On Sunday, I shared that I believe God is about to do something great among people in Japan. God is a redeemer. He binds up the wounds of those who are hurting. Psalm 34:18 says: "He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." God loves the people of Japan, so I am confident He is now at work to show Himself strong to meet their needs.
Christians everywhere are responding with compassion to the needs of Japanese people. It is exciting to hear the stories of rescue and relief. I spoke on the phone this morning with a young Japanese-American by the name of Kazuaki Kato. Kaz and his wife, Amy, live and minister in Shibuya, located very near the Tokyo Rail Station, and 2 hours or so by bullet train south of the quake and tsunami areas. Kaz mobilized the believers in his small church to help the elderly residents of a nursing home in Miyagi Prefecture near the epicenter of the quake. The nursing home is a ministry of a Baptist church there. Nearly 150 of its residents and workers were cut off from food and water supplies by the quake and ensuing tsunami. The members of Kaz' church bought food, water, sanitary wipes, and other items needed by people living and working at the nursing home. Then they began to search for a way to get the supplies to them. Trains are not running from Tokyo that far north at the present time. And gasoline is very expensive. Still, somehow through connections that can only be described as from God, Kaz' church was able to get the supplies through. The Lord even added an exclamation point on to His answer to their prayers. The driver they enlisted to deliver the supplies "just happened" to have several hundred pounds of "extra" food on his truck, which he very willingly volunteered to leave with the people at the nursing home! The whole thing reminds me of Ephesians 3:20: "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
The Japanese people are very aware of the fact that Christians are coming to their aid. Here's what travel writer, Paul Theroux wrote in Newsweek about people giving to the Japanese: "History has shown that Japan has a long memory, and that the kindness to it now will never be forgotten."
So what can you personally do to help with the great need in Japan? Here are the ways I suggested on Sunday:
1. Ask God to give you the same burden for Japan that He has.
2. Pray for Japan. Pray for God to redeem this tragedy and to bind up the wounds of the people. Pray for Him to open their hearts to the truth about the Lord Jesus. Pray for the engineers to bring the nuclear power plants under control. I could go on and on.... Simply pray for the Lord to meet the existing needs. You can find out about other specific requests through the website of The Nippon Initiative (www.nipponinitiative.org).
3. Give to the need. You can give to the fund at the church, or you can give directly to The Nippon Initiative on the website mentioned above. Be sure to mark your gift for "Japan Relief". We will be helping relief projects like the one led by Kaz and Amy. There will be an ongoing need for quite some time.
4. Reach out to a Japanese person living here and assure them of your concern and prayers. Many of them have family and friends affected by the quake and tsunami. All are very anxious about the situation with the nuclear plants.
5. Ask the Lord to show you additional ways to intentionally share Kingdom blessings with Japanese people. If your heart is open to them, God will provide the opportunities to share!
No comments:
Post a Comment