From Shikoku to Tohoku on a prayer

“All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside” — Fanny Jane Crosby

My journey to Iwate was birthed in prayer. In February 2011, during a four-day gathering committed to prayer, I conversed with attendees about Iwate outreach—only a few weeks before the tsunami devastated Tohoku. After the tsunami, much Christian relief work focused on places with local churches, but God gave me a burden for communities without a church or church plant. Since a community’s local church is there for the long term, it is desirable for Christian relief work to be done through it (with help from the broader body of Christ). But for an unchurched community, that means simultaneously planting a church and doing relief work.

At the time of the disaster I was content with my ministry in Shikoku and had nothing to incline me to relocate, and so I thought of mobilizing others to go to such communities. But instead God mobilized me. After I was called there, I learned that my agency’s Japan members had been praying for one among us to move up, and a Japanese couple had long prayed for a church planter for Noda. Thus, my journey truly was birthed in prayer.

Testing the waters

The Northern Sanriku coast rarely made the news, but God often brought the area before me. For example, as a friend drove through assessing coastal needs in March 2011, he called me about it.

In May, I went to volunteer as well as to consult and learn about Christian relief work in Iwate. On entering Iwate from Akita, I suddenly thought: “I am driving into home.” I’ve lived in 40 places and visited 50 states, 46 prefectures, and several countries, but that was a first.

Prayer driving from Ōfunato to the village of Noda, I realized God wanted me to be involved in impacted unchurched areas. I prayed for ears to hear and volunteered again in August, all the time seeking to better discern God’s calling. Funds for the trip came from a near-stranger who knocked on my door in Shikoku with a donation.

Wading deeper

My initial plans fell through at the last minute and I began thinking maybe I shouldn’t go. I had no idea where I’d stay, but like he did with Abraham, the Spirit told me to “go to a place I will show you.”

A friend told me of a new Cell Church Mission Network (CCMN) base in Tōno, however it was completely full. But then the next day, one person canceled. I found a website announcing another network’s new base in Tarō. So I arranged to stay a week at each base, while independently researching the unchurched coastal areas.

With a place to stay and a clear “go” from God, I went in August. I considered bringing Sanuki udon (specialty of my part of Shikoku) to serve in temporary housing but was advised I’d likely be turned down without more lead time and connections. About to abandon the idea, I sensed the Spirit say, “Bring all the supplies for an udon event.”

Much had changed since my last visit, so I drove along the coast, consulting with town governments and fellow pastors, and gathering information. When I went to the church at Kuji, I hoped to obtain contact information from the church sign. A young man arrived and informed me the pastor would be there in five minutes though it was a weekday and he is usually in Iwate only on weekends. He was happy to talk at length and we connected well. He expressed a willingness to help as a backup church if I moved up to plant a church in the area. It was perfect timing—had I come a few minutes earlier or later in the day, we’d never have met!

Next, I volunteered in Iwaizumi and was led to ask there about an udon event. God gave favor—a woman in the town hall referred me to another department but said they probably wouldn’t authorize it. Later, she offered to go with me and advocate for it. Despite me being a foreigner, a pastor, unaccompanied, and unaffiliated with a formal relief organization, the event was approved. Through an unusually large turnout of 50 people, God confirmed a calling to move to Iwaizumi.

A diverse range of groups were providing Christian relief work in all churched tsunami-impacted municipalities in Iwate. But there were no regular relief activities in North Sanriku (Noda, Fudai, Tanohata, Omoto, and Iwaizumi)—the very area God had put on my heart. Suddenly it was clear—I wasn’t supposed to just support the area from afar, find others to send, nor work further south in Tohoku, but rather I was to start and lead something for North Sanriku. Everything in me wanted to continue in Shikoku, but I prayed, “I will go if it is your will; just show me clearly.” I began sensing a deep pastoral responsibility for the area.

Final confirmation came when I received an Iwaizumi town magazine that featured the udon event on its front cover and introduced me to the whole town as a Christian pastor. I started preparing to relocate.

The last step

With no one in Iwate to search ahead for housing and knowing I’d forfeit my supplementary tent-making income by moving, I asked a friend in Osaka to pray. A mutual friend from the US was visiting and overheard this. He had just met a cram school owner in Ōfunato, and this led to a place to stay while I searched for one in Iwaizumi, plus six months of English-teaching work. I moved up in February 2012. Rental accommodation was scarce after the tsunami. As I searched, Iwaizumi resident Y’s name kept emerging. We met, he searched hard, and we found an apartment by April. There was also a need for a bigger place intermittently for use for worship service, kid’s events, and larger teams. One day Pastor Z from another city helped me to search, but he gave up and went home after he found nothing. However, the Spirit impressed on me, “You aren’t done for today.” I prayed, “What else should I do?” Suddenly, an idea came that caused me to inquire at a certain shop. The person I went to see was gone, but another asked why I’d come. That very hour, through their introduction, I found a place.

Our faithful God led me in surprising ways on an unexpected journey to North Iwate where I lead a church plant (Kita Sanriku Kirisuto Kyōkai). I also lead the Christian relief work in Iwaizumi, Omoto, Tanohata, Fudai, and Noda. One year ago, God led me to relocate the church and relief work volunteer base from its initial location on the edge of Iwaizumi to the center of town. In August 2016, Iwaizumi was struck by a typhoon just after having recovered from the tsunami. The church’s current location is a one-minute walk from one of the areas most impacted by the typhoon. So as the local church’s pastor, I am now coordinating Christian relief work in all areas of Iwaizumi. The church’s volunteer center continues to receive volunteers (email me at dawndb1@hotmail.com to volunteer).

Udon photo by sekido – るみばあちゃんの讃岐うどん, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4724947