Thank you all for your constant prayers and support for the relief work of the Higashi Matsushima Amazing Grace Support Center and for the healing and salvation of souls in the disaster area.
By the grace of God we are working continually at the Higashi Matsushima AG Support Center, and on Thursday the 28th we held our 4th "Word and Tea" event.
We had roughly 40 people attend including many from the nearby Yanagi-nishi neighborhood, the Omagari-hama neighborhood, a 94 year old elderly lady who lives alone in a temporary housing unit and another elderly lady who is blind.
This is the first time that we have ministered with such a small staff, a total of 7 people made up of center staff members and Izumi church members. God also graciously sent 3 volunteers from the Samaritan's purse ministry to help.
We opened with a greeting, a prayer and then some worship. After that we continued with a greeting and testimony from Mr. Kuriyama, who used to operate a sushi restaurant in Canada but after the disaster he came to Japan and has been serving at Samaritan's purse ever since. His testimony of love and commitment to the Lord really touched the hearts of everyone there. We then watched a praise DVD and then moved on to the lesson, "Man and Sin", which is lesson 3 of the text "True Salvation." There were many elderly attendees and they all diligently participated in the Bible study.
After the Bible study we drank green tea and ate snacks with each table having their own conversations. As much as was possible we had the various staff members sit in on the conversations listening, praying and encouraging.
At this time, even more than the other events that we have, it is important for the staff and ministers to spend time listening and praying with those that have come.
I really believe that this time as well many attnedees experienced the healing, encouraging and saving work of the Lord.
On Tuesday the 3rd of this week we will have the seventh "Tea Time" event followed by the third Sunday worship and Sunday school on Sunday the 8th. Also, we will finally be able to start an adult English class since Alex, an American college student on summer break, has recently arrived. And on Saturday the 14th we will hold the fourth movie viewing and will show the film "The Ten Commandments".
Then on Saturday the 21st we will hold our 30th meal distribution. For this meal distribution we will need many volunteers so please come and help.
We always start various preparations the day before the event, and it is possible to come and stay at the center on that night, Friday the 20th. So please, by all means, come and make use of the lodging facilities. This time we are planning on having many different performances and presentations on our outdoor stage and we are calling it the "Amazing Festival". We have opened up applications for performing to the local people but we are also hoping to have Christian choirs, bands and dance teams apply as well.
For more details or questions please call the center at 080-2815-3507 and speak with the performance coordinator Nozomi Odajima or send an email to izumi-gospel@church.email.ne.jp.
Even now we have a constant stream of disaster victims coming to the center seeking aid. We have a need for summer clothing, underclothes, towel blankets, bath towels, blankets, shoes and sandals as well as cooking utensils. Please pray for us and in any way that you can.
Thank you all for your understanding,
prayers and your precious offerings.
Please follow this link and scroll to the bottom of the page to view more pictures of this event.
