Dear Family and Friends,
This will be my final blog from Japan. Thank you for taking this journey with Molly, Josh and me. We have so appreciated everyone's help and prayers and encouragement as we have made this journey.
Yesterday we had a fantastic last work day at the Masu house! Our supervisor, Dean, was able to stay with our group the entire day for the final intensive push to complete this house. Dean pulled the whole Avocado Team from the other house to the Masu house and was able to recruit another team of 6 Californians to assist us, so we had 18 for the final effort. It was a bit crowded, but WE DID IT! We were able to finish all of the mudding and final clean-up. We power-washed the house and sprayed the entire site down with bleach. The "bleach sprayers" were followed by an army of workers with buckets of bleach and scrub brushes who scrubbed down every inch of wood-work with bleach. After sitting for and hour (the house not us...we moved all of the many tools and supplies back to storage) we again power-washed to remove the bleach and then wiped the good wood-work (window frames and door frames, etc) off so it wouldn't be stained. The only thing not completely finished was the small toilet closet. It still needs all of the paneling ripped out and a little clean-up.
We finished all of the work before 5:00 PM, but it took us another full hour to leave. Mr and Mrs Masu, and the neighbors who brought us snacks and drinks for the entire 2 weeks, had many good-byes to make. There was a lot of hand-shaking and hugging! Mr Masu and I exchanged business cards (which is a social norm in Japan) and they asked if my family would please come back to see them when their house was completely finished. It was hard to say good-bye!
When we returned (very late) to Camp Morigo, we were treated to a speech from a Japanese Senator who has worked with Samaritan's Purse. He profusely thanked Samaritan's Purse for blessing his country and asked us to stay for another 20 years. He said that he hoped many of his country-men would become "Japanese Samaritans"! Amen to that!
Our entire team ended a hard work week with a trip to the onsen (bath-house). Several had gone to the onsen for the previous two nights, but it was my first experience. Very relaxing! The water is hot, very hot, way too hot, "you have got to be kidding" hot, or ice-cold. You spend your time cycling between different areas which also include a sauna (way too hot) and a steam room ("you have got to be kidding" hot). Some places you spend mere moments (I could bear the ice-water for all of 90 seconds but Josh could sit in it for 20 minutes) and some places you almost fell asleep as they relaxed you. If you did need to fall asleep, they also had a sleeping hut where you could stretch out on a heated floor and rest. After over an hour in the onsen, we all had ice cream and headed back to Morigo, tired but very content.
And that is the end of our time in Ishinomaki.
Today we will do some touristy stuff and return to Tokyo. Tomorrow, the Cheese Team will board a train (ALONE) for Narito Airport and begin the long trip back to Wisconsin. We will never forget Samaritan's Purse, the Masus, the friends we have made, or the Japanese people. We feel so blessed to have been so richly provided for and allowed to serve the Kingdom. We will continue to pray for the Japanese people and ask that you continue to pray too.
God bless!
As always, we love you all.
Pastor Gary
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
T -1 Day
Dear Friends and Family,
Today is our last day at the Masu house. I am both glad to be heading home and sad to be saying good-bye to Japan. I will try to write one more time tomorrow morning to let everyone know how far (if we completed) we get on the Masu house before we head back to Tokyo.
Yesterday was another intense day. We were so blessed to have help for one more day from the Brazilian Team. They chased us all day...as we ripped up the floors and pulled the nails, they were right behind us brushing everything clean, picking up the mess, and mudding out the foundation. As Josh said, we have pretty well removed all of the flooring and still need to mud out what was the hallways and the bathroom area. We also need to remove the paneling from around the toilet area (we kept that for the very end because it is the only working bathroom for both of our teams). We accomplished a tremendous amount yesterday!
Today, Dean (our supervisor) is moving the remainder of the Avocado Team to the Masu house. They are kind of disappointed because their house was further along at the beginning and could have been finished if they had been given a couple of extra hands for a day or two and now they won't see their house complete. The reason for Dean's decision is the Masu house is next on the carpenters' schedule and needs to be completed before the other house. The carpenters began to move to the house immediately next door to the Masu's yesterday and it takes 1-2 weeks to complete a house and then they will restore the Masu house. We still may not finish the Masu house, but we should get it very close so Dean can complete it next week with another Team (and then they can quickly complete the Avocado Team house).
Samaritan's Purse (the organization that we are working with) is working one more month and then leaving Japan. They have been here since 3/11 and have literally restored hundreds of houses. Dean is with Lutheran Services and is a long-term missionary, so he won't leave and will continue to team up with other organizations to help more people. Converge (our group...aka BGC) also has long-term missionaries in Japan and will continue to look for volunteer short-term missionaries, but it will be more expensive because Samaritan's Purse was providing housing, food, and many of the supplies needed. Pray that those still needing help won't be forgotten but will see the overwhelming love and grace of God through His people.
God bless. Thank you for your continued prayers and for taking the time to read these blogs.
Love you all!
Pastor Gary
Today is our last day at the Masu house. I am both glad to be heading home and sad to be saying good-bye to Japan. I will try to write one more time tomorrow morning to let everyone know how far (if we completed) we get on the Masu house before we head back to Tokyo.
Yesterday was another intense day. We were so blessed to have help for one more day from the Brazilian Team. They chased us all day...as we ripped up the floors and pulled the nails, they were right behind us brushing everything clean, picking up the mess, and mudding out the foundation. As Josh said, we have pretty well removed all of the flooring and still need to mud out what was the hallways and the bathroom area. We also need to remove the paneling from around the toilet area (we kept that for the very end because it is the only working bathroom for both of our teams). We accomplished a tremendous amount yesterday!
Today, Dean (our supervisor) is moving the remainder of the Avocado Team to the Masu house. They are kind of disappointed because their house was further along at the beginning and could have been finished if they had been given a couple of extra hands for a day or two and now they won't see their house complete. The reason for Dean's decision is the Masu house is next on the carpenters' schedule and needs to be completed before the other house. The carpenters began to move to the house immediately next door to the Masu's yesterday and it takes 1-2 weeks to complete a house and then they will restore the Masu house. We still may not finish the Masu house, but we should get it very close so Dean can complete it next week with another Team (and then they can quickly complete the Avocado Team house).
Samaritan's Purse (the organization that we are working with) is working one more month and then leaving Japan. They have been here since 3/11 and have literally restored hundreds of houses. Dean is with Lutheran Services and is a long-term missionary, so he won't leave and will continue to team up with other organizations to help more people. Converge (our group...aka BGC) also has long-term missionaries in Japan and will continue to look for volunteer short-term missionaries, but it will be more expensive because Samaritan's Purse was providing housing, food, and many of the supplies needed. Pray that those still needing help won't be forgotten but will see the overwhelming love and grace of God through His people.
God bless. Thank you for your continued prayers and for taking the time to read these blogs.
Love you all!
Pastor Gary
Last Day of Work/Onsen
It is amazing how our little group has taken apart the Masu's house. I hope that someone has taken pictures of it when we walked in, because the difference even today, with one day left, is astounding. Ripping out or cleaning everything that was exposed to the 8 foot or so tsunami floods is a daunting task for one house... let alone the countless number hit by the tsunami. However, with only 4-5 people working for 9 days, as well as a few days of help from additional groups, the house is almost completely 'mudded out'. It hasn't all been easy work, that's for sure. We have all been grateful that the weather has been below mid-80's for our stay, although we haven't been able to escape the humidity. Except for the toilet room, all of the walls have been knocked out and almost all of the floors are pulled up. The majority of the house has been mudded out, meaning that contaminated mud pushed under the house by the tsunami has been dug out. Once all of that has been completed, we will pressure wash and bleach to clean the frame of the house (I believe... we haven't gotten that far yet!). At that point, our job will be done and the carpenters will be able to take over! The closer we get to that goal, the better.
As mentioned in the previous post, Molly and I went with a group to an onsen, or public bath house, especially around a hot spring. It was a rather interesting experience that probably will never become popular in America because of the differences in cultures. The onsen we went to had about 10 different pools/rooms, about 8 pools and two rooms. The pools were either hot or cold, and several had massage jets in them. There was also a steam room and a sauna, each which were so hot that it was difficult to be in for more that a few minutes. To an American, the pretense of the onsen may seem strange: a bunch of naked guys (there were separate facilities by gender) sitting around in hot tubs. It was a little uncomfortable first, but once you get used to it a little bit, it was incredibly relaxing. The one that we went to had about half of the pools outdoors, which was nice to be able to get out of the stuffy air inside. 7 of our group went last night, and for the majority of us, it was our first time. Unfortunately, we stayed up rather late because we left after dinner, getting back at around 11. A group also went to an onsen tonight, but several people who went last night stayed behind to get some sleep. The current plan is to go again tomorrow night, as it will be our last night at the camp and we won't have to work the next morning. I have really enjoyed that on this trip we have had opportunities to do some crazy things, like onsens and sushi.
Please keep us in prayer today, as it is our last work day tomorrow (tomorrow for us). We hope to completely finish the Masu's house... but we still have a fair amount of work left. Pray for safety and energy for us. Also, keep praying that the Masu's would continue opening up to the Word (Mrs. Masu brought home a copy of the New Testament from the concert!). Thank you to everyone who has supported us and made this possible.
As mentioned in the previous post, Molly and I went with a group to an onsen, or public bath house, especially around a hot spring. It was a rather interesting experience that probably will never become popular in America because of the differences in cultures. The onsen we went to had about 10 different pools/rooms, about 8 pools and two rooms. The pools were either hot or cold, and several had massage jets in them. There was also a steam room and a sauna, each which were so hot that it was difficult to be in for more that a few minutes. To an American, the pretense of the onsen may seem strange: a bunch of naked guys (there were separate facilities by gender) sitting around in hot tubs. It was a little uncomfortable first, but once you get used to it a little bit, it was incredibly relaxing. The one that we went to had about half of the pools outdoors, which was nice to be able to get out of the stuffy air inside. 7 of our group went last night, and for the majority of us, it was our first time. Unfortunately, we stayed up rather late because we left after dinner, getting back at around 11. A group also went to an onsen tonight, but several people who went last night stayed behind to get some sleep. The current plan is to go again tomorrow night, as it will be our last night at the camp and we won't have to work the next morning. I have really enjoyed that on this trip we have had opportunities to do some crazy things, like onsens and sushi.
Please keep us in prayer today, as it is our last work day tomorrow (tomorrow for us). We hope to completely finish the Masu's house... but we still have a fair amount of work left. Pray for safety and energy for us. Also, keep praying that the Masu's would continue opening up to the Word (Mrs. Masu brought home a copy of the New Testament from the concert!). Thank you to everyone who has supported us and made this possible.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
T -2 Days
Dear Family and Friends,
We are reaching the end of our time in Ishinomaki. We have today (Wednesday) and tomorrow and then Friday we return to Tokyo. The Cheese Team flies home Saturday afternoon and the Avocado Team leaves Sunday night.
We got a huge boost from the team from Brazil yesterday! They worked on the mudding out while we continued to do the final "above ground" details. We still have a little floor to cut out and odd jobs like ripping out the bathroom (saving till last because it is the only working bathroom on the job site) and some closets. Molly has been a trouper! She has spent uncounted hours pulling nails out of everything we give her. She has had a little help here and there to get on top of the pile, but she has been relentless. Josh has pried up floorboards and pulled nails in the joists while keeping the Brazilian Team a place to work at mudding. The Brazilians got ~ 1/2 of the mudding finished yesterday. We still hope to finish the house tomorrow and with one more day of help from the Brazilians, we should be close.
I think everyone is getting weary. I know I am! Last night most of the team went to a Japanese Bath House for a good soak in hot and cold waters. I decided at the last minute not to go because they were going to be back late and if I don't get enough rest, my back hurts too much to work. I regretted my decision as soon as they were gone because the soak sounded so good. No one has gotten out of bed yet today, so I don't know how they enjoyed the experience. Maybe I can get Josh to write about that later.
I asked Mrs Masu if she enjoyed the Asiah Concert Saturday and she smiled and said she picked up the CD of Asiah! Praise God! Mrs Masu seems to enjoy that we pray with her at the beginning and end of every work day. Keep praying that her heart opens to receiving Christ.
It has been a joy to be here and we have worked very hard. But I admit I am anxious to return home and see all of our loved ones. Keep praying that we work hard and stay safe and reflect Christ in all we do.
I love you all.
Pastor Gary
We are reaching the end of our time in Ishinomaki. We have today (Wednesday) and tomorrow and then Friday we return to Tokyo. The Cheese Team flies home Saturday afternoon and the Avocado Team leaves Sunday night.
We got a huge boost from the team from Brazil yesterday! They worked on the mudding out while we continued to do the final "above ground" details. We still have a little floor to cut out and odd jobs like ripping out the bathroom (saving till last because it is the only working bathroom on the job site) and some closets. Molly has been a trouper! She has spent uncounted hours pulling nails out of everything we give her. She has had a little help here and there to get on top of the pile, but she has been relentless. Josh has pried up floorboards and pulled nails in the joists while keeping the Brazilian Team a place to work at mudding. The Brazilians got ~ 1/2 of the mudding finished yesterday. We still hope to finish the house tomorrow and with one more day of help from the Brazilians, we should be close.
I think everyone is getting weary. I know I am! Last night most of the team went to a Japanese Bath House for a good soak in hot and cold waters. I decided at the last minute not to go because they were going to be back late and if I don't get enough rest, my back hurts too much to work. I regretted my decision as soon as they were gone because the soak sounded so good. No one has gotten out of bed yet today, so I don't know how they enjoyed the experience. Maybe I can get Josh to write about that later.
I asked Mrs Masu if she enjoyed the Asiah Concert Saturday and she smiled and said she picked up the CD of Asiah! Praise God! Mrs Masu seems to enjoy that we pray with her at the beginning and end of every work day. Keep praying that her heart opens to receiving Christ.
It has been a joy to be here and we have worked very hard. But I admit I am anxious to return home and see all of our loved ones. Keep praying that we work hard and stay safe and reflect Christ in all we do.
I love you all.
Pastor Gary
Monday, July 23, 2012
Week 2 Begins
Dear Family and Friends,
It is Tuesday morning and we are getting ready to head to Ishinomaki for another day of work. Yesterday everyone seemed a little weak and tired. One of our Avocado Team was not feeling well and we ended our day a bit early. Our house is ready to start mudding out (a job I'm personally dreading!). But we do have hope today! A team from Brazil will be joining us today and we are hoping they get us back on track. We should be close to finishing both houses before we are done (Thursday is our last day of work so we can travel back to Tokyo Friday).
Please pray for energy and encouragement for the team. We worked very hard the first week and then really didn't get to rest at all over the weekend and we are feeling somewhat exhausted now. Being done early yesterday did help. Pray also that God continues to protect my back (it has been very good so far) and keeps everyone safe.
We love you all.
Pastor Gary
It is Tuesday morning and we are getting ready to head to Ishinomaki for another day of work. Yesterday everyone seemed a little weak and tired. One of our Avocado Team was not feeling well and we ended our day a bit early. Our house is ready to start mudding out (a job I'm personally dreading!). But we do have hope today! A team from Brazil will be joining us today and we are hoping they get us back on track. We should be close to finishing both houses before we are done (Thursday is our last day of work so we can travel back to Tokyo Friday).
Please pray for energy and encouragement for the team. We worked very hard the first week and then really didn't get to rest at all over the weekend and we are feeling somewhat exhausted now. Being done early yesterday did help. Pray also that God continues to protect my back (it has been very good so far) and keeps everyone safe.
We love you all.
Pastor Gary
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Weekend in Japan
Dear Friends and Family,
It is early Monday morning and we are getting ready for week 2. We will work 4 more days on the Masu house and the drive back to Tokyo on Friday. We are hoping to finish the Masu house so the carpenters can begin restoring it soon. Today we will probably start digging out the muck and sludge underneath the house from the tsunami.
We had a busy weekend! Saturday we left Camp Morigo at 8:30 AM and drove back to Ishinomaki to set up for the Asiah concert. It took us most of the morning to set up the tents and chairs and picnic tables, etc. We went to McDonald's for lunch (you know...it was nice to eat familiar tasting food even if it was Mickey D's!). After lunch, we listened to the concert and then socialized (as well as we could) and served shaved ice (they put condensed milk on the ice with the flavoring...it is really good!!). We had a good turnout and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. After everyone was gone, we packed everything up. By then, it was dinner time, so we stopped for sushi. We have committed ourselves to try everything put in front of us, so we have eaten some interesting things like squid, octopus, sea urchin (not good), sea weed, and whale. We were tired by the time we got home.
There was no rest for us on Sunday either. We were on the road by 8:30 AM to head to a house church in Ishinomaki. With our group, there may have been 25 people there for church. The guest preacher was Portuguese and he had a Scottish/Japanese man translating for us. Throw in Americans and you have quite an International Church. The Church was very friendly and threw us a wonderful lunch after service. It was 1:30 or 2:00 PM before we moved on. From Ishinomaki we traveled north to Mimamisaruki to see some of the most devastated of cities. Mimamisaruki sits in a valley which pushed the tsunami wave into a smaller channel and consequently caused it to be much higher and more devastating (it swept over 3 story buildings sweeping away everyone that thought they were safe on the roofs). The destruction defies description! We have a picture of a train engine (the whole train car) that was swept down the street. Cars are piled up in massive piles. Buildings no longer exist. There was a radio station where a woman stayed at the microphone pleading with people to evacuate...she was killed and has become a local hero. There are memorials to her at the ruins of the building and bus loads of tourists come to pay respects and take pictures. They have also set up a pre-fab mini-mall where we stopped for awhile (I ate whale and chocolate cake). From there, we drove south along the coast passing through destroyed town after destroyed town. It became numbing after awhile. We ended the day at the Aeon Mall in Ishinomaki where we ate at the food court (much classier than our typical mall food court). Josh and I had ramen noodles and pot-stickers (much better than our ramen noodle packets). Watching the cooks make the meal was fascinating. We got home at 10:00 PM and I crashed.
Please continue to pray for us as we roll up our sleeves and get back to work on the Masu house!
We love you all.
Pastor Gary
It is early Monday morning and we are getting ready for week 2. We will work 4 more days on the Masu house and the drive back to Tokyo on Friday. We are hoping to finish the Masu house so the carpenters can begin restoring it soon. Today we will probably start digging out the muck and sludge underneath the house from the tsunami.
We had a busy weekend! Saturday we left Camp Morigo at 8:30 AM and drove back to Ishinomaki to set up for the Asiah concert. It took us most of the morning to set up the tents and chairs and picnic tables, etc. We went to McDonald's for lunch (you know...it was nice to eat familiar tasting food even if it was Mickey D's!). After lunch, we listened to the concert and then socialized (as well as we could) and served shaved ice (they put condensed milk on the ice with the flavoring...it is really good!!). We had a good turnout and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. After everyone was gone, we packed everything up. By then, it was dinner time, so we stopped for sushi. We have committed ourselves to try everything put in front of us, so we have eaten some interesting things like squid, octopus, sea urchin (not good), sea weed, and whale. We were tired by the time we got home.
There was no rest for us on Sunday either. We were on the road by 8:30 AM to head to a house church in Ishinomaki. With our group, there may have been 25 people there for church. The guest preacher was Portuguese and he had a Scottish/Japanese man translating for us. Throw in Americans and you have quite an International Church. The Church was very friendly and threw us a wonderful lunch after service. It was 1:30 or 2:00 PM before we moved on. From Ishinomaki we traveled north to Mimamisaruki to see some of the most devastated of cities. Mimamisaruki sits in a valley which pushed the tsunami wave into a smaller channel and consequently caused it to be much higher and more devastating (it swept over 3 story buildings sweeping away everyone that thought they were safe on the roofs). The destruction defies description! We have a picture of a train engine (the whole train car) that was swept down the street. Cars are piled up in massive piles. Buildings no longer exist. There was a radio station where a woman stayed at the microphone pleading with people to evacuate...she was killed and has become a local hero. There are memorials to her at the ruins of the building and bus loads of tourists come to pay respects and take pictures. They have also set up a pre-fab mini-mall where we stopped for awhile (I ate whale and chocolate cake). From there, we drove south along the coast passing through destroyed town after destroyed town. It became numbing after awhile. We ended the day at the Aeon Mall in Ishinomaki where we ate at the food court (much classier than our typical mall food court). Josh and I had ramen noodles and pot-stickers (much better than our ramen noodle packets). Watching the cooks make the meal was fascinating. We got home at 10:00 PM and I crashed.
Please continue to pray for us as we roll up our sleeves and get back to work on the Masu house!
We love you all.
Pastor Gary
Saturday, July 21, 2012
(Almost) 1 week
We have been in Japan for (almost) one week! I can hardly believe it... the time has gone by really fast. Today was a nice change of pace for us; instead of ripping out walls and flooring, we set up for a free concert in Ishinomaki. It was held in a empty lot that the landlord graciously let us use (it was originally a parking lot). It only took a few hours to clear out some weeds, then set up a ton of tents and chairs. We had been worried about rain, but it held off; although it was cloudy, the weather was perfect for the concert. The singer was Asiah (pronounced more like Ajya... hard to write), and sang several beautiful songs and also shared some of her testimony. It was all in Japanese, but between Gil translating and talking with her after the show, we got to hear some of it as well. At the end of the concert we served shaved ice, and had a lot of fun after everyone had gotten a bowl by mixing flavors and stacking the ice rather high. We got some great pictures of all of it! Gil, our translator and experienced missionary, had to leave after the concert and we were all very sad to see him leave. Anyway, we then went out to eat at 'Kappo Sushi'- a sushi-serving restaurant chain with mythical turtle-like mascots. It was very similar to the first restaurant we went to, on Monday. Today I tried seaweed rolls with nato (fermented soybeans), sea urchin, and fish eggs. All of it was alright (not my favorite), except for the sea urchin which I found waaaaaaaay too salty. We got back to the base about 7:30. I always find it funny to think how my day is opposite of everyone in the States- I'm eating breakfast late in the evening, and having dinner before anyone wakes up stateside. All in all, the people have been super friendly, the food has been both familiar and incredibly strange (I had a Big Mac from McDonald's and fermented soybean sushi in the same day!), and I have just had a lot of fun. Pray for those who went to the concert today that they would be open to more information about Christianity (some appeared to be), for safe travels for Gil and for our next week of work.
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