As of 9:00 PM our time (6:00 AM in Texas), we haven’t heard of any major damage from the earthquake. We have talked to our friends on the coastline and they are all okay. They evacuated but went home when the tsunami warning was cancelled.
We will continue to monitor the situation. Thank you so much for your prayers!
Categories: Aid for Japan.
We just had a 7.3 earthquake. We are all okay. Please pray for everyone’s safety. We are keeping an eye on news resources and are prepared to evacuate if needed. Please pray for God’s wisdom and guidance for us.
Thank you for keeping the people of Japan in your prayers.
Categories: Aid for Japan.
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.
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.
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.
I want to ask you all to pray for these precious kids who have been affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation treat in Japan. As a mother, my heart hurts so much to know what they are going through. Even though they are having such a difficult time, they always smile when I take pictures of them. Their beautiful smiles make me happy but at the same time, I know each of them has so many unspoken feelings/concerns. Please pray the day will come soon when they can all laugh, smile, and have tons of fun without being worried about the aftershocks, nightmare of the tsunami, radiation, destroyed homes, and all the other traumas that they may have.
All the pastors’ kids got together for the special meeting. Playing cards while the adults had a meeting.
Some of these kids are from Fukushima where the nuclear plant exploded. They hadn’t been able to play outside because of the radiation threat. They were so happy to come to Sendai where they could play outside. They were so thankful to receive rain jackets that your generous donation helped us buy. THANK YOU!!!
Guess what they are making? Their OWN movie theater! These kids live in a tsunami-hit town and almost everything was destroyed. They decided to “make” a movie theater so that they could watch movies (DVDs) together. What a brilliant idea!
Aren’t they precious? We were able to give them lots of cookies for their opening day. Hope they enjoyed them! As these kids painted the cardboard boxes, one of the moms told her daughter to be careful since she was wearing one of a few shirts she had left. It broke my heart. Since many of these kids lost everything, we are going to deliver clothes that have been donated by our FBCA family (our sending church). If you want to know how to donate, please e-mail us (michaelandyu@gmail.com). Thanks!
We hosted a special event for kids at our church. A volunteer team from Colorado joined us and we all had such a great time!
Singing praise songs! Our friend, Yuta, did a great job! Michael did a wonderful job sharing a children’s message.
They all got a gift that was bought with the Aid for Japan donation money. As you can imagine, they were SO excited!
Playing games!
Having lots of fun together.
Dinner time!
What an awesome fellowship we had! In this picture, there is a girl who lost her grandparents in the tsunami. They have yet to found her grandmother’s body. Please pray for her and her family. Also, some of these kids’ (they are siblings) dad works for the Japanese army and he has been super busy since March 11th. They don’t have much time to see their dad. Pray for them as they miss their daddy!
Thank you for keeping these children in your prayers. We know your prayers will make a difference!
Categories: Prayer Needs.
Konnichiwa (Hello) from Sendai! We came back in the end of May and have been super busy! Last week, we were able to visit the tsunami-hit areas twice. We were speechless as we drove through the destroyed cities. Yu had tears in her eyes since her grandparents lived in one of those cities (they moved to Sendai after the earthquake). All the places looked completely different. We can’t find any words to describe what we saw and how we felt.
We delivered food, water, and lots of bug spray to the temporary shelters and homes of the people that Yu’s father had visited before. We were encouraged to meet people who were so happy that we were there. They needed food and supplies, but more than anything, they needed someone who would listen to their stories. Many of them are still grieving the loss of loved ones (some of them lost their entire family members) and others don’t know how to start a new life without a house and a job. It has been three months since the earthquake and tsunami took so many lives, but the process for recovery/reconstruction is taking such a long time.
We want them to know that we love them and care for them. We want to encourage them and help them. But our prayer is that they will find hope and comfort in our Lord. Please pray that God will continue to use us in mighty ways.
We prayed before we left.
We delivered water and coffee to the junior high school that is being used as a temporary shelter.
We were able to give this lady (she is one of the leaders of this place) a poster with a scripture. She said she would put it on the wall. Our church has been serving lunch at this junior high school every Saturday for the last two months.
In Kyubunhama, they have made this community center a place where people can meet, cook, and get water.
More coffee! You can see the information wall on the right.
If you look at this picture closely, you can see a sticker that says “TEXAS TWO”. This van was bought with the money that was donated by BGCT (Baptist General Convention of Texas). “Texas One” has been delivered to Morioka in Iwate prefecture. The van was given to this community because many people lost their cars. One of the community leaders told us that they were going to drive it to the fisherman’s meeting to discuss how to restart their business. Thank you, Texas Baptists!
Finding out their needs and how we can help them.
Michael helping an old lady (he was so brave to offer her help in Japanese!)
We delivered drinking water to the farm that hasn’t had running water for 3 months. They have to drive for an hour 4 times a day to get enough water for their cattle.
The family was having a difficulty with this pump (they keep water in this tank for bath and toilet) but these smart guys were able to fix the problem!
They were so happy to meet us! The lady in the middle was so sweet to Luke! Of course, Luke loved getting attention!
Tsunami was as high as the second floor of this apartment.
Another temporary shelter. At one point, there were more than 400 people staying here.
Messages written by kids from west Japan.
Places that Yu used to visit. Police officers are still looking for dead bodies in this area.
LOTS of disabled vehicles.
Temporary housing for those who lost homes. We are planning to visit them.
Many fishermen lost their boats. Please pray they can start fishing again soon.
Michael delivering bug spray on his second trip. Thankfully, her house was safe so she is letting 20 people stay in her home.
Giving bug spray to the lady at the farm. We love spending time with them!
This is our friend, Yuta. He is serving as a volunteer this summer until he goes back to DBU to work on his master’s degree this fall. He has been such a blessing! The guys were asked to help mow the grass at the farm. They worked hard!
Please continue to pray for people in Japan. Please pray God will open doors as we get to know these precious people who desperately need Him. Thank you for your love and prayers!
Categories: Aid for Japan.
It has been a month since the massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Since that day, so many lives have been taken and changed forever. For the past month, we have heard and read so much about the damages and losses from the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation. We may never understand why things like this happened, but we can rest in God who is in control. We just had prayer as a family and asked our Father to give everyone in Japan peace and hope.
Praises:
-Thank you for praying for the Kimura family. Yu talked to Mrs. Kimura today. Thankfully, school and kindergarten started again today. The kids go there only in the morning. Mrs. Kimura prays getting back to their daily routine will help them release some stress and they will be able to have fun with their friends without being worried all the time. The kids’ rashes are better. Please continue to pray for physical and emotional healing.
-We received an e-mail from Mr. Yamaki (chief of a coastal fire department). His team is working so hard and everyone is encouraging each other. He said they are finding many bodies under collapsed buildings. It is sad that many people have died, but ever since the tsunami hit this area, people have been praying to see their loved ones’ bodies once again even though they are no longer alive. This is a very important mission for his team, and he knows he can rely on God who gives them strength. Praise God for such a godly leader.
-Yu’s dad and the disaster relief team from the local churches have visited Ishinomaki again. Praise God for the relationships that have been built. Tokyo Baptist Church (one of the big churches in Japan) has also sent a team there to cook for people who lost homes. So many people have been blessed by the supplies and food that have been given to them. It has been encouraging to see so many Japanese people hearing about Jesus for the first time. Keep praying for their salvation.
(Before the tsunami- this picture was taken at the park by Yu’s grandparents’ house)
(After the tsunami- the white building in the middle of this photo was the city hospital. Water came to the second floor.)
-All the pastors and leaders from the local Baptist churches met with the team from Japan Baptist Convention (JBC). JBC is planning to send personnel who can move to Sendai to lead the disaster relief effort. It is an answer to our prayers. We will partner with JBC and the local churches to meet the needs of those who are waiting for help (JBC’s disaster relief information- http://baptist2.exblog.jp/).
Prayers:
-We received an official request from Miyagi Gakuin. Please read this letter (http://www.mgu.ac.jp/01news/2010/2011-0318-1220-39.html). As we receive more donations, a part of the money will be donated to help these students. We appreciate your continued financial support.
(Chapel at Miyagi Gakuin- this school really blessed Yu while she was in high school.)
-Mrs. Yonezawa’s (our church member) father-in-law was found dead. They have not found her mother-in-law. Please pray for their family as they grieve. Mrs. Yonezawa and her three children are members of our church, and they have been praying for Mr. Yonezawa’s salvation for a very long time. Please pray he will find God’s peace during this difficult time.
(The lady in the middle is Mrs. Yonezawa)
-We are working with our churches in Sendai and Arlington to have a clothes drive to help the children who lost everything. We think it will be a great opportunities for both churches to work together to share His love. Please pray for guidance and wisdom as we lead this special project.
-Please pray for us as we prepare to speak at a local church on Sunday. We have spoken at 3 different places already and we are grateful that God continues to use us here in South Korea. We have been touched by the hearts and prayers of Korean people. We will write about how God has used us and blessed us.
As we close this post, we want to ask you to take a few minutes to pray for Japan and the people of Japan. Today, many Japanese Christians are getting together to pray. As I type, they are having a special prayer meeting at Sendai Baptist Church. This month has passed so quickly, but we know it can take years for many people to have their normal life back. Please pray God will draw them closer to Him and they will find hope and peace.
“The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.” Psalm 29:11
Categories: Prayer Needs.
We have received more messages and calls from many of you! We realized so many people that we don’t even know are praying for us and supporting us. Words can’t express how thankful we are! Your prayers and encouragement mean the world to us!
Many people prayed for my grandparents. God answered our prayers, and my grandparents and aunts are safe. They were staying at my grandparent’s house which is on a hill and everything around them was flooded. They saw the tsunami washing the city away and my aunt said she can’t even describe what she had seen. My grandfather requires dialysis so he had to go to the hospital. Since they could not take him there, my aunt went down the hill to ask for help. She walked in water to get to the nearest hospital. Thankfully, they were able to send a truck to get him. The phone service in the entire city is down so my aunt decided to come back to our city to let us know that they are all safe. She was able to find a person who was willing to give her an one hour ride home (most of the way, Japanese people have been very helpful and polite). She is taking my cousin to go back to my grandparents’ place in a few days to bring them to our city. We will be asking them to take some food and water so that they can give them to the people in that area who don’t have anything. Please pray that the roads to go up the hill will be open by then.
Power was restored last night so we were able to stay in a warm house. We are very thankful for this, but still heartbroken for those who don’t have anything. Many temporary shelters do not have power so people there are still staying in a cold place. We were up most of the night watching the news, and we are very concerned about the explosions of the nuclear power plants. They are located in Fukushima prefecture (like a state) which is south of us. The Japanese government is telling people in that area to evacuate. As of now, we have not been told to evacuate. We also called the US Embassy in Tokyo and they said they are not telling Americans in this area to evacuate as of now. However, it is obvious that threat of radiation contamination is very serious and we are doing everything we can do to protect ourselves and help others to understand the seriousness of this situation. Many people are panicked and they don’t know what to do.
Since we can’t evacuate to the south or north without a car or public transportation, we are staying home today and tomorrow (or until we know it is safe). Our car is almost out of gasoline. We went to all the gas stations around here but none of them had gas. Their workers didn’t even know when they would have some. Major highways are closed to the public and only emergency vehicles are allowed to use them. Most of the train systems in northern Japan are shut down. At this point, we have no way to get out of this city. So we will do our best to help others in need while we do what we can do to take care of our health.
Since we have been advised to stay home today, we are trying to make it productive. Our house is still a mess since we haven’t had a chance to clean without power. The boxes that were stacked up are everywhere in one of the rooms. We have some plants, picture frames, books, and decorations that fell from the shelves, and there are also some broken glasses. We are also trying to clean water damage in the house.
My friend in Canada asked me to help her friend who supervises English teachers from other countries. She has not been able to make sure if all of them are okay. Since I have internet and cell phone service, I hope to help her locate these teachers. I can’t even imagine how terrified they are without knowing enough Japanese to understand what is going on. I know many of them want to evacuate or fly home but they can’t go to the international airport at this point. Please pray I can minister to them during this time. If you know anyone from other countries who are still missing, please e-mail us. I will do our best to contact the local government officials/schools/shelters to find out if they have any information.
While the Japanese army, aid from other countries (we are SO thankful), and volunteers work very hard to take care of the people on the coastline (they are working nonstop- please pray for them), we will do our best take care of the people here who need help. There are still so many people at the temporary shelters. I saw an old man on a street who was on his way home from the shelter. I tried to comfort him and encourage him, but what he said really encouraged me. He said, “What I went through is nothing compared to those who lost family and everything else.”
We met a family who evacuated from Arahama town that was washed away by the tsunami. They have some relatives in our neighborhood. Their house was destroyed and they lost everything. The only clothes that two girls have are their school uniforms. We offered clothes that we have. We are trying to find out what else they need.
We are also trying to help people around our church. Our church is located in the suburb of Sendai and most of the houses are okay. However, they still don’t have power (it means no heat!) and water. When we went to church on Sunday, we saw our dear friend who came with her four kids. Her husband is in the Japanese army and has not come home since last Friday. She can’t stay in line to buy food because she can’t leave her kids at her house due to severe aftershocks. They have been staying in a house without heat and the kids don’t even have water to drink. She was very optimistic and said they would be okay, but we have been thinking of them and praying for them all the time. We haven’t been able to reach them by phone since Sunday. As soon as we get gas, we are going to deliver food and water, and we will invite them to stay with us until power and water are back.
There are some of the situations locally. There are so many others in need, but we are starting with what we can. All the stores around here have nothing, but we will be in line as soon as they have something.
We just heard from Cindy, Director of GCPN (our sending organization). She called us to let us know that they would do anything to help us (we are working on the emergency evacuation plan with them). Our pastor sent a special message to all the church members asking them to pray for us. We are SO thankful for FBCA and GCPN, and also for all the other churches and organizations that are helping us and praying for us. There is so much to be done and we can’t do this alone. Let’s partner together and let His light shine in this dark place.
Categories: Aid for Japan.
Many of you already know this, but we had a massive earthquake in Japan on Friday. We live in Sendai, which is about 80 miles from the epicenter. We were at our house and it shook for a while. I ran to get our sleeping baby and Michael went to help my grandmother who could not move because she was so scared. It seemed like it would last forever. We lost our power and water immediately, and then we completely lost our phone service. My dad was 4 hours away and didn’t know how he could come home. It was snowing outside so we tried to stay warm inside while we kept having aftershocks.
We thought we would have to evacuate but community leaders decided only old people who lived alone would go to the nearby elementary school because there would not be enough room for everyone.
We were up all night long praying. At that point, we didn’t even know what was happening. Only source of information was a radio and we could tell that the news reporters were in shock as they saw the damage from the helicopter. We heard a crying mom and a baby because she could not feed her baby. There was a small child who was left at his school and he had no idea if his parents would ever pick him up. An old man was just crying and asking “why, why???” The news said many towns on the coast were completely washed away by tsunami. We couldn’t even believe what we were hearing. Only thing we could do was to pray.
We started to have water again on Saturday which was a huge blessing. Since many people still didn’t have any, we delivered to those in need. We also waited in line for several hours at 3 different stores to get food. At this point, we should have enough for a week and we are sharing what we have with our neighbors who don’t have anything.
On Sunday, we headed to our church without knowing if the church building was okay and if anyone would show up. Thankfully, the church was okay and about 12 members showed up. Since we didn’t have power, we had a worship service outside of the church and had a special prayer time. We cried out to God for His strength and protection for those who were still waiting to be rescued and also for His comfort and peace for those who lost their loved ones.
It is Monday morning here and we still don’t have power at our house. We came to my dad’s house to charge our laptop and phones. We were so encouraged by all the messages and phone calls that we have received from you all. Because of limited internet access, we are not able to write you back individually. We sincerely apologize. But please know that we truly appreciate your prayers and support. Just knowing so many people are praying for us and Japanese people comforts us.
Damage in Sendai is minimal compared to the coastline. We have some cracks and water damage, but we are thankful to have a place to live. In our neighborhood, there are broken walls, windows, roofs, water pipes, and pavement and foundations are uneven. There are a few people who have minor injuries but they are okay.
Damage on the coastline is devastating. In a few seconds, all the houses were washed away. Many people didn’t have enough time to evacuate even though they had left their home right after the earthquake. We still don’t know how many lost their lives and how many are missing. As I write this, we still don’t know if my grandparents and aunts are safe. My grandparents live in a city by the ocean and both of my aunts were visiting them on Friday. Thankfully, they live on a hill but all the surrounding areas have been flooded. The city officials said the area my grandparents lived look okay from the sky, but they haven’t had a chance to send a helicopter to rescue people. We are praying for everyone’s safety in that town. Since the phones are not working, my cousins tried to go there to rescue them, but the roads were closed.
The power plants in another prefecture are having so many problems and some are exploding. It is scary. Government is telling everyone in that area to evacuate immediately.
We are thankful for God’s protection, but we are heartbroken for those who have lost their lives, loved ones, homes, and everything else they had. We are trying our best to help those in need. At this point, we are delivering food and water to people in Sendai. We are not allowed to go to the coastline right now but we hope to find out what they need the most so that we can buy and bring them to those people.
Many of you have asked how you can help. Words can’t express how thankful we are for your willingness to help Japan and Japanese people. Some of you have offered to send supplies, but we don’t know how long it will take for us to receive them. So we are asking for monetary donation so that we can buy what people need the most and deliver those items. You can go to “Our Story” page on our blog and learn how to give. We can promise you that your gift will be used to minister to those who are in need. Our prayer is that God will use us in mighty ways during this difficult time. Our hearts hurt so badly knowing many people died without hearing about Jesus. As we help others who are hopeless, we want them to know God’s love and hope.
Please continue to pray. We believe in the power of prayer and we know God will answer our prayers. We know God is in control and we will continue to trust in Him.
Categories: Aid for Japan.
