Life begins to return to normal in Okinawa!

Fortunately, the forecasters were wrong! Thank you for praying. Super Typhoon Vongfong did in fact hit Okinawa, Japan, hard over the weekend—but there were 35 injured but no causalities!

I just received word from a pastor friend of mine there, and he said that the damage was much less than expected. Most events, including the youth camp with the Okinawa Baptist Convention, were postponed, but they will be able to resume shortly. By the time Vongfong hit land, the storm had weakened down to sustained winds of 80 MPH, with some gusting to more than 100 MPH—not the 150+ MPH that was originally expected.

The storm has now moved on to mainland Japan. I will be traveling through Tokyo next Sunday (10/19), but things should be all clear by then. Please continue to pray for the volunteer Discovery Team being led by Angela Sudermann this week that is passing through Tokyo, en route to Thailand. Pray also for the safety of Gordon and Lee Ann Hwang and their family, and for Dr. Shigemi Tomita who serving in Yokohama, IM's missionaries in regions affected by the storm.