6/29: Saturday - Ishinomaki and Onagawa

This is Saturday, and that means the highlight of the week: Takidashi!  

Slept long, and it really helped to recuperate from jet lag.  After breakfast, we connected with the rest of the team, and headed over to the place where the community has been gathering every Saturday for over 2 years, and where our relief teams have helped the Gilberts do "takidashi" on each of our visits.  

Takidashi is the Japanese term for distribution of relief supplies.  In the first weeks after the disaster, food, water, and supplies were given out every day.  But as the supply of basics improved, the need evolved for clothing, heaters, gloves, bicycles, etc.  So the ministry teams did their best to gather those items and give them out once a week on Saturday.  Andy saw the desperation of the survivors on two levels: needing more supplies than were available and needing a boost to morale.  His solution was bingo games.  The game gave everyone an equal chance for supplies (winners take their choice of an item), plus it lifted spirits and allowed neighbors to forget their near-insurmountable problems for a while.  They added free coffee and lunch, plus live music from visiting musicians.  Our Dickens Christmas Carolers group sang at a takidashi time, and our other teams have participated in serving when we visit.  

Site of previous takidashi events

Site of current takidashi events - wow.

Andy leading the bingo game

Under the B... #8

Almost ready to win...

Happy crowd

The relationship building at these times is amazing, and it's a privilege to participate.  Gordon is an excellent guitarist, so he and Sylvia and I prepared some fun folk songs to sing for - and with - the people.  We came up with a crazy name - The Uncle Sam Spontaneous Sing Along Singers! - brought some sparkle hats to draw attention, and created the opportunity for enjoyment.  The songs intentionally are not super spiritual, and the performances are far from perfect.  But that's not the point; the strategy is designed as an opportunity to invite the people to release their fears, tension, and problems, and let their souls be free for a while.  And you should see their faces and sense their joy.  It's amazing.  

Lorna joined us for Twist & Shout

This Train was a big hit too

Mike getting video of the event for Gilberts

He's a pro, and doing a great job!

 As you can see, Mike has been doing a terrific job on a series of videos for the Gilberts and their team.  It'll be fun to see how it all turns out.

Afterwards, we cleaned up, stored all the bingo and coffee stuff, and headed out to a small neighborhood in Onagawa for an outreach to kids and an opportunity to connect with adults via a free coffee and conversation time. This turned out to be a little disappointing: only a few kids showed up, and only a few adults came for coffee.  Afterwards we were trying to figure out what the causes were and realized that particular neighborhood is more reluctant to welcome outsiders, plus they had lots of other activities going on that day too.  But we also realized it was good to be there to build trust and let the community know we here to help and serve.

Coffee time tent; kids event in the building just behind here

Sylvia is a wonderful connection point

During this same time, Gordon had gone with Jonathan to do an English class at a small coffee shop.  They had several kids show up, and Gordon said he had a great time connecting with the kids.

On the way home, we picked up obento suppers and went to a weekly joint Praise and Prayer event with lots of the community workers.  Among the many songs we sang, an amazing song called "Still" (by Reuben Morgan) makes a powerful connection here with it's lyrics, "..when the oceans rise, and thunders roar.."  Here's a link to a YouTube video with his song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXywFuTf65I

Long day, but a good one. Oyasumi nasai.