By Carson Foushee, CBF field personnel
For nearly 15 years, Kanazawa Baptist Church, a traditional Japanese congregation established over 70 years ago, has intentionally made space for internationals of different Japanese language abilities to worship. Over time, this has included English guidance on screens and printed sermon summaries as well as inviting native speakers, including my family, to help meet the spiritual and physical needs of a g
rowing international community in the region.
With the development of a weekly English service and activities, some natural separation began to grow between the two groups due to competing time commitments and the language barrier. Though Laura and I regularly communicated about the ministry and needs of the Kanazawa International Baptist Church (KIBC) English worshipping community, we and the deacons recognized a need to worship and gather together.
February marked the third consecutive year we gathered for a bilingual service on the Sunday before Lent and a Shrove Sunday pancake lunch. This year the KIBC Worship Team made up of members from Indonesia, America, Japan and Uganda sang contemporary songs with English and Japanese lyrics. A Japanese deacon led us in a Japanese prayer. A Japanese woman from the KIBC community offered a stirring testimony of faith in both Japanese and English. A Chinese youth and senior Japanese woman passed around the offering baskets. A Japanese deacon played traditional bilingual hymns. Laura offered a sermon in English with Japanese printed translation and then led the Lord’s Supper in Japanese. After worship, a KIBC American couple along with Japanese helpers from the two different services made pancakes and bacon, and all gathered around tables for warm conversation. It took some planning and preparation, but what occurred was an example of what can be when we choose to work together in the name of Jesus.
Laura’s sermon was titled “Choosing Each Other” based upon the story of Ruth and Naomi. She said, “In a time [in Israel’s history] of conflict, division, and sin that often reflected the worst of humanity and an imperfect world, they show us something different – that despite the chaos, goodness still exists. Ruth the Moabite and Naomi the Israelite choose connection over detachment. They choose bond over blood or nationality. They choose interdependence over independence.”
In our time, when it seems like humanity is more connected yet more divided than any other in recent memory, followers of Jesus must make intentional decisions to go beyond boundaries and comforts and to choose each other with the love of Christ. Kanazawa Christ Church has chosen to be a counter-narrative to division that is also increasing within Japanese society. However, this is not a fairy tale. It requires intentionality and a shared conviction to walk alongside one another. There are challenges and disappointments. Most come and go, grateful for the freedom to worship God in a language they understand and simply be, but may not go out of their way to connect with anyone else, especially someone outside their culture or language group.
Maybe you have similar experiences in your own congregation that welcomes different worshipping communities or is seeking to connect people across generations. The truth is that we cannot make people choose each other, but we can help create opportunities for connection. Stories like Ruth and Naomi and our own personal experiences tell us that we are better together than we are divided and that choosing one another is a holy action. We pray that as we continue to walk in faith that more in Kanazawa and communities across the globe see the blessing of unity in Christ as we choose each other.
Carson and his wife Laura Foushee serve in Kanazawa, Japan. Learn more about their ministry here.