Well this certainly is the new normal as our mission has had increased activity on the disaster response front. We have moved from distributing goods, cleaning up, to building, and now a few steps from permanent ministry. Since May I have been up to my neck in disaster response work involved in leading teams of nearly 50 people to Shintate Ishinomaki City from 8 different churches in the US. These include Bethlehem Baptist Minneapolis (John Piper’s Church). Next month I will have a team from Mars Hill (church) in Seattle. There have also been many already in Japan and Japanese who have joined these teams, one a pre-believer from Elaine’s Bible class. Also this does not include the many dozens in teams our denomination has sent throughout Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.
One Converge Worldwide relief partner is Samaritan’s Purse. From our work in Ishinomaki mudding out and de constructing homes, Samaritan’s Purse has a rebuilding program. They want to rebuild over 300 homes by Christmas. In short, as they say, they want to rebuild everything we tore out of the homes.
Along with regular volunteers, we need builders and carpenters to come help us with the rebuilding phase. We need many more workers this fall. Teams will be sent this fall and more can be formed. Pray that God would raise up these workers for this important neighborhood rebuilding ministry. Please contact Converge Worldwide if you are interested in joining a team. http://www.convergeworldwide.org/reach-nations/japan-relief.