During my first year in Japan, I was initiated into the typical Japanese church experience which can last all day on Sunday.
After worship, narrow low folding tables were pulled out and set up for lunch, which almost always consisted of a bowl of rice with something on top. After the lunch clean-up, various committees met.
During that time, some of the young people went out to do "ε
¬εδΌι" or "park evangelism." Taking several children from the church with us, we would walk to the nearest park and invite the children who were playing to come over and join us.
A flashcard Bible story, some songs, a few games, memory work and perhaps a prize were the main aspects of park evangelism. Of course, it was also a way to meet children and invite them to Sunday School.
I have not participated in koen dendo for many years now. Or at least I thought I hadn't. But I do visit a park regularly.
When the weather and schedules cooperate, I like to meet my walking partner at a nearby park to walk in the mornings. We meet at the same time each day and have a set course we take circling and criss-crossing the park several times. And we run into the same people each day at about the same place.
We used to see the dog walkers and the pink ladies each morning. Now we don't see them, but we see Mr. K at the top of the hill, and the white jogging suit clad man around the back side of the hill, and the recovering stroke patient rounding the curve on our last lap.
We call out, "Ohayou gozaimasu" to each one. Well, we pant it, is more like it!
One morning over a year ago Mr. K stopped us to talk. A few mornings later we gave him an invitation to a concert and told him about an upcoming TV program, featuring our church. He told us later that he indeed watched it.
One day recently my walking partner and her husband went walking in the same park. When they topped the hill, they came upon Mr. K and the white jogging suit clad man engaged in conversation. They were very excited to meet my friend's husband, the pastor. He wove his most recent mini evangelistic message into the conversation, and they expressed great appreciation that he gave them such good, deep words to think about even while they were at the park. Mr. White-Jogging-Suit said he'd love to come to church sometime.
And so Park Evangelism continues in a different format.
1 comment:
I have a fun story about being on the receiving end of koen dendo. Towards the end of language school we were doing church visits in preparation for deciding where we would serve after we graduated. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with our second son when we visited a small church in the south of Sapporo. We arrived early, and therefore did what any sane parent with an active 3 yo would do, and found the small local park to burn off some energy before church. A church member found us there and, not knowing who we were, invited us to church. She was mortified to find out that we were missionaries who'd be visiting their church that very day.
We ended up being placed at that very church six months later and served there for 18 months! But we were impressed with their warmth and enthusiasm from the very start.
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