"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4
This verse was PERFECT during my morning quiet time with Jesus. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the "quake and tsunami". My heart is full of prayers for Tohoku, this area of the world God placed us in 2009. May they find the only true comfort and peace from the God of all comfort. May God send those with His message of hope and good news. May He strengthen those who faithfully bring His heart to Japan. May God use us in our last few months in Japan.
Yesterday, Michael and I drove out to our beach. The rebuilding continues. Two years ago I was driving to Tokyo for a PWOC retreat with Erika and Susane. I cannot help but remember the calls to the kids, the silence after the quake, wondering what they were experiencing, the eight day wait as we tried to make our way back to Misawa, the aftershocks, the melt downs, the rumors, the mission trips to pig farms and beaches, the shopping, assembling and delivering of relief kits, the silence of a base suddenly "voluntarily evacuated," the devastation, the deaths, the power outages, the exhaustion and cold, the incredible outpouring of support from around the world, the walls between churches and communities beginning to crumble..I remember...I pray...I cry just a bit more....
Many who experienced this day have moved to new assignments. My guess is most of the rest of us who lived it will be pcsing within the year. Yet those who lived this time together have an unbreakable connection....it was a bad time...it was a good time...we grew closer to each other, closer to our host nation, and closer to Him.
I hit the "tsunami" label button in the side bar and read our posts from those weeks. It seems surreal from this vantage point...but I want to remember. God reopened some doors in our lives and ministry during that time of shaking and flooding. In the shaking; He pruned. Rather than try to share more memories, I'll simply direct you to the labels in the sidebar. I'll continue to remember...friends, quakes, tsunamis, working together....remembering...and praying.
This is a good
online article which allows you to see then and now photos of the damage. Click on a photo and it will fade to the current shot.
1) Moving from Emergency Relief to Ongoing Recovery ~ we have been in crisis mode for two years and many are worn out. We need to keep going, but at a more sustainable pace.
2) Local Church Networks ~ pray for the Iwate 3.11 Network, Iwate Ministry Initiative and the Fukushima Christian Conference who have taken over our volunteer bases in those prefectures.
3) New Believers and Church Plants ~ pray for the new works that the Lord is doing in hearts and communities. There is a lot of openness to the gospel and Christians.
4) Miyagi CRASH ~ We are continuing the work in Miyagi for another year, serving communities through the local churches. Pray for volunteers to keep coming.
5) Pray for Christian leadership development throughout Japan to be ready for the next disaster. We are working with the Salvation Army to train a corps of disaster chaplains and create a network of local CRASH chapters.
Choosing Joy!
©2013 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...
