Japan Team Two

Friday, July 6, 2012

good works in Japan

So I don't know if we have really talked about Global Mission Center and explained what life is like here. For those of you who are curious, allow me to give you the run down. And if you would like to do some research on your own, here is their website: http://www.globalmissioncenter.com/
Our days begin with breakfast and a morning meeting at 8:30AM. (For us girls, this was a much later wake up call than at Jiyu Gakuen. Ironically it's almost more difficult here.) To begin every meeting, someone will lead us in a worship time and prayer. Steven happens to be volunteered/asked to do it quite often. What a lucky guy. Then all the volunteer opportunities for the day are announced and people raised their hands for what they would like to do. GMC is a plays a part in several different ministries on top of running their church that meets in the newly rennovated sanctuary downstairs as well as a Christian bookstore. Thus, there are a number of things that we can participate in. They send people to various temporary housing (kasetsu) to do individual visits, tai chi lessons, and join in with arts & crafts. We were told that there are a lot of people living in kasetsu here in Iwaki, especially those who had to evacuate from Fukushima and the nuclear power plant. Apparently a lot of people from Iwaki left the city but a lot of people outside of Iwaki were relocated here.

Kasetsu

Apart from the kasetsu, sometimes there is physical labor things to do. This past week a group has gone to Usuiso Beach every day to clean it up--that means all the wood, kelp, and rubbish. That area of Usuiso was clearly devastated by the tsunami, but plans to rebuild the city are in the making and something that is on GMC's prayer list. There has also been consistent work in the mountains 2 hours away this past week (Urabandai, I think), which involved moving the debris of several cabins. Probably the most intense physical labor that we`ve seen in our time here (Not that I got to participate. But you can ask Steven and Cynthia).

Can you tell which area was cleaned???

Then every Tuesday and Friday is Delivery Church at Iwaki Station. This, as explained by the first Westmont team, is like street evangelism at the nearby train station. They play music for the people passing by (at that time of the day there are a lot of students getting back from school) as well as have people talk to those who curiously stop to listen. Right now they are passing out flyers for Love Revolution Revive Iwaki 2, which is like a Christian conference featuring popular Japanese Christian musicians. Anyways, so the volunteers are welcome to participate in Delivery Church too, whether that means playing music, passing out flyers, or just praying. Below is a video of Eliya enthusiastically sharing his testimony with illustrations that he made.

One consistent volunteer opportunity throughout the week is cleaning the center and cooking dinner for everyone. So far our team has cooked twice and both times turned out to be a success according to the reviews. Phew.

Our spaghetti dinner with salmon tempura, garlic toast, and salad.

After dinner we have a mandatory evening meeting that begins with worship and prayer. Then we have a time of sharing about the day. These evening meetings have been really cool to hear each others' experiences and hear about what God is revealing to different people. Then the rest of the night is our time. We usually hang out, go on dessert runs to the Mini Mart across the street, or do English/Japanese lessons until sleep time. Or some of us just go to sleep after a long day.

All this to say that GMC is working hard for the Lord here in Iwaki. Keep praying for Japan! Greater things have yet to come :)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Song of Salvation for Japan

Isaiah 26

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Japan:

"We have a strong city;

We have a strong city; God makes salvation

    its walls and ramparts.
²Open the gates
    that the righteous nation may enter,
    the nation that keeps faith.
³You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you.
⁴Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
⁵He humbles those who dwell on high,
    he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground
    and casts it down to the dust.
⁶Feet trample it down—
    the feet of the oppressed,
    the footsteps of the poor.

⁷The path of the righteous is level;
    you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
⁸Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,^[a]
    we wait for you;
your name and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.
⁹My soul yearns for you in the night;
    in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
    the people of the world learn righteousness.
¹⁰But when grace is shown to the wicked,
    they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
    and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.
¹¹Lord, your hand is lifted high,
    but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
    let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.

¹²Lord, you establish peace for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
¹³Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name alone do we honor.
¹⁴They are now dead, they live no more;
    their spirits do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;
    you wiped out all memory of them.
¹⁵You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
    you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself;
    you have extended all the borders of the land.

¹⁶Lord, they came to you in their distress;
    when you disciplined them,
    they could barely whisper a prayer.^[b]
¹⁷As a pregnant woman about to give birth
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
¹⁸We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.

¹⁹But your dead will live, Lord;
    their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust
    wake up and shout for joy—
your dew is like the dew of the morning;
    the earth will give birth to her dead.

Bold edited by Steven

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Fasting for Iwaki

Hello!

We are halfway through the week and I'm excited to share with you the plans that have been going on here in Japan. For the next three days we will be involved in something called a prayer chain from 12pm to 6pm each day, where we will be taking turns and praying for the city of Iwaki. I pray that is a time we are blessed and filled with the spirit and God's wonder.

God has been speaking great things to us and it has been amazing to see different people hear the same things from God. Several people have brought up that God wants us to fast and pray for the city of Iwaki. So during these next three days of fast and prayer I invite you to join in prayer for us during this time and for the great city of Iwaki. Pray that we have strength to do activities we have committed to and pray for an open heart, one that is longing to hear the voice of God and is open to what God has to say.

The prayer chain is taking place here at the Global Missions Center in a little prayer hut that has been set up in sections.

*First section is coming to the table where you can take communion

*Second section is praying about family and the next generations

We just want to lift up the people of Japan and all the families that were lost by the devastating tsunami and earthquake, pray for hope and peace in the families that have lost loved ones and their homes. We also are praying that Japan becomes part of the family of God, that God's love is present in the lives of the Japanese people

*Third section is praying for Usuiso (which is one of the seasides that was hit by the Tsunami)

I have had the opportunity to visit Usuiso a few times and I have been so humbled by the devastation. At the sea side we cleared the kelp and trash that was left from the disaster, it has been so heartbreaking to see all the homes lost and I continue to pray for the rebuilding of this city and for the foundation to be built on God.

*Prayer for the temporary housing

Many of the people who were displaced by the tsunami and earthquake are now living in temporary housing. I have been so humbled by the people in the temporary housing. Today I went back to a temporary housing that I was at last week. At this specific one we did something called a mobile cafe, where we set up ice coffee and drinks and talked to the people living there. Many of the people who evacuated at this particular temporary housing site are older and have pain in parts of their body so they are unable to walk around, so we bring coffee to them and sing them songs and check to see how they have been doing.

*Lastly we are praying for the dreams and visions that God has been showing us and the many things to come in the future for Japan

Please join our team in prayer as we begin to fast for Iwaki. I know that great things are going to happen here in Iwaki, and fasting and prayer is our first step to bring change here in this city, and a song that reminds us of this is:

God of this City by Chris Tomlin

You're the God of this City

You're the King of these People

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

You're the light in this darkness

You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless

You are

There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this City

Greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done here

God had such great plans, plans that we can't even imagine, and it is very exciting to be a part of his wonderful plan through blessing the people of Iwaki.

Tidbits

So, Here are just a few fun facts, tidbits, and videos from our trip so far! They are from both Jiyu Gakuen school in Tokyo and Iwaki:

# of Languages being spoken at GMC (Global Missions Center): 6 (Japanese, English, Romanian, Korean, Spanish, Russian)

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest):

How cute the cars, packaging, grocery stores, and houses are here: 7-8

How much I am tempted to cut my hair and get bangs while here: 10

How adorable the children are: 1,000,000

How ready I am to come home: 1

We sang the "Be a Man" song from Mulan, and Enoch drew inspiration from it (This is in Iwaki, clearing the path for the water reservoir)

We decided to have lunch in town, 15 minutes from the Global Missions Center, as well as have a team meeting. At the end, right in the middle of our closing prayer, we heard trumpets sounding! Next thing we knew, a parade with tons of people dressed up in random costumes was marching through the open area in which we were seated. (Awkward timing rating: 9.5)

Steven's phone for Japan. We love the pink bow. (It's really Barbara's daughter's, Megumi, who let him borrow it for the duration of the trip. Cuteness rating: 9)

1000 paper cranes in the temporary housing area

We thought we were going grocery shopping only, but in the confusion between 2 languages, it was decided that we would take a trip to the public baths! Only, we weren't aware of it. We were a bit surprised when we pulled up to it (surprise rating:10, giggle rating: 10)! A very different cultural experience, to be sure, but fun just the same :)

One of the top Christian Japanese singers graced GMC with her presence. Here's a video of the impromptu performance she gave us (with help from the more musical team members)

One of the days we spent with a woman named Maria and her son, Daichi (Both working together and seeing different parts of Iwaki). They were praising God for sparing them. They had planned to go to one of the towns that ended up being hit by the tsunami very badly, but due to oversleeping, were just leaving their house (They lived an hour away from the coastal town) when the earthquake hit. They did, however, lose people they loved in the town. (% of people the town lost in the tsunami: 50%)

We are having a great time getting to know the people and helping out, but it's sometimes easy to forget that many of the people working alongside us are also hurting and are victims too. Many of the older people in the temporary housing are depressed and alone, having lost their families and the homes that they and their family had lived in for generations. They rarely come out, so it's difficult to keep up track of how they are doing. So, keep the people of Japan in your prayers as we continue to work here in Iwaki, and also keep our team in your prayers, that will be sensitive to their needs.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Magic of Music

Music has been a major theme and tool during our stay in Japan. Throughout the first week in Jiyu Gakuen, we led worship on Sundays, performed at cafes, and engaged in many classes via sing-along-songs. Because of our gifts in music, we were able to overcome our language barriers and communicate through the same melody and chord progressions that united not only the music, but our heart and minds. Through music, we formed relationships with native Japanese speakers such as Kuriko (bottom left in above photo, playing piano) and Mina (just above Kuriko, singing).
Furthermore, our performances attracted many students from Jiyu Gakuen, some curious college students, and a few foreigners with Australian accents.

Below are some highlights of our musical performances: