Where in Japan are Bob & Chris? March 17

Bob and Chris were back in kindergarten for graduation on March 17. It was St. Patrick’s Day for the Irish; but it was a bigger day for the 22 children who would sing “goodbye dear kindergarten” at the end of their graduation. The class of 5 year olds graduated today form Mebae Kindergarten. This is a ministry of Sapporo Lutheran Church, Sapporo Japan. The children as well as those who will continue in the school the next semester now have a vacation of about three weeks. Then they will be back in school to start the new school year in April. The children who graduated will be moving up to grammar school. Bob and Chris were honored to be asked to attend this special ceremony for the children and the parents; especially those of the graduates. The ceremony included a worship service at the very beginning. Pastor Okada opened the worship service after the procession of graduates with prayer. A verse was read, hymns were sung, and a message was delivered by the principal. The students are mostly non Christian. A kindergarten associated with one of the JELC Lutheran Churches is a service to the entire community and an evangelical outreach at the same time. Though most of those in attendance were not believers they were part of this worship time in the graduation ceremony. In this way the church and the kindergarten are instruments of the Holy Spirit in sharing the Grace of God in Jesus Christ. Learning the stories of Good News and worship are a daily part of the educational process at the kindergarten. It was a special moment to hear the children sing “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” and to ponder if one day they would be baptized?

Keep praying,

Zen Ben