3rd Letter on the Disaster from Japan + Links

Dear friends,

Trucks continue to roll out of our church loaded with food, water, fuel, and other supplies being rushed to the disaster-stricken areas in northern Japan. So far we have been able to send about 10 tons of supplies, and we have other trucks lined up. Our fellow MTW missionaries in Chiba and Tokyo and their related churches have continued to send tons and tons of supplies as well. You can view pictures from one of the recent trips from our church by clicking here. Be sure to see the pictures later in the series. These are taken on a trip to Sendai, when our partnering church there asked our group to take supplies to a local school serving as an evacuation shelter. Before that they had only received supplies for 70 people, but they had over 500 there. They had no heat in the cold weather there. The ones in charge of the shelter said, "Is that really okay to just take these things for free?" What a privilege to be the hands and feet of Christ in this time of devastation for so many. On another trip very near the border of the evacuation area near the nuclear power plant, our crew was able to take supplies to a nursing home that had not yet received any supplies in over a week, because they are not an evacuation shelter. The churches in the areas to which we're going are taking the supplies that we carry and distributing them to the people in great need in the area. Our latest trip was to Ishinomaki, one of the towns that was wiped out by the tsunami.

Tomorrow we will send two trucks and a van (along with a nearby partnering group), with 5 tons of supplies and 10 volunteers. Tom will be driving again, and they will stay a couple of days to help out in the area. They will serve in a number of ways, including deliveries and clean-up. Along with the physical needs, there is obviously an excruciating need for emotional/spiritual care. The church there is asking for help on that front as well, and we are hoping and praying to be able to provide help in that way. Some of the team members this time will focus on talking/counseling with people one-on-one, including three women who will make the trip this time. (Amy Newsome is one of them, for those of you who know her.) There was even some talk of the possibility of Tom singing and playing the piano for the people there. You know how healing and comforting music can be. Another similar trip is lined up for shortly after they return.

We want to send you a couple of great links to see more updates on the relief efforts here by MTW missionaries in Japan, along with some pictures and videos:

* Wayne and Amy Newsome--our team leader/church pastor and his family: http://newsomesinjapan.blogspot.com/

* Roger and Abi Lowther--MTW music missionaries in Tokyo: http://rogerlowther.blogspot.com/

(Sorry, but we don't have a blog ourselves at this point; maybe we need to look into getting one going soon.)

This week I read the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes to Ian and Liana, after watching together a short video of taking relief to the devastated regions (you can see people lined up to get the water, etc...... at http://vimeo.com/21221181). Ian (our 5-year-old) said, "Mom, can I give all my money to send stuff to those people?" I said, "Yes, honey, you sure can! That would be a great thing to do and this is a great time to do that." So he eagerly went and poured out the contents of his piggy bank, wallet, and "generosity fund" and put it all in an envelope. He said, "Maybe God will make this like that fish and bread the little boy gave." It surely warmed our hearts, and we praise God that tomorrow his $33.34 worth of food and other supplies will be on the truck his daddy will be driving, trusting God to bless and multiply grace to those who receive it. He's also been rounding up manga Bibles and candy from his "stash" to take. It's wonderful to see God using this to work grace and compassion in our children's hearts too. What a blessing.

Thank you so much to so many of you who have GIVEN SO GENEROUSLY to help in this time of crisis, as well as giving financial support to allow us to be here in the first place. We are regularly sending people out to buy food, water, fuel, etc., to be put on the trucks along with all that is being donated here. We trust God will use all of our 'loaves and fishes' to feed the multitudes here--not only physically but spiritually and for all eternity.

So much else is happening, and it is hard to report it all in the midst of everything. A couple of notes:

* The LORD helped us finish recording the gospel rehearsal cd that we will be sending this week to hundreds of families all over Japan in the gospel choir network we're part of (Hallelujah Gospel Family). We included a "bonus track" of (Tom's arrangement of) Amazing Grace in Japanese and English, including an interlude with several scriptures being read. We pray God will use this cd profoundly in people's hearts during this time when so many are hurting and so many more are gripped with fear (and as we hear that thousands of people listen to these cd's over and over and over...) One of our choir members told us that her two children go to sleep listening to our rehearsal cd's every night. Hear Amazing Grace by clicking here. (The scriptures you'll hear in Japanese are Psalm 46:1-3, Isaiah 41:13, John 3:16, Isaiah 43:4, & Hebrews 13:5b-6a.)

* My sister Delaine is planning to come in a couple of days on a one-week trip to help out with relief efforts. Yea! We get to see her! I (Teresa) am checking into trying to spend a couple of days volunteering along with her and her group (after Tom returns).

* Great conversations are happening about the gospel. One of our choir members said the other day, "What is God?!!" We are continuing to seek God for wisdom and boldness to take these opportunities to proclaim the only true safe place, the LORD our God. We are planning some talks, particularly with Bruce and Susan Young, veteran missionaries to Japan, being back in town for a couple of months.

We pray God will continue to help us "lift high the cross," our only true lasting and salvation as we seek to bring comfort and help to those reeling from disaster and hope to those gripped with fear. God have mercy on the people of Japan.

God bless you. With love in Christ, our true and lasting comfort who enables us to comfort others,

Tom, Teresa, Ian & Liana Wilson

MTW Missionaries to Japan

"...whoever sows generously will also reap generously.....Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God."

-- 2 Corinthians 9:6, 10-12

Tom, Teresa, and Ian Wilson • 2-9-15 Mitake, Togocho, Aichi-gun, Aichi-ken, 470-0156 Japan • tomteresawilson@gmail.com

Tax-Deductible Donations: Payable to Mission to the World • PO Box 116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284

(Account # 018228)

For disaster relief donations:

The account is 93993 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. You may give online: click here . Or you may send a check to:

Mission to the World
P.O. Box 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284
(Please be sure to write Project # 93993 on the memo line. )

Follow-up from our friends in Japan: How you can help

Dear everyone,

Thank you so much for your outpouring of love and concern for us. I apologize that we have not been able to respond personally to most of the emails we've received! We would love to! Please know that we appreciate your prayers and that we appreciate the fact that you are letting us know that you are praying!

Yesterday, our fellow MTW missionaries near Tokyo were able to navigate the backroads (since all major roads and train lines are closed) with supplies into one of the hard hit areas in northern Japan. Apparently, the area they reached had not received any supplies since the earthquake even though there were hundreds of people in the emergency shelters. There are just too many people to help, that the government can't reach them all. A perfect time for the church to rise up! As the missionaries unloaded water bottles, the people in the shelter were crying for joy- not only for the needed commodity, but also that they were being cared for by strangers in another part of Japan.

Thus, our team in Nagoya and the churches of our presbytery are preparing to send trucks of supplies along with the missionaries near Tokyo. I may be able to drive a truck if my driver's license is approved.

Please pray!!!

That we will be able to get through to areas that desperately need these supplies

That God will provide the trucks necessary (renting trucks in March is next to impossible because it is when most people move before the new school year begins in April)

That God will provide the funds necessary to purchase and take the necessary supplies

That we will have the opportunity to proclaim Jesus' name as we carry out mercy ministry.

May these trucks be like the 5 loaves and 2 fish! Before He fed the groups of 5000 and of 4000 Matthew and Mark say that Jesus had compassion on the crowds. "When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd."

The areas hit by the quake are the least evangelized areas in Japan! May the light of His love shine through!

Here's the opportunity many of you have asked us about already. How can you help?

MTW has issued a Minuteman Appeal for Japan. The situation is unclear, and will be for some time, but we are committed to making a strong response. We do know that God has placed us in a position of strength with the depth of our team, their broad presence, and long ministry history in Japan. Please join MTW and our Japan team in urgent prayer that God will open many hearts to the gospel and that His Church will grow.

The account is 93993 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. You may give online: click here . Or you may send a check to:

Mission to the World
P.O. Box 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284
(Please be sure to write Project # 93993 on the memo line. )

Thank you for loving the people of Japan in word and in deed.

Thank you so much!

Tom, Teresa, Ian and Liana

Letter from our Japanese missionary friends

Thank you all who pray for us. Please keep praying!

Nagoya felt the quake yesterday-quite strongly, but there was no physical damage. We can tell, however, that people's hearts have been shaken to the core. For example, tonight at our community choir practice (about half Christians, half non-Christians) one lady related to me the fear she experienced yesterday. She was in the subway during the quake and thought that she may be buried alive. I've never really considered this lady terribly interested in Christianity. She loves to sing, but I thought her interest in choir didn't go beyond that. In tears, she asked me, in that kind of situation, how should she pray? Would God be with her in that situation? It breaks my heart to see a grown woman cry!

Tonight we practiced a setting of Psalm 23 (Mack Wilberg's "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need"-Absolutely gorgeous!-listen to it here on youtube). I took the opportunity to address our choir member's tears by explaining that Christians aren't promised a life without pain. In fact, we're reminded that we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. . . but "Thou art with me!" Jesus is Immanuel. He experienced our pain, sadness, and even our death. The promise we have is that Jesus understands us and is with us.

Please, please pray that we will take advantage of the rare opportunities in which we are asked the questions every missionary wants to be asked. It doesn't happen enough here in Japan.

Please pray for this lady (and others) to join a Bible study in our area to learn more about our great God who came to be with us, save us, and love us.

Please pray for us as we try to finish practice cds that we make for our gospel choirs. We will be singing 10 songs this term in our gospel choirs, all with wonderful messages of hope. Teresa and I record our voices singing every part and then we distribute the cds among members of our choir, and other choirs affiliated with us around Japan (over 40 choirs). Thus, we send 700 cds to people around the country- many in the worst affected areas of Sendai, Fukushima, and Ibaragi. May these cds bring the message of hope to people who desperately need it. As a side note, gospel music became popular in Japan after the last big earthquake in Kobe in 1995. Gospel music gave hope to the devastated people of Kobe and then spread in popularity around the country from there. What will God do this time after the worst quake in Japan's recorded history?

Christians and missionaries here in Nagoya want to assist with relief efforts, but all roads and train lines into the devastated areas are closed off to the general public. May God give us wisdom as to what to do and when to do it.

Below, I've included a portion of an email from our MTW country director, Dan Iverson, who is near Tokyo. He and the missionaries on his team felt the quakes much more intensely than we did. What he writes puts the death toll in perspective of the greater need in Japan. This has turned into a long email, but please read and pray!

By the way, we're nowhere near those nuclear plants-but we still won't go outside if it rains!

Thank you so much,

Tom. Teresa, Ian and Liana

Tom, Teresa, and Ian Wilson • 2-9-15 Mitake, Togocho, Aichi-gun, Aichi-ken, 470-0156 Japan • tomteresawilson@gmail.com

Tax-Deductible Donations: Payable to Mission to the World • PO Box 116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284

(Account # 018228)

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

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 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!

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