Reformed Missionaries in Japan - UPDATE

This morning I received this email from our missionary friends in Japan:

Dear praying friends and family, 

I wanted to send out a brief update to let you know that we are all okay in the midst of the 8.8 earthquake that has hit the east coast of Japan.  Our mission has been gathered since yesterday in the Nagano mountains, about 200 miles from the epicenter, for our annual retreat. 

Even as far away as we are, the earthquake was a bit scary and lasted a long time.  We were all put into one room for an hour or two while the retreat staff checked for gas leaks and other earthquake concerns.  We are fine here now, but our hearts are heavy from the news that has been coming in. 

Some of our missionary friends with us here used to live in Sendai, which is the city closest to the epicenter of the earthquake.  We've been watching video footage from Sendai, of the tsunami sweeping away huge amounts of earth, cars, houses -- it looked like leaves and dirt begin washed along a sidewalk, then you realize that you're seeing buildings and vehicles rushing across rice fields.  Unbelievable. 

God's timing is strange.  Last Saturday I attended an all-day training to help Christians in Japan be prepared to respond in case of earthquake.  On the ride home I was wondering how the Lord would want us to respond, but I really felt a desire to be part of relief efforts the next time a disaster struck. 

I had no idea the next disaster would be one week later! 

We will pray and wait to see how God may use our family, our mission, and the Church to bring much-needed relief as the days unfold.  Our prayer is that God will quickly move and unite the Church to reach out during this terrible tragedy.  The news that we are hearing is that it may be the worst earthquake in the history of Japan. 

We also believe that God has our mission gathered at this time for His purposes.  Pray that God will give us wisdom and allow us to be strategic in what will be challenging days ahead.  We do pray that the God of Psalm 46 will bring hope to those who right now are buried in tragedy. 

Thanks for your prayers and your concern.  We will continue to bring you news as we can from in-country.  It is hard to know how to pray, but we believe that the Spirit intercedes for us when words do not come.   Earlier tonight we prayed Psalm 46;  we have prayed for mercy, for miracles, for accounts of Japanese whose eyes are opened to the realities of His love even in the midst of this. 

Love in Christ,Kent

Here is some video footage of the tsunami:

Reformed Missionaries in Japan

It is estimated that only 2% of Japan's population identifies itself as embracing some form of Christianity. Japan is perhaps one of the most Gospel resistant nations in the world, in spite of having been exposed to the faith for centuries. I am grateful that God has sent my friends, the Muhlings, to share the Gospel with the Japanese people. Kent and Yuko Muhling both went to Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, and they have already experienced a fruitful term of service in Japan. I was blessed to spend a little time with them while they were on furlough in Jacksonville, and was impressed by their godliness, sincerity, family emphasis and theological sensibility.

Kent recently participated in a speech contest for foreign speakers of Japanese, and used the opportunity to share his Christian faith with more than 200 people - in their own language. And he won the speech contest! Here is a link to the video, which includes subtitles since it is all in Japanese. You'll enjoy it.

Link: Kent Muhling - Speech Contest

Unfortunately the video could not be embedded, but I encourage you to click the link above and watch it on YouTube.

Here is another short video about their work, produced by the missions organization with which they are affiliated.