of their recent history. As I listened to
them I thought about the relationship between the Japanese and
the Koreans. I am well aware of the great suffering the Japanese
inflicted on the Koreans in the past." One of the Korean
Taizé brothers, who welcomed the young people, adds,
“If this meeting between young people from the two countries
is not only possible but fruitful, that is probably because
in Taizé each person makes a personal experience of peaceful
prayer in an atmosphere of trust.” "Together in Taizé:
Koreans and Japanese": http://www.taize.fr/en/enplgkoj.htm
The young Japanese woman quoted above is Hana Takahashi, a senior
at International Christian University and a youth leader in the
United Church of Christ in Japan. During the same meeting, Hana
recalled her visit to a church in Korea where many local people
had been massacred during an uprising against the Japanese over
80 years ago. When she shared this story, one of her new Korean
friends at Taizé called her a “honto-no-tomodachi,”
a real friend. Then, this Korean woman shared her experience of
a Japanese asking her forgiveness for what the Japanese had done
to Koreans in the past, adding that she prays the Lord will bless
Korea. Very touched by these words, this Korean woman now prays
for the Lord to bless Japan. In this way, the open sharing at
Taizé led the Japanese and Korean youth into an experience
of reconciliation.
As a result, they decided to hold a presentation together the
following day for other young people at Taizé. The Koreans
sang a traditional song and performed Taekwondo (a Korean martial
art) and the Japanese sang, decorated the room with calligraphy
and origami, and helped students try on Kimono while serving everyone
green tea and rice cakes. The program ended with Koreans and Japanese
linking arms to sing “Kirisuto no Heiwa” (the Peace
of Christ) in Japanese. As Hana recalls, “With our arms
around each others, shoulders swaying to the music, we sang the
simple refrain: ‘May the peace of Christ reach every corner
of your heart.’ At this moment we all knew God was penetrating
our hearts from within to unite us together as one Body in Christ.”
By sharing openly about a painful history, Japanese young people
came together as reconciled Christians with new friends from Korea
at Taizé. Since then, they have shared this story in Japan
as a witness to the power of forgiveness in Christ. As war now
rages in Iraq, please remember the Holy Spirit is constantly reconciling
people in many settings around the world. Through mutually sharing
and sorrow perhaps Americans and Iraqis will discover reconciliation
at Taizé and other places. Although war is the sad current
reality, we pray for healing between the United States and Iraq.
May there be a rapid end to the war and healing among all nations.
May you be encouraged in this difficult time.
We are enjoying our studies here in California but miss all of
you and our friends in Japan very much. We will write again from
Japan in June. Thanks again for your wonderful hospitality during
mission interpretation.
Peace In Christ,
Christian and Kay Zebley
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
178
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