2018 NYAC Volunteers in Mission: In Hiroshima Japan

In reality, we have already moved from Japan onto the Philippines, and today is already Tuesday morning for us. No internet access on Monday, leaves this blog looking like we are constantly in arrears. Today's post is from our Sunday experience.

By Rev. Ed Dayton, Long Hill UMC, Trumbull, CT

On this first Sunday of our mission trip we, like our brothers & sisters in Christ around the world worshipped together with each other. What made this a little different for the 15 of us was the place where we worshipped. This was in a country with fewer than 1% Christians; Japan. In the city Hiroshima to be exact. The Japanese congregation we worshipped with, belong to what was originally known as the Nagarekawa Methodist Church. That church building was destroyed in 1945 by the A-bomb but the congregation's spirit survived and flourished. Over the years two more buildings were erected with the present building housing a uni-denominational congregation made up of several different Protestant denominations. We were given a brochure of the history of the church building and its congregation. When I am able I will scan this and add it to this entry.

A lot of us felt like it was definitely a Methodist service as it was to the minute, 1 hour long and no one sat in the front pews. But it's what happened during and after the service that made this time so very special for us. Even though we didn't understand a single word of the service (entirely in Japanese) we could feel the strong presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. Mine was not the only teary eye as the service ended. And then the service ended and coffee hour began. And we were invited. And we were welcomed by a group of warm and loving brothers and sisters that an absence of a common verbal language could not and did not stop our communication. We were served lunch and so much more. We were formally greeted, we were told of the history of the church and their plans for the future and we were told stories from survivors, not with anger or resentment but with hope; hope for a peace that never again sees the horror of that day in August, 66 years ago. We were then moved, not by command or suggestion but I believe by the Holy Spirit to stand and sing "Amazing Grace:, 15 of us in English, the rest in Japanese - and we were truly one people, under God.

These words do not do justice for what happened on that Sunday morning, and I apologize for that.

I am attaching some photos that I think you might find interesting. The crucifix over the communion table in the sanctuary was made from two pieces of wood that somehow survived the nuclear blast and the ensuing firestorm. The second photo is of the original church bell that somehow survived even though the epicenter of the blast was less than 1/2 mile away. The rest are a group shot of our Hiroshima brothers and sisters with us intermingled among them, a painting of the original pre-1945 wooden church structure and finally a rather poor selfie with yours truly and Nagarekawa's pastor.