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.