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本当に自分勝手などうしようもない神学生でした。登山は、信仰と似たところがあって、その魅力を知ると好きでたまらなく夢中になるもの。神学校入学当初、キリスト教信仰を深く知りたいという純粋な思いと同時にさらに困難な登山にも挑戦してみたいと二兎を追っていました。大学時代は登山と冒険に明け暮れ、今は温暖化で不可能ですが、日本で誰も成功していない、北極点まで氷上を犬橇で行く隊にも参加しました。大学を卒業してすぐに入学した日本聖書神学校1年生の夏、2ヶ月半も神学校を休んでインド・ヒマラヤの未踏のルートから高峰に挑戦し、表層雪崩にあって失敗。2年生になって、その夏もネパール・ヒマラヤの７千メートル峰に3カ月ほど休んでリベンジ登山に行きたいと教授に申し出ました。先生はじっくりと話を聞いてから、「でもそろそろ、山を選ぶか、イエス様を選ぶか決めなくてはいけないよ」と言われました。当時の私は、前年のヒマラヤ登山で、すぐ隣りにいた友人と一緒に雪崩に流されながら自分だけ助かってしまった心の傷もあり、登山にのめり込んでおり「山と選びます」と、さっさと神学校を退学しました。その2年生時のヒマラヤ登山も頂上までは登れなかったが、帰途の尾根でふと7800Mの頂上を見上げた時、パウロのダマスコでの体験ではないが、「生きろ」と言うイエス様の声が聞こえた。牧師としてそんな怪しいことを言って良いかのかとお叱り受けそうだが、本当に聞えたのだから正直に言うしかない。日本に帰り、礼拝で牧師の語る、キリストの十字架による罪の赦しの意味がはじめて身にしみてわかった。涙が止まらず、嗚咽していた。神学校に戻りたい、いや戻るしかないと思い、再び教授を訪ね、「神学校に戻らせてください。神学生に戻ったら、もう山に行きませんから」と約束した。教授は再入学を快く許してくださった。そして、約束を守り、どうにか卒業して、鹿児島県の指宿教会に赴任した。次に鹿児島市内の加治屋町教会の牧師になって、またしても悲願のヒマラヤの頂上に立ちたくて、三度目の挑戦でパーミール・ヒマラヤの7千メートル峰に登頂し、登山熱もようやく落ち着いた。縦走登山が好きなせいか、一か所では落ち着かず、１０年ぐらいで別の課題に挑戦したくなる。そして、福島県の須賀川教会、川崎の境町教会と我儘を言って異動した。そうこうして牧師と幼稚園園長を兼務しながら３６年目を迎えた。幼稚園園長の定年退職（６５歳）を機に20年前に購入していた那須のあばら屋に定住を決意し、近い日本基督教団の教会を探したら、無牧の那須塩原伝道所があった。那須の家のローンも終わり、年金もいただけるので条件もまとまり、2022年4月に着任した。

３７年間、病気などで休むことなく毎主日に苦しみながらも新しい発見もあり楽しく説教した。イエス様が好きだから続けられたし、イエス様に捕えられていたのだと思う。牧師専任となり、神学書を読む時間もあり、聖書の深みを再発見できる喜びをいま滋味している。

皆さん、神様の恵みによって生命を与えられ、今日まで生かされているのは奇跡です。短い一度きりの人生ですから、皆さん好きなこと、したいことをとことん突き詰めて行きましょう。神様があなたに一番望んでおられるのはそのことです。

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Hello! My name is Yoshiro Konno. I was really a selfish and helpless Seminary student. Mountain climbing has a similarity to faith, and when you learn about its charms, you become obsessed with liking it. When I first entered seminary, I was chasing two dreams, a genuine desire to learn more about the Christian faith and at the same time to take on the even more difficult challenge of mountain climbing. I spent my college years mountain climbing and adventuring, and even took part in a dog-drawn team that went to the North Pole on ice, which is impossible now due to global warming, but which no one in Japan had succeeded in doing. In the summer of my first year at Japan Bible Seminary, I took two and a half months off from seminary to climb a high peak in the Indian Himalayas on an unexplored route, but failed due to a surface avalanche. I told the professor that I wanted to take three months off to climb a 7,000-meter peak in Nepal. After listening to me carefully, the professor said, "But it's time for you to decide whether you want to choose the mountain or Jesus. At the time, I was so absorbed in mountain climbing, partly due to the trauma of having been swept away by an avalanche on a Himalayan mountaineering expedition the previous year with a friend who was right next to me but died while I survived. I was not able to climb to the top of the Himalayas during my sophomore year, but when I suddenly looked up at the 7800M peak on the ridge on my way back, I heard Jesus' voice saying, "Live," although it was not Paul's experience in Damascus. As a pastor, I might be scolded for saying such a thing, but since I really heard it, I had no choice but to tell the truth. After returning to Japan, I realized for the first time the meaning of the forgiveness of sins through the cross of Christ that pastors spoke of in the service. I couldn't stop crying and sobbing. I wanted to go back to seminary, or rather, I thought I had no choice but to go back, so I visited my professor again and asked him, "Please let me go back to seminary. If I go back to seminary, I won't go to the mountain again," I promised. The professor graciously allowed me to re-enter the seminary. I kept my promise, somehow graduated, and was assigned to Ibusuki Church in Kagoshima Prefecture. Next, I became a pastor of Kajiya-cho Church in Kagoshima City. Again, I wanted to stand on the top of the Himalayas, which was my long-cherished dream, and on my third attempt I climbed the 7,000-meter peak of the Permir Himalaya, and then my mountaineering fever finally settled down. Perhaps it is because I like traverse mountaineering, but I never settled down in one place, and after about 10 years, I wanted to try another challenge. I then selfishly moved to Sukagawa Church in Fukushima Prefecture and Sakaimachi Church in Kawasaki. In this way, I entered my 36th year as both pastor and kindergarten director. Upon my retirement as kindergarten director (age 65), I decided to settle down in Nasu, where I had purchased a house 20 years earlier, and when I looked for a UCCJ Church nearby, I found the Nasu Shiobara Mission Station, which was without a pastor. Since the mortgage on the house in Nasu was finished and I would be able to receive a pension, the terms were agreed upon, and I arrived in April 2022. For 37 years, I preached every Lord's Day without a break due to illness, but I also enjoyed preaching with new discoveries. I was able to continue because I love Jesus, and I think I was caught up in Him. Now that I am a part-time pastor, I have time to read theology books, and I am enjoying the joy of rediscovering the depth of the Bible.

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It is a miracle that you have been given life by God's grace and that you are alive to this day. You only have one life, so let's all go out there and do what we love and what we want to do. That is what God wants most for you. May we have a certain kind of fellowship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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北極点遠征、氷原での犬ぞり      At the North Pole                                          ヒマルチュリ峰の稜線を歩く Walking the Himalayan Peaks

 

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                                                     はじめてヒマラヤの頂上に立った時   My first Summit in the Himalayas