"When the tsunami warning sirens went off, residents in a south Sendai neighborhood fled to the local school. Together with panicked children still in class they climbed to the rooftop. Some 600 altogether watched as the great tsunami of 311 surged ashore and crushed everything in its path, including a church several hundred feet away between themselves and the shoreline. The raging wave came to the very brink…

By Kevin Laverman - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan - Shiogama, Japan (Near Sendai)



I still haven't returned from tsunami ground zero. That is to say, although I've been back several days already, the reality of the scene is still with me. The incredible amounts of mud in once beautiful homes, the cars tossed around like toys, the shell-shocked people moving about sadly, the piles and piles of everything imaginable from the lives of so many now gone, the…

By John Houlette - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan — Tokyo, Japan

A team of four JBF missionaries, Janet Brown, Greg Swenson, Paul Sadler and John Houlette, will be travelling north of Sendai this week, 4/27-5/1, to do relief work. They will be serving at an evacuation center in Ishinomaki, delivering 200 rice cookers, New Testaments and tracts.  They will also visit  Kessennuma.  Ishinomaki is roughly 30 miles from Sendai and Kessennuma 95 miles. …

By Janet Brown - Missionary in Japan Coordinating Short-Term Teams - Tokyo, Japan



One month in Review

April 11 was exactly one month after the 9.1 earthquake followed by a massive tsunami, in northern Japan. The tsunami damaged the Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima. Since then there have been over 1500 aftershocks, but no more tsunamis. The Nuclear Power Plant is still struggling to cool the reactors.  Tokyo has gone through a gas and…

By Ken Taylor - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan — Toyko, Japan

It has been 3 weeks since the triple tragedy in Japan. From a human level, one cannot escape the feeling of despair and helplessness. But from a spiritual perspective, we are all the more dependent on God and sense His presence moment by moment. 

Following are deep impressions the Lord Jesus Christ has given us:

RADIATION LEVEL

With…

“Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:14)

 

It has now been a full three weeks since the earthquake and the disaster has now claimed more than 28,000 deaths and missing persons.  And it is the final day of our relief mission to Shiogama.  Yesterday our team was joined in the work by a deaf pastor from Yamagata and a member of his congregation.  They stayed over with us in the cabin and…

By John Houlette - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan - Sendai, Japan

Our time in the Shiogama-Tagajo (Sendai) area is coming to a close.  It has been a rich time.  We worked with several pastors and church members from our CB family, Inter-Varsity, CRASH Japan, Southern Baptists and several others groups.  Today we worked with Pastor Matsumoto and Mr. Takahashi of the Yamagata Deaf Church.  It was a blessing to serve with them.

Today’s…

By Paul Sadler - FEB International Partner Missionary — Sendai, Japan

Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:32)

 

Today we are teamed up with a group from CRASH to do more community clean-up.  Each had a unique story.  One was a Japanese missionary to Kenya on home…

By John Houlette - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan — Sendai, Japan

Greetings.

Today, Wednesday, was very different from the day before.  Instead of visiting more than a dozen homes, we worked on one. No more piano moving.

We continued on the Aizawa home.

Japanese homes have one to three rooms that have woven straw mats, or tatami. The size of rooms are measured in terms of number of mats.  Typically, 4.5, 6, 8,…

By Paul Sadler - FEB International Partner Missionary — Sendai, Japan

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)

 

Today was both hard and rewarding but in a different way.  Yesterday was tiring but efficient.  The work was physical but today it was far more emotional.  We had been asked…

By John Houlette - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan — Tagajo (Sendai), Japan

Our team of five left our accommodations at a beach cabin with electricity and gas but no water, at 7:30 am

and headed twenty minutes by car to the Shiogama Bible Baptist Church to get instructions for the day.  Pastor Yukimasa Otomo, assistant pastor, spoke to the fifty or so volunteers, giving us instructions on where we would be working and how to serve.  We were…

By Paul Sadler - FEB International Partner Missionary — Tsukuba, Japan (near Tokyo)

The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, LORD, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from…

By Paul Sadler - FEB International Partner Missionary — Sendai, Japan

Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

 

After packing supplies, we set out at 8 am, knowing we will be traveling into what was the eye of the…

By John Houlette - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan - Tagajo-Shiogama, Japan (Near Sendai)

A team of five Japan Baptist Fellowship missionaries, (a partnership of WorldVenture and Fellowship international)  arrived at Tagajo-Shiogama last night. These two towns are twenty minutes from Sendai, and were the hardest hit by the tsunami.

As we entered the area, riding on the main artery near the Sendai port, the damage  and brokenness of…

By Paul Sadler - FEB International Partner Missionary — Tsukuba, Japan (near Tokyo)

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the…

By Paul Sadler - FEB International Partner Missionary — Tsukuba, Japan (near Tokyo)

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”  Isaiah…

By Bola Taylor - WorldVenture Missionary in Japan — Tokyo, Japan

Greetings from Tokyo where we are experiencing God's grace in incredible ways!     

Most of you probably received our latest update stating the latest on the Nuclear Fall out from Fukushima. We are humbled by the unbelievable sacrifice of the Fukushima 50 who are making it possible for us to be…

Japan experienced a triple tragedy last week. A 9.0 earthquake, then a horrific tsunami, and now nuclear reactor meltdowns. Not to mention the ongoing aftershocks (just had one as I am writing), the cold weather, power outages, and the weakening dollar.

The Tokyo Taylors are fine and we know you are praying for us. Tokyo was spared from much of the devastation but…