It was beautiful. The land once belonged to a feudal lord who designed the garden around eastern philosophical themes. I wandered around by myself for quite some time, just taking in the scenery (which was stunningly beautiful) and going over in my head the past 10 days. I had not really prepared myself for welcoming a wonderful group of high schoolers and leaders to the land I had just recently met myself. They surprised me by working their way into my heart and in the short time we were together, they became another family to me. As I sat in the garden, I found myself profoundly sad that they were gone but grateful to have been part of their journey to Japan. Lord knows that they were a huge part of mine.The week before had been a difficult one, but one I wouldn't change for the world. We all traveled north to Tohoku (the larger area covering the earthquake/tsunami stricken area that encompasses Sendai and many other devastated cities) on Monday and returned Thursday night in time to debrief, pack, and send the CA team off the next morning. We really held together well those few days in Tohoku and in all of it, I can say that I'm deeply grateful to have been able to help those who have so little hope in this time. Here's the breakdown of our week :
Monday we loaded up the vans by 8:30 and were on the road by 10:00 to make the 6 hour drive up to Sendai. On the way, we got to see our first glimpse of Japanese countryside which was a welcome shift from the busy life in Tokyo. Tightly packed buildings gently gave way to endless rice fields punctuated by steep, green mountains that brushed the low, grey clouds with the promise of rain. Rivers ran between bamboo clusters and small clusters of houses clung to the bases of the mountains. We arrived in Sendai in the late afternoon and unloaded into the houses in which we were to stay. The guys all stayed in the local ICA church and the girls stayed in the volunteer center down the street. We slept on tatami (woven straw mats) in futon and ate breakfast at a low table on the floor of the volunteer center. In my head, I was geeking out since I had never slept on tatami before and was excited to experience such a unique part of Japanese culture. Tatami has a comforting smell that reminds me of straw and hay from a barn but also has a clean sensation about it.I slept well and we all woke up each morning for group prayer at 5:45am at the church. Prayer lasted until about 6:40 and then we headed back to the volunteer center to eat breakfast before driving another hour north to Higashimatsushima where we checked in at the local volunteer center. For two days, we shoveled mud out of the rain gutters along the roads in neighborhoods around the center. It was hot, smelly, nasty work, but I loved it. The mud had to be shoveled into bags and hauled to a dump site which left us all exhausted but feeling fulfilled. Many of the neighbors came out of their houses to either help or talk to us as we worked. Some women came out with their children and they cheered us on. Although we could not communicate very easily, I expressed my gratitude to be able to do something small to help them in the massive efforts of rebuilding their houses. (Many of them in that neighborhood had lost everything on the lower floors although most of their homes were still standing.) Two little girls (2 and 4 years old) played in the street the whole second day we worked, giving us encouragement and splashing in the puddles. It is encouraging to know that we helped real people with real families even though it was just something small like cleaning out the rain gutters.
Later, after working to clean up a small part of the widespread disaster, we took a drive through areas closer to the shore that had been completely wiped out by the water. It is difficult to imagine, but these pictures were taken 3 months after the tsunami. According to those who saw it shortly after the disaster, these places have been 50% cleaned up.
I know it might be difficult to see, but in this picture there is a boat in front of that house. This kind of thing is all over the place in the affected ares. We saw a huge buoy (like 20 ft tall) being drug out of the middle of a rice field, cars sticking out of standing water, and tons and tons of debris. After three months, it still looks like this in many of the areas and in some areas, the houses are just flat gone. All that's left are the foundations and driveways leading up to empty lots. I tried to imagine what it must have been like but nothing in my imagination compares to what the real thing must have been like. Once you've seen the desperation in the eyes of the people who must now clean up and rebuild their whole lives, it changes something inside you. It creates a fire in you that wants to help, but you also come to realize that this is a huge mess. It spreads miles and miles of coast where things were wiped out. It will take years for this mess to be cleaned up and many more long years after that before people rebuild their houses again. It will take many people long hours of labor and huge amounts of money to see it restored. But through it all, God will be with them. God is already doing wonderful things in the midst of this chaos.One man in particular comes to mind. His name is Mr. Sasaki and he has been living in the shelters for 3 months (over 100 days). He is trying to find a place for he and his family to live but housing is scarce these days. Through the grace of God, Pastor Shelley was able to make contact with him shortly after the disaster and supply him with some appliances he will need to outfit his future apartment. She introduced us to him outside the shelter on our way back to Tokyo and later we drove by his house... or what is left of it.
The entire inside was gutted from a team who came to help a while ago. But the hollowness of what once was a beautiful home echoes in my heart even now. While we spoke with him, tears began streaming down Mr. Sasaki's cheeks. We prayed with him and offered words of encouragement, reassuring him that everything would be alright. I think that was just what he needed to hear to keep him going a little while longer. I walked away from that meeting with tears in my own eyes. I think that no matter what I do, I will always remember Mr. Sasaki when I think of Tohoku.And now here we are. Finally caught up again. I'm sorry it took me so long to write this post, but to be completely honest, it was a difficult post to write. I hope you will continue praying for Tohoku and for all of Japan. For those who are concerned, we experienced an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude while up north, but what we felt of it was mild and nothing was damaged. Some of our team didn't notice it at all. I write all of this to say: quakes are happening all over Japan, but I pray every day for quakes of a different sort. The kind that shake the heart of Japan for Jesus. We will see it one day.
Pray for Tohoku. Pray for Japan.
With love,
Amanda
