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| The main building of Aso Sansō. |
Teamwork and cleanliness are two of Japan's most esteemed cultural values, and these are both well-expressed in the church. Every year near the end of May, Lutheran churches, schools, and organizations in Kumamoto Prefecture come together at Aso Sansō (Aso Mountain Retreat), a Lutheran retreat center in the mountains, to give the entire place a good cleansing. This year I took the hour-and-a-half trip out with seven or eight people from Kuwamizu Church.
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| Airing out futons and blankets. |
Jobs included scrubbing the toilets, weeding, washing the floors, and laying out to dry in the sun everything that wasn't nailed down... including the futon mattresses and blankets. The only place with enough space to do that was the parking lot, and when the tarp they'd laid down on the ground was full, they moved to the cars.
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| My corridor. |
I spent most of the day cleaning a corridor in the 63-year-old main building with the church ladies, who lent me a pair of gloves and a rag to wash the windows and a mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I'm at least a head taller than most people at my church, so I was assigned to clean the higher parts of the windows. "Ah, it's really convenient that we have Laura around!" remarked one of the pastors, walking past me as I scrubbed the dirt out from under the top corner of the window frame. I smiled. I don't always feel useful in this country, especially considering my linguistic limitations, but if I can help a bunch of church ladies wipe a window clean, I'm happy.
Camps and retreat centers have a spiritual significance for many people I know in the States (including myself), and it's the same in Japan. With the numerous camps and events that the Lutheran church holds there every year, it holds a lot of memories for a lot of people. I kept thinking back to my old summer camp as I wandered the grounds on my break. The common love of a place, the peaceful natural environs, and even the smell of the damp earth was the same. So, for those of you curious about what a Japanese retreat center looks like, here are a few pictures:
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| View from the veranda of the main building. (2013 photo.) |
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| One church lady called this place the "green chapel." |
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| No shoes in the building! |
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| Communal sink. The nets are actually a good way to get suds from the bar soap. |
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| The bath is communal, as well. |
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One of the several rooms for lodging in the main building.
(The futon mattresses are stored in the closet until bedtime, when they're rolled out on the floor.) |
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| A side entrance I also helped clean. |
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| Tatami-matted front of the main hall. |
It was a tiring and sweaty Saturday, but well worth it. (Afterward, the church ladies took me to go soak in an area hot spring afterward, which felt heavenly!) It's a privilege and an honor to be working alongside my Japanese brothers and sisters in Christ to celebrate, enjoy, and take care of God's creation here in Japan.
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| My terrible five-year-old point-and-shoot camera does not adequately
capture the beauty of Aso, but this gives you something of an
idea. We crossed a bridge spanning this gorge on our way back to Kumamoto City and stopped for photos. |
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:15-16 (NIV)
