My Pictures

Here are almost 300 pictures that I took on my trip.  Check them out.  I will also be sharing highlights of my trip, sprinkled with some pictures, during my message on Sunday morning at FBC.  My sermon title is "Lessons Learned in the Light of Disaster." I will share some Scripture that sheds light on the unanaswered questions of life such as disaster, as well as give some applications from this trip and what I feel God showed us through it all. It will also be applicable, I believe, to anyone going through some challenges or difficult situatons in their life right now. Dave & I will be sharing a more complete power point presentation focused on the specifics of our trip and Q & A time soon as well, probably at each of the 3 churches that sent us.  Will let you know when that is lined up.

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Leaving Japan

There are few things I don’t want to forget as I reflect upon leaving Japan.  I don’t want to forget to pray for the individuals who we saw and talked with.  I don’t want to forget the pain they are going through.  I also don’t want to forget the strong spirit by which the Japanese people are fighting and rebuilding.  I don’t want to forget the radiant faces of children & the smiles as they received the beanie babies, the baseball caps, and the T-shirts. Finally, I do not want to forget my brothers & sisters that I met who are working endlessly to be the light and to be the hands and feet of Jesus at this time. 

The pastors and missionaries are tired, but they are stepping up to the plate.  I think of Noriko, Pastor Ito’s 27 year old daughter who quit a good paying job in the big city of Tokyo, to come and help her dad in his ministry.  I think of the believers at the church in Iwaki that is being used to serve meals at the local evacuation center & the believers who while grateful to serve, also lamented the inability to use their regular worship center, while it serves as a warehouse for distribution.  I think of churches in Tokyo who are taking groups of 10-15 people, all the way on 5-7 hour trips north to serve a meal and assist the smaller churches there who cannot do it alone.  I met a college student who came form southern Japan with his Bible study group to spend all month helping out.  I met pastors and missionaries who had gathered from across Japan and others who returned from overseas, as we had, for temporary assistance.

 

I leave Japan with hope, knowing that the church is being energized, even though it is tired. I leave with hope that the average Japanese is seeing that Christians care and love them, even though they have lost so much. I saw gratitude and humility, a fresh openness and appreciation for outside help. I leave with the hope that the unified effort that has brought Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Brethren, and Evangelical Free churches and missionaries together will continue & will focus on not only the physical, but the spiritual needs of the Japanese people.  I leave with hope that this Easter, a resurrection is on the horizon, and that on my next visit to Japan, there will be many whose stories will include not only a physical rebuilding, but a spiritual resurrection as well. 

Easter in Japan!

The timing of  our trip was amazing--the week before Easter Sunday!  We gave out plastic Easter eggs with chocolates in them.  Many did not know what Easter is, but we told them & encouraged them that there is a Savior who came to give new life and that He will help them rise again and bring life out of so much loss.  The one church where we spent the night in Ishinomaki had also been flooded and lost one of their own, but is now distributing supplies to hundreds at a time.  They have met in homes while getting their building cleaned up, but will begin services again on Easter Sunday.  Pastor Ito is ecstatic as he tells about the uncanny timing of his little church having a resurrection of their body, even as we celebrate the resurrection of the Body of Jesus!  His church is small, with only 18 believers, but through the support of multiple Christians and donations from the US, the community flocks to receive supplies and he states that everyone now knows where they are.  Truly, this could be the beginning of new spiritual life in Ishinomaki, Japan. 

Stories of Hope

Here are a few stories that stood out for me.  These are stories that contain sadness, but also are stories of hope.  The stories tell me this is not just the 6:00 news.  These are people with names.  The story of people like Grandma Sumiko who escaped to the mountain behind her house and huddled with 60 other neighbors, building a fire in the snow and passing the night, before the water would receded enough to crawl back down the hill and step across the empty foundations where their houses stood, on the way for help. It is also the story of how her daughter with who she now lives, has chosen to begin a life of faith in Christ & how in the town where 5,000 of the 10,000 residents died or are missing, a new Bible study will begin in their home, the only such in a town that has never had a church.  When Sumiko’s husband died last year, the town experienced the first ever Christian funeral & seeds were planted even then with the 300 in attendance that day.  We stood on the ruins of where Sumiko's house used to be and prayed for God to bring new life out of the rubble and that through her family, others would come to know Christ. 

This is also the story of survival in the likes of Mr. Kimura, the 81 year old man who returned to the house that had been flooded the day after the tsunami hit and lived for 5 weeks on his own before some returning neighbors discovered he had not evacuated, like the others. He opened canned food that survived the flooding and then he walked past multiple stores that were unable to open, as far as he needed to until he could get to a store.  He slept on water-logged bedding, and lived without heat, electrical power or gas.  Mr. Kimura used to be a sailor & reports losing 80 of his former workers and friends. Thanks to a neighbor letting the church around the corner know, we could clear out the water and odor filled bedding and tatami mats, clean up his small 2 bedroom house and provide him with new bedding. Thanks to our team, Mr Kimura knows today that there are Christians who care about him.  When cleaning out his house, we asked what he wanted to do with his idol and he said "You can throw that out!"  He also kept saying, "Christianity is good. Christianity is good!"

This is the story of Japanese who have been taught not to cry who are now experiencing emotions and tears that seem out of character. It is also the story of Japanese who have been told that Christianity is not for Japanese, but who are flocking to line up at churches and church run distribution centers to receive what they need & are learning that Christians from both Japan and around the world care about what they are going through.  There is great sadness in Japan, but for God's people, there is also hope!

Reflections on the devastation

I saw the results of devastation like I have never seen firsthand before.  At times it appeared and felt like we were tourists, getting out our cameras and staring at sights that were surreal and bizarre.  Sights like a car on top of a 5 story building, a train in a graveyard, piles of vehicles upside down in the yards where people still live upstairs & spend their time trying to get debris out of their living rooms and bedrooms into piles on the street.  Sights of streets lined up higher than I can reach of old tatami mats, ruined refrigerators, useless TV sets, and water-logged furniture arranged according to categories, as only the Japanese would arrange their trash. Sights of empty train stations and traffic lights that don’t work, and sights of formerly proud Japanese lining up in droves to receive handouts to rebuild out of the rubble.

Then the reality sometimes hits that some of these cars had people in them & that each person in these lines have a story.  Many of these buildings that we are gawking at were the final moments and graveyards of numerous human lives—friends and family members of those we are handing supplies to and talking with while they wait their turn so patiently.  The shoes on the beaches that were washed up, came off of people that did not make it & the dead cat on the beach belonged to someone who probably washed ashore elsewhere.  The upside down boats that we find blocks from the ports may have had passengers and may have left behind widows and orphans. The reality is that life will never be the same in Ishinomaki, Onagawa, Shichinohama, Minamisenriku, Kessennuma, Sendai, Iwaki, or much of the rest of Japan  The devastation that we temporarily observed & temporarily tried to help, that we have now in some ways left behind, is a new and harsh reality for millions of Japanese.  It is a reality that cannot be conveyed by mere words or pictures, but is the story of individuals and families left behind.

Safely Home!

Got in a few hours ago.  It was neat to have some friends from church and CR there with signs and a warm welcome!  Spent the evening catching up with family and sharing my pictures with them.  I will get some more posts up tomorrow & tell you some specifics about all that has taken place.  Having trouble keeping my eyes open right now!  Good night!

Back in Chiba & Heading Home

We had several amazing days of ministry where we were happily surprised by an openness of people to talk to us about what they have experienced and to have one lady ask for a Bible for her 23 year old daughter and have another man tell us he listens to Christian radio daily.  Some stories were heartbreaking.  I cannot tell them all, but there was hardly anyone who had not lost a family member or friend in the tsuami.  Before heading back today, we helped an 81 year old man clean out his waterlogged house and get new bedding.  He had not gone to an evacuation center and had lived on his own after the water receded. He was a sailor for many years and said that he lost a total of 80 acquaintances that he had worked with, due to the tsunami. 

We were mostly working in the town of Ishinomaki, serving food and taking supplies to the people there who have no means to get to the store and are trying to rebuild in the midst of the rubble.  We also took a half day trip to the town of Onagawa, where 5,000 of the 10,000 in the town are either dead or missing.  We met a sweet Christian grandmother.  Before her house was swept away, she and 50 neighbors, fled up the side of a mountain.  They camped out that night on top of the hill, waiting for the water to recede.  They built a fire and huddled in the midst of the snow that was falling that night.  Her sister has not accepted Christ into her life, but when the pastor from Ishinomaki asked her yesterday, she stated that she has decided to become a Christian now.  This town has no church of any kind and the pastor from Ishinomaki hopes to begin Bible studies at their house soon. 

We are exhaused, but in good health and good spirits.  We fly out in the morning.  We just went and enjoyed a good bowl or Ramen noodles.  We look forward to seeing you all.  Thank you so much for your prayers and for the many donations that made this trip possible.  I will post some more thoughts when I get back.  There is still so much to process and so much still to be done over here, but we do feel like we had an amazing privilege of having a small part of the relief effort here and of the healing process that God has begun here!

Delivering Food

This is kayla blogging and giving a summary of what the team is doing. They are staying near Sendai working at ishinomaki. Yesterday they went to some apartments and delivered food to the people who had lost their cars and could not go to the store and get food.

Heading North

We are getting ready to leave the area of internet and go north.  Probably will not have access to wifi and may not be able to post for a few days.  We had one earthquake in the middle of the night that woke us up-average range.  Thanks for the support--got to get loaded up to go!

Sunday Worship in Japan

In case I didn't mention it, we are staying at one of the key churches involved in the relief effort here in Japan.  Last night was our third night here, although yesterday we were gone from 8:30 am to 1:30 am on our trip to Iwaki.  It was great to worship this morning with the believers here. They are doing what they can with their own efforts and then partnering with others like us to meet needs in the heavy hit areas.  They had a beauiful worship service, with one elderly gentleman who grew up in that area praying with tears over what has happened and asking God to open hearts to Him and to bless the many who have come or given to help them up there.  After the service another lady told me that she used to live in Sendai and that she had come to Christ there and knew of at least one believer in a church she used to attend who was swept away in the tsunami.  She began to cry and told me that her husband died over a year ago and what a blessing it is that he did not have to know about this disaster because he loved that part of the country and would have been devastated by all of the loss there.  She apologized for crying and I tried to encourage her that tears are part of the healing.  This was a less than 10 minute conversation, but many hearts are emotional here, as you would expect.  Also, many who are not Christians are coming and volunteering to help with the church groups, since they see the church is stepping up to do something here.

Another part of the day, we spent some time with Andy Gilbert and some others from his misson who were here to network and share strategy with those in the Mission to the World here in Chiba.  Ideas were shared and there appears to be the formation of a long-term plan for helping rebuild beyond the immediate needs.  A great time of prayer and fellowship also took place.

Keep praying for Japan, for the necessary networking & continued unity of churches. Pray also for some leaders in these ministries who have been going nonstop and making multiple trips up north without a break since this began.  Pray for us as we expect to head further north tomorrow.  Thanks so much for all of the support! 

A long, but fulfilling day in Iwaki

We joined a team of 15 Japaneses believers to head up to the city of Iwaki yesterday.  The purpose of the trip was to minister to some evacuees staying about 25 miles from the nuclear reactor (no we had not planned on getting that close, but contrary to some reports, were told that they test for radiation daily and the increased levels there are minimal and not even close to dangerous levels).  We did pray for protection from rain that day, and while there was some rain on the way, it was a clear and sunny day there in Iwaki.  Thank you, Lord! 

Our trip was supposed to be a 4 hour drive there, but due to a substantial aftershock we were diverted off the highway onto local roads for about 5 miles.  We saw many roofs with tarps on them on those back roads. This put us into some severe traffic and turned our trip into over 6 hours there.  We arrived at 3 and were there unitl 9 pm and got home about 1:30 am & to bed by 2:00.   

Here are the highlights:
     -Seeing 5 of the believers from our old church there & having a joyous reunion with them and the one couple's 3 chlidren that I had never met.
     -Meeting a lonely, discouraged Christian woman whose husband is working at the nuclear plant and being able to pay for her to get a new Bible because her old one had been washed away in the tsuanimi.  Had prayer with her and one of hte Japanese ladies from Chiba who got her phone number & plans to follow up. 
    -Watching the children light up when getting beanie babies, nurf balls and even adults getting items that we brought for them.
     -Hearing some of the Chiba believers put on the gospel concert & having a room full of nonChristians ask them to keep singing, some with tears in their eyes, as they listened.
    -Talking to believers who have been struggling with feelings of fear and difficulty sleeping, due to aftershocks, but didn't realize this is "normal" and that they were not alone (Japanese tend to put on a tough exterior & not share their fears with each other).

Well, I could go on, but it is Sunday morning here and almost tme for church.  We did get 5 hours of sleep last night & while that did not feel like a lot, the Lord is giving strength. I woke up to hear one of the believers who had also slept at the church last night, softly praying on his knees in the front of the worship center, while us Americans "slept in" until 7:00 am.  We leave either today or tomorrow for the harder hit areas up north.  May not be able to blog up there.

Getting Started!

Well, it still does not sink in that we are here for disaster relief, because our work today was helping out at the home base here, but it was still a great first day!  We conferred and came up with an itinerary of sorts, then helped set up a house for others who will be coming through on future work teams and built some storage space for relief items.  I was Dave's assistant-he is a handyman.  I am not!  Check out Dave's blog for pictures of us working and a vide of me driving in Japan for the first time in 14 years.  I did stay in the right lane (which is the left lane!) but messed up a couple of times with turning the wipers on instead of my turn signal.  Dave's blog is sushieaters.blogspot.com

The most amazing things happened today in evidence of how small a world it is or maybe to be more accurate, how God orchestrates things behind the scenes!  This morning I found out that a group of about 15 people are heading up to Iwaki (where Susan & I lived and ministered for 8 years) to try to encourage the people and do some informal counseling at one of the evacuation centers for people displaced due to radiation.  We will be joining them!  One of the ladies from our old church is going to bring a few people & meet us there. We had no idea we would be going to that town before coming.

The other interesting thing is that I met the brother of one of my good friends and a church member at FBC back home-Steve Gilbert.  His brother, Andy, is a missionary in southern Japan with another mission agency, but has been coming up for relief trips and is now preparing to relocate to the Sendai area to begin a permament outreach there. He came by to confer with the leaders of Mission to the World & we will all be going up to the same general area the first of next week!  Amazing, huh?

Well, it is almost 7:00 at night and I am pooped!  If you did not check it out yet, check out the story that Hannah Horne did for us by clicking here

Great Devotion!

As we are still getting set up for the next week of ministry, with some uncertainties ahead, Dave & I were blessed by the following devotional.  In God's amazing way, He had this reading for us this morning, April 15th:

"Trust me and don't be afraid.  Many things feel out of control.  Your routines are not running smoothly.  You tend to feel more secure when your life is predictable.  Let me lead you the to the rock that is higher than you and your circumstances.  Take refuge in the shelter of my wings, where you are absolutely secure!

When you are shaken out of your comfortable routines, grip My hand tightly and look for growth opportunities.  Instead of bemoaning the loss of your comfort, accept the challenge of something new.  I lead you on from glory to glory, making you fit for my Kingdom.  Say yes to the ways I work in your life.  Trust me, and don't be afraid."  (April 15, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)

Safely arrived!

We are here and I am ready for bed!  It is only 7:15 pm Japan time, but our watches and our bodies say it is 6:15 am and we have been up all night!  Had a smooth flight.  Spending the night upstairs in a church building in Chiba, Japan.  This church, Honda Chapel, has been set up as a home base for outreach to the Tohoku (northeastern Japan).  It appears to be a vibrant church, connected with Mission to the World & has people in and out, as well as a room for collecting items that our teams take up north.  Dave & I had a nice trip to the supermarket & picked out some delicious lunch boxes for supper.  We will be around here tomorrow and will be planning a trip north in a day or two.  Meanwhile, they want us to be available for counseling people here & for preparing for the next trip. 

Check out Dave Bindewald's blog.  It is sushieaters.blogspot.com.  He is a veteran at this and has pictures on it now too. 

At the airport!

We are at Columbia Airport.  I better blog here, because we have less than an hour to change planes in Chicago for the flight to Japan.  United let us check in 4 bags for free since this is for relief work.  We had a quick interview with Hannah Horne from WIS and this should be on tonight and also available on the WIS website. 

I am feeling very good about the trip and excited to be going.  It is overwhelming how everyone has supported us. With Calvary Chapel, First Baptist, & Lexington Presbyterian.  We raised over $28,500.  Many have told us they will be praying. 

Pray for open doors, open hearts, and many opportunities to share Christ's love in Japan at this time.  By the way, I may not be able to blog regularly in Japan, but my daughter Kayla will update from my text messages.  You can also follow on twitter at paulatcr on my twitter account. 

A Team Effort!

Last week, Dave Bindewald invited me to join him on a relief trip to Japan.  Our church, First Baptist Chruch, Lexington Presbyterian Church, and Calvary Chapel are now working together to raise funds for Japan together and Dave & I will have the privilege of personally taking supplies, helping with clean up and counseling the victims. 

In only a week, God has done some amazing things for this project! 
Last week, one man donatd the amount for my entire plane ticket.....$1200
My wife &I went looking for beanie babies for the evacuated children & the store worker donated 172 free beanie babies of her own!  Then Sunday two more people offered beanie babies for the trip.
I was handed a donation of $300 to buy things I may personally need on this trip.
My wife's exercise class at Saxe Gotha collected $750 generous amount for the trip.
The total collected is now at $4,000 and we haven't even had our official collection at FBC or Calbary Chapel yet. 
Through Lexington Presbyterian, Dave has collected over $10,000.
I think God is using Lexington to touch many people in Japan!