ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <title>connecting with the Kindervaters</title> <style> <!-- div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </head> <body bgcolor="#7C89A0" link="#000080" vlink="#64728B" alink="#800000"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="520" height="1514"> <!-- MSTableType="layout" --> <tr> <td valign="top" colspan="2" height="82"> <!-- MSCellType="ContentHead" --> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%" height="100%"> <!-- MSCellFormattingTableID="1" --> <tr> <td bgcolor="#800000" height="5"> <img alt="" width="1" height="5" src="../images/MsSpacer.gif"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%"> <!-- MSCellFormattingType="content" --> <table border="0" width="100%" height="100%" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="100%" height="100%" valign="middle"> <p align="right"> <font color="#800000"> <img border="0" src="../images/mtitle.jpg" width="116" height="44" align="left"></font></p> <p align="right"><b> <font color="#800000" face="Arial">K</font></b><font color="#64728B" size="2" face="Arial">onnecting with the </font><font color="#800000" face="Arial"><b> K</b></font><font color="#64728B" size="2" face="Arial">indervaters in Japan</font></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#7C89A0" height="5" width="100%"> <img alt="" width="1" height="5" src="../images/MsSpacer.gif"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="95"> <!-- MSCellType="NavBody" --> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%" height="100%"> <!-- MSCellFormattingTableID="2" --> <tr> <td width="100%"> <!-- MSCellFormattingType="content" --> <table border="0" width="100%" height="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="84" height="100%" valign="top">&nbsp;<!--webbot bot="Navigation" S-Type="sequence" S-Orientation="vertical" S-Rendering="html" S-Bar="Tabular" S-Btn-Nml="&lt;A HREF=&quot;#URL#&quot; TARGET=&quot;#TARGET#&quot;&gt;#LABEL#&lt;/A&gt;" S-Btn-Sel="#LABEL#" S-Btn-Sep="&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;" S-Bar-Pfx="&lt;table&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;" S-Bar-Sfx="&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;" B-Include-Home="FALSE" B-Include-Up="FALSE" U-Page="sid:1001" Tag="body" startspan --><table><tr><td align="center"><nobr><A HREF="../indexretired200907.htm" TARGET="">Home</A></nobr></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><nobr><A HREF="../prayer.htm" TARGET="">Prayer</A></nobr></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><nobr><A HREF="../news_main.htm" TARGET="">News</A></nobr></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><nobr><A HREF="../Kapsules_archive.htm" TARGET="">Kapsules</A></nobr></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><nobr><A HREF="../elemalbum.htm" TARGET="">Photos</A></nobr></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><nobr><A HREF="../Videotop.htm" TARGET="">Video</A></nobr></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><nobr><A HREF="mailto:sanbi4u-hp32@dvjapan.org?subject=from homepage" TARGET="">Contact&nbsp;us</A></nobr></td></tr></table><!--webbot bot="Navigation" i-checksum="4808" endspan --></td> </tr> </table> </td> <td bgcolor="#7C89A0" height="100%" width="5"> <img alt="" width="5" height="1" src="../images/MsSpacer.gif"></td> </tr> </table> </td> <td valign="top" height="1413" width="425"> <!-- MSCellType="ContentBody" --> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%" height="100%"> <!-- MSCellFormattingTableID="3" --> <tr> <td height="100%" width="100%"> <!-- MSCellFormattingType="content" --> <table border="0" width="100%" height="100%" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="100%" height="100%" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right"><b><i> <font face="Arial" color="#64728B">Play groups and Gospel music</font></i></b><span lang="en-us"><b><i><font face="Arial" size="3" color="#64728B"> | </font> <font face="Arial" size="3" color="#800000">Kapsule</font></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right"> <font color="#800000" face="Arial" size="2">6/5/04 </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">In Japan, where 99% of adults are Buddhist, Shinto or both, missionaries have long poured effort into Sunday School programs to reach the children. In the past, many parents, though not interested themselves, were happy to send their kids off to Sunday School so that they could enjoy a quite morning at home alone. Then came a series of frightening events that shook Japan and crippled Sunday School programs throughout the country: a religious cult put poisonous gas in the crowded Tokyo subways, killing 12 and injuring more than 5000. Another cult kept a corpse in a hotel room for months, claiming that it was alive. A string of such cult-related murders and scams scared everyone and brought a sudden drop in Sunday School attendance.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sengendai Alliance Church, on north side of Tokyo, was no exception. In just a few years, our Sunday School attendance dropped to 3 children and didn t rebound no matter what was tried. This year, we decided that if we were going to reach children, we would have to change the name, change the format, and try something completely different.</font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">For small children (preschoolers), we changed the day and the name. We moved <i>Sunday</i> School to <i>Wednesday</i> and called it the  You Are Special! Club. We passed out invitations to complete strangers and prayed. Would anyone come? The first week, 7 mothers and 13 children showed up, including our two. Evangeline led them in Sunday School songs and action songs and told a Bible story. The next week 21 came. Soon over 40 children were registered and attendance this April reached a high of 48 mothers and children. None of those attending are Christian, and for most of them it is the first time they have ever heard the Gospel.</font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">God answered <i>that</i> prayer and provided a great way to reach small children; now what would we do to reach older children? &nbsp;</font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> Black Gospel Music as it is called here, has become very popular since the movie <i>Sister Act (2)</i> came to Japan. Many churches have used Gospel Music Choirs to reach adults, so we decided to try with children. We changed the name from  Sunday School to  Youth Gospel Choir took out ads in the newspaper, charged a $20 fee and prayed for 20 members. God gave us the 20 children we prayed for, plus a bonus 4!&nbsp; Even better, many of the parents sat in the back, so they heard the Gospel message, as well. </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">We chose the most up-beat, fun sound tracks we could find and sang songs like  Oh Happy Day,  Oh When the Saints Go Marching In and  Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho. The choir started in March of this year and practiced 10 weeks. During those weeks, they mastered 5 songs, memorized 10 Bible verses, and heard the Gospel for the first time in their lives. </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">At the end of the 10 weeks, we held a concert. We rented a concert hall and invited a professional Christian artist to do a joint concert with our choir. It was a huge step of faith for our congregation of 25. </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">On May 11, 170 people showed up to hear the Gospel. The kids sang their hearts out and the few Christians there were nearly in tears to hear these kids, most of whom until a few weeks ago didn t even know who Jesus was, sing at the top of their voices,  Dear Lord, I want to be in that number, when the Saints go marching in. </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">Things take time in Japan. Just as a tree must be carefully nurtured and trimmed for years before it is considered a bonsai tree, so spiritual seeds also take time to sprout and grow. This year, many seeds have been sown; many have heard for the first time that there is a Creator God who loves them and that there is a Savior, Jesus Christ. Four mothers of choir members have come to Sunday worship service and one to a Bible study. Now, we stand on God s promise that His Word does not return void and that in His time, the seed of His Word planted in their hearts will bear fruit. </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">&nbsp;</font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">David, Evangeline, Josiah and Eryn Kindervater</font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="2" face="Arial">Japan Alliance Mission</font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right"> <font face="Arial" size="2"><br> &nbsp;</font></p> <p>&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#7C89A0" colspan="2" height="19"> <p align="center">&nbsp;<font size="2" color="#C0C0C0">Serving with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Japan</font></td> </tr> </table> </div> </body> </html>