Tales From Japan: Kumamoto, a story of Healing Hands

I had the pleasure of meeting Takeko, and we talked about many things including how she said God saved her life during the earthquake.

After over a month since our last effort of assisting people in Kumamoto after the devastating earthquake in April, I traveled with a team of volunteers from both Osaka and Okinawa to the epicenter of the quake in Mashiki, Kumamoto.

This photo taken from the side of the road while driving to downtown Mashiki, Kumamoto.

Most houses are uninhabitable and residents are scared to even return to get their things in case the house might collapse on them while they are inside.

The volunteer tasks consisted of clean up of the debris which has remained for months.  We had a very special opportunity to spend time with many folks who are living in shelters.  These people don`t have homes to return to and sleep on cardboard boxes with a futon mat placed on top.  They sleep in stalls only inches away from one another.  Most of them have swollen feet and aches and pains incurred from the disaster.

We first tended to their aches and pains and giving them massages and just listening to them.  Many people literally began to see the swelling disappear and some even the pain simply left their bodies and they could stand up without pain in their lower back or hip etc.  Some cried tears of hurt remembering all they had lost.  Some cried tears of joy as they felt the love from our hearts to theirs.  It was simply unforgettable.

As you can see the living space is quite crowded and after months of living like this some people are really sore and in pain. 

This group of ladies were excited to see us and can`t wait for us to come back!

Pastor Rie from God Blessings Church helping a man who had severe back pain.  When she was finished he stood up walked around without pain and gave her hug.  He was overjoyed!

The same man as picture above, was overwhelmingly grateful!

One story I will share was with a woman named Takeko (in the picture at the top). She had never met a foreigner much less had a massage from one.  She kept smiling and saying it all felt like a dream to her.   She said, "When the quake struck, it knocked me down flat on my back and I barely got out of the house alive before it came crashing down." She exclaimed, to my surprise "God have must have done something because I was done for."  Since her stroke some years back she said it was very difficult to move and get to safety even after she managed to get out from her home.  She bragged how she was the fastest runner in her class in highschool and kept saying it was a miracle that she was still here.  I agreed with her.  "It certainly is a miracle!" We started to talk about God and I prayed with her I saw the swelling go down in her legs and I continued to rub her legs until the swelling was gone.  And she told me that was the best massage she had ever had.  I said, "You are a special lady and God is looking over you." and I walked her back to the rest of the group.

We ministered to over 60 people over the two days we stayed in Kumamoto.

Group shot of the team on our last day in Kumamoto.

And we plan to return and in the meantime we want to respond to the needs of these people by providing fresh clothes; mostly consisting of socks and underwear and even shoes.

Please consider donating $50 towards supplying these people living out their days in poverty in these shelters in Kumamoto.

Click the link at the top right of the page or go to

 paypal.com and send to stevetsunami@yahoo.com

God bless you and we plan to share more stories from Kumamoto in the days ahead.

Connecting Life with Faith: A Kingdom of People

Ohori Park in downtown Fukuoka

Over the past few weeks I have experienced a lot.  I have sense horrific scenes of destruction and scenes of people coming to together to provide for one another.  I have seen people become confused and disoriented and some angry or proud.

I have this reflection... What is the Kingdom of God? What is it that Jesus said would have no end and be established forever and ever.

When Jesus commanded us to pray for the purpose of this Kingdom what did he say? Pray for workers, laborers, not money, not power, not more of a particular anointing either...
In a way He said "people"

The kingdom of God is all about people and each one with their set of skills, abilities, resources etc coming together to make the Kingdom what is and essentially stronger.

Do we have needs in our churches or ministries?  Most certainly we do and the answer for continuing the harvest is more workers.

I think about the volunteer effort in the disaster area of Kumamoto and there are thousands of volunteers aiding now but in a week most will be gone.  There is a continual need for laborers there and in every field of His work for His kingdom around the world.

Me with two volunteers in Kumamoto

And laborers are the means of expanding the kingdom and they ARE the Kingdom as well.  All the externals of buildings, organizations, and systems sometimes can distract from the fact that all the really matters is people when it comes to God`s kingdom.

Hence we should know what we are working and fighting for.  We are not working to get a bigger facilities for our churches or for our organizations to grow larger.  Those may happen but I pray they happen as a result of bringing in the harvest and seeing God bring new laborers together for His purpose.... not ours.

His church, His organization, His body

Be blessed and love those around you today.  Let us all labor with joy so that God would send us more laborers to share in the work together.

Tales from Japan: The Aftermath of the Great Kumamoto Earthquake

Near Mashiki the epicenter of the Kumamoto Quake entire blocks of houses have become rubble

It has been way too long since I have posted a blog.  But I promise you after recent events I have the determination in the midst of the busyness and storm of life to keep all of you readers up to date and informed on life in Japan.  At the moment I am still catching my breath from the last three days of non stop travel and supply runs and other volunteer work down in the devastated areas of Kumamoto Japan.

I have taken in a lot from this experience and I hope I have given back something worthy of a blessing for the people who have lost nearly everything.  My heart goes out to them... I didn`t shed a tear while I was there but I could not contain myself on the ride home. I watched and talked to little children in front of a collapsed house, not knowing that their parents may not have survived (I dare not ask).  Their grandparents or neighbors were looking after them at the time.  That`s just one of many scenes that had a dramatic impact on me.

This man lost his house you can actually see the fault lines in the pavement.  He is watching the crane demolish the house he built.

This house happened to be sitting on the fault when the quake struck.  The man said he was happy to be alive.

So looking at all this and all the wonderful people coming out to help or give of their finances and resources to aid all these hurting people I can`t help but feel grateful to be part of this.  As humans we are all linked and connected to one another, certainly Facebook and social media should make us realize how true this is.

We asked the local supply center if they needed any more things.  They were happy to see us and we talked about what we could do in the days ahead.

We spoke with people who are afraid to go back in their home and have been living for 2 weeks in tents in their yard.

Obviously people are asking the classic question of WHY? and while profound I think that isn`t an relevant question.  Perhaps a more helpful question is "What now?" People need forward motion and hope is a big part of that.  People reaching people gives HOPE.  And even more as Christians, do we carry the message of HOPE in the Gospel of Christ.

There is a lot of work to be done, but in this labor, LOVE will give birth to HOPE for many Japanese as volunteers rally together and experience what binds and connects us.  People will lay down their quarrels and their social barriers.  If anything I see something so beautiful in this mess: the power of LOVE and UNITY.

So in all we do let LOVE be our supreme purpose.  And LOVE is seen in our actions.

To donate to the work we are doing for KUMAMOTO go to paypal.com and send to stevetsunami@yahoo.com  or click the DONATE button at the top of the page.

Thanks for reading! ARIGATO!

U.S. West Coast: How Ready are We for a Great Earthquake or Tsunami?

A tsunami evacuation sign posted in Southern California 2012

As the world continues to spin and the earth continues to move we find ourselves facing the reality that we are just here for the ride.  The earth is wild and not tame.  Though man with every generation gains knowledge and grows in population and culture, it seems we can only attempt to lessen the inevitable damage and loss of life that comes from the disasters of the earth.
With the disastrous event that was clearly seen by the entire world, people around the world most certainly will be asking,

"What if that were to happen to us?"

In no other time in history have we been able to see the horrible and awesome wrath of the tsunami upon humanity.  March 11th combined with the Fukushima meltdown and on going crisis has awoken humanity to the realization that safety is an on going battle, and with all our ingenuity, it perhaps can easily be forgotten.

Over the past year many experts raised valid concerns that the San Onofre Nuclear power plant located near San Clemente would not be able to handle a massive earthquake or tsunami like what was seen in Japan.  This would be a population of millions of people at risk for a catastrophic nuclear event.

Personally I have serious doubts that the U.S. could handle such a combined disaster very well.  That being said I did make the observation that there is a tsunami evacuation route posted along the roads to beaches that seem to ease concerns most likely brought about by the impact of 3/11.

Below is an amazing video that shows exactly what it feels like to be caught up in a tsunami.  It is almost surreal I encourage you to watch and share it and ask yourself what would you do? or even would you be ready for such an event.



Ultimately worry is counter productive but discussion about such disaster scenarios and improvements that could be made is absolutely necessary to preserve life.  When it happens, you will not have time to plan only time to react and try to do your best to survive.  This is coming from a person who lived in Japan when it all happened on that fateful day.

God bless and be ready in your heart for any circumstance.  How great the gift of faith is in times of trouble!

Tales From Japan: The Coming of the Great Tokai Earthquake in 20??

Captured as one of the most startling images of 2011 from National Geographic.  Lighting sparks as volcano erupts in Kyuushuu Japan.

An image of an erupting volcano in Kyuushuu Japan. Mt Shinmoedake is the most recent major volcanic eruption on the island of Japan. It erupted in January 2011 and subsequently a few more times afterward leading to the evacuation of a few hundred local residents. The department of Japan's government who handles such issues raised the level of emergency to a level 3 out of 5. Level 5 is a full blown eruption requiring the immediate evacuation of all local residents and subsequent areas of danger.


Japan Metereological Agency explanation of levels and safety measures




































Looking at the history of Japan and its seismic and volcanic activity reveals a harsh and fearful reality.  It is difficult to accept that many will die, many more injured and scarred for life by the trauma of it all.  Yet the earth continues on without malice nor a whim of our concern. The truth of the matter is that the earth has a schedule to keep and our presence will simply not detour it.  A great earthquake is always brewing, especially in Japan where seismologists have upped the percent of a magnitude 9+ earthquake hitting the Kanto region in the next 30 years to 87%, though some put it even higher into the upper 90th pecentile.

While Japanese are confident in their building technology and prevention measures, as March 11, 2011 demonstrated, nature can exceed human preparation and expectation.  The Great East Japan Earthquake devastated Japan but not nearly as much as a potential M9 earthquake even closer to the highly populated capital and metropolitan area of Tokyo.

More info here
Researchers raise level of great Earthquake to hit Japan

Although scientists do not exactly know when an earthquake will hit they have a clear understanding of their cyclical nature and early warning technology is still advancing.  In fact, the Great Tohoku Earthquake was actually detected 1 minute in Tokyo before the earthquake began.  This perhaps gave some people a moment to find a safe area or take cover.

Below is a video in Japanese that explains the sure inevitability of the Great Tokai Earthquake that will come in our lifetime.  The scary thing is that on this 300 year cycle as before Mount Fuji is bound to erupt.  That means that this next Tokai quake will most likely be 1000 times stronger than the Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923.



(The video is in Japanese but needs no real translation just watch the visuals and you will get the idea. Plus if your studying Japanese there is some motivation for you).

Beside Japan there is also talk of a great earthquake and tsunami that will hit the west coast of the United States. Many experts are concerned with the continued high activity on the pacific ring of fire and some believe that another great earthquake will occur in 2012 somewhere along it.

 

Some experts see the potential for another Great Earthquake along the Juan de Fuca plate devastating Oregon and triggering massive and destructive tsunamis along the west coast of America.  This earthquake like the Tokai Earthquake in Japan is due to occur this century.

More info here
The Great Coming Cascadia Earthquake

The population of the world is increasing and people are naturally drawn to live in places near fault lines which tend to have properties conducive to human settlement.  This is the conundrum that humanity faces as civilization evolves and progresses.

For an island people like the Japanese there seems to be little but no choice to invent, improve, or adjust to drastic living conditions in order to survive.  This is their fate and many of them affirm it and have strong resolve to prepare for great disaster because...

The next Big One could be tomorrow!