Tsushima Volunteer Mission Report – August 2021

God’s Miracle in Tsushima

Hello everyone,

We hope that all of you in the Lord are receiving daily encouragement from the Lord and are walking with joy even in the midst of difficult times. In Kyushu, it has been raining heavily like it does at the end of the rainy season. This normally does not happen at this time of the year, and there has been a lot of damage in many places in western Japan. My parents who live in Kyushu, have been living in a shelter for almost three days because of the constant rain. Fortunately, it hasn’t been raining heavily in Tsushima where I live because the stationary front is a little to the south, but it rains every day. Please pray for the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in this disaster.

Orchard Protected by the Lord

About a year ago, typhoons Maysak and Haishen hit Tsushima with fierce wind and rain.

Our family took refuge in the community center and prayed to God to protect our family, home, and residents, and that our orchard would sustain minimal damage. Fortunately, our family and house were unharmed but more than half of the pears fell. They were nearly ready to harvest. Also the storm blew away the bird netting that had been protecting the fruit. Disheartened, I told God that I would not be able to continue next year, nor would I be able to give the fruit away for free to families and children in need. However, God encouraged me through the Bible, and the prayers and support of my friends in the Lord to get up again.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Habakkuk 3-17, 18 NLT

Then this summer something really strange happened. Due to the salt damage caused by last year’s typhoon and the strong winds, most of the leaves on the pear farms fell off, and since the blossoms had bloomed last fall, the whole region had a very poor harvest this year, but the two pear farms that I manage had a better harvest than usual.

I am convinced that God must have specially protected our orchards. We were also hit by a typhoon this month, but there was no damage at all. Strangely enough, the swarms of stink bugs that caused so much damage to the pears last year did not come to the orchard at all this year. So I didn’t have to apply any pesticides, (which I hate the most), before harvest.

God listens to our prayers, encourages us, supports us, and protects us from various attacks. I love the following verse:

1 I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.
7 The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
Psalms 121 NLT

In Tsushima, pears shipped from the interior cost more than $5 per small pear due to the cost of shipping across the ocean. When my family and I first moved to Tsushima, we could only buy one apple a week because of the high price of fruit, and we had to share that one apple with our family. So when I met them at the supermarket, I really felt sorry for the elderly people who live on a very small pension, and lamented that they could not buy a single pear because it was too expensive.

In a bad harvest year like this year, the price of fruit goes up even more. So we wanted to sell the pears at a slightly higher price than last year to help our family’s livelihood and to maintain the work of evangelism. However, God who protects the farm and provides all the necessities, had quite the opposite idea. Jesus who miraculously multiplied two fish and five loaves of bread for 5,000 people told us to provide pears to as many people as we could for half the price of pears from the mainland of Japan, and to give them away for free to those who cannot afford to buy. It is the Lord who has protected our orchards and given us a bountiful harvest by his miracle, so I obeyed his voice, took them to the market, and also gave them away free to needy families.

The employees of the store and elderly poor grandmothers told me that they were very grateful for the fruits grown in Tsushima and that they hoped we keep growing them to help the island. The fruits that we don’t sell at the store are given away for free along with the distribution of tracts to grandmothers living alone and single mothers raising children in the neighborhood. My heart was filled with joy from the Lord and I really felt the meaning of this work. It’s a joy that money can’t buy. I felt a sense of fulfilment that I had never felt before.

Japan is a developed country and prices are very high. Especially the price of fruit is more than three times that of the United States. In addition, due to the spread of corona virus infection all over Japan, more children are living in poverty. Instead of eating healthy fruits and vegetables, they are eating cheap processed snacks and their health is suffering. Our mission is to provide as much free healthy fruit as possible to these children and poor single-parent families, and to spread the gospel in the end times. If this is the Lord’s will, I would appreciate your prayers and support so that we can continue this work. I’m looking forward to planting and eating grapes in heaven as described in Isaiah 11:6, 9. There, without the use of any pesticides, the grapes are free from pests and diseases, and we can eat as many delicious grapes as we want forever. Of course, we will not suffer from hunger.

Hymns Sung In a Buddhist Temple

In one of my previous reports, I wrote about a Bible seeker who was the former head of a free school. She lost her beloved husband to cancer a few years ago and was in a depression for a while. Every time I met her or sent her a text message on her cell phone, I would tell her about Jesus. Her husband was a Buddhist, so she still goes to the temple regularly for Buddhist services.

The other day, she sent me an email with these words. “I was so moved by the love of Jesus that I want to sing the hymn ‘What a friend of Jesus’ with the people who come to the temple!” To be honest, I thought it would be impossible, because first of all, the priest of the temple would be against it, and I was sure that some of the members of the temple congregation would not like Christian hymns. So I just replied that I prayed for the Lord’s will to be done. A few days later, she sent me a video to my cell phone of all the Buddhists singing the hymn in the temple and a message of joy in the Lord. When they finished singing the hymn, everyone applauded and the monk said that God’s love for people is wonderful. Amazingly he was praising God’s love. Later I regretted that I had underestimated the power of the Holy Spirit to work there and did not expect a miracle. Please pray that the gospel will be preached to Buddhist people also and that the love of Jesus will spread throughout Japan. In the end times, I hope that God will move His hand with great power to spread the gospel everywhere. Please pray for the salvation of Japan.

Our third daughter, Erin, was born in May and is growing up fast every day.

My wife, who is Korean, could not return to her parents’ home for a long time because of the loss of ships between Japan and Korea due to the Corona disaster, and we sometimes felt lonely because we had no relatives or parents close to the island. Our third daughter was truly a gift from God. Our family is now more cheerful and joyful than ever with the birth of our new daughter.

We thank the Lord.

May God bless each of you richly! !

Kimiyoshi Kurihara

---

Between now and then, financial support to help meet the expenses for Nature School program (lighting and heating and gas expenses and school supplies for students) as well as living and other project expenses are needed totalling about $800 monthly. Any donation would be greatly appreciated and very helpful.

If you would like to assist, you can give directly to Kimiyoshi via PayPal which enables donations to be received more expeditiously.

Or if you prefer, you can donate via Gospel Ministries International which will provide you with a tax deductible receipt. You will find the contact information and links for these two options below.

To give directly to Kimiyoshi for the Tsushima Mission Project via PayPal please click Here.

OR

Make checks payable to:

Gospel Ministries International

Send checks to:

GMI (Gospel Ministries International)

P O Box 506, Collegedale, TN 37315-0506

(Be sure to specify donation is for “Japan Christian Service Int’l” (JCSI)

Online Donations:

You can donate online through paypal: https://gospelministry.org/donations/

And select “Japan Christian Service Int’l (JCSI) Project”

Phone: 423-473-1841  Ask for Tim Tillman

Thank you for your prayers and support!