Christmas in Fukuoka
One of the main ministries of evangelization at the Augustinian Parish of St. Augustine in the Sasaoka section of Fukuoka, Japan, is a kindergarten with more than 200 students. Each year, in December, the children pres- ent the story of the Nativity of Christ in a pageant attended by teachers, family, and friends. Each child is very serious about the part which he or she plays. The shepherds and kings enter with great dignity and with noble gestures adore the infant with his parents. Their participation in this sacred story has a profound and lasting effect on the students, who often later recall with great affection the presentation they made in kindergarten when they were five years old.
Because approximately 99% of the families that send their children to our kindergarten are non-Christian, the annual Christmas event offers a special opportunity to present the basic Christian belief of God’s love for the world in sending his only Son, born of the Virgin Mary. This is but one way in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is made known to the people served by the Augustinians in Japan.
