Sharing the Gospel through Drama
Easter play at Toyo Senkyo church plant
Playwright Chiharu Nohtoh and members of the Toyo Senkyo church plant in Japan found a unique way to share the gospel this Easter—by hosting an original play.
Toyo Senkyo hosted a performance of “Elevator to Heaven,” a drama developed entirely from the imagination of Nohtoh, a semi professional playwright and member candidate of the church who is preparing to make profession of faith. This play was sparked by a play that Nohtoh wrote for last Christmas’s church service.
“There was much interest in doing it again next Christmas,” said Toyo Senkyo’s evangelist-pastor Rev. Jun Ozaki. “But everyone was so enthusiastic that we decided to try putting on another play for Easter.”
In “Elevator to Heaven,” a pastor and two others appear to be trapped in an elevator where they were convinced they were going to die. As the plot unfolds, the audience discovers that they are actually buried in rubble after a terrorist attack. Through this near-death experience, the pastor was reminded of the true meaning of Easter.
The Easter afternoon presentation was attended by 45 people. Many of these people have no connection with Toyo Senkyo or another church, says Larry Spalink, a missionary with Christian Reformed World Missions which serves in Japan.
The Easter and Christmas plays were also a good opportunity for the actors to have contact with the gospel. Nohtoh has been good friends with some of them, many of them actors in other plays he has written. He saw the play practices and performances as opportunities to experience the church as welcoming rather than intimidating.
“Many of the actors had no experience with the Christian church before,” said Spalink. “We had a chance to chat with the performers after each performance. We talked about what the church is and found that it was a good time for some no-pressure exposure to the Good News.”
Toyo Senkyo is a CRWM church plant. Missionaries have been working alongside Japanese workers since the church began in 1998. This play is just one of many ways that local leaders share the gospel message in a way that fits the church’s local needs.
“Our church welcomes use of the arts in worship and evangelism,” said Spalink. “I even challenged them to try producing dramatic presentations of Bible passages.”
The play was a charity event, and all ticket proceeds were donated to an orphanage in Sendai, a city in Japan that was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
