brrrr

Sunday afternoon here in Japan. We had about an inch of snow last night. I went out this morning to “break in” my new snow shovel that I purchased for $15.00 on Thursday. It is a plastic “push model” and would cost perhaps $4-5 there in the States. I started pushing the snow and could tell right away that the snow was very very wet. As I went to pick up the snow I could also tell that my shovel was not made for heavy lifting so I just pushed the snow into the open gutter alongside our building. Now I wonder how long my shovel will last knowing not everyone will “pamper” it in the manner I did!
A couple weeks ago I went to lunch with our neighbor Abdullah who had just returned from Kuwait. We were sitting in the restaurant when the place began to shake. It was not a violent shake but just enough motion that it got everyone in the restaurant to stop doing what they were doing including interrupting their conversations. It lasted for maybe 20 seconds and as I found out later it was of a 5.4 magnitude. I never really got frightened but it was interesting to watch the responses of the individuals in the restaurant. These are people who were here when the 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit and most of them do expect another large earthquake. There was definitely a sense of tension as the building continued to shake during those 20 seconds. The new base manager for our base in Shichigahama happened to be here having lunch in the Hope Center with the rest of the staff. Nick said the first thing he did was look for me to find out what to do. Then the earthquake ended and as they listened to the radio and found out that there was no tsunami threat, everyone relaxed and began to eat again. This event did serve as a reminder to be prepared. So this past week I spent time creating an “evacuation area” here in the warehouse where we will store food, water, flashlights and a first aid kit that will be easily accessed and loaded should we have to evacuate in a hurry.
We had a couple of our staff leave this week as their contracts ended. When Michael left on Tuesday he wanted to ship his bags to the airport so he would not have to take them on the train with him. He asked if he could take a truck to do so and then just leave it at the train station for me to retrieve later in the day. I told him it was fine and to just leave the keys in the truck and I would come pick it up. So, about 10:30 Michael called to say he was there at the very small Kesennuma train station. I took Nick and headed for the station. I wanted to say goodbye one last time to Michael if I could. When we got to the station which is approximately 5 minutes from the office, I pulled up next to the truck, asked Nick if he knew the way back to the office to which he replied he did and told him I was going inside to say goodbye and that I would see him back here at the Hope Center. I went inside and was talking with Michael when Nick came in and said the truck would not start. He said he had put it in neutral and it still would not start. I asked him if he had pushed the clutch in and look on his face told me his answer. He said he had put it in neutral! I told him that you have to push the clutch in to start the truck. So, at that point Michael was getting ready to leave so we hugged and then Nick and I walked outside toward our cars. As we looked in the direction of the vehicles we saw a vehicle rolling backward in the parking lot. Nick immediately broke into a sprint about the same time I realized it was a van whose front end was identical to our truck. It was several more steps before Nick realized someone was backing out of the parking spot next to his. At that point I had my hands on my knees bent over in full laughter. I was getting a lot of attention from the Japanese people around me who had no idea why I was laughing. Of course, I had to share this story with the staff that evening. Fortunately Nick is a very nice guy and got a good laugh out of it as well.
We had a team from KOZA Baptist Church in Okinawa visit us this week. As I have stated previously, it is always a treat when they come. They are so supportive of our work here. Not only do they continue to send teams to do mud out and construction work on a monthly basis but they also send us supplies that are difficult to access in this part of Japan such as peanut butter. Speaking of which, I thought there was going to be a revolt the other day. One of the staff pointed out to me that we were on our last jar of peanut butter!!! Fortunately we had a couple of our staff going to Tokyo for the weekend. So during devotion time on Friday I announced that we narrowly averted a crisis. We would have a new supply of peanut butter coming on Monday when they return from Tokyo. It got a pretty good laugh from the staff. I only hope the staff understood the sarcasm that went along with that statement.
Well, that’s it for today! Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Sunday evening here in Japan. Winter has definitely arrived here in this part of Japan. Daytime temperatures range from 32-40 degrees most days with nighttime temperatures being in the 20-30 range. For some reason I expected it to be a little warmer here this time of year. I have heard that the next couple months will be even colder most of the time. I am so very thankful that I do not have to make the long walk down the boardwalk from my tent to the shower as I did in Sumita camp! I keep thinking of how fortunate we are to have gotten moved before winter truly set in there in Sumita! I have to say that during this cold weather when the winds are blowing as they have been for a few days; it does remind me of a blustery South Dakota winter. Of course from what I hear, your winter there in South Dakota has been anything but a “South Dakota” winter this year!
We continue to do remodeling work on houses. Fortunately most of the homes are enclosed or easily enclosable so the construction staff is able to stay somewhat warm with the assistance of small kerosene heaters. The heaters don’t warm the entire structure but at least the workers are able to warm their hands before the heater from time to time to ward off cold fingers. Most of the construction staff and volunteers have come prepared for this weather so they continue to work even on the coldest days.
We are beginning to receive volunteers again with five arriving from the United States this past week as well as a young lady from Switzerland. I do enjoy having international staff around. It is fun to hear of their lives in their home countries as well as their spiritual journeys. We have not had as many volunteers the past couple months and it appears that January will be the same. I am uncertain whether it is due to the tsunami being farther removed from one’s thoughts as time passes or people just do not volunteer as much during winter months. We continue to reach out to friends and family to encourage everyone to come and assist in the rebuilding efforts here.
It is encouraging to see new businesses open here in this area. In the past month a new grocery store and a new book store have opened and quite a few businesses near the waterfront have reopened in temporary structures. I continue to urge the staff to buy locally if possible even if it costs a little more as these people have lost so much; they need all the help they can get. It also gives us a good chance to meet with the local people and show our support for this area as well.
It’s really an interesting concept they have for reopening those businesses there in the waterfront area. They have erected temporary structures right amongst the destroyed buildings. This is an area that sank during the earthquake so the roads have been elevated to avoid being flooded. I read that in some of this area, the ground had dropped as much as seven feet! As I was driving back here yesterday afternoon from Ofunato I noticed that there are now huge piles of dirt heaped in the areas that sank. They were out with track hoes leveling the dirt in the fields as I drove by the area. Word is that they will try to infill some of these areas with as much as ten feet of dirt. I am not certain where the dirt is coming from although I saw them loading trucks nearby where they are shredding the wood that was collected during clean up operations. I can’t imagine that the shredded wood could be used for fill but I don’t know where else they could be hauling it. I will have to make another investigative trek to watch them this week to find out exactly what they are doing.
One of the most encouraging things that is happening around here has been the number of local visitors that have come by The Hope Center. Japanese people are ‘gift givers’ for almost any occasion including when they just visit someone. Every store you enter has a gift section. Almost every day someone shows up here with a gift in their hands. Some of the people are neighbors. Some are people we are working for or have done work for and some are people who had been in this building before the tsunami and just want to see what it looks like now. We invite everyone in and offer them coffee or tea and usually end up chatting with them for a bit. It is just amazing to see how we have been accepted here in this area. God is definitely blessing us and our work here!
Well, it is time to get this sent. I will write again when I have the opportunity and something worthy to share! If there is anything in particular you are wondering regarding our work or Japan in general, just send me an email and I will try to answer best I can!