Japanese Christians

The need of the gospel in Japan is tremendous. Only one percent of the 127,960,000 Japanese living in Japan are Christian. Disasters can be used by the Lord to open the hearts of people to the gospel.

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami occurred off the northeast coast of the Touhoku (NE) region of Japan. One brother’s description: “What impacted me the most was the household objects we recognized now juxtaposed onto a disaster scene.  A blue leash, an unopened coke can, a bottle of mayonnaise, a bent trombone all lay among the muddy bricks and car parts strewn along the landscape. This debris used to belong to these people. They had no time to pack, they left everything. What was one day a neighborhood was the next a junkyard” (M.I.). This disaster has opened a door for the white horse to run.

Read the rest of this entry »

(The following is a comprehensive recap of the volunteer cycle 7:  Editor)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Friends and Family:

Below is a day by day report recapping our experience in Japan. Our service included earthquake relief efforts and the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A friend’s experience in Japan who rescued children from being swept away by the waters of the tsunami on March 11 became a vision to me—that God in Christ desires to save this generation from the tide of this age (which includes the love of money, self, and pleasure above the love of God as the hearts of many grow cold) that sweeps people into the path of destruction and results in death. Christ is such a strong, saving arm, and we desire to cooperate with the operation of that saving arm to save all of mankind (in accord with God’s heart) to bring them onto the path of LIFE, and deliver them from such a terrible fate. We have been saved out such a tide by this saving arm as a result for someone who prayed for us and/or preached the gospel to us, so why wouldn’t we dedicate our lives to contribute to such a worthy cause for others? In the midst of tragedy as we wept with those who weep in Japan, there was a joy that supplied us with much hope for a glorious future. This was no doubt, one of the top highlights of my christian life and experience.

Read the rest of this entry »

Praise the Lord for His gospel work in Sendai!  The Lord truly gained the glory in Sendai this past week.  Since every night was a potential gospel meeting we were constantly inviting contacts to dinner.  Throughout the week we had a total of 15 gospel friends join us for dinner.  Most of which were new, but we had at least 3 who had attended in the past.  In our preaching of the gospel more than 70 people called on the name of the Lord, hallelujah for these precious vessels!  We were also invited into at least 3 homes, one of which had been visited many times in the past.  A small group of us were even filmed singing at the park and broadcast on TV on Sendai News.

Another aspect of this trip was the volunteer work.  We were not allowed to preach the gospel at the volunteer center or while on site at the disaster area.  Despite this the Lord was truly manifested through our service.  While we could not speak the gospel, we could express His humanity through our actions.  Many fellow volunteers, home owners and volunteer center staff were touched in a real way.  Some were even brought to tears that we travelled so far to serve them.  They happily gave us their business cards urging us to contact them and to keep in touch.  One day we were even featured on the volunteer center blog capturing us during our work.  The last day we volunteered we gave a tract to the home owner without speaking a word of the gospel.  Later that evening he called the phone number and spoke to a local brother.  He wanted to express his gratitude and was nearly brought to tears for what we had done that day.  He said he thought this work would take 2 days, but we finished in one day.  He was so touched that we came so far just to dig mud out of the street gutters.  May the Lord gain this one!

Praise the Lord for the local saints in Sendai!  Their service was so precious.  I woke up several mornings to our dear brother M. cooking breakfast bright and early.  Many times we had to pull the saints away from the dishes and cleanup to fulfill our own service burden.  Not only were they burdened for the practical services, but they truly had a heart for the new ones attending the meetings.  One evening a local brother spoke about the earthquake bringing some gospel friends to tears before they happily received the Lord.  I was really touched when a local brother expressed his joy over making a new friend on the gospel.  He was so happy that I could sense the Lord’s heart being manifested in him.  Brother S. was very sick this past week, but he still persisted to drive us to the volunteer center even under severe pain.  Instead of recovering while we worked, he joined in the volunteer work anyway.  We also got to hear a wonderful testimony of a local sister where she shared her personal prayer burdens with us.  Praise the Lord for His Body!!

Brother S.

The morning started out with the team that was going to volunteer heading out. On the way, brother M. and A. contacted a young man who was sitting in the laundry mat downstairs. They spoke to him for some time and found that his name was T. Rather than preaching the gospel to him outright, the brothers invited him to dinner that night. He was interested and gave brother M. his phone number and contact information.

We then drove out to the Watari Red Cross Volunteer Center. Along the way, however, one of our drivers, Brother S. became ill and was unable to continue driving. One of the brothers took over and drove the rest of the way. Once we were at the center we registered and got our gear before waiting to see where we would be assigned to. Our group was with four other Japanese people. Upon reaching the site we found that it was a cow farm. The owners needed to have all the sand and dirt that had come into their kitchen dug out so the sisters worked on that with the other female volunteers.

The brothers went with the owner and the other men to the backside of where the cows were and started shoveling out an area that was filled with old straw and garbage. After the sisters had finished they came and worked with us. Because of the large number that was on the team, we finished in a little over an hour and a half. After this we went to have lunch. The family was very gracious to us, making us come up into the house and eat there. They also brought out all kinds of food and desserts which they gave to us.

After this we went back to the volunteer center. The people there informed us that there were not any more duties for the day and we were free to go. Brother S. had been resting in the volunteer center while we went out. Before we left, we took a picture with the volunteer center’s workers.

After returning, a group of the team went out to look for a Daiso shop and also do some shopping. After finding the Daiso, they then went to the Loft in order to purchase a few more things. Upon returning, they prepared for dinner.

At dinner tonight there were three new students who had been contacted by Sister P. and L. in the cafeteria at Tohoku University. All three were graduate students studying to be CPAs. These ones names were Y., M. and K. After eating, and having introductions, the volunteer team shared on their experiences from the day and a bit of the gospel concerning the love of God for all mankind becoming their love for the Japanese people. After this all three called on the name of the Lord. May the Lord continue to draw these ones and bring them fully into the church in Sendai.