Word of Life Press distributes thousands of Bibles, Christian books and tracts 

A Christian publisher in Japan has provided relief supplies as well as Bibles and Christian materials to churches and people devastated by the March 11 magnitude-9 quake, which triggered a tsunami. The  death toll from the disasters left nearly 25,000 dead or missing.

Word of Life Press CEO Motoyoshi Tago told Christian Retailing that the Tokyo-based company has distributed hundreds of Bibles, nearly 3,000 New Testaments and 40,000 tracts, as well as more than 3,400 copies of Philip Yancey’s What Good is God?, Max Lucado’s You Are Special and other similar-themed books.  

Additionally, Word of Life—which also has 13 stores across Japan—fed evacuees at its Megumi Chalet Karuizawa, a Christian conference center in the mountain-village resort of Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture. 

“Since they (Japanese people) are now asking for spiritual materials, please pray that God will use these materials, and they can get to know the true hope and our Savior,” Tago said. “We all feel that God is going to do His great work during this hard time.”

Two of Word of Life’s stores—in Fukushima and Sendai—saw some damage from the earthquake, as products were thrown from shelves.

“We had to close the Sendai store for two weeks, and Fukushima about for three weeks,” Tago said. “Except for the (lost) sales, we had no big damages. … Business is about 75% back to normal now. Our damaged two stores are now open to the public. For a while, these stores were used as distribution centers.”

Meanwhile, missions group CLC International—which has eight stores across the country—said that all of its locations were unharmed by the disasters.

All the CLC stores stayed open for business, CLC International Japan Director Mitsuhiko Fujio said. “After checking all the CLC stores, including the customers in the shops, we found that all were safe, and there was almost no damage to the merchandise.”

Christian Trade Association International Chief Operations Officer Kim Pettit told Christian Retailing that she contacted via email approximately 30 Japanese suppliers after the earthquake. 

“The perseverance and hope shared by publishers, suppliers and retailers in Japan is a poignant example of the kind of ministry that Christian Trade is privileged to witness throughout the world,” she said. “It is so inspiring to hear how the Holy Spirit uses our colleagues to effectively share the gospel, and bring healing and salvation in times of tragedy.” 

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