One Year and Counting…

March 18, 2012

Last weekend marked the one year anniversary of the March 11, 2011 earthquake.  Many of you have seen our tribute video.  Thank you for your emails of encouragement and support.  It was a long year but your prayers made our work a lot easier.  Last Saturday we made a trip to the temporary housings to hand out food.  This time we gave a small bouquet of flowers with a word of encouragement attached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like all the other times we have visited, everyone was so kind and thankful.  But this time there was a lot of emotion.  Some of the people just smiled and said thank you. However many just bowed in thanks and had tears running down their face.  An outward display of emotion is hardly ever seen here.  Understandably this was hard for many.

I would like to share about one of the young boys we met during one of our visits.  He is two years old and living with his grandparents.  His father works full time so is not around during the day.  After the earthquake the family fled from the tsunami together but a few days later his mother fled never to be heard or seen since.  The boy’s father has made attempts to contact her family but they deny she has ever contacted them.  It’s been especially hard on the child.  He misses his mother but is hurt even more by the fact that his mom abandoned him.  Luke got to play with him during our visit.  He was such a sweet boy and had a lot of joy in his heart.  Please remember to pray for him and his family.  Also, pray for his mother to return.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most importantly please pray that people we have been ministering to will continue to heal and learn about the God we serve.

Categories: Aid for Japan, Prayer Needs.

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Helping Hands

March 18, 2012

The past year has brought a lot of people into our lives.  We were surrounded by many Christians who took great care of us in South Korea.  We were also blessed by those who came to Japan to help with the cleaning, rebuilding, and rehabilitation of this country.  We are truly thankful for each and every person that God has placed along our path during this long and often difficult process.  One particular courageous soul is Naomi who helped us last weekend.  Naomi lives in Hawaii whose grandparents were originally from Japan. We first met her last December when we were in Hawaii to share with Olivet Baptist Church about our work.  Prior to this trip, she had taken several trips to Japan to learn the culture and get to know people here.  This trip was very special for her because this was her first time to help with the disaster relief work in the tsunami-hit areas.

Saturday morning we set out to Oshika Peninsula to visit about 80 temporary housing units that would be receiving food, flowers, and time with us and church members from Sendai.  Naomi had been planing on this trip for a few months.  She prepared gifts for every household and homemade cookies.  We had a great time sharing with each other about our lives as we made the two hour trip to the peninsula.

Thank you for coming all the way to Sendai to love and encourage those in need.  We enjoyed our time together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hope many of you will pray about coming to Japan.  There are many ways to serve- visiting the temporary housings to meet people, delivering food, playing with children, teaching English, encouraging Japanese Christians, sharing your testimonies, and spending time with us! We love having guests!  Even though we love this country and people, we do get homesick and miss our family and friends in the US.  So having our friends here means so much to us.  Thank you in advance for praying about coming here in the future.  We understand some of you may not be able to come physically.  There are other ways to help with the ministries here.  Just contact us and we will find a way for you to be involved.  We LOVE getting e-mails, letters, phone calls, and packages!!!

Categories: Aid for Japan, Hope for Japan News, Prayer Needs.

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March 11, 2011 Memorial

March 9, 2012

Sunday marks the one year anniversary of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. The event began with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in which most of the the buildings and homes survived.  They were made for such events.  The following tsunami however was certainly not anticipated nor forgiving.  This video is a tribute to the people in the disaster areas and the continuing work to rebuild physically and emotionally.  We hope you know how much they appreciate your prayers and support.  Please continue to pray for the victims’ families and for the Christians who are working with them.  We send a huge “THANK YOU” to everyone who has supported us the past year and has unceasingly prayed.  You have encouraged us so much.  We are so thankful for the friendships built over the past year and pray more to understand and walk the “Jesus Way”.

Categories: Aid for Japan, Hope for Japan News, Prayer Needs.

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Our time in Yamagata

March 6, 2012

We want to say thank you to those who prayed for us as we took a trip to Yamagata.  We had such a blessed weekend.  About 20 children came to the event at the mission church.  We taught them English and Michael shared a short story from the Bible.  Many of these kids come from broken families.  We just wanted them to know that they are LOVED!  It was great seeing their sweet smiles and we pray they will remember the story they heard that day.

The kids and moms decorated cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They all looked so happy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, we attended the Sunday school and worship service at Sakata Mission Church.  Even though this church is small in size, everyone has a big heart for the Lord!  We enjoyed our fellowship and learned so much from them.

Children’s Sunday school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worship service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we left this church, we drove to Zao ski resort.  We decided to stay there for one night to have our family time away from home!   Even though the weather wasn’t great, we enjoyed staying at the hotel with a hot spring and skiing/sledding on the mountains.

On our way to Zao!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner time at the hotel.  Luke loves to eat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family photo!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of the mountains and trees.  They were so beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mommy and Luke!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy and Luke!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This trip made us realize how blessed we are.   We have a supportive church family that sent us out, great church family to serve with, and wonderful family that God has given us.  Thank you all for thinking of us and praying for us.

Categories: Family, Hope for Japan News.

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