Where are Bob & Chris in Japan January 14

Bob & Chris are now in a very different environment from Kumamoto and the Kyushu District. They have arrived in Osaka to begin a month of serving in the West District. They are serving during the week at Kibo-no Ie in Kamagasaki; a defined town area of day laborers within Osaka. The JELC pastor who serves Kibo-no Ie as well as his parish in Osaka is Rev.Hitoshi Akiyama. From his essay Bob and Chris learned the history of both this ministry and the location. The ministry of Kibo-no Ie began in 1976. It was established by a lay missionary, Elisabeth Strohm. She came to Japan from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Braunschweig Germany. The programs she initiated are intended to provide therapy to those dealing with alcoholism. The model used at Kibo-no Ie is the therapy program of Lukusberg of the ELCB. The location of this ministry is Kamagasaki. This is a town within Osaka of day-laborers. There are between 20,000 and 25,000 thousand day laborers here. They provide the labor when needed for construction, shipbuilding, dock work, and transport business in Japanese industry. This area dates back to the 18th century when the government authorities “adapted a policy to gather flophouses in particular places so that homeless people escaping rural villages would not flow into Osaka”. The Meiji government after deciding to hold the National Exhibition in Imamiya, Osaka in 1922 changed this policy and forced people to move out of the area. The area known as Kamagasaki, however, gradually became a town of day labors beginning at the end of WW II. It is an area that is described as a slum; a depressed area with workers desperate to work for a fair wage in the heavy industries of Japan. As the economy here falters the daily lives of the workers and this area falter with it. Bob and Chris will participate in the various programs of Kibo-no Ie while living at the center. They will meet and work with the leaders, volunteers and clients of this ministry. They will perhaps understand the desperation of those who are used by an economic system as inputs and forgotten as people; especially as age reduces productivity required by the system. For more information on either the Kibo-no Ie or the area of Kamagasaki they suggest you may wish to “Google” either on the internet.

Keep Praying

Zen Ben