What God is doing…restoring hearts to Himself
As we went out to work each day, we did not always know which house or field we would be working in. This was especially so in Tona district, which is an area close to the beautiful seaside town of Matsushima, whose famous bay is one of the “Three Views of Japan” (日本三景 Nihon Sankei).
The work in Tona district was coordinated by the East Sendai Church (ESC). The days we worked there as CRASH volunteers, we would only find out where we were being assigned to work during the morning briefing ESC held for all volunteers. Initially, as I looked around and saw so many houses in need of repair and restoration (not just in Tona but every town we worked in), I couldn’t help wondering why certain families were receiving help from us whilst others did not. But over time, as I heard of the stories of what the families we were working with went through and how the Lord was opening their hearts to the Christian volunteers from local churches and Christian relief organizations like CRASH, it dawned on me that the homes we went to were those that the Lord had chosen to show His favor to.
Through Christian volunteers, the Lord was not just sending practical help to those in need, but He was preparing to enter these Japanese hearts through His children’s acts of love. One particularly encouraging story was that of the farmer from Sendai-Wakayabashi. Before the tsunami, he was a vegetable farmer with many fields and also a local volunteer fireman. As CRASH worked with him by sending different volunteer teams to his house and fields, he has become increasingly open to Christians. He has even agreed to let his mother who was very traumatized by the disaster receive counseling from a local Christian pastor. I later heard that this was clearly something the Lord had ordained as this pastor had initially told CRASH that he was too busy to offer much help to them but if there was someone living in the area where he was in who needed counseling just once a week, he would be able to help.
CRASH has sent over 100 local and international volunteers to support this farmer and his family in this time and he has continued to be open to the help as well as the offers of Christian tracts and prayers with the volunteers. Considering his previous community involvement, the CRASH Sendai base staff feel strongly that he will be a leader in the transformation of his community for Christ once he comes to faith, so many are continuing to pray for his and his family’s salvation.
Through the partnership of CRASH and the Japanese churches throughout the country, we can see that the Lord has awakened the church in Japan through what has happened and is equipping and strengthening them for the harvest to come.
At the same time, the Lord is gathering His children from around the world to this land to be a united witness for Him, because He has commanded us to love one another and to let this love testify to the world that we are His disciples.
It has been a great joy and privilege to be a part of this mission team and of what the Lord is doing in Japan. Undeniably, much remains to be done, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Let us continue to ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up and send forth more labourers into this harvest field, for NOW is indeed the time for Japan to experience the Almighty God like never before.
Just as the Lord sees the suffering of the people in Tohoku, I know that He has also heard their cries (spoken and unspoken) from the way He is gathering His children from all over the world into this land to bring His salt of healing and His light of life.
At the same time, I know that He is hearing the prayers of His children for this nation, especially the Church in Japan as they cry out for His mercy and healing of their land that has long been difficult to sow and reap in.
It is so wonderful to know that our God is a God who hears our prayers and takes them seriously. During our team debriefs, we heard how He answered many of our prayers for physical strength and sustenance through previous injuries or health discomforts as we worked. Even when we felt helpless as we saw the extent of the devastation, He reminded us that we could still help through prayer. We’ve realized that heartfelt prayers are the best thing we can give the Japanese people and that the end of our 2 weeks in Miyagi prefecture was not the end of our involvement with Japan, but actually the beginning. May He find us faithful in continuing to pray for this nation.