Daniel and Yasuko Dellming
Daniel and Yasuko Dellming were Mission Partners in Japan until March 2014. Daniel worked alongside a Japanese chaplain, and English teacher at Kwansei Gakuin Senior High School. This is an educational institution from kindergarten to university with over 20,000 male students. The school was founded by an American Methodist missionary in 1889.
Yasuko used her house as a base for outreach to local mums and also offered bible study. The family were very involved in the church, teaching Sunday school, speaking and preaching. They enjoyed having others over for meals, and hoped that the house will continue to be a place where people could relax, enjoy fellowship and experience the love of God.
It's a joy to see our friends and Daniel's students come to church, and there are men who come to church 20 or even 30 years after they graduated from KG. Only a handful of Daniel's students are Christians now, but we believe that God is already at work in each student's life
Yasuko DellmingThe famous symbol of Kwansei Gakuin is the old library clock tower with the central lawn (pictured above). Beyond the grass area is the city of Nishinomiya (population: 480 000) located half-way between the cities of Kobe and Osaka. (The picture shows the view from the other direction).
Mount Kabutoyama (In Japanese, kabuto means a samurai warrior's helmet and yama means mountain), in the background, was strategically placed immediately behind the old library, so that the faculty and students walking up the hill towards the library would be looking right towards the mountain top. This technique of making a mountain a part of the campus is an old Japanese garden art called shakkei meaning 'borrowed view'). Many gardens, for example in the ancient capital Kyoto, have a pond with a mountain reflecting in its water. The mountain has become one part of the garden, the nature that surrounds the one meditating and resting.
The designer of our campus and Spanish mission style buildings, missionary William Merrell Vories (October 28, 1880 - May 7, 1964), used this technique deliberately and reflected on Psalm 121:1-2 in his design. The school community would be reminded on a daily basis of the ancient Israeli Song of Ascents. Of David, "I lift up my eyes to the mountains. From where comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." I am one of many who look at Mount Kabutoyama every morning when I go to work and sense His presence. I ask God for help to be able to serve faithfully as a mission partner and teacher at the school where I work.
Please pray for Kwansei Gakuin Junior (580 boys; ages 13 to 15) and Senior High School (900 boys; 16 to 18-year olds), as they are becoming co-educational schools in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Each school is also going to increase the number of students. It's a big transition for us all, especially for the staff who grew up in our 'boys' school and have only worked at a boys' school.