Jesus to World

Lasting Impressions

fujihiker — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 12:47:00 GMT

What impresses me here is the strength of the people and how they tell me how they survived hybrid tsunami. Those who are to share about their experiences seem healthier emotionally and are moving on in their lives.

One lady shared how she escaped by going up into the hills near her place and she was still caught up in waist level water. She and another lady had to drag an elderly man through the water to save him. According to her many elderly people died after tsunami when they were caught cold and pneumonia and were not able to get help right away.

This morning I went to a house church where a lady shared how she and her family survived by going to the second floor of her son's house. The had to survive by drinking only a capful of water form a bottle that had to be shared among 5 persons. They also only had one dried cup of noodles to eat for all of them while they waited for help.

A younger lady was so upset about losing her sister and Mom that it caused problems in her marriage and her husband divorced her and tried to kidnap her children from her. In the midst of all these problems, she became a Christian.

Please continue to pray for healing for those that are stood hurting inside.

Last Days of Ministry

fujihiker — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 12:38:00 GMT

Sorry for late update. Two of the ladies left 2 days early as they were having trouble with the mission not meeting their expectations. This was their first overseas missions trip and they were not prepared for how the Japanese are reached by the actions we do and the relationships that are built by it.

On a good note we met up with a team from Cerritos Baptist Church who were teaching line dancing at a community outreach. We decided to join them and meet more people. What is interesting is that I met a lady who was not a Christian but she had been helping with disaster relief and considered the Christians she worked with as her family. So God is touching lives in more ways than we think.

Yesterday I got to meet a bakery owner who was helped by my brother and other Christians. They rebuilt her business and are working on her house. She is open to the Gospel. But not ready to accept salvation. Here though is another example of people are being reached for God.
Today Sachiko and I painted the garage trim of the volunteer house. The owner is letting GMT use the house while the are repairing it.

Now I'm sad as we have to say goodbye to all the great Christian workers we've met. But God is evident here through the work being done by long term missionaries.

Looking forward to sharing more when I return. See new photos on blog

Photo of outreach by GMT and other ministries to locals which provided subsized lunches weekly when people needed food right after the tsunami but is being phased out and replaced by other programs to share the Gospel with them.

Visiting Kasetsu

fujihiker — Sun, 4 Aug 2013 02:07:00 GMT

Hi! It has been an exhausting two days. Two days ago Sachiko and I helped a missionary weed an elderly man's garden. It was so overgrown that you could barely see the ornamental trees and statues. We loaded up 7 large Hefty bags of cuttings and weeds. Relationships are how the Gospel is shared and we are helping the missionary cultivate her relationship with this man who is disabled and lost his wife in the tsunami. There are many empty lots where the homeowner can not afford to return or will not return due to the bad memories. Every few blocks there is ongoing construction. Yesterday I helped plant some flower boxes to beautify the volunteer house. In the afternoon my team visited a Kasetsu (see photos)

Tent Building

fujihiker — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 12:45:00 GMT

Hi! Somehow my smartphone is not able to upload the story feature as I had hoped but I can input comments on the photos. I've listed what I have done so far. The fishermen we helped were touched by our actions which will open doors for the local Christians to build relationships to share God's love.
Pray for a devotion I need to prepare and that will be relevant to those who hear it.
Thanks for prayers - the weather. has been great for all the work.
Diana

Early. Rise

fujihiker — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:54:00 GMT

Sent 7/27/2013 2:50p (PDT)

KONNICHIWA! It's Sunday at 6AM. The sound of birds cawing loudly and the rain pouring on and off woke me up. The house we ladies sleep in is being repaired by GMT (Grace Mission Tohoku). The tsunami flooded this area 10 - 15' deep in water. So the house has new flooring but the walls have bare drywall sheetrock. The guys have to sleep outside in a tent. The history on our drive here is that the earthquake caused the land to sink 3-4 feet and displaced the land 12-20 feet in certain areas.

Different teams are here. A Korean college discipleship group shared about putting up tents for fishermen who are still rebuilding warehouses and packing places for their work. A Japanese Christian on their team shared how he was hesitant to come and do Christian work and evangelism in Japan because of how Christians are rejected especially those who are Japanese. God gave him the courage to speak up and God encouraged him with the positive feedback he received.

Today we will get an orientation after church.

Thanks for your prayers. It helped us survive a trying day through miscommunications at the train stations by employees and between team members. It also helped us to make train connections with seconds to spare. Keep praying for good weather.

With God's blessings,
Diana

Arrival in Ishinomaki

fujihiker — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:50:00 GMT

Sent 7/27/2013 3:50a PDT

After many miscommunications and delays at the train station with the train employees and my team members, we finally arrived at our home base. Through God's grace we made our train connections with just seconds to spare. My brother Richard picked us up and gave us some history on the way about the town after the Tsunami. The area was under 10-15 feet of water and the land now is sunken 3-4 feet and land displaced 20-28 feet since the earthquake. Many schools are still being rebuilt.

My team of 4 ladies are sharing a room with 2 bunkbeds. A team of guys from LA cooked. Curry for us tonight. We have twenty people sharing 2 Bathrooms so it should be interesting.

The humidity is so high that when I went to the hotel fitness room this morning to work out that the windows were dripping with water on the outside.

Tonight at dinner a korean discipleship team shared about their experience. Helping a homeowner and setting up tents. There Isaac?

Train Station

fujihiker — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:31:00 GMT

Sent 7/26/2013 7:00pm (PDT)

The Kamaishi teams could not get reserved seats on the van. JEMS was not able to book ahead on time. There are many ticket offices but you are only allowed to buy certaini tickets from each of them.

It took half an hour for the team to get reserved tickets for the return trip. I will have problem getting tickets ahead cuz they will not let my book ahead due to the rail pass I will use later on my own.

Japan has many rules but they will pack their vans to transport people by putting seat which drops down in the middle aisle. This probably would not be legal in the US. The attached pic shows guilt van with all seats full.

Pray that all the teams will be able have good weather. It is raining a lot in Tohoku

Arrival in Tokyo

fujihiker — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:22:00 GMT

July 26.013 7am (PDT)

After 11 hours of flying & 6. Hours of sleep. Over the last 3 days. Our teams have arrived in Tokyo. The reason for lack of sleep is that I had no sound for movies or audio and I got moved to an. Area in the front with lots of leg room but next to crying babies. Looking forward to some rest and quiet tonight.

LAX to Japan

fujihiker — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:08:00 GMT

July 25, 2013 3;15pm

Having problems. Uploading text from wifi at lax so resorting to email. Everyone's in good spirits and one girl had a problem with her eyes. But I gave her some good advice and drops to help her out. Now to get sleep. Only got 4 hours sleep the last 2 days. . Boarding now. Bye

Photos: japan 2013

fujihiker — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 14:48:00 GMT

Japan mission