Ramblings

Meito Junction Bluegrass CD

Great news!  Some of the members of the Meito Christ International Church, where I have been the pastor for the last four years have put together a CD.  It is a collection of hymns done in a bluegrass style, and performed by members of the band.

The recordings are ‘live’ and done at the church. After rehearsing, they set up recording sessions and then did 3 takes for each song.  When they have finished their second session, they had a little time left, so they pulled up a few other songs and filled out the time.  Several of those made it to the CD as well.

All proceeds from the sale of the CD will go to support providing English worship at Meito Christ International Church.

To place an order from anywhere, to anywhere in the world via your credit card, please go use this link.  Meito Junction Bluegrass CD.  All orders are safe and secure.  Thank you! 

New Global Updates

ELCA PRESIDING BISHOP RESPONDS TO GAZA SHIP CONVOY INCIDENT

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Expressing regret for the deaths and injuries that resulted when Israeli military forces intercepted a ship convoy seeking to deliver humanitarian goods to Gaza, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), called for "a full, international and independent investigation into the matter," in a June 1 public statement.  Read more at www.elca.org/news.  Read the full statement at http://www.elca.org/bishop/messages.  Find other statements, analysis and background information about Israel/Palestine, including Gaza, at www.elca.org/peacenotwalls.  Learn about the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land at www.elca.org/israelpalestine.

 

MULTIPOINT PARISH – BY BOAT

In North America, pastors sometimes spend hours Sunday mornings driving to the next congregation for worship.  In Malaysia, Pastor Mathius of the Basel Christian Church spends an hour on a river boat through virgin rain forest traveling to one of his congregations.  See http://blogs.elca.org/handinhand and scroll down to the story.

 

GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD

Watch or download this compelling two-minute video introducing the theme of the LWF Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, July 2010. See www.elca.org/lwf and click the link in the upper right.  Other Assembly congregational resources and information are also available by clicking the blue box in the middle of the page.

 

CELEBRATE. THANK. HONOR. REMEMBER.

Give a gift to dads and grads that says "you mean the world to me" with a donation to support ELCA missionaries (see www.elca.org/4missionaries). To donate and request gift cards "Honoring," "Celebrating," "Thanking" and "Remembering", call 800-638-3522.

 

For the Sake of the World:  ELCA GLOBAL MINISTRIES

This concise six-minute video introduces ministries that make a world of difference: ELCA Mission Support, Missionary Sponsorship, and World Hunger. View and share the presentation to better understand "who does what," how we work together, and where to learn more. Find it at www.elca.org/handyresources toward the bottom of the page.

 

THE LAZARUS EFFECT

Have you seen The Lazarus Effect?"  Find out how 40 cents a day can save someone's life.  Watch it on YouTube - then donate online at www.elca.org/aids to support life-saving HIV and AIDS ministry around the world.

 

GLOBAL MISSION MAP BROCHURE - 2010 version now available 

See how your church is engaged around the world with pictures, stories, and a global map.  Great for classes, congregational meetings, or children sermons.  Find order information at www.elca.org/globalmission/resources.

 

Revised COMPANION SYNOD HANDBOOK for ELCA synods and congregations

This new edition has updates on international funds transmittals (p. 9), companion synod profiles (p. 16), and advocating for your companion (p. 17).  See www.elca.org/companionsynods and click on the English version of the handbook.

 

PROFESSORS SOUGHT FOR MANY COUNTRIES

Professors are requested to teach a variety of academic subjects at seminaries in Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Singapore, and Taiwan.  Short-term (3 to 9 months) volunteer opportunities.  See www.elca.org/globalserve and click Global Service Opportunities to search the database at the bottom.

 

MISSION FESTIVAL in Sandusky, Ohio, Aug. 6-8

Hear speakers Mark Allan Powell (Trinity Seminary) and Jacqueline Bussie (Capital University) at Daybreak:  Renewing Our Hope.  See www.elca.org/localevents and find the link under Synod Events.

 

GLOBAL HEADLINES at www.elca.org/news (click News Releases)

+ ELCA Presiding Bishop Responds to Gaza Ship Convoy Incident (see also above)

+ ELCA Awards Phoebe Herman Scholarships to 15 International Students

+ ELCA Global Seminary Teachers Take Pride in Nurturing Future Pastors

+ ELCA Presiding Bishop Meets with African, Asian Church Leaders

+ ELCA Leaders to Respond to Actions, Comments by Lutherans in Africa

+ ELCA Bishops Express Concern for Israeli Orders' Effect on Palestinians

 

IN OUR PRAYERS

Give thanks for the work of Linda Gawthorne among the indigenous Kogi people of Colombia displaced from their land in the Santa Marta Mountains by violence, many now outside of their traditional lands.  Linda provides spiritual nurturing and is helping translate the Bible into Kogi. (This prayer for June 4, the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, is available along with daily prayers from around the globe at http://archive.elca.org/prayerventures/.)

 

 

This issue of Global Links (June 2010) contains highlights from elca.org of ELCA ministry or connections in other countries.  Please forward Global Links in whole or in part to others, use it in publications with attribution, or encourage others to read it or subscribe at www.elca.org/globalmission/engage. 

Global Links

GLOBAL LINKS

Connect to the global church through elca.org

 

PRAYERS NEEDED FOR THAILAND

The situation has not improved since April 10 when 24 people were mortally wounded and over 800 injured in clashes between the security forces and the ‘red shirt’ [anti-government] demonstrators. Since then the tension has escalated.  See http://blogs.elca.org/handinhand.

 

LUTHERAN MALARIA INITIATIVE

Watch a 2-minute video featuring a school for orphans in Mozambique where a clinic is being built in partnership with the Lutheran Church in Mozambique and the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. See www.elca.org/lmi and click the link under Watch a video.

 

YOUNG ADULTS IN GLOBAL MISSION SELECTED FOR 2010-11

During the coming year, 43 young adults will serve in eight countries with the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program.  Contact heidi.torgerson@elca.org for a list of these young adults and their countries of service. 

 

CHINA EARTHQUAKE

On April 14, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Yushu County in the Qinghai Province.  See www.elca.org/disaster.

 

BISHOP HANSON:  Daily bread on the way to Stuttgart

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA and president of the Lutheran World Federation, brings a daily bread reflection on behalf of the Lutheran World Federation Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, July 20-27, 2010.  See www.elca.org/lwf and click the links on the bottom right.

 

A PENTECOST STORY FROM CAMEROON

Two young men sat on the steps of the Bible School, reading the Bible by themselves for the first time ever.  See www.elca.org/handinhand under Summer issue; use the downloadable bulletin insert for worship on Pentecost Sunday, June 12.

 

HEALTH PERSONNEL SOUGHT FOR LIBERIA

Phebe Hospital and the School of Nursing are seeking a variety of medical personnel for service in Liberia, Africa.  See www.elca.org/globalserve and click Global Service Opportunities to search the database at the bottom.

 

IMMIGRATION

As background for participating in the current public discussion on immigration, read the ELCA's 1998 social message at www.elca.org/socialstatements or the 2009 social policy resolution at www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Policy-Resolutions.aspx

 

10 THINGS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT HUNGER AND THIRST

See http://blogs.elca.org/hungerrumblings

 

PICTURES OF THE WALL

View or download a PowerPoint presentation of the separation barrier between Israeli and Palestinian territory.  See www.elca.org/peacenotwalls  

 

GLOCAL MISSION GATHERING in Austin, Minnesota, July 16-17
Connect with other Lutherans interested in global and local mission.  See www.elca.org/globalevents and click on 2010 Glocal Mission Gatherings.

 

THE ANSWER IS 4,035 and 98.  WHAT'S THE QUESTION?

Celebrate the first anniversary of the Hand in Hand Blog Digest and see the year's most-visited stories at http://blogs.elca.org/handinhand/post/happy-anniversary-hihbd-16042010/

 

GLOBAL HEADLINES at www.elca.org/news (click News Releases)

+ ELCA Pastor, Physician in Guyana Combines Spiritual, Medical Well-Being

+ ELCA Presiding Bishop Joins Call for Protection of Christians in Iraq

+ Lutheran Youth Lead Efforts to Fight Malaria, Build Awareness

+ Lutheran Diocese Bishop Dies Returning from Poland President's Funeral

+ ELCA Provides $50,000 for Earthquake Response in China

+ ELCA Presiding Bishop Hopes for Open Conversation with Tanzanian Bishop

+ Tanzanian Bishop, African Churches Comment on ELCA Assembly Decisions

 

IN OUR PRAYERS

Give thanks to God for Pastor Richard Young's ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana (ELCG), where he serves in a parish of four congregations. Also a medical doctor, he continues to coordinate and develop health programs for the ELCG. (This prayer for May 5 is available along with daily prayers from around the globe at http://archive.elca.org/prayerventures/.  See also the news release at www.elca.org/news)

 

 

This issue of Global Links (May 2010) contains highlights from elca.org of ELCA ministry or connections in other countries.  Please forward Global Links in whole or in part to others, use it in publications with attribution, or encourage others to read it or subscribe at www.elca.org/globalmission/engage. 

Just Right

Spring 2010 Sponsor letter (Mailed 4/27/2010)

   Occasionally, I take some lesson time in my kindergarten/preschool classes and read an English children’s book.  One of the children’s favorites is Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  In the version that I read, when Goldilocks finds appropriate porridge, not too hot or too cold, and the chair that neither rocks too fast or too slow, the narrator exclaims it is “just right!”  The children have become so accustomed to the story that when it comes time to say, “Just right,” they join in.

   This past month, while stopping by to pick up some papers at the kindergarten office, several of the teachers were working.  One of the teachers asked if it was true that I was returning to the US this summer.  I told them indeed that it was true, I would be returning to the United States, as my term as a missionary had come to an end.

   One of the teachers then asked, “How has your time in Japan been?”  Without really thinking, I said the first thought that came to mind, “Tadashi” (正しい); which in this context can mean “positive or good.”  She quickly said in English (in the voice of a young girl from Goldilocks and the Three Bears) --- Oh! “Just right!” whereby we both laughed.  I continue to think about her quip, “just right.”

   Measuring what is “just right” or not is easier to determine for some things than others.  Just look at the picture of the car above that just fits into its parking space.  That type of scene is not uncommon --- using every available inch to get things to fit just right --- in crowded Japan.  But besides space, I can also tell pretty quickly if my Bible story, message and English lesson made any sense to the children in the kindergarten, or for that matter if people are staying awake during my sermons at Meito Christ International Church where I serve as Pastor!  However, sometimes it is hard to define one way or the other if what I say, hear, or experience is “just right.”

   I have three monthly English Adult Bible study classes at three separate locations organized by the local Lutheran congregation with whom I work, Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran Church.  One of the classes is in the evening and intended primarily for people coming home from work.  Over the three years that I have run this one evening class there are times when I am the only person.  I have had participants but for various reasons, usually work and/or family commitments, they are unable to continue for long.

   I, with Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran and the pastoral staff, have worked hard to advertize and invite participants, yet to no avail.  Yet, we wonder, now that my missionary term is coming to attend, did we do enough?  Should we have tried harder to find an alternative time or location?  Would my time have been better utilized somewhere else? 

   Yet, on the other hand the class is “just right” in many ways.  I did not have to travel as this study is located on the first floor of where we live.  When no one comes, I can use the time to do other work or read the Bible.  Or, after waiting for a suitable amount of time, turn off the lights and lock the door.       

   From one point of view, the evening class has been a complete failure.  Yet, in another way, it has been “just right” for those who have attended in the time that they did have.  In those times when I have had a person(s) attend, we have had a positive time talking and exploring scripture.

   From my experience as a missionary in Japan, not everything can be measured as positive or negative, based on numbers, success or experience, so perhaps it is not a search for what is “just right.”  That does not mean that everything that is going on in mission and ministry should not be open to change if something is not working; rather, I think mission and ministry with our partners, like the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, is recognizing that mission is God’s adventure for us.  Certainly there are “thrills and spills,” but mission revolves around the living out of God’s adventure.

   A few years ago I wrote down a quote that I read from a small book called: Lord Teach Us: the Lord’s Prayer & the Christian Life.  The authors’ point was that in many ways, the “Lord’s Prayer” is meaningful in worship because, in its simplicity, those who pray its words find acceptance.  The authors wrote:

“It is comforting to know that even though you don’t always feel like a Christian, though you do not always act like a Christian, much less believe like a Christian, your relationship as a friend of God is not based on what you have felt, done, or believed. Rather, you are a friend with God because of God’s choice of you in Jesus through the church.”[1]

  

   For me, that is a way of saying God’s adventure is “just right” regardless of how I feel, what I am able to do or believe I have accomplished.  It is not a search for what is just right, but an adventure!

_________________________________________

Summer 2010

   I have posted a 2010 Summer Calendar on my blog, so if you would like to have me visit to share about my work here in Japan, please review the schedule and send a request as soon as possible.  I revise the schedule based on the requests we receive, so it is first-come, first-served.  A gentle reminder that all costs for a visit are fully funded by churches requesting a visit.  Neither the ELCA nor I cover those costs.  My blog address:  www.nagoyamission.typepad.com

---

[1] Lord Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer & The Christian Life, Willimon, William H., Hauerwas, Stanley, & Saye, Scott C., Abingdon Press, 1996

Meito Junction

Music lovers rejoice.

 

The band that leads our worship at Meito Christ International Church (MCIC) --- the English language worship service were I am pastor --- is putting together a CD of some great music.  If you are interested in hearing a sample of the music please go to this link: http://meitojunction.com

 

The CD, titled Sunday Sessions, will have 15 songs of bluegrass gospel.  We are all looking forward to the CD that is in the production stage.  When it is released I will post a note on this blog.  Just a reminder that proceeds of the sale of the CD will go toward supporting MCIC and its music ministry.

 

Thank you for listening.

Connections

Connections

 

   On Christmas Day morning, I was tempted not to answer the intercom for our front door downstairs.  My mother was visiting all the way from Texas and we were near the end of opening Christmas presents.  I hadn’t taken a shower, but simply thrown on clothes and was enjoying coffee and a slice of Norwegian Christmas bread that Beth had made as we opened presents.  I was slowly waking up to the day after participating in three worship services on Christmas Eve, two in Japanese as a participant and one in English that I had led.  Furthermore, it was cold outside!  None of these factors worked in favor of answering the door. 

   I answered the door “Hi, moshi, moshi” in Japanese.  An answer came back in English over the intercom, “Hello!  This is Ichiro.  I would like a bicycle.”

   “Ichiro” is a young medical doctor from Mongolia who received a scholarship from the Japanese government to work on a doctoral program at a medical university here in Nagoya, Japan.  His specialty is the liver.  “Ichiro” --- his nickname because his Mongolian name is far too difficult for many westerners to pronounce, much less spell --- had shown up at our English worship service one week before.  He had recently moved into a building across the street from our church and had seen on our sign that we had English worship.  When he first came to our worship he reported that it was only the 4th time he had ever attended a Christian worship service.

   While talking with him after he attended our Christmas Eve worship (his second time with us) I mentioned to him in passing that we had an extra bicycle that he could use.  It had been left behind by a former attendee of our English worship service.

   All this information came flooding back to me as I opened the door downstairs.  Sure enough, at the door on the bright cold day, “Ichiro” stood before me, recently showered with his still wet hair neatly combed, all ready for the bicycle.  I do not know if it was then or when I walked with him over to the bicycle after I had put on a jacket that I realized that I had failed to disclose that the bicycle had been sitting outside for over a year.

   That fact did not deter him.  Together we got the bicycle out from where I had put it that afternoon after a family from Kentucky left it on the church parking lot before returning to the US.  Out it came from under the tarp, where it had sat neglected, now revealing itself as rusting and with two flat tires.

   I went back into the church to get a tire pump, some WD 40 to spray on the rusty chain and sprocket, and a wrench to lower the seat for this much smaller Asian man.  As he watched me and provided assistance when he could to get the bicycle in working order, we had a chance to talk.  In between discussion about the bicycle, I found out that his older brother had become a Christian in Mongolia over the past several years.  He had attended worship once or twice with his brother and had witnessed his brother’s baptism and now here he was a PhD student and across the street.

   After the bicycle was more or less serviceable I apologized for its “state” but told him that it now belonged to him.  This was not a rental; I did not want it back, it was a gift.  At that, he smiled broadly and his smile grew after he got on the bicycle and went around in circles, first slowly and then faster as he tested out the hand brakes and the handlebar gear shifts a completely new technology for him.  Before he rode off to go to the university library, he stopped and thanked me and said, “Thank you for my first Christmas present!”

  I was somewhat taken aback because from the time I had struggled to open the door and his riding in circles in front of me, I had momentarily forgotten it was not just any day … but Christmas Day … and here I had given him a “present.”  “Thank you Ichiro,” I said as I walked back upstairs to family, coffee and our Christmas.  As I walked I gave thanks that God had endowed me with a small hand me down gift so that I could make God known.

 

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4: 10-11 (NIV)

 

   Thank you for your gifts that enable me to be serving in Nagoya, Japan so that together we can make God known!

 

Important News

 

   As I mentioned in my last letter (Fall 2009), for a variety of reasons including the economy, my four year term as a missionary will come to an end in the summer of 2010. 

 

   We will be returning to San Antonio, Texas as our home base as I look for a pastoral call.  From the time that we return to the time I receive a call, I will be available to come to your congregation to share more about our time in Japan.  A letter with dates and the costs will be sent later this year.  A schedule will also be found on our blog:

www.nagoyamission.typepad.com

 

   Please keep that in mind as you plan for 2010 - 2011.  I urge you to please consider continuing to support our ELCA missionary presence around the world as we partner with other Christians to make God known.

 

   In Christ,

 

   Rev. Charles A. Fredrickson

   ELCA Missionary

   Nagoya, Japan  

Dense

 Nagoya Train Station on a typical spring day

 

Density

 

  One way (that I have seen used) to comprehend just how crowded Japan's big cities including Nagoya --- can be is to unfold a couple sheets of newspaper and lay them on the floor.  Adjust them so they occupy about a square meter (10.7 square feet). Then stand in the middle of the newspaper and invite four friends to join you on the paper. During rush hour, the Tokyo subway system has about five people per square meter.

   For some newcomers to Japan, the population density is a difficult challenge.  (On the other hand, Japanese people going to a relatively empty part of the world can find it disconcerting).  I remember the first time I experienced the press of people in a train during the late 1980’s in Tokyo.  I found myself tightly sandwiched in between complete strangers in a train car with only enough room to breathe.  As I am claustrophobic, initially I had to close my eyes and imagine myself out in a field. Another added benefit was (at that time!) that I was a head taller than many of the people around me. Eventually, I became accustomed to, but never quite comfortable with, the press of people around me.

   Evangelism takes on new dimensions in this type of environment.  Meeting people is not a problem; rather it is how to break the ice.  Most cities do not have empty suburbs inhabited only when people are home from school or work.  Instead, all I need to do is step out the church door and within seconds several people will have walked by.  In a dense, stress producing environment, people tend to take on what is termed in New York City as the “purposeful look;” seeing but not looking at.

   I tried to explain this recently.  One afternoon, my doorbell rang and to my surprise, standing at the door were two visitors from Germany.  After introductions I found out that they felt compelled to come to Japan to share the good news of Jesus Christ.  They had found my name and address on an ELCA web site and had taken it upon themselves to come and help the entire Christian church share the Good News because “the time was getting short” before the return of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, they got on a plane and flew to Nagoya, Japan for three days of witnessing before heading back to Germany.

   Neither one spoke any Japanese (their English was good), but here they were at my door because they wanted information on the location of where some other Japanese churches might be located.  Also, they wanted me to give some appropriate Christian tracts and good locations where to distribute.

   Over coffee I listened to their story.  In response, I welcomed them to Japan, rejoiced in their enthusiasm, choosing not to enter into a dialogue about the “end times” --- as I am of the view that it will come as a “thief in the night” --- and tried to give them a short cross-cultural lesson.  Handing out tracts was certainly one way to share the good news; although it was not the most effective method.  The Japanese church focuses on relationship building with the experience and knowledge that many Japanese do not become Christian until after years of Bible study and discussion.

   I told them that the Japanese church with which I work hands out a select number of handmade paperback books appropriate for children and adults about Jesus Christ during the Christmas season.  They distribute the books after Christmas Eve worship, and to any visitors attending their local community Kindergarten Christmas pageant.

   I told the German visitors that mass produced small tracts were not a cost effective method because with many people concentrated tightly in cities, many businesses hand out flyers and brochures at train stations and on the sidewalk.  Businesses try many different ways to have people look at their information including providing free items like small packs of Kleenex.  People are very accustomed to having strangers try to push paper in the front of them while walking by.  Most people (like myself) have become accustomed to throwing them away after taking out the Kleenex, or if in a particular hurry, brushing past those outstretched arms.  The Japanese church finds that a small handmade card or book means more than mass produced tracts.  The handmade nature is important because it adds an extra note of a human relationship.

   However these two Germans were persistent and instead I gave them six New Testament Bibles that I had received from the Gideons.  They were thrilled with the Bibles and a map that I gave them with some nearby churches, although not receptive to my cross cultural suggestions.  After a prayer, off they went!  About a week later I received a long email detailing their work and thanking me for the Bibles with information on where they had distributed them --- all went to police and fire stations.  They received a polite reception at the Japanese churches but, I sensed from their email, not much more.

   That Sunday after English language worship I happened to mention my experience during fellowship.  One of the people (a American entrepreneur) with whom I was sharing this story shook his head and asked rhetorically, “How much do you think it cost for them to fly roundtrip to Nagoya from Germany, and pay for a hotel and food?”  Those of us in the conversation estimated that it would have cost at the minimum $2,500.  We then conferred on how much better it would have been to have found a way to support the Japanese church here --- denomination beside the point --- or given even a portion of that to the Japanese branch of the Gideons!

   I then remarked how they could have used that money and their time and worked with their church and their pastor and shared the good news in Germany.

The model of ministry that the ELCA follows is termed “accompaniment.”  Our partner churches around the world chose how to use the gifts of the ELCA that we have to share.  It isn’t a critique of the model shown by those two German women; rather “accompaniment” is a more cost effective and respectful way to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  The partner churches with whom we work are the ones who best know their own culture, its people and language.  Our partner churches make decisions and choices about how to carry out Christian ministry in their own cultural contexts.  That is why we “accompany” them; as a soloist chooses to sing the song, the accompanist follows the singers lead.

   Through your gifts and support of the ELCA, I am in Nagoya, Japan at the request of our partner, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, responding to their requests and what is needed, helping the Japanese Church to break the “ice” and continue to develop relationships.  Thank you.

   You can continue to follow our ministry together at www.nagoyamission.typepad.com where you will find an electronic copy of this note and others.  Information pertaining to our English worship can be found at www.meitochurch.org 

 

Your Prayers are needed:

 

   In the summer of 2010, our 4 – year term as missionaries in Nagoya, Japan will be coming to an end.  The Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC) has decided to use the available resources and gifts of the JELC and ELCA in other areas.  After our departure, there will not be an ELCA missionary in this area of Japan for the foreseeable future.

  Since my arrival, the English worship service --- Meito Christ International Church --- has come to the point where they will be come a more fully independent congregation in partnership with the local Lutheran Church.  Shortly, they will begin an international search for a Christian part-time pastoral leader.  The lay or ordained leader will have to come with some financial support or with a position in Japan because Meito Christ International Church is not a full time ministry.  Please pray that a pastoral leader with those gifts can be found.

  However, my Japanese work involving teaching and Bible studies will come to an end.  We are thankful to God for seeds of God’s grace that have been planted and look forward in the years to come in how our work together will grow.

  Therefore, as you make plans in your budgets for 2010, please prayerfully consider moving your support to another missionary.  In that regard, I will be available in the summer of 2010 upon our return to visit our supporting churches and individuals.  As I will be in the process to find a new call I will not have as much time as in 2008.  In the spring of 2010, I will be sending a more detailed list of dates that are available for a visit.

 

In Christ,

Charles Fredrickson

Nagoya, Japan

Below is a recent letter/email that was sent to all of the friends of the English worship service where I am pastor.  Please add your prayers to all of ours for the smooth transition of this English speaking ministry and congregation in Nagoya, Japan.  I will be sending a letter to all of our misisonary sponsors that will update you on our Lutheran Church missionary work with the Japanese Lutheran Church.  Thank you.

 

 

Dear Friends of Meito Christ International Church,

 

In August 2006 my family and I came to Nagoya, Japan on a 4-year term as Missionaries.  Part of my ministry was to be the pastor for the English worship service that had grown to be called Meito Christ International Church (MCIC) - a ministry of hospitality to English speakers in Nagoya.  It was a ministry that began years ago under former Lutheran missionaries  Rev. Steenburg and continued under Rev. Mason.

 

I also came with the message from my church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its partner in ministry, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC) that MCIC could not expect Lutheran missionaries to continue to be pastors after my term expired in 2010.

 

In the spring of 2009 MCIC filed an application for a new missionary in conjunction with the application of our Japanese Lutheran host the Tokai district of the JELC to begin in 2010.  Recently, we received the news that the Japanese church (JELC) has decided to end the ELCA Lutheran missionary presence with my term. 

 

This means that after my term ends in July 2010, there will no longer be an English speaking Lutheran missionary from the US in the Nagoya area for the foreseeable future.

 

In preparation for the possibility of this time, in 2006 MCIC renewed it's partnership with Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran Church, a merger of three Japanese congregations including the former host of the MCIC - Meito Christ Lutheran Church.  MCIC began to have its own budget and responsibility for some expenses and began to save some money with the goal of financially supporting its own pastor.  MCIC formed a church council with two elected positions, a president and co-treasures and includes two volunteer representatives who attend MCIC faithfully as well as myself.  Although we took those steps, MCIC is not an official congregation or legal entity.  MCIC continues to be a ministry of hospitality to English speakers who want to worship in a Christian inter-denominational congregation.

 

However, now with the recent decision by the JELC the time has come for MCIC to continue to evolve.  The council of MCIC met on Sunday and discussed MCIC's various options.  The will meet again shortly to continue that discussion.  The council will share their suggestion and the next step at a general congregational meeting on November 1st immediately after worship.  This meeting is an important one and on behalf of the council I encourage all to attend.  On the agenda will be to discuss the recommendation of the council.

 

Please continue to pray for MCIC in this time of transition and for God's Holy Spirit to continue to direct and guide our path.

 

Be assured that worship will continue at 5:00 pm with Sunday school and Adult Bible Study at 4:00 pm.  As always, MCIC welcomes all to worship to God's glory.

 

In Christ,

 

Pastor C.

Nagasaki, Japan

This is a short article that I wrote for Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran Church newsletter that will be published shortly.  A Japanese version of this article follows.  The picture is of the epicenter (where the Atomic bomb exploded 500 meters in the air) Nagsaki, Japan.  I am on the left and Mr. Murabara from Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran Church is on the right.

 

 

On August 25-27^th, I went to Nagasaki.  The trip brought back many fond memories of my brief time in Nagasaki as a lay missionary in 1986-1989.  In those years I served Nagasaki Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, taught English at the church and in the community as part of the church’s evangelism program. 

 

This visit to Nagasaki with members of Nagoya-Kibo reminded me of some important experiences.  Once, I remember vividly being asked by Pastor Oka, the pastor of Nagasaki Lutheran at that time, about my feelings about the atomic bomb and its use on the civilian population in 1945.  For a Christian coming from the US, it is quite a difficult question.

 

On one hand, if I were to use the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to defend nuclear weapons as essential to end World War II, particular after the US experience in the Battle of Okinawa, I would be like many Americans forced to adopt a sort of “celebratory triumphalism” about the massive, indiscriminate killing of civilians.  For me, this contravenes every principle of being a Christian.

 

On the other hand, if I were to use the experiences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to decry nuclear weapons, I could find my self in a position that seems to impose a false moral equivalency, meaning that the immorality of the atomic bombs could seemingly excuse the immoral conduct of World War II-era Japan not just in the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for example, but the rape and massacre of hundreds of thousands of civilian Chinese by Japanese troops in Nanking, China.

 

I told Pastor Oka that the sinful dropping of atomic bombs sends me to Jesus Christ.  In Luke 7, at a dinner table Jesus responds to criticism that is leveled at him when he allows a sinful woman to clean his feet with tears and dry them with her hair, with these words in particular: “But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

 

After those words, Jesus concludes his teaching as he often does, with: “Your faith has saved you go in peace.”  I believe that Jesus is pointing out in this episode that measuring and comparing sins is fruitless and wrong because in doing so, we become like those around that table that day, people who “forgive little” and thus “love little.”  Rather, I recognize that I am like the woman, full of the sin of the world, full of tears, silently pleading for forgiveness.

 

The use of atomic weapons is sinful, just as were the Japanese atrocities during the war.  But the point is not to compare sins in order to avoid sinning in the future; rather Jesus reminds us the final word is forgiveness and then peace, the peace that come on the cross in Jesus Christ.

Japanese version:

８月25日から27日まで長崎に行ってきました。旅行をしながら、1986年から89年にかけて信徒宣教者として長崎に住んでいた頃のなつかしい思い出がよみがえってきました。当時私は、日本福音ルーテル長崎教会の奉仕者として教会で英語を教えていました。また、教会の地域伝道の一貫として近隣の方々にも教えていました。

 

今回、なごや希望教会のみなさんと一緒に長崎を再び訪ね、あの頃の貴重な体験の数々を思い出したのです。なかでも強く印象に残っているのは、ある日、当時の長崎教会の牧師だった岡先生に、原爆が民間人の上に落とされたことについてどう思いますか、と訊かれたことです。アメリカから来日したクリスチャンにとって、とても答えにくい質問でした。

 

仮に私が、沖縄戦を経た米国にとってヒロシマとナガサキへの原爆投下は第二次世界大戦を終結するために不可欠だった、と核兵器の使用を擁護するようなことを言えば、「勝利をもたらしたのだから良かったのだ」という、いわゆる勝者の論理を刷り込まれているその他大勢のアメリカ人とたいして変わらないことになってしまいます。でも、原爆が民間人を無差別に大量に殺戮した事実は厳然とあり、私が勝者の論理を使うことは、あらゆる点でキリストの教えに反することになります。

 

その反面、もしも私が被爆したヒロシマとナガサキを根拠に、核兵器廃絶をことさら声高に主張したとすると、ある意味で偽善的な「道徳の等価」を課しているような立場に陥りかねません。つまり、原子爆弾の非道徳性を非難することによって、真珠湾の奇襲のみならず南京におけるレイプや大虐殺など、大戦中日本軍が犯した非道徳的な残虐行為への非難に対抗するようなことになりかねません。

 

岡先生の質問に対して私は、「原爆投下の罪深さを思い、私はイエス・キリストへ導かれます」とお答えしました。ルカ7章で、食事の席に着いておられたイエスに、一人の罪深い女性が近寄り、イエスの足を涙でぬらし、自分の髪の毛でぬぐいます。その行為をなすがままにされたイエスを非難した者に対して主は「赦されることの少ない者は、愛することも少ない」と応じられました。

 

イエスはそう言われたのちに「あなたの信仰があなたを救った。安心して〔英語で in peace平和のうちに〕行きなさい」と、お話の最後によく使われた言葉をこの時も言われました。この出来事でイエスは、罪を比較することがいかに無益で間違ったことかを示されたのだ、と私は信じます。そのような比較をすれば、私たちはその食事の席についていた他の者たちと同じような「赦すことの少ない」者、すなわち「愛することが少ない」者になってしまいます。そうではなく、私はむしろその女性のごとく、この世の多くの罪に満ち、涙に満ちて、声もなく赦しを願います。

 

核兵器の使用は罪深いことです。大戦中の日本軍の残虐行為もまた罪深いことです。しかし、将来罪を犯さないようにするためには、これらの罪を比較することは意味がありません。イエスがお話の結びで言われた通り、最終的には「赦し」があって「平和」があると気付かされます。それはイエス・キリストの十字架における安心と平和にほかなりません。

 

More Grace

Mission Support Letter mailed to Mission Sponsors on may 7, 2009

 

        For many English speakers in Japan, one of the interesting, many times amazing, sometimes puzzling and at times horrendous experiences is the use, misuse and exotic combination of English words and letters.  This use and misuse can be found nearly everywhere from printing on people’s clothing to wording on signs on stores.  Sometimes the combination makes sense and other times the choice words are odd, even horrible, if not impossible to understand.  On a label of a popular bottle of brewed tea sold cold or warm in vending machines, is the following: “Sunlight and mist turn a young leaf into tea.  Tea can turn you into something new.  Tea.  A natural gift of love.”  The reason some of the English is odd is that the audience are not English speakers; rather the English lettering is more for decoration than meaning, similar to Japanese or Chinese characters used for tattoos in the US and Europe.
        Sometimes how English letters and words are used cause me pause.  One builder, called “Grace Construction,” is seen in many parts of the city of Nagoya.  Over the three years that we have been here, a few new homes, as well as condo and apartment complexes have been built or remodeled.  For example, in 2007 Grace Construction completed a new multi-story apartment complex where several old homes had once been about a five minute walk from the church.  During the construction, the emerging structure was surrounded by blue tarp, as most building is done in Japan.  This tarp is used to prevent any flying debris hitting pedestrians or traffic and to keep the site covered until its formal unveiling…I’m sure!
        What I found interesting is that on the outside of this particular blue tarp the construction company had placed a large sign with the words in English, “More Grace.”
        As a Lutheran, the thoughts that flowed from seeing that sign and it implications were many!  Isn’t God’s grace sufficient?  How and can one have “more” grace?  Then of course there is the fact that the phrase is on a building; thus can grace, and for that matter, “more grace,” be constructed?  Then I thought of all the fun Lutheran churches going through building projects might have with such a name.  Can’t you imagine a congregation named “Grace” with a renovation or construction fund called “Building More Grace?”  The building has been completed for a couple of years and it no longer is under the auspices of “More Grace.”  Yet, I continue to ponder that interesting combination of words as I see them printed on tarp covering other new construction projects around the city.
        Now I am seeing how those words have more meaning because God’s Kingdom continues to grow; mission is constantly expanding: more people, more programs, but more importantly faith; “God’s work in us that changes us and gives new birth from God.” (Martin Luther)  The kingdom growth means that God’s grace is bringing the living Word of God to more people.  You and I are part of that growth.  It may not be as evident where we live and worship but yet “more Grace” continues.
        How do I see that grace being lived out here?  Because of your support, my presence here in Japan is a clear sign to the national and local churches with whom I work that they are part of a larger global community of faith based on partnership; this “more Grace” that is building together.  Also I see that in my work with Meito Christ International Church where I serve as pastor.  For example, the week before Christmas, I had a telephone call from a young woman from Indiana on a college exchange program through Purdue University.  Besides her questions about worship time and directions, she asked in all seriousness, “Will Christmas worship be only in English?”  I told her that yes; our worship is not bilingual.  It is intended for native or near native English speakers in the Nagoya area.  She said, “Thank you!  I need English!”  For her, she needed to hear the words of grace at our savior’s birth made possible with your support.
        Thank you for being part of “more grace” as it is growing here in Nagoya, Japan.

Call for Prayer

In an ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) memo dated April 3, 2009, (sent to us by email), the following was shared:

ELCA Global Mission (GM) is experiencing a “perfect storm” with three distinct elements:  (1) a 7 percent ($1.087 million) reduction in the ELCA’s regular budget (funded primarily from Mission Support, the gifts that flow from congregations through synods to the churchwide organization); (2) a 9 percent ($1.34 million) reduction in World Hunger income, which makes up over 40 percent of GM’s budget; and (3) a $1.27 million loss of purchasing power between 2008 and 2009, relating to a variety of global factors and earlier budget reductions.  (It costs GM $850,000 million more in 2009 to support roughly the same number of missionaries supported in 2008.)  Any one of these factors would be difficult to deal with.  But each of the three amplifies the impact of the others.  Putting the three together, the effective budget reduction that GM will have to deal with in 2009 totals $3.7 million, or 12.2 percent. (Emphasis is in Memo)

 

The memo then details how the Global Mission is dealing with the 2009 budget reduction.

 

I share this information not to complain, because as many of you know many people are in dire financial pain in the US and around the world.  Rather, I cannot emphasize enough the need for prayerful support of the ELCA.

Please continue to pray for the church around the world, that the present financial difficulties do not lead us down the path of pessimism but that the church learns to use our limited resources in new and exciting ways to bring the good news of Jesus Christ around the world.

Christmas 2008-2009

This is a copy of my Christmas 2008 Missionary Sponsor letter.  The letter was sent out the week of January 5-9.  The mailing list includes all Missionary Sponsors who have pledged a gift or signed a covenant in 2008.  To be added to the list please contact Global Mission of the ELCA: http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Global-Mission/Engage-in-Global-Mission/Support/Global-Mission-Support.aspx

Christmas in Japan

         By the end of December 25th, Christmas Day, any evidence of the holiday event in Japan (outside of churches) is quickly removed, pushed aside for the much larger occasion surrounding New Year celebrations.
         “Kitschy” is how one American who attends Meito Christ International Church where I am pastor, described her impressions of the Christmas decorations in Nagoya.  That feeling could arise from the 4 ft. artificial trees found at numerous store entrances.  The trees are festooned with ornaments the size of soft balls and gold garland that nearly cover the green plastic needles.  Or, it could be the odd mix of Christmas music piped into stores beginning the day after Halloween (that is another story).
         Besides the borrowing of western Christmas kitschy decorations there is very little that advances the true meaning of Christmas; even cr?che scenes, when seen at all, tend to be gaudy.  Instead, Christmas here centers on decorations and food.  Many people eat a Christmas cake and a bucket of Kentucky Fried chicken to observe the holiday.  The white cake tradition, unique in many ways to Japan, is believed to have begun after World War II when many families could afford the newly available but expensive white flour only once a year.  The economic might, as well as ability to purchase flour, of course, has increased for most people since those years, and various white flour cakes, also available by the slice, are prevalent all year round.  Yet the Christmas cake custom continues in an 8-inch round, white decorated layered flour cake, with an inch of sweet and light white frosting for Christmas, next to a bucket of original recipe Kentucky Fried chicken.
         Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran Church here in Nagoya, where I am missionary, strives to put the Christian meaning into this borrowed and transformed holiday.  Christmas is a prime opportunity for evangelism for it takes what is already present and puts meaning to the decorations.  One of the major annual Christmas events is for the parents, primarily mothers, of the kindergarten children at our Lutheran kindergarten.  This event hosted by the social committee of the PTA is a formal sit down affair (as much as it can be with the young little brothers and sisters of the Kindergarten students present) with everyone dressed up.  It is very well attended!
         It begins every year with a few Christmas carols sung by the entire group and an advent hymn that was taught to the children and parents a month prior to the mid December event.  After a prayer, the pastor provides an opening message.  The pastor’s words are a straightforward explanation and retelling of the Christmas story and what Christmas is all about.
         This year the short entertainment featured a tone chime group of Kindergarten parents who played a selection of Christmas carols while a light brunch (with cake!) was served.  Before a concluding prayer and Christmas message (again a retelling of the meaning of Christmas) from the chairman of the Kindergarten Church board, a short business meeting was held.  During the meeting, each parent received the same copy of an appropriate Kindergarten children’s activity book that retells the Christmas story, which is explained at the event to the parents.  Each family is then responsible for wrapping the book (in a paper of their choosing, with examples available of what is appropriate).  The following week, as part of Kindergarten Christmas pageant, the children receive the activity books during a Christmas present exchange.  Wrapped presents are largely absent during Christmas, as envelopes of money for children is the traditional Japanese New Year’s gift.
         During the meeting a special appeal (with the suggested amount of about $10.00 per family) is made for the Christmas offering that will be taken during the Children’s Christmas pageant.  Over the last five years, the entire Christmas offering has sponsored children in developing nations, this year in the Philippines.  There is a strong relationship made between the offering and the exchange of Christmas gifts and the desire of Christians to share the meaning of Christmas in giving.
         But more remarkably, I was struck on this occasion that the basic assumption made by this local church and the pastor is that everyone who attends knows nothing at all about the meaning of Christmas.  Besides what was said, more subtle teaching moments were included, for example at each place setting was a booklet that retold the Christmas story as well as the meaning of Jesus Christ and answers basic questions about the seasons of Advent and Christmas.   Nothing was taken for granted regarding anything that surrounds the season.  The basic message of Christmas was explained and repeated numerous times.  I thought about my time as a pastor in the United States and realized how often I assumed that most if not all knew all about the meaning of Christmas.
         That Christmas Kindergarten Parents’ event was but one example of the many opportunities taken by the local church during Christmas to share the good news of Jesus Christ, using people’s natural curiosity and the evident cultural borrowing of the season.  In a nation where Christian symbolism is largely absent, Christmas is a prime time to share the good news.  Instead of lamenting at how wrongly Christmas was being portrayed, the church instead used the opportunity to share.  One of the women at the table where I was sitting, new to the kindergarten, expressed complete shock at the meaning of Christmas.  Although she was aware of the season from all that was around her, she exclaimed, “I had no idea that Christmas was about the birth of Jesus!”
         After this Christmas, I was left wondering about our own symbols of Christmas, many of them invented and with meanings layered as thick as white frosting cake.  Where have we possibly missed the opportunity to share the good news of the birth of Christ because we in the U.S. lament how much Christmas is no longer about Christ?  Perhaps we can turn that around and view it as a golden opportunity to tell the good news that God is with us, born as one of us in Jesus the Christ child.  Here the assumption of the church is no one knows what Christmas is about.  Maybe the church in Japan has it right!

        Thank you for your prayerful support in 2008 and I look forward to your continued support in 2009.  In 2009, the ELCA Global Mission Lenten package will include a sermon that I wrote as well as some other ideas for Lent.  Finally the web address of my blog on my work has changed.  We can now be found at www.nagoyamission.typepad.com  God’s blessings on you and yours in 2009.

Rev. Charles Fredrickson
ELCA Missionary - Nagoya, Japan