Covenant News

ECC Delegation to Help Celebrate 50 Years of Japan Covenant Church

TOYKO, JAPAN (November 21, 2001) - A delegation from the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) arrived today to represent the ECC at the 50th anniversary celebration of Nihon Seikei Kirisuto Kyodan (NSKK), the Japan Covenant Church, which includes 25 local churches in Japan.

Leading the delegation is Donn N. Engebretson, ECC executive vice president. Others include James W. Gustafson, executive minister of the Department of World Mission; Donald L. Meyer, executive minister of the Department of Communication; Raymond L. Dahlberg and his wife, Nancy (Dahlberg is retired executive director of the Department of World Mission); and Rose Cornelious, church relations coordinator for World Mission's East Coast region, which includes the Midsouth, Great Lakes, East Coast and Southeast conferences.

The group will visit other ministries in Asia, including Thailand, Laos and Taiwan, accompanied for most of the trip by David and Ronna Husby, regional coordinators for Asia.

Delegation members joined ministry colleagues from Asia for dinner following their arrival Wednesday afternoon (Tokyo is 15 hours ahead of Chicago due to time zone changes). They are scheduled to participate in the final day of the second Asia Covenant Church Consultation on Thursday, which will focus on future cooperative efforts for mission in Asia. Other scheduled meetings include visits with the leadership of both the Taiwan and Thailand Covenant churches, as well as a visit with leaders of the economic development program in Laos.

Engebretson will be the principal speaker during Friday's 50th anniversary celebration, which concludes with a dinner for North American and Asian participants. The ECC delegation is scheduled to travel to Taiwan on Saturday for meetings with leaders of the Covenant Church of Taiwan and worship on Sunday.

Stories and photos from the trip will be periodically published on this Covenant news site.

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