Category: インターン

Just recently GRC23 was held with great blessings, and we were thankful.

This month we’d like to summarize April and May and also share the blessings from GRC23.

April was mainly a month of the new school semester and on-campus events, Additionally, the internship church which I chose for my senior year and began serving is in Asahi City, which is located on the northeastern side of the city from Inzai City where I live.

I was involved with the full-scale registration for GRC23, this kept me very busy with recruiting, sending emails, and other tasks.

Yet even in the midst of this, God supported me, encouraged me through my friends, and also through the prayers of the GRC committee, I was able to make it to the day of GRC without incident.

We started by recruiting small group coordinators and small group leaders, and while it was difficult to decide who would be the coordinators and leaders, we also started registration and had to assign the groups at the same time. The most difficult part was grouping people who didn’t know each other. The small group committee members were there to help us. After dividing group by age, they carefully taught us one by one who should be the leader and whether we should be in the same group or not, and the group was completed despite our impatience.

I was struggling dealing as needed with a string of cancellations a few days before GRC23, asking participants to serve as small group leaders and doing some last-minute work at the JCFN office.

On the day of the event, when a small group leader suddenly cancelled, I couldn’t help but think, “Oh, Lord!” I looked up at the sky. I hurriedly contacted a substitute and received a reply that he was willing to serve, I felt God’s work in action.

It was the first day of Golden Week and traffic was expected to be quite crowded, so we had to leave early. However, with good fellowship in the car and Mt. Fuji appearing before our eyes, we found ourselves arriving at the best time and were truly grateful.

As we arrived at the venue, surrounded by people we were meeting for the first time, we prepared to receive the participants, and as they gradually arrived, we began to realize that the event was finally about to begin.

There was one more service at this GRC23. That was to create a reflection video movie for each morning. For this purpose, I took pictures of the meeting and each activity.

The photos that the participants had daily themes and submitted photos taken during their small group time each day. Day 1-Celebrate, Day 2-Encouragement and Day 3 -Determination – looked really fun, and I had a lot of fun while editing them.

Such was the blessing I was given at GRC23 with the daily theme.

The theme for the 1^st day was “Celebrate”. I’m very sorry to say this, but May 4^th was my birthday, and I was so busy with GRC23 that started on the 3^rd that I never thought I would be able to celebrate my birthday, but I received many congratulatory messages from friends on social networking sites, and on the day of the event, I was celebrated everywhere, and finally surprised by the planning committee. It was a truly celebratory.

The theme for the 2^nd day was “Encouragement”. I basically walked around the venue as a photographer and edited the reflection movie after the evening meeting. At the meeting with the small group coordinators, I received very nice comments that the photo time for each small group was a good icebreaker and that they were looking forward to seeing the photos of other groups. In the fellowship, we also received positive feedback that the reflection movie was very good. Even though it was hard to edit, these comments as well as the photos were very encouraging.

The theme for the 3^rd day was “Determination,” and GRC23 marked the end of my internship at JCFN. In the last testimony of Ms. Shiori, the chairperson of the executive committee, I felt that I had a moment of decision for myself just like in GRC23, where she was asked to be JCFN staff five years ago, decided, and now served as the chair of the GRC planning committee.

Through my past work, service, and GRC23, I want to fellowship with and work for returnee Christians even more than I did before my internship. I don’t know how the Lord will lead me in the future, but I’ll be able to follow the Lord and say, “Yes! I want to continue to be rooted in the work of returnee Christians.

I successfully completed my junior year and enjoying spring break at my parents’ home to rave reviews.

I realize that there are just a few months left in my JCFN internship.

The other day, I went to Akabane and participated in a JCFN-GiFT event titled “Gather round! Springtime Railroad Photo Contest!”

The event began with prayer, followed by an ice-break game known as “rock-paper-scissors train” and like we enjoyed in the past, and then the main activity of the day, the photo contest, was explained.

This time, our goal was to take pictures of things that fit the five themes of “Lively, the Cross, Fluffy, Rabbit, and Fake-looking things,” after taking a group photo, and we were free to explore the city with our special train pass.

My team of four, left the Akabane Church and immediately took a picture in front of the cross. While strolling around the area of Akabane, we spotted a sign for a yakiniku restaurant, “Genki Karubi!” and also found a rabbit, and we took a picture of it, although we were embarrassed about attracting attention. Then we headed to Harajuku, where fluffy cotton candy would be found. It was a Saturday and there were quite a lot of people, so I was a bit hesitant, but I went down Takeshita-dori to try to get a photo of the cotton candy, which was the main attraction of the day. The atmosphere of the stores and the clientele had changed considerably, and we enjoyed chatting about how nostalgic it was to visit Harajuku for the first time in several years. As soon as we began to leave, we young adults were suddenly drawn to “purikura photo booth” with the comment, “Purikura makes things look fake, doesn’t it?” The Purikura photo booths, which have transcended generations and continue to evolve, were no longer chaotic and fun to use. After processing the bunnies, the only mission left was to take picture of fluffy cotton candy. But we were doesn’t have a firm grasp of reality.

While standing in line for cotton candy amidst the intense crowds, I checked the return train and happened to exceed the game time limit. So, we made a quick change to the fluffy baby sponge cake store across the street and hurried back to Akabane Church. We returned two minutes late, and everyone was already there.

I really enjoyed all the new ideas and photos I saw throughout everyone’s combined presentation.

However, we didn’t win, and the reason for the loss was probably because didn’t get back in time. Still, I’d like to think that my team had more fun than anyone else’s, as if my team was the big winner, lol.

After the event, I went to a “Taiwanese sweets” store with my Christian sisters who joined the event. I was impressed by the nostalgic taste and the fact that the store there was from my Taiwanese hometown.

I’m truly grateful that I enjoyed this event thoroughly and look forward to the next one.

The final class for 3^rd year students is done, presentations of research report are over, and I’m immersed in the final papers. I’m at the peak of happiness with nice weather and delicious food.

Last month, I discussed recent developments in the university’s research on “hands-on” project-based learning. I’ve successfully completed my presentation on campus and my internship at JCFN. Thank you for your prayers.

I learned a lot during my one-year internship at JCFN and my research on the theme of returnees and scope of the research, and I was able to present my findings of my research. If you asked me if it was difficult, I’d say the opposite. I’m a returnee Christian, and through fellowship with other returnee Christians, I made significant realizations and gained new perspectives.

My study didn’t have the same conclusion. It’s because I came to realize that I’d want to continue to think about returnee Christians in the future, rather than ending with this short period internship or research project.

I’m really looking forward to meeting and fellowshipping at JCFN events and with other returnee Christians as a continuation of my research, and I pray that the Lord will help me to enjoy, study, and pray about the rest of my internship, praying to the Lord.