ベサニー・キリスト教会
大阪府堺市のはずれにある、泉北ニュータウンのそのまたはずれにある村の小さな教会。
でもそこに一歩踏み入れたら暖かい家庭的な雰囲気にあなたの心もなごむことでしょう。
聖書の中にある、一世紀当時の教会の姿がここにはあります。
まだ一度も教会に行ったことのない方､以前教会に行っていたけど今は行っていない方､どなたでもどうぞご遠慮なくお出で下さい。
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Lydia trying her hand at rock climbing at the Kura Iwa in Osaka, Japan.
Some weeks ago I wrote about "One Rope" and how thankful I was to have someone share their precious climbing rope with me. Some days ago, I went rock climbing with Lydia (Jon Dugan's daughter) and learned another important lesson-that was the joy of sharing.
When I bought all my climbing equipment last fall, the last thing I though about was someone else using it. That thought just did not enter my mind. However, talking to Lydia and finding out that she really wanted to do some rock climbing here I realized that to make it happen I would need to lend her all of my equipment.
Some days ago on a beautiful spring day we went rock climbing at Mt. Makio. After looking at the various climbing areas it was time for Lydia to climb. I helped her into my harness and explained the several pieces of equipment needed. I then had a really wonderful time watching her climb. In fact I think I enjoyed watching her climb more than had I been climbing myself. There is something special about enabling someone to enjoy and experience something new. There is the joy of being helped but then there is the joy of helping. There is the joy of receiving but then there is also the joy of giving.
At any rate we had a wonderful time of climbing (even though I did none of it) and were happy to go down the mountain a bit to the rest house in front of the temple for some hot coffee and good conversation with the good people who run the rest house there.
Matthew: So in everything,do to others what you would have them do to you.
Paul
Title: クリスチャンとして成長
洗礼を受けて早半年とちょっと…。
初めて証しを書きます新米クリスチャンnahoです。
私は救われた嬉しさや喜びでランランルンルン♪♪♪な日々を過ごしていたのですが、
最近になって“罪”という言葉にものすごく敏感になっていました。
というのも、神さまを知らない時は「罪の意識」も、「罪を犯す」ということも何も考えず過ごしていたけど、
神さまを知ってから、神さまが喜ばないこと、悲しむことはしたくない！と強く思いだしたんです。
…が、その気持ちとウラハラに毎日罪を犯してしまうしょーもない自分に凹んでいました。
いい子ちゃんでおりたいとは違うんだけど、いったいぜんたいどーしたらいいんだろうって。
その頃自分自身の問題でも色々あって（人間関係がしんどかったり、失恋したりetc…）、
もぉイヤや！何で？ってなってしまったり。
その時に同じベサニーの姉妹のみんなに聞いたり、聖書を読んだりしました。
でね、最終的には思いっきり神さまに言いました。「助けて～！！」と。叫び求めました。
そしていままでと明らかに違うお祈りを自分でしていることに気がついたんです。
その先にあったのは、何とも言えない“平安”な心でした。
だってこんな私でも神さまはめちゃくちゃ愛してくれてるのがわかったからです。
これがお祈りしてゆだねる、ってことなんだな～と少しだけ（ホントにちょっとだけやけど）
信仰が成長した気持ちになりました。
これからもいっぱい色々なことがあると思うけれども、
どんな時でも大胆に声に出して「神様～！！」って素直に言える自分でありたいと思います。
そしてベタニアのマルタとマリアのマリアのように、
イエス様だけを私の主として、いつどんなときも信じて歩んでいきたいと思います。
Naho
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Snow on Mt. Fuji above 2000 meters on May 28, 2009
My wife and I try to take a trip every April as our wedding anniversary is then. However, this year my physical condition was very bad and we could not do it, In May my condition improved and so we decided to take our annual trip. We decided on Mtl Fuji-not to climb but to look at and to take pictures of. One of the best spots for that is the Lake Kawaguchi area and so we took a hotel there,
On thre way we were treated to a wonderful view of snow covered Mt. Fuji. However when we got to our hotel the clouds moved in and by 5pm it was raining. What to do?
The next day it was raining even worse and so we decided that if we could not see Mt. Fuji from afar we would try to see it up close. In the rain we drove to the 2305 meter point using our 4WD vehicle. By the time we got there, we had entered the snow zone-everything was white-the ground, the rocks, the trees, and of course the parking places, We found a snow free spot to park and spent some time at the gift shop and at one of the coffee shops there. The air was very very cold and the coffee was supposed to warm us up. Realizing that we needed an old fashioned stove we headed to a shop that had a good stove and warmed up. It was amzaing to us to experience snow at this time of the year!
After that we enjoyed a nice drive back to Lake Kawaguchi-it was beautiful green green forest all the way. We just enjoyed the beauty of God's creation as we drove.
Even though we did not get to see the views of Mt. Fuji that we were expectiing driving in the snow zone above 2000 meters more than made up for it-we had a wonerful trip overall.
First of all I want to thank all of you for praying for me. After a very long period of weakness I am again feeling strong and healthy.I used to spend all of my evenings in bed but now I am up and around and can even enjoy various evening programs and visit friends in the evening In fact, by about 3pm I used to be very tired and would often head to bed at that early hour. I also would often run a fever in the evenings-38.5C was not un-common. However, I now do not ever seem to have a fever and have the strength to do many things. Please pray that I will continue to be in this state and of course that the cancer will continue to be contained.
My blood reports are all about the same with no big changes one way or the other. My next CT scan is scheduled for June 23rd-please pray for good results.
By God's grace I am preaching and teaching here at Bethany and also getting lots of exercise by doing rock climbing.My doctor seems very happy about this and encourages me to go to the mountains as much as possible.
Again, I want to thank all of you for your faithful prayers-I am sure that I am alive today because people have been praying for me.
「メンズ・サパー」のご案内
ベサニーキリスト教会のメンズミーティング（男性クリスチャンの会）が、5月23日（土）、午後6時より「メンズ・サパー」を開催いたします。食事会のテーマは「イタリアン」。男性達が心をこめて美味しいパスタをご準備します。また食事の後には、クリスチャンビジネス経営者としての信仰について、大東章男氏の証しをお聞き頂きます。
参加費は大人700円、小学生300円です。ぜひお誘い合わせの上ご参加ください。
Enjoying real "Kura" life in the early 50s
When I first came to Japan when I was two and a half years old we lived in a house that was formerly owned by an "Ohmi Shounin". Ohmi is the old name for the Shiga area of Japan while Shounin means "merchant". Many famous merchants came from the area. One of the more well known would be the Takashimaya Department Store chain which was started by a merchant from Takashima in Shiga Prefecture.
After the war, many of these beautiful traditional houses were up for sale and my father's mission bought one for their mission headquarters. A traditional Japanese house has many special features-it has a "hanare" (which means separate) which is a small house on the grounds connected to the main house with a corredor or two. This house is for the eldest son to life in with his wife and family. They can be "of" the family and "not of" the family at the same time in this way.It also has of course a "kura" or two ot three or ten depending on much treasure there is to store. At first, treasure was mostly rice so a ""kura" is rat free. It tends to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Other parts of the house would be a traditional Japanese garden and wall around the whole thing and a large official gate. The floors would all be "tatami" (straw mats) and the walls would be mostly paper sliding panels. This means that a 4 mat room can be turned into an 8 mat room or a 16 mat room or even a 24 mat room simply by sliding some paper panels around. As a result no one ever knew how many rooms we really had. I think I used to tell people we had 38!
At any rate, this bunch of foreigners moved in and set up shop. They had no treasures so the second floor of the "Kura" became the Sunde's apartment. The first floor was used for the closest thing that the missionaries had to treasure and that was their barrels and suitcases and boxes of stuff. Also, a ping-pong table.
Living in a "kura" was great all year but I liked it in the winter the most. Every missionary family was given one wood burning stove. That meant that in the evening everyone spent their time around their stove. The Sunde Family was no exception. Eveything took place near the stove. In the picture it looks like Mom is studying, Dad is pretendting to study and I am just having fun doing whatever it is I am doing. I used to color, look at picture books, play with various toys I had, and sometimes just daydream. I have only pleasant memories of those long Shiga nights around the stove. The air was warm, we were a family that loved each other and we were together here in a land not our own but a land that God had sent us to.
It was a good time to be alive. The world has changed-now things move faster-computers are everywhere-but some things aught not to change. A family in a room together spending time together as a family is something we need now more than ever.
