Dear friends in Christ,

This time the English report, about our first outreach after the Kumamoto disaster (which took place from 25 -29 April), took longer than I planned. But it’s better late than never (with apology)!

The earthquake disaster has created countless new opportunities for the church, of ministering to people with very real needs. In a country with less than 1% Christians, the church is mostly “invisible” in the community. Most Japanese people feel uneasy, uncertain and sometimes even somehow hostile toward the church / Christians.

But the number of people crossing the entrance of RCJ Kumamoto during our outreach, exceeded that of the normal attendance over many months’ worship services. Relationships that were initiated are waiting to be developed and deepened. Local church members need consistent prayers, encouragement and concrete leadership from various sources. Hundreds of people have had contact with the body of Christ for the first time ever.

Therefore, after we finished our outreach, another team followed-up with a second outreach (between 9-13 May). One of those team members even stayed behind until today. From tomorrow Tobie and Annalie De Wet will also visit and serve the congregation and community, until May 25^th. And after that, for the next four weekends, four pairs of our seminary students (studying at KRTS – Kobe Reformed Theological Seminary) will reach out and assist the local pastor and his wife with many new ministry responsibilities. I will also join this again from 17-20 June.

Now – as with the tsunami in the Sendai in 2011 – the local church has her first opportunity of becoming more visible and more actively ministering to others in the community. With the assistance of Mission Japan’s supporters, in conjunction with the wider RCJ (including Shikoku Presbytery), as well as KRTS, we are staying involved in this crucial time for this small RCJ church.

Read more here below … for a comprehensive feedback on our first outreach, as well as for more photos.

And please keep us all – who are involved in the outreaches, as well as the local church and community of Kumamoto – in your prayers.

We appreciate your continuing support!

God’s peace, in Christ.

Stéphan

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REPORT

Situation at time of our outreach project (27 April)

• 8 400 homes were damaged (more than in the big 1995 Kobe earth quake);
• 36 000 people still find themselves in shelters (e.g. schools);
• There are plans for 4 200 homes to be erected;
• More than 1 000 aftershocks have been experienced, and are still occurring;
• Many people are living in parking areas, in their cars (as their homes are unsafe);
• Products in shops are rapidly sold out, fresh products being especially scarce;

Our involvement, in conjunction with RCJ Kumamoto congregation

• In the area surrounding the congregation physical damage is little, compared to certain other parts. But the emotional wounds are clearly visible. The vulnerability of children and the aged is especially clear.
• For the past three days a steady stream of people came to the church for essential supplies such as water, food, gas cans (to prepare food with) etc. Some fetched diapers for babies, others canned foods. These are being made available for free through the support of other RCJ congregations. Other goods were collected for free from an interdenominational Christian support centre which had been founded for emergency relief.
• Mission Japan’s funds were e.g. used to pay for our team’s travelling expenses and meals, as well as toys for children who came to the church (they needed entertainment as schools were closed until 9 May); and essentials for the church itself e.g. small fold-up tables, book shelves for the children’s room etc. It was done to create a welcoming space for people, in order to feel comfortable and at home, amidst enormous stress. Reserve funds will be transferred to the RCJ to be utilized in the long term for further outreaches, relevant support projects etc. The church across the whole world is making a meaningful, concrete difference in this crisis, which is tremendously encouraging for the local Christians.
• Three theology students and I helped to prepare and equip the church as a place of support. Offloading and organizing, as well as distribution of essential emergency goods, all formed part of our responsibilities. Two students focused especially on playing creative games with the children that arrived at the church voluntarily.  Another student (that had been a nurse before) did some basic medical check-ups for people on request, at the same time discussing at a deeper level their emotional wellbeing. I shared actively in all the above-mentioned activities, and focused especially on listening to people’s deeper emotional needs. There were many opportunities to do this.
• Most people to whom I talked had a great need to debrief. Many also repeatedly wanted to share their experiences, to find some sense of de-briefing and meaning-making in all the shock and stress. Themes that surfaced constantly revolved around the enormous disruption that left people anxious and uncertain. Many families are temporarily separated, because e.g. many men / fathers spend the nights at their places of work. (for safety’s sake and to help clear the chaos).
• Mashiki town was struck the worst, and many people there are living in tents. The army provides only in the most basic of needs, for the people there. One aged gentleman was overwhelmed with joy over the canned foods and sweets for children he had been given, while visiting the church.
• Although the most urgent needs of most people have been met e.g. sustenance, water and safe refuge, there are many other (less noticeable) needs mentioned in discussions. By endeavouring to listen more intensively to people I could sometimes discern the actual cause of the need and anxiety, and I tried to give them support and to establish ties with local church members (for longer term follow-up care).
• Rev. Nishibori took essential items to church members that had been isolated by the disaster. He was also involved with other church members whose relatives’ homes had been totally destroyed. His main focus was especially on the church members, whereas our focus was on people who came to the church for the first time for assistance / support / goods. He and his wife were flooded with correspondence with the wider church etc. They still feel somewhat overwhelmed by all the events, and will take a break to rest (away from Kumamoto) early in May.
• I also had the opportunity to pay a visit to one family from the congregation, and was able to have a long and meaningful pastoral discussion with them.

Victims’ stories

• One man talked about his struggle to get his three children (and two cats) out of his house in time as they feared that it might collapse. His eldest daughter had psychological problems (panic disorder), and now finds it hard to sleep. As the big earthquake struck at night she is now terrified of the dark.  They keep on all lights and the TV at night, because silence and darkness intensify her anxiety. She doesn’t sleep at night, but she does so in the daytime. She stays indoors all day, has not been outside the house for 10 days, and schools open only in 2 weeks’ time. The stress is sometimes unbearable, her father said. His need to share and to be heard is clear. His own place of work (company building) was situated in one of the hardest hit areas, and collapsed (at night).
• Another lady (whom I got know here in October last year), came to talk to me a number of times during the week. After the disaster she had learned what it meant to live and to die, she told me, because when she now opened her eyes in the mornings, she was profoundly relieved to find herself still alive. She told me with wide open eyes about the gigantic hole that had suddenly opened up in the parking area surface directly behind their car (because of the earthquake). She and her family were now prepared for any following disaster, emergency kit ready at the front door, blankets in the car in case they might have to spend a night there again.
• A mother of three infants (used to be a nurse) shared how frustrated and tired she was having slept so little during the previous 10 days. They had actually moved to that area a year before, as they used to live close to the tsunami disaster area (Sendai), and had experienced intense trauma. She had intended to stay at the church only for a few minutes but eventually she – with her 3 daughters – stayed for lunch and talked to us  continuously for hours. A number of times she mentioned that it was wonderful that the church had now in this way become a restful place where one could feel at home in that chaotic time. Her children no longer needed to sit frustrated in front of the TV all day, but could play at the church, and relax in a healthy manner in a safe, friendly environment. Her words touched me deeply, as this had long been my dream for the church in Japan … that it would become more and more of a home for those people that feel increasingly uprooted and displaced in their daily lives. A refuge that is also an open, welcoming place, peaceful, and happy. She also freely asked me about the church and about faith issues,  including the “darkness” in her life.
• Another group of women talked about teachers, that were also victims themselves, who had to work extremely hard at schools which were used as temporary shelters for thousands of people. A principal suffered from severe emotional ‘burnout’ in the process. Members of the armed forces also worked continuously to bring about emergency relief.  That these conversations occurred at the church is noteworthy. It places the church in the centre of the community, and the community in the centre of the church.
• Rev. Nishibori shared with us about his own and his family’s trauma of the past few days. On the day of the earthquake a number of strange things had occurred, he recounted. He was extremely tense getting his sermon done (for that Sunday), as a number of unexpected events had occurred, e.g. a long drawn-out involvement with a homeless person, an hour’s crisis phone call etc. Shortly before the earthquake struck he had gone outside the church to put up his theme for that Sunday’s sermon: (“The Signs of the End of the Age” from Mark 13). The earthquake struck shortly afterwards. They had fled for shelter (school grounds) after the second severe quake in the middle of the night. In one corner of the school grounds, water (to everyone’s great shock) had started gushing from the earth. He and his wife, and their six-year-old son had stayed in the shelter for about a week. He witnessed how the Lord had provided people at the right times to support and encourage them. When they had been able to return to their home, and came to their senses, Psalm 46 (especially verses 1-3,10-11) spoke profoundly to him … “Be still, and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations.”  The same test I had read and discussed at KRTS on more than one occasion, before we came to Kumamoto.
• At the prayer meeting which we could share with the students,  Ester, one of the students, shared an encouraging message from 1 Peter 1:3-9. Her and here family’s lives had been severely affected by the huge 1995 earth quake in Kobe, during which their home had been destroyed. Her testimony focused on verses 6-9, from which, she told us, she had learned that no suffering was ever meaningless. Through faith it is purified, and becomes meaningful. Crises such as these actually expose the foundations of our lives and faith!

Summary

• I am most grateful for the opportunity of being part of the outreach, within the first two weeks after the earth quake. This is a time during which needs and circumstances change easily. In these circumstances I think the composition and gifts of our outreach team suited well to a great extent. All of us had been involved in the 2011 Tohoku disaster (Sendai region). It was possible for us to involve ourselves immediately in and be effective within the church’s initiatives.
• The pastor (Rev. Nishibori) had been here for only two years, and was still developing relationships of trust with church members and residents of the area. A new era has opened for the small congregation. How will the Lord provide in this crisis, and transform this tiny religious community into a hopeful sign of his love and care? We do not know, but we have (again) experienced a small part of the new direction in which the church was hauled into by this disaster.
• I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be allowed into the very private (holy) places of people’s lives and to hear their stories of fear, powerlessness and despair.
• We pray that the following outreach projects will in the long term help to create an “openness” of the church for the community. So that people that have never been in a church nor have had any close contact with Christians before, will find it easier to be able to “come inside”. We believe that it presents new, unique opportunities to share the gospel of hope in Jesus Christ.
• At one stage a group of young boys walked past the church. We invited them to enter, but they were on their way to a game of soccer, and proceeded on their way. The next day they (a group of 15) arrived unexpectedly at the church. Enjoying themselves, they played at the church for a considerable length of time. Not a single person that crosses the entrance of the church, is regarded casually, as a matter of course. It stays exceptional, within the context of the Japanese community, for non-Christians to take a courageous first step into a church. There were especially certain people that came repeatedly during our time there, people with whom the congregation might get involved more deeply. We pray for this.
• As RCJ Kumamoto is a small congregation (about 20 church members), it is important not to over-stretch the local congregation’s capacity, and to consider responsibly the medium and long term involvement and possibilities.

While I was writing the last words of this report, the building shuddered as a result of another after-shock … the uncertainty is in no way over yet, but the steadfast, living hope of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3) brightens up Kumamoto.

Please pray with us for the next phases of support in the light of the information above.

God’s Peace, and thank you once again for everyone’s support!

Stéphan

from Kumamoto, 27 April 2016