Pastor Satoshi Ito was already shepherding Sendai Christ Church when his denomination appointed him to additionally care for the 12-year-old Ishinomaki Christ Church an hour and a half away.  For 18 months, he and his wife divided their Sundays to minister to both congregations.

The new appointment added work to his already busy schedule.  By all accounts, it was a dying congregation.  The church’s congregation consisted of its original 10 members, many of them over 80 years old.  In 18 months, they had not one visitor.

Then, both of his churches were hit by the tsunami on March 11.  The waters levels at Ishinomaki Christ Church rose to Pastor Ito’s neck.  After five days, the waters receded.  Three families – a third of the congregation – lost their homes, but everyone was safe.

But for Pastor Ito’s tiny congregation, surviving the tsunami was not about staying alive.  It was not about recovering the things lost in the floodwaters.  The congregation chose to see how God could have designed the tsunami to shape their church.  How it could drive them to deepen their relationship with others.

Since the tsunami, the Ishinomaki Christ Church congregation has been actively serving their thousands of people.  They’ve been cooking for the community, delivering goods and repairing the church.  Today, Sunday services are bustling with 50 people – five times the pre-tsunami congregation, with 10 people in a new believers class, and growing.

In the aftermath of the tsunami, Churches Helping Churches provided one year of Ishinomaki Christ Church’s operating expenses to lessen the burden on Pastor Ito as he continued to minister to his congregations in the face of devastating loss.

“Our partnership with Churches Helping Churches has been an incredible blessing,” he said.  “It made it possible to continue our work when many others couldn’t.”

Tags: Japan, Pastor, tsunami