Jeffrey Mensendiek serves the Council on Cooperative Mission where he is assigned to the Emmaus Center in Sendai as director of youth activities.
This was a memorial day for the devastating earthquake of a year ago. We gathered at 2:30 pm at Shichigo for a short ceremony lead by Rev. Takada. He read from Psalm 23, and explained that the church around the world stands with the people of Shichigo as they strive for a new life in this village. People from the Tenrikyo (a Buddhist Temple) were there to offer noodles to all of the attendees. We have been working with the Tenrikyo people ever since last summer, and they are very supportive of our efforts in Shichigo.
Many people were in attendance. Many former volunteers returned for this very special day. It was like a reunion. The prefab by the bus stop in the village had been renovated to serve as our new base of operations. The prefab represents an invitation from the local residents of Shichigo that we may walk together with them toward a new future. The moderator of the Kyodan (the UCCJ) presented a special gift to the residents of Shichigo. Gratitude was in the hearts of all present. One year after the terrible earthquake and tsunami, God has led us to new bonds of friendship and trust.
Later that night we gathered at the Emmaus Center for evening worship. I was in charge of the service. Normally we only have 20 to 25 people attending, however, on that night there were 75 in attendance, the room was packed. I spoke from 1 Peter 2:22-25 about "the capacity to suffer for others." This whole year has been a combination of joy and pain. As we enter into the lives of those who survived the tsunami, we are left speechless. We are reduced to silence. We are made aware of our powerlessness. Yet, facing the suffering and pain of others, and experiencing the silence of the human soul, we find new hope by opening ourselves to a God who suffered on the cross for others. The call to expand our capacity to suffer for others, leads us to be stewards of love. Compassion means the ability to suffer with others, knowing that one's presence can bring hope out of despair. Suffering for others leads to silence, and prayerful silence leads to hope (Psalm 62). The work of the church is to take on the suffering for others, so that God's love will be made real in and through us. A soloist sang "Listen Lord", an Iona Community hymn, which nearly brought me to tears. A team from a Methodist church in Texas sang "How Great Thou Art" to lift our spirits. Singing together was a good way to experience our connectedness to one another. God has been leading us on a pilgrimage. Today (March 11, 2012) was a huge milestone along that journey.
http://globalministries.org/news/eap/japan-missionaries.html
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