We will enjoy some family time together following our morning
worship assembly on Sunday, November 20. Please bring soup or
chili and dessert to share.

Join us at the Sisson’s home for a devotional and dinner!

We will enjoy some family time together following the morning
worship assembly. The menu is potluck. Please bring a main dish or side dish and a dessert.

Time once again for a movie night!  It will begin at 7:00 PM and there will be free snacks and drinks.  Bring a chair and/or blanket and join the fun.  We will be inside so come rain or shine.

Ishinomaki, Sendai, Mito, Tokyo Map

I’ll keep this brief since it’s after 1 AM and it’s been a full two days.

We arrived safely in Sendai yesterday – there were no problems on the highways until we got to Koriyama and then it was pretty full – about five hours in travel. After some lunch, the afternoon was spent in preparation – shopping for work supplies, grocery shopping, organizing and setting up the church building as a place to sleep, eat, worship and become a storage place for goods. Yuko Kawamura (Sendai church member) helped Sasha make dinner, and we enjoyed the meal with Osamu & Yuko Suzuki (Sendai church members) and their kids. Marlin Ray and Niumaia Mataraki also arrived with a truck load of stuff – it was really good they could come, and enjoy a couple of meals, onsen and time of worship with us.

Park cleaning in progress

Today was an early beginning – 7 AM breakfast (with prep beforehand for breakfast and packed lunches) and we were on our way to Ishinomaki at 8:30 after packing the vehicles with supplies and having a prayer time this morning. Again, things weren’t as crowded as we expected until we arrived in Ishinomaki itself. It was a little shocking to our group to see the disaster area beginning at Sendai airport. We met up with Chad and his group, and worked in the neighbourhood where we distributed stuff last time. This time, we worked from 11 AM – 4:30 PM on cleaning part of park with playground equipment for the children. Just as we’d pick up one layer, we’d discover another layer of stuff, and the smell is becoming worse. An 8 yr old girl named Yu laughed with glee as she could climb up and ride down the slide. I saw how long it took a large group of us to clean a portion of a park, and then thought about how vast the destruction is. Our work won’t be done anytime soon. In the mess I found a package of pictures that were okay, and as I looked at the pictures of smiling faces with a baby, I wondered if the owner of those pictures is still alive?

Clean area of park

Afterwards, we went to another nearby neighborhood to disttribute all of the food we brought. Chad, himself, was surprised at the number of people who showed up. A couple of people cried because they were so happy and thankful to get some fresh vegetables. By 6:30 we were on the road back to Sendai and by 9:30 we were all bathed and ready for dinner and our daily devotional time. Most of them are now asleep and I’m on my way too – I feel tired but satisfied about the day.

If there are three things I am sure of in these first couple days, it’s this:

• we must continue – and continue for a long time. Even after people are moved into temporary housing (if they are…) they still need food and supplies since they have no job, no savings, no vehicle.
• we really need a group that will come here and work consistently
• it is really important to have a daily time of worship together to give thanks to God, and to refresh/regain perspective

Park before earthquake and tsunami

There is so much more to share, but I am really exhausted (falling asleep as I type this). I’ll write more later.

Thanks for you ongoing prayers,

Joel

[Show as slideshow]

Ishinomaki, Sendai, Mito, Tokyo Map

This month has been incredibly busy for those within Japan and also for those outside of Japan lending support in various ways to meet the challenge of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant disaster.  Through several meetings and lots of prayer, a committee has been formed and shape/focus to our work is coming together.  We’ll work alongside the Be One house church network that have worked tirelessly for several weeks.  A truck has been purchased for taking supplies, and we send our first (of many!) teams from the Mito Church to serve from April 29-May 7 in the town of Ishinomaki.  Last Sunday, we had an orientation time, and we’ve been collecting supplies at the church building that will be packed into vehicles tomorrow.  We leave early Friday morning.

A blog has been set up online to share with others what we are doing and how funds are being used, and including ongoing needs as we discover them.  As you have a chance, I encourage you to look at the blog at least once a week to keep up to date and to guide your prayers for this effort.  The blog is East Japan Relief.   If you cannot access the internet, perhaps you could ask someone savvy in that area to print off the latest update for you.

Please pray us: there is still some risk, and even as we take precautions, we never know if another earthquake or tsunami could happen.  While this is sobering, we trust that God is guiding us and protecting us and we value your prayers.  Please pray for group members specifically by name: Gaku, Emiko, Hiroaki, Keiko, Toshiyuki, Akiko, Koichi, Sasha, Joel, Kendon, Brett, Allen, and Bradley.