15 Years in Ishinomaki

March 11, 2011. 15 years have passed since that tragic day. The day northern Japan was hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, giant tsunami waves, and a nuclear disaster. The day when life, as we knew it before, changed forever. 15 years later, it is still a time of conflicting emotions and somber reflection. Both personally and collectively, a lot of life has happened since then. Sometimes it’s hard to hold all the sad and all the good at the same time. As I have been glancing through 15 years of prayer letter updates, however, the theme I see over and over is God’s faithfulness in providing exactly what was needed, at exactly the right time.

In the beginning months, volunteers poured in from all over Japan, the US, Taiwan, and many other countries. They donated and helped distribute emergency goods. Due to a God-arranged connection, Ishinomaki was the place Dean began commuting each day with supplies. Before long, he was leading volunteers and assisting people as they sifted through the rubble of their demolished homes. Teams of volunteers helped clean and do a basic rebuild of houses that were salvageable (at no cost to the homeowner). Dean was well prepared in advance for this kind of work, as his father was a construction superintendent/carpenter and he had spent many summers working on his construction sites.

In summer 2011, we began holding Christian concerts and cook-outs in a nearby vacant parking lot. Many Christian singers volunteered their time and talents to share comfort and hope with the people. Music has always been an important part of our ministry at House of Hope, and connections with Christian artists began forming early on. Haruya, the current pastor of House of Hope, was a music producer at the time, and introduced us to many different artists. As he came with them, he also started getting to know some of the local people. Back then, none of us could have guessed what God had in mind for his future!

In 2013, we found a house to rent in a neighborhood Dean was very familiar with. His volunteer teams had worked in many of our neighbor’s homes, and we knew a lot of them before we moved. The groundwork for our future ministry in Ishinomaki was in place.

Dean Bengtson meeting new neighbors in 2011.

Through a whole series of divine appointments and provisions, House of Hope opened 11 years ago. It is located on the other side of a vacant lot across the street from where we live. We had many cups of coffee with the owner, who was unfavorable (that’s putting it mildly) to us holding any “religious activities” in his house. Just as we were about to give up, on the very day we thought we’d be having our last cup of coffee together, God suddenly changed the man’s mind and he decided to rent to us. This was nothing short of a miracle.

Stories of God’s faithfulness continued. House of Hope was largely furnished by a generous donation from a volunteer who ran a marathon in South Africa and gave the proceeds to us. Christian volunteers continued streaming into our neighborhood, putting on concerts, leading craft classes, coffee times, Bible talks, cooking classes, kids’ English camps, and more. In 15 years, we have seen thousands of volunteers come and go. We are thankful for Every. Single. One. At the same time, our constant prayer was that House of Hope would become a church, in addition to a Christian community center. As we prayed diligently for a pastor to help with the ministry, God answered by sending hundreds of people to help with the ministry.

Women’s Ministries of the CLB generously donated money for a table and benches in the playground next to our house. There is a sandbox, and we have set up a box of sand toys for the kids to play with. COVID was hard on the momentum we had been building, but this gave us a way to do something nice for the neighborhood and be outdoors with people. The playground continues to be well used.

We were also able to purchase the vacant lot between our house and House of Hope. It was a huge step of faith for us, but we prayed hard and did a GoFundMe campaign to help advertise. We had already lost two former parking areas, God knew we needed a parking lot, and he provided-—over and above what was needed, from a wide variety of sources.

Fast forward a bit more… Haruya, the music producer I mentioned, began attending seminary! He had wandered very far from the church he grew up in, but God continued to work in his life and, through a series of his own heartbreaks and miracles, he returned to the faith. In 2019 he started seminary. When we heard the news, we began praying daily in faith, asking God to lead him to Ishinomaki as House of Hope’s pastor. As you know, God answered those prayers. Haruya moved to Ishinomaki four years ago, and at last House of Hope became an official church plant. He and Fumi were married three years ago. They are an awesome team, and we are so thankful for them. They have carried on many of the relationships we started, and are able to take them to a deeper level than we ever could. Once again God was faithful to answer our prayers and bring them to House of Hope at just the right time.

15th anniversary memorial concert in March 2026.

We did two 3/11 memorial events this year for the 15th anniversary. THE BRIDGE concerts started in a smaller venue in Ishinomaki 13 years ago. This year they did an area-wide event, with professional Christian musicians gathering from Japan, Korea, and Los Angeles. Morning and afternoon concerts were held at a large community center nearby, with around 400 people in attendance at each one. The funding for these came from charity concerts done in the USA.

Smaller and more intimate 15th anniversary memorial gathering at House of Hope.

Several days later, we had a café style concert at House of Hope, with Kaori Omiya, one of many Christian singer/songwriters who has a heart for people who have been through the disasters. We were thankful for each of the 12 neighbors who attended, as we know all of them and their unique challenges. We are so thankful for God’s faithfulness in the big things and the smaller things. Please pray for God’s continued mercy, and that some of the neighbors we have walked with for 15 years would experience the miracle of faith and believe in Jesus. 

Linda Bengtson and her husband Dean are missionaries in Japan with Lutheran Brethren International Mission.