This video was made by our friends of Oshika Town. The videos within were taken shortly after the 3-11 earthquake and just as the tsunami hit destroying their town. There was a lot of rubble to clear away. They have made great strides in cleaning up the town and have begun to rebuild in certain areas. There is still a lot of work to be done. This is one of the areas we often visit. The people are very gracious and hard working. Credit for this video goes to the good people of Oshika Town.
Categories: Aid for Japan.
We have had a lot of teams come and go over the past year. We are abundantly thankful for our home church in Texas sending such a wonderful group of ladies. Not only did they minister to the kids but they ministered to us as well. Luke often takes a moment to get to know people before warming up to them but he truly took the the team right away. He was sad to see the team leave and so were we.
We are blessed to have served with Martha, Lindsey, and Kristen. We pray you take what you learned and experience here and share it with others back home. We will miss you but we pray we get to see you all very soon! Thank you so much FBCA for sending them to us.
Categories: Aid for Japan, Hope for Japan News.
The FBCA team did a lot to help with our ministry. One place that we took them was Sakata. Sakata is the port town we evacuated to after the March 11 earthquake. There is a mission church that was started by the churches of Northern Japan. The pastor, his wife, and their children have lived there for six long years. I say long because they are ministering in a city that has a very strong Buddhist history. Pastor Fujii and his family have been working hard to reach out the their community.
One of the ways they minister is through their kids program. They open up the church in the afternoons for kids to do homework and learn English. Many of the children that attend are from single parent homes. The majority of them live with their mom and have little to no contact with their dad. As you can imagine this is very hard on the children.
We have felt the need to help the Fujiis with their ministry especially because they are so isolated. We love this sweet family so much! The team from FBCA was a huge help. We got to help with the English programs and spend a lot of time playing games with the children. One of the highlights the team had was visiting the only Christian kindergarten in Sakata. The principal and staff were so gracious and a pleasure to be around.
We continue to pray for the Fujiis and their ministry. Thank you so much FBCA for sending a team to bless the children of Sakata.
On our way to Sakata, we stopped at one of the beaches on the west coast. The girls got to put their feet in the Sea of Japan!
The first class they taught.
Teaching at the Christian kindergarten.
The kids were so sweet. Please pray for this kindergarten! They need more students!
Celebrating Lindsey’s birthday!
The third class they taught.
We all helped the pastor with the church flyers.
Please pray for Pastor Fujii and his family.
On our way back to Sendai, we stopped at this place where some Japanese old movies had been made.
Categories: Hope for Japan News.
July started a little different for the Towerys. A great group of ladies from our sending church, First Baptist Church of Arlington, was sent to spend a week helping our ministry. We were so enthusiastic to have these ladies come and spend time with us.
Martha, Lindsey, and Kristen were so full of energy. They came ready to serve and had a can do attitude which was great because we kept them busy! Teaching English is a great way to get to know people here in Japan. Lots of people are eager to learn English. And wouldn’t you know it? All three of the team members are teachers. Hurray!
Every Sunday night we teach English at Sendai Baptist Church. They ladies did a great job teaching the adults how to order from an English menu. Martha gave her testimony during the worship service and everyone loved talking with the three during the fellowship time.
We also got to share the ladies with our Wednesday night Kids English Class and Summer Party on Saturday. The Saturday event was extra special because many of the parents attended. It was a good chance for them to practice English and also hear a message from God’s Word.
Thank you so much to the three team members. You have a huge heart for kids and the Lord!
English class at Sendai Baptist Church.
They used a menu from Jason’s Deli to teach how to order in English! Great idea!
Martha sharing her testimony.
Kids English class at our church.
All the kids enjoyed playing the game!
The kids learned to say “I am excited!”
The kids loved getting to know these sweet ladies!
They also helped with the youth English class. Thank you for making our class enjoyable!
Playing with water balloons!
Having so much fun!
Just like American children, Japanese children love watermelons!!!
Categories: Aid for Japan, Hope for Japan News.
As you have read before we do a lot of work in Ishinomaki City and the surrounding areas. One of the blessings of going to meet with people in the temporary housing units is that many times other places will hear about us and ask us to visit them.
We are so grateful that the Texas team was able to help with our ministry at one of our newest contacts. The team brought a craft for everyone to make and then sang Texas songs. They even did a line dance which was a was a hit.
This particular unit has expressed their openness to Christianity. We are thankful for this opportunity to serve and pray for many more. The Texas team also helped with our English ministry. We had a Texas theme with crafts, sketch drawings, bandanas, Texas songs, and a lot of laughs.
We can’t thank the BGCT and the team members enough for all they have done. We pray you were blessed as much as you blessed us and the people of Japan!
Enjoy some of the photos!
We visited Oshika Preschool.
Each child received special gifts from Texas. A huge thank you to everyone who donated these gifts!
Love their smile!
Sang some fun songs in the gathering room at one of the temporary housings.
The residents sang with us!
Everyone enjoyed line dancing!
We delivered fresh vegetables to each family.
The leader of this temporary housing. She is so sweet and we love getting to know her and her husband.
So thankful for a blessed time of fellowship. We look forward to visiting them again!
Categories: Aid for Japan.
The June typhoon was not all that headlined for us here in Sendai. We were pleased to host a great group of Texans from the BGCT. Twelve individuals from all over Texas came to help the people of Japan. One of the areas we visited was Tono in Iwate Prefecture. The BGCT has been in contact with the Japan Baptist Convention since the March 11th earthquake. The BGCT has supported the JBC with their disaster relief work in multiple ways.
One of the needs of the temporary housing units is a place to meet. Although displaced, the housing units have become vital communities and having a place to meet in large area’s is crucial. We pray that the friendship between the convention and the warm heart people of Otsushi Town will continue.
The Texas team handed out hand crafted bags of gifts donated by the generous churches of Texas. Iwate is not one of our usual areas of ministry due to its three hour drive. But, we are in close contact with the church leaders in the area who are working with the temporary housing units. They were so blessed by the Texas team. It can be very lonely at times to be away from other churches. We are glad the Texas team members met the Christian leaders in that area.
The team also got a chance to see one of the schools destroyed by the tsunami. Yet to be demolished, the baseball diamond behind the school is still used today.
Thank you Texas for loving on the people of Iwate and we would ask that you remember to pray for the ministry of the church leaders as they minister to the people there.
Praying together in front of the destroyed school.
In front of the temporary housing where we delivered gifts from Texas.
Categories: Aid for Japan.
Hello! Hope you are all having a wonderful summer. We have been super busy hosting mission teams from America! It has been fun to spend time with them!
While we have a short break, we will try to catch up with our posts! This one is about our time in Hawaii. You may remember that we hosted a wonderful team from Hawaii in April. We really enjoyed getting to know them and kept in touch with them after they went back home. They invited us to visit them but we didn’t think we would be able to go so soon! God provided everything we needed! We were able to stay at the beautiful mission house provided by the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, and our friend who works for Delta let us use the buddy pass which allowed us to fly super cheap! We were there for two weeks and it went by so quickly! We enjoyed EVERY SINGLE DAY! Our friends in Honolulu and Pearl City blessed us so much! They planned a dinner with all the mission team members who had come to Japan and we had so much fun sharing our special memories!
The main purpose to visit Hawaii this time was to speak at several churches about the disaster relief work. Many Hawaiians have already given so much to help the Japanese people in the disaster areas. We wanted to thank them in person and ask for their continued support and prayers. The church members welcomed us warmly and we felt their love!
Here are some photos of our trip:
As soon as we arrived in Hawaii, Yu was asked to be on a radio show to talk about Japan.
Worship service at FBC Pearl City. The lady on the right, Lynne, was one of the mission team members that came to Japan.
Speaking in their Japanese service.
Luke had so much fun at the Children’s Discovery Center.
Of course, he enjoyed playing on the beautiful beach!
Restful time with our little family!
Luke was spoiled the whole time! Mommy and Daddy were happy to have a break from holding our BIG baby!
Grandpa got to come!
We were invited to speak in our friends’ Sunday School class at Waialae Baptist Church.
Speaking at their worship service. It was great to see our friends again! We had a meeting with Pastor Robert and we look forward to partnering with their church!
Reunion with all the mission team members. We had such a special time together.
Michael enjoyed hiking!
We thank God for this wonderful opportunity! A big THANK YOU to all of our Hawaiian friends! Thank you for making our time VERY special. We miss you all!
Categories: Family, Hope for Japan News.
