Prayer Updates from Japan

April 3rd, 2011 by John Mehn  (http://gospelrest.com)

1. Thank God for the incredible unity of the Christian church in their response to this triple tragedy. Organizations like JEMA and JEA are working closely with umbrella organizations like CRASH to coordinate response to these disasters (see previous posts). PRAY that God would energize this unity into great opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ in this large unreached people group.

2. The Converge Worldwide Japan Field Council met last week and drew up plans to respond to this great disaster to hit Japan. You will be hearing shortly about how you can have more a part in helping in this crisis. In attendance was our Asian director who will be meeting with other Converge Worldwide leaders this week to review and implement these plans. PRAY for wisdom and courage in responding to this great crisis in Japan. PRAY for collaboration of the Japan mission with our Japanese church partners the Rengo and the CRASH organization.

3. Today thousands have died, thousands are still missing, about 200,000 are homeless and living in shelters. Many are still without electricity or heating fuel. Aftershocks still continue. This earthquake was 1,000 times larger than the one in Haiti in 2010. This has affected nearly the entire country. PRAY that the church would respond with a message of hope in this opportunity. The spiritual needs of Japan are tremendous.

4. Though the nuclear crisis is far from over and may take months to resolve (see yesterday’s post) radiation is returning to normal levels in areas away from the plant. This includes previous problems with higher levels of radiation in vegetables and tap water. In Tokyo where we live levels are far below levels of weeks ago. PRAY that people’s fears would be calmed in the midst of this crisis.

Japan – 2 weeks after the Earthquake, Tsunami

March 25th, 2011 by John Mehn, Tokyo

Two weeks have passed since the tremendous earthquake, devastating tsunami and radiation leakage. The death toll has topped 10,000, there are over 17,000 missing all feared dead. Dear friends, we must continue to pray, give, and prepare for more involvement. Locally things continue to return to normal with many shortages having ended. Rolling power outages continue in Tokyo (and here today). But up north transportation is in a shambles, supplies limited, and people are without food and water (see relief team’s story below).

PRAY for the restoration of electrical power throughout the region and especially in the hard-hit areas. They announced today no rolling power blackouts in the Tohoku region at least for a month.

PRAY for the continual difficult and dangerous effort of restoring the vital functions at the nuclear power plants. Local and regional radiation leakage though not health threatening is still an issue.

PRAY that especially the young would be protected from any harmful exposure.

Update on Jeff Chapman and Relief Team

Just got off the phone with Jeff Chapman (8:30pm JST), he checked in with me after checking in at home, unfortunately his cell phone battery was losing power.

They decided to head due south through Fukushima Prefecture (don’t worry they would not be allowed in the exclusion zone) as they are trying to avoid snow. He says the roads are all twisted and at times it is like riding a roller coaster. He thinks it will take years to smooth out all the sections. They plan to drive through Tokyo having left at 6 pm and expect to make it back to Osaka around 8 or 9 am. They are all well but exhausted but delighted in the days experiences. As Jeff said, “it was quite a day.” PRAY for their return trip, for safety and also to stay alert as they are so tired.

They did find some people who had not yet had much relief. Jeff said they were quite desperate and came out running to the truck. They were hungry and had not had food for a long time. Thank you for praying they would find these needy people.

Yesterday they were in Kessenuma looking for Kitamura’s relatives. God has answered your prayers and performed a miracle. Remarkably the lead car just stopped in a wide section of the road. When Mr. Kitamura got out of the second vehicle he pointed and said, “that’s my grandparents’ house.” His grandparents were fine and he was relieved that they had electricity, food, and water. Thanks for praying. God used those prayers.

Jeff Chapman Hits the Road in Japan

From John Mehn, Japan  (3/21/11)
Converge Worldwide Missionary Hits the Road

Since we have been down in this area we have been excited that Jeff Chapman, a fellow Converge Worldwide missionary, will be joining two others to take two vehicles to Ishinomaki city in Iwake prefecture. The truck arrived back in the Kansai area today and those on the trip reported that until they drove to Niigata the trip was very normal but then the trip changed as they entered the affected areas. People were very glad to have the relief supplies and were not pushing to get these items. After arriving they would pass out relief supplies get some sleep and then head back. More on the relief efforts in that area see http://crashjapan.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81%3Apress-release-march-21-2011&catid=26%3Apress-releases&Itemid=4&lang=en Also a personal account by Kent Muhling http://emmanuelpress.com/article/japan-tsunami-relief-getting-to-the-stricken-area/

Jeff, who plans to leave Tuesday, will be driving a truck with tanks of diesel, gasoline, and kerosene. A one way trip takes about 17 hours of driving, or three or four day run. Please leave comments below to encourage him on his adventure. He asked me if I would handle getting his prayer requests out to you. Who will pray for Jeff daily for his trip?

Prayer Update from John Mehn – Japan

March 20th, 2011 by John

Today has been a day of mixed feelings. I have been elated about hearing report after report of relief work through CRASH and other agencies and our Rengo churches. This is very exciting. I have also heard about the struggle that people are dealing with all over Japan. Now that Elaine and I have relocated to the Kansai area (see below) we realize that no one here has not been effected. We also have heard of the rescue of an 80 year old woman and her 16 year old son from their damaged home. This gives hope that many more will be found. But the looming fears of what will be the final situation with the nuclear power plant has people still on edge.

Here are some things to pray about right now.
1. As the world news moves away from Japan’s triple tragedy, people are still suffering up north, many are in evacuation centers, and the nuclear reactors at Fukushima still are not cooled down. PRAY for Japan today and continue. This recovery will not take weeks but months.
2. Ask God to intervene in the nuclear reactors at Fukushima #1. This continues to be a very serious situation. There is some progress but also some holdups. We heard yesterday that a Christian man Mr. Naoyoshi Sato has been put in charge of restoring the power to these reactors. In Japan the number of Christians is very small (under 2%). Pray for this believer in Christ who has been put in “a time such as this.”
3. I heard of several efforts the Rengo churches are involved in praying, giving, and collecting relief supplies and sending them up north. PRAY for all the Rengo churches to get involved in relief efforts.
4. CRASH is establishing 8 base camps for relief throughout the entire region affected by the earthquake and tsunami. I have heard that at least two are already operational. One had to be moved due to the evacuation area around the nuclear plant. PRAY they would all be up and running by tomorrow Monday. From these camps supplies can be gathered and volunteer teams sent out to do relief work. Soon many volunteers teams can be mobilized. (More on sending a team from your church later).
5. As we enter the second week of relief work would you pray for a refreshment of many who have been working very long hours in very pressured situations. This relief effort is a marathon not a sprint. PRAY for a second wind for these workers.

Earthquake Update – John and Elaine Mehn

Sunday March 13 PM

Thank you all for your concerns and prayers for our welfare and the welfare
of Japan. As we have reported we are fine, all our CW Japan team is well,
and our partnering Rengo churches report things are ok. We have yet to hear
of anyone personally we know injured by this quake. Information is still
very sketchy but with the exception on one church we have not heard of any
churches or Christians with great damage.
Rescue efforts are well underway and Christian disaster relief is being
mobilized. We appreciate hearing offers of help from many quarters. Please
pray for wisdom, courage, strength and compassion for these rescue efforts.
There is much you can still do – Be in Prayer, Be Generous, and Be Involved
in Relief Efforts (link:  update-from-japan-saturday-31212 ).  I will do my
best to send information along to help you do this.

Today a Christian disaster relief organization met, they will be sending
some advanced teams tomorrow into the affected areas for determining future
steps. These are highly trained rescue teams. We expect volunteer teams to
follow in the next several weeks and months. Let me know if you are
interested in forming or sending a team.
As the magnitude for the earthquake has been upgraded to 9.0, I am reminded
that the magnitude that hit Japan is far larger.  The level of distress and
dread is very real for everyone. We can read it on their faces. Many do not
have the assurance of knowing Christ and his hope in the midst of suffering
and death.  As I shared earlier, the areas affected by the earthquake and
tsunamis of Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki are some of the most spiritually
needy places in Japan (link: spiritual-need-in-affected-areas).  Please pray
that Elaine and I will be messengers of hope and strength to our neighbors
and those we minister to.
More details at www.gospelrest.com.  I plan to post daily as the crisis
continues.
John and Elaine Mehn
Converge Worldwide (BGC) Japan
———————–
MORE PRAYER REQUESTS
1.    As the death toll continues to climb, pray for God’s comfort for
those families that have lost loved ones.  There are still hundreds missing.
Pray for those families who have yet to hear of the fate of their relatives
and friends. I have seen several Japanese worried sick by not knowing.
2.    Many of those in the affected areas are without electricity, gas,
and water. Pray for utility companies to restore these services.
3.    Hundreds of thousands have been evacuated from coastal areas and
from around the nuclear power stations.  Ask God to grant peace to those
disrupted and staying in these shelters.
If people would like to receive these updates have them sign up at:
Update sign-up.

Reflections on our Trip to Japan

Thanks to all of you who have followed our Retool Kit in Japan blog and have prayed for us during this trip – your prayers were felt on many occasions as the fatigue of travel, inability to use the language and the adjustments to culture threatened to wear us down.  We are so grateful to the Rengo leaders for taking a risk in inviting us to their annual Pastor’s Conference, making all the arrangements and treating us like royalty while we were there and afterwards.  We are also grateful to the Mehn’s and Chapman’s for all their work and hospitality during our days in Tokyo and Ikoma.

If you missed any of the reports you can find them on the blog, but here are a few final reflections and pieces we may have overlooked.

On the Rengo Pastor’s Conference

• Pastor Fukui and his team did a great job or translating and formatting the Leadership Workbooks, the PowerPoint presentations and the Leadership handout materials.  They were presented to the pastors on a CD along with an overview of the Pathway.
• We presented segments of the RTK Materials rather than the actual retreats: Monday night focused on the need for mobilizing churches in the world today and included the biblical foundation of Acts 1 and Leadership Values; Tuesday morning we presented Building a Redemptive Community (Ephesians 4, Acts 2); conflict styles and restoration (Matthew 18); Tuesday afternoon was an interactive session with an overview to the RTK Pathway; Tuesday evening – Rediscovering Vision in the Local Church (lifecycle, Acts 3 & 4, power of vision); Wednesday morning – Refocusing Vision in the Local Church, (Eyes of Faith – Numbers 14, Joshua 1; Building a Bridge to the Community – Assessment & Planning)
• We were pleased with the way the pastor’s interacted with the materials we presented and the great questions they asked. They grasped the biblical concepts well and many indicated they had been ministered to personally by the presentations.

On the Future of Retool Kit in Japan

• Pastor Fukui presented a report on the church in Japan and the need for a mobilization process to come alongside established churches.  He highlighted the challenges they face in using a vision community led, retreat-style process in churches with less than 30 people.  While some churches would be capable of that approach, others would need a modified, segmented approach that would be open to all their people.  However, they are committed to finding a way to make it work.
• Several churches have asked to be considered as pilot churches using the RTK Pathway, and some have volunteered to be trained as coaches.
• A return trip is anticipated to focus on training coaches and leaders for 2-3 days.

On our Church Experiences

• Gary and Ray each had the opportunity to preach in different churches in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, as well as to visit the church in Nagoya and meet with Pastor Kawano.
• Ray’s experience in Tokyo at the Kokubunji Church with Pastor Yonai enabled him to see one of the stronger churches in the Rengo.  A morning service, in a traditional style, had just over 100 people in attendance and was followed by a baptism. An afternoon service, very contemporary in style, with a worship team and a couple songs in English, was attended by 40 plus people, mostly young adults.  In Uji Church (Kyoto) Ray experienced an older church, led by Pastor Koide, that has just moved into a beautifully refurbished building.  There were about 30 in attendance with an opportunity to interact with the people around a meal following the service.
• Gary had the opportunity to preach at Minami Urawa with Pastor Yokota, a church that meets in the 10^th floor of a shopping center, which gave him insight into the unique challenges some of our Japanese brethren face as they seek to plant a church (such as meeting in different rooms on different Sundays!).  Pastor Sakurai at the Shinge Baptist Church near Osaka was a more “traditional” church, but a church with great vision.  After the Sunday service they shared a church meal together and then plied Gary with questions for well over an hour.  Pastor Sakurai summed up the experience by sharing how the church was the light on the hill, but needed to come down from the hill to reach the people of the community.
• Both us were deeply impressed by the dedication of the pastors to their ministries and the people of their community, as well as the immensity of the challenges they faced, many as bi-vocational pastors.  They were well read, open to learn and grateful for the partnership with CWW missionaries and leaders.

On Japan

• Japan is an amazing country, rich in culture and tradition, modern in technology and development, and lost in a spiritual fog of Buddhism, Shintoism, and superstition.  With an estimated number of believers at less than 1% of the population, it remains largely unreached.
• As a “group society”, where there is incredible pressure not to “stand out”, bringing the Gospel of new life and change is very difficult.
• Our CWW missionaries are well respected and providing a key role in assisting the dedicated leaders of the Rengo, many of who are new in their leadership roles and visionary in the vast opportunities they face.

Finally, we left with a growing conviction of the opportunity to come alongside our CWW missionaries and leaders of the Rengo as they fulfill their calling, which is in reality the calling of Jesus, to make disciples.  Their embracing of the Retool Kit Pathway as a tool to empower their churches for greater kingdom impact is a challenge to us to do all we can to enable them.  It might not be easy, but it is worth the cost and the sacrifice.

Rest and Renewal (Saturday 3/5)

Saturday was the first day we’ve been left (mostly) on our own at “Celebration House” where we have been staying in Ikoma as the Chapman’s needed to tend to other personal and mission matters. That’s good from two perspectives.  First, it made us fend for ourselves.  We walked to the local grocery story and pick up a few supplies, and later walked to a Japanese “Jolly Pasta” for lunch, where  they spoke not a word of English.  Japan is largely a foot-oriented society, with people walking far more than we do in America.  And if they don’t walk, they ride bicycles.  We’ve seen thousands of bicycles since we’ve been here.  We were offered a pair, but wisely we chose to walk…we can get lost at a much slower rate that way.

But this also allowed for a bit a “Sabbath” in our very full schedules. Since we’ve been here we’ve been overwhelmed by new sights, new sounds, new words and new ways of doing things.  For example, you always remove your shoes upon entering a home; so much so that at Nijo Castle in Kyoto we removed our shoes before entering the Castle (and wore slippers thoughtfully provided).  We’ve been sleeping Japanese style (as the picture shows) and have discovered that Japanese homes do not have central heating – they consider it wasteful.  So, rooms are heated as needed when used, and not when you sleep!  So having some time to reconnect with our thoughts and experiences, and more importantly, our God, wass a very good thing!  The next two days will be very full ones indeed, and the rest is appreciated.

Tomorrow Gary preaches at Shinge Church, and he discovered a special connection with it.  Early in his ministry at Faith Baptist of Delavan, WI, the church supported Harris and Judy Youngquist, missionaries to Japan.  Upon their retirement, the people of Faith worked hard at raising extra money to help the Youngquists move home.  Shinge Church is the church Harris and Judy started and in which they invested much of their lives.  It will be a special privilege for him to minister to the people of that church. Ray will be traveling with Jeff Chapman to the Uji church and preaching there.

Thursday and Friday (3/3-4)

Visiting the Nagoya Castle with Pastor Kawano was an eye opening adventure into the history of Japan. It was one of the first Shogun Castles (built in 1605) and stands symbolic of an era of uniting Japan into one nation.  Destroyed by bombs in 1945, it has been rebuilt on the original foundation walls composed of large, cut pieces of rock interspersed with smaller rocks and stones to maintain stability and strength. It also stands as a reminder of an era when hundreds of thousands of Christians were killed in an effort to cleanse the country of foreign influence.  The five floors on the castle serve as a museum filled with relics and models of life in the fortressed city.  Several moats encircle the castle in a ripple effect providing a defense against the enemies of the Shogun in power.

For Gary and Ray it was an opportunity to begin to get a firsthand glimpse of life in Japan: the culture, the people, the pastors and the missionaries.  While it is only a glimpse, our appreciation for the Japanese people and those who serve them increases by the hour.

Pastor Kawano treated us to a lunch of barbequed eel and it was absolutely delightful!  We boarded a bullet train to Kyota where we were met by Jeff Chapman and escorted to their home in Ikoma for dinner, and then on to the “Celebration House” where we have been staying.  It is a home used for a variety of ministries courtesy of a neighbor.

Friday we headed into Kyoto, the first capital of Japan, where we visited the Castle built a few years before the one in Nagoya.  Constructed with the same imposing walls and moats, the castle itself was laid out on one floor with an extensive array of rooms where different classes of leaders were allowed to enter and have an audience with the Shogun. Furniture was sparse and walls were filled with canvases painted with flowers and animals from the region.

The next stop was the Buddhist Golden Temple which is covered with a thin sheet of gold and is a sight to behold.  Although it snowed lightly while we were there, the beauty of the budding gardens was impressive.

Friday evening we couldn’t resist a meal at McDonalds with the Chapman’s (at our request).  Getting to know Jeff and Barb, Caleb, Rachel and Anna has been a real treat, and a relaxing evening with them watching an old movie and eating popcorn was the perfect way to end our first full week in Japan.

Castles and moats, impenetrable walls and fortresses, starkly contrasted with beauty and serenity have symbolized for us the challenging life of everyday believers. The pastors and missionaries who serve them work tirelessly to connect with people and offer them truth, peace and joy. We have been deeply moved and have a clearer understanding of the challenges the churches face.  We also believe more than when we came that The Retool Kit Pathway is a process that they can adapt and use in a meaningful way.

 

Wednesday: Hamamatsu and Nagoya

Today marks the end of a remarkable three days at the pastor’s conference..  Quite honestly, we entered this Pastors’ Seminar apprehensive over whether we could do an effective job of communicating cross-culturally the concepts that were both new and challenging to the pastors of the Rengo.  We were pleased and overwhelmed by their positive response and interaction with the key principles!

This morning we moved from issues of conflict and community to those of vision and strategy.  Gary opened the session by focusing on the “eyes of faith” as evidenced by those who spied out the land in Numbers 13. When faced with great opportunity and even greater challenge, what will we chose to see, and how will we act by faith? In a very real sense, that is exactly the challenge facing the people of the Rengo.  Then Ray moved into a time of exploring what it would take to build a bridge into the communities surrounding their churches (the image of the bridge at the top of this blog is a bridge in Tokyo we used to illustrate this idea).  He challenged them to take a courageous look into their church to gauge the effectiveness of their systems, and then, out into the community to uncover needs and find ways to build bridges to connect.

Truly, the leaders of the Rengo responded with eyes of faith.  They decided to move forward, and find ways to make the Retool Kit work in their culture and context, and asked us to help them explore next steps for training coaches.  Their commitment is amazing!

We have left Hamamatsu and are now taking some R & R in Nagoya.  We spent the afternoon with Pastors Kawano and Matsuda of Midori Baptist Christian Church, listening and discussing their vision for this successful church.  Now we’re simply tourists for the next couple of days, resting and enjoying the sights of Japan (such as this picture of the Nagoya Castle next to our hotel).  Tonight we were treated to a traditional Japanese dinner.  It was delicious, although we weren’t entirely sure what some of the dishes were (it was just the two of us tonight, so no one was here to explain things!).  Gary is doing well with the raw fish, and Ray is making great strides mastering chop sticks! Tomorrow we head to Osaka where we will be hosted by the Chapman’s and preach in area churches this weekend.

 

Tuesday in Hamamatsu

Hello from foggy and rainy Hamamatsu!  We have yet to see Mt. Fuji but there is the promise of sun tomorrow.  We had our first session with the 65 Rengo Pastors last evening and shared with them the Biblical Foundation of the church from Acts 1.  We began by shocking them a bit and dispelling the myths people often have about the American church to enable them to see that churches everywhere struggle.  We emphasized the need to seek to be Biblical rather than to be “American.”  The session evoked an overwhelming number of questions which helped us to see that we are addressing issues that they as pastors face.

This morning we talked about Acts 2 and the basis for becoming a Redemptive Community.  They broke into small groups to discuss the “One-another” commands and provided some great insights into practicing them in their churches.  We ended by talking about conflict and how our “default” styles can impair health in the church, and then explained the Matthew 18 model.

At the end of the session Pastor Sasaki, who has been a key member of the team for translating The Retool Kit Pathway, shared how he personally has grown because of his involvement over the past 2 years in the translation process and how he is beginning to use the materials in his own church.  We had lunch with the Rengo Board and interacted on some “next step” ideas for creating a church health team.

At 4:00 this afternoon we led a workshop on the Retreat process and the Rengo leaders shared their vision for Japan.  It was a powerful time together with most of the pastors in attendance.  At the end of the session they brainstormed ideas for implementation in the context of their own churches.

This evening Ray presented Renewing Vision for Ministry based on Acts 4 and prayed for a new boldness for all of our churches and people in these very challenging days.

The days are long, learning to speak with translators can be tiring (although they have been excellent, it is challenging for us in presenting), but the response and the conversations have been wonderful and inspiring. Pray that God will give us clarity of thought and that the Holy Spirit will empower our words as we lead the final session Wednesday morning!