Newsletter No. 48

Seinan Gakuin
4-L Foundation
News
Number 48                                                                                        July 20, 2015
Associate Berger Completes First Period of 2015
Erik Berger, the Seinan Gakuin 4-L Foundation Associate, now serving in his second year, posted this on his Facebook timeline on July 16: “Last day of teaching before summer starts! ” 

Teaching is hard work, and teachers (like students) are always ready for a break. But in addition to having time off, Erik will be involved in church and other activities through the summer. Let’s continue to pray for him and for his witness in Japan.
Seinan Gakuin Enrollment for 2015
As of June 1, the enrollment at the various Seinan Gakuin schools was as follows, with the enrollment in June 2014 in parentheses for comparison:
**  Seinan Gakuin University – 8,337 (8,195)
**  Seinan Gakuin High School – 1,322 (1,288)
**  Seinan Gakuin Junior High School – 666 (654)
**  Seinan Gakuin Elementary School – 423 (413)
**  Maizuru Kindergarten – 176 (157)
**  Samidori Day Nursery – 110 (111)
**  TOTAL – 11,034 (10,818)
It is gratifying to see that in this time of constant decline in the number of children in Japan, the enrollment in all of the Seinan Gakuin schools is up from last year.
“The Good Seinanian”
One of the many privileges/responsibilities of the Seinan Gakuin Chancellor is writing the cover article for the Seinan Gakuin Geppo, the monthly bulletin that is distributed to the nearly 600 faculty and staff members of Seinan Gakuin.
Chancellor (and Seinan Gakuin 4-L Foundation Director) Gary Barkley’s July cover article for July was partly about the New Testament story of the Good Samaritan. In concluding his piece, Chancellor Barkley challenged the faculty and staff to become “yoi Seinanjin” (good Seinanians) like the “yoi Samariajin” (good Samaritan) and to nurture students to become such persons.
More News from Seinan Gakuin
**  Focus Week for the spring semester was held at Seinan Gakuin University on June 2-4. The speaker for the first hour-long Chapel service was Dr. Tetsu Nakamura, a Seinan Gakuin Junior High School graduate who has served for many years as a medical doctor and Christian witness in Peshawar, Pakistan. (Dr. Nakamura, b. 1946, will also be the keynote speaker at the Seinan Gakuin centennial activities to be held next year on May 14, 2016.)
The guest speaker for the second and third days of Focus Week was Dr. Yasuyuki Shimoinaba, a medical doctor and church leader in Fukuoka City. For many years Dr. Shinoinaba (b. 1938) was the Head Director of Eikoh Hospital and Chief of Eikoh Hospice Care. In 1967 he established Kasumigaoka Christ Evangelical Church and through the years has been associate pastor of that church.

**  Last week on the campus of Seinan Gakuin University there was a public protest against the Prime Minister of Japan and the lower house of parliament, which approved a controversial military bill on July 16. According to the Nishi Nihon Shimbun, about 100 faculty, staff, and students gathered at SGU to object to the bill that expands the role of the Self-Defense Forces. At that gather, Theology Department Dean Ichiro Sudo read the public statement of protest.