Last week, we received heart-wrenching news that two brothers who lived in our children's home were the latest victims of the drug wars in Mexico. We have mourned their deaths and wished we could be back there for the other brother who had to identify them. We loved these boys like all the others, just as if they were ours. We did everything we knew to do to help them live godly lives after they professed Christ as Saviour. Or did we? As with all "children", whether blood or adopted or just growing up in your home, you always look back and wonder what else you could have done. In the end, the decisions they make are up to them as they get older, good or bad. All you can do is pray they will do what is right. So many of them have done well. They have gone to college, gotten married, had children, and have jobs to support their families. We thank God for the opportunity we had to be in each boy's life and we are proud of them. We are thankful also that we are still able to keep to in touch with many of them.
The devastation of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been absolutely unfathomable. To see the pictures and videos, it is almost like watching something out of a movie. Unfortunately, it is all for real. Now, more than ever, am I thankful for all I have. I am not waiting in long lines for the necesities of life. I know where my family is and I know they are safe. I haven't lost all. Yet, more saddening than all this, is the hard truth that many of these people also have no hope as they do not know Christ as their Saviour. A missionary friend of mine living there gave these statistics:
"The areas affected by the earthquake and tsunamis of Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki are some of the most spiritually needy places in Japan. With over 4.9 million people, yet only about 9,000 active Christians (0.15%). Fukushima has the lowest average worship attendance with only 19 per church. There are one city and 44 towns with no church. There are 86 missionaries assigned to these prefectures. One town in Ibaraki has over 46,000 people with no church and several others have over 24,000 people with no churches. Average attendance for all the churches in Japan is the lowest in the Fukushima prefecture. Ibaraki prefecture has the least number of people claiming to have any religious beliefs."
These people clearly need the Gospel, as do many others in the world, but these people have been thrown into our attention because of what they are suffering. Please pray for these people in Japan. It isn't over! There is still a lot of suffering and pain and with the situation of the nuclear reactors, it could get worse. When something isn't exactly going easy or "my way," I remind myself of all that I have to be thankful for and remind myself to say "Thank you, Lord ... I have You" and "thank you, Lord, for your blessings on me."
