The church that we are serving with here in Japan supports a camp that is run by our denomination, and the director and his family are good friends of ours and also attend our church. The name of the camp is C-on Kinshuko, which is actually a very clever play on words, but more importantly, the camp itself plays a vital role in the spiritual growth of many Christians throughout the Tohoku region, and it’s currently in need of assistance.
The name of the camp in English would be translated to C on Lake Kinshu. As you can probably infer the camp is located on lake Kinshu in our prefecture of Iwate. The C stands for Creation, Christ, Community, which are things the camp hopes to emphasize and encourage. The clever part is that in Japanese C-on is pronounced: Shion, which is also the Japanese word for Zion, adding another layer of meaning to what this camp hopes to be about.
One of the reasons that this camp is so important is because the Christian community in Japan is very small. Imagine being a Christian student in a city with only one church, and in that church being perhaps the only student in attendence. The opportunities for fellowship are extremely limited. This is one area where the camp really serves as a tremendous blessing in the lives of many students and adults, who are in great need of the kind of fellowship that is often taken for granted in the US. For many it is only when they can gather together at this camp, which is the only Christian camp in the prefecture, that they can really enjoy deep and rich fellowship with a large group of believers in their age group. The camp is also used for church conferences, meetings and evangelistic outreaches. I’m actually attending a Pastors conference at the camp right now as I’m writing this.
The camp was founded in 1968 and is currently undergoing an extensive reovation. One of the two camp houses was completely torn down and a new one is being built in it’s place, which is necessary for the camp to continue to function in the capacity it has served over the years. Despite the small size of the Christian community in Japan, God has led the believers here to give generously towards the project, and by God’s grace they have raised all the funds needed to build the new camp house. However in addition to the actual building they also need to furnish it.
This is where you can come in. With the Summer camp season rapidly approaching and the construction now under way, would you consider giving a special gift to help this vital ministry continue to provide opportunities for Christian fellowship, Evangelism and Spiritual Growth to continue in this area that is in depsperate need of the Gospel? If so you can click the link below and donate to the project through World Venture.
You can also download the brochure for more details about the camp and the renovation project.