Sending Love and Hope...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD3h62c-T-Y

This is a slideshow put together by one of the girls on the Japan 2011 team. I have no words explain the brokenness and sense of urgency it stirs up in me. Please don't forget Japan. They are running out of funding and out of volunteers. Suicides in the evacuee camps have already begun, and this is almost an entire nation of people who do not know the Truth behind Jesus.

Pray for and support this country.

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" -Romans 10:14-16

I am hoping to go back as soon as possible. I don't know what the future holds, I only know I want to have beautiful feet. These people do not have any hope for the future, and they don't know that there is any. I was talking with a few believers in Japan about the tragedy and asked them what they wished America knew. Every one of them said "Don't forget Japan" and they said it in the context of this verse. 

How can they believe without someone to tell them? Volunteers have dropped off and there are not enough people out there sharing the only important news. 

Please join me in praying for people to be sent. Please join me in praying that I would be able to go back. Please pray that my brother might be able to go with me. 

Pray for Japan. Send hope and love in your prayers. God is listening. He hears and He answers. 

"Our God is greater, our God is stronger than any other."  Let us not forget that in this tragedy.

Last Few Days...

So, I am home safe and sound...but you have had a huge gap in information about the last few days in Japan.

This is because we were very busy and didn't have internet. This is going to be a longer post...but I will try to write as concisely as possible.

The day after we gutted houses, Nao-san had to go before the government on behalf of J-help. We stayed late to pray and when we showed up to get our daily assignment, the woman would not give us one. Orion knew it was because she was not fond of us because we were Christians, so we spent a while on the phone contacting other people looking for work for the day. During this the woman finally decided that if we really wanted to help we should go clean up the graveyard behind the school/evacuation center where we were. After much prayer and discussion, we decided to help out for a few hours and then find something else to do.

We ate lunch in the cars in the mud.

We spent the afternoon mucking out another gutter. This one was hard because it didn't have a cement bottom and one part of it was walled in so deep that Orion had to crawl into the hole and muck sideways with a scoop. The sun was out and it was hot, but the whole team worked hard and for the Lord. Natalie even passed out a bunch of tracts to passersby. This day was long and discouraging, but God's grace was on us and we stayed united...tired, but united.

The next day, Orion took Amy M. and Natalie to the airport, Lee, Lacy and Melissa cleaned up the base, and Naoki-san picked up Amy F. and myself  to go Yoshioka and help Hiroka-san teach an English class. We sang songs in english and then it was craft time.

I had brought a bunch of beads and string to share the Gospel with me. Hiroka translated and it was awesome to teach them English words and colors and then share the whole Gospel with them. Naoki-san was upstairs teaching the moms at the same time.

Of all the kids that came, only 2 have Christian moms.

Friday meant that it was time to go back to the evacuation center and cook food for the 450ish people that live in the centers we cover. God broke me that day. Hidetoshi-san (the man we met the first time we were there) had gotten up and ready early and he came down to meet us. We weren't able to talk to him much that morning because of work, but he hovered all morning and was so delighted to be with us again.

We were able to talk to him after lunch, and he told us he was glad his house was lost so he could meet us. I knew that we were the first people to truly care about this man, at least since he lost his house, and was broken for the other 450 people we were serving.

(While this looks like a mess, it's actually a bunch of people's homes)

I was overwhelmed at the over 100,000 still displaced. I wept and began praying about a way to stay for at least July.

Saturday we traveled all day to the DCAT conference. A conference for church leaders in Japan. This was encouraging because we got to meet a lot more missionaries and see a bunch of native believers and we knew that these were just the leaders.

There are Japanese Christians out there, and they are trying to share the Truth. Each and every one of them said that hearts are more open because of the earthquake/tsunami, and that we have a unique opportunity.

Sunday was spent gathering gifts and encouraging an old church member who lives in Japan. He brought his girlfriend, a missionary from America, and we had a great time together discussing and sharing stories. We stayed in the hostel again and were able to make a few friends and share the Gospel a few more times with travelers.

Monday, oh Monday...Orion had to leave early to catch his flight, so Hiro took us to the airport. On the way there, 2 people threw themselves in front of trains to commit suicide. We met Orion at the airport and he told us he was staying. I spent 45 minutes, praying, seeking counsel and trying to decide whether or not to stay too. When no one else was able to stay, I had to decide to come home.

I wept as the plane took off, and admit that I am still not excited to be back home. I will be contacting Orion soon, and because of his connections, we may have found free tickets back out there. If that is the case, I will be leaving again next week with Amy F (and hopefully a few more people).

There is still so much to do in Japan, and they are so open to love and need to see a group of Christians to see Christ's love. I know that I cannot fix it all...it's going to take years! But please pray that I would get to go back for at least 2 more weeks.

If you actually read this whole thing...Thanks!

There is so much more to say, so please stay tuned as I process and blog and if you have any questions please PLEASE ask me.

No words...

There are no pictures today, because today we were working on people's actual houses. We helped a man clean out the possessions and gut out the dry wall and floors, as well as muck out the mud. The man's grandparents died in the tsunami and all his mementos of them were destroyed as well. After working we met another man who lost his wife and two of his children as well as his house in the tsunami.

The brokenness here is so hard to explain, and even harder to try and be a light in. The first guy we met asked us flat out why God did this when we told him we were Christians...

There isn't an easy way to explain, but I'm going to try...

Over 30,000 people died in just this one earthquake/tsunami disaster and the amount of pain and destruction left behind is unimaginable. There are disasters all over the world, just check the news, and things happen everyday that never make the news.

So why does a loving God allow it to happen?

Because sin entered the world. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and as a result they fell from perfect harmony and unity with God. Causing a rift and everything done in separation from God is sin. The Japanese people did not sin more than those in Ft. Collins, it's just the place God chose to work and how the degeneration of things is playing out.

But can't God stop it?

Yes. God can and he will...but in his infinite love, he is going to save as many people as possible and reconcile them to himself. He sent his only son to come, and live in pain and die by being tortured and mocked and them hung to suffocate. He knows and understands all that we go through, but by going through that pain and death, he created an injustice. A just God cannot allow that...and thus an open door.

Jesus is pleased to tack our sin and yuckiness on to his death, to end the separation and make his death worth it. 

It is pride not to accept that gift, and it is sad to leave that offering in Christ's hand. It is rejecting his pain and sacrifice....you would be hurt by anyone doing that to you.

So what now?

Now, I rest in the Gospel and do my best to share it with as many people as possible so they can make their own choice to accept or reject Christ's offering of a free way to Paradise. I remember that God was so good he sent his only son to make that way and I do my best to explain that it is enough.

Is this a good activity?

There is so much I could say about last night and today. There are so many pictures I could post, but I don't think it would explain it enough to satisfy me and make you understand what it's like to be here.

We are staying in the upstairs of a store in downtown Sendai and the damage surrounds us. This place has been restored and more places nearby are still being restored. If we walk 2 blocks, we are at the river and can see utter devastation. 

The guy in Red is Justin and is not saved, please pray for him.

The bags are full of the mud we pulled out, and this was only a small number compared to what we filled. 

We spent the day working across the river helping a family mud out their gutters and then helping a block gut out their gutters as well. We found all sorts of things in the gutters, from fish, to dinners to vases and shoes. It's hard work because everything is so packed in there, and it's scary work because you never know what you are going to find.

We got pretty dirty and smelly, so this is as close as we got for hugs. It was a sweet blessing to do this work today with these saints. There was much joy, joking, prayer, support and worship. We handed out 3 tracts and several more verses today. One man sat down and immediatly read the tract from beginning to end and was very receptive. 

This is me at the trouble area. The light pole fell down and cracked the gutter, then the wires got stuck in the mud and it all got settled in there. The shovels wouldn't fit to get in there and I spent a good chunk of time with Amy M digging it out so we could fix the gutter and finish mudding it.

Today was a great and encouraging day. It's very hard to be in these neighborhoods digging through their possessions and seeing the devastation. But it is so good to know that we are here together bringing a light and a help to these people. 

They are so kind sweet  here and keep giving us sodas and food, and saying thank you.

We are camping again tonight (but had time to charge the wifi...praise Jesus) and we'll mud again tomorrow and Wednesday too. Please be praying that we can stay strong, joyful and get the rest we need. Nao (still not saved) and a believer named Fumi are with us and we join with other teams whenever possible (we worked with a fun group today).

Missing you guys, but so glad to be here. (HAPPY BELATED FATHER'S DAY PAPA)

4.0 Earthquake (Jishin)

Today was spent encouraging the saints here and helping them host a BBQ for volunteers from YWAM and IMB (International Missions Board). It was a low key, yet busy day and it was a lot of fun. God is so kind to have brought us all together to encourage each other, and it was nice to be able to bless the native workers here. They never get a break and are constantly surrounded by the pain and by how much work there is to do.

  

We also got to go visit another Baptist church called Taitomi Church. It's about 10 minutes from where we are staying (Yoshioka Baptist). We joined in on a youth service and got to play with the children, and then went upstairs to eat. That was when the earth started shaking. Took me a few seconds to realize that it was an earthquake and not a train. 

It was a weird sensation, but not a big deal at all. Aftershocks of the March 11 earthquake happen all the time here (they had another one the day we landed, but we were too far south to feel it). Sad to think that this is common for people, because I know that some have PTSD and the small quakes are very hard to push through. Thankfully, it was not so at the church and we all laughed it off and talked about how cool it was to have shared that experience. 

  T

This is a Chris Tomlin song translated to Japanese (for you Katiesan)

Today we met a man named Michael married to a Japanese woman. They were just allowed to come back here from Korea after being forced to evacuate after the earthquake/tsunami. He was relieved to be home, and was kind enough to share his story of the earthquake. So sad to hear, and it must have been frightening. We also met a married couple who are from Texas and are Colorado State alumni...just goes to show you that this world is not as big as we think it is (and that God has a sense of humor in putting people together like that with those connections).

     

Tomorrow, we will have church and I am unsure what else we will be doing. Monday however, we will be doing manual labor. It's been nice to get to do a bit of everything here. Continue to pray for our unity fruitfulness, as well as Nao and Hidotoshi's salvations. Thank you.

Don't forget about Japan

Today was a long day and a hard day. We didn't do hard work with our hands, but we did hard work for our hearts. Today we went and fed evacuees and spent time with them. Words cannot describe the ache my heart felt when we entered their center. These people have lost everything they own, and many of them have lost loved ones, and they are living out of cardboard boxes and have spaces smaller than cubicles to live in. These people have been here for 3 months already, and for most...there is no end in sight. Unfortunately, because of the other world wide disasters and time, they are being forgotten, and support is running out.

This is Hidotoshisan. Amysan and I talked with him for over an hour. He watched as the tsunami waves took his home from him...he even pointed out a picture in today's newspaper of where his home used to be. His story broke my heart and I spent a lot of it trying not to cry, and the rest trying to figure out how to say what I wanted to. Amysan was a huge help, and she shared the Gospel with him.

This is a crew from YWAM and 2 Japanese volunteers that helped us serve lunch. Together, we served about 400 people. It was good to have the support of more people who speak English and Japanese. They sang and shared their testimonies and were an encouragement. It was nice to come back to the center to them, because just before that I had seen many broken people. They have nothing to do all day, so most of them just sleep off and on all day, because they are too old to get a new job.

Here's Amysan and me after serving and cleaning up. I am loving the team God put together, and enjoying the strengths of everyone. It's a blessing to be here with the team, and a blessing to know you are praying for us.

Below are just a few pictures of the destruction from the tsunami. After serving and talking, we went on a drive to the coast. The destruction is quickly apparent and only gets worse as you get closer. It was hard to see, and to smell.

I saw the ocean for the second time today...and I saw what the ocean can do. I am thankful that we are safe here, but broken for Japan. Around 15000 are still missing, which likely means they are dead. And total dead on top of that is around 23000 according to Naokisan. What a horrible tragedy. The stories I have heard today are not good for children, but can and will share them with grownups when I get home.

Please be praying for us, that we can love clearly and communicate effectively and stay united...and don't forget about Japan!

Sendai and Beyond...

Today, I got to ride the shenkansin with the team. We went from Tokyo to Sendai.

This is just a bit of the scenery we got to see.

There were quite a few houses with sandbags and tarps 

on them because of damage from the earthquake 

(I don't have a picture here, but I will try to get one).

Nao was kind enough to come pick us up in this vehicle and take our luggage.

The group split for the night, so we don't overwhelm the church.

Amy M, Amy F, Natalie and myself went to the church, 

and the others are staying on a Japanese base nearby for the night.

This is the inside of the church (where I'm sitting right now working).

The young man on the right is Nao. He is the 19 year old grandson of the pastor here.

He is here helping and moved from Southern Japan to do so.

He is not a believer, and we are all praying for him.

This is what broke my heart today...this young man,

with so much going for him is doing such a valiant and kind thing...

and yet he has no reward, no hope and if he were to die right now

it would all be for nothing.

PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM!!!

The sweet gentleman on the left is Naoki, Nao's grandfather and the pastor here.

He was saved in the 1948. He shared his testimony and it was great.

Naoki knows much more English than Nao and we had fun talking at dinner.

We spent about an hour exploring a local Supa today looking at the different foods.

Amy M holds up some sort of Japanese vegetable and the orange things on the left, 

they are huge carrots.

So far I have eaten a lot of rice and God has blessed our trip immensely so far. This is so much more than I could have ever asked or dreamed. When I asked the Lord to find a way to get me out to Japan to help, I had faith that He could, but never dreamed He actually would. Who knew that one man that attended our church 10 years ago, would be a catalyst.

When our pastor first mentioned a trip to Nihon, I was shaking I was so excited. Here I am in Nihon, and it doesn't feel real. Please be praying that we can be the aroma of Christ and a Light to the world here. 

Tomorrow, we will be cooking for and feeding the displaced. I am praying I get to meet a specific family and would appreciate it if you can pray with me for that. 

SO, please be praying for Nao, our work and for the Yagi's and my path to cross.

Any questions, or things you would like me to get pictures of?

Longest Day of my Life...

I am writing this in a hostel in Tokyo...it's Thursday June 16th here, and yesterday was literally the longest day of my life, as I traveled for 24 hours to get here. We left at 4:30 am Colorado time and arrived at our hostel around 8:30 pm Tokyo time (5:30 am Colorado time).

Praise the Lord, we all made it, relatively encouraged (though exhausted) and all of our baggage made it onto the right planes.

Here are some quick photos:

Amy and me in the DIA airport, at 6:30am ready to fly to LAX and then Japan 

(fun fact Japanese people call Japan Nihon)

3 of us on the short plane ride to LAX

This is the plane that took me to Nihon!

This is where I am right now as I write this. 

The hostel is amazing and we've already met a lot of fun new people!

Today we will be gathering the gear we need and riding the shin kan sen (bullet train) North toward Sendai.

Please be praying for finances as some of us haven't been able to pull money from the ATMs, as well as for safety and guidance as we plan our next steps. Please feel free to comment with any questions you have, or email them to me, so I can blog things you want to read about. 

Thanks for your time :)

Japan logistics

It's late and I need to be getting to bed, but wanted to give  a quick update...

We will be getting to Japan on the 15th (Japan time) and staying the first night in a hostel in northern Japan. From there we will go work and be helpful in any way we can (Orion has more of the logistics on that and I will post them as I learn them). Things are still flexible and that's the way they should be. We are giving God a lot of room to work and are excited to see what he does.

Please be praying for safety and that things would not be forgotten. Also be praying that our eyes would be open and we would not miss the opportunities God has for us in this adventure.

In obeying God on the big missions, I've learned that He always gives bonus mini-missions (much like Super Mario)...and sometimes those have a huge payoff in the big mission...I don't want to miss any thing God can give me, or use me to do.

Thanks for reading. How are you going to love Christ today?

Japan Team

Team Left to Right: (Back) Lee, Amy, Me (Chelsea), Melissa, Orion,

(Front) Natalie, Amy, Lacy

The 8 of us will be going to Japan on June 14th. Two team members will return on the 23rd and the rest of us will return on the 27th. We are excited, and ready to go. We've learned some Japanese and spent a ton of time getting to know each other better (I've learned that my name in Japanese is Che-ru-shi).

Please be praying for us to continue getting along with each other, safety in our travels and an inexpensive way to get around when we get to Japan.

Thanks :)