Testimonial : Ishinomaki Team#21

Testimonial shared by a leader of team#21 :

With the previous trips I joined, I noticed that most team members tend to be very light in the conversations with the survivors (especially if it is their first time to meet the individual) and even when there is an opportunity to share the Gospel, they seem to think that this is not the appropriate time and too early and aggressive to share immediately.

Considering that most team members are first time participants and since the areas and the people we minister to changes from time to time, this approach will never get us to our goal to clearly share the Gospel. Since I am the team lead this time, by God’s grace, I had the opportunity to move the team towards seeing & experiencing the importance of daily devotions, prayer & seizing the opportunity to share the Gospel and to not dwell too much on the results but to leave to the Holy Spirit the convicting part.

Praise God that the prompting to share through the energizing power of the Holy Spirit  (while on the site during the massage) led our team members to boldly share the Gospel and saw how open and receptive the survivors are. Most of the survivors we ministered to heard the Gospel clearly and therefore had the seed planted. Praise God that one person at the Iinogawa Temporary housing made the decision to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Asking God to just continue to water the seeds planted ready for harvest in His time.

The team was indeed a team pulled together by God Himself. Considering the team was only formed less than a week before the mission trip schedule, with very minimal time for preparation and communications within the team God led the whole team into a new spiritual height by experiencing the importance of prayer, great fellowship & ministering with fellow brethren and the opportunity to partner together in sharing the Good News to all we had in contact with.

It was such an awesome and great adventure filled with God’s amazing surprises and miracles as He worked through us, around us and in us. It was truly a blessing witnessing God’s Mighty hands at work; the heart to heart conversations we had with those we ministered with; the special strength and the spontaneous massage techniques we did (to their extreme delight and stress relieving session, as if we were really professional masseurs); each one of us taking part in His divine appointments with opportunites to clearly share the Gospel; the great and powerful prayer times we had surrendering Tohoku and Japan to Jesus and claiming the land for Christ; the great fellowship time and massage services each one of us received from each other (the whole team in 1 van is such a great thing!); how God used the Sunday worship service through the message, testimony and singing in ministering to those who attended, and personally witnessing the wonders of His convicting power in drawing people to His kingdom with the manifested salvation experience of the lady and some individuals who are very close to making decisions .
And above all – as we were there to minister and be a blessing to the survivors, we were in turn were the ones so much blessed.

Such a wonderful showcase of the principle

“Being blessed by being a blessing.”

Praise God for what He accomplished through Team 21 during such a short period. To Him belong all glory, honor and praise!

 

 

 

Ishinomaki Team#21: Kokoro-no-care & Head-to-toe Massage!

 God miraculously gathered the 7 TBC members to be part of Team#21. God spoke to each and every member to GO and spread what He has done in our lives…and to share who Jesus is. So the team went as servants of our Lord Jesus Christ to serve the people in Ishinomaki.

The first day: By God’s grace, the team arrived in Ishinomaki earlier than we planned. After having prayers, meeting and training of hand massage, we moved to the community center next to our TBC@Ishinomaki building. The community center is now called “Ikoi-Dokoro” meaning “Place for comfort” in Japanese. In the evening, the community center turns into a place to eat and drink. This day was only a second day of starting that restaurant, but there were about 7 to 8 new visitors from around the neighborhood. One of the neighbors said

“When I was walking my dog around here, I saw this building and wondered what this is; and tonight, I saw lighting from this building and felt relieved and came.”

(**Note**The people around Ookaido area, a place where Tsunami hit was very bad, are STILL scared of not having lights… but when they see lights, they feel somewhat safe and secure. Only countable numbers of families are living in the neighborhood; most of the people left or had to leave for houses being torn down from tsunami…)

The cook of the Ikoi-Dokoro is a son of Mr.N (the owner of the plots of lands in the neighborhood). He is new to cooking but working very hard to serve food for the guests. Our team had a privilege in having his Imoni (sautéed potatoes) and Yakitori-don (Grilled chicken on rice bowl). Wow, the meal was so good! They are opening for non-profit, so the total price for all these was 350yen (about $4)!

As we were waiting for the food to be served, the team members had chances to talk to other guests in Ikoi-Dokoro. I had a chance to talk to 2 gentlemen; they were both bus drivers living nearby. They told me how hard it was to drive after the tsunami hit. There were dead bodies floating beside the roads… but they had to drive for volunteers and survivors. I shared why we are here (to share the love of Christ), and gave one of the gentlemen a hand massage. He smiled and seemed so relaxed! He then kept calling his wife on the cell phone… and she came!!! The wife got a head-face massage from other team member. She said she’d be interested in coming here and the church again. Praise the Lord!

Other members had chances to give massages too! The team felt how effective giving massages could be, to quickly connect with someone! Amazing!

The Second day: Group devotion was focused on PRAYING for SALVATION and REVIVAL in Japan. We often pray for mission trip and for salvations of the people we meet, but we felt it was important to pray for this country and the region for awakening the souls sleeping.

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28

At the worship service, the Lord brought 3 guests from the neighborhood in which 2 of them have become regular attendees. Brother Ferdie shared message from Matthew 11:28; songs led by Ms.E; testimony shared by Ms.K. We all were blessed from the service! We gave a hand massage to one of the regular attendees after the service; directly explaining the Good News. She said she wants to believe, but her backgrounds and family are making it harder to decide and commit. Praying that God will taker her fear away and that she’d follow Jesus very soon!

God brought the team to Iinogawa-temporary housing to serve. From 3:00pm, we started giving hand massage and some shoulder/back/face/head massage. Most of the visitors heard Gospel. Praise the Lord for encouraging the team members to share even though they might resist… We believe that their souls need to hear the Gospel no matter what they may say.

The very first guest, Ms.U, accepted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior! She looked so happy after receiving Christ! This is what our Mighty God can do to the lives of the people… He SAVES.

Thankfully, many opened their hearts to hear the Good News. One of the ladies I talked/massaged to, Mrs.S, said “ I always feel relieved and secure when I’m in church and surrounded by Christians.” Praise God, her husband was also getting massage from us and heard the Gospel and said, “ I am so GLAD I came!”. May God continue to speak to their hearts.

God has also touched many others through the team. There was a man who lost everything he could… he was a person in which team#20 gave a Bible to. He said he can not open the Bible… because he feels he is still living in sin and that he has fear what the words from the Bible can do to his life…! He thinks there is a TRUTH in the Bible.

So… if he cannot open the Bible himself, why not I share with him some verses!?? I shared from Mattew 6:25-34. He quietly listened and said “It is true, Every-thing it says is true….”

The Third day: God told us to serve the people in Ookaido-neighborhood again; especially the carpenters working from morning to evening. We invited them for massage. They loved it!!

Mrs.Sato came (her son was a first person to be baptized in TBC@ishinomaki). When I shared the Gospel and what it means to have eternal life… and that Jesus is knocking at the door of her heart… she said “Mattete-ne” meaning “Please wait for little while, because I will”. Oh Lord, please let her heart say YES! We believe that there is timing for everything, so we pray for her salvation to come very soon!

A man from the neighborhood also came for massage; one of the team members was walking around the area and invited the man to come. He looked exhausted when he came, but he was smiling and happy by the time he left. This is what God can do… He gives COMFORT.

The carpenters…

The landowner, Mr.N, also came in for massage: Face, head, feet and back massages! No doubt… he was relaxed and slept so deeply while being massaged! God literally gave him REST; he has not been able to sleep well after 3.11 so we thank the Lord for this.

 Praising God for His wonderful plan being accomplished through the mission trip. May God and the family of believers continue to bear fruits in Ishinomaki and throughout the Northeast Japan! We can do anything by the saving power of Christ and the Holy Spirit in dwelling within us!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22 -25

Testimonial: Kamaishi Team #6

10月5日（水）－10月10日（月）

子供１人含む10人のチームが岩手県大槌町の吉里吉里を訪れました。ハンドマッサージ付のカフェを3日間3か所で開き、半日礼拝、半日草むしりの作業をしました。 前回チーム＃５が訪れた時、大槌町の小鎚と和野で、それぞれ1日100人近い方が来てくださり、その後も交流が続いていました。特に、TBCから洗剤、電気ポット、ガス炊飯器を送ったIさんは、次回チームが来る時にはぜひ、自宅に泊まってほしいと申し出てくださっていました。当初泊まらせていただく予定だった吉里吉里のTさん宅の修理が間にあわなくなり、急遽Iさん宅に宿泊することになりました。 Iさんは、朝晩、私たちの食事を作ってもてなしてくださりました。ご主人や職場だったサロンを津波で失うという苦しみの中にありながら、ユーモアあふれる温かさで私たちの活動を支えてくださいました。途中からは、ハンドマッサージにもスタッフの１人として参加してくださいました。私たちが滞在中、お姉様が亡くなられたため、関東在住の弟さんや妹さんも加わり、良い時間を過ごすことができました。

現地の方がチラシを配りお声かけをしてくださり、 1日目、子鎚に約60人、和野に約70人、吉里吉里に約120人の来場者がありました。周りの人を想い、復興のために懸命に生きていらっしゃる被災者の方がたの熱い想いを感じました。吉里吉里でカフェの準備をしている時、1人のおばあちゃんに呼ばれました。「誰か、1人でもいいからここにきて話をして」という呼びかけでした。その声が聞こえたのは私だけだったので、急いでおばあちゃんの所に行きました。おばあちゃんは手に讃美歌を持っていて、「まきびとなんとか・・・という歌を探してほしい」とおっしゃるのです。その69歳のおばあちゃんは高校時代にスイス人の神父さんから英語を習っていた関係で、讃美歌や聖書の言葉がずっと心に残っていたそうです。神様から離れてしまった自分を悔やんでいました。 「まきびとひつじは」や「いつくしみふかき」を歌うと、涙を流して喜ばれました。『～主イエスは生まれぬ～』という箇所を歌い、「イエス様が生まれたのはおばあちゃんのためなんですよ。」と言うと、「わかってます」と返ってきました。ヨハネ１４：６を文語で暗記していて、ずっと信じていたというおばあちゃん。福音を簡単に説明し、ひとつひとつ受け入れることができるかどうか確認してから、心で信じていることを口で告白する必要を説明し、祈りに導きました。 神様は50年以上もの間、このおばあちゃんの心に蒔いた聖書の言葉や讃美歌を通して語り続けてくださりました。さらに、足が悪いこのおばあちゃんを命がけで守ったおじいちゃんも一緒に地震や津波から守ってくださったのです。 おばあちゃんは、試練や困難が続いた人生の中で、創価学会の信者になっていたので、これからは特別なフォローアップが必要だと思います。

翌日は、吉里吉里のTさんのご厚意で、リフォームされたばかりの立派なお宅にて、私たち９人と現地の方９人、合わせて18人で礼拝を守ることができました。「いつくしみふかき」、「Still」、「君は愛されるため生まれた」を歌った時、和野の仮設住宅から参加された方が泣いていらっしゃったそうです。武先生を通して語られたマタイ６章の御言葉とお話も参加者の心に響いたようでした。武先生が訳された「Still」の歌詞も３月から今も続く苦しみや痛みをすべてご存じでいらっしゃる神様の存在を参加者に感じさせてくれたと思います。どこに行っても、温かい歓迎とおもてなしを受け、たくさんの秋刀魚のお土産をもって、東京に戻ってきました。ミッショントリップに参加したすべての参加者が、神様に導かれて、自分にできる最高のことをさせていただいたミッショントリップだったと思います。

～イエスは彼に言われた。「わたしが道であり、真理であり、いのちなのです。わたしを通してでなければ、だれひとり父のみもとに来ることはありません。」ヨハネ１４章６節～

Prayer Pointers Updated!

Hello Family of Believers!

We have updated prayer pointers for the Ishinomaki Team#21 leaving from October15th – 17th.

Please open the Prayer Pointers Page (tab) at the top…. Read….and PRAY!

 

May God Bless you all!