Dear Friends and Family – It is Friday morning, 4:45AM. As I look back at the entries for this blog, I must apologize for not giving more details about the activities nor giving you a heads up on the things you can pray for. I got up early to try and make up a little bit for that. Today we will be traveling to Onagawa (?) to visit people who were impacted by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. This is a site of temporary housing – but apparently all the people have moved out of the temporary homes and are now in permanent ones. This place is 2 hours away from the Sendai church and we will go to meet with some of these people to share time with them. Koby and Lauren, I believe will be giving their testimonies to them. We will also spend time talking with them and making shaved ice treats for them. Nakada-sensei has shared with us that Christians are the only groups to respond and serve them from the time of disasters. Other religious groups did not initially respond with aid and support, and the non-profit groups have departed after a couple of years. But it is the Christian organizations that have been there from the beginning and are still there now. Because of that, people see something different in us and have been more willing to look into Christianity to see what makes us different. Unfortunately, as time has passed, the biases and pressures against us are returning as people go back to the religions and beliefs of their families and countrymen and are less willing to be different. So we go out today hoping to share the love of Jesus Christ with those still open and wanting more than what they have trusted and believed in the past. Pray for our visit today, that we may express the hope, confidence and joy that the salvation of Jesus Christ brings us. But more importantly, pray for the churches that have sprung up and the missionaries who have moved into this region, that they will develop the long-term relationships that will bring lasting changes to lives of these people. After our time there, we will spend the rest of our time doing a little bit of sightseeing. Tomorrow, Nakada-sensei will be conducting his English conversation class with children again, and we will support him by having conversations with the students. After that we will get ready for the “Taco Party” we are having for the children who attended EEC along with their parents and families. We are buying the fixings from local markets and Costco. I am very interested to see how authentic we are. But of course the food is secondary to spending time with these people – but it never hurts to have tasty food to share with them. In the evening we will go to a local festival which we will actually participate in. Various groups will sing – and so will we. We will only have about 10 minutes, but pray that God is able to use even that short time to touch the hearts of people. Sunday will be our last full day here in Sendai. We will participate in the worship service – Danny will share his testimony and I will give the message. Pray that our sharing with them will encourage them to continue strongly in their faith and good works. The women members who have served alongside of us during EEC and have been preparing our meals are such marvelous people. After serving at the church in Chino for five years, I was afraid that the mission this year would not be the same as previous years. I was wrong. Please thank God for Nakada-sensei, his wife and daughter and for all the members of the Sendai church – they have served us with great hospitality and generosity. There were only about 15 people attending their worship service last Sunday, but it seems like most of them have had a hand in taking care of us and volunteering for the EEC program. I hope we can continue to come to Sendai for many years to come. It’s 5:30AM now and I’m getting a little tired. I’m going to take a quick nap before our 7AM prayer meeting. I hope to get photos for you to see in the next blog entry. Thank you for your prayer support during this mission trip. I hope you can sense the impact they have had on our activities and relationships with people; how they have kept us safe and healthy; and how they have given us great encouragement and kept us focused on our Lord and Savior. God bless you as we have been blessed in Sendai. Love, Don
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Friday, July 29th - Onagawa
Dear Friends and Family – It is Friday morning, 4:45AM. As I look back at the entries for this blog, I must apologize for not giving more details about the activities nor giving you a heads up on the things you can pray for. I got up early to try and make up a little bit for that. Today we will be traveling to Onagawa (?) to visit people who were impacted by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. This is a site of temporary housing – but apparently all the people have moved out of the temporary homes and are now in permanent ones. This place is 2 hours away from the Sendai church and we will go to meet with some of these people to share time with them. Koby and Lauren, I believe will be giving their testimonies to them. We will also spend time talking with them and making shaved ice treats for them. Nakada-sensei has shared with us that Christians are the only groups to respond and serve them from the time of disasters. Other religious groups did not initially respond with aid and support, and the non-profit groups have departed after a couple of years. But it is the Christian organizations that have been there from the beginning and are still there now. Because of that, people see something different in us and have been more willing to look into Christianity to see what makes us different. Unfortunately, as time has passed, the biases and pressures against us are returning as people go back to the religions and beliefs of their families and countrymen and are less willing to be different. So we go out today hoping to share the love of Jesus Christ with those still open and wanting more than what they have trusted and believed in the past. Pray for our visit today, that we may express the hope, confidence and joy that the salvation of Jesus Christ brings us. But more importantly, pray for the churches that have sprung up and the missionaries who have moved into this region, that they will develop the long-term relationships that will bring lasting changes to lives of these people. After our time there, we will spend the rest of our time doing a little bit of sightseeing. Tomorrow, Nakada-sensei will be conducting his English conversation class with children again, and we will support him by having conversations with the students. After that we will get ready for the “Taco Party” we are having for the children who attended EEC along with their parents and families. We are buying the fixings from local markets and Costco. I am very interested to see how authentic we are. But of course the food is secondary to spending time with these people – but it never hurts to have tasty food to share with them. In the evening we will go to a local festival which we will actually participate in. Various groups will sing – and so will we. We will only have about 10 minutes, but pray that God is able to use even that short time to touch the hearts of people. Sunday will be our last full day here in Sendai. We will participate in the worship service – Danny will share his testimony and I will give the message. Pray that our sharing with them will encourage them to continue strongly in their faith and good works. The women members who have served alongside of us during EEC and have been preparing our meals are such marvelous people. After serving at the church in Chino for five years, I was afraid that the mission this year would not be the same as previous years. I was wrong. Please thank God for Nakada-sensei, his wife and daughter and for all the members of the Sendai church – they have served us with great hospitality and generosity. There were only about 15 people attending their worship service last Sunday, but it seems like most of them have had a hand in taking care of us and volunteering for the EEC program. I hope we can continue to come to Sendai for many years to come. It’s 5:30AM now and I’m getting a little tired. I’m going to take a quick nap before our 7AM prayer meeting. I hope to get photos for you to see in the next blog entry. Thank you for your prayer support during this mission trip. I hope you can sense the impact they have had on our activities and relationships with people; how they have kept us safe and healthy; and how they have given us great encouragement and kept us focused on our Lord and Savior. God bless you as we have been blessed in Sendai. Love, Don
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