I’m sure that many of you heard about the earthquake in Japan Thursday night. This was a huge aftershock (7.3) from last years 9.0 earthquake in the same area. Thankfully there was little damage reported and no casualties, however Tsunami warnings forced many to evacuate, out of fear of a repeat of last years catastrophic Tsunami.
Tomo’s family is safe and unharmed, so praise God for that. Her parents are currently serving as indigenous missionaries in Kamaishi, one of the cities that was hit hard by last year’s Tsunami. Her mother was at their home and heard Tsunami waning sirens going off, but since they live a safe distance from the coast she did not have to evacuate, however Tomo’s Dad was out with some volunteers ministering at a temporary housing complex in a neighboring town, and along with all the people living in the temporary housing (who were victims of last years Tsunami) had to evacuate to higher ground. Although ultimately there was no Tsunami this time, it was an incredibly stressful event for many of the people living there, particularly those in temporary housing who lost their homes a year an a half ago. Please be praying for God’s Peace to be brought into the hearts of these people, that through the work of Tomo’s parents and other Christians in the area that many would find a solid hope in Christ and an assurance of an eternal inheritance. And pray that God would send more Christian workers to this area!
Support update
Once a month we get a report from JEMS showing the gifts that have been given towards our ministry. November was the first full month with JEMS, so we were a little nervous to open the email and see if we still had any supporters now that we were with a new organization. (I’m joking a bit there, so many of you have already told us in person and over email of your continued commitment to partner with us, but still, this whole support raising thing puts weird thoughts into your mind.). We were blown away to see that through your generosity, God had provided an additional $4,845 of funds to help send us to Japan!
This was made up of a combination of special gifts, and monthly support sent in by supporters that were quick about filling out the paperwork and transitioning with us to JEMS. To all of you who gave in November, thank you so much. We’re praising God that 16 out of our 60 monthly supporters have already transitioned to JEMS with us, and that God has provided a number of new supporters this month as well. Also we have one new church committing to support us beginning in January, and another church has informed us of their plan to increase their support. Praise God!
If you were supporting us monthly while we were with SEND, and haven’t yet mailed in a new support form, please click here to download and print the form. If you intend to start supporting upon departure, please email us and let us know so that we can better plan our departure date, and also let you know how to begin supporting when the time comes.
Our greatest need is still for additional individuals and churches to commit to giving on a monthly basis during our first two year term in Japan which will begin in March. Please pray this week for God to provide the support we need to minister well in Japan. Pray for me to have courage in contacting new people, and that God will connect us with believers that are interested in partnering with us in prayer and/or financial giving. Pray for a deeper relationship and partnership with our sending churches, that we will be able to appropriately engage and invite them to participate in our ministry, and in so doing allow them to share in the blessings of being a part of the work that God is doing in this world.