John Elliot's Report - Tsunami Relief in Iwate - 30 March 2011

Last night, a group of people showed up with a refrigerator for the Tono house. They also had a 45 gallon drum of fuel. In my semi-aware state of fatigue, I understood it was kerosene to be delivered to Ofunato. I assumed it was for the shelters. They assumed I knew what I was doing. Bad news.

John Elliot's Report - Tsunami Relief in Iwate - 29 March 2011

. . . how do we process what we’ve seen?  

While I was attacking the mud today 4 Junior High girls walked down the street. They too were looking for people to help (theoretically: I must admit, it looked a lot like 4 girls walking down the street having a good time). They spotted me, stopped in their tracks, and yelled “Gaijin!” (Foreigner! - not very PC, but, you get used to it).

This was a window of opportunity. I addressed them in English, and they just couldn’t resist coming closer for a look. The upshot was that, 2 minutes later they were washing down the parking lot. They worked very happily, asking how to say this and that in English. They seemed very carefree and lighthearted. We sat down to take a break, and I asked, “How are you doing? Are your houses okay?

The boldest, most talkative one piped up; ”Nope, my house is gone. I’m in a shelter.”

The other one decided to try English; ”My car - go river.”

Another added, “We don’t know where our car is”.

“Some of our classmates lost their parents.” One said, calmly.

Another added, “Yeah, and there was that school where the parents all went in the car to get their kids, got in a traffic jam, and died when the ripple came.”

“Did you hear the story of the boy in Omoto who went into town as soon as class was over to get chocolate for his girlfriend, and got caught in the ripple?” (They were calling the tsunami a rippuru, Japanese pronunciation for ripple.)

I was getting a bit uncomfortable. It was as though they were talking about something they saw on TV, not something that had devastated their town 2 weeks before. These were 13 and 14 year old girls. The break ended, and they went back to work, chattering and joking as before. Iwate people are famous for their stoicism, but I think this must be something else.

John Elliot's Report - Tsunami Relief in Iwate - 28 March 2011

Country towns rise early: TONO’s chime goes off at 6:00. I got up and had devotions, started my sermon for next week, grabbed some breakfast, and set out with Karen Ellrick, one half of the Tono house team. The Ellricks have no wheels, so Karen needed a ride for shopping. I needed a whole lot of drywall. We asked about drywall and insulation for the Ofunato Church at the information center near the station. We were directed to a building supplier who had what I needed. Half of the total amount was all the truck would carry; I will have to get the rest tomorrow. Karen shopped for household goods at the nearby 100 yen store, and I bought a huge amount of office supplies for the OFUNATO City Office. They are running on paper rather than computers these days, and were running short.

INTO THE MUD - FINALLY

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Having spent the night in Morioka Bible Baptist Church with the OMF team from Sapporo (Mike and Rowena McGinty, Dieter Schmidt, Sam , Pascal, Chai), we set Wednesday morning for KAMAISHI. There had been snow in the night, and the scenery was wonderful - until we reached downtown Kamaishi!

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John Elliot - Tsunami Aftermath in Iwate, Japan - Divine Appointments - 22 March 2011

Yesterday we returned to MIYAKO. The town was bustling. There was a palpable energy as the locals cleared trash and mud. The dazed look of the week before was gone.

Miyako Streets Under Control

OTSUCHI is a very different story. With its low population (16,000, of whom probably 10,000 are missing), and all of the town leaders drowned, it has been one of the last to get attention from the overstretched emergency services. All of their local services were destroyed.

Kyodan Church

We then went on to KAMAISHI  –  hammered almost as hard as Otsuchi. As the other churches were okay, we went to the Kyodan Church, deep in the affected area. We had to get out and walk. Kamaishi is tagging way behind Miyako, as the destruction covers more of the town. As we approached the church, we were amazed to see Pastor Ishikawa, from the Hirosaki Kyodan Church, standing at the front door! He was there to help, and introduced us to the local leader, Pastor Yanagiya. This man wants our help. We can set up a soup kitchen there, and help the neighbors. We can stay overnight on the second floor, above the watermark, so we don’t have to go all the way back out. This is a great opportunity or the team to show God’s love. 

Inside Kyodan Church

Then we moved on to the really pressing matter of finding housing for teams arriving soon. One of the Morioka pastors found a house in the town of TONO. It is a small city in the hills, 40-50 minutes from the 2 towns we want to work in. Tono is far enough from the affected area that life is nearly normal. It has now been rented for 6 months, for ongoing use by CRASH.  The bonus: the owner runs a gas station! No more fuel worries (the situation is beginning to ease a bit).

Divine appointments!

We have an appointment to meet a truck from Aomori at the emergency center we visited yesterday.

Please pray on. God is at work.

John Elliot

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John Elliot - Tsunami Aftermath in Iwate, Japan - Photos - 21 March 2011

Tsunami Damage Along the Iwate Coastline

"Who will clean up this colossal mess?"

Please pray for the team of six OMF missionaries travelling down from Hokkaido to help in these devastated areas.  They will be running a soup kitchen out of a local church.  Pray for wisdom in interacting with the authorities and with the local population that is suffering both post-traumatic stress and ongoing trauma.  Please pray for wisdom in understanding and in implementing the most helpful and meaningful courses of action.

Please also pray for continuing strength and energy for the OMF missionaries based in Aomori and Sendai who have already been labouring in the area for over a week.

John Elliot - Tsunami Aftermath in Iwate, Japan - Back to the Seaside - 21 March 2011

View Tsunami Survey - March 2011 in a larger map

Blue Pins Represent Home Bases and Springboards;

Red Pins Represent Cities Surveyed by John & Martin

Click on the pins for place names and photos
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Our gentle Shepherd asks us to pour out our hearts to Him, not because we are mighty in prayer, but because we are weak and feel our failure. Complaints are okay (read the Psalms), requests are okay - any request - God will adjust the answer to the need. You don`t need to try to pray the right thing - just do it. ’I will lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of Heaven and earth.’

The destruction we witnessed last week shocked us. Today, we visited towns south of the points we saw last week, with 2 pastors and an elder from Morioka. Soon teams will be coming - volunteers from Japan and abroad. Coming with supplies; coming to help. Where will they stay? Have they really brought enough food and fuel? Can we get them to the people who need help?

We are getting closer to answers, but they had better firm up tomorrow! Tomorrow we go back in; tomorrow we sharpen our focus a bit more; tomorrow we had better get some answers. Please pray.

And, please take this as it is; my personal observations, in this limited area, as of today. I don`t usually go for tear-jerker writing, but today I am moved. Today, I am astounded.

Who will clean up this colossal mess?

John Elliot

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