It’s four years+ after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Recovery is slow but here’s a story of hope. I met Pastor Makito Matsuda in July at the Japan Baptist Union (JBU) annual meeting. He speaks English! I asked permission to visit him and their church, Oasis Chapel, in Rifu, near Sendai. Earlier this month, Lee Ann and I visited.

Sunday morning, Ms. Hikichi, an administrator of the church, greeted us warmly in English. After the first service ended, we met Pastor Makito and his wife, Yuki. Church School had let out and a group of kids were playing in the park across the street. As we settled into the sanctuary, the kids came in, more than we had seen in the park. The second service had a worship team of 4—piano, electric bass and 2 singers. Their bass player was the worship leader! We sang praise songs and a hymn using projected lyrics. It was very encouraging to worship with young people in a growing JBU church! They are averaging 95 people in attendance on Sundays with 80 members. (The average size JBU church is around 25-30 people.)

Pastor Makito taught from Genesis, the story of Noah. He integrated slides to illustrate his sermon. He is an engaging teacher. I heard people chuckling 7-8 times during his message. After the service, the sanctuary was converted and lunch was served on long, folding tables. A French chef is among the members and leads a team of men (Wow!) to serve lunch about once a month. This meal was a specialty of Miyagi ken—seasoned rice with poached salmon and salmon caviar. They also made a scrumptious soup from the salmon bones and a furikake topping made from the roasted salmon skin! For dessert, there was a rich yogurt mousse topped with peeled globe grapes and a sweet purple sauce made from grape skins. We felt like a king and queen dining at the royal table!

We were invited to Oasis Center, formerly Camp Morigo, for their inaugural evening service. Pastor Makito invited us to come early (4 PM), before dark, so he could show us around. Even though we visited the camp in 2003, it looked very different. I was surprised how close to town it was. I remembered driving a long way to get to it, but that wasn’t so. It was only 7 minutes by car from the church.

The newly rebuilt chapel (dedicated in June 2015) is very warm— with blond wood, lots of windows. Pastor Makito’s vision is to have regularly scheduled events at Oasis Center year-round. Currently, it is a summer camp.

Rev. Saito and IM missionary Ted Livingstone started the 14-acre camp in 1960. Oasis Chapel assumed ownership in 1999. The mission of the camp is to “be a place to change people’s lives so that the life of Christ will flow from them.”  The camp sustained damage to many of the buildings during the 2011 earthquake but they were able to accommodate 15,000+ volunteers in the 18 months following the earthquake. Although the dining hall/kitchen was badly damaged, they continued using the kitchen facilities to feed the volunteers. The building was subsequently torn down.

While we were touring the Shalom House dormitory, Pastor Makito told us the city is threatening to close the camp unless both a new kitchen and shower facilities can be provided. Rebuilding is costly and satisfying the city’s requirements is time-consuming. The alternative they are considering is to remodel Shalom House, adding a small kitchen and shower facilities. Funding is urgently needed for this project (although the ideal solution is to support funding to rebuild the dining hall). After our tour, we returned to the chapel.

The event started with an icebreaker game. Then Pastor Makito led the service on his acoustic guitar. We sang worship songs, probably some of which he wrote. He gave a devotional and we had small group sharing. The service was about an hour. There were about 16 people, not including the kids.

After the service, we went out for dinner with the Matsuda family. We prayed in the parking lot and shared hugs. We promised to visit them again, and they invited us to bring our kids and stay with them! We were blessed by God’s Oasis in Rifu!

Would you join us in praying for Pastor Makito, his family and their ministry to spread God’s oasis? Please pray for funding for the Oasis Center kitchen and shower remodel. Please pray for the new leaders and new Christians that Pastor Makito is discipling. Please pray for God’s strength as they serve their community speaking God’s word and sharing His love.

FYI, Here are some links:

Oasis Center homepage: http://oasis-center.com

6 min. video about Oasis Center (start at 3:19 for the Oasis Center report and interview with Pastor Makito with subtitles): https://vimeo.com/100860632

Pastor Makito presents at RJC (Feb. 2013): https://youtu.be/imEbtkkATFk

(15 min. video with line-by-line English translation, start at 2:40)

With Thanks,

Gordon (and Lee Ann) Hwang