Tuesday 5 Apr
Go to volunteer centre and Mrs Hoshi the lady in charge thanks me profusely for helping and asks if WE can use any volunteers - obviously there is a glut! Do water duty at Kimigaoka and Shiomidai. Have chat with the guy in charge about church - he lives opposite the one in Shichigahama. Ask at International Centre if they need anything and they want air deodorizer and pork, phone this through to church member Mrs Tada. Go looking for 83 year Mrs Abe Mii who used to visit us a lot but of her house only the foundations remain and there is no sign of her at the Matsugahama evacuation Centre near her house. Get a puncture from a big nail and get it fixed. There is so much debris on the narrow roads.
Wednesday 6 Apr
Water is still off, we hope it is fixed soon. Do Ladies meeting at church and finish Romans. Mrs T gives a testimony about how she was so upset by the tsunami, tearful and unable to sleep at night and then when Joel prayed for her last Sunday she felt a sudden peace come over her and she hasnt been anxious since. The return to Shichigahama is very slow. Now that petrol is available traffic is back to normal but the roads are narrowed with debris and many traffic lights are still out. Deliver pork and deodoriser to International centre. Go to Kimigaoka and Shiomidai water points in the afternoon. Stop off at the huge rubbish tip and chat to a guy there. He seems stunned when I talk about the Creator and the tsunami. I regret not giving him a tract. He says that the tsunami was 18 m here and 23m further up the coast. 900 homes have been lost in Shichigahama. Go round to the Shichigahama Church but nobody is there - it’s state sounds pretty dismal (there are 7 members, one who was killed in the tsunami, the pastor is sick, and some other members are depressed). Find that our water has come back on! Spend some time getting our toilet flush fixed- maybe dirty water had blocked the valve.
Thurs 7 Apr
I try to cancel the car tax by phone but keep losing reception but the patient lady at the other end keeps phoning back until she gets all my details and I can cancel the car registration. Thank you Lord!
Kawauchi the welder comes and arranges to fix the gate. Ask OMFers for special prayer to be able to have Bible Studies in the evacuation centres. At 2332 there is really strong (7.4) quake. This is violent and scary. No electricity, again. I see this quake as answer to prayer for the 3 evac centres and I am sure many people in them are very upset. 2 houses at Takayama have been broken into. Is this rightists threatening us or just thieves?
Friday 8 Apr
Still no electricity all day which is tiresome. No generator either. May the Lord lead me pastorally like He led Gideon, challenging him, helping his weakness, not upbraiding him etc. Feel I really have to act as if God is answering those prayers for the evac centres, so go to the International Centre and set out books below a small notice saying who Jesus is. Give 10l petrol for their generator. Chat to a few people there. Have a nice long chat with Mrs Agatsuma who sleeps in her car with her dog. She and her husband lost her house, shop, business and café to the tsunami at Yoshidahama. Interest her in the US house kits which a friend of mine is planning to import. She says 1/2 the people want to rebuild while the others never want to return. She is a tough determined lady. Give her bible and she thanks me for 'the reading matter'. Go off to the Community Centre evac centre. Put out book table but don’t stay long. Go off to the Yoshidahama Evac centre and when I ask the guy at the desk what the needs are he says 'healing of the heart'. He invites me in. Very interesting time and I virtually preach to the 10 people there.- I am asked why did God send the tsunami, is this a trial? (no), a punishment? (no) but it is a warning to repent! God is now seeking you and Jesus loves sinners etc. Go to get bibles and then find I’m not allowed back in! This is disappointing and catches me off guard. Now it is over to God. Acts 4:30 “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” I commit them to you! Apparently the last big tsunami was 870 AD - they know this from archaeology and mud deposits.
Sat 9 Apr
Electricity comes on! 2 Tim 1 - Don't be ashamed of 1. the gospel, 2. those who suffer for the gospel v8 or 3. the actual suffering itself v12. Go up to Int Centre. Give some muffins from Glenda to Mishima’s room - only Mrs Watanabe is there. She is chatty and says how she has seen Glenda reading while walking on the beach and once gave her an orange! There is a big clothes shop going on and my books have disappeared but not the notice. At the Community Centre there is another shop going on and everything has disappeared. Another chat with Agatsuma.
Sun 10 Apr
Go to flat with fridge etc. We have 31 adults in church, 3 visitors, so numbers are back to normal even though Oshima is still in Korea, Kuroda in Yokohama etc. Preach on Ps 115 in Japanese service. The only way to glorify Jesus is push ourselves down, like Paul! Warn against depression which renders us useless. We all hand out tracts between services. This is so important - to keep on evangelising and not to get sidetracked. Speak on Mark 4 - storm on the lake- in the English service. Take charcoal to Int Centre. They don’t want old clothes.
Mon 11 Apr
Visit 83 yrold Mrs Abe in Shiomidai Minami who is staying with relatives. She is pleased to see me and adores Glenda. She said she was visiting the hospital with a sore leg and thus was saved from the tsunami - I ask her who ordered that and she said Jesus (but she will not give up her shrines and ancestor worship). 2nd visit to the church here but no one is home. Volunteer team of 6 from Tokyo Bible college arrive at night when it is raining.
Tues 12 Apr
Go through to Bible Study at church, there are 5 and we do the wilderness judgements and Joshua as preparation for studying Judges. Get certificates from Ward Office. Earthquake (mag 6) on the way into Sendai - the car bounces up and down on the Hirose bridge. Walk with Glenda on the beach. Come back with more wood. No water from 10pm...Apparently they need to fix the waste water system!
Wed 13 Apr
Still feeling frustrated and at a loose end. Glenda goes off to Ladies Meeting. See a military crane so go and ask if they can lift my car out (so it can be scrapped) but they are still looking for missing people ie bodies. Talk to Mrs Kamata and her family who are watching this crane smash up her house’s 2nd floor which had washed 100m away from where it once stood. She built this house 4 years ago and still has to pay for the loan! Tell her about Phil’s US house kits. 78 dead and 15 missing. Go to prayer meeting and there are 6 men - we have a good time as we pray for breakthrough. Hear part of this blog will be published in Evangelicals Now.
Thurs 14 Apr
Warm day. Meet another Mrs Endo opposite where I am re-setting the paving stones. She said that 1/2 the people here are called Endo and they are all related (so it's a bit like a Welsh valley). Her house survived even though the wave came up to the top of the ground floor and was directly in it's path. Everything is filled with sand. Talk about God, the tsunami and repentance. She broadly agrees and says that Ishihara (the rightwing Tokyo governor who is a bit of a fruitcake) says that this was a judgement from heaven (hmm...if it really was the whole of Japan would have been wiped out, still it is interesting that he should say that). She stops short of believing. Apparently there was a small tsunami in 1960s but it didn't go over the seawall. 1 Sam. 14:36 - brave priest. Pray that God will set Japan free. A waste of a day spent in front of the computer.
Friday 15 Aprl
1 Sam 15 Saul was small in his own eyes - so he didn’t think what he did was important - was sent on a mission- yet flew upon the spoil- don’t be like him. AoG team help me re-erect some fences on the edge of the Takayama - these will cost a lot to fix. Feel great after a bucket shower. Do water duty at Ekiraku elementary school with 2 army guys. They use a water trailer pulled by an army truck - on each side there are 3 taps so really you need a team of six. So I spend 2 hours busily filling bottles for a long queue of people to the gratitude of soldiers. One bows like a safety pin afterwards and gives me his tinned coffee! These young guys are also part of the mission field.
Sat 16 Apr
Phone Mrs Kamata - she is no longer going to see my US house contact as arranged- she seemed to say it is too early and the municipality hasnt given permission to rebuild on low ground yet. Prepare sermon. Go to Kimigaoka Water point. Crowds of people. Very busy as I’m the only volunteer helping the army water trucks again - 3 taps to one guy. Long queues as the water trucks run out of water. Some are irritable with me! Most though are friendly. Meet one lady who says she had just moved back from Yokohama, when I witness to her she says that she used to come to church as a child at Takayama, not the first old person who has told me that. Maybe that seed sown will bare fruit. Again get on well with the soldiers. At Inter Centre meet Mr Sato, he is a fisherman and has lost his house, his boat, his business, car and 2 family members. What can I say? Only that the God who took everything away is the only hope to give back, and that I will pray to God for him. This was very inadequate.
Sun 17 Apr
Drive through Natori and Iwanuma coastal areas with Glenda. In Japanese service preach on the Meaning of the Cross (for our sins, as our example, to cope with suffering). 39 adults. Budget meeting goes well. Glenda's hearing aid sent by Dad in UK arrives! Ps 107 in English Service. God redeems but he upsets the status quo v32ff to do so. 'He turns the fruitful field into a salty waste': he has certainly done that here. (Some say it will be 10 years before rice can be planted again in the inundated areas). We are supposed to be awestruck by the storm even while it threatens our life (v24). Makiko the middle school teacher attends. Her school in Watari was flooded and 400 people were stranded on the 2nd floor for 2 days w/o food or water. To me it is noticeable that Christians are becoming more zealous and God-centred...
Mon 18 Apr
Mrs Aoki from the Water Board tells me that the water is now drinkable so the water distribution has finally ceased. So in the 38 days since the quake we had no running water for 30 days or electricity for 29 days. We have 39 volunteers in 2 huge teams staying at Takayama in 4 houses and I have to get the LP gas working in one of them.
Tues 19 Apr
Pouring with rain. After the Bible Study I am sitting at the Transport Office getting a scrap certificate for our old car. There is a 4 hour wait because so many cars were destroyed by the tsunami. Long and boring and they should have increased their capacity to cope with the numbers. 2 old women sit next to me and I overhear them, “Is he reading English?’, " No he is reading Japanese’, "it’s a bible" so I start talking to one of them and she used to go to Sunday School and was defensive when challenged but I told her straight. Cold and snowy in the evening.
Wed 20 Apr
1 Sam 30:6 David strengthened himself in the Lord. Glenda goes off to Ladies Meeting. Go to Endo the carpenter and he will have the AoG team from Thurs. He lost his house and everything in it. His large warehouse remains but his wood is covered with mud (in Japan carpenters build houses). Go to church prayer meeting.
Thurs 21 Apr
Spend all day cleaning off Endo’s wood with 3 of AoG team using two water jets.
Fri 22 Apr
Spend morning cleaning off Endo’s wood with the 9 of the AoG team. They are cheerful and bright and create a good impression, and old Endo is very buoyant, full of good humour and is obviously encouraged - a big change. The young athletic guy from Saitama who I did water duty with stops in the road to say goodbye. Go to International Centre and meet policeman and woman. They are friendly and talkative and I can chat about the Lord and give them bibles which they accept.
Sat 23 Apr
Prepare sermon, carry up timber. Pouring with rain all day and windy. Visit the Shichigahama church and again no one is there. Glenda and I go for a walk along the beach, but 3 police buses stop, policemen pour out and tell us a tsunami is coming. So we rush off the beach. They try to take us to the evacuation centre but we say we are going up to our cabin. Phone Wendy to warn her. We go to the cliff to look: there is no tsunami. We later find out that this is a storm surge warning. We can expect many false alarms now.
Friday, 22 April 2011
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Prayer Letter Tsunami Part 2 April
Dear Prayer Partners
Thank you for upholding us in prayer. We have had good opportunities and many open doors to tell the gospel and have had meaningful interaction with many people here. No conversions that we know of yet.
Pray for
1. The Japanese church and the missionary community to speak the gospel with boldness. In Acts 4:31 we read of two miracles, an earthquake and the church speaking the gospel with boldness. In Japan God has done the one, now we need the other. Only a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit will give us that boldness inspired by conviction and joy to speak with irresistible clarity. (BTW we have never prayed for any disaster to strike Japan but we do see God's hand in the tsunami especially as we had been praying at church prayer meetings for revival).
2. God to truly convert many to faith in Christ and churches to be planted in these devastated coastal areas, especially Shichigahama. Tsunamis don't convert anybody (neither do atom bombs, nuclear meltdown etc) they are simply not powerful enough. The only power that can humble the pride of the Japanese (or anybody else) so that they willingly give themselves to Christ, is the gospel of the grace of God.
Please pray for these two big items (and I don't see the second fulfilled without the first).
We continue to be well and provided for. Electricity was restored a week ago, water should be soon, and telephone lines and internet maybe a little longer. Petrol is very short and so we havent had midweek meetings at church for 3 weeks, though we are starting this week. Shops are slowly opening.
The Christian relief effort has been small-scale but effective and we have been involved guiding in supply trucks and introducing them to the Town Office and evacuation centres and delivering smaller quantities ourselves, which generates enormous goodwill. Our main role is telling the gospel whenever possible and encouraging the church members to live out the gospel and be evangelistic. Rod is working as a volunteer driving people back to their homes with the water they have collected for their families. This work has given us many friends and warm relationships and opportunities. Please pray for guidance for the next step. We would like to have bible studies at the evacuation centres...
We have got a flat near the church but can't move in without a hiring a truck which is difficult in Sendai now and because the opportunities are here at Shichigahama at the moment.
Christine will be staying with a dorm friend in Bangalore for Hebron's April halfterm and then will do her AS level exams. Esther continues her street work in Cape Town and writes a better prayer letter than we do (if you'd like them please email her at estar_123thomas456@hotmail.com Please remove the numbers before emailing).
I will leave it there. I have appended part 2 of our tsunami diary.
Thanks again
Rod & Glenda Thomas
Sendai Evangelical Christian Church, Nishi Nakada 5-27-40, Taihaku Ku, Sendai, 981-1105, JAPAN
+81-90-8256-2408
For tsunami pictures and our blog see
http://rodthomas.drivehq.com/mission/welcome.html
Tsunami diary part 2
Wednesday. 23rd March. Do the washing up in rain water and burn some rubbish but decide not to again in case someone calls the fire brigade which would cause hassle. Young people are busy helping at the No 1 Sports Ground water point and doing a good job keeping people amused with their silly sense of humour. One young guy enjoys teasing me but I give as good as I get, and he becomes much more respectful after hearing my age! Glenda makes two large date cakes which I take round to the Mishima's room in the International Centre. Only Mrs Aizawa is in but she is very appreciative. In the afternoon we are moved to a different water point near Yamazawa. This is slow because there is only one water truck but no one needs a lift because they all live close by. The man in charge doesnt like me offering lifts and says 'We Japanese don't give lifts to each other' … Hmm. They do when they become Christians. So happy that I can buy some apples, tomatoes, and lettuce at vegetable stall set out by an enterprising green grocer - how civilized!- now I feel the end of this ordeal is in sight.
Thursday, 24 March
Announce to my line of water-seekers that I am happy to give a lift to anyone who is elderly or who has walked a long way and they mustn't worry about the petrol because I am a church pastor so the petrol belongs to Jesus Christ. There is a stunned silence. Jim says he can get us a generator! Gets very cold and dark in the afternoon. Water distribution is poorly organised. They keep people waiting for over an hour and then when the truck runs out of water they tell them that they must wait another 30 minutes! When it starts to rain the remainder disperse and I can sense their anger.
Friday, 25 March
Josh 6-7 The walls of Jericho fall down, each man does his duty, except one who tries to get rich, may that not be me. If Japan is like Jericho, only God can bring down its walls. It will take more than 2 atom bombs, defeat in WWII, a huge tsunami to break the pride of the Japanese people. It will take the gospel of the grace of God which is stronger than all these combined. Maybe the generator is no good it might need a inverter. I am told by one lady that her sister Yoshiko is missing. Tell her I will pray. Endo (it seems every second person in Shichigahama is called Endo) tells people waiting for water that I am good bloke and not a strange foreigner! Strong earthquake in the evening, like yesterday. In the afternoon go around some of the wrecked homes to help people clear up but they are waiting for their insurance assessors to see the damage first. We are blessed by a surprise visit from the Jabushes, Canadian family who come to our church. They bring lots of supplies, (water, rice, apples, veg, cake, etc), so kind and thoughtful. They had to move out of their rented house after the quake as it nearly fell down and is irreparable.
Saturday, 26th March
Tiring day even though I only do morning water duty. Jim comes with a lot of supplies which we drop stuff off at the International Centre and he has a generator for us. The Town Office are pleased with the hygiene boxes from Samaritan's Purse and could use another 1000! Take 2 blue sheets to someone in Ekiraku, hygiene packs to Endo and Ito, and paraffin to Ito, hygiene pack and groceries to Aikawa, take 3 bottles to lady in Shiomidai. Meet Joel who comes with about 120 hygiene boxes which we take to the Town Office who are very grateful. Generator seems OK and hasn't fried my Mac yet. Thanks Jim! It is from Food for the Hungry, and the sticker says 'Hunger Zero Africa'. I wonder where it has been in its lifetime. Another earthquake about magnitude 5. There are 1300 people are in evacuation centres in Shichigahama, 300 of whom are in the International Centre. There are 75 dead and 18 missing - not too bad considering that 900 houses were washed away. The low casualty rate shows how well prepared Shichigahama a town of 21,000 was for the tsunami. We were given 40 minutes warning of the wave by loudspeaker. The evacuation and procedures had been all rehearsed in advance. I have heard of some villages of 200 that had the same number of deaths. Rain in the night which gives us lots of 'toilet flushing water'. End the week with more petrol than I started: Matt 6:33 proved!
Sunday, 27th March
Go to church and pass a queue for petrol, there are 94 cars in the road which continues round the corner and so we give up counting. Members responded very well to request for veg and fruit which I take to International Centre to their gratitude. 17 people come to church. Speak on boldness Acts 4:31: on how God does 2 miracles; the earthquake and making his church bold. God has done the one, now He must make his church bold because now is the time to tell the gospel. We pray for boldness in both services. I am told that 2 members are doing volunteer work and can't come to church. This is wrong. They need the means of grace - I know do! Forget all about the annual budget meeting we had scheduled but so did everybody else! So we have a short believer's instead and discuss the month's schedule and Easter which seems a long time away. It is surreal to go to Nishi Nakada to see everything undamaged after the splintered wreckage and devastation of the coast. In fact I get slight culture shock when I go there. On the coast people are easy going, friendly, help each other, are easy to talk to, tolerant and patient: back in the city they are formal, easily irritated, rule-bound, busy and don't greet you in the street. There has always been this difference between city and country in Japan but the disaster has accentuated it. (Though that doesn't mean people on the coast are more open to the gospel). When we come back the electricity is on!
Monday 28th March
Most days are sunny now which is great! According to Josh 9:23 it was a curse to be a drawer of water. Well that is what I am now for the sake of the gospel. But I'm quite happy about it. Go to Sakaiyama water point but few people so Mr Sato takes me to the Koyo Middle school water point. He refuses a lift back and walks instead - typical of the self-sacrificial, hardworking Japanese official. They may not be Christians but I think we can trust them to be incorrupt with aid that we deliver to the Town Office. Some Christian organisations avoid contact with such officials. One young guy with Tohoku Gakuin written on his track suit is amazed that I was the pastor there, preaching at the morning worship on 11th March a few hours before the tsunami. Meet OMF team from Chiba at Town Office and deliver their 2 car loads of veg etc to Town Office to the Relief Officer and Mayor (both have lost their houses) and very grateful. At last OMF has sent something. Better late than never! Mr Ogino, the kayaking enthusiast tells me he has found his sea kayak - still wrapped in plastic, undamaged and 500m away from his smashed house. Congratulate him and agree to go out paddling together. Jim turns up with a few hundred boxes of hygiene packs. Take some veg to the International Centre. This is good for the gospel and good for OMF. See old lady in the car park who expresses the need for a warm jacket but stupidly forget to ask her name, but I find one at home and get it ready just in case. Have tea in our cabin with 12 missionaries!
Tues 29th March
Sunny and warm. Do water duty at Koyo Middle School. Give about 4 lifts. I go to the International Centre and find the old lady I promised a coat too (she is the first one I see) - answered prayer. She beams delightedly in her smart navy coat. Do water duty at Wa-fu. The military are still spending a long time looking for bodies though they have started clearing rubbish and taking it to a huge tip next to the International centre.
Wed 30th March
Sunny and warm and rains in the evening. Do water duty at Koyo Middle School. Visit Mrs Mishima, she is sitting on a rock in her garden looking thru letters and her bank book. Tell her the gospel, pray for her with her. Give her a tract and some OMF aid money. She makes me think of the stiff upper lip and cheerfulness that Japanese are widely reported to be showing in this adversity. In some ways you admire it but it is also just one more defence against God and reality (how much better for them to turn to Him, recognise that He has done it and say in tears, 'why?', and then they would find Him). The temporary housing being erected on the sports field is growing daily and will soon house 100 families. Two quakes. When a quake starts I freeze and pray that it wont be big and then give thanks when it subsides.
Thurs 31th March
Raining. Read about Peter in Mark 14. I am more likely to copy Him denying the Lord than boldly proclaiming Him as in Acts 2. Pray against this. When it comes to being useful here in the kingdom of God. I sometimes just don't know what to do.. I feel like Jake in Avatar 'Baby.. Moron'. Pray about this too... for opportunities, that I will use them and that I will say what I should as per Eph 6:19-20. Joy in the Lord is the absolute key. Help people in the pouring rain. Feel very cheerful. Not many 'customers' but more people want lifts. Anda tells me about a family near the harbour in Yoshidahama who heard the tsunami warning and had to decide between saving their bedridden Granny and their young child. They chose their child and left their Granny who dies. How important it is to tell people like that about the Saviour of sinners.
Fri 1 Apr
Do the morning shift at Koyo Middle School water point. One old guy asks me to take him home because his back is sore. Until now he has refused me. He is quite talkative. Load the car with stuff and go to get the key to the flat in Nishi Nakada. On returning I have a nice chat with a middle-aged couple near the fire station and give them a tract and an NT. Bill Parris brings some veg and toilet paper etc, most of which I take thru to the International Centre. Many kind people have shown love to us and enabled us to give. Be careful of not misusing all the goodwill this help generates - it is to open hearts to the gospel not to me. Psa. 115:1 'Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.' It is a definite pitfall in giving aid that one accepts thanks and praise without giving God the glory or telling the gospel. Decide to preach on this text.
Sat 2 Apr
Go to water station and meet Dutch Christian free-lance journalist Dietrich. He helps out carrying water for people and obviously enjoys it. There is a lot of goodwill generated which we hope points to Jesus Christ. Rumours are a persistent feature of disasters. (First it was that our house had been destroyed, then it was Mrs Ansai's house had been destroyed, now it is when water be restored.) Frequent tremors today. Prepare sermon and then realise that it is Joel's turn.
Sun 3 Apr
On the way to church we see that Tagajo is still a mess with lots of wrecked trucks and cars by the side of the road and lots of dead traffic lights which Japanese seem to ignore and travel though at full speed (unlike South Africans who are used to faulty 'robots' and treat them nonchalantly as 4-way stops). The church members excel themselves in bringing fresh veg and fruit. Mrs Tada volunteers to buy 20000 yen worth of vegetables with OMF aid money. 29 adults in church which is better, maybe my email in which I told them that attending church in these times is essential, was effective.
Mon 4 Apr
Judges 5:2 It is a sign of God's blessing when leaders lead and people serve willingly. Dan Iverson's group is going up the coast to feed hundreds of people. He has a great attitude. Give him tracts to distribute. As I go off to do the volunteer water station work, I see a big black car in parking lot and later find out that 3 men had been sitting on our deck smoking and drinking, one of them is dressed in military gear: Glenda sensibly locks herself in. I assume they are rightists come to check on the 'foreigners'. (They are probably taking their lead from Tokyo governor Ishihara who said that all foreigners should be locked up in the case of a major disaster in case they turn to crime!). Later I tell the police. Go to water point but there are very few people because the water has come on in that area - but is it still not drinkable. I go to the Mishimas and help him to wash all the mud off his shop. I'm given lunch, say grace and have a good chat and talk about the Lord. On the way back drop in to Endo the builder having lunch outside his warehouse. He and his son have lost their homes and they seem depressed. I lend him some tools. Take a lady back in afternoon from Wa-fu to Shiomodai and find that I had already given her a tract earlier. Chat to Mrs Futo clearing up her house. 'Lord speak to me that I may speak...' is a great hymn for such a time as this (all 7 verses).
Thank you for upholding us in prayer. We have had good opportunities and many open doors to tell the gospel and have had meaningful interaction with many people here. No conversions that we know of yet.
Pray for
1. The Japanese church and the missionary community to speak the gospel with boldness. In Acts 4:31 we read of two miracles, an earthquake and the church speaking the gospel with boldness. In Japan God has done the one, now we need the other. Only a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit will give us that boldness inspired by conviction and joy to speak with irresistible clarity. (BTW we have never prayed for any disaster to strike Japan but we do see God's hand in the tsunami especially as we had been praying at church prayer meetings for revival).
2. God to truly convert many to faith in Christ and churches to be planted in these devastated coastal areas, especially Shichigahama. Tsunamis don't convert anybody (neither do atom bombs, nuclear meltdown etc) they are simply not powerful enough. The only power that can humble the pride of the Japanese (or anybody else) so that they willingly give themselves to Christ, is the gospel of the grace of God.
Please pray for these two big items (and I don't see the second fulfilled without the first).
We continue to be well and provided for. Electricity was restored a week ago, water should be soon, and telephone lines and internet maybe a little longer. Petrol is very short and so we havent had midweek meetings at church for 3 weeks, though we are starting this week. Shops are slowly opening.
The Christian relief effort has been small-scale but effective and we have been involved guiding in supply trucks and introducing them to the Town Office and evacuation centres and delivering smaller quantities ourselves, which generates enormous goodwill. Our main role is telling the gospel whenever possible and encouraging the church members to live out the gospel and be evangelistic. Rod is working as a volunteer driving people back to their homes with the water they have collected for their families. This work has given us many friends and warm relationships and opportunities. Please pray for guidance for the next step. We would like to have bible studies at the evacuation centres...
We have got a flat near the church but can't move in without a hiring a truck which is difficult in Sendai now and because the opportunities are here at Shichigahama at the moment.
Christine will be staying with a dorm friend in Bangalore for Hebron's April halfterm and then will do her AS level exams. Esther continues her street work in Cape Town and writes a better prayer letter than we do (if you'd like them please email her at estar_123thomas456@hotmail.com Please remove the numbers before emailing).
I will leave it there. I have appended part 2 of our tsunami diary.
Thanks again
Rod & Glenda Thomas
Sendai Evangelical Christian Church, Nishi Nakada 5-27-40, Taihaku Ku, Sendai, 981-1105, JAPAN
+81-90-8256-2408
For tsunami pictures and our blog see
http://rodthomas.drivehq.com/mission/welcome.html
Tsunami diary part 2
Wednesday. 23rd March. Do the washing up in rain water and burn some rubbish but decide not to again in case someone calls the fire brigade which would cause hassle. Young people are busy helping at the No 1 Sports Ground water point and doing a good job keeping people amused with their silly sense of humour. One young guy enjoys teasing me but I give as good as I get, and he becomes much more respectful after hearing my age! Glenda makes two large date cakes which I take round to the Mishima's room in the International Centre. Only Mrs Aizawa is in but she is very appreciative. In the afternoon we are moved to a different water point near Yamazawa. This is slow because there is only one water truck but no one needs a lift because they all live close by. The man in charge doesnt like me offering lifts and says 'We Japanese don't give lifts to each other' … Hmm. They do when they become Christians. So happy that I can buy some apples, tomatoes, and lettuce at vegetable stall set out by an enterprising green grocer - how civilized!- now I feel the end of this ordeal is in sight.
Thursday, 24 March
Announce to my line of water-seekers that I am happy to give a lift to anyone who is elderly or who has walked a long way and they mustn't worry about the petrol because I am a church pastor so the petrol belongs to Jesus Christ. There is a stunned silence. Jim says he can get us a generator! Gets very cold and dark in the afternoon. Water distribution is poorly organised. They keep people waiting for over an hour and then when the truck runs out of water they tell them that they must wait another 30 minutes! When it starts to rain the remainder disperse and I can sense their anger.
Friday, 25 March
Josh 6-7 The walls of Jericho fall down, each man does his duty, except one who tries to get rich, may that not be me. If Japan is like Jericho, only God can bring down its walls. It will take more than 2 atom bombs, defeat in WWII, a huge tsunami to break the pride of the Japanese people. It will take the gospel of the grace of God which is stronger than all these combined. Maybe the generator is no good it might need a inverter. I am told by one lady that her sister Yoshiko is missing. Tell her I will pray. Endo (it seems every second person in Shichigahama is called Endo) tells people waiting for water that I am good bloke and not a strange foreigner! Strong earthquake in the evening, like yesterday. In the afternoon go around some of the wrecked homes to help people clear up but they are waiting for their insurance assessors to see the damage first. We are blessed by a surprise visit from the Jabushes, Canadian family who come to our church. They bring lots of supplies, (water, rice, apples, veg, cake, etc), so kind and thoughtful. They had to move out of their rented house after the quake as it nearly fell down and is irreparable.
Saturday, 26th March
Tiring day even though I only do morning water duty. Jim comes with a lot of supplies which we drop stuff off at the International Centre and he has a generator for us. The Town Office are pleased with the hygiene boxes from Samaritan's Purse and could use another 1000! Take 2 blue sheets to someone in Ekiraku, hygiene packs to Endo and Ito, and paraffin to Ito, hygiene pack and groceries to Aikawa, take 3 bottles to lady in Shiomidai. Meet Joel who comes with about 120 hygiene boxes which we take to the Town Office who are very grateful. Generator seems OK and hasn't fried my Mac yet. Thanks Jim! It is from Food for the Hungry, and the sticker says 'Hunger Zero Africa'. I wonder where it has been in its lifetime. Another earthquake about magnitude 5. There are 1300 people are in evacuation centres in Shichigahama, 300 of whom are in the International Centre. There are 75 dead and 18 missing - not too bad considering that 900 houses were washed away. The low casualty rate shows how well prepared Shichigahama a town of 21,000 was for the tsunami. We were given 40 minutes warning of the wave by loudspeaker. The evacuation and procedures had been all rehearsed in advance. I have heard of some villages of 200 that had the same number of deaths. Rain in the night which gives us lots of 'toilet flushing water'. End the week with more petrol than I started: Matt 6:33 proved!
Sunday, 27th March
Go to church and pass a queue for petrol, there are 94 cars in the road which continues round the corner and so we give up counting. Members responded very well to request for veg and fruit which I take to International Centre to their gratitude. 17 people come to church. Speak on boldness Acts 4:31: on how God does 2 miracles; the earthquake and making his church bold. God has done the one, now He must make his church bold because now is the time to tell the gospel. We pray for boldness in both services. I am told that 2 members are doing volunteer work and can't come to church. This is wrong. They need the means of grace - I know do! Forget all about the annual budget meeting we had scheduled but so did everybody else! So we have a short believer's instead and discuss the month's schedule and Easter which seems a long time away. It is surreal to go to Nishi Nakada to see everything undamaged after the splintered wreckage and devastation of the coast. In fact I get slight culture shock when I go there. On the coast people are easy going, friendly, help each other, are easy to talk to, tolerant and patient: back in the city they are formal, easily irritated, rule-bound, busy and don't greet you in the street. There has always been this difference between city and country in Japan but the disaster has accentuated it. (Though that doesn't mean people on the coast are more open to the gospel). When we come back the electricity is on!
Monday 28th March
Most days are sunny now which is great! According to Josh 9:23 it was a curse to be a drawer of water. Well that is what I am now for the sake of the gospel. But I'm quite happy about it. Go to Sakaiyama water point but few people so Mr Sato takes me to the Koyo Middle school water point. He refuses a lift back and walks instead - typical of the self-sacrificial, hardworking Japanese official. They may not be Christians but I think we can trust them to be incorrupt with aid that we deliver to the Town Office. Some Christian organisations avoid contact with such officials. One young guy with Tohoku Gakuin written on his track suit is amazed that I was the pastor there, preaching at the morning worship on 11th March a few hours before the tsunami. Meet OMF team from Chiba at Town Office and deliver their 2 car loads of veg etc to Town Office to the Relief Officer and Mayor (both have lost their houses) and very grateful. At last OMF has sent something. Better late than never! Mr Ogino, the kayaking enthusiast tells me he has found his sea kayak - still wrapped in plastic, undamaged and 500m away from his smashed house. Congratulate him and agree to go out paddling together. Jim turns up with a few hundred boxes of hygiene packs. Take some veg to the International Centre. This is good for the gospel and good for OMF. See old lady in the car park who expresses the need for a warm jacket but stupidly forget to ask her name, but I find one at home and get it ready just in case. Have tea in our cabin with 12 missionaries!
Tues 29th March
Sunny and warm. Do water duty at Koyo Middle School. Give about 4 lifts. I go to the International Centre and find the old lady I promised a coat too (she is the first one I see) - answered prayer. She beams delightedly in her smart navy coat. Do water duty at Wa-fu. The military are still spending a long time looking for bodies though they have started clearing rubbish and taking it to a huge tip next to the International centre.
Wed 30th March
Sunny and warm and rains in the evening. Do water duty at Koyo Middle School. Visit Mrs Mishima, she is sitting on a rock in her garden looking thru letters and her bank book. Tell her the gospel, pray for her with her. Give her a tract and some OMF aid money. She makes me think of the stiff upper lip and cheerfulness that Japanese are widely reported to be showing in this adversity. In some ways you admire it but it is also just one more defence against God and reality (how much better for them to turn to Him, recognise that He has done it and say in tears, 'why?', and then they would find Him). The temporary housing being erected on the sports field is growing daily and will soon house 100 families. Two quakes. When a quake starts I freeze and pray that it wont be big and then give thanks when it subsides.
Thurs 31th March
Raining. Read about Peter in Mark 14. I am more likely to copy Him denying the Lord than boldly proclaiming Him as in Acts 2. Pray against this. When it comes to being useful here in the kingdom of God. I sometimes just don't know what to do.. I feel like Jake in Avatar 'Baby.. Moron'. Pray about this too... for opportunities, that I will use them and that I will say what I should as per Eph 6:19-20. Joy in the Lord is the absolute key. Help people in the pouring rain. Feel very cheerful. Not many 'customers' but more people want lifts. Anda tells me about a family near the harbour in Yoshidahama who heard the tsunami warning and had to decide between saving their bedridden Granny and their young child. They chose their child and left their Granny who dies. How important it is to tell people like that about the Saviour of sinners.
Fri 1 Apr
Do the morning shift at Koyo Middle School water point. One old guy asks me to take him home because his back is sore. Until now he has refused me. He is quite talkative. Load the car with stuff and go to get the key to the flat in Nishi Nakada. On returning I have a nice chat with a middle-aged couple near the fire station and give them a tract and an NT. Bill Parris brings some veg and toilet paper etc, most of which I take thru to the International Centre. Many kind people have shown love to us and enabled us to give. Be careful of not misusing all the goodwill this help generates - it is to open hearts to the gospel not to me. Psa. 115:1 'Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.' It is a definite pitfall in giving aid that one accepts thanks and praise without giving God the glory or telling the gospel. Decide to preach on this text.
Sat 2 Apr
Go to water station and meet Dutch Christian free-lance journalist Dietrich. He helps out carrying water for people and obviously enjoys it. There is a lot of goodwill generated which we hope points to Jesus Christ. Rumours are a persistent feature of disasters. (First it was that our house had been destroyed, then it was Mrs Ansai's house had been destroyed, now it is when water be restored.) Frequent tremors today. Prepare sermon and then realise that it is Joel's turn.
Sun 3 Apr
On the way to church we see that Tagajo is still a mess with lots of wrecked trucks and cars by the side of the road and lots of dead traffic lights which Japanese seem to ignore and travel though at full speed (unlike South Africans who are used to faulty 'robots' and treat them nonchalantly as 4-way stops). The church members excel themselves in bringing fresh veg and fruit. Mrs Tada volunteers to buy 20000 yen worth of vegetables with OMF aid money. 29 adults in church which is better, maybe my email in which I told them that attending church in these times is essential, was effective.
Mon 4 Apr
Judges 5:2 It is a sign of God's blessing when leaders lead and people serve willingly. Dan Iverson's group is going up the coast to feed hundreds of people. He has a great attitude. Give him tracts to distribute. As I go off to do the volunteer water station work, I see a big black car in parking lot and later find out that 3 men had been sitting on our deck smoking and drinking, one of them is dressed in military gear: Glenda sensibly locks herself in. I assume they are rightists come to check on the 'foreigners'. (They are probably taking their lead from Tokyo governor Ishihara who said that all foreigners should be locked up in the case of a major disaster in case they turn to crime!). Later I tell the police. Go to water point but there are very few people because the water has come on in that area - but is it still not drinkable. I go to the Mishimas and help him to wash all the mud off his shop. I'm given lunch, say grace and have a good chat and talk about the Lord. On the way back drop in to Endo the builder having lunch outside his warehouse. He and his son have lost their homes and they seem depressed. I lend him some tools. Take a lady back in afternoon from Wa-fu to Shiomodai and find that I had already given her a tract earlier. Chat to Mrs Futo clearing up her house. 'Lord speak to me that I may speak...' is a great hymn for such a time as this (all 7 verses).
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