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O Lord, hear my prayer.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

When I call, answer me.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

Come, and listen to me.

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I work in the media group for 7 1/2 years as a supporting staff (accounting clerk).  During last three years, I take the PSW (personal support worker) course and fulfill my practical hours (280 hours).  I know that may be one day, I have to choose whether I get into this field.  It’s hard to make a decision.

My mother-in-law inspired me to get into this field.  I still can remember when she had a threatened illness, like anxiety depression (which is not dianogsis).   I search a place to put her in when all of us are not home.  Even though, nowaday many Asian move in Newmarket, but I can’t found a right place for her.  In the meanwhile, we have a family care meeting about her.  It’s amazing, you know, Po Man got a cold and had force to stay home for a week.  I talked to my boss, and she adviced my to plan my vacation and the co. will accommodate with it.  So, I took the whole week off in the morning.  And encourage her (mother-in-law) to stay home alone just for 2 hours then the John and Ian will back from school.  The third week, it’s more difficult, I invited my sister to take care for one day and Cindy took the rest during her study period.  We took her back to Rosewood to worshop and we try to make her time fully occupied.  It’s works under the mercyful of our Lord.  God let us notice the passion and we just try our best to help out.

Of course, it happened not only by  a suddenly.  It may be some hinds that we had not notice.  Thanks God open our heart and our eye.  So, I had a passion to serve the senior parent and let the young adult had a peace in their heart while they earn for their living.

Now, I’m working in my community – Newmarket to serve the senior (usually, but may be young adult too).  I can’t ensure that I’ll get the same earning, all depend on God’s provide.  I don’t know what will be in the future, but I know who holds my hands.

Pls, pray for my health and strength to support my new adventure, pray for my hours – which can support my family living.

Thank you.  Let shout and sing together to praise our God, our Lord.

Josephine

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It has been a long time struggle in my relationship with my in-law. I really don’t know why I was so disturbed by her behavior at the first place.  For instance, she would like to help out during the meal preparation. She worked like my shadow cleaning the pots and pans when I was cooking. I felt annoyed by her interruption and insulted. I was thinking if she could let me cook by myself.

I learn the definition of a fool in Proverbs 17. I asked myself  if I was a fool in the relationship with my in-law.  The Holy Spirit was talking to me: yes, I am a fool.

I’m a fool because of my over confident – my pride.  It made myself no ROOMS for others, no rooms to receive others’ HELP, LOVE, MERCY, and KINDNESS.  My in-law is such a nice parent, how come I get offended by her kindness.

Thanks be to God for letting me to see my foolishness.  I pray and beg for His forgiveness. You know what? I have share my this spiritual insight with her.

Sorry for holding this such a long time,  may be I’m a traditional woman, I the one  like community with people in person.

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“‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:14

It has now been a full three weeks since the earthquake and the disaster has now claimed more than 28,000 deaths and missing persons. And it is the final day of our relief mission to Shiogama. Yesterday our team was joined in the work by a deaf pastor from Yamagata and a member of his congregation. They stayed over with us in the cabin and this morning the pastor shared from God’s Word in our devotional time and helped us to understand the needs of deaf in a crisis like this. Today he and the member of his congregation, along with the two sign literate members of our team went out to city hall to try and establish contact with and provided practical help to deaf people in the affected community.

I ended up leading a team from Tokyo that had just arrived for the day and as we arrived at the site a half dozen members of a high-school baseball team arrived and a neighbour told them to join up with our group. We cleared out another apartment and emptied and dismantled two storage sheds. In the process we came across a couple of fish – remember we’re still several kilometres from the ocean! But after a full morning of work and a cup-noodle lunch, it was time to pack up and make the six hour trip back to Tsukuba where a hot shower and a flush toilet await.

Join us in prayer:
l Pray for the wisdom and insight of Joseph, to be able to prepare for the next phases of relief and recovery that will unfold over the next six months. Conditions and needs are changing daily and so it’s difficult to anticipate and organize the response.
l Pray for key churches like Shiogama Baptist Church to come to take leadership in places like Ishinomaki and Kesennuma where the relief efforts are at least another week behind conditions in Shiogama.
l Pray for trust and open doors as churches and volunteer groups reach out to government administrators to provide cooperation in the next phases of re-building.
l Pray that Jesus Christ would be glorified and a new era of spiritual openness would sweep Japan and the Tohoku region in particular.

Safe in His Loving Arms,
Paul Sadler

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Dear Praying Friends,

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40:28-29

Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf, God is good! Half an hour ago Jennifer’s plane touched down at Pearson International Airport in Toronto and she and the children will soon be taking a break from the earthquakes and experiencing another of God’s awe-inspiring wonders, SNOW! I had asked you to pray for gas, tickets and re-entry permits. Last time I reported on the gas and the tickets. But thanks to a tip from our colleagues, the Flemings, we learned that the Japanese government had set up a provisional immigration desk at the airport in Japan to process re-entry permits for those who needed them because of the current crisis. This saved us from having to travel to Mito and took some of the pressure off of our schedule. Thank you for praying. With Jennifer gone I am starting to become far more adept at the use of the washing machine – for Jennifer this may turn out to be one of the biggest hidden blessings of the whole crisis!

This week has seen a steady of improvement in our living conditions here in Tsukuba. While I reported the 4 hours I spent getting gas on Sunday, by Tuesday we appeared to have turned the corner and the fuel shortage seems to be almost over. About nine of Japan’s twenty or so oil refineries were damaged or shut down following the quake but by Monday several of these had been restored and a key port in Miyagi was re-opened to allow for more direct delivery of fuel where it’s been lacking most. Without fuel it was easy to feel a little trapped so this is a big relief.

All utilities in our area have returned to normal now and the Flemings long stretch (more than ten days) without running water is finally at an end. While our local mall will not likely open up for several weeks (and the circus tent which had another two months of shows scheduled has now left town), many stores have re-opened now and most importantly grocery stores and home centres are now back at almost full capacity with plenty of emergency supplies and non-perishables on their shelves even now.

The situation at the troubled Fukushima power plant, while still not resolved is improving every day. The initial efforts to cool the reactors by spraying water at them from helicopters and high-powered fire trucks, while seemingly far-fetched and not particularly reassuring, was surprisingly effective it seems. And now electricity has been restored to all six reactors with the hopes that the cooling systems will soon be operational. The surface temperatures of the containment buildings for all reactors is now down below 40C whereas it had been as high as 128C. The core temperatures obviously can be several times that amount but are getting better every day.

While there had been much news about ‘alarming radiation levels’, living in Science City Tsukuba, gives us first hand access to some of the top scientists in the world. There are several research centres that have been publishing hourly radiation readings. These numbers are very helpful. To give you some idea the normal readings at one site are 0.06 microsieverts/hr. Since the Fukushima nuclear plant incident the readings peaked as high as 0.52 (for about an hour) but for the remainder of the time have been steady at about 0.28 microsieverts/hr. As a news story this will tend to get reported as ‘a staggering 800% increase in radioactivity’ without mentioning the fact that the radiation level considered safe for on-going exposure is 23 microsieverts/hr which would require an additional 8000% increase! The radiation levels have increased but rest assured the air is safe.

We are getting reports daily of testing being done on fresh produce for increased radiation levels. The government has suspended distribution of milk and many vegetables from several prefectures and we are assured that anything that is above legal limits is being kept out of the market. Like the air and everything else though, the “safe” levels are designated based on on-going long-term exposure: nobody will suffer any effects from one or two salads that had increased radiation levels. Similarly for water, increased radiation has measured, and we are taking every precaution, but there is no need for alarm.

While Fukushima First Baptist Church’s exodus has entered the more stable but perhaps even more exhausting medium-term phase, emergency efforts are now being directed to churches along the tsunami-ravaged coast. You may now be familiar with the names of three towns, Shiogama, Ishimaki, and Kesennuma, because they were featured constantly on local and international news when the tsunami came in wreaking its destruction. Our association has churches in each of those towns and they have begun efforts to clean out homes now filled with mud and debris. As a gesture of hope for new beginnings for the children who have lost so much (and who start a new grade in just a couple of weeks), they have asked for us to help supply backpacks for them (not the vinyl/canvas ones you see in North America but the sturdy leather ones used in Japan for the duration of a child’s elementary school years). F.A.I.R. funds will help us respond to this need and bless traumatized children and their families with a gift of love and compassion.

This week I have been organizing a ministry team of half a dozen fellow missionaries to travel into Shiogama and help our partner church there in the clean-up of homes affected by the tsunami. While there we will visit the local elementary school with local church leaders and deliver the back-packs and other school supplies we are collecting now. This area is well out of the way of any radiation and we are taking every precaution to make this a safe and well-organized trip with team members working now to secure equipment and read up on issues we will face in terms of emotional self-care and appropriate response in approaching tsunami survivors. Lord willing I hope to leave Monday morning (March 28), arrive that evening, work through to Friday morning (April 1) and be back in Tsukuba that night.

Please join us in prayer:
l Give thanks that God made the path so clear for Jennifer and the children to be able to return to Canada.
l Pray for their refreshment and rest during this time.
l Continue to lift up the Fukushima First Bible Baptist Church’s members who are being hosted safely at our partner church in Yamagata now.
l Pray for the relief efforts of our churches at Shiogama, Ishimaki and Kesennuma where tsunami damage has been great.
l Pray for me as I travel north with our team on Monday. For safety, emotional strength, proper rest and spiritual recovery to meet each day’s challenges.
l Pray that God would use this crisis and the faith-motivated response of Christians across the country and around the world, to turn the Japanese people to the hope of Jesus Christ and the salvation He freely offers.

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