First, I want to share a story about what happened on Tuesday night (Tuesday morning EST). At around 10:20pm (9:20am EST), as 3 of us (Lightson, Mika, and I) were headed to catch the night bus in Kanazawa, our friend Tomoko, who was traveling by night bus from Toyama (a different location), texted me saying she had missed her bus and was chasing after it. Images of movie car chase scenes flooded through my mind and it was hard not to laugh at this stressful situation. She asked me to pray. A minute later my phone vibrated with a new email and it was the Grace Point Prayer chain forwarding my request for prayer for our trip (Grace Point is my home church in SC). 10 minutes later Tomoko texted me that she had managed to catch up with the bus and was now safely on her way to Miyagi Prefecture. I can't help but think that we weren't the only ones praying at that moment, so I earnestly thank those of you who prayed for our trip for your prayers.
Our three days in Ishinomaki flew by and I feel that the people there blessed us more than we could have possibly blessed them. On Wednesday we pulled weeds for a lady, Mrs. S. Then she had us all over to her home for lunch (a rare invitation in Japan). That evening we were invited into her friend Mr. O's home for an elaborate cookout with food like cow tongue and preserved whale meat. While Mrs. S and her husband had survived the tsunami and managed to rebuild their home, Mr. O, who lives in a shared house, lost his whole family.
Thursday and Friday we worked on cleaning up a beautiful Japanese home so that the carpenters could come in and rebuild it. We did various tasks: tearing down walls, pulling out rusty nails, vacuuming up endless tsunami dust, power washing, etc. I'm very thankful for the skills that Dad had taught me (how to use hammers, pliers, and saws) and Mom had taught me (how to use a broom, dust pan, and vacuum cleaner) while I was growing up. I'm sure neither of them ever dreamed I'd one day be a part of a project to restore an old Japanese home, I know I didn't. Our volunteer leader, Stephen (who works with Ishionomaki Christian Center (ICC), the partner organization of Grace Mission Tohoku (GMT)) told us that it was very rare to mud-out a house these days since it's already been two years since the tsunami. It took the owner this long to decide he wanted to rebuild.
I asked Stephen why people want to rebuild their lives in Ishinomaki. After all, if it were me, I wouldn't want to move back to a place that had been destroyed by a tsunami. He said, many people have no place else to call home, and others, even if they want to move, can't afford to.
We worked alongside the full-time staff and volunteers from other churches in Japan. There was a group from a church in Tokyo that included several Koreans, and a group from a Brazilian church in Nagoya. I had the challenge of speaking Japanese to non-native Japanese speakers since I can't speak Korean or Portuguese! The devotions and sharing times were translated in Japanese, English, and Portuguese, which made for interesting gatherings. It is so great to see people from various backgrounds working together to help.
I wish we could have stayed longer. We prayed with and for the long term staff members based at ICC/GMT before we left on Friday. I'm so happy to have been a part of this ministry and hope I can return to help them in the future. I urge you to continue to pray for Ishinomaki and Christians there and all over Tohoku.
Top Left -- Working on the house Left to Right: Sergio (Brazilian Church team), Stephen (ICC staff), Lightson, Tomoko, Allyson, and Mika.
Top Right -- In front of the beautiful old house that we hope will be restored.
Bottom Left -- Pulling out stuck sheet rock and dirt from the cracks.
Bottom Right -- The man in the center, with the blue and white striped, collared shirt and khaki pants is the owner of the house. We were able to pray with him. He has started producing a quarterly newsletter called "Rolling Press" that includes stories of the volunteer work that has been happening in Ishinomaki. He gave us each a copy.
Photos taken by Hajime Abe (Pastor) who leads a small house church in Ishinomaki.
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