Japan is probably off the radar of most news agencies. The resilience of of the Japanese people has been broadcast around the world and peoples minds have been at rest. They will survive… Thanks to the generous donations of many of you we have been able to help many people who actually struggle to survive after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Last Saturday I took a volunteer team of young professionals to the hard hit city of Ishinomaki. Grace City Church Tokyo has been going to this place dozens of times, bringing relief aid, helping with cleaning, and bringing hope through musical performances. This time we were able to gather a team of a dozen young professionals most of whom went up north for the first time. (Ab)normal work hours in city center Tokyo do not permit for city professionals to participate in volunteer trips throughout the week. Some companies have organized trips for their employees in the weekend and so have recently many tour operators. Using our growing network in the city we figured we could tap into the current supply of city volunteers and thus bringing together relief and networking/building relationships for the gospel in Tokyo.

We all have seen the shocking images on television and the internet of the devastation the tsunami brought. Waves of up to 100 feet have swept away complete villages and parts of cities. Ishinomaki has been hit hard by a tsunami of about 30 feet and about half of the city (population of 164.000) has been inundated. The quake lowered parts of the city by up to 4 feet, causing it to flood daily. Almost 3000 people died. Close to three months after this place was hit so hard I expected to see much more signs of recovery. But it is still like a war zone. You are surrounded by army vehicles that bring relief to the most hit areas.

Television crews must not have been to Koganehama, a neigborhood of this city tucked away behind a hill where the relief work of Grace City is concentrated. In other parts everything has been swept away, but here many houses are still somehow standing. Most of them have been completely ruined, though. It feels as if a big monster has attacked this town ravaging the area, eating from the houses and crushing every car on its way.

Talking with the people it seems like this has not been far from the truth. The monster was not a kingkong-like being, but the sea. A mother shared how she was thankful she could tell me her story. Even though other people went throught the same ordeal, she said she can no longer talk about it with her peers. “People do not want to remember what happened. They want to look forward, but I can’t. I can’t forget what happened. Every day is hard to get through, every day feels like an entire year. I do not know what to do.” She continued telling how she had seen from her window how the tsunami was raging towards her house . She fled to the second floor and survived. However, her three children were playing at a friend’s house and she was unable to find them. It took three agonizing days, thinking she had lost her children, before the news came they were safe. Another man shared in tears how five cars were pushed against and into his house, destroying the first floor. The debris and car wrecks scattered around his house testify to his account.

Most of the people in this neigborhood live on the second floor of their damaged homes. Utilities have somewhat been restored, but the water is still very dirty and electricity is on and off. People have not toilets and the temporary given by the city are not sufficient, but it is something you do not talk about. Even though some supermarkets have been reopened somehow, people have no money to buy food. Most of these people were employed by fishing cooperatives or otherwise marine related businesses. There is nothing to go back to and they are dependant on help from the outside. I was completely shocked to see the needs still present today. People became frenzy when we started our fresh produce market. In groups of five (to avoid chaos) they were allowed to choose four pieces of vegetables and 1 fish. Most people obeyed this rule to ensure equal access to the limited goods we could bring. Some people heeded the warnings we had to give and just took whatever they could grab before we had to really remove them. I was overwhelmed by the hunger I saw in their eyes. This is not Africa but Japan…

In partnership with another church we also made hot noodle meals for the people and opened a coffee corner allowing many of them to drink coffee for the first time in a long time. We treated them with muffins, cake and doughnuts we brought from Tokyo. Not because these were basic needs, but because people in our church community longed to convey to the people they are loved, that each and everyone of them is a valuable human being. Our volunteers gave everything and little was said on the 7 hour way home. Needless to say we will continue our relief efforts in collaboration with young city professionals.

One of them, Hideyoshi, was not able to join us this time, but wants to come along next time. On Wednesday nights we do Bible study together. He is not a Christian but is interested in knowing more of what we believe through doing our CROSSROAD course. Two nights before the earthquake struck he was bombarding me with questions and we somehow ended up reading Revelations 21: “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” He stopped me right after this first verse, because he did not understand why it said so prominently there would no longer be any sea. I explained how the sea often symbolizes death and darkness, but it did not immediately make sense to him. In the week after the tsunami he wrote to me how he remembered our study and especially the discussion about the sea. “Now I understand what you were saying. The sea really can be a deathly monster.”

We can drink the tap water again. There is no longer an immediate radiation danger from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The boys can travel to school by train without problems. We can buy most daily goods, although some products are still rationed. Stores and stations are only half lit to avoid sudden blackouts. A grim darkness covers the city at night, reminding of the tragedy that struck at 3/11. In the church community many still struggle with what happened. Some are able to put things behind them by working hard as ever. Other seem to have more trouble and long for a safe place to tell their story. Many feel guilty about struggling emotionally beacause the ‘real’ tragedy took place further north.

In the middle of all this Grace City tries to be a beacon of hope. Several times a week trucks bring supplies to areas near Sendai, to the cities of Minami Sanriku and Ishinomaki which were devastated by the tsunami. We especially focus on those who are not reached in the shelter, the elderly people and families that live (together) in what is left of their homes, often because they fear possible diseases going around in the shelters. Grace City RELIEF, the new ministry that was born in response to the disaster, tries to bring the Gospel through acts of love to those in need.

It is easy to feel proud of the response by our small church community. Maybe especially missioanries are at risk to suffer from a savior-syndrom. Not only are we as sinners prone to wanting to save ourselves, we like to do it by saving others. Usually this is s adire task in Japan, where the response to the Gospel is so little. Relief work makes the temptation much bigger to see ourselves as Rescuers.  The $150k aid we raised in the Netherlands makes me easily feel (too) good about myself. Think about what this can do to rescue people in need…

Next week Grace City will stop all relief efforts for one week and rest. We will go on a church retreat and take time to process what happened in order to refocus on our vision for the church to love and serve this city and our vision to continue to help the people in the affected areas up north. It will be a time to acknowledge our weaknesses and failures; our need for the real Savior. We believe this will make us better servants for Him, to bring the good news of the true RESCUE to Tokyo and Japan. About every other ten minutes some Japanese celebraties tell me on television they ‘believe in Japan’! We are believinginjapan, too, but know that just trying in our own power to overcome our difficulties will not ultimately bring hope and renewal. Therefore our belief in Japan rests in the hope we have in our risen Lord, who won victory over death and will make everything new!

By the way, despite the challenge of staying on top of things on three continents at the same time, traveling 2000 miles with 7 in a small van, our time in the US was greatly blessed. The gospel coach training at Redeemer, the meetings with Redeemer staff about faith & work, youth & kids ministries, short term missions, listening to Tim Keller, attending lecture series and more were very inspiring. Meetings with wonderful friends in New York, Newport, and Grand Rapids were a warm oasis of encouragement. It was a blessing to worship and spend time sharing about church planting and relief work in Japan with our brothers and sisters at Riverside CRC. We loved speaking and teaching at Kuyper College.

We planned to fly back to Japan on March 31st, but our mission assessed the risk for our children as too high and they wanted us to spend some time in the Netherlands (NL). So here we are, torn apart, overwhelmed by the radio and newspaper coverage of our family in limbo, waiting for permission to return to Japan while raising more funds and working long distance for Grace City. Today we received a conditional green light to return next Monday, April 18. We look forward to being reunited with our friends and the community in Tokyo. It will be the start of a new chapter, for Japan, and for Grace City as it seeks to serve the city with the Gospel and bring relief to those affected through the new GraceCityRELIEF ministry.

When asked to make a logo for GraceCityRELIEF, Geert explained the following: The logo in the colors of emergency and rescue, darkness (black) and hope (yellow), is a variation of the Grace City logo. In this case, however, the circle refers not only to the city, but to the sun, symbol of a whole nation, Japan. The lower half is darker yellow, an image of the earth burning. Creation is in pain
and in need of hope and rescue. The upper part is bright yellow, the color of hope. It is reflection of the belief in restoration of creation when God himself will be the sun (Revelation 21:23). A subtle yellow cross is added to the bolded RELIEF. This expresses that even though Grace City executes the relief work it is the Gospel of Christ that empowers the church community to do so. The cross is the only thing that can truly make sense of hope through suffering.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. … And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “… ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21: 1-5)

We appreciate your prayers for Japan. Hopefully we have had the worst of the earthquakes (although the aftershocks continue all the time), but I think the worst news will come over the next few days when the scope of the disaster becomes clear.

Church Planting Around the Globe from Redeemer City to City.