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Play groups and Gospel music
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Kapsule
6/5/04
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. 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.
For small children
(preschoolers), we changed the day and the name. We moved Sunday School
to Wednesday 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.
God answered that
prayer and provided a great way to reach small children; now what would we do to
reach older children?
“Black Gospel Music”
as it is called here, has become very popular since the movie Sister Act (2)
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! Even
better, many of the parents sat in the back, so they heard the Gospel message,
as well.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
David, Evangeline, Josiah and Eryn
Kindervater
Japan Alliance Mission
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