First Converge Team Success!

A high school assistant principal, an artist, a business woman, and an engineering student made up the first Converge Worldwide disaster response team. Workers were based at the Samaritan’s Purse’s Tone base and worked with missionary Dean Bengston and Mr. Abe of the Ishinomaki House of Prayer in the Shintate neighborhood of Ishinomaki City. Team members have taken out walls, floors and removed mud from homes affected by the tsunami. Also the team cleaned yards,…

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John Departs with Converge Team

In a few hours our first Converge Worldwide disaster response team will head up north for the first assignment. The team of 7 people, all from different States, will be working in the Shintate neighborhood of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Ishinomaki is one of the hardest hit areas where nearly one-half of the city was swamped by the tsunami. Over 5,000 people were killed or are still missing, making this city about 1/5 of the total…

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Iwate #2 Blessings

Last week John was with four of our Tokyo pastors, a lay couple, and Phil Tsai, short-term missionary, serving with a team in Iwate Prefecture. In John’s previous trip with the Nerima church they worked with the Iwate 3.11 Church Network. This time they stayed at Pastor Kondo’s church where he outlined his vision for church ministry throughout this prefecture. Iwate presents several large challenges to mission ministry. There are only a few existing churches…

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John Back to Iwate

John will be leaving today with Phil Tsai, short-term worker, to work with a Rengo Disaster Response team in Iwate prefecture from the 15th to the 19th. The eight member team will include Pastor Sasaki, Rengo Board member, Pastor Kurashima of the Masago church, Associate Pastor Yamauchi of the Chuo church, the Wakaos of the Ishikawa Kita church and Pastor Yokota of the Minami Urawa church. This team is loaded with pastors! John and Phil…

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John & Elaine Relief Trip

We are back home from the disaster area of Rikuzen Takata City Iwate Prefecture. We are safe but have lots of sore muscles. We worked at shoveling 6 inches to over a foot of dirt, sand, mixed with oil and other debris from the sidewalk that the elementary kids will walk on starting today. The school has been closed since the 3/11 disasters and is opening on Friday 5/6. The side walk is along a…

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Elaine & John to Iwate Ken

We both leave tonight (5/2) with Tom Ellison and 7 others from the Nerima Baptist Church on a volunteer team to the disaster area. We will be working in Rikuzen Takata City, Iwate Prefecture until May 5th. We will be cleaning damaged houses, ministering to people in evacuation centers and developing ministry to children. Due to the earthquake and the tsunami over 2/3rds of the population of Rikuzen Takata City are homeless. There is only…

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