In the second temporary housing area, a grandmother approached the van and kept saying, “Ningyo,” (doll). In talking with her, the team the team discovered that she had lost her daughter-in-law in the tsunami, after which her son and six year old granddaughter had come to live with her. The grandmother had been wanting a doll for her granddaughter because the child had been crying for one. BB and her team told her that God provided in a marvelous way! A group of young GA’s in the States had made homemade dolls and had made a group picture to go with each doll being held by the child who had made it. As the doll for six-year old, Yua, was given to the grandmother, she hugged the doll—as if it were for her—and began crying! BB embraced her for several minutes. Words were not necessary!

While at the same temporary housing area, the team had a third encounter with Yu, a Japanese wife who had expressed a strong interest in the Bible, although not a Christian. Since her Bible had been washed away in the tsunami, BB had promised and delivered a full Bible to her because she kept saying how much she had enjoyed reading the Book of Genesis. On the day of delivery of the Bible, Yu greeted the team and broke into a full smile when she saw it. Although the conversation had always been in Japanese, she joyfully shouted in English, “Genesis” and “Hungry for God”! After sharing and praying for her needs, the team left with a promise to return.

At the third encounter with Yu she and her mother had baked a cake for the volunteers and BB and brought it to the table outside where all were enjoying playing “Bingo” with the temporary housing residents. You could sense a feeling of joy and community there! Before leaving, Yu agreed to meet for Bible Study at her small temporary house during the first week of December to learn more about Christianity and the Bible. Thank you, Lord! What a day!

Written by Brenda Burch

What’s in a cup! Well a lot can be in a cup. Tea, coffee, even HOPE for the future.

Mrs. Oga went back to the place where her home had been before the tsunami. She dug through the silt and mud and as she did she found five of her fine china cups buried deep inside. There was not one scratch on them. She carefully took them home, washed the dirt away and thought about the past, the tsunami and the future. That these cups had survived such a destructive force, intact and unscratched, caused her to look at the future and have hope that she too could survive and face the future.

She did not survive unaffected, but she had a smile on her face as she shared her story and each time she uses the cups she remembers. She read the Bible as a child and is now remembering some of the things she heard. Pray for her and her husband to be saved.

This past Sunday Tak and Lana (we)  visited Mrs. Oga and her husband, had coffee from those very cups. We once again talked about the cups as we delivered packages of winter supplies from Taiwan. We also delivered a hot carpet that was donated by a church in Ohio and she was so excited she threw herself face down on the carpet and rubbed the soft mat. After our coffee, we read the Bible and prayed together.

But, back to “what’s in a cup”. The cups also affected a volunteer from Georgia who was part of a clown team from Fayetteville. She heard Mrs. Oga’s story and was so blessed by her courage that she summed up her volunteer trip with that story. I wish you could hear her testimony!!

The volunteer wanted to buy a cup to take home as a reminder and when we took her to store she found exactly the same cups that Mrs. Oga had. That was a very unlikely thing since we went to a Walmart type store and these cups were fine Narumi china. Definitely a God thing!!! The only ones in the store were on display so she bought them and took them home to America. In the midst of destruction left by the tsunami, there are bright spots and little things that give people hope!!

These cups will remind the volunteer from GA and others that she shares with to pray for Mrs. Oga, her husband and the tens of thousands of others that were affected by the tsunami. Will you join her???

Takamatsu is the prefectural capitol and is designated a core city, which means it is carries out many functions usually performed by prefectural governments. Most of the national government’s branch offices for Shikoku Island are located there.

The city of Takamatsu has a population of 419,00 with over 600.000 in the greater metro area, making it the largest metro area on Shikoku. It has a large concentration of nationwide companies’ branch offices that play a large role in its economy.

During the feudal era in Japan, Takamatsu flourished as a castle town and the castle tower became the symbol of the city. The tower was destroyed during the late 1800’s. In  2004, the Symbol Tower, the new symbol of Takamatsu, was completed near the main train station and shopping district.

The city’s major tourist attraction is the Risturin Park. This beautiful garden took over 100 years to complete and was improved on for another 100 before being finally opened as a public park. Bridges, hills, ponds, and trees are arranged to give the visitor a vision of the entire country of Japan.

Pray for the laborers to share the gospel, for the citizens to Takamatsu to realize that the Creator God is patiently waiting for them to realize that He wants to be their Savior and give order and purpose to their lives now and life everlasting as well.

Many are praying for Tohoku, the northeast part of Japan affected by the earthquake and tsunami, but there is another great prayer need and opportunity. Volunteers with tender hearts for those in need are coming from all across Japan. They meet Christians who are also going out to help. These Christians are sharing about Jesus and their faith and relationship with Him. Ask God to work in the hearts of the volunteers who hear the message. Pray they will seek God, find him, and become messengers to take the gospel across Japan.

There were only a couple of children around the park when the time came to start the program. Crafts were laid out, games were ready, the sound system was set up. What to do? The team’s quartet began to sing, and as they music wafted out over the neighborhood people began to gather.

They passed out song sheets with Amazing Grace and What a Friend We Have in Jesus written in Japanese. Ed and Nan sang in Japanese as the team sang in English. One elderly lady sang the song and then continued to sing the song for the next 30 minutes or so as she sat at a table and read the words over and over. She shared how God comforted her heart with the words and she was so thankful to have this song to take with her.

Pray that the seeds planted by Team Starfish from Ohio will multiply and that we will see fruit in the city of Miyako as people remember the love of Jesus shown to them on September 11.

Down this path to end her life??

What can be more distressing than losing your husband, your parents, your home and your job in a tsunami??? It would be difficult to think of something that could drag one further into grief that that but to a Japanese lady who had lost her husband and parents, home and job, yet was beginning to look toward a time a couple of years down the road when she could rebuild her home, see the birth of grandchildren and find another job, there is one event that she says is dragging her and the community into the “dumps”.

Her friend of twenty seven years whom she had supported and encouraged, her friend who lived through the tsunami and whose family members were all safe, woke up in the middle of the night on Friday, wrote a note to her husband thanking him for all he had done for her and apologized for causing him grief, walked down to the ocean, lined her shoes up, laid her purse beside them and enter the depths of the ocean and ended her life. Her husband awoke at 4:30 a.m., found the note then gathered members of the community to search for her. Her body was found mid morning in a cove just around the point from the village.

All of the people in the temporary housing community are from this same village and have known this lady for almost 30 years. All lost their homes, many lost their jobs as well as family members, but this loss is one that is pulling them down. Pray this addition grief will not plunge them into total dispair. Pray that those who have been struggling with depression and grief will not follow in this lady’s footsteps. Pray that God will bring comfort to their hearts and that we, His children, will know how to minister to them. Pray for opportunities for us to share the hope we have in Christ and for the people’s hearts to be open to hearing the Truth of the gospel. Pray for healing for all in this small temp housing area nestled in the mountains above their fishing village.

by RR

I (BB) had the opportunity to share the “Wordless Book” with the owner of a Japanese inn on a heavily damaged peninsula where our team was serving. Mrs. A and her small granddaughter, Michan, three years old were interested in the book. The sharing turned into an English lesson of learning colors because of trying to keep the attention of Michan. But the opportunity to sow seeds was there and  Mrs. A had a chance to hear the Gospel.  I felt led to switch it to an English situation so that two of the volunteer team members who were with me could have a chance to interact with both the grandmother and the three year old. This is one of those divine appointments and we covet your prayers for this grandmother/grandaughter pair. Days have passed since this experience, but pray that even if they forget the colors and the English, they will not forget the promise of God and the truth that He came to give them eternal life.

By BB

As I sit at my desk, sipping my coffee and reading my Bible,  I am reminded of the time spent in Sapporo in July. I bought my coffee cup from a Starbucks in Sapporo train station.There is a picture of the Sapporo clock tower on it with the name of the city in English and Kanji. As I sip coffee out of this cup, I am reminded to pray for the over two million people who reside in Sapporo city.

Getting ready for work also reminds me to pray for the people of Sapporo, specifically the students and professors of Hokkaido University.  My wife and I visited  and prayer walked the beautiful campus where we discovered  the Hokkadai Museum. There I purchased a leather keychain with the words “Hokkaido University” embossed on it.  When I look at those words I am reminded of the people we met during our prayer walking visit.

Many students walk through the large campus every day who have never heard of Jesus Christ. The university has a history of a strong Christian witness. The founder, Dr. William Clark,was a strong Christian from Massachusetts who encouraged the spread of the Gospel and regular prayer meetings upon the campus grounds.  Unfortunately this is no longer a normal practice upon the campus.

Pray that the two million people of Sapporo city will turn from the religions and idols of their ancestors and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray that God will send laborers to the harvest field. As Jesus said, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray that the students of Hokkaido University will begin to see the glory of God as they study agriculture and science. Pray that the professors and staff of the university will reflect upon the rich Christian history of their university and embrace the same Good News that once spread rapidly on the campus. Pray that the Christians in Sapporo will be bold witnesses for Jesus Christ and will live their lives in a manner worthy of their calling. Pray for a great awakening to sweep over the Japanese people, much like the great awakenings that took place in America so many years ago.

By Ian W.

By RR