Since last I updated, things have continued to be busy and difficult and full and blessed and good. So I am praising God!
At the beginning of August, I traveled with several others from Japan to Thailand to attend the Asian Mission Forum. It was a much needed time of blessed rest and refreshing. I was able to learn from and be stretched by the classes, and I was filled and encouraged by the fellowship and times of worship. I think for most of us from Japan, it was a time of breaking down and being built up again for the work waiting for us to pick up again when we returned to Japan.
One of the best moments for me was being prayed over by a few friends from Singapore and Malaysia -- I was reminded that there are so many brothers and sisters all over the world that are loving and supporting us as we try to serve and obey the Holy Spirit in his work to heal Japan. It was so beautiful to connect with missionaries and other ministry workers from all over Asia -- God is definitely moving here!
Even though I felt refreshed and renewed by my experience at AMF, it was difficult to come back home. Just a few days after I got back I found myself heading back up to help in the relief work. And returning to Ishinomaki, after having a time of rest from the relief work, was almost as emotionally taxing as the first time that I went. The reality is that this recovery is a long work -- there have been vast improvements, but the scope of the devastation is staggering. So we cling to God and just keep doing what we can to help in the healing process.
There is still a lot of debris and damage, and there are lots of goods that are still needed. We are still distributing food and other goods; just last weekend we did a large distribution of heaters and other much needed supplies for winter. But the work is beginning to shift from physical labor to more trauma-care and other emotional support. We are growing closer to our friends there and seeing deeper ways in which we can support them as they try to build new lives and move forward.
One of the blessings I have experienced in service is being able to provide food for our volunteer teams. From the beginning, I felt that it was important to make sure that the volunteers that we sent had balanced, healthy meals to keep them strong enough to deal with the physical and emotional challenges of the relief work. It has been really wonderful to get to share meals with the people we partner with in the volunteer work and also to eat together with the people we have been able to serve. (Click here to see some of the recipes that I have been using . . .)
The Mito church family continues to be wonderfully supportive of the relief work -- several members have gone up to Ishinomaki to serve, many have helped by donating needed supplies and also by helping to organize and load those supplies onto the truck to be transported north. And through all of the craziness of the last 6 months, the church continues to do all their other "regular" ministries and activities.
English Bible Class continues to go well. I am so thankful for the teachers who sacrifice their time to help the students practice English. It is a blessing to see them building relationships with their students. We now have 7 classes, plus a kids' class -- that means 8 teachers, 2-3 helpers, 35 adult students and about 5 kids in the kids' class. Since about two thirds of the EBC students this year are women, I am hoping to start a monthly ladies' activity to create opportunities for the EBC students to them help connect with some of the ladies from Mito church.
Another great blessing that I have experienced recently is some opportunities for relationships with people in the community. I am thankful for the deepening friendships that I have with my language teachers. I attend a Japanese class once a week that is taught by volunteers, and they have asked me to spend some time with them after class helping them practice their English. This new dynamic in our interaction has already brought more opportunities to share my faith and to learn more about their lives.
I am also thankful for a few relationships in which God has blessed me greatly in the sweetness of those friends, but also challenged me in the ways that he is calling me to be a mentor and encourager. It is always surprising and beautiful and wonderful to be able to walk and grow alongside someone in our faith, especially with someone who has just begun to discover what life is like with Jesus.
October 9-10 was the Annual Mito Church Retreat. This year we focused on rest and renewal, and used Psalm 23 as a basis for our devotions. The next week, Joel, Atsushi and I attended the Ibaraki Area Ministry Workers' Retreat, which is a great time for fellowship and connecting with other ministers and missionaries in this area. Right now there is a team of four counselors from the States that have come to Japan to help us as we continue to heal and cope with the emotional effects of the March disaster, and equip us better for the emotional support we would like to be able to provide for those we meet in the relief work.
One more really wonderful blessing from this month was my birthday. I love my birthday! I love to make it a time of celebration and joy with my friends. And this year, my roomies outdid themselves in planning me a dinner and karaoke party with our friends! We went to one of my favorite restaurants for German food.
And then, at karaoke, they gave me an excellent birthday present -- a brand new sewing machine!
Even in the midst of a very busy, extremely taxing, emotionally exhausting season in our lives in Japan, there is still so much joy in my life. I am so thankful to our Lord for the ways that he sustains and nourishes our hearts!
Please pray with me . . .
~for strength for our friends in Ishinomaki. There is still so much to be done, and winter is coming. And there are so many grieving and struggling with the stress of surviving and piecing back together their lives.
~that all of us involved in the relief work will have wisdom and strength as we try to meet the changing needs and bring glory to God in our words and actions. Please also pray for me as my role in the relief work is in a little bit of a transition.
~for Mito church. Please pray that our church community will continue to grow closer to God and closer to one another -- pray for unity.
~as I have just celebrated 4 years in Japan, that I will know God's will for my future (at least the immediate future) and that I will have courage enough to trust and obey him.
~for rest and renewal for Japan. The changing seasons -- the break from the oppressive heat of summer, the changing of the leaves, the preparations for snuggling in during the coming colder months and the first tastes of autumn foods have all brought a feeling of being refreshed. Please pray that this renewal is deep -- that it is full of God's beautiful, comforting, healing peace for the people of Japan.
Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
Psalm 71:19-20
