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YWAM
Friends Update (September-November, 2005)
1. Report
from King's Kids Summer Camp and Outreach (Chieko Miyake) This camp was a part of the project called RTC(Road Through China) rather than King's Kids Camp. We gathered in Hong Kong where it is a gate to China with a desire that the Lord will open the road to China and will continue to prepare the way. 7 of us, myself, John LaDue, Sakura Smith(18), Suzy LaDue(14), Mana Kurumizawa (14), IL Min Roh (12), and?Hyun Jeong?Kim (9) came from Japan. Besides Japan, teams came from Taiwan, Korea, the U.S., England, Canada, Argentina and Swizerland. The theme was "Reconciliation" this time. We worshiped together, listened to messages, and went out to towns in Hong Kong to fellowship with youth there. It was a full 5 day trip. This time it was the very first camp outside of Japan for most of us including myself, so it was kind of overwhelming at first. But we were encouraged by the attitude of other participants toward the Lord. The theme "reconciliation" applied not only reconciliation between countries but also among us in relating to one another. For me, when we talk about "reconciliation", I think about what Japan did during the World War II and felt guilty. When one Chinese messenger shared about Japan conquering Asian countries again with the weapon called the "Gospel" like fighting the war, I felt good. Young people may not have thought about the "Reconciliation" issue before but the theme affects relationships between us. We got to know people from different countries and it was a fulfilling time. After the camp, we had an outreach from August 1 to 10 with 5 English young people and one family upon our return to Tokyo. We stayed at the Gospel Grow Up Church in Adachi-ku, Tokyo. We helped the church that does a ministry for the homeless at different parks in Tokyo. On weekends, we performed dance and skits at Chofu Minami Christ Church and enjoyed fellowship with local children. We also helped John's English conversation lessons, had a BBQ at the Arakawa River and had an opportunity to meet local people. It was a very hot summer(especially hard for people from England) but the Lord protected our health and without any complaining, we were able to shine the light of Jesus in Japan with the gifts the Lord has given to us. There were cultural and age differences between us but the Lord brought unity among the team members. Also each one of us learned about various things through relationships and we were able to finish the outreach with renewed passion to the Lord. Through testimonies of youth, I was able to hear about commitment to God, how God provided finances. I was encouraged and thankful to the Lord. Thank you very much for all your prayers for the new Kings Kids in Japan. (Translated by Yuriko Reynolds) 2. Agape
- Healing Journey and Reconciliation (Nagisa Munday) That is what the mission of Christ on the cross, where East meets West, is concerned with - reconciliation. I have come to know the
truth of another story of tragedy in the same event of war since I have
come to England. It feels sometimes like a sharp sword in my inner soul,
overshadowed by the anger, hatred which almost you can feel under your
skin. Introduction The Pilgrimage - Healing
Journey and Reconciliation There is much encouraging feedback from the people who have joined the pilgrimage. Testimonies: You did it! You actually
got nineteen Iruka Boys back to the prison-camp they so detested in 1944-5. Slaving on the docks of Keppel Harbour, Singapore, we watched a circle of Japanese sailors douse their pet monkey with petrol then set fire to it. As the poor creature screamed and contorted, we watched with horror but the sailors held their sides as they rocked with laughter. Little wonder that we concluded that Japan was not a nation of human beings but of uncivilised beasts. Many books have been written about the Railway of Death we white coolies and their slave-masters built through the jungles of Thailand and the acres of graves of young men can be visited there today and in Singapore. The sea journey from Singapore to Moji was conducted under horrific conditions and many prisoners were buried at sea. All these British boys who died at the hands of the Japanese were, in truth, murdered. Only the last fifteen months of our captivity were spent in Iruka and the 300 men who trudged into that village were already physical wrecks. As many Iruka boys testified Iruka camp was a tremendous improvement on the Siamese jungle - but it was no bed of roses! True we had dry shelter and clothing albeit rough but better than the near nakedness of that Railway. Food however was very, very scarce. My overall memory of Iruka was of always being hungry and the killer-cold of winter. The cold, after 2? years in the tropics, proved the final blow to many bodies totally devoid of fat to combat the bitter winds. Death called regularly and to us the world was grey. Men were skeletons ?I weighed 102 pounds and Jack Shotton was like a baby-doll weighing only 74 pounds. To hold on to the mind, your will to survive?When, at last, that glorious day dawned and we were really free we vowed that when we got home we'd never roam again..and thereby hangs a tale.. A chap called Ken Crossley who, before the war, sang with Henry Hall and his Band, wrote a little ditty in Iruka..
But it can now be recorded that a miracle happened and twenty of us (including Doc. Wilson) did roam again! And so you see, dear Keiko, that when we read the priest's article, this is what happened:- Fifty years of sheer hatred gave way first to amazement that Japanese people had, without any thought of publicity, lovingly tended the grave of our comrades. We had never suspected the Japanese of caring a tupenny damn for us, alive or dead. And how amazement slowly turned to love as we embraced those dear villagers of Iruka.. If only the Imperial Japanese Army had been endowed with the gracious spirit of those dear ladies, there would never have been a memorial in Iruka. I expressed that thought to Doctor Bob Wilson during that wonderful service at Iruka and he added that had that spirit been universal there would never have been a war. So, for us, it was much more than a pilgrimage, it was the removal of the cancer of hatred from our inner beings. Although most of us can never forgive or forget?the HATRED has gone! Arigatos and 'thank yous' however multiplied, cannot express my gratitude to you, to the good Father, to the Iruka committee, the London Committee and all those helpers and volunteers, all those lovely people we met on that memorable journey through Japan. The efforts of you all taught us that there is humanity in the ordinary folk of Japan. Humanity and love too. And for fifty years I never thought I'd ever say that. Now do you see what you did, dear Keiko, you made the world a lovelier place and here's one septuagenarian who thanks you from the bottom of his much-softened heart. Love and admiration At the Japanese Embassy At the Paradise Meeting Prayers
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