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!
Here is an update on our recent trip to the disaster area. We went as a family and spent quality time with our friends in the temporary housings.
We took water bottles for adults and goodies for children. We bought these gifts with the money that was donated for the Christmas Catalog that was made by our sending organization GCPN. People donated for specific items that were listed by the missionaries in Africa and Japan. We were blessed by many generous donors who purchased things for the Japanese people in the disaster areas.
This is a photo of Michael giving water bottles to each of the temporary housing units. Visiting individual temporary housing units gives us a chance to meet the residents and to have conversations with them. Many times, they invite us into their home! They have a lot to share (many of them are lonely) and we spend lots of time listening to their stories.
Michael giving a box of water bottles to Miyuki. We have become great friends and we always visit her when we go to this area. This photo was taken in front of the house that is used as a dorm for the fishermen that work for her husband. They own a fishing company and lost all ships except for one. They ordered new ships right after the tsunami, but they haven’t received any. They live in the temporary housing right now and would like to build a new house. However, the town officials have told them that they would not be able to rebuild on the previous site. Now they have to wait until the government finds land on higher ground. Please pray that this process will go quickly so that people can start rebuilding their new homes.
This is a photo of a little boy whose mother left the family after the disaster. They still don’t know where she is. He was happy and smiling as usual, but we know he misses his mom. Please continue to pray for him and his grandparents who take care of him.
Many of you have been praying for this sweet girl, Miyabi. She lost her father and grandfather in the tsunami, and she recently lost another grandfather from cancer. Needless to say, she has gone through more than we can imagine. You may not know that she is hurting because she has the cutest smile and is so talkative, but when we visited her this time, I found her looking at Michael as he was holding Luke, and she looked sad. We know she misses her dad so much and wants him back. Her tender heart is still hurt from her loss. There may not be much that we can do for her, but we will continue to pray for God’s comfort and we commit ourselves to do what we can to love on her and her mother. We invited her and her mom to stay with us for a few days to spend some time with us, and they said YES! We can’t wait! Please pray for Miyabi and also for her mom, Emi. I gave her one of my favorite books by Ayako Miura (Japanese Christian author) and she loved the book. She is learning more about Him!
You may have heard or seen on the news that Japan has done a great job cleaning and rebuilding in the disaster areas, and that’s true in some ways. However, if you drive around, you see these…
There is a LONG way to go. That’s why we still need your prayer and support! Thank you for remembering Japan and its people.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Japanese people. After we shared our last update, we heard from some of our friends who read this blog and were encouraged to know that our blog updates help them to know how to pray for Japan. Sorry we can’t update as much as we want to (we have been busy sharing our stories at different churches and companies. Praise God for these opportunities!), but we hope our blog will help you understand how great our God is and how much Japanese people need Him!
Praises:
-We are still talking with the leaders of our sending church and organization to decide when to go back to Japan. They have spent lots of time researching the situations in Japan and they approved us to go back! This is an answer to our prayers! Please continue to pray for God’s guidance and wisdom as we decide when and where to return.
-Our missionary friends and one of our friends from DBU (he came all the way from Osaka!) went to Oshika Peninsula to visit temporary shelters. They delivered food and clothes, and people were so thankful. They also handed out the Bible tracts. Please pray they will take time to read them and feel God’s love for them.
(Our friend, Yuta, sorting items to be delivered.)
-We were encouraged to read an article about our Christian friend, Mr. Yamaki (http://www.baptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=35105). We are thankful for believers like him who are working hard every day to share hope with the hopeless. Yu’s dad told him that so many people from all over the world are praying for him, and he was so grateful. Please keep remembering him and his team in your prayers.
-Our church members, Mrs. Kimura (her husband is in Japanese army) and Mrs. Yonezawa (her in-laws died in tsunami), are doing better. They told Yu’s dad that coming to church on Sundays gives them peace and strength. Praise God for His comfort.
(The lady on the left is Mrs. Kimura and the one on the right is Mrs. Yonezawa.)
-Thanks to your prayers and donations, we were able to get MORE rain jackets for kids in Japan. Our friend, April (she graciously offered to let us stay with her), gave us 50 of them as well! Yu’s dad is taking them to Japan and giving them to kids in Sendai and Fukushima. Thank you for helping them to feel safe and protected.
-Yu’s dad visited us for a week. We had a great time together and Luke was happy to see his grandpa! Since he has been helping with disaster relief effort ever since the earthquake hit Sendai, he was asked to share his experiences at the Christian radio station in Seoul and the church in Suwon. God truly blessed his time in South Korea.
(Photo with Dr. Billy Kim, who is a wonderful pastor and founder of Far East Broadcasting Company.)
(Proud grandpa!)
Prayers:
-Some people are staying in a crematorium shelter, but they have been told that they would have to leave by the end of this month. Please pray that they can find a place to live.
(This picture was taken by our missionary friend. They visited this place and gave them food and clothes. They also spent time with them as these people shared their stories.)
-Sendai city government is trying to build many temporary houses for those who lost homes. Please pray for a speedy process.
(Temporary housing in Sendai where we will be visiting when we go back.)
Thanks again for keeping up with us! Please write us at michaelandyu@gmail.com and let us know how you are doing and how we can be praying for you all! We also love hearing from those we have never met. We are looking forward to getting to know you! Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.
