When a powerful offshore earthquake spawned a devastating tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the coastal city of Sendai was hard hit. In the aftermath, local Christians say residents are more open to the gospel, and one Alabama Baptist church is helping by supporting a new church plant in the heart of the ravaged city.
Since the tsunami, Deerfoot Baptist Church, Trussville, in Birmingham Baptist Association, has partnered with the church plant in Sendai, known as Watari Bible Christ Church. Last year, Deerfoot Baptist sent a contribution of $1,000 to Watari Church. In January, Deerfoot held a cake auction and raised an additional $4,000 to send to Japan.
Deerfoot Baptist Pastor Roger Willmore visited the region in February. In addition to preaching at several Japanese churches, Willmore toured the tsunami-affected area and delivered the contribution to Watari Church.
“I have never seen anything like the tsunami-stricken region,” Willmore said.
“I stood on the cement slab floor of all that remained of a church building, and as far as I could see in three directions, the land was virtually leveled.”
Disaster relief efforts after the earthquake and tsunami were a key factor in the church plant, according to Ryo Iwahashi, president of the Christian humanitarian and disaster relief organization, Japan International Food for the Hungry (JIFH), and one of those directly involved with the new church in Sendai.
According to Iwahashi, Koji Kumada, the pastor of Watari Church, had a vision to start a church in the area but no money to get started. To support his wife and seven children in the meantime, Kumada began managing a fleet of “yakitori” trucks, mobile kitchens serving broiled teriyaki chicken. After the tsunami, Kumada’s trucks went to Sendai and served hot food to victims of the tsunami.
“This was a divine appointment,” Iwahashi said. “The yakitori truck was used mightily to support the victims.”
In a time when only cold foods were available, the hot yakitori was “not just a food to eat, but an encouragement to the people as well,” Iwahashi said. As a result of Kumada’s work in Sendai, the Watari Church plant got its start.
“God gave Pastor Kumada a burden and vision for a church in the area,” Willmore said.
“Now the Watari Church has a building and is baptizing new converts. The people of Sendai are more open to the gospel than ever due to the effective Christian presence there since the tsunami.”
While the main objective of the church is to share the gospel with the lost, Iwahashi said that in Sendai, the word “lost” also refers to the loved ones, houses and belongings that were swept away by the tsunami. Many have lost their hope for the future as well, he said, which is why the Watari Church is so important.
“The church is reaching out to them with the love of Jesus Christ in a tangible way,” Iwahashi said.
He added that the Watari Church is striving to reach out to the community, especially those who are still living in temporary housing and to local fishermen. Fishing is the primary business in the area, and JIFH is providing new fishing nets to assist the economic needs of the people, one more step toward restoring a more normal life to Sendai residents.
Willmore said Deerfoot Baptist will continue to support the Watari Church and relief efforts in Japan as part of their ongoing missions efforts. This summer, Deerfoot Baptist will host Manami Okubo, a missions volunteer in training from Osaka, Japan. The church will help Okubo practice her English before she goes to Nairobi, Kenya, to serve in JIFH ministries there.
“Manami will get some exposure in the ministry at Deerfoot and experience some hands-on training with Dr. Roger and some other members of the church,” Iwahashi said.
Willmore said the work in Japan is just one facet of the missions efforts at Deerfoot Baptist. “The people at Deerfoot Baptist Church have a heart for missions,” Willmore said. “This is what we do. It is who we are.”
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