Construction crew leader Daniel Emmons blogs from Kessennuma, Japan.

On October 24, 16 men from Germany arrived in Kessennuma to use their carpentry skills to serve God by being a part of the Samaritan’s Purse rebuilding project in Japan. It is not uncommon to have international teams come to serve with us, but it is unusual when 16 carpenters all come from the same small village of Offdilln, which only has a population of 850.

A few weeks before their arrival, young seminary student Christian Weigel with Alliance Missions spoke at the Offdilln Free Evangelical Church. He had recently volunteered in Japan with us and told the congregation that Samaritan’s Purse was asking for people skilled in carpentry to help rebuild homes that were destroyed in the tsunami on March 11, 2011.

His plea kindled a spark in the heart of many that day because along with a desire to serve, many men in this church had considerable carpentry skills.

After the presentation, a few of the men started thinking seriously about going to Japan. Markus Dittman, an elder, said he, “felt a very intense call from God to come.” Another elder, Markus Schaefer, said he “had been thinking of doing a mission trip for quite awhile.”

But many of the men were also apprehensive. Elder Dirk Jung said he was concerned because he did not speak Japanese or English, but he remembered Jesus’ words that, “Whatever you do for the least of these you do unto me.”

Talk soon turned into action as the leaders asked others to join them. Almost 10 percent of the congregation signed up to go. Within three weeks of hearing about our need for carpenters, they were on a plane bound for Japan.

Almost everyone in the group will tell you that God worked out all of the arrangements because everything went so smoothly. One of the men, Frank Klafki, was not a member of the church, but his good friend Sasha Moos was. Over a card game, Sasha convinced him to come along.

Frank, managing director of a communications company, helped in making the logistical arrangements, and he also helped with fundraising for the trip. “God had to be directing things for everything to go so smoothly," he said. Frank also speaks fluent English and served as a translator for the group.

Miraculously, everyone was able to take off work, even though many of them did not have any vacation time left. One young man, 19-year-old Tino Engelbert, was told, “No Way!” by his boss. But after telling him what he was using the time for—to serve the people of Japan—his boss relented and approved the time off.

Not only was God directing things back in Germany, but he was also preparing things in Japan for the group to come. The staff in Kesennuma had been praying for weeks for more volunteer carpenters to help transform an old warehouse into a new base and future home of a Christian community center. Also for weeks, the staff had been praying for the city to approve a permit to renovate the warehouse.

When news reached the staff at Kesennuma that 16 carpenters were on their way, they prayed fervently for the city’s approval of the project. The morning the German group arrived to go to work, approval was granted by the city.

“The timing came from God,” Sasha Moos said.

Each morning, staff and volunteers gathered in front of the future site of the new base, and hand in hand, morning prayers were said in German, Japanese, Chinese, and English. The German crew would then go right to work on the empty warehouse. In two weeks they made great progress in transforming it into a beautiful base and future Christian Hope Center.




Also during this time, the team even managed to renovate a large portion of an adjacent neighbor’s home that had been flooded by the tsunami.

“We will always remember the laughter, the new relationships, the diversity of the groups and how God had wonderfully put it all together,” Julian Schlemper said. “I now know what it means to trust in God.”

Twenty-two-year-old Tim Schlemper summed up the groups feelings when he said, “I always dreamed of an opportunity to serve, and I now want to do it again.”

The Samaritan’s Purse staff hopes to see them again, along with all the other wonderfully dedicated groups that have served alongside them in their efforts to show Christ to the people of Japan.

Samaritan's Purse , Japan , Community Development , Perfect Timing

Previous Update: Seeing God in Haiti

Next Update: The Gift of Faith