The question was meant to serve two purposes: 1). shorten the feel of our drive to Koriyama and 2). discover information that can be shared with prayer supporters in America. Because of the second reason, Cindy says I have to post this with a spoiler alert. SPOILER ALERT: This will at some point be verbally communicated in some section of America. :)
The story begins with an orphanage in the outlying areas of Fukushima city. I don't know what image comes to mind with the word "orphanage," but I know that even when I imagine a clean, safe place or program for children who have been orphaned, I still sense a gaping void where I would like to imagine "family." Family is...the origin of a person's "home culture," a huge factor in shaping a person's eyeglasses with which to see the world...where and how a child learns about safety and danger, love and pain, the guidelines to follow to be valuable or worthwhile...
This is all me hypothesizing here, but when I type the word "orphanage," does it mean the absence of all of...that?
Anyway, so our church starts with an orphanage. A woman from America would send Christmas gifts every year for the children of the orphanage, and through her action, the head of the orphanage became interested in learning about God and finding a church. (I wonder who the lady was, and what she was like...why was she connected with Fukushima City? But those questions were bypassed for more direct history...) The orphanage director wrote to the woman, asking for advice about what church to attend and how to learn about faith, and the woman responded with directions to seek out a Lutheran church. Sadly, the Lutheran synod in Japan was not interested in Fukushima, and so the nearest Lutheran church was in Niigata (yes, Niigata--where I was previously working!), a 3-hour drive away. Being a busy director, the head of the orphanage sent his wife and a boy staying at the orphanage to Niigata to investigate, and soon the seeking woman and boy were baptized.
They then decided that a 3-hour drive to church wouldn't work well for every Sunday, but the Lutheran synod was already busy in other places and couldn't spare resources for full-time ministry in Fukushima. The group from the orphanage, with the help of the American woman and others, decided to raise money and build the church building, hoping that a pastor or missionary would be sent to them after the place for worship was set up.
Then followed years of pastors coming and going...sometimes commuting from Tokyo, sometimes living in the small parsonage connected to the church. The building saw new editions, people coming and going, various mission projects, and the fights and struggles that arise from questions of faith and truth.
Sitting curled in front of my space heater at this moment, at this point in the timeline of this church, I find myself still reflecting on questions of family, worth and value, safety and love, etc. I know, in some way, history defines who we are. I also believe that God's healing, grace, and new life can free us from chains our histories hold. How has this history impacted the church? How does this church experience living as the "family of Christ"?
Hmm... It feels like those questions are just the tip of the iceberg.
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