Today we started the day with a walk to the Post Office to withdraw yen from our bank account. The Post Office has the best ATM’s because they don’t charge a service fee. We then met up with our team leader to get insurance/registration for the car we purchased in December. Unfortunately our car had been parked for so long it needed a new battery. (If you remember we purchased our 2004 VW Passat for $350! Awesome deal!) The battery for the car cost $450! Just one example of how things are differently priced compared to America.

Please pray for the remaining transition needs we have left. We are still waiting on our visa and once we can transition visas we will buy cell phones, open bank accounts, etc.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

First Purchase for Cathalain in Japan

We are officially in Nagoya! We arrived around 6pm and were met by our team member Peter. After a lot of interesting packing we were able to load Peter’s van and all cram in. Tight squeeze! We were exhausted and all went immediately to bed once arriving at our temporary apartment. We should be staying there for only a few days before transferring to Okasaki for language school.

Immediate Pray Requests

• Tobin’s Health: He is running a slight fever.  We think it is more then likely from only sleeping 3 hours in the last 24 hours.  Please pray we don’t have to go to the doctor and he feels better once on a schedule.
• Transitioning: We were able to get our car title transferred and insurance for the vehicle.  We still need to get our visa (waiting on paperwork) and then once we have our long-term visa buy cell phones, open a bank account, etc.
• The Relief Work:  Everything here is in transition with team members taking turns for days at a time going up north with delivery trucks and helping to build temporary shelters.  We will be helping tomorrow with loading trucks for the next trip.  Please pray as many meaningful conversations occur and pray the Holy Spirit would pierce the hearts of the Japanese people!

Taking off From Dulles with All Our Stuff

Landing in Nagoya: Only 1/2 our stuff in this Picture!

This past week has been quite the whirlwind, but we have loved being able to meet with so many of our Virginia friends and family. We had a sweet time worshipping Sunday at Grace and a special commissioning time. We are so grateful for the ministry Grace has had in both our lives!

Commissioning at Grace

Today we left Lexington to drive to DC. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. We leave tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon from Dulles. We will arrive at 6pm Japan time in Nagoya (after a layover in Tokyo) which is 5am EST. Please pray for safe travel and especially pray for Tobin on his trip!

Car Packed Tight...Barely Fit All our Stuff

Family Time

We are SO excited to be joining our team and bringing the Gospel to the Japanese people! Thank you for uplifting us in your prayers and your encouragement.

This video is taken by Danny Iverson and his team. Danny flew from Florida to Japan to help his dad’s church with immediate relief in Japan.

I want to share one story that really moved me. Because there is no water, electricity or gas still in some places, no one has had the chance to take a bath. Rev. Mori (Global Mission Chapel) had a great idea of how to minister to one of the shelters filled with the elderly and disabled, some of whom had been discharged from the hospital with no where to go. He secured a truck full of fire wood and so our team built fires and heated up water right outside the school. Although we couldn’t give them baths, we were able to do offer hot water foot baths for those who wanted them. They lined up and we washed their feet as many of them cried, shared their stories from the earthquake and tsunami and just received the love of Christ through his servants. It was quite the team effort and amazing to see everyone doing their part to serve the elderly in the shelter.

One older lady was so moved that we had come all the way from America that she couldn’t stop thanking us. She even went outside to find the rest of our team who were chopping the wood for the fires. I can’t think of a better way to show the love of Jesus than what I witnessed in that school. I watched as Rev. Mori sat on his knees and washed and soaked the feet of the people coming to his station. His heart was overflowing with the joy of Jesus as he laughed, cried and loved the people he was serving. It made me weep as well as I washed Hitomi’s feet and listened to her story of how she lost her home and her entire life in a matter of minutes. I showed her pictures of my family which brought her lots of joy and made her laugh. I told her about how much Jesus loved her and how even in this hardship he was with her and would bring her through… I hope and pray she visits Rev. Mori’s church and hears more of the good news found in Jesus, the one who has served her more than I ever could, the one who came from further than the USA to help her, the one who has not only offered to wash her feet, but to wash her soul completely and give her a home that can never be taken away by an earthquake, tsunami or anything this broken world might send her way… May the Japanese people know this Savior…

This was taken from our team leader’s blog.

We are so new at this, we have know idea what we are doing–and yet there’s a very real sense of God’s great guiding hand leading us despite the path being so unknown. The reports are all saying that while the need for supplies continues, especially in some places, there is an increasing need for personal ministry to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. So yesterday as we sent off our fifth truck of supplies–this one headed for Ishinomaki, one of the towns swept away by the tsunami–we began planning our sixth, with a shift in focus. We’ve had a great partnership with Hope International–between our supplies and theirs, we have delivered over 10 tons to the region. And now, God has lifted up a new truck source, via our friend Mark Magnusson, a missionary who has a church network and kindergarten (where all five of our kids went!). Mark is jumping in to partner with us. So this Monday we will send two trucks of supplies and one van of people, going to partner with two churches in Iwate Prefecture, one of which is right in the tsunami-stricken area. We’ve decided to send some women on this trip, as the personal ministry side is becoming more important. I will get to be a part of this team, though quite honestly, not without some fear and trepidation. I’m very aware of my lack of true understanding of the horrors and loss these dear people have experienced. Are there any words, any at all, that can touch the depth of their pain?

This too, just as the logistics have been, will be an area where I believe God will do a great work. There are no human words that can reach into the hearts of people to save and comfort them. But God’s word is rich, and empowered by his Spirit, I believe it can be effective. I believe, oh Lord, help my unbelief!

Thank you for praying for each of the 8-10 people who will be on this trip. And for those left here in Nagoya, doing the preparatory work for the next trip, scheduled for this coming Friday.

Travel Dates and Visas
We are scheduled to leave for Nagoya, Japan on Tuesday March 29. Our first week will be spent setting up cell phones, insurance, bank accounts, etc. We heard back about our visas early this week from the Japanese office and they needed additional paperwork. Due to the delay, we will travel to Japan on tourist visas but by the time we arrive we should have the documentation we need to receive our long-term visas. This means we will receive our visas in Japan instead of in the U.S. Please pray the paperwork does indeed go through by the time we get there.

Job Responsibilities
We were told from fellow missionaries the only stability in missions in change. We have found this to already be true! Our team still desires for us to start language school. How and where this happens is unknown. There is talk we might change plans and to better help with relief we will attend language school in Tokyo and might even be dorm parents for students at the Christian Academy of Japan (CAJ). This is one of many options the teams have suggested and ultimately we will not know the plan until we arrive. Please pray God would give wisdom to the team leaders in Japan to know how to use us most effectively in the midst of the relief/recovery phase in Japan. Please also pray our hearts to remain flexible as we make many adjustments in our lives!

Lexington Folks
We will be having an open house this Friday from 7-9pm at Paul and Julie Carter’s house. (E-mail for address!) If able please feel free to stop in for some treats and have the opportunity to say goodbye.

Goodbyes and Thanksgiving
We are sad to be saying so many goodbyes but excited to be leaving for the field and continuing in God’s call on our lives. We could never have made it through the itineration phase without your prayers, financial support, encouragement and love. We are so thankful for your partnership and friendship. Thank you for the sacrifices you make on a daily basis to reach the Japanese people for Christ. Please keep us updated on how we can be praying for you specifically! Even if we can’t respond right away know you are in our prayers.

Our team leader posted excellent pictures from their last trip. Please click on the link to their website and scroll below their family picture.

This is the latest update from our team leader’s blog!

Our third truck is on it’s way home from Miyagi Prefecture, one of the most devastated areas of the disaster. We’ve only heard bits and pieces from them, but one bit is too good to not to share. (The situation up there is much more chaotic than down in Fukushima–it’s hard to tell if that is because they are getting more supplies, and it’s hard to get them delivered to the needy areas, or because they are getting less and it’s a more desperate situation. Nonetheless, Peter, Pastor Esaki and Pastor Kato spent a good bit of time trying to find the right place to take their supplies.)

At one point they ended up at the base camp of Food for the Hungry, Samaritan’s Purse, and other aid groups. They have a good operation where they are taking supplies out from there to the needy areas. Peter said he was just starting to look around for where to start unloading when he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked across the warehouse, and who was it but Mr. Hasegawa. Yes, Mr. Hasegawa I wrote about in the last post, the stranger who appeared in our lives just the other day with 15 much needed poly tanks! Somehow he had made his way 12+ hours north, and when Peter saw him, he was directing and organizing much of the activity at this warehouse. Peter called out, “Hasegawa san!!” and he looked up, and replied, “Pe-ta san!!!” They began working together to get our supplies to the right places. Peter said Mr. Hasegawa had his angel wings tucked under his coat so nobody would see them, but we at Nisshin Church know he must be an angel sent by God.

As I’ve been writing, I have gotten a few phone calls. Our friends the Cummings have been on an intelligence gathering mission for two days up north of Sendai. They have settle on Ishinomaki City as the place to focus their efforts for now. They were able to meet with town and evacuation center officials, and this is a place in desperate need of aid. Our fourth truck is up there now, and have now set out from the Cummings home to head for an elementary school in Ishinomaki City. The military has reported that there are 70 refugees in that school, when in fact there are 500 people there. So there is a great need for food, water, and other supplies, which our two ton truck is full of. So Mr. Watanabe, Mr. Kato and Mr. To are on their way now, bringing great help and hope to those 500 people.

I just want to say again that we are grateful for the prayers of God’s people on behalf of Japan. He is answering in ways too numerous for any of us to know–but the heartbreak and emotional and spiritual need in Eastern Japan is overwhelming. The stage for just hauling aid is coming to an end soon, by all reports. The next phase will be where people are needed to be there, to love and serve the victims, and help them begin rebuilding their lives. One of our biggest goals now needs to be getting ourselves established to be able to do that. Keep praying for us to be used as God calls in the midst of this tragedy.

This is the most recent post from our team leader’s blog…

Everyone can see the miracle stories…like the amazing rescue seen here or the heart breaking pieces like this video.

But all of us working on the relief effort are experiencing our own little miracles each day. The other day I was having a conversation with someone, trying to figure out where we could find more poly tanks–18 liter tanks used for carrying kerosene for heat or diesel fuel for delivering supplies. Someone overhearing our conversation stopped to pray, asking God to provide the poly tanks we needed. Not five minutes later, the phone rang, and a total stranger, Mr. Hasegawa, was on the line to say that he was in Toyota at a home center, he had found 10 poly tanks, and could we use them? The next day he delivered those, and that night brought us five more that he had spent the day tracking down. More poly tanks poured in over the next couple of days, and today, two young men–brothers of a girl in our church–came by and took those tanks and filled them up as their donation. God answered that prayer in a way we never expected or could have imagined!

Late last night Wayne crawled into bed next to me, just home from his second trip to Iwaki, Fukushima. He was freezing cold–it took a long while for him to thaw out. He said they kept the cab of the truck really cold to help the driver stay awake. He and our precious brothers in Christ Moto Kannari and Hideyuki Goto bonded in a new way through this experience. In Iwaki we are partnering with Pastor Akira Mori, and the Taira Gospel Christ Church. I talked to Mr. Goto at one point while they were in Iwaki, and I could hear the quiver of emotion in his voice–they were along the coast, and were seeing scenes with their own eyes that up until now they had only seen on t.v. They visited a nursing home, where they gave food and diapers for the 100 residents who were living there. They gave 100 diapers, 100 bananas and 100 oranges. Those were the first fruits the residents had received since the earthquake. The director was overcome with thankfulness…no support from the government yet, only what Pastor Mori and the church had been able to bring to them.

Today was a national holiday, and the church was a beehive of activity–people bringing donations, others sorting them, packing a truck, answering the constant phone calls, writing letters and other paperwork, handling money, etc. One couple in the church went to a friends farm and picked a whole field of spinach–and then had some of the children work with them to trim, wash and package it for sending tomorrow. Others were out shopping for goods–we are finding that people are able to work through their anxiety and their stress from the ongoing crisis in Japan by getting involved . Countless people called after seeing our church website with an announcement of our relief work–months ago a seeker in the church had gotten the website started, and now God is using it as a tool to bring relief to northern Japan. We are amazed at the way all these things are coming together–once again, beyond anything we could imagine or expect.

Tonight we took our three drivers–teammate Peter and two Japanese pastors–down to the Hilton Hotel, where our partner Hope Int’l was conducting a drive to finish filling our truck with supplies. They are setting off for Sendai, further north than the two trips thus far, but the access point for some of the worst hit areas. We have contact with Food for the Hungry there, as well as our dear friends OPC missionaries the Cummings. The drivers will be in contact with them as they travel along, assessing the situation and deciding where their supplies will be best used. After all the ways we’ve seen God bring things together, we are confident that each thing in the shipment will be used and they will find the right place to distribute them.

Tomorrow we hope to put the children of the church to work making rice balls to take on the load that leaves tomorrow night. This will be our first trip without a missionary along–once again, we’ll partner with many to fill the truck, and send these drivers to Sendai.

We are just overwhelmed with thankfulness at God’s sustaining hand on us. We know that millions of people around the world praying for Japan, and we’re confident God is hearing those prayers. We’ve seen his work so many times now, that I’m not really even worried about the many worries we have–I have a great sense of peace that God is doing something here, and he is providing for every little thing. Every morning I am waking up with more energy than I have had in months. By the end of each day I am very tired, but sleep well and am ready to go for another day. Once again, God is hearing your prayers.

As I write this, I am watching the news. We are constantly aware of the long term recovery that is needed. More than the physical needs, are the heartbreaking emotional traumas that so many thousands of people have experienced. Oh, we pray for a great work of God’s mercy and healing hand to be on these precious people. Join us, please, in loving the Japanese and proclaiming the Gospel to them for the long haul.

This video was put together by our sending agency, Mission to the World in response to the relief efforts. To donate check MTW’s website out!