The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as some count slackness,
but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Dear Father,
I am still struggling to wrap my mind around the scenes coming from the catastrophic destruction in Japan. I look at the graphic photos and think it can’t get worse and then I see more and the horror continues. The nation of Japan is close to my heart. My children were born there and we have travelled in and out, up and down, from the high-energy city of Tokyo to the serene peaceful villages that dot the land. Japan is a beautiful country and your creation is on full display in so many ways. I remember snow covered mountains providing gorgeous backdrops to the numerous cherry blossom festivals that occur in the springtime. In my mind I can see fall foliage that rivals our own New England with brilliant colors. Then there are the people; weathered faces of fishermen, porcelain faced women quietly serving in traditional kimono dress, yellow hats and blue uniformed little children going to school… so, so many memories. Those images are now clouded with the awfulness of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters. My heart hurts for the people of Japan. They are a wonderful people; so polite, humble, and yet so lost. They have lived for thousands of years with a religion that does not take them to the cross. Father, I pray that this terrible time in their history will be a turning point in their search for eternal life. I pray that a mighty revival will explode throughout that country. I pray that the ‘land of the rising sun’ will become the “land of the Risen Son.” I am not praying that the Japanese people would be like us, as in American, but that they would be like you, as in Christian. You created those beautiful Asian people and I get on my knees in their behalf and ask you Father to pour out your Spirit on missionaries ministering in that country. I pray for receptive hearts and I pray for healing all throughout the land. Oh Father, please save Japan – Nippon o sukuu!
Love,
Penny
