Sunday, 18 December 2011
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Luke's Father Recently Updated His Missionary Blog
John Elliot - Latest Post-Tsunami Blog Updates
Who am I? Since 1985,a resident of Ajigasawa, a small town on the west coast of Honshu, Japan- yes, way up there near the top, in Aomori Prefecture. Problem? I've got the wrong face (Canadian Celt). People still give a start when they round the supermarket aisle and see me. So, who am I? Jimoto no Gaijin- the local foreigner.
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Truck Stuff
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| What is it? |
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Beds
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| The girls had the beds made before I even finished the next project! |
Friday, September 30, 2011
That Sinking Feeling
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| This section is not done yet. In the distance is what is left of the massive seawall that failed to stem the once-in-a-millenium tsunami |
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Another Busy Day
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| Mrs. Oda's deck was finished today, but not before her baby almost fell off! |
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Sept. 28-30
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| Another bench for the lady across the street from Ofunato Baptist Church |
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Thursday, September 08, 2011
Five Months Later
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| Garbage plile across from the Ofunato Bible Baptist Church, March 2011. Junk from flooded houses. |
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Hope Tree
The Hope Tree in Rikuzen Takata (Iwate Prefecture) is drying out, despite efforts to save it. The only survivor of a famous forest of 70,000 trees along the shore, it became the symbol for regeneration of the battered city. Cuttings have been taken, and the trees that grow from them will be planted here in a few years when the sunken, salty shoreline is repaired. May the people of the Iwate coast also find a greater Hope- in Christ.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
More to do
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| Decks and benches at the Hassendo temporary housing project, Ofunato, Iwate. |
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Friday, August 26, 2011
A Little Help From My Friends
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| A fellow OMFer from Tokyo got together with her church and bought colorful cushions for the chairs- a big hit! |
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Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Thursday, 1 September 2011
John Elliot - Notes from Iwate (Earthquake & Tsunami Relief)
The following are selected notes from correspondence from Luke's father:
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| At the end of July, I took Jo Fung with me to Ofunato. We delivered a number of tables (from Renee's cHurch in Hirosaki) and chairs (from a stockpile in Ofunato) to the community church in Miyako. There are 48 chairs in the truck. |
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| At the end of July, Jo and I visited Mrs. S, a Chinese single mom of 2 for whom I made some chairs and tables in May. She was distressed at the small size of her temporary housing, so I made this bunk bed for her boys at the end of June. At her suggestion, I retrofitted it with a folding shelf for her to sleep beside her 5 year old. She had been sleeping on the floor, but it was too damp; apparently there is no insulation in the floor, which will make it interesting in the winter. |
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| The temporary housing is very cramped. The only furniture is a folding table literally the size of a cafeteria tray, and this beautiful stand for the big sceen TV. Strange priorities among the planners. |
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| In early August, on the way to Takayama, I stopped in Ofunato to make a deck for Mrs. S. Why do I make so many things for her family? Basically, because she asked for stuff when I offered- a little less enryou than her neighbours, apparently. But, when the neigbours saw the deck I made for her, and the smaller bench for the lady next door, everyone else decided to give enryou a rest. Trying to hang your laundry while standing on the sharp door rails, leaning out to reach the poles, is no fun. The bench lets you hang things easily (cost: about 1500 yen); if you opt for the deck (cost- about 3000 yen), you have a place to hang bedding, too. |
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| It was a HOT day, so I set up with a canopy and folding bench and went to work on site. I was able to do 5 benches and 5 decks that day. |
Martin & Ruth Ghent - Wet and Dry Survivors (of the Tsunami in Japan) - Part 2: Dry
Luke's cousin Micah has returned from Iwate in order to complete his final year of studies at Moody Bible Institute. We were delighted to have him stay overnight at our place when he passed through Toronto, and to hear his stories first hand. The following stories are told by Luke's Aunt Ruth Ghent and can be found on Martin Ghent's FaceBook page.
Such crazy crazy stories! Truly miraculous-so miraculous that those who have lived them wonder "Why?!!" "Why am I alive-there must be some reason I am left here... what is it?"
Granny Kerobe (Kerobe is the name of her village which is a quaint inlet with gorgeous clear blue green water. Descending into the village we saw a deer on the hillside.) is a petite thin granny with a spry step. She worked at the seaweed packagers by the water. The area of Toni is known for seaweed, sea urchins,abalone, scallops, and sea pineapple. I tell her it took me years to figure out whether sea pineapple is plant or animal. She reconfirms it's animal and tells me with great relish in her dialect how to prepare it and eat it. The day of the tsunami she was right beside the water. She ran right away to her house to collect her bag which she had hanging by the door with fresh underwear and a bottle of water. The hills come right down to the water so she scrambled up the bank in time to see the lower part of her village - her house included swept away. She tells us how no one has much but they share what they have. It will take at least 3 years before the sea will be able to produce a harvest again that is if they can get boats again and the starter strings of shellfish and sea weed. Many people are too old to take out a loan to get started again.I tell her I have heard of how the seaweed is especially delicious (I have talked to several others who worked with seaweed and also someone who had a shop that sold only fresh things from the sea. The shop was washed away...)She suddenly disappears and comes back with a bag of seaweed which is now particularly precious because it is not known if or when it can be harvested again. She gives it to me and I feel unworthy of such a gift. I do not want to take it from someone who has lost so much but she has determined to give it to me. That night I insist on preparing it for supper and it is truly delicious. The next morning I ask to leave early so that we can find her village which is set off from the main road. I am awestruck by its beauty even after such destruction. By the water there is only a few steel beams left sticking out of the wharf which is now several inches under water because of the land sinking. I am guessing the steel beams are the remains of where she worked. She who is precious in God's sight lives!
One of the children's books we give out is about being precious to God and on the last page is a mirror page. Everyone loves this book and Grannys often ask for a copy so they can give it to their grandchildren. One Granny who did not have a copy said "OH! THIS is the mirror book! When we first moved into temporary housing none of us had mirrors and everyone kept saying they got a mirror book from you." I am moved that their first mirror was the book which says the person in the mirror is special to God of the universe.
Makiko and her parents live at Wano temporary housing. Previously they lived in a neighborhood near to the hospital up the river bed. Because their neighborhood wasn't directly by the sea many people were indecisive about whether to run or not. Many people were older and so it was no easy task to run. Makiko ran upstairs, grabbed a bag with her medication and a drink. Her cell phone as always dangled from her neck. They didn't take any more time to collect things but rushed outside. They collected a granny who had a stroke and couldn't walk by herself. Huffing and puffing they headed to the mountain. One of them carried her on their back-the others pushed from behind. She being as big as the one carrying her it was quite the struggle to carry her but to leave her behind would mean sure death. They made it as far as the tunnel through the mountain and looked back to see that the tsunami had overflowed the river banks far up into town and washed out their neighborhood. Their neighborhood was on fire sloshing back and forth. As if some horrible dream or the set of some horrible movie they watched in unbelief. Makiko's mother still struggling with the reality of it told Makiko to take a picture of it with her cell phone. As they tell the story Makiko is sent to retrieve the photo from their prefab house. They have had this photo made as large as the shop would make it from a cell phone picture. They have no photo of their pre tsunami house-just the photo of the smoking mass of what was their neighborhood. They decided they could not spend the night in the tunnel so they went through to the other side, proceeding to climb the mountain to find the shelter. The horror of the situation made it so Makiko could not swallow food. She went to relatives who nursed her back to health with rice gruel. Makiko's mother is a networker. She tries hard to find people and gather information and pass it on.
At the cafe many people have gathered-the first time for some to see each other since the tsunami though several months have passed. I sit in silence as together they work through giving the news of what they know of each person in their community. Someone says a name of someone they haven't heard from. "The four of them climbed to their roof. Didn't make it . They were found burned to death on their roof". "N San?". "Her husband put the granny on his back and carried her to safety. N san, she was such a sweet person, no she didn't make it. She last was seen trying to get people to evacuate. She got swept away." "How about the Y's" "No they didn't make it". In their community more people died than lived and I am unable to keep it all straight in my head anymore. Everyone is somber and one lady bursts out with the question on many peoples minds,"Why did WE make it?!" "Why are we alive?!" She senses that she is no better or greater than those that died, what is the greater purpose behind this all? If they have been given the privilege to live then this life must be used for what it was meant for. Although she asked the question quite philosophically another lady answered quite practically-"Why did we live? Because we ran away." There is so much truth in both perspectives. God in His sovereignty did allow it and I think He does have a greater purpose in mind-to save many more people than otherwise would have been. Their lives are precious and have been spared so that they can find Him. From another perspective many who died just did not believe the warnings were for them personally. They just didn't think it would come that far. Some people knew but went into shock and could not figure out what to do. Other people died trying to help others who could not physically move quickly. Considering the huge area and the amount of damage I am amazed at how few people died. If that had happened after people were in bed in the dark-I shudder to think of what that number would be. So many miraculous deliverances. I think God is truly merciful and gracious. I long for these people to meet Jesus and have a no turning back faith. I long for them to walk with Him every day and discover how much He lavishes His grace on us-how He is the Redeemer God who can bring beauty out of ashes, joy out of pain. Please pray with us that there will be long term transformation along the coast that spreads throughout Japan.
Other stories (the children's stories), other comments are treasured in my heart. I may write them yet... These months on the coast have been a privilege. God has allowed us to experience much and allowed us to share in these precious lives and to see life and truth at its rawest. A friend of a friends told her family in another part of Japan "You have to come and see it for yourself otherwise you will never understand me." They came and they said "You're right". Seeing an image on TV is not the same. It is only a glimpse. We plan to still have some part in what is happening along the coast but as previously mentioned we have to put significant energy into our work in the Tsugaru. Pray that we find the right balance and have peace before God about the things we cannot do and that God will indeed send many to live out what it is to walk with Jesus before these precious people.
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| Uncle Martin & Aunt Ruth, Micah, and Tsunami Relief Volunteers |
Granny Kerobe (Kerobe is the name of her village which is a quaint inlet with gorgeous clear blue green water. Descending into the village we saw a deer on the hillside.) is a petite thin granny with a spry step. She worked at the seaweed packagers by the water. The area of Toni is known for seaweed, sea urchins,abalone, scallops, and sea pineapple. I tell her it took me years to figure out whether sea pineapple is plant or animal. She reconfirms it's animal and tells me with great relish in her dialect how to prepare it and eat it. The day of the tsunami she was right beside the water. She ran right away to her house to collect her bag which she had hanging by the door with fresh underwear and a bottle of water. The hills come right down to the water so she scrambled up the bank in time to see the lower part of her village - her house included swept away. She tells us how no one has much but they share what they have. It will take at least 3 years before the sea will be able to produce a harvest again that is if they can get boats again and the starter strings of shellfish and sea weed. Many people are too old to take out a loan to get started again.I tell her I have heard of how the seaweed is especially delicious (I have talked to several others who worked with seaweed and also someone who had a shop that sold only fresh things from the sea. The shop was washed away...)She suddenly disappears and comes back with a bag of seaweed which is now particularly precious because it is not known if or when it can be harvested again. She gives it to me and I feel unworthy of such a gift. I do not want to take it from someone who has lost so much but she has determined to give it to me. That night I insist on preparing it for supper and it is truly delicious. The next morning I ask to leave early so that we can find her village which is set off from the main road. I am awestruck by its beauty even after such destruction. By the water there is only a few steel beams left sticking out of the wharf which is now several inches under water because of the land sinking. I am guessing the steel beams are the remains of where she worked. She who is precious in God's sight lives!
One of the children's books we give out is about being precious to God and on the last page is a mirror page. Everyone loves this book and Grannys often ask for a copy so they can give it to their grandchildren. One Granny who did not have a copy said "OH! THIS is the mirror book! When we first moved into temporary housing none of us had mirrors and everyone kept saying they got a mirror book from you." I am moved that their first mirror was the book which says the person in the mirror is special to God of the universe.
Makiko and her parents live at Wano temporary housing. Previously they lived in a neighborhood near to the hospital up the river bed. Because their neighborhood wasn't directly by the sea many people were indecisive about whether to run or not. Many people were older and so it was no easy task to run. Makiko ran upstairs, grabbed a bag with her medication and a drink. Her cell phone as always dangled from her neck. They didn't take any more time to collect things but rushed outside. They collected a granny who had a stroke and couldn't walk by herself. Huffing and puffing they headed to the mountain. One of them carried her on their back-the others pushed from behind. She being as big as the one carrying her it was quite the struggle to carry her but to leave her behind would mean sure death. They made it as far as the tunnel through the mountain and looked back to see that the tsunami had overflowed the river banks far up into town and washed out their neighborhood. Their neighborhood was on fire sloshing back and forth. As if some horrible dream or the set of some horrible movie they watched in unbelief. Makiko's mother still struggling with the reality of it told Makiko to take a picture of it with her cell phone. As they tell the story Makiko is sent to retrieve the photo from their prefab house. They have had this photo made as large as the shop would make it from a cell phone picture. They have no photo of their pre tsunami house-just the photo of the smoking mass of what was their neighborhood. They decided they could not spend the night in the tunnel so they went through to the other side, proceeding to climb the mountain to find the shelter. The horror of the situation made it so Makiko could not swallow food. She went to relatives who nursed her back to health with rice gruel. Makiko's mother is a networker. She tries hard to find people and gather information and pass it on.
At the cafe many people have gathered-the first time for some to see each other since the tsunami though several months have passed. I sit in silence as together they work through giving the news of what they know of each person in their community. Someone says a name of someone they haven't heard from. "The four of them climbed to their roof. Didn't make it . They were found burned to death on their roof". "N San?". "Her husband put the granny on his back and carried her to safety. N san, she was such a sweet person, no she didn't make it. She last was seen trying to get people to evacuate. She got swept away." "How about the Y's" "No they didn't make it". In their community more people died than lived and I am unable to keep it all straight in my head anymore. Everyone is somber and one lady bursts out with the question on many peoples minds,"Why did WE make it?!" "Why are we alive?!" She senses that she is no better or greater than those that died, what is the greater purpose behind this all? If they have been given the privilege to live then this life must be used for what it was meant for. Although she asked the question quite philosophically another lady answered quite practically-"Why did we live? Because we ran away." There is so much truth in both perspectives. God in His sovereignty did allow it and I think He does have a greater purpose in mind-to save many more people than otherwise would have been. Their lives are precious and have been spared so that they can find Him. From another perspective many who died just did not believe the warnings were for them personally. They just didn't think it would come that far. Some people knew but went into shock and could not figure out what to do. Other people died trying to help others who could not physically move quickly. Considering the huge area and the amount of damage I am amazed at how few people died. If that had happened after people were in bed in the dark-I shudder to think of what that number would be. So many miraculous deliverances. I think God is truly merciful and gracious. I long for these people to meet Jesus and have a no turning back faith. I long for them to walk with Him every day and discover how much He lavishes His grace on us-how He is the Redeemer God who can bring beauty out of ashes, joy out of pain. Please pray with us that there will be long term transformation along the coast that spreads throughout Japan.
Other stories (the children's stories), other comments are treasured in my heart. I may write them yet... These months on the coast have been a privilege. God has allowed us to experience much and allowed us to share in these precious lives and to see life and truth at its rawest. A friend of a friends told her family in another part of Japan "You have to come and see it for yourself otherwise you will never understand me." They came and they said "You're right". Seeing an image on TV is not the same. It is only a glimpse. We plan to still have some part in what is happening along the coast but as previously mentioned we have to put significant energy into our work in the Tsugaru. Pray that we find the right balance and have peace before God about the things we cannot do and that God will indeed send many to live out what it is to walk with Jesus before these precious people.
Martin & Ruth Ghent - Wet and Dry Survivors (of the Tsunami in Japan) - Part 1: Wet
Find OMF Missionary Martin Ghent on FaceBook to follow these stories.
Such crazy crazy stories! Truly miraculous-so miraculous that those who have lived them wonder "Why?!!" "Why am I alive-there must be some reason I am left here... what is it?" Having seen literally thousands of mutilated cars and buildings,twisted steel beams mountains of rubble, uprooted trees ramrodded into things,massive cement sea walls toppled over, massive buildings totally gutted, train tracks ripped up and twisted, charred remains of cars- boats -buildings, along with slimy mud and sand, it seems impossible that anyone could live through it once caught in the water but God did give thousands of people a miraculous deliverance.
Mr. U could hear the sirens blaring and the loudspeakers saying a big tsunami is coming. Many people debated running because often the tsunami warnings result in a barely noticeable rise in the water. Not every town announced it the same but for one town adding the word 'big' saved lives. Mr. U's wife became restless waiting for him (he was trying to save 10 years of research work on a USB stick). Mrs.U called up the stairs,"I'm leaving first. Don't forget to bring the dog". She left the house only to discover the tsunami soon to be upon her. She ran to the steel stairs that go up over the road with the water coming up to her knees as she climbed them, Although she was now above the water that was rushing in, the overhead walkway would sway one direction, and as it started to go back to sea it swayed the other direction, and with the next tsunami it swayed in again-back and forth with each successive wave. Meanwhile she looked towards her house with her husband still in it. The tsunami lifted it off the foundation and moved it 300 meters without it falling over. Mr. U was still in the second floor floating towards other houses realizing it could crumble at any moment and fires were breaking out all around him. He looked for other options. Nearby was a steel framed house with a second floor veranda that he decided to try to get to. He tucked the dog under his arm and grabbed onto the hard plastic sleeve covering an overhead wire. As he dangled from the wire he wiggled his weight so that he could inch across the wire to the other house's second floor. He got inside as the next tsunami hit and the water rose higher than the first. As water flooded the second floor he climbed up on the highest thing he could find (still with the dog under his arm) and started pounding on the ceiling with his fist. He takes a moment to show me his knuckles which had begun healing but I could still see where they had split open. He opened a small hole into the attic space and since the water was now up to inches from the ceiling would pull himself and the dog up at intervals for gasps of attic air while still trying to hang on. The floating rubble was burning and people's gas cylinders started exploding around him . By now his wife from her vantage point was sure that if he hadn't drowned he had burned to death. The burning rubble sloshed back and forth-it took awhile for the water to totally recede.Firemen who were on firmer ground looked for people who were close enough for them to rescue from "shore". They rescued Mrs U and whisked her off to a shelter. Soaking wet Mr U was still a bit too far for the firemen to reach. That night after the water had receded he managed to climb to the roof of another building to which the firemen were able to extend a ladder and rescued h.His wife was shocked that he had actually survived and they had a tearful reunion.
Mrs. D escaped with her dog who she tenderly cuddles on her lap or in turn on the table(!). She opens a coffee creamer which her dog enjoys with relish. I wonder whether the dog has an even more special place in her life after surviving with her and comforting when she remembers the terror of her ordeal. She said,"I was born and raised by the sea but I never want to see it again!" She speaks with a sense of deep betrayal. It reminds me of what someone spray painted on the remains of their destroyed house,"Ocean I hate you but house I loved you. Thank you for being such a nice home to us..." Mrs. D proceeds to tell us of her daughter's escape while it pours rain on our Cafe tents. Her daughter worked in a dentist office in Unosumai. Somehow most of the others who worked there managed to get on the roof but she was in the water. Her coworkers managed to reach over and desperately grab to retrieve her-they caught her by the shirt and pulled her onto the roof. They waited for the water to subside but they were missing one of their coworkers. They called and called starting to look in the rubble but had to abandon searching for her because fires started breaking out around them. Soaking wet they picked their way through the slimy rubble and headed for the mountains. They climbed the mountains to head for a shelter. Her daughter got sick. Relatives who still had a house took her in to nurse her back to health. It took her a couple of weeks to get all the sand and mud off her body-out of her ears etc..We are amazed that people are so willing to sit in the rain with us so they can talk with us. Wet story on a wet day but the dampness does not lessen the intensity with which it is told...
Granny and her friend "Me Chan" with sirens blaring headed together for the stairs up the hill side. A shrine up above was a designated "safe" spot. At the bottom of the stairs was a Buddhist temple with a graveyard on the slope behind it. Before they got to the stairs, as they passed the temple the tsunami hit them. Instinctively they held their breaths as they were blasted into the temple in black churning water. As Granny was tumbled over and over under the water she thought,"This is the end! I can't hold my breath any longer!” Just then the water receded. Granny, rather disoriented, looked about to discover herself by the toppled over alter sitting in the black slime. "Me Chan? You there?" "I'm here". Both quite disoriented and with no idea of the magnitude of what had just happened stumbled outside to the back of the temple and into the graveyard. Not steady on their feet but concerned about their muddy condition Granny said,"I really think we need to stop by my sister's place and get some dry clothes." They tottered around to where the stairs were and looked back toward town. Suddenly she realized how absurd what she had just said was. It was no time to go back for clothes-town was gone! They climbed the hillside steps as the earth continued to quake escaping subsequent waves. Granny thought it was the end but has lived to tell her story and we are praying that her next chapter will be about the miracle of meeting Jesus,receiving eternal life. Odds may be crazy with long rooted traditions and so few Christians but against the odds God rescued her in the tsunami longing to see him rescue you her for eternity.
Mr. T had been out to town and back to his home where he lived alone. When he realized the tsunami may come he got in his car to drive away. He lived behind a 6.5 meter seawall which ended up being pitifully lacking in comparison to the 25?meters that came in. Mr. T's car began to float. (The first wave was not the biggest and depending on the location some places before the first wave could pull back the next wave came and pushed the height even higher). He decided to get out of his car and go in his house. he got wet as he abandoned his car. He went in his house and pulled off his wet pants-only to look and see a giant wall of water coming at his house. His house crumpled on top of him and knocked him out. He was covered by the rubble of his house and water but amazingly did not breathe under water though he was knocked out. He came to to discover himself trapped under the water but with a small opening in the rubble above him. As he fought to free himself he took in some black sordid water which made his belly swell. He forced it out of himself so he could pull himself through the small hole in the rubble. Again he threw up the foul water and proceeded to pick his way through the rubble with his broken ribs and bleeding head. He noticed someone else sitting dazed in the rubble. He slapped their face on the way by so they would come to enough to try to escape. It took him a long time to work his way but at last he made it to a neighbors house who lived up the side of the inlet. They peeled his wet clothes off and tried to warm his hands with the remains of warm water from a hot pot. The electricity was gone so they could light no stoves. The roads were covered with rubble so there was no way to get him to a hospital for a few days. The doctors were amazed he did not breathe automatically when he was knocked out and under the water. He is 77. "I lost everything. I traveled the world on a fishing boat before I married and had so many things from the different places. It is all gone. All I have is my memories." As we sit he calls out to others to join us at the cafe. An old time friend says to him,"I heard you are alive! I don't understand how you survived..." Mr. T begins his story again to tell in detail his miraculous story.
Mr. and Mrs. K , who lived near the Kamaishi city office, were in their house when the earthquake happened. With the sound of sirens and warnings blaring Mr. K stepped out into the street to see the situation. At his feet he noticed water running and looked up to see a mass of water and rubble heading his way he stepped back just in time as it pushed by (I think their house was initially protected from the bulldozer effect by a hill that stuck out between them and the sea).But immediately the water level rose.He grabbed onto a floating car and from there was able to get onto the roof of his one story house. His wife was trying to keep afloat. He managed to pull his wife onto the roof with him. Meanwhile the water started depositing cars on the roof with them-one car falling onto Mrs K's foot and breaking some bones in her foot. The house lifted and started floating towards the neighbors house. It got close enough for them to climb from the roof of their house into the second floor veranda. The earthquake had shaken the locks open. Soaking wet and very cold they went in and found their neighbors clothes. Though the first floor was destroyed the second floor was dry. Mr K did not care that the clothes were a plump woman's clothes-they were dry! Wearing their neighbors clothes when the waters receded they picked their way through the rubble to find a shelter.
With a house close to the water in Kamaishi, Mr. Sailor had special responsibility for such a time as this. He was designated to close the water gate on the seawall near his house. As he closed the gate he realized the tsunami was going to go right over the seawall and gate so he started running towards the back of his house. He knew there was a hill with a wire fence at the base of it. He was hoping the water would float him towards the hill. His neighbor came out screaming "Help me! Help me!". Mr. Sailor managed to catch her once and as the water carried them together he tried to tell her there was a wire fence below "Put your feet down". He lost hold of her and she slipped under the water. He pulled her up again."Put your feet down!!" They managed to get their feet on the wire mesh and then up to a pipe at the top of the mesh. They clung to the side of the hill with water up to their armpits and their feet on the pipe until the water subsided. Then they got themselves to the shelter. Martin asked Mrs.Sailor "Weren't you worried?!" "No". Perhaps because her husband is a sailor she figured he would know what to do.
Mr. Fireman 1 was on duty further back from the water but never-the-less driving through the streets warning people of the possibility of a tsunami with a loud speaker. Firetrucks in our town warn us each night to turn off our gas. During earthquakes we are also supposed to turn off our gas to prevent fire outbreak. As they were driving through the streets he suddenly realized the tsunami was going to overtake the truck even though they were back from the water front. They jumped out of their truck and started running at full speed. The water reached them but still they fought their way forward eventually freeing themselves from it's clutches. Meanwhile Mr. Fireman's wife and small son were in an 8 floor apartment building at the water front. Steel and cement buildings had their lower floors blasted out of them but managed to keep standing unless plowed over by another floating building or ship. From the upper floor the mother and son could see the huge ocean liner, "Asian Symphony", bouncing on the water until the ropes broke. Kamaishi port is in a narrow bay. The huge ocean liner headed for the comparatively small apartment building. The little boy was terrified but the the next wave took it in the opposite direction but no it headed back toward them! At last as the waters receded it came to rest totally out of the water on the wharf just a few meters from a washed out house. The little boy and his Mom were safe but he still suffers nightmares. Meanwhile the boat owners of the liner refuse to take responsibility to have it cut to pieces to remove it. Larger than life it sits on the sinking wharf. With earthquakes shaking the coastline continually the land has sunk as much as a meter in some places and the streets fill with water during high tide...
Mr. Fireman 2 was off duty at home on March 11. His wife was on duty as a nurse at the Kamaishi hospital. His son was in nursery school. Months before they had their house of a lifetime built for 350,000 dollars. After the earthquake he managed to get out of his house and up on the flat roof of a cement government building. The water raised to within a meter of the roof top. A couple of other people had gotten up to the roof top as well. Water was trapped behind the seawall and could not flow back into the sea for a couple of days. Their they were stuck on top of the roof. They could see across to others stuck on roof tops. Mr. Fireman's wife was being worked off her feet at the hospital with injured people and figured if her husband was alive he would come find her at the hospital. After two days he was rescued by helicopter and taken to the hospital. In their case insurance covers half of their house but they still have to pay 120,000 for a house they don't have. His car was also swept away. They have each other and their jobs much more than many people...
Mr. Fireman 3 had recently been through a drill of what to do in a tsunami. Their squad was down by the water practicing closing the sea wall water gate. After closing the gate during drill the fireman looked out to sea. The sergeant spent the next hour screaming at the men that you don't take time to look because it will cost you your life. You do what you gotta do and run! March 11th came and they did what they had to do and ran without looking back. They lived! I keep thinking of the story of Lot's family in the old testament. The angel told them not to look back. Many people got away from the first wave but were killed in the second because they went back to check on things.
Such crazy crazy stories! Truly miraculous-so miraculous that those who have lived them wonder "Why?!!" "Why am I alive-there must be some reason I am left here... what is it?" Having seen literally thousands of mutilated cars and buildings,twisted steel beams mountains of rubble, uprooted trees ramrodded into things,massive cement sea walls toppled over, massive buildings totally gutted, train tracks ripped up and twisted, charred remains of cars- boats -buildings, along with slimy mud and sand, it seems impossible that anyone could live through it once caught in the water but God did give thousands of people a miraculous deliverance.
Mr. U could hear the sirens blaring and the loudspeakers saying a big tsunami is coming. Many people debated running because often the tsunami warnings result in a barely noticeable rise in the water. Not every town announced it the same but for one town adding the word 'big' saved lives. Mr. U's wife became restless waiting for him (he was trying to save 10 years of research work on a USB stick). Mrs.U called up the stairs,"I'm leaving first. Don't forget to bring the dog". She left the house only to discover the tsunami soon to be upon her. She ran to the steel stairs that go up over the road with the water coming up to her knees as she climbed them, Although she was now above the water that was rushing in, the overhead walkway would sway one direction, and as it started to go back to sea it swayed the other direction, and with the next tsunami it swayed in again-back and forth with each successive wave. Meanwhile she looked towards her house with her husband still in it. The tsunami lifted it off the foundation and moved it 300 meters without it falling over. Mr. U was still in the second floor floating towards other houses realizing it could crumble at any moment and fires were breaking out all around him. He looked for other options. Nearby was a steel framed house with a second floor veranda that he decided to try to get to. He tucked the dog under his arm and grabbed onto the hard plastic sleeve covering an overhead wire. As he dangled from the wire he wiggled his weight so that he could inch across the wire to the other house's second floor. He got inside as the next tsunami hit and the water rose higher than the first. As water flooded the second floor he climbed up on the highest thing he could find (still with the dog under his arm) and started pounding on the ceiling with his fist. He takes a moment to show me his knuckles which had begun healing but I could still see where they had split open. He opened a small hole into the attic space and since the water was now up to inches from the ceiling would pull himself and the dog up at intervals for gasps of attic air while still trying to hang on. The floating rubble was burning and people's gas cylinders started exploding around him . By now his wife from her vantage point was sure that if he hadn't drowned he had burned to death. The burning rubble sloshed back and forth-it took awhile for the water to totally recede.Firemen who were on firmer ground looked for people who were close enough for them to rescue from "shore". They rescued Mrs U and whisked her off to a shelter. Soaking wet Mr U was still a bit too far for the firemen to reach. That night after the water had receded he managed to climb to the roof of another building to which the firemen were able to extend a ladder and rescued h.His wife was shocked that he had actually survived and they had a tearful reunion.
Mrs. D escaped with her dog who she tenderly cuddles on her lap or in turn on the table(!). She opens a coffee creamer which her dog enjoys with relish. I wonder whether the dog has an even more special place in her life after surviving with her and comforting when she remembers the terror of her ordeal. She said,"I was born and raised by the sea but I never want to see it again!" She speaks with a sense of deep betrayal. It reminds me of what someone spray painted on the remains of their destroyed house,"Ocean I hate you but house I loved you. Thank you for being such a nice home to us..." Mrs. D proceeds to tell us of her daughter's escape while it pours rain on our Cafe tents. Her daughter worked in a dentist office in Unosumai. Somehow most of the others who worked there managed to get on the roof but she was in the water. Her coworkers managed to reach over and desperately grab to retrieve her-they caught her by the shirt and pulled her onto the roof. They waited for the water to subside but they were missing one of their coworkers. They called and called starting to look in the rubble but had to abandon searching for her because fires started breaking out around them. Soaking wet they picked their way through the slimy rubble and headed for the mountains. They climbed the mountains to head for a shelter. Her daughter got sick. Relatives who still had a house took her in to nurse her back to health. It took her a couple of weeks to get all the sand and mud off her body-out of her ears etc..We are amazed that people are so willing to sit in the rain with us so they can talk with us. Wet story on a wet day but the dampness does not lessen the intensity with which it is told...
Granny and her friend "Me Chan" with sirens blaring headed together for the stairs up the hill side. A shrine up above was a designated "safe" spot. At the bottom of the stairs was a Buddhist temple with a graveyard on the slope behind it. Before they got to the stairs, as they passed the temple the tsunami hit them. Instinctively they held their breaths as they were blasted into the temple in black churning water. As Granny was tumbled over and over under the water she thought,"This is the end! I can't hold my breath any longer!” Just then the water receded. Granny, rather disoriented, looked about to discover herself by the toppled over alter sitting in the black slime. "Me Chan? You there?" "I'm here". Both quite disoriented and with no idea of the magnitude of what had just happened stumbled outside to the back of the temple and into the graveyard. Not steady on their feet but concerned about their muddy condition Granny said,"I really think we need to stop by my sister's place and get some dry clothes." They tottered around to where the stairs were and looked back toward town. Suddenly she realized how absurd what she had just said was. It was no time to go back for clothes-town was gone! They climbed the hillside steps as the earth continued to quake escaping subsequent waves. Granny thought it was the end but has lived to tell her story and we are praying that her next chapter will be about the miracle of meeting Jesus,receiving eternal life. Odds may be crazy with long rooted traditions and so few Christians but against the odds God rescued her in the tsunami longing to see him rescue you her for eternity.
Mr. T had been out to town and back to his home where he lived alone. When he realized the tsunami may come he got in his car to drive away. He lived behind a 6.5 meter seawall which ended up being pitifully lacking in comparison to the 25?meters that came in. Mr. T's car began to float. (The first wave was not the biggest and depending on the location some places before the first wave could pull back the next wave came and pushed the height even higher). He decided to get out of his car and go in his house. he got wet as he abandoned his car. He went in his house and pulled off his wet pants-only to look and see a giant wall of water coming at his house. His house crumpled on top of him and knocked him out. He was covered by the rubble of his house and water but amazingly did not breathe under water though he was knocked out. He came to to discover himself trapped under the water but with a small opening in the rubble above him. As he fought to free himself he took in some black sordid water which made his belly swell. He forced it out of himself so he could pull himself through the small hole in the rubble. Again he threw up the foul water and proceeded to pick his way through the rubble with his broken ribs and bleeding head. He noticed someone else sitting dazed in the rubble. He slapped their face on the way by so they would come to enough to try to escape. It took him a long time to work his way but at last he made it to a neighbors house who lived up the side of the inlet. They peeled his wet clothes off and tried to warm his hands with the remains of warm water from a hot pot. The electricity was gone so they could light no stoves. The roads were covered with rubble so there was no way to get him to a hospital for a few days. The doctors were amazed he did not breathe automatically when he was knocked out and under the water. He is 77. "I lost everything. I traveled the world on a fishing boat before I married and had so many things from the different places. It is all gone. All I have is my memories." As we sit he calls out to others to join us at the cafe. An old time friend says to him,"I heard you are alive! I don't understand how you survived..." Mr. T begins his story again to tell in detail his miraculous story.
Mr. and Mrs. K , who lived near the Kamaishi city office, were in their house when the earthquake happened. With the sound of sirens and warnings blaring Mr. K stepped out into the street to see the situation. At his feet he noticed water running and looked up to see a mass of water and rubble heading his way he stepped back just in time as it pushed by (I think their house was initially protected from the bulldozer effect by a hill that stuck out between them and the sea).But immediately the water level rose.He grabbed onto a floating car and from there was able to get onto the roof of his one story house. His wife was trying to keep afloat. He managed to pull his wife onto the roof with him. Meanwhile the water started depositing cars on the roof with them-one car falling onto Mrs K's foot and breaking some bones in her foot. The house lifted and started floating towards the neighbors house. It got close enough for them to climb from the roof of their house into the second floor veranda. The earthquake had shaken the locks open. Soaking wet and very cold they went in and found their neighbors clothes. Though the first floor was destroyed the second floor was dry. Mr K did not care that the clothes were a plump woman's clothes-they were dry! Wearing their neighbors clothes when the waters receded they picked their way through the rubble to find a shelter.
With a house close to the water in Kamaishi, Mr. Sailor had special responsibility for such a time as this. He was designated to close the water gate on the seawall near his house. As he closed the gate he realized the tsunami was going to go right over the seawall and gate so he started running towards the back of his house. He knew there was a hill with a wire fence at the base of it. He was hoping the water would float him towards the hill. His neighbor came out screaming "Help me! Help me!". Mr. Sailor managed to catch her once and as the water carried them together he tried to tell her there was a wire fence below "Put your feet down". He lost hold of her and she slipped under the water. He pulled her up again."Put your feet down!!" They managed to get their feet on the wire mesh and then up to a pipe at the top of the mesh. They clung to the side of the hill with water up to their armpits and their feet on the pipe until the water subsided. Then they got themselves to the shelter. Martin asked Mrs.Sailor "Weren't you worried?!" "No". Perhaps because her husband is a sailor she figured he would know what to do.
Mr. Fireman 1 was on duty further back from the water but never-the-less driving through the streets warning people of the possibility of a tsunami with a loud speaker. Firetrucks in our town warn us each night to turn off our gas. During earthquakes we are also supposed to turn off our gas to prevent fire outbreak. As they were driving through the streets he suddenly realized the tsunami was going to overtake the truck even though they were back from the water front. They jumped out of their truck and started running at full speed. The water reached them but still they fought their way forward eventually freeing themselves from it's clutches. Meanwhile Mr. Fireman's wife and small son were in an 8 floor apartment building at the water front. Steel and cement buildings had their lower floors blasted out of them but managed to keep standing unless plowed over by another floating building or ship. From the upper floor the mother and son could see the huge ocean liner, "Asian Symphony", bouncing on the water until the ropes broke. Kamaishi port is in a narrow bay. The huge ocean liner headed for the comparatively small apartment building. The little boy was terrified but the the next wave took it in the opposite direction but no it headed back toward them! At last as the waters receded it came to rest totally out of the water on the wharf just a few meters from a washed out house. The little boy and his Mom were safe but he still suffers nightmares. Meanwhile the boat owners of the liner refuse to take responsibility to have it cut to pieces to remove it. Larger than life it sits on the sinking wharf. With earthquakes shaking the coastline continually the land has sunk as much as a meter in some places and the streets fill with water during high tide...
Mr. Fireman 2 was off duty at home on March 11. His wife was on duty as a nurse at the Kamaishi hospital. His son was in nursery school. Months before they had their house of a lifetime built for 350,000 dollars. After the earthquake he managed to get out of his house and up on the flat roof of a cement government building. The water raised to within a meter of the roof top. A couple of other people had gotten up to the roof top as well. Water was trapped behind the seawall and could not flow back into the sea for a couple of days. Their they were stuck on top of the roof. They could see across to others stuck on roof tops. Mr. Fireman's wife was being worked off her feet at the hospital with injured people and figured if her husband was alive he would come find her at the hospital. After two days he was rescued by helicopter and taken to the hospital. In their case insurance covers half of their house but they still have to pay 120,000 for a house they don't have. His car was also swept away. They have each other and their jobs much more than many people...
Mr. Fireman 3 had recently been through a drill of what to do in a tsunami. Their squad was down by the water practicing closing the sea wall water gate. After closing the gate during drill the fireman looked out to sea. The sergeant spent the next hour screaming at the men that you don't take time to look because it will cost you your life. You do what you gotta do and run! March 11th came and they did what they had to do and ran without looking back. They lived! I keep thinking of the story of Lot's family in the old testament. The angel told them not to look back. Many people got away from the first wave but were killed in the second because they went back to check on things.
Martin & Ruth Ghent - Heart Cries from the Disaster Zone
I strongly encourage anyone reading these stories here (republished with permission) to follow my uncle, Martin Ghent, on face book. The stories are recorded by my Aunt Ruth. Luke
August 19, 2011
Others in our team were off setting up two more cafes in front of other temporary housing villages. I strategically located my chair so I could chat with whoever needed a listening ear most. Mr. O has become a regular each week-always wearing his dark glasses. He was a barber who was losing his sight and wondering what to do next when his shop/home was swept away by the tsunami which just added to the questions already forming in his heart. This day in front of two others who came to the cafe he asked me "what gift have you got to give me?". The others wore shock on their faces. "We have been given so much. Maybe we don't have much but everything we've got has been given to us. We need to share everything-I ask for two so I can give to someone who can't get out to get anything or I break what I get in half. We must never think its to be expected that we receive!!" The two thought of a way to excuse themselves because they didn't want to be associated with what they perceived to be a rude request. I knew it was a much deeper question. He proceeded,"I really don't think its about the coffee and cookies-that's not your purpose to be here. You want to give something. What is it? I am just an ordinary man who hasn't studied about God -so tell me straight so that I get it."
Our conversation was intense for a couple hours punctuated by a strong earthquake in the middle to which he commented that God was listening in on us and trying to say something too. His internal wrestling spilled into his words but near the end he took off his glasses and let me see his eyes. His final words before he left were, "I am satisfied". I wondered what satisfied him-honesty and a willingness to listen to the wrestling of his heart which sounded rough and confrontational without judging him for it? What he heard about God? I want him to know God and walk with Him-that is the greatest gift.
After the coversation with Mr O., I was exhausted with my own thoughts churning inside me. There had been others at the cafe and I could not talk to everyone-I tried to slip them books in the midst of my conversation with Mr. O. I am overwhelmed by the openness with which people will talk and feeling challenged by what Mr O saying about people not getting it unless someone lives it out in front of them-how can I live it out in front when we live 4 and a half hours away.Winter is coming and we are responsible for four congregations in Aomori. My heart cries out, "God send someone to help!!!!"
August 20, 2011
The next day we go to Wano. It's a temporary housing village built way up the valley-very green with the mountains and rice fields-but very inconvenient! We have many friends now in Wano. On Tuesday Makiko sent me an email "Mama(she asked me if she can call me that) I'm sad my friend died in the tsunami". I tried to email her unsuccessfully by cell phone so I after I arrive I show her what was written in my unsent file. Over and over people ask us whether we will be there next Saturday. They look forward to it all week. Without some sort of reason they do not leave their tiny rooms because there is nowhere to go and they know everyone else has tiny rooms making it hard to visit each other.
At the cafe a big group of visitors are sitting and talking. Suddenly in response to what someone says, everyone bursts into laughter. "This would never happen in our rooms-there is nothing to laugh about there..." Sometimes everyone talks together other times they break into groups.
Makiko goes back to her room and I look around and see Mrs S. I thank God in my heart for sending her (she is in her 50’s) because I wanted to talk with her. Although she seems to be a very cheerful woman when others are around, when the two of us are alone tears quickly come to her eyes. It's not the fact that they still have to pay the 200,000 dollar loan for the recently completed restoration of their beautiful house. They had just completed the work only to have it bulldozed by the tsunami and burned. She can kind of joke about that but losing her daughter is a much more tender subject. Her daughter worked at the town office. When the earthquake struck everyone ran outside. They started to discuss what to do when they realized the tsunami was coming.They ran inside trying to climb to the top floor because by then it was too late to get to the hills. Not everyone made it up to the top. Her daughter was drowned and washed out the window to sea. Her body came up in May-face gone but the clothes were hers and when they tested it was confirmed. "I've only lost 4 family members-I shouldn't complain". I tell her it isn't about a number, that it's still OK to grieve. Micah's friend lost over 20 relatives. It is shockingly common-not to mention those who lost nearly everyone in their neighborhood. Its one thing to count lost relatives but it is too hard to count how many people they know who have died. The cafe has a side ministry we didn't anticipate. "What?! You're here?!" "Two rows over"."How is your wife?" "She didn't make it..." People find each other. Because of privacy laws the town offices don't give out information of where people are. They are allotted housing by drawing of lots and sometimes end up quite far from anyone they know . People don't have land line phones-they can only find each other by word of mouth. They sit at the cafe and tell who they know made it or who they know died and where they were found dead. We have seen more than one reunion. We also see people tell their friends how they have lost a spouse or child. People trying to form new community with who is left. Two old ladies cling to each other as they walk across the rough gravel to the cafe. They laugh and chat as they come. They tell me the one is 94 and the other 85. They look like they have been friends for years but they only met because they are next door to each other in the temporary housing. Their smiles fade and eyes get teary, "Why did we live?! We should have died and the young people should have lived. I wanted the young people to live long lives..."
While I was talking with Mrs. S I motion with my eyes for one of the Crash Heart Care volunteers to talk to an older lady who was sitting with a man in his thirties. He goes away for awhile so the volunteer massages the hands of the granny and listened to her talk. The man, Mr. C., returns and begins to share his story. After the earthquake he rushed home to make sure his wife and one and a half year old son and his parents got in the car to escape. He tells this with great detail remembering every detail-there is probably not a day since it happened that his mind hasn't gone through every detail. He told them that he would go to find his son who was in sixth grade and make sure that son got to safety. He took such care to get them to safety but the tsunami and fire came. As soon as he could he went in search of his wife's car and found it with the charred bodies of his wife, baby and parents. The cafe day would have been his son's second birthday. He wept openly with too many tears to catch running down his face. The volunteer wept with him and Toby, another volunteer, quietly set tissues beside them. I am often reminded of Jesus' words,"weep with those who weep". Most words would sound so empty in the midst of such grief. She told him Jesus saw his grief and cared about his grief.
Another man comes and goes twice but there is not another person free to hear his story so he quietly receives something to drink and sits looking at the green of the hills with the temporary housing at the foot of them stealing glances at the others sharing their stories and tears. We had even run out of cookies to give him. The cookies are big-the size of a CD. Each are individually packaged with the cafe seal on them. People often sit and look at them for a moment before they eat them or else they save it for someone special because they don't have anything else special to give. "I've never seen a cookie this big!" A granny eating the pie burst into tears and said, "This is the nicest thing I've eaten since the tsunami!" Our desire was not so much to fill an empty stomach but to create a place that brings a sense of love, care, peace, a place it's OK to relax and show their heart. A crazy thot came to me one night. I had about 200 cookies in the back of the car and had had to go to a meeting in Sendai. The next day I was going to take them to the cafe in Iwate. The place I stayed for the night was on a cliff so safe from possible tsunami but where I had to park the car was where the tsunami came. During the night there were several earthquakes. My thot was not what if the car gets washed away but about the cookies. Seeing people who have lost so much enjoy them so much and somehow sense a little of the love of Jesus through them makes me want to make them. Cookies are just a thing we use but really we need more than anything the heart of Jesus expressed in how we serve, through our tears, by what we say, by how we listen, by what we give. God, may they see your heart! And Jesus please give us more people to live you out before them!!!
Others in our team were off setting up two more cafes in front of other temporary housing villages. I strategically located my chair so I could chat with whoever needed a listening ear most. Mr. O has become a regular each week-always wearing his dark glasses. He was a barber who was losing his sight and wondering what to do next when his shop/home was swept away by the tsunami which just added to the questions already forming in his heart. This day in front of two others who came to the cafe he asked me "what gift have you got to give me?". The others wore shock on their faces. "We have been given so much. Maybe we don't have much but everything we've got has been given to us. We need to share everything-I ask for two so I can give to someone who can't get out to get anything or I break what I get in half. We must never think its to be expected that we receive!!" The two thought of a way to excuse themselves because they didn't want to be associated with what they perceived to be a rude request. I knew it was a much deeper question. He proceeded,"I really don't think its about the coffee and cookies-that's not your purpose to be here. You want to give something. What is it? I am just an ordinary man who hasn't studied about God -so tell me straight so that I get it."
Our conversation was intense for a couple hours punctuated by a strong earthquake in the middle to which he commented that God was listening in on us and trying to say something too. His internal wrestling spilled into his words but near the end he took off his glasses and let me see his eyes. His final words before he left were, "I am satisfied". I wondered what satisfied him-honesty and a willingness to listen to the wrestling of his heart which sounded rough and confrontational without judging him for it? What he heard about God? I want him to know God and walk with Him-that is the greatest gift.
After the coversation with Mr O., I was exhausted with my own thoughts churning inside me. There had been others at the cafe and I could not talk to everyone-I tried to slip them books in the midst of my conversation with Mr. O. I am overwhelmed by the openness with which people will talk and feeling challenged by what Mr O saying about people not getting it unless someone lives it out in front of them-how can I live it out in front when we live 4 and a half hours away.Winter is coming and we are responsible for four congregations in Aomori. My heart cries out, "God send someone to help!!!!"
August 20, 2011
The next day we go to Wano. It's a temporary housing village built way up the valley-very green with the mountains and rice fields-but very inconvenient! We have many friends now in Wano. On Tuesday Makiko sent me an email "Mama(she asked me if she can call me that) I'm sad my friend died in the tsunami". I tried to email her unsuccessfully by cell phone so I after I arrive I show her what was written in my unsent file. Over and over people ask us whether we will be there next Saturday. They look forward to it all week. Without some sort of reason they do not leave their tiny rooms because there is nowhere to go and they know everyone else has tiny rooms making it hard to visit each other.
At the cafe a big group of visitors are sitting and talking. Suddenly in response to what someone says, everyone bursts into laughter. "This would never happen in our rooms-there is nothing to laugh about there..." Sometimes everyone talks together other times they break into groups.
Makiko goes back to her room and I look around and see Mrs S. I thank God in my heart for sending her (she is in her 50’s) because I wanted to talk with her. Although she seems to be a very cheerful woman when others are around, when the two of us are alone tears quickly come to her eyes. It's not the fact that they still have to pay the 200,000 dollar loan for the recently completed restoration of their beautiful house. They had just completed the work only to have it bulldozed by the tsunami and burned. She can kind of joke about that but losing her daughter is a much more tender subject. Her daughter worked at the town office. When the earthquake struck everyone ran outside. They started to discuss what to do when they realized the tsunami was coming.They ran inside trying to climb to the top floor because by then it was too late to get to the hills. Not everyone made it up to the top. Her daughter was drowned and washed out the window to sea. Her body came up in May-face gone but the clothes were hers and when they tested it was confirmed. "I've only lost 4 family members-I shouldn't complain". I tell her it isn't about a number, that it's still OK to grieve. Micah's friend lost over 20 relatives. It is shockingly common-not to mention those who lost nearly everyone in their neighborhood. Its one thing to count lost relatives but it is too hard to count how many people they know who have died. The cafe has a side ministry we didn't anticipate. "What?! You're here?!" "Two rows over"."How is your wife?" "She didn't make it..." People find each other. Because of privacy laws the town offices don't give out information of where people are. They are allotted housing by drawing of lots and sometimes end up quite far from anyone they know . People don't have land line phones-they can only find each other by word of mouth. They sit at the cafe and tell who they know made it or who they know died and where they were found dead. We have seen more than one reunion. We also see people tell their friends how they have lost a spouse or child. People trying to form new community with who is left. Two old ladies cling to each other as they walk across the rough gravel to the cafe. They laugh and chat as they come. They tell me the one is 94 and the other 85. They look like they have been friends for years but they only met because they are next door to each other in the temporary housing. Their smiles fade and eyes get teary, "Why did we live?! We should have died and the young people should have lived. I wanted the young people to live long lives..."
While I was talking with Mrs. S I motion with my eyes for one of the Crash Heart Care volunteers to talk to an older lady who was sitting with a man in his thirties. He goes away for awhile so the volunteer massages the hands of the granny and listened to her talk. The man, Mr. C., returns and begins to share his story. After the earthquake he rushed home to make sure his wife and one and a half year old son and his parents got in the car to escape. He tells this with great detail remembering every detail-there is probably not a day since it happened that his mind hasn't gone through every detail. He told them that he would go to find his son who was in sixth grade and make sure that son got to safety. He took such care to get them to safety but the tsunami and fire came. As soon as he could he went in search of his wife's car and found it with the charred bodies of his wife, baby and parents. The cafe day would have been his son's second birthday. He wept openly with too many tears to catch running down his face. The volunteer wept with him and Toby, another volunteer, quietly set tissues beside them. I am often reminded of Jesus' words,"weep with those who weep". Most words would sound so empty in the midst of such grief. She told him Jesus saw his grief and cared about his grief.
Another man comes and goes twice but there is not another person free to hear his story so he quietly receives something to drink and sits looking at the green of the hills with the temporary housing at the foot of them stealing glances at the others sharing their stories and tears. We had even run out of cookies to give him. The cookies are big-the size of a CD. Each are individually packaged with the cafe seal on them. People often sit and look at them for a moment before they eat them or else they save it for someone special because they don't have anything else special to give. "I've never seen a cookie this big!" A granny eating the pie burst into tears and said, "This is the nicest thing I've eaten since the tsunami!" Our desire was not so much to fill an empty stomach but to create a place that brings a sense of love, care, peace, a place it's OK to relax and show their heart. A crazy thot came to me one night. I had about 200 cookies in the back of the car and had had to go to a meeting in Sendai. The next day I was going to take them to the cafe in Iwate. The place I stayed for the night was on a cliff so safe from possible tsunami but where I had to park the car was where the tsunami came. During the night there were several earthquakes. My thot was not what if the car gets washed away but about the cookies. Seeing people who have lost so much enjoy them so much and somehow sense a little of the love of Jesus through them makes me want to make them. Cookies are just a thing we use but really we need more than anything the heart of Jesus expressed in how we serve, through our tears, by what we say, by how we listen, by what we give. God, may they see your heart! And Jesus please give us more people to live you out before them!!!
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Monday, 18 July 2011
Read Latest Post-Tsunami Update by Rod & Glenda Thomas (OMF Missionaries in Sendai))
Click Here to Visit Rod and Glenda Thomas's July 16th update on post-tsunami ministry opportunities.
1. The shop we applied to rent as a preaching point/ relief centre has fallen through when the owner found out that we were going to have bible studies there . . . . [visit their website to read on]
Rod and Glenda Thomas are church-planting in NE Japan in a city called Sendai. This is their blog in the form of letters to their prayer partners.
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Martin & Ruth Ghent - True Heart Cafe 10 July 2011 (Iwate Tsunami Relief)
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| Micah Ghent (Luke's Cousin) Operating the Mobile Cafe in the Early Days (more recently the Mobile Cafe has been drawing increasingly large crowds) |
I could immedediately sense why it is one of Micah's favorite places to set up the cafe. The neighborhood grandpa's bantered away as they tried to figure out how to set up the tents and tables. They called out to anyone who passed on the street come and join us to which people readily obliged. A woman my age and her daughter Aaron's age were soon sitting near me. They had just picked up a few things from the grocery truck which comes around three mornings a week because the grocery store was washed away. She told how recently for the first time since the tsunami she had been able to go to a normal grocery store."I walked around the store in a amazement and thot oh yeah things like this did exist before but I just couldn't buy anything then. I just walked out still awestruck." I asked her where her house is. Oh it is closer to the water than here. For some reason when we saw the tsunami coming we locked our doors and stayed in our house. The windows broke; water and glass poured in. The tatami floor mats started to float so we tried to step on them to hold them down. The water left but then another tsunami came Still we stayed in our house. That night the police came round and we knew if they found us they would try and send us to a shelter so we hid but they found us anyway. We refused to leave because I wanted to be there to wait for my husband. I wanted him to be able to find me.
Fine full story on Martin Ghent's FaceBook page or
Fine full story on Martin Ghent's FaceBook page or
John Elliot - Post-Tsunami Update 9 July 2011
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| John Elliot Leading a Summer Craft Project for Junior High School Students in Iwate Who Lost Their School Building (and so much more) in the Tsunami |
Some people have no job and don't want to leave the shelters as they will get no food. Distribution centers are being shut down, but the personnel are unsure what to do next, as some people are still in need. Obviously, we need to shift to temp housing to find needs.
I went to see the place Kasumi Shimotomai (first recipiant of a table set in Ofunato) got by lottery (preferred way to move peole out by stages). She was happy until she saw how small it was, then phoned me in a panic Thursday night - "There's no place for the kids to sleep!". I went early the next morrning, drew up plans, bought wood and by noon built a bunk bed that fit the space available. She herself is taking a computer course, hoiping to get a job (single mom).
We worked outside, as there is no room inside (2, 4 1/2 mat rooms- only one window, a french door at one side). All the neighbours, just moving in, watched me working and were ready themselves to place orders for shelves, etc. Obviously, if we know one person in a temp housing area, we can soon get to know a lot more! This is what I will do next.
We spent one day teaching 60 Jr High kids to make chairs for their summer craft project. The school coundn't afford a project. I got to give each of them a copy of the Jesus manga! I am to go back in Sept. to help assemble the chairs. This is Kessen HJr. High in Rikuzen Takada.
Micah is doing a mobile cafe, and lots of people want him to come regularly to their temp housing projects. Lots of opportunities.
As some peole recover, others fall behind. Some complaining about unfairness- why do those who lost their houses get free appliances, while those who lost their appliances but not their house (first floor flooded)don't? etc. "The temp houses are too small, they are already getting unlevel, they leak", etc. Long way to go.
John Elliot - Post-Tsunami Blog Updates
Highly Recommended - Click Here to view John Elliot's blog "Jimoto no Gaijin"
(be sure to read all the back-posts . . . there are some great posts dating back to the early days of post-tsunami relief and recovery work)
Who am I? Since 1985,a resident of Ajigasawa, a small town on the west coast of Honshu, Japan- yes, way up there near the top, in Aomori Prefecture. Problem? I've got the wrong face (Canadian Celt). People still give a start when they round the supermarket aisle and see me. So, who am I? Jimoto no Gaijin- the local foreigner.
(be sure to read all the back-posts . . . there are some great posts dating back to the early days of post-tsunami relief and recovery work)
Jimoto no Gaijin
David & Lorna Ferguson (OMF Missionaries) - Post-Tsunami Blog Updates
Click here to read about the Ferguson's recent tsunami relief trip to Iwate.
David and Lorna Ferguson working with OMF International in Sapporo in the northernmost island of Japan. They have worked in Japan since 1998 and are presently living in an area of the city called Hiragishi aiming by God's grace to plant a church here. They have 4 boys who are an invaluable asset to their ministry.
Impressions of Iwate - Day 6
Impressions of Iwate - Day 5
Impressions of Iwate - Day 4
Impressions of Iwate - Day 3
Impressions of Iwate - Day 2
Impressions of Iwate - Day 1
Rod & Glenda Thomas in Sendai - Blog Update 6 July 2011
Click Here to Visit Rod and Glenda Thomas's Blog and read about their most recent post-tsunami ministry opportunities.
Rod and Glenda Thomas are church-planting in NE Japan in a city called Sendai. This is their blog in the form of letters to their prayer partners.
Martin & Ruth Ghent - True Heart Cafe June 8, 2011
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| Ruth Ghent (OMF Missionary, Itayanagi/Luke's Aunt) and Heike Messer (OMF Missionary, Kanagi) e in Post-Tsunami Ministry in Iwate |
Highly Recommended - Follow Martin Ghent on FaceBook
June 8, 2011
My fingers were covered with bread dough as I wound my way through the people, under the tent of the outdoor cafe and into the prefab kitchen. A hose was pulled through a window into the sink. The two grannies welcomed me to use the makeshift sink and try their Japanese pickles. I asked if they were originally from Otsuchi. "Oh yes" they said "just from over there. We both lost our houses Pah! Just like that we lost everything and we are poor. We only have the clothes on our backs."
Download PDF Version or
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
John Elliot's May 19-25 Tsunami Update: Shifts
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| A Hundred Orders and Counting: Paul Van Den Dool, Jacob Witt, and Micah Ghent Delivering (Mass) Home-made Furniture to a Shelter in a Junior High School |
What started as a modest vision to donate home-made desk sets for school children living in shelters has exploded into a major project. Having started out with two helpers, John Elliot (Luke's father) is now equipping groups of people living in shelters to build a variety of furniture he has designed for use in shelters and temporary housing units. In doing so his hope is to give them a little comfort- a chair to ease aching knees, a table to do homework on, and a chance to get together and build something useful.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
John Elliot's May 10-13 Tsunami Update: 3/11 - It's Not Over Yet
Children's Desk Sets Made by John Elliot and Volunteers for Tsunami Victim Shelters
Here is a Prayer Update sent out by Luke's parents a few days ago:
John phoned from Iwate today – very, very happy! He has sixty orders from various shelters for the simple table and chair set he designed while he was back in Aomori.
Harking our Master’s words “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”, we gladly wash dishes, scrub floors, dig mud – and whatever needs to be done. But still, there is a special joy when we can serve God and man with our passions and talents. For John this includes preaching – and woodworking! For Laurie, it’s studying and discussing and so she’s equally glad this week to be back at the University.
Tomorrow our colleague Armin Messer will be preaching in Ajigasawa in the morning while John preaches at the church in Iwate where he was helping last month. In the evening, at the English Fellowship in Hirosaki we’re planning a special program (pray) and in place of John’s usual sermon Laurie will be giving a short talk.
Praise
· for God opening doors for John in Iwate· for a good beginning for Laurie this semester at the University
Pray
· for provision of materials for the desk sets· for new (international) students to “find” us – we’ve hung a poster, but there’s nothing like a friend’s invitation!
John & Laurie Elliot
View the Full Report
Monday, 16 May 2011
Supplementary Material to Ottawa's Heart4Asia Presentation: "Japan Earthquake: How Should We Respond" (Click "Read More" for Full Text of Slide Presentation)
OMF Kanto/Tohoku Earthquake from Mike McGinty on Vimeo.
Please Also Feel Free to Contact Us Directly
The following websites are a good place to start in finding information on:
- How to Pray
- How to Give
- How to Volunteer (Short Term Opportunities)
CRASH Japan - Love on Japan 2011
OMF International - Japan Field
If you are interested in joining a short-term mission trip for relief work in Japan, try:
CRASH Japan's volunteer FAQ page (you can find a link to their online application form at the top of their homepage)
SEND Canada - Check out SEND Canada's "Help Wanted" section at the bottom left hand side of their home page (or if you don't live in Canada, try SEND International Missions' homepage for your own country)
If you would like to read earthquake/tsunami relief and recovery reports from our OMF missionaries in the field try:
For my uncle, Martin Ghent's updates, visit His FaceBook Page
A blog of Prayer Partner Letters posted by our missionaries in Sendai
For my father, John Elliot's reports, browse through his site (you can click on "2011 tsunami" under "Labels" on the right sidebar)
Also, be sure to browse through the OMF Japan Field's Earthquake and Tsumami page
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Link to the Independent's Article "Their country may be shattered, but their spirit is unbroke"
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| Kiyoi Oikawa, 74, draws water from a well near her ruined home in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture AFP/GETTY IMAGES |
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/their-country-may-be-shattered-but-their-spirit-is-unbroken-2266936.htmlThe closing paragraph is worth reading even if you don't follow the above link:
Above all, what will stay with me after these communities are rebuilt, the Fukushima plant is encased in its concrete coffin and the iodine, caesium and plutonium has stopped seeping from its bowels, is the way Japanese people carried themselves during this crisis. I'm thinking now of the smiles I saw around Iwate, of the many old people and children in the prefecture who shoved food into my hands and told ME to keep going. I think these qualities are social, not genetic, built up over generations, and possibly stronger in the northeast where life has traditionally been harsher. But whatever the reason, it works. And I'm staying.So true . . . and yet, at the same time, this is a nation where, every year, over 30,000 people take their own life. That is more than the total number of dead and missing in the recent earthquake/tsunami disaster. Join with us in praying that the good news of salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ will go forth with power in these regions and that, by God's grace, many will be born again to a living hope.
1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.2Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah 4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God . . . .
Psalm 46 (English Standard Version)
God Is Our Fortress
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Martin Ghent Info - Tsunami Aftermath in Iwate, Japan - Update from April 8
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| Luke's Uncle Martin and Aunt Ruth Mae Ghent (OMF Missionaries) Delivering Supplies in the Disaster Zone |
Updated Prayer Request from 12 April 2011
We discovered that many of the shelters have no kitchens so they cannot cook hot food and people have been eating cold rice balls 3 times a day. We are trying to figure out how to help set up kitchens so that people in the shelters can cook for themselves. Right now the city is delivering 10000 rice balls 3 times a day. So many things to think about. Long term we want to contribute in a way that will lead to churches that will remain but we need to respond to some short term needs . . . .
. . . . . Todays main request is for land that can be used to set up 2 tents in each of the 4 places that we would like to focus on short and long term. Thanks for praying, Martin and Ruth MaeOriginal Post:
Please pray for Martin Ghent as he searches for facilities that will be suitable as a long-term relief base camp for OMF's relief work in the northern half of the disaster zone. He has already tried an empty restaurant (which had already been rented out the day before) and a little factory (which had also already been rented out the day before). At last report he was still awaiting word on a Farmer's Co-op building. He has continued the search this week.
Please also pray for wisdom as he discusses plans for future work with the mission.
The following is an exert from the prayer update sent out by Luke's Aunt Ruth Mae Ghent following the largest after-shock since March 11th. It gives an idea of how the earthquakes have been affecting life for OMF missionaries in Aomori Prefecture bordering the northern edge of the disaster area.
Our electricty was gone again-no connection to the outside world. While Martin was driving the world went black again-the cities and roads dark. But he made it home safely. This morning our grocery store decided to operate anyway so a clerk greets each customer at the door and walks with them through the dark aisles and writes down each item. It too is a somewhat eerie atmosphere but it's one of those things we just have to get used to in our new life since 3/11.
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