We hope you are off to a great start in 2024. January has certainly been exciting for us here. New Year’s Day started with a big earthquake on Japan’s west coast. Then it seemed like one disaster after another: a plane collision at Haneda airport, a large fire in Shinjuku (right in our neighborhood!) The continuous flow of these stories in the news made for an unsettling start of the year, and comments on social media were full of quesions in anticipation of what this means for the rest of the year. But we are part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We know that no matter what happens in 2024 and beyond, nothing, nothing, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).
When we heard about the devastation of the earthquake in Ishikawa, we were immediately reminded of our own experience in 2011 with the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. An opportunity came up for me to travel with another missionary friend to the affected area to bring some water and food items to a church in the region. We drove up through the mountains in the snow and back down to the eastern coast on the Japan Sea, about 6 1/2 hours total from Tokyo. We stayed at a church in a town called Uchinada, and helped them transfer a room full of supplies that had come in from all different parts of Japan to a warehouse in the affected areas, driving some of the large trucks. We unloaded about 15 pallets of water by hand, and took supplies up to Wajima, one of the most severely affected areas. What we encountered was heartbreaking. The earthquake that shook the region so violently and brought so much destruction lasted less than 30 seconds. One moment, families were together, celebrating New Year’s, gathered in their homes. The next, they were surrounded by rubble, destruction, and death. But in the aftermath, we also found stories of God’s protection and provision, and it brought back to my remembrance the many miracles we experienced as a family and church during the Sendai earthquake. Please pray for the people of Ishikawa prefecture, that the gospel will go forward, and that out of the tragedy and pain people will meet the one great comforter and savior of life, Jesus Christ. On our final night after a shared dinner with a group of volunteers and missionaries, I shared briefly about our own experience. I exhorted them to not limit their response to human effort and ability, but to ask God for big things, and expect miracles in the coming months.
We spent this past Christmas Eve in a way we never have before. We were invited by our friends at Kingdom Seekers church to lead an evangelism training workshop for their church family. This was related to a Youtube video we made a couple months ago titled How Can I Tell Others About Jesus, in which we shared about the power of your own story. One of the easiest places to start sharing the gospel with someone is by telling them your own story of how you met Jesus. We talked about the power of the message of the gospel itself, covered important points to share with someone when you only have a few minutes, and then had everyone practice with each other within a two-minute time limit.
We feel this is a year to focus on evangelism. You may remember last year this time we had a goal to share the gospel with at least one new person everyday, which we did for a season. At the time, I wanted to try to organize outreaches with others, but felt impressed by the Lord to wait. But I feel in my spirit that now is the time. This year we plan on organizing outreach on a regular basis, training and equipping others in discipleship and evangelism, and we are very excited. We have an evangelism equipping camp planned for February already, and we will see what the Lord opens up from there. Be praying and standing with us in faith that many will hear the gospel and experience the kingdom of God coming into their life.
-Jeremy