Commissioning the delegates of the Sokabe Mission Fellowship.
The stoles represent the servanthood taught by Christ when Christ took a towel to wash the feet of his disciples. These stoles with an aloha Hawaiian print pattern were made by Jean Higaki.
Hilo Coast United Church of Christ treasures its relationship with the churches in Japan, where our church has many historical connections. Months of preparation for the trip have included fund-raising events to defray the cost of the travel. At Kego Church in Fukuoka City on Kyushu is a Christian church located in the community where Reverend Sokabe was born. The group stopped at the Hiroshima Peace Park, for which they prepared 1000 folded cranes to be left at the memorial site. The Imabari Church on Shikoku Island is near the place where Reverend Sokabe was baptized. The original Imabari Church was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War, but has been replaced by a new church. In Kyoto on Honshu is the Doshisha University, the first Christian University in Japan. The University was founded soon after Admiral Perry visited Japan and opened up communication and trade between the U.S. and the Empire of Japan, an event that resulted in a significant decrease in the persecution of Japanese Christians. Doshisha was where Reverend Sokabe trained prior to being called to mission work in Honomu. Our Japanese sister church is Midono Church in Fujioka City, north of Tokyo, led by the Reverend Motomichi Fujita. The fellowship travelers participated in Sunday worship at the Midono Church and brought leis to share Aloha at the Midono Pre-school Fun Day. The participants in the Sokabe Mission Fellowship Trip returned with a personal sense of the development of the Christian Church in Japan in the present day and historically, and to share in the joy of fellowship between Hawaii and our roots in Japan. |   |