As you know, March 11th was a dark day in Japan. Since the tsunami hit the coastal area in Northern honshu and the earthquake affected an even larger area of Japan, causing the nuclear disaster, many people have gotten their lives back on track, but many people are in a break from normal life and have been forced to pick up and change their life completely.
To help people outside of Japan better understand what's going on, the continuing need for help and the people who are involved in relief efforts, I wrote a report with my personal testimony and view of these things.
Today I am posting 1 part out of 4 of this report. This first part is to help you better understand some of the people who are helping with the Relief Efforts, ie. members of the Mito Church of Christ.
Miranda’s Testimony about
Mito Church of Christ
How I view
Who we are, how we reach out and our relief efforts
My name is Miranda Brazle Logwood. Second child of Paul and Carol Brazle, I
grew up in Belgium in the Antwerp Church of Christ. Now my husband, Derrick Logwood,
and I live in Mito, Japan as Assistant English Teachers and members of the Mito Church of
Christ.
In the aftermath of the Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear problems I have come to the
decision to put into words my testimony about my life and ministry here as it is linked to
the Mito church. In this testimony I want to share my general view of Mito Church of Christ,
explain the ways Christians in Mito reach out to the community and the world, describe the
experience of the days of the earthquake from our perspective in Mito and show how the
church members in the area have taken measures to do relief work for those who have lost
much more than us.
1. My general view of Mito Church of Christ
Three years ago, Mito Church was just the Church we decided to attend and
try to help out where we could, as a temporary place to worship God for our short stay
in Japan. Over the years, this group of people has become my Japanese family. I have
at least three or four mothers who would do anything for me. There are so many people,
American, Japanese and other, who I consider brothers and sisters and even best friends.
Mito Church of Christ is not just a group of people who get together to worship God. This
group is a family who worships God, loves one another and God, has fun with each other
and invites anyone to join in the fun and God’s joy.
Mito church has definitely changed over the years. Two years ago we had to say
goodbye to the main Japanese minster and his family (Yuki and Hiroko Obata) when they
moved to the States. Atsushi and Mari Tsuneki then decided to work with the Mito church,
along with their four kids! As former Abilene Christian University students, they have a
pretty good grasp on American culture and how to cope with the differences between
America and Japan. Through them, Mito church is getting better and better at bringing all of
the nationalities together as one family.
Last year, the American minister and his family (Mark and Mayumi Hancock)
also made the decision to move to the States. Once again, God blessed the church with
someone willing to come to Mito as a minister: Joel Osborne and his intern Sasha Ingle
came with their loving Japanese friend Gaku Osugi from Sendai. Since this change, many
of Mito’s non-Japanese members have become more and more comfortable with calling
Mito church their church home and are becoming a more active part of the family. College
students from nearby universities (mostly Ibaraki Christian University) are coming more
often and getting to know more Christians in Mito. Probably the biggest change to Mito
church since Joel, Sasha and Gaku have come is the globalization of Mito Christians’
view of God. Joel brought with him his ministry to Cambodia, alongside the churches in
Singapore. In Mito, God’s global presence is becoming more and more tangible.
Mito Church is filled with God’s presence. The family is changing and letting God
work through its members daily. Of course, the church family still experiences problems,
difficulties and challenges. We are definitely not perfect. But more and more this family is
realizing what it means to be just a small part of God’s global family, and what it means to
trust in God. I pray that God continues to bless and strengthen this group of followers so
God’s light can shine greater to the Japanese population.
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