The
Chicago Japanese Mission Church Makes a Church Dedication Ceremony
•
Since its ground-breaking ceremony in March, 2010, Rev. Yugo Kobari and
his church members worked hard to finish a new building for the Chicago
Japanese Mission Church (CJMC). Their efforts finally completed the church
building, and Church Dedication Ceremony was held on September 14. It
is the first church building in North America built by Japanese hands
from scratch. • Former businessman Kobari decided to
become a reverend after he overcame an incident. After graduating from
a theological school, he loaded living necessities in his car and came
to Chicago with his wife Keiko in 1996. After settling in a Chicago suburb,
he opened CJMC in the building of the Baptist Church of Schaumburg. Rev.
Andrew Kim of the church kindly shared the space with him. • At the ceremony, Rev. Yoshito Anno,
Chicago Japanese Pastor’s Association, offered the opening prayer. • When Kobari decided to become a reverend, he returned to Japan to tell his parents about his decision, and his father disowned him. His father, however, forgave him 10 years later and was baptized by his son. A day before his father departed, he said to Kobari, “You never say ‘I can’t do it.’” Rev. Kobari said, “My father hadn’t read the Bible, and I wondered why he knew about God’s words that say, ‘You can do anything with God.’ During the building construction, I thought, ‘I’ll quit doing it,’ many times. Every time I thought about it, I was encouraged by my father’s words.” • The full story is available in Chicago Shimpo’s October 10th issue. |
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