This morning after leaving from the retreat center we took smaller sized busses to Kyushu Lutheran Gakuin School. We started our time there by unloading equipment and eating a breakfast of sausages, eggs, soup, bread, and salad provided by Kyushu.
This college originally was established as a girl’s high school in 1926. It later transitioned into a women’s junior college which opened in 1975 and the current four-year college opened its doors to women and men in 1997. The Rev. Dr. Yoshiro Ishida was the college’s first president. The Rev. Naohiro Kiyoshige has been serving as college president since 2002. Studies at Kyushu include focuses on humanities and clinical psychology. Currently there is a middle school, high school, and college component to the academic institution.
After we finished breakfast we attended a college chapel hour which started with the lighting of two candles on either side of the Bible on the stage. The congregation then moved to standing to sing “I want to walk as a child of the light” with the first verse in Japanese and the second verse in English. Then a pastor gave a 15 minute message which was purely in Japanese so we did not really understand what was being said, unfortunately! Lastly the service ended with another clergy member giving a blessing and then the candles were extinguished.
Once the service was over we quickly got into Wind Ensemble mode and got set up for a rehearsal in the chapel. Bri Schares gave our rehearsal devotional with a message about making sure not to over exert ourselves when helping out others in order to retain sanity. From rehearsal we quickly moved to lunch where there were fruits, rice balls, candies, and shrimp kebabs.
We then got all suited up for our concert. For pre concert gathering Mary Kate Hines gave devotion today with a message of thankfulness for how much the group has helped her grow and been there for her during her time at Wartburg. We then performed a wonderful concert of Melodies Thunk, Semper Fidelis, Riffs for Lenny, Clarinet Candy, For Natalie, Stars and Stripes, Fantasie and Variations, and lastly Slava! This was the tightest concert so far, because the stage was so small! I felt we had our best performance when playing “For Natalie”. During this piece we always are able to express emotion the most of all the music in our folders currently.
After “Slava!” Was the gift exchange between Dr. Hancock and the president of Kyushu college. Wartburg offered a picture book of Iowa and a Wartburg College Concert Bands backpack. Their president offered a large bouquet of flowers to Dr. Hancock! The concert was finished per our traditional ending of “Nearer My God to Thee” and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” conducted by Mary Kate Hines and Elizabeth Lyke together for both songs.
Kyushu treated us very well today between offering two meals, hosting us, and allowing us to share music with the school! It was a cool experience going to a Japanese take on a Lutheran tradition that I have become familiar with during my tenure at Wartburg. There were many tears shed today as we near the end of our Japan journey, but one thing is for certain: these memories are ones we will hold close for a lifetime.
Source:
Wartburg College Wind Ensemble International Japan Tour 2019 