March Prayer Letter

by | Mar 1, 2012 | Ministry News

Building Spiritual Bridges Teaching English!

Kids!

Hi everyone,

Greetings from Nagoya, Japan! I have lots to be thankful for and lots to pray about this month. Please join me!

The above picture is from my kids’ English class. We just completed our first year with this group, and it looks like most (if not all) of them will be continuing during year 2. Most of these kids come from non-Christian homes; in fact, only one is from our church.  In March we will be starting a second kids’ class, with 9 signed up so far, all of whom are from outside the church. I’m so thankful to see our church building relationships with families in our community through this ministry! Please pray for these kids, their families, and this important part of my ministry.

As you may remember, I also teach 3 adult English classes. Most of these students come from outside the church as well. There are a couple of students in one of these classes who seem to be becoming more open to the things of God. Please pray these students — and for me as I try to speak God’s truth and love into their lives.

Recently the Immanuel Church elected our new daihyo (president or superintendent) Rev. Fujimoto. Please pray for this time of transition, our leaders, and for our annual national conference being held March 19-21.

And last, but not least, I would ask you to pray for Japan. It has been almost one year since the March 11 Great Tohoku Earthquake.  As memorial events are held, especially some big outreach events in the Tohoku area itself, pray that God would turn people’s hearts to Jesus.  Many seeds have been planted over the past year as Christian organizations and churches have reached out in practical ways to those affected by the disaster. Pray that God will bring a harvest.

Thank you so much for your partnership, through prayers and giving, in building spiritual bridges in Japan!

– Robin

What I Saw in Northeast Japan (video)

by | Nov 26, 2011 | Uncategorized, Videos

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/32665016 w=480&h=270]

This is what I saw during my relief work trip to Tohoku (Northeastern Japan) this past week.

While I stayed in Sendai, the work we did was in the city of Ishinomaki, which, as you can see from the video, suffered a lot of damage during the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. And, over 9 months later, there is still a lot of work to be done in rebuilding the area and restoring people’s normal lives and livelihoods.

I worked with an organization called JIFH (Japanese International Food for the Hungry). In addition to bringing supplies and encouragement to people living in the temporary housing units, JIFH is helping to clean up and re-build damaged homes and places of business. We worked in damaged houses tearing down walls and pulling out flooring and plumbing fixtures so that carpenters could go in and replace the damaged ones.

I felt like my part was a very small one, but it was a privilege to be there to help in any way I could. There aren’t enough resources or people to get the work done quickly, but things are going more quickly where there are volunteers, churches and relief organizations lending a hand.

Thank you for praying for Japan.

Note: The song I used in this video is called “Blackwater” by Fatblueman, and can be purchased via iTunes, with proceeds going towards Japan earthquake relief work:

http://itunes.apple.com/album/black-water-in-support-japan/id453606035

Photo: Remains of a School

by | Nov 22, 2011 | Uncategorized

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Probably the saddest thing I saw in Ishinomaki today. When the tsunami hit on March 11, many people fled to this school to escape the flood… only to have the school catch fire.

Love East Japan (photo)

by | Nov 21, 2011 | Uncategorized

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At JIFH HQ in Sendai. Had a surprisingly quiet first day here, as the long-term volunteers and staff we’re off today, giving us short-termers a day off by default.

Untitled

by | Jul 6, 2011 | Uncategorized

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From Jennifer Gracey’s recent newsletter. This is the same church and location shown in a video I posted recently.

The remains of SeaSide Bible Chapel in the earthquake disaster zone. The people in the photo are leaders from 3 different houses of prayer in the Tokyo area who are working together. This trip took place from June 12-14th. The sign in Japanese says in essence, “there will be revival in Japan and in this place.” As we were told by the pastor of this church and his wife, there were about 600 children who were saved because of the location of the church building. SeaSide Bible Chapel was in the direct path of the tsunami and the elementary school was directly behind the church building. Because the tsunami hit the church first, some of the force of the wave was diminished which meant, it didn’t reach the roof are where the children had evacuated to. If the church building had not been there, the children would have perished. One local citizens’ reported comment was that, “God sacrificed His own temple to save the children.” It is interesting indeed that the cross is the only thing standing in this area save the remains of damaged buildings and a few trees.

(Posted July  6 2011)