More Triple Disaster Media

Here's a few more...

My heart is so full of sorrow. But also joy that hearts are being opened and that so much is being done. One thing that really touched me and has stayed with me is a sentence from the Franklin Graham Tohoku Celebration interview in my previous blog post. When the tsunami happened, the military and Christians "came". The Christians "stayed".

We're not part of the IMB, but we are part of a Southern Baptist church back home and I thank God for big organizations that can coordinate so much and provide so much relief. Here's an article and a video from the IMB's AsiaStories.com website.

For those of you in the San Jose area, here's a movie that you can go to watch in selected AMC theaters only on Wednesday, March 14th.

Missions agency SEND has a ten year plan for church planting up in the Tohoku region. Asian Access has a Disaster Relief Network which will focus on house/organic churches, creating a network that will both equip people in Japan, and provide a contact point for international relief to enter Japan. Pioneers has given approx $30,000 to a single church, Uchigo Christ Gospel Church in Iwaki City, to help them rebuild on the land that their church was on, right outside of Fukushima's radiation "no-go" zone. CRASH, Samaritan's Purse, the list of Christian organizations that have not left and continue to pour in human and material resources, love, and lots and lots of prayer is amazing.

Unlike Peter, Jess, Scott, and most other Japan-based missionaries that I know, I haven't been up there yet. But God has given me a small link at Juhee's preschool. There is a 4 year old child, same grade as Juhee, who has autism and is a survivor. He and his parents moved from Sendai to Fukuoka and after being in Fukuoka for 6 months, moved to Hiroshima. Two days after they arrived in Hiroshima, the boy started at Juhee's preschool. That same Monday, there just so happened to be a meeting with all of the mom's of Juhee's class that the mom was able to attend for a short while. She stood up front and gave a bit of background, most of which I could not understand. In typical Japanese fashion, she apologized and asked for understanding.

Despite our language barrier, she's very open to me and always tries very hard to communicate with me, and even to try to assist in my communication with other moms. I think one thing that opened her up to me is when I told her that my brother also has autism.

I pray that someday (preferably soon!!!), I will be able to connect with her on a more deeper level and find out more about her and her family, to be able to share with her the hope and joy I have in Jesus.

I also pray that someday, God willing, I will be able to go up to Tohoku myself.

In the meantime, I ask that you keep checking in on the progress and definitely definitely definitely keep praying, and giving too... <3