New addition and new plans

We know that it has been far too long since we posted. So much has happened over the past weeks that we have wanted to share with you though. First, some very joyful news. WE'RE PREGNANT!!! We are absolutely thrilled and can't wait for this little boy to join us in December. :)

When we first found out that we were expecting, we prayed about and discussed our plans to go to Japan for 2 years. We spoke with MTW and planned to simply move our departure date back to when the baby would be 2-3 months old. This appeared to be the best plan as our desire to move to Japan and help the team spread the Gospel has not diminished but we did want to have our son here near family and in familiar surroundings. 

Since the beginning of July everything has begun to change and we have both felt that the Lord is calling us to end our current journey towards joining the team in Chiba. We have been incredibly blessed by all of you during the months since we were officially approved by MTW and are saddened to see this time come to an end. We have met with many wonderful people and have loved sharing our heart for seeing the Gospel spread to the people of Japan. But we know that God's ways are not ours and now know that His plan for having us travel this path has not been to ultimately lead to joining the MTW team in Chiba. We are disappointed, but know that he works everything together for good. Even though we will not be going for the two year time frame we have been planning for, we still have a strong desire to help with the church planting efforts in Japan.

We want to thank you all for your love and support, prayerfully and financially, since we began this journey. We want you to know that God used you to encourage us and hope that you have also been blessed. Please continue to keep us updated on your prayer requests and know that we want to keep in touch with each of you.

Around the end of July, Jonathan traveled with a small team to go to Japan for 2 weeks to assist with relief efforts in Ishinomaki, one of the areas strongly affected by the Tsunami in March.  Please pray for the Japanese who are still recovering from the disaster, as well as those who continue to minister to them on a daily basis. The team mainly worked on demolition on a house that was flooded and needed the drywall and other items stripped out before it could be repaired.  We'll post a separate update with information and pictures sometime soon.

Little Walker on the way...

Hey, so part of the reason why you haven't heard much from us lately is because we've been dealing with the news that we have our first little Walker baby on the way, due in December.  We're very excited, of course!  We also have had many new things to think about and plan for, things we hadn't put much thought into before.  This post is going to be brief because we'll have more news and announcements here soon, but for those of you who hadn't already heard through other sources, we wanted you to hear the happy news!  Keep watching here for more information...

Two months later...

The tragedy of the earthquakes and tsunami that began in March may have faded from the headlines here, but in Japan it is still very real and present.  Ever since they hit, we've been watching the news and photos from our friends around Japan.  We have a lot of questions in our mind about how we will have to adjust our life when we get to Japan, dealing with concerns about radiation and aftershocks, as well as how best to help Japanese people during this time.

Just recently, a friend posted pictures from Iwaki, Japan, which was hit by the tsunami.  There is simply too much damage to be cleaned up, and much of this may be there for months or years to come.  I can't include them all here, but I wanted to post a few for you to see.

(Thanks to Daniel Snow for these pictures.)

There is so much devastation, and so much need.  Fortunately, there is good news for those in need.  The church has continued to bring supplies and hope to the affected regions, sending well over a hundred truckloads of supplies from the Chiba area so far.  Mission to the World, our sending agency, continues to collect donations via their Minuteman Appeal, and you can get updates on their website.  SpendYourself.org, run by Danny Iverson, son of the team leader in Chiba, raised nearly $115,000 for aid in Japan.

Please continue to pray for Japan!  If you are able, consider sending money for supplies and workers.  If you are burdened to do more, there will be a number of teams going this summer, hopefully as many as 20 organized by Isaac Knopp and Tim Benson, working from the Chiba area but continuing to bring supplies, love, and hope to the affected regions to the north.  Please consider giving your time this summer, because the Japanese people are recognizing the love of Christ in the workers that come to help them, especially when they come from overseas at great personal sacrifice.  Click here for more details.

Also, please pray for and consider financially supporting the missionaries that are laboring in Japan or are trying to get to the field.  We have links on the right side of this page to many of them, and there are others listed on SpendYourself.org as well.  Many of the missionaries in Japan had to go through the terror of the earthquakes that still continue to shake the country now, and yet they are also giving of their time, money, and resources, to help those around them.  Pray that the Japanese would continue to be receptive to the Gospel during these troubled times, and that God would use this tragedy to sweep across the nation with His love and mercy through Christians in all corners of the land.

Donating to Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Efforts

(If this looks familiar, it's because we emailed it to our list yesterday.  If you didn't get that email, you can sign up using the "Contact" link above or here: Contact Us.)

Some of you may have been wondering how you can give, and which organizations are trustyworthy.  I know three organizations for certain to whom you can contribute funds that will reach the affected areas quickly and have a good impact.

Mission to the World (MTW) has created a Minuteman account for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief, which will be funneled to the MTW teams providing relief and to the other groups that they have partnered with. You can give online via their website, via this direct link: https://www2.mtw.org/donations/donate/AddDesignation.aspx?No=93993, or you can go to their homepage at MTW.org. You can also mail a check to the address below. They will provide you with a tax-deductible receipt.

Mission to the World

P.O. Box 116284

Atlanta, GA 30368-6284

(Please be sure to write Project # 93993 on the memo line. )

Christian Relief, Assistance, Support, and Hope (CRASH) is coordinating efforts based out of the Chiba area, assisted by the MTW team there, among others. They will be establishing bases in and around the affected areas to bring supplies and assistance in to the survivors, and will be continuing these efforts as long as they are needed. You can find out more by visiting their website at CRASHJapan.com, and you can donate three ways:

Horizon Christian Fellowship is managing their donations online, and you can access it via this link: http://www.horizonsd.org/index.php?p=170. The donate link is about 3/4 of the way down the page. If you donate via their website, they will provide you with a tax-deductible receipt.

You can also donate via PayPal through the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association, http://www.jema.org/joomla15/index.php/component/content/article/57-feature-article/500-japan-tohoku-quake-relief-donations. You will not be provided with a tax-deductible receipt, however.

You can also mail a check to Horizon Central, and be sure to write CRASH in the memo line on the check. I do not know for certain if you will receive a tax-deductible receipt, but I believe you should.

Horizon Central

1001 E. Palmer St.Indianapolis,

IN 46203 USA

The American Red Cross is also accepting donations, of course, which will be funneled to the Japanese Red Cross, who is already providing assistance and relief.  You can donate via their website: http://www.redcross.org/, or via iTunes: https://p8-buy.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/buyCharityGiftWizard.

If all of those options aren't enough and you want to give through another organization, please verify that the organization and method you choose to use is legitimate.  In a time of crisis like this, there will likely be many people who will prey on those who are moved to give charitably.  Don't let yourself fall victim to a scam.  If you're not sure about a particular organization or website, feel free to send us an email and we will look it over and see if we can determine if it is legitimate.

Earthquake Update #2

Update from Dan Iverson in Japan.  Also, just spoke to one of the MK's in Chiba, ask specifically for more prayer for those in the most affected areas (Sendai, Fukushima, Tokyo), and that they are worried there might be another big quake coming.  Don't let this slip from memory, keep up the prayers!


From Dan:

Now as I send this after writing below info (w/o proofing), news is saying 1400 dead and missing, including 4 trains of people, and 5 nuclear power plants in trouble (Japan news is still saying only 2 nuclear plants... trying to prevent panic, maybe???)

Sat 3/12  12:10 pm Jpn time (USA EST+14 hrs)

Family, Friends,

Please pray for us we decide where to go and help with hands, food, water, diapers, and money, etc. More than 1100 dead or missing, which sad expectation that this will go much higher considering how big and widespread the tsunamis were. 

Where to go?

130 miles, 200 km of coastal area devastation from monster earthquake and resulting tsunamis, so it is difficult to know where we should go to help.  We are looking for missionaries or churches in area to partner with/ be a base.  Pray for wisdom: when, where, who to go... what to take.

1100 killed= 12 day total of suicides in Japan

(Its now 1400)To put the spiritual darkness of Japan in perspective, Japan averages about 90 suicides per day.  It is so sad that already 1100 people appear to have died in the earthquake/tsunami and that is making world-wide news.  It needs to also break our heart that this very rich country is really so spiritually impoverished, with so many with no hope.  But if indeed 1100 are dead from the killer earthquake, we need to also remember that a normal 12 days in Japan brings about this many suicides.  But it does not make CNN news.  

Poor Japan in 1970 had half as many suicides as today's rich Japan with so much "abundance."

It is sad but telling that Japan had half its current @32,000 suicides a year in 1970.  Japan was poor, beginning to grow strong economically and educationally.  Now Japan "made it", has 100 literacy, longest life expectancy in the world, etc, but with the Bible's Ecclesiastes 2, so many Japanese people who sought the "abundant" life have found that "all is vanity."  Pray for a new turning to the One who really does give abundant life (John 10:10b). 

So, as we and so many Christians mobilize and seek to help relieve incredible suffering and pain in the name of Christ to the 5 million people of the devastated areas, pray that this will bring a turning to the true and living God, and to Christ and his grace and love.  Japan really needs true hope that does not disappoint.  

Below are some stats on the affected areas, and just how lost and unreached they are.  

We are just having another tremor right now, not so big, but no one even stopped what they were doing... it must have been the 100th I felt... but we all stopped counting.  What power and might!  

We had tremors all night long every 10-30 minutes... hard to sleep, but nothing like the hardship of tens and tens of thousands in the devastated area.

How do we help?  Our plans?

Concert with Korean professional choir today at 3pm, now turned into concert and offering and prayer time afterwards: 

We have a concert at 3pm, in 3 hours, here at our church building, planned from long ago as an outreach event.  The choir arrived yesterday (Fri) to Narita airport 30 min before the 1st and biggest earthquake.  The airport was soon closed down.  

So we decided to go ahead with it, make it shorter, and use it as a time for witness to the many non Christians who will come (if they still come with all that has happened... we were expecting about 100), and offering for the devastation, and prayer afterwards for Christians to stay and join in on.  Non-Chrisitans will be welcome to stay, and some probably will.  

Rented a truck, preparing to go: Need to know where to go.  Please pray for that.

We have rented one truck from tonight, and are having people bring supplies to take north to worship tomorrow.   Email and cell etc are down in the Sendai area, where things were the worse.  We know OPC missionaries there who could be a base for us to help with their churches, if they and the churches are okay, but all we know is that "OPC missionaries the Cummings are okay, but have no electricity or other utilities" (word we finally got 2d hand).  And, because the two nuclear power plants in the affected region are a very serious concern, we may not be allowed into some areas to help.  

The stats on Japan's spiritual poverty, and especially the affected area:

The areas affected by the earthquake and tsunamis of Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki are some of the most spiritually needy places in Japan. With over 4.9 million people yet only about 9,000 active Christians (about 0.15%; about 1/6 of 1%). Fukushima has the lowest average worship attendance in all of Japan with only 19 per church. There are is one city and 44 towns with no church at all. There are 86 missionaries (adults, including husband and wife) assigned to these prefectures.

One town in Ibaraki has over 46,000 people with no church (OperJpn 24) and several others have over 24,000 people with no churches. Average attendance for all the churches in Japan is the lowest in Fukushima prefecture. Ibaraki prefecture has the least number of people claiming to have any religious beliefs.

Please do pray for Japan!  And for us. 

In Christ, who rules all, 

Dan

Earthquake and Tsunami

Many of you have probably been hearing about the earthquake and resulting tsunami that happen early this morning (our time) in Japan, centered near Sendai.  We have of course been hearing about all of this second-hand, and somewhat late, as we were asleep before news made it to us and did not begin hearing about it until this morning.  Here's a short summary of what we know so far:

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake occurred late Friday afternoon (local time), and has been followed by over 100 aftershocks, some of which are over 6.0 on the Richter scale themselves.  The city of Sendai was the worst hit, being near the epicenter, and reports so far are placing the death toll over 300, with many more people still missing.  The quakes were felt strongly in Tokyo and the surrounding areas, but there was significantly less damage there.  Even though Japan has been built to survive earthquakes, there was still some damage, including a parking garage ramp that collapsed and has trapped people in cars beneath it at the Costco that the MTW team in Chiba frequents.  There have also been several refinery fires reported around Tokyo, including at least one in Chiba, and there are cracks that have opened up in the ground in many areas, which could lead to instability in areas.  Hopefully there will be no long-lasting effects of this damage, but it will be some time before that is known.

All of the MTW team members, as well as many other friends of ours in Japan, have reported in and are fine.  There is no damage to the team buildings either, and everyone is home safe at the moment, though they continue to feel tremors even now, keeping them on their toes.  At least one family reported that they are sleeping in their clothes, in case they have to flee their home because of another quake during the night.  We continue to pray that God would keep them safe as the disaster unfolds.

We have family members visiting Japan, my aunt, uncle, and cousin, but they are staying in Kobe, a good ways away from the epicenter.  They were not affected by the quake, and in fact barely felt it.  We're very glad to hear that they are safe.

The missionaries in Chiba, while making sure that all of their loved ones are safe, have also geared up to travel to the coast if needed to provide aid.  So far we have not heard any more news about those plans, but if they do go to provide aid, we will make sure to keep everyone updated as best we can.  Right now, they are most likely attempting to get some rest, since it is the middle of the night there.

Please pray for Japan and for all of those affected by this quake!  Despite the hours that have passed since the quake first struck, the problems are far from over.  Some of our friends have been reporting that they have not yet heard from people they know in Sendai, and since aftershocks are continuing and may be reported for days to come, there is still potential for more devastation.  Pray that God's hand would be on His people there, and that they would be a blessing to those around them during this time.

Endless, inarticulate circles

The following quote is relayed in the book Shutting Out The Sun, by Michael Zielenziger:

"From social mores, to art and culture, everything is two-dimensional," writes the anime artist Takashi Murakami of his seething, uneasy nation.  "[Japan is] a place for people unable to comprehend the moral coordinates of right and wrong as anything other than a rebus for 'I feel good.' Those who inhabit this vacant crucible spin in endless, inarticulate circles."

For a legalistic society like Japan, it's a shocking concept to think that they really have no concrete sense of right and wrong, but their culture really offers no basis for true morals.  The Japanese "moral" system defines what is socially acceptable, but offers no instruction for anything outside of the rigid social structures that have defined Japan for centuries.  The Japanese people, especially the younger generations, are realizing that the traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation offer nothing for them.  They are now in search of something new, but finding nothing.  They need something, someone, they can turn to that will give them hope.