Tohoku Trip 4 Post #3

There were two other significant events on our trip but just in case you thought helping out was all work and no play,  here is a picture of our team playing cards in the music room.

Now that we were refreshed…. A major highlight of ministering this time was joining a church from Shizuoka which comes every week to Ishinomaki to cook a meal for over 500 people.  They bring all the food and cooking equipment.  We used all these rice cookers at least twice!

Of course we had to keep our hands off of the food but Hitomi showed us all how to do that one.

Meanwhile Nao-kun made sure that anyone needing remedial discipline was taken care of immediately.  The set up and cooking took way longer than the serving out of the food.  While we prepared all the food in only one place it was distributed in three different locations.

All together we had about 30 volunteers working together for this project.  We made rice and a type of soup that had lots of vegetables and some meat in  it too.

All the vegetables had already been cu;t we just had to boil them in water and stir them from time to time.  It sure looks good!!!!!!

Of course the job is not done until the dishes are washed so we had to take of that, too.

Our team took food in to a Junior High School and served as many people whoi wanted it.  The meal was so good that many came back for seconds.

One of the overseas volunteers was a fully trained Osteopath who met a Japanese Chiropractor who was there to help the evacuees.  The Chiropractor, however, had injured his knee so our friendly   volunteer helped woth his adjustment  so that he could continue to help others.  The Osteopath was later able to assist this man in his work for the day.

We were requested  not to take photos of the people in the school but here is a photo of Jonny serving a meal.

Here are Justin & Kohki filling the styrofoam containers with hot rice ready to be delivered to the other sites.

We had a lot of fun and even got to taste the food from what was left over.  I sure hope we can get to do that one again with the church some time soon.

The second event was cleaning out a house.  This usually involves removing all the waterlogged belongings, broken windows,  doors and other debris from inside the building.

These photos show what we usually find upon arrival at the site.  It is pretty much just as the tidal wave left things.

We then pull everything outside and pile it up, hopefully leaving an empty room for the owner to decide what to repair and what to replace.

Here we are pulling out the debris which includes water soaked drawers of clothes and many other household items.

Meanwhile the pile outside begins to grow and grow.

This house also has about 3 inches of mud on the floor left by the wave that includes lots of stinky three month old fish that were swept out of the fish market the day of disaster.  The fish and mud were also filling the draining ditches alongside the road which we had to clean out later.

Here is a picture of the gunky stuff we find on the floor after we have removed the bigger items from the room.

Finally things are looking relatively clean.  It’s still not ready to be lived in but a definite improvement.

I think the stink of the fish was perhaps the hardest part of this particular house cleaning job.

You can see the house owner looking at her family altar,  one of the few things she wanted to keep from  all of the things we brought out.

Well, the job was over.  It took twenty volunteers just about all day to take care of this building.  There is still a lot more to be done……..

Tohoku Trip 4 Post #2

Here we are with our new friend Zen, a Buddhist priest.  He works very near to the school where we were staying.  We met him because he came into the music room where we spent the night to play the piano.  We didn’t get to hear him play  but spent a lot of time  talking and listening to him tell us his story.  Jonny asked him if we could pray for him.   Zen said yes and we had the great joy of doing so.

We also went to the high place to pray over the city.  That day, however,  it was foggy so we could not see the city at all.  We felt that this was a spiritual reality  for Ishinomaki.  There was something making the area spiritually  foggy so the people could not see or feel the presence and love of God.

As well, we were able to get to one of the first points of impact of the tsunami on land.  We stood right where the waves first came and  declared the awesomeness and faithfulness of our God and His heart of compassion for the people of Ishinomaki.  On our last day we went back to the high point and found that the fog had lifted!!!

A big blessing of these trips is the people you meet along the way.  We worked alongside these folks who also come from Tokyo to help as much as possible wherever needed.

Tohoku Trip 4 Post #1

This trip was different in a couple of ways.   One was that  we took a team member from our church planting team in Nagano Ken, Hitomi Wilson.  She bravely joined  two young guys from TBC, Justin and Kohki, along with, finally, but not least, my son Jonny (which explains the large number of photos that made it into my Facebook account).

Another different aspect of this trip was that we only visited the one location Ishinomaki.  However, some things never change and we did stop at the first highway stop on the Tohoku highway to  get coffee for our first break.

Our first project was cleaning at the Buddhist temple right next to the refugee centre where we moved to our second day.  Several cars had been dumped by the tidal wave on top of the graves and mud covered the ground under the floor of the temple as well as the unused plots. too.

In this picture we are bagging the mud from the unused lots. Removing the cars from the graveyard is going to be very difficult as a large crane is needed and there is not really the room for it there to operate.

One blessing from this day was working with some students from Nagoya. We became good friends and exchanged contact information.

Another new thing on this trip was the local Sukiya store was finally open so after work and a Japanese bath (again provided by the Japanese military)  we headed out for our evening meal.

It was good to feel clean and full, ready for a good night’s sleep.  Tonight would be another first as we would actually be staying in a public school evacuation centre with evacuees.  We shared the music room with other ngo volunteer teams.  Evacuees shared other school rooms, making a private place with the help of cardboard box dividers.  We went to sleep to get ready for an early rise the next day.

Tohoku Trip 3 Post #5

Today we spent the whole day carrying out water damaged materials from the house of a lady who ran a flower shop.  Near  the end we were wondering just how so much had been fitted into so small a building.

As well as the stuff we piled up outside the building there were three truck runs taking stuff away which fortunately could be used again.

Having removed the tatami mats from the floor it became obvious that the floor needed to go, too.

This was pure joy for Ko  - actually getting to smash things up and not get into trouble for it.  Both David and Ko managed to fall through the boards without hurting themselves or drawing blood and stuff like that.

The owner and her brother we so happy at all the work we were able to accomplish in one day and were bursting to share their story with us.

They had kept a scrap book and newspaper articles.  The owner told how she had spent most of her time first looking for,  finding, and then looking after her father before searching for other relatives.  This was why her house and business had not yet been cleaned out.

After hearing her story we took time to pray for her, her brother and other family members and also for her business.

Somehow at the end of the day it became apparent that Ko had added another Grandma to his collection.  Young people are such a blessing on outreach trips like this.  They have a way of opening hearts just by being young and being there.

That night we met some new friends at the base – two university students who had volunteered for their Golden Week holiday.  It was amazing how being in the same place volunteering together opened up their heart so much more than if we had just met them on the streets of Tokyo.

They also made good friends with the other members of our team and as they study in Chiba University it is VERY possible that we will be seeing them again when we are back in Tokyo.

Tohoku Trip 3 Post #4

During trip two Derick and I drove down the coast and passed through bay after bay of destroyed houses.  Fortunately for me we were driving in the dark and did not see the full impact as I knew my heart could not have handled so much in one trip.

This trip however was to be a prayer focus as we covered the same coast line – this time in broad day light.  We stopped at a few places and took time to pray as a team especially for those who were still trying to put their lives back together.

I am sure you have seen many such pictures but the impact of being there is greater than expected.

The journey continued mile after mile, bay after bay - a coastline completely changed in such a short time by one earthquake and a few tidal waves.  All in one day.

Here is the city of Rikusentakata – what is left of it. We spent a while in prayer here.  You can see the apartment building where up to the fourth floor is broken by the waves and only the fifth floor is unscathed.

Other than the buildings you can see in the first picture there is literally nothing still standing for  over a kilometer from the shoreline.  The picture on the right is looking to the left of the apartment buildings.

A whole city once stood here.  Once again – I had seen the video on You Tube of the wave arriving right where I was standing.  The video I feel that gives the best understanding of what happened is linked here.   If you are able to see this, notice  how many buildings there are the first time the camera sweeps round compared to when the camera comes back about two minutes later.

We did finish our trip and arrived in Ishinomaki to join Jack, Jason and the volunteers with J-Help.  It was good to bond together again and prepare for the next day’s work

Tohoku Trip 3 Post #3

This picture is a long time coming. As I mentioned in the last post Akifumi (Aki for short) did an English camp with TBC last year where he got to know Louie and Kosuke (Ko for short).  Actually it was during the camp in Taiwan that Aki believed in Jesus.

It was partly because of Aki’s trip to Taiwan that we went to Kamaishi on our first trip.  Between the first and second trip I was able to get the students from TBC to sign the cards you see Aki holding which I was able to give it to him.  I did take the cards – three in all – on the second trip but that was just after Aki and his family had finally found their uncle and grandmother  so it was not a good time to visit the family.  Finally here we are giving the cards to him and what makes it so special is that Louie and Ko who had spent so much time with Aki in Taiwan were able to be there when he received the cards.

We were actually able to meet all of Aki’s family and this led to a day of unexpected events that kind of went as follows.

The family arranged for us to be able to stay right in Kamaishi with a friend of the family.  The lady took in all ten of our team members for both of the nights that we would be in the city.  This was awesome as it saved us over an hour’s commute in the morning and the evening.

After the first night we were actually able to walk to the city volunteer  centre to see what work we would be able to do that day.  During our sharing time that morning Ko shared that before coming to Tohoku he had being trying to decide if he should being his Japanese or his English Bible on the trip.  Having spent quite a bit of time the previous evening hearing the story of the lady who owned the house he  knew why he had brought the Japanese Bible.  He felt he was to give the Bible to her.   I just love it when teenagers feel that God is directing their steps for a reason.

Well, the next change we encountered was that in arriving at the city volunteer centre we discovered that two factors were making it impossible for us to actually volunteer that day.

1. It was Golden Week in Japan which is a week full of holidays.  So many folks had decided to give their holiday week to volunteer that many centres – this one included – were having to turn people away.

2. The Weather !  There was a super strong wind blowing that day which made conditions unsuitable for working in areas where debris was being picked up and blown around.

We spent a little time reading the notes other volunteers had written and then split into two teams.  David & I with the vehicles carried the Kitchen Items from Samaritan’s Purse and the Kitchen Kits sent with so much love from YWAM Tokyo and the English class  back to Mr. Oikawa’s village.  The others walked into Kamaishi on a prayer journey.

The inclement weather however forced them to seek higher ground and from that vantage point they did pray over the city.  We all gathered back at the house in the late afternoon and decided to cook the evening meal for us and the lady and her other guest.  It turned in to a great time of fellowship, praying for healing for both ladies and sharing the gospel in a natural way.

Serving in this way would not have been possible had we been working all day as originally planned.  The Barbeque would not have been a success if we had tried to do it today in the wind instead of yesterday.

So we were able to be thankful for all these details way beyond our control that fit perfectly with the needs we saw and the skills we had to offer.

The following morning before our goodbyes Ko did give the lady the Bible.  We all felt we had been given the privilege of meeting a very special and brave Japanese lady and Ko had a new grandma in Kamaishi.

Tohoku Trip 3 Post #2

We were planning BBQ and the weather was not cooperating –  it rained all night. We had devotions,  set out early and arrived to pick up Akifumi who would be joining us for the day.  Aki is in the middle of this picture right next to Kosuke.  (Aki and Kosuke met each other for the first time last summer when they both attended TBC’s Camp 45) For the past two months Aki has been visiting this village with his mother to look for his missing relatives and only a couple of weeks ago finally located two of them.

The weather cleared up wonderfully for the rest of the day.

Our plan was to involve as many of the local people as possible.

In this picture the ladies all joined in to help with the rice and the salad.  Notice the outside toilets that the people are still using as they do not yet have any running water.

Let me now introduce you to one awesome high school boy.  This lad gets up 30 minutes early EVERY morning and volunteers to clean all of the toilets you see in the last picture.  This is one aspect of Japanese culture that I really like.

Well, with a bit of help and a lot of fun we got the fire going and began to cook the chicken.  It actually became quite hot by the fire but nothing deterred us and the goal was achieved.

Friendships were made –  the chicken tasted so good.

Making the fire was dirty work for some but over all it seemed that they enjoyed every minute of it.

The local young folks were excited to be able to share a meal with us that actually had meat in  it.

One of the apartment buildings had just been renovated about the time of the earthquake and would soon be occupied by folks who were staying in the evacuation centres.  These were the apartments that we had been making kitchen kits for.

Louie was also on the Camp 45  mission trip to Taiwan with Kosuke and Akifumi and had spent a lot of time with him there.  So today was a wonderful time for the three of them to spend together.

When all the food was eaten we talked for awhile and then took this group photo.  It is amazing how friendships can be formed or deepened by sharing a meal together.

As his custom was Mr. Oikawa sat us down and talked together with us as a team.  We took this opportunity to pray for him and the community.  DTS leader David felt he would like to come back and do this again another time.

Mr. Oikawa also cooked some fresh fish for us that they had recently.  It seemed the correct way to eat them is head first then work your way down to  the tail .

Here is Derick demonstrating the right technique.

Tohoku Trip 3 Post #1

The preparation for this trip was intense with all the work needed for the kitchen kits. Added to this was that this time we would do our very first “Takedashi” or community meal for the people in Kamaishi.  This included buying 100 kilos of charcoal, a few less kilos of chicken, containers to hold all of this, salad and all the other things needed to barbeque chicken for about 160 people.  None of this would have been possible without the many folks who participated to make this happen including YWAM Tokyo DTS staff and students who visited the 100 yen stores to accumulate the needed supplies for the kitchen kits and who assisted  Sharayah Burch (staff) who awesomely marinated the chicken.

I was blessed to be joined again by Derick who has now been on all 3 trips. Our team had some new dynamics,  too.   We had David, our Tokyo DTS leader, plus YWAM Kona, Hawai leaders Mike, Jackie and Peter who joined the endeavour to make plans for teams from their base to come in the month to come.   Also Gary from the DTS staff came and brought along his special friend,  Naoko.  Finally, we had the real joy of having Louie and Kosuke from Tokyo Baptist Church.

Ken Ito from TBC arranged for us to have a second vehicle which was VERY needed not just for the number of the team going  but also for the amount of supplies we were needing to carry for the BBQ.  Ken also did the paper work needed to get us free road tolls.  This alone saved us about 40,000 yen on the overall cost of the trip.

Our first night was to be spent with Samaritan’s Purse at their new “Tent City” in Sumita city which is about an hour south of Kamaishi.

We proceeded smoothly but did have a little trouble locating the exact place as it was dark and we had never been there before.  The next day we were able to appreciate the cherry blossoms which were no longer out in Tokyo; they had already come and gone. It was a blessing to see them again.  The long blue box under the tree was storing the 30 boxes of Kitchen supplies that we would take to Kamaishi along with the kits we had already prepared.

Tohoku Trip 2 Post #6

This morning after the devotion Derick and I said our farewells to Jack, Jason and Joel as they left for meal serving at an evacuation center and headed off to the warehouse to pick up a power hose for the work in Ishinomaki.

The kit consists of the large yellow water container, two wheelbarrows,  a couple of shovels, a couple of brooms, a pry bar, the hose and spray attachments, several buckets and a generator to power everything up.  You can see Derick bringing  the kit for the work our teams will do.

We were given a quick run through of how the kit worked and the generator was fired up to ensure that all was working well.  It was very exciting to be able to receive such quality materials and all of them brand new.  Thank you so much, Samaritan’s Purse.

When I first saw the kit I had wondered if we would be able to get it all in the van or if we would need to use the roof rack.  However, as it turned out,  all of the equipment was able to stow easily in the back of our van.  Now it was off to Ishinomaki to put the equipment into service.

Here is a VERY grateful Mr. Kimura after having stored the equipment in his room.  I am so looking forward to testing it out some time soon and seeing many of our workers able to clean more spaces due to the ability to use such tools.

Tohoku Trip 2 Post #5

With this week being the height of the cherry blossom season and Jason and Jack having come over from Hawaii we felt it would be great to take a little time out for them to see and appreciate some of the beauty of Japan in the midst of the mud and sufferering they were seeing every day.  Our first stop however, was the Samaritan’s Purse warehouse where we had slept on the first trip.

Jason and Jack were suitably impressed with all they saw there.  I got to sharing with a missionary who when he found out we were with YWAM asked if I knew the Hettingers so I told not only did we know them but that their son Joel was only 20 yards away.  It turned out the missionary  had been close to Joel’s family when they were church planting in Toyama City.

While talking with the folks at Samaitans Purse I found out that they had a full power hose kit c omplete with generators.  I had called earlier in the week but they were waiting on the generators coming in.  I would now be able to get one for Mr. Kimura and enable the work to be done quicker and better.

Here is the statue of the famous Samurai who build the Sendai castle.  There is not much left of the building now but a good part of the original wall is still in place  and there is a wonderful view of the city from the castle area.

The Cherry Blossoms were awesome and we had a great day of seeing the castle and enjoying the beauty of the trees.

The next day we were all going to help bring a meal to one of the evacuation centres but now Derick and I had another plan in mind, another mission to accomplish.