Covenant News

Sports Provides Opening for Ministry in Japan

YOSHIOKA, JAPAN (March 12, 2004) - Covenant missionaries Jim and Hydi Peterson have always loved sports. And in recent years, that love has helped them develop relationships with people in a country not known as a Christian hotbed.

The Petersons are moving to Tokyo this spring after having served at Shibukawa Covenant Church in Yoshioka, a town in the Gunma prefecture (region), which has approximately two million people living in 12 cities and 52 towns. There are five Covenant churches in the area, including a new church plant whose start was assisted by the Petersons and missionaries Tim and Andrea Johnson. Jim and Hydi both enjoy engaging in various athletic activities. And being spectators for their athletic children's events has also given them friendship evangelism opportunities.

"Active is the understatement of the year when describing this family," said North Park Theological Seminary student and former Japan short-term missionary Johnna Hayward of the Petersons. "Both Hydi and Jim live for relationships with people. And they thrive when these relationships can revolve around doing something together. Every activity they are involved in has the sole purpose of building relationships to know people better so they can share Jesus with their lives and words."

"One of the reasons we were attracted to the area was that we had learned the town we were asked to help start a church in had over 50 active sports circles/clubs," said Hydi. "This is probably true of almost all towns in Japan. From neighborhood volleyball teams to walking groups, stretching classes, over-50 baseball teams to gateball (a game like crochet that the over-70 crowd plays), sports are very popular in Japan. For us, getting involved in local sports activities has allowed us to build friendships with people we would have never otherwise met.

"We are together with people doing something together that we mutually enjoy, laughing, crying, and playing together," Hydi continued. "Once this basis of friendship has been established, then our new friends are much more receptive to an invitation to attend a special event at church or to listen to us when we share something from the Bible."

Sports ministry in Japan came unexpectedly for Hydi, who made a friend in the neighborhood while taking daily walks with two of her young children in a double stroller. She met a retired firefighter in the neighborhood while on her daily walk and the elderly gentleman invited Hydi to run with him in a prefecture 10-kilometer race. Through that relationship, she met the man's family and had an opportunity to share what she and her husband were doing in Japan.

Currently, the main sports outreaches for the Petersons are tennis for Hydi and three kids (Miles, Kendra and Eli) and cycling for Jim. Jim rides with a group of riders three to four times a week early in the morning. A number of individuals from this group have attended special outreach services at church. Though Jim was less intentional about a ministry focus when he started riding, he has seen the benefits that come from friendship evangelism while riding the roads. He rides with a Buddhist priest - Jim once took a short-term mission team to the priest's temple as part of a cultural/missiological learning experience.

"For me, physical fitness is a spiritual/stewardship issue and that is the main reason I ride," he said. "But right along with that is the fact that being in a cycling club is a very social event and one that brings me into close contact with a lot of folks I would otherwise never meet. In that sense it presents many opportunities to live out my faith in ways that I hope will make sense to those around me."

Hydi's tennis outreach has continued to expand after she started playing in a tennis circle in the town in which she and her family resided - Shibukawa. She plays nearly every day and has also competed in local tournaments on a regular basis. She recently played on a team that won a regional club championship and has even played in national events such as the Asahi Ladies Championship Tournament. (The accompanying illustration shows the front page of the prefectural newspaper's sports page covering the team's 4th straight victory in the finals.)

More often than not, however, the relationship building occurs off the court when Jim and Hydi are spectators for the kids' events. Sometimes, it happens when other families mingle with the children at tennis tournaments or swimming lessons. At Christmas, the Petersons host a tennis Christmas party and invite tennis families who might not know about "the reason for the season." The Petersons passed out the sports versions of the Jesus video and gave outreach tracts from the Michael Chang Foundation - Chang is a popular player to the Japanese even though he's originally from California.

The hard work has paid off. Some of the moms of tennis children have attended weekly English classes Hydi teaches or a "Saturday in the Park" outreach. Others have been interested in a gospel choir that Jim started at the church.

"The bottom line is that most Japanese will never attend a church service," said Hydi. "We need to take the gospel to where they are and trust has to be built. Many Japanese people love sports and are either playing sports or watching sports on their one day off per week, Sunday. Our kids are also involved with sports and this has also allowed us to be there at their event as parents, building relationships with other parents and their kids. And I have been invited to their weddings and funerals.

"In Japan, things tend to take time," Hydi continued. "I am currently making a picture notebook of my tennis friends and hope to continue praying for their salvation for years to come. God has been gracious to us, and our prayer is that in spite of our weakness and mistakes that His name will be glorified among these people."

Former missionary kids in Japan, the Petersons have been serving as Covenant missionaries in that country since 1993. Among their ministries in their church is a large gospel choir. Jim is also teaching at the Covenant's seminary in Japan.

To learn more about Jim and Hydi and their work, visit the Peterson's extensive website at www.wind.ne.jp/JIM/ or email the family at: peterson@mail.wind.ne.jp.

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