Cool Water Blog

It has been a little more than six months since the huge earthquake, monster tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in northeast Japan. The relief and assistance effort continues with many Christian groups participating. In some places, there are reports of Japanese people trusting in Jesus more than in the past. For example, one church in Ishinomaki had only five members before the disaster, but they now have an attendance of about forty people with twelve people preparing for baptism. I was blessed to hear that that the tract, “Prayers of Hope,” that I wrote was a key outreach tool used at this church and in their neighborhood. We need to keep praying and keep reaching out. Thank you for joining with us before the Lord. The video below is a summary video I made from a prayer event held a few weeks ago. Blessings!

Hope for Tohoku Prayer Meeting

On July 31st, we hosted a concert by Arie Moriguchi, a very talented singer who is currently studying music at Azusa Pacific University. Arie blessed us with her original music and testimony. I put some of the songs on my Dan4Osaka Youtube Channel. Click the photo for a quick sample; I know you will be blessed!

Serenity Prayer by Arie

Praise the Lord! We had a great time last weekend at our Osaka International Church Summer Retreat. In addition to tons of fun, fellowship, and teaching, we also had four baptisms. You can see some highlights in the video below. Just click on the baptism photo and enjoy! God be with you!

Baptisms at the Retreat!

In the Netherlands, 50,000 Christian gathered to demonstrate their love for Japan. All around the world, people are continuing to pray for Japan. Thank you for your prayers for Japan! Blessings!

50,000 Dutch Christians Love Japan

Please pray for Zoe and her team of missionaries from Hong Kong as they continue to reach out to the Japanese in Iwate Prefecture who are still suffering from the damage caused by the giant tsunami of March 11th. This video was shot when we visited Omoto to ask about needs there. The Tsunami damage in Omoto was serious, but the town had already done an amazing job at removing the rubble of destroyed houses so mostly it looks like muddy fields where once the town had been. It is a small town surrounded by farms and apparently the farmers and fishermen of the town had quickly pitched in to remove the debris with their own trucks and equipment.
It is a town of friendly people, but they have no church. We are not sure if there are any Christians in the town, but the nearest church is in another town an hour away by car. Pray for the Lord to raise up a missionary to start a church in Omoto. Blessings always!
Click on the photo to see the video.

Missionary Zoe at Omoto

Please continue to remember to pray for Iwate Prefecture, Tono Base, and all of the Japanese suffering from the March 11th disaster and the volunteers serving throughout the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant radiation leak areas. This video shows CRASH volunteers at Tono Base reporting on their ministry work for the day. These volunteers include MUP and YWAM missionaries and others. Karen is there, and I am behind the camera. God bless you!
Click on the photo to see the video.

CRASH Volunteers Report on their Day

This is the first of a new series of videos intended to encourage Japanese to learn about the Bible. The video shows Phoenix Hall at Byoudouin in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture. The idea is that people will search for information about famous locations like this, enjoy learning some history and culture, and then learn a Bible verse that connects in some way. Please pray for many people to see the video, get curious about the Bible, and come to know Jesus. The Bible verse in this video is Ecclesiastes 3:10-11. Thanks and God bless you!
Click the photo to see the video.

Phoenix Hall at Byoudouin Temple in Kyoto

This video is from Ofunato City where we met two people searching for the owners of the noodle factory which had been washed away in the tsunami. We still don’t know if the family who owned the noodle factory made it to safety or not, but we pray that they did. Karen and I are back in Osaka now and continuing with ministry here, but we will continue to pray for the people in Iwate Prefecture where we were serving as CRASH volunteers and I hope that you will join us in praying for the Lord’s love and mercy to be poured out on those who suffered in the earthquake and tsunami.
Click on the photo to see the video.

Noodle Shop Foundation in Ofunato City

This video was taken out the window of the van as we drove through Kamaishi City from the port area to downtown. Most of the buildings that you see in the video were flooded up to the second floor or higher, but the Kamaishi seawall did slow the tsunami wave down enough to prevent it from knocking all the buildings over. Please join us in praying for this city.
Click on the photo to see the video.

Driving through Kamaishi City

This video shows the Asia Symphony, a large ship, sitting on top of the dock. From this side, it looks like it floated up there gently, but the other side of the ship is badly damaged with dents and a hole, so it really took a beating before it came to rest here. I don’t know whether they will try to get the ship off the dock or leave it there as a memorial. On this video, I did the commentary and prayer in Japanese, but you can still join in my prayer for the Lord’s mercy to be shown to the people of Kamaishi and for them to know Jesus.
Click on the photo to see the video.

Asia Symphony in Kamaishi