Updates on the life and ministry of the Pfeil family - missionaries in Japan with MTW. We have recently moved to Tokyo to support Grace City Church Tokyo, and look forward to helping start the next Tokyo church-plant.
It is hard to believe that it has only been a week since the tragic Earthquake & Tsunami that hit Japan on March 11. Our communication so far has primarily been through e-mail updates (March 11th & March 14th) and on Facebook.
Here is an overview of what is going on in Japan, through photos taken by fellow MTW missionaries and our Japanese partners:
First the 9.0 earthquake hit - Damage shown above in Tokyo was significant, but not disastrous. (The little boy is an MTW missionary kids friend of Olivia & Annabella living ~6 miles from our future home in Tokyo)
The earthquake lead to a terrible fire at the Ichihara Oil Refinery in Chiba prefecture (seen on US news stations). The photo above of the raging fire was taking from the front of our Oyumino Christ Church (~ 5miles away).
The major devestation of Northern Japan, though, came because of the following tsunami. (Photo taken near Sendai by fellow MTW missionary Roger Lowther)
Water, food, and gas shortages have hit much of the country. Gas shortages in particular have hamstring the relief effort up north.
Our MTW Team together with Japanese Churches have been sending up 3 trucks full of supplies every night to the hard hit city of Iwaki (see map below). Our Japanese pastor in the photo has been one of the drivers.
This is a Google Satellite map - showing the relative distances. Chiba to Iwaki City is ~120 miles. From Iwaki to the Fukushima Power Plant is about 30 miles. From Iwaki to Sendai is ~ 95 miles
When the community found out that the church was getting supplies up north, donation started pouring in. Great bridges for the gospel are being built through this relief effort. Praise God!
Distribution of water (seen above) as well as fuel and other supplies to the Iwaki (and also Sendai) area. Our team has been able to work though local Japanese churches in those areas to reach shelters that are not yet receiving government relief aid.
PLEASE click on image above or visit mtw.org to DONATE through the local Japanese Church, which is delivering these desperately need supplies "in the name of Jesus".
We have shared in our recent prayer letters about the call that God has given us to join the new Tokyo city center church planting project. Grace City Church Tokyo has a mission "to establish at least 3 churches, each with its own characteristics and style of worship, and 1000 worshipers" in this strategic yet very spiritually needy city. Central Tokyo has a population of 8 million with only 5 evangelical churches.
We will join with this work for several years as we begin to look ahead to helping plant the second church under the leadership of Japanese pastor and friend Seima Aoyagi. We will bring our natural focus towards college students and young families to this work.
This church is being planted in partnership with MTW Japan and Redeemer NYC - City to City. Here is Redeemer's Tim Keller answering the question, "Why is reaching Tokyo with the gospel so important to reaching the world with the gospel?"
Grace City Church Tokyo began worship back in 2010 near Tokyo Station in the Ginza area. They are particularly seeking to reach young professionals in the center of Tokyo. Here is a short video of Pastor Fukuda sharing a little more about the vision of the church.
Here it our MTW Prayer Letter mailed out in mid February. It tells of the clarity we have in pursuing our new call to join a new church-planting work in city-center Tokyo. For details click on the image for a quick view:
Enter an amount, click "Next" underneath, and you will be taken to a page to create an account. You can then designate the amount as one-time or monthly gift. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Seima Aoyagi is the Japanese pastor we spoke of in our December Prayer Letter. We are prayerfully pursuing partnering with them in a Tokyo city-center church planting work. We share a common heart to see Japanese college students and young families engaged in authentic gospel-centered communities in the Church.
Jon has been able to make a quick trip out to San Diego to spend 3 days with the Aoyagi family to pray and discuss future plans before they return to Japan at the end of January to begin their initial role with Grace City Church Tokyo.
Jon has had a lot of fun getting to know the whole family (and playing with the kids, too!) Both families have 4 kids, and we were able to Skype and introduce everyone to each other. We will not all meet face to face until the Pfeils are in Japan by our target of mid-March, 2011.
Please be praying for God to guide us in the steps ahead.
Here is our December MTW Prayer Letter, recently mailed out. It includes details about a new ministry direction in city-center Tokyo we are prayerfully considering for our next term. This is an exciting opportunity, but would also require us to raise a significant amount of additional funds. Pray with us for clarity on God's call. For more details, click on the image for a quick view:
Or click here to download as PDF for better viewing: Dec Prayer Letter
Here are three videos of our three kids taken this December ... Enjoy!
Calvin's Duplo Tower:
He gives great commentary about each family member's favorites colors.
Priceless 2 1/2 year old "play by play" as he builds his tower. :)
Annabella's Gymnastic Practice Meet:
Annabella has been taking gymnastics for ~4 months now.
The video shows her floor, beam, bar & vault "routines".
Olivia's Christmas Piano Recital:
Olivia has been taking piano lessons most of this year.
Here she plays Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Angels We Have Heard on High
