(Elijah House—part of God’s plan for healing the nation)
In the late 1990’’s a long-term missionary to Japan (Evelyn Owen) invited John and Paula and some of our Elijah House team to Japan. This was the beginning of Elijah House being established in churches in Osaka, Tokyo, Sapporo, and all over the nation!Eventually we were able to establish an International Elijah House Japan (http://elijahhouse.web.infoseek.co.jp/top.html).We are so grateful for the"Japan Group of Twelve” who helped make this happen! EH Japan was officially inaugurated in March, 2006.
Over the next five years additional teams were sent to Japan, sometimes twice a year for three to five months at a time. The Basic 1 and 2 Schools were filmed, and EH video-facilitated schools began across the nation. Seminars such as"Blessed Family Relationships,” "Season of Hope, Season of Faith,” and"Foundations of Inner Healing” were also filmed, and continue to be used by Japanese churches and Christian organizations. Many pastors and leaders in Japan have opened their hearts and their churches to the teaching and ministry of Elijah House. Thousands of lives have been healed and restored!
On March 8-10, 2011, Robert and Kathie taught an Alumni Workshop on the Miura Peninsula near Yokohama. There were about 150 students and staff, all graduates of the four weeks of Elijah House Basic I and II training. To date over1,000 lay leaders and pastors have completed the schools. An additional thousand others have completed part of the school or attending one or more of the several hundred EH seminars that have been held over the years.
The goal of the March workshop was to equip,empower and release! The leaders of Elijah House Japan requested the following topics: "Hearing and Proclaiming from a Christian Paradigm,” "Prophetic Intercession,” "Brokenness (God’s purpose for suffering),” "Healing Burden Bearing People,” and "Healing Lands and Homes.”
On March 10, the last day of the workshop, we were asked to close the workshop with a blessing from the Lord. He showed us that, in answer to our prayers, we had been experiencing a type of Pentecost. The disciples were in the upper room for ten days (we were on the top floor of a 10-story building). They were all together in one accord (there was truly a spirit of brotherly love and acceptance among the 150 students from 50 churches gathered in the spirit of Elijah. They were all graduates of the EH schools; many were video-school facilitators, and 26 were pastors). The place they were in was shaken, and there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind. (a 7.2 earthquake occurred as we were praying in our small groups on the second day, and the wind was especially strong that day). We asked the Holy Spirit to be poured out so the students would have boldness like Peter and the disciples when 3,000came to the Lord in one day. March 31 marks the 5th anniversary of the inauguration of Elijah House Japan."Five” in Japanese is the Japanese word "go" that sounds like our English word "go.” We ended with this blessing—"God had been preparing you for five years—now is the time for you to Go Forth in power to bring healing to your families, churches, communities and nation!”
The Japan Earthquake—March 11, 2011
That evening everyone from the workshop went home, and we were taken to Diamond Chapel in Hongodai near Yokohama. The next day we did a one-day seminar for a group of about 60 people, hosted by one of EH Japan’s main leaders. The main purpose for the seminar was to film two introductory sessions for churches interested in Elijah House. Pastor Tsukii was a bit surprised when we felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to end at 2:35 pm, a full 30 minutes before the session was scheduled to end. Pastor Tsukii started to make some announcements but was interrupted at 2:46 when the room started shaking violently, the electricity went off, and we evacuated the building!
There was no major damage where we were, about 170 miles from Fukushima, the epicenter of the powerful 9.1 earthquake. However, cell phone and electric service halted, and trains and buses stopped running. We were scheduled to fly out at midnight that night, so we finished packing and left for the airport at 7 pm. Traffic was jammed, and it took three and one half hours to get to the airport, where we waited until 10 am the next day for our delayed flight. But compared to others, we had an amazingly quick and easy trip home, thanks to the prayers of family and friends who were glued to the TV watching the devastation that we couldn’t fully realize until we got home and saw the news!
Now the prophetic word, "Go forth!”makes sense! Many churches, especially those involved with the cell church network and Elijah House, are now in a position to reach out to the hurting, lost and confused, to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ from a place of greater healing and unity than ever before.
There have been many prophetic words prior to and after the earthquake from top leaders from around the world. We agree with many of them. The Lord called intercessors to pray before the devastation occurred. Some had dreams, saw visions,or just felt impressed to pray for Japan.God LOVES the Japanese! Just as the Japan was literally shaken, God is spiritually shaking the nation by bringing down strongholds, bringing judgment on wickedness, but also in showing mercy to thousands whose hearts are ready to receive. We’ve heard testimonies of numerous people turning to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is going to be a time of expansion for the Kingdom of God. There will be an evangelism explosion! Christians from many nations are praying, and sending relief workers during this crisis.
Please join us as we continue to pray for the nation, for the churches and for Elijah House Japan. The leaders ask that we pray for wisdom so they will know how to meet the tremendous needs for healing in their suffering nation.
Expecting Miracles,
Robert and Kathie Fetveit
Executive Director
