A preliminary seminar for new residents of missionary houses was held in the Home of the Parent on March 29 and 30. This year, 92 prospective missionaries will each spend the next 12 months at one of 16 missionary houses in Japan. In addition, the missionary houses under the supervision of the Mission Headquarters in America and the Mission Headquarters of Hawaii each have one new resident this year. Out of these 94 new residents (81 men and 13 women), 80% are in their 20s and 30s, while several others are recently retired people in their early 60s.
On the 29th, the seminar participants listened to a lecture delivered by Mission Department Head Motoyoshi Tomimatsu, who explained the history of the missionary houses and gave the listeners pointers on the attitude they should maintain while carrying out missionary work. “If you spend every day with a thoroughly humble mind,” he said, “Oyasama will always be there to lead you through your journey.”
Following Church Headquarters’ morning service on the 30th, the Shinbashira gave a talk to the participants in Foundress’ Hall 3. He began his talk by explaining that the purpose of a missionary house is to provide its residents with an environment that allows them to concentrate solely on spreading the teachings. The Shinbashira asked the participants to make the most of their stay by consciously living in a way that would reshape the way they lead their daily lives, and he suggested that, if they made good use of their time, they ought to be new people when they finish their one-year program.
The Shinbashira said that there might be times when people refuse to listen to their explanation of the teachings. He recommended that, at such times, they would do well to devise alternative means to help those people to settle God the Parent’s intention in their minds. He went on to say that they should also keep studying the teachings so that they would be able to explain the teachings without error once they managed to find people who were interested in listening to them. Maintaining that balance between spreading the teachings and studying more about the teachings would, he said, allow them to settle the teachings more deeply in their minds as well as give them experience that would strengthen the conviction they need to go through the path.
The Shinbashira made a point of saying: “Please don’t be overly concerned about immediate results. Even if you do not see the results you expected, it is important to exercise patience and carry on without letting your spirits down.” He closed by asking the listeners to spend this year studying hard so that they would become the sort of Yoboku desired by God the Parent and acquire a variety of accomplishments that they could draw on in the future.
On March 27, just prior to this preliminary seminar, a gathering was conducted in the Home of the Parent for the 88 people who had just finished spending the past 12 months at 14 missionary houses in various parts of Japan. Their accomplishments for the year included bringing 1,634 people to Jiba, administering the Sazuke 67,362 times, and getting 169 people (including 71 first-timers) to attend the Besseki lecture.