Tokyo Multicultural Church (TMCC) church planting fund reaches $8,000
Published October 28, 2011 | 
As of the mid-October, our church planting fund for Tokyo Multicultural Church hit the $8,000 mark. We plan to launch TMCC in December 2012, after our year of tsunami recovery ministry.
Click here for info on how to donate to our TMCC church planting fund and other of our special projects.
Return to Japan scheduled for late December
Published October 27, 2011 | We had planned to return to Japan at the end of November, but now will be returning at the end of December, probably December 31. The one month delay is due to a lack of financial support. We are hoping that by the end of the year our support account will have enough of a cushion to cover our salary and regular ministry expenses in Japan, as well as our new tsunami recovery ministry setup costs.
Tsunami recovery ministry fund at $55,000
Published October 26, 2011 | As of September 2011, the EFCCM Japan Disaster Fund, or our tsunami recovery ministry fund, exceeded the $55,000 mark. The donations have come from churches and individuals mostly in Canada, but also in the USA.
Video of our tsunami recovery ministry focus
Published August 12, 2011 |
Matthew shooting video in Miyagi-ken in July 2011.
Click here to go to a 5 minute video on Dale’s japanquake.ca website showing some of the tsunami devastated areas we visited along the Pacific Ocean coastline of Miyagi Prefecture during our July 2011 ministry setup trip, and describing the focus of our proposed tsunami recovery ministry.
Tsunami recovery ministry setup trip: report 2 of 2
Published August 2, 2011 | 
Onagawa-cho, Miyagi-ken, July 2011 (note the overturned building with the green roof)
From July 1-20 we viewed first hand the tsunami destruction along the northeastern coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu, and met with pastors/ missionaries and recovery organization leaders working in that area. Kristy and Matthew joined us in our survey trip along the Pacific Ocean coast of Miyagi-ken. The tsunami hit zones still look like a war zone. Physical needs are being met as well as can be expected. But the tsunami victims–those who have lost loved ones, houses, and towns–struggle with great emotional needs.
A summary of our last three weeks in Japan can be found on Dale’s japanquake.ca blog.
Click here to see some of Dale’s photos of our travel up the Pacific coast. More pics and a video will eventually be added to that page.
Tsunami recovery ministry setup trip: report 1 of 2
Published June 30, 2011 | Week one (Jun 23 – 30) of our ministry setup trip to Japan has flown by. The list of our activities below includes items related to our variety of ministries in Japan, not just our tsunami recovery ministry.
Jun 24. We met with the three Japanese pastors leading the Kanto Evangelistic English Program (KEEP), a partnership ministry between them and the EFC of Canada Mission. We had an excellent discussion, with clear affirmation to continue the program we started in 2008 in which North American short term missionaries (one year minimum) teach evangelistic English classes in the three cooperating churches. The Japanese leadership hat of KEEP rotated from one pastor to another. The best news was that one English student has become a follower of Christ as a result of KEEP and is now involved in one of the KEEP churches. Several others are close to believing in Christ.
Jun 26. We enjoyed worship and fellowship back at the English Department congregation of Musashino Chapel Center, the church we pastored for almost three years.
Jun 27-29. Dale devoted all his time to catching up in his leadership role as President of Japan Evangelical Missionary Association, a network of all evangelical missionaries in Japan from all over the world. This included:
Ann and Kristy at CRASH Japan office in Tokyo
* Touring the temporary Tokyo leadership offices of CRASH Japan, the missionary and local church relief network endorsed by JEMA. Kristy is volunteering at CRASH Japan this summer in the survivor care department.
* Learning about the amazing post-3/11 quake and tsunami ministry of CRASH Japan from its President.
* Leading the first executive board meeting of JEMA since 3/11. Some items we covered:
** Donations given through JEMA for CRASH Japan have exceeded US$2,500,000. Donations have come from all over the world. So JEMA will need to incorporate as a non-profit organization in Japan to insure proper administration of those donations. Dale will be giving leadership to that transition in Nov-Dec. (JEMA is already registered as a non-profit organization in the US state of Colorado.)
** JEMA is convening a consultation in November for all evangelical mission agencies in Japan for the purpose of networking and encouraging outreach ministries that are developing out of various tsunami recovery efforts in northeastern Japan. The consultation will be held in Sendai city. Dale is part of the planning team.
** The JEMA office will be moving to a new location in Sep or Oct in order to reduce our office costs. Dale will be making the necessary arrangements for the move next week.
This week we were invited to request funding for leadership logistics of our EFC of Canada Mission tsunami recovery ministry from CRASH Japan. Seeing as our EFCCM Relief Fund does not cover the costs of leadership logistics (with the exception of our tsunami ministry setup trip), this was good news indeed! Perhaps we can bring such a request to the CRASH Japan leadership team after we set up one or more specific recovery projects that have long term goals and show continuity in ongoing leadership.
Little’s financial support inadequate to return to Japan for tsunami recovery ministry (Jun 13/2011)
Published June 13, 2011 | We have plans to return to Japan in Nov/2011 to lead the tsunami recovery ministry of the EFCCM for one year before launching Tokyo Multicultural Church in Nov/2012.
But these plans are contingent upon adequate financial support. Although donors are giving generously to the EFC of Canada Mission Japan recovery project (thank you everyone!), our own personal financial support is about $20,000 behind where it should be. This situation has been developing since the fall of 2010 and is due to the increasingly strong Japanese yen (against both US and Canadian dollars) and to the fact that we no longer have yen generated income. Until the summer of 2010 we received remuneration in yen for Dale’s lecturing in theology and our pastoral ministry in Tokyo. But we have no Japanese income during our home assignment year or during our first year back in Japan while we focus on recovery ministry.
This means our current support level is too low to return to Japan in Nov of this year. We will not be able to return to Japan until we are fully supported.
We have decided to take a salary reduction in order to help dig out of this financial hole, but by the time we do return to Japan we will need to have full salary.
Thank you for praying with us that God will keep the financial door open for our ongoing ministry in Japan.
Go here to learn how to give to our personal ministry fund.
Dale and Ann to take short tsunami ministry setup trip to Japan, Jun 22 – Jul 20
Published June 13, 2011 | 
During our four week tsunami ministry setup trip to Japan (6/22 – 7/20) we will be talking with the leaders of two churches and three relief organizations in order to identify the projects that will be at the heart of the recovery ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission. We will be seeking specific and sustainable recovery projects that will open doors for future church planting in tsunami affected areas near Sendai city that have no or few churches.
Once these projects and partners are identified we plan to recruit teams of volunteers as we visit North American churches in Sep and Oct. We hope these teams will be able to work with us in our recovery ministry in northern Japan from Nov/2011 through Oct/2012.
Kristy and Matthew to Japan this summer
Published June 13, 2011 | Kristy will be heading to Japan for six weeks this summer to assist with tsunami and quake recovery volunteer work. Her plans are to volunteer at CRASH Japan in Tokyo and to link up with Musashino Chapel Center (English Department) as that church finds ways to serve in the tsunami hit Sendai area of northern Japan. Kristy will hopefully have a chance to join us (Ann and Dale) for a few days in the Sendai area as we determine how best to setup the EFC of Canada Mission recovery ministry.
Matthew also will be in Japan this summer—for three weeks. He will be shadowing Ann and Dale with his camera as we make decisions about the EFCCM tsunami recovery ministry. Matthew will be taking movie footage and still pics for us so that during Sep and Oct we can publicize the EFCCM recovery projects and recruit volunteers in North American churches.
Japan quake and tsunami updates moved to japanquake.ca
Published May 20, 2011 | Dale’s new website and blog addresses for Japan quake and tsunami updates are as follows:
- Website: japanquake.ca
- Blog: japanquake.ca/blog
The website and blog track the recovery ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission, Asia region, in response to the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan. The website and blog are still under construction, so more changes are coming.
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