After the Tsunami; The devastated village with big possibilities - 25 May 2012
The village of Usuiso lies in ruins after being devastated by the tsunami more than a year ago. 150 members of the village died that day and all that remains of the village itself are the foundations of what were once streets of family homes. It’s recovery has been long delayed by competing ideas between the CHIEF Elder and a village faction on how to rebuild the village. God, however, has much better plans for Usuiso and its people…
The last time we heard from Jon Petersen was back in November when regular trips to Japan were underway with the 24-7 team. From short-term encounters a long-term village-transforming vision is building. Jon Petersen has kindly shared some of his journaling with us. Thanks for helping to make this happen.
April 26 – Landed at Narita, then with my Brit friend Chris Leach in tow, we headed immediately north to Iwaki to meet up with Akira Mori (an inspirational local Christian). Chris is on sabbatical and was the perfect partner to have along to discuss transformation strategies for the wee village of Usuiso.
April 27-29 – I’ll never get over seeing the devastated land that was once Usuiso. As we were driving and walking around the temporary roads, Akira asked me if there was anything I wanted to do before we left for the day. I just had a sense that we should go toward the Buddhist temple where a small temporary trailer doubles as “city hall.” As we drove closer we saw a newer little temp building sitting next to the old one.
Upon finding the “head elder” in the older trailer he quickly relayed the story to us: the city officials of Iwaki had given the new trailer as an office to the village faction that was opposing the elders’ plans for rebuilding the village on higher ground. (They want to raze the hills flat and put up cookie-cutter homes, yuk). So, one village, with two “city halls” representing two factions.
Outside, I noticed there was one power pole supplying two separate lines to the competing “city halls.” We felt to pray that the faction would not drain the power off of the established and legal authority of the village, but would form one source of “power” for the reconstruction plan.
In addition, a rumor had spread amongst the village elders that Akira was travelling too much to other nations to be available to the village issues. He quickly pointed out that his travels were to raise awareness, prayer and funds for rebuilding Usuiso. “For example,” he said, “my friends Jon and Chris here are proof of it and Jon has raised much prayer support for you around the world”.
The elder turned to me and said, “honto?” (really?), the mood changed in that little trailer as the sincerity of our commitment to them was made apparent.
After a heated but honest discussion with the elder that day and a subsequent inquiry of the dissenting party, they have agreed to allow Akira to present the rebuilding plan the village favors and to be allowed to mediate between the disagreeing parties. A huge victory. Please pray this will happen in short order.
It looks now like 24-7 Prayer has the full blessing of our friends in Iwaki to establish a base along side Global Mission Center and engage in the Usuiso Project now under a legal entity called “Global Mission Japan.” Katie (our 24-7 Prayer Liaison) will be forming a team of locals and visiting teams in order to take on the specific prayer strategy for Usuiso as the transformation plan gets under way in July.
The day before I left Japan, I received a phone call offering us the possibility of co-renting a five-bedroom house and hall that seats 150 people. This could be a huge answer to prayer for Katie and subsequent staff housing as well as a place to host and train teams coming through. This facility however, has an infamous reputation to overcome and we are asking the Lord if this is the right thing to do. We either inherit the bad reputation by being there or we could be used by the Lord to restore respectability. Hmmmm…What to do?
Chris and I were invited by Akira to bring shape to the Usuiso Project in the form of a detailed plan covering the team formation, funding, liaising with officials and the search for alternative energy solutions (ad infinitum). So, for the next 4 days (on trains and in hotels), we drafted a Project Plan, met with Japan-based business leaders, asked a ton of questions and put our proposal down onto a now pregnant spreadsheet.
A few days earlier, on the last day in Usuiso, I woke up at 4:00 a.m. with the strong impression I was to go to Tokyo as planned, but cancel plans for Yokohama and return to Iwaki on the weekend to present and detail the project with Akira instead. So, last Friday I popped onto a train for 4 hours again, spent 24 hours in fellowship and Kingdom mischief with my friend Akira, and popped back on the train to head for the airport. God is so wise. That roundtrip excursion both cemented our friendship and the launching of the Usuiso Project Plan…
Now what? – It seems I’m on a two month rhythm now. So, I’ll return in July, September and November this year. Dayn Lukes is joining Katie for the summer and we are preparing a wee team of hard core Japan-ites beginning this September in Kansas City. Meanwhile, we are collecting prayers for the project in Usuiso, the partnership with Akira in Iwaki and the forming of a long-term presence in the nation. We continue to see money and provision miracles – never much in advance but always what we need when we need it. God is soooo good.
May 6 – so here I sit on a 10 hour flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles reflecting on all the ways in which the Lord has blessed and guided us in Japan since January last year. From “spying out the land,” to now settling into it with a wee team and many more to come, a little effort has been leveraged into big possibilities. I believe we have the opportunity to build and demonstrate a whole new way of doing Kingdom work in Japan through our partnerships in Iwaki and commitment to little Usuiso - Feels like Nazareth and Bethlehem type stuff… Jon
Want to find out more? If you’d like to be kept informed about the work in Japan please get in touch.
To read Chris Leechs’ side of the story go to: www.guildfordboilerroom.com
Anyone interested in joining a 24-7 Prayer, “Prayer Journey Team” in Japan in 2012, kindly contact Katie Cornick.