This family is part of the Nagoya church planting team. This is their most recent update from Nagoya. Praise God for the universal church!

From Peter…

Fuel is a big challenge right now. We can get the relief trucks to needed areas, but there is no fuel at the final destination . We need to bring fuel for others as well as carry the fuel we need to get back. Trucks are being stocked with supplies but fuel containers are in short supply. Recently a man dropped by our church unexpectedly to offer the assistance of his church. In the course of all the activity, he overheard conversation of our need for containers. Someone was praying as well. He returned the next day with his pastor and 12 fuel containers!! More are on the way. These two men are part of a Brazilian Church network. The pastor’s church alone has over 600 people. God is bringing together a phenomenal team of people and churches! Thank you for your prayers.

Fuel Tanks

This is an update from Theresa, Tom’s wife, who was part of the Nisshin Church (Nagoya) delivery of goods.

Thanks so much for your prayers. Tom just got back home safely a few minutes ago. The shipment was successfully made and they are all safe. Praise God.

After driving several hours yesterday, they slept on the ground in sleeping bags at a rest area in Ibaraki Prefecture and then traveled on. As they traveled they got a call from our MTW country director saying that they could not go beyond the 50 mile radius from the nuclear plant that the American government has set, according to our sending agency, Mission to the World. One option was to take the load to another place instead, but the Japanese pastor volunteered to drive on alone. So Tom and Wayne waited in a city just outside the 50-mile radius while the Japanese pastor made the delivery. Praise God for safe travels and for getting the supplies to the people desperately waiting there.

Our church is continuing to gather goods for more and more trips. Another truck will go out tomorrow night, this time most likely to one of the places in Sendvimai that was one of the hardest hit by the tsunami. It was very hard to find trucks, but the LORD has provided and we are gearing up for the upcoming trips. More and more people are bringing things to send. People are thrilled to be able to send things. God is using His Church as a ‘city on a hill’ in the community. A couple of camera men from a news station even were there all day yesterday as the truck was prepared to leave. We pray God will use all this for His glory here.

May God continue to bless and have mercy on the desperately hurting people here and strengthen His Church to show glory in beautiful and compassionate ways.

This is the latest update from Amy, our team leader’s wife. Please continue to pray!

They arrived safely back from their 29 hour journey, and are now preparing for the next trip.  Wayne, and two men from the church will be leaving Saturday evening to go right back to the same location in Iwaki, Fukushima. The needs are overwhelming, and while we have the trucks, we want to send as many out as we can.

This time we don’t have time to gather the supplies to completely fill a truck, and so with one little phone call this morning, I feel like I set off a tsunami of cooperation and partnership.  We will be supplying the truck, drivers, and destination.  Hope International will hold a drive to receive donations at the Nagoya Hilton all day tomorrow.  They are confident that with their extensive network they can easily fill our truck.  They have the connections that lead to supplies, we have the truck and the churches that need help–it’s a great picture of the body of Christ cooperating together.

That’s all for now…more profound thoughts will have to wait for another day.  Working at the church to coordinate everything was as tiring as driving such a long distance must have been…so all the Newsomes are signing off for now.  Thank you for your prayers, our dear friends.

Roger Lowther, a Chiba Team member, took many pictures while making a delivery in the region of Matsushima, near Sendai, Japan.  The pictures tell the story of immense devastation.

Roger also took video footage as they walked through an elementary school used as a shelter. Check his website for his latest post.

This is from MTW, our mission organization. Please pray for this team as they help with recovery/relief in the coming weeks!

At the request of our Japan leadership, an Advance Needs Assessment team will be leaving tomorrow morning for Japan, arriving Saturday afternoon, Japan time. Their work will be essential for our long-term response to this crisis. Please pray!

Please PRAY this evening (Thursday) for the safety of our teammates, Wayne, Pastor Mamoru Otake and Tom Wilson, delivering a truck filled with 2 tons of water, blankets, food, medicine, fuel and other supplies.

• PRAY for safety.
• PRAY for the people who receive the supplies in the name of Jesus Christ.
• PRAY for more ways the Nagoya team can help directly with the relief effort!

This is an excellent radio interview with Dan Iverson. I would definitely recommend listening to the broadcast.

This is the latest update from the Nagoya team…

These are the scenes from yesterday…hundreds of donations, both money and things, dozens of people working, a beautiful picture of the body of Christ in action. We have many concerns; we are hearing that people are beginning to evacuate, and we are working on housing for a large number of people right now. We have a church member whose brother is a doctor in Minamisanriku…one of the worst hit areas…and are talking about how we can facilitate getting supplies and possibly even some medical personnel to them.

Nagoya Nisshin Church Preparing Goods

Friends, please pray for us. I find myself bursting into tears at random moments; at times I forget what all of this activity is for, and just feel the exuberance of throwing myself into a task. It’s an emotional roller coaster, and every time I have that thought, my mind and heart go to those millions of people whose emotional roller coaster is a matter of life and death.

Goods at Nisshin Church, Nagoya

Wayne, Tom Wilson and Mamour Otake will leave at some point today on this trip. Their destination may change as they take in all the information coming in–they will make decisions every step along the way. Pray for wisdom for all of that…

We feel the comfort and sustaining grace of Jesus–your prayers are being heard. Thank you. – Amy Newsome

This was taken from our team leader’s blog. This is an update of how our team in currently involved in relief efforts.

Today we jumped in with both feet, knowing the pool had many uncertainties, many unknowns. As we have been watching on TV the unfolding of the empty shelves in the Tokyo area and long lines for daily basics, we realized that we must act while the Nagoya area is still receiving abundant supplies. So earlier today we were able to rent a 4-ton truck for three days, and have begun working with our Central Presbytery churches and friends to gather supplies to send to the quake area.

But as we’ve been fanning out across the area this evening, starting to shop for supplies, we are finding that the situation is changing so quickly…no water to be found, no instant food, very few canned goods…there is a sense of mounting fear. My new friend Ruthanne and I went to a large grocery store tonight, and managed to spend about $1000 on soy milk, canned corn, canned tuna and bottles of tea. We gathered quite a crowd as we worked with a store clerk to load up 400 cartons of soy milk. An elderly man asked me if we were taking it up North. I said yes, not us personally, but our friends. He was surprised, and asked, “Can you get through?” I answered , “Yes, we’ve found a way.” “Oh, that’s wonderful…thank you.”

It remains to be seen if we can gather enough tomorrow to fill the 4-ton truck. A friend called tonight after he heard we’d rented a 4-ton, concerned because the brake system on that size truck is different than a smaller truck, and difficult to drive. We haven’t found a single fuel can, something we must have filled with at least enough fuel to get there and back. There are many unknowns…and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But the choice seems clear: give in to the fear of the unknown and do nothing, or trust God and move forward as well as we can.
Ruthanne encouraged me and my small group this morning with this passage: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. This is our hope, this is what compels us! We have the comfort of a God who is near to us in all our troubles. And we can in turn offer the same comfort we have received to those who suffer. Our suffering is nothing in comparison to those in the Tohoku area…and so we move forward with faith that the God of comfort with be our companion each step of the way.

Please pray with us for a successful delivery of these supplies to the people of Fukushima, particularly those in Iwaki. We will be stopping in Chiba to join our coworkers there, and travel together with possibly two truckloads. Pray for Wayne and Pastor Otake to have the strength and stamina for this long journey. And as they go, the rest of the team will be continuing to coordinate more items, preparing for the next trip to come as God continues to open the doors.

We have bought our tickets for March 29, 2011. Praise God for his provision! Currently we are set to go on the 29th.

We have not heard back about our long term visas. Although these are not necessary to still go on time they would help reduce a lot of hassle in three months when our tourist visa expires. Please pray this week the visas would come in!

Thank you all for your prayers and faithfulness to our ministry while intinerating. As you can imagine we are VERY excited, yet nervous to begin our work in Japan. Continue to pray as we round out all of our business in the United States over the coming weeks.