July 23, 2012
Onagawa Flower Planting
We partnered together with the Onagawa West temporary housing community to plant flowers. This will add beauty and creates a lasting memory with our team. Super sweet to watch our teens side by side with the residents.
- Jon (for the rest of the team)
- Jon (for the rest of the team)
Manifestos, Updates, and the Like
I've got a quick break in between moving around here and thought I'd give you a bit of a long form blog entry. I can't tell you how proud I am of our team. They have worked long hours in varying conditions and never let up. They're spirits have been incredibly high and they're really jelling as a team. Many of the kids who you never would have seen talk a week ago are now bests friends and the older teens are mentoring the younger ones. It's a really fun atmosphere to be a part of, especially in the midst of widespread tragedy.
By now you've probably read the blog post about the church service yesterday. Being present for the first baptism and hearing that a second one is on its way has spurred us on. Then last night we sent a small contingent of three to bless another local congregation with music and worship. We have been able to be in the middle of God's people here in Ishinomaki and it never ceases to amaze me how he knits hearts together across cultural lines.
Here is a sampling of the stories that are happening:
-We just found out today that the cafe event that we led on Friday night is going to become a weekly gig for the church here because of the popularity. (That night when they were exchanging questions about life in each country they asked our teens what their favorite recipe for rice was. They answered, "uh......on the stove?", to completely horrified looks from their new friends.)
-A couple of local teens got to spend time with our team on Saturday and made good connections that are carrying over to the staff.
-One of our teams is currently planting flowers at a temporary housing complex in the valley behind us with local high school students. This temprary housing is unique in that they all come from Onagawa, a town that was completely destroyed by the tsunami. It reached 75 feet high there and all buildings were lost. Every single person in the complex has lost family, friends, and life as they knew it. This is truly serving the "least of these". The whole complex came out to greet them and the teens were introduced complete with loud speakers, cultural exchange (they knitted gifts for the entire team), and formal individual introductions. The staff here said that this event is completely unprecedented thus far. While at the grocery store we met a young lady who worked there and lives at the temporary housing that we spent time at on Thursday. She was highly thankful for the event our teens put on and enjoyed meeting them. Then just moments ago I gave a quick interview to the local newspaper. The reporter was dumbfounded that 39 people would be willing to fly here and spend time serving.
The signs of life are showing up all around us.
Last night I shared with our team from 1 Cor. 3 and related our work here to being the ones who get to water the soil. The long term missionaries here have been planting the seeds over the course of the last year. We are here to add momentum and multiplication to their efforts. We might never get to see first hand the effects of our efforts, but just the glimpses that we get point toward an amazing harvest of lives dedicated to Jesus that are going to come. Our teens are beginning to understand the monumental opportunity that we have been given here.
We also have spent a lot of time talking about goals, and specifically the goals that we have in our spiritual lives long term and what we want to see accomplished before we head home in the short term. I shared this manifesto from Mark Batterson, a pastor in Washington DC:
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith.
Through that matrix we have been viewing our time here. The goal that we set for the groups efforts is that in the long term if we were to come back to Ishinomaki in 10 years we would find the largest thriving church in Japan living for Jesus. Then each student has been working through their own personal short and long term goals. I'm encouraging them to dream God sized dreams for their lives.
Be praying for strength and perseverance for the teens, as well as a passion to serve well. May God accomplish much in our midst as a result of our time here.
- Jon (for the rest of the team)
By now you've probably read the blog post about the church service yesterday. Being present for the first baptism and hearing that a second one is on its way has spurred us on. Then last night we sent a small contingent of three to bless another local congregation with music and worship. We have been able to be in the middle of God's people here in Ishinomaki and it never ceases to amaze me how he knits hearts together across cultural lines.
Here is a sampling of the stories that are happening:
-We just found out today that the cafe event that we led on Friday night is going to become a weekly gig for the church here because of the popularity. (That night when they were exchanging questions about life in each country they asked our teens what their favorite recipe for rice was. They answered, "uh......on the stove?", to completely horrified looks from their new friends.)
-A couple of local teens got to spend time with our team on Saturday and made good connections that are carrying over to the staff.
-One of our teams is currently planting flowers at a temporary housing complex in the valley behind us with local high school students. This temprary housing is unique in that they all come from Onagawa, a town that was completely destroyed by the tsunami. It reached 75 feet high there and all buildings were lost. Every single person in the complex has lost family, friends, and life as they knew it. This is truly serving the "least of these". The whole complex came out to greet them and the teens were introduced complete with loud speakers, cultural exchange (they knitted gifts for the entire team), and formal individual introductions. The staff here said that this event is completely unprecedented thus far. While at the grocery store we met a young lady who worked there and lives at the temporary housing that we spent time at on Thursday. She was highly thankful for the event our teens put on and enjoyed meeting them. Then just moments ago I gave a quick interview to the local newspaper. The reporter was dumbfounded that 39 people would be willing to fly here and spend time serving.
The signs of life are showing up all around us.
Last night I shared with our team from 1 Cor. 3 and related our work here to being the ones who get to water the soil. The long term missionaries here have been planting the seeds over the course of the last year. We are here to add momentum and multiplication to their efforts. We might never get to see first hand the effects of our efforts, but just the glimpses that we get point toward an amazing harvest of lives dedicated to Jesus that are going to come. Our teens are beginning to understand the monumental opportunity that we have been given here.
We also have spent a lot of time talking about goals, and specifically the goals that we have in our spiritual lives long term and what we want to see accomplished before we head home in the short term. I shared this manifesto from Mark Batterson, a pastor in Washington DC:
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith.
Through that matrix we have been viewing our time here. The goal that we set for the groups efforts is that in the long term if we were to come back to Ishinomaki in 10 years we would find the largest thriving church in Japan living for Jesus. Then each student has been working through their own personal short and long term goals. I'm encouraging them to dream God sized dreams for their lives.
Be praying for strength and perseverance for the teens, as well as a passion to serve well. May God accomplish much in our midst as a result of our time here.
- Jon (for the rest of the team)
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