Countdown to Caroling

We fly from Seattle to Tokyo in less than a week.

Between now and then, we've got some countdown items to take care of...
   10. Today through departure: finalize remaining team responsibilities and itinerary details (as much as possible);
   9. Today: try to kick a sore throat and cold that's grabbed me - yuck!
   8. Thursday: try to find some final costume items, esp. Christmas vests for the guys;
   7. Friday: print off some info cards for people who would like to join our support team;
   6. Saturday: take care of extra house chores since I'll be gone for a couple weekends;
   5. Sunday morning:  our sending church will introduce and pray for us in 4 morning services;
   4. Sunday evening: our first official Caroling time - we only have 4 members of the full 7-singer group, but somehow we'll manage a complete SATB arrangement for the songs.
   3. Monday morning: double check banking, passport, international driver's license, flights, etc.
   2. Monday afternoon: pack my suitcase, plus an extra check-on bag with bonnets and top hats and costumes for the 3 team-members already in Japan;
   1. Tuesday: all get together at 9 AM in Bellevue for van ride to SeaTac airport, and departure.
   0. Tuesday afternoon: "This is Delta flight 295 bound for Tokyo, Japan..."


PS (on 1/5/12): Here's a photo of the 4 of us singing on 12/4 Sunday evening.  Great start!

Bev, Rachel, Cheri, and Mark (l-r) caroling for the first time - for a mesmerized audience!

Christmas Caroling in Ishinomaki ??

Renewed hope is one of most urgent needs for the survivors of the tsunami.  And one of the most powerful sources of hope is music, especially songs of joy, cheer, and love.

So here comes the Dickens Christmas Carolers.  This won't be any ordinary caroling group.  Of course, we'll be singing the traditional carols (and a few contemporary favorites too) so we can sing almost anywhere: the open air, shopping malls, hospitals, schools, you name it.  But because the carols are full of the true meaning of Christmas, we'll have the opportunity to talk about the Gospel, and build new relationships among the audience with the local churches and missionaries.

We're putting together a 7-member ensemble from Westminster Chapel, plus our former staff member and good friend, Mika Takana who lives in Sendai.  We'll dress up in Victorian-era clothes (thanks to Marsha Stueckle and the Evergreen Family Theatre) and sing acappella carols all over Ishinomaki.

Our partners and hosts are Andy and Lorna Gilbert, who we connected with on the June trip to the tsunami area.  They are working hard to put the details together for our time there.

Meanwhile, the members here are raising support, rehearsing music, and preparing to travel to Japan.  Check back soon for more about the members of the team.

Tokyo-Seattle; 6/21

David, Izo, Sylvia, and Masumi at Kawagoe Station

This is the day that happens twice.  When you fly across the Pacific from Tokyo to Seattle, you cross the dateline.  So get this: we left the Suzuki's apartment this morning at 9:30 AM, travelled 3 hours to Narita Airport, had 3.5 hours for check-in, lunch, money exchange, etc., then flew 8.5 hours and arrived in Seattle at 8:40 AM the same day, 50 minutes before we left the apartment.  Anyone singing "The Twilight Zone" theme song?

Izo and Masumi Suzuki were wonderful hosts, and staying with them has restored our energy and spirits as we return home.  We're grateful for their hospitality!  

The flight back to Seattle was uneventful - nice! - and it was great to arrive in a sunny Seattle with blue skies and Mt Rainier greeting us.  We'll have several days of jet-lag to deal with, finalizing the trip budget accounting, and following up on contacts and connections we made in Tohoku.  Also have to remember to drive in the right-side lane…

The three phases of disaster response are Rescue (measured in days & weeks), Relief (measured in months), and Recovery (measured in years).  On this trip, we often found ourselves at the pivot point from Relief to Recovery.  Some places, especially in the Watanoha section of Ishinomaki, still look like the tsunami happened last week: debris and mangled cars are all mushed up alongside rubble-filled houses.   Many other places, such as parts of Onagawa, have cleared the debris and the land is ready for reconstruction.  In other areas scattered around the disaster area, rebuilding has already begun.  How long it will take to completely recover is a guess - I'd say 4 or 5 years in most places, but yesterday in Ikebukuro I talked to a lady from Onagawa who thought her town would need up to 10 years to recover.

Yet as we talked about measuring the success of our trip, we realized that much of the meaning of this trip has less to do with the tangibles of buildings and food, though we did plenty of that kind of work, and more to do with the intangibles of providing hope, lifting spirits, and establishing friendships.

A local train and rice fields in Tohoku

Throughout the this trip, I kept noticing rice fields in various stages: some just being planted, some with just little seedlings, some with a month's growth.  It encouraged me to realize that the seasons of life are happening in Japan, and also are occurring in Tohoku. It will take time and much, much work, but I'm optimistic that the seeds are being planted for recovery, not only in buildings and civic infrastructure, but also in people's hearts and lives.  We're praying that hope will grow fast, and that true Hope will find root and bring life to many.

Ishinomaki-Sendai-Tokyo; 6/18, 19, 20

These are the countdown days to wrap up our time here and prepare to return to Seattle.  

On Saturday 6/18, we spent the morning cleaning up the Guest House and doing laundry.  After we leave on Sunday, another team is arriving for a week of work in Ishinomaki with the Gilberts.  We wanted to do our part as well as prepare the place for the next group.  It's been nice to stay here and a good place to be restored each evening after working in the disaster areas.

Guest House - we've been staying on the first floor.

Shichigahama beach with shipping containers still waiting to be removed.

That afternoon, we went to Ishinomaki to have a special meeting with Aoyama Sensei about some ongoing English outreach opportunities.  The first event is next Monday 6/20, but since we won't be here, we're passing the torch to Amy Newsome.  So she was at the meeting to meet Aoyama Sensei and they hit it off well.  Lorna Gilbert was also there because she'll be the ongoing connection for these opportunities.  Aoyama Sensei also invited his sister to attend - she's an English teacher and speaks it well.  Fun to get everyone together and enjoy planning ahead.

Aoyama Sensei (blue shirt) telling a funny story.

Sunday 6/19 we said farewell to Shichigahama and drove with Andy & Lorna into Sendai for a morning church service at a well-established church (a rather rare situation for Japan).  Seems like that church will be a good resource and encouragement for the Gilberts in the coming months and years.  They drove us into downtown Sendai where we had lunch together, did a team debrief with them, and then said farewell.  They are a great couple and we think the world of them: great attitudes, well trained, 15 year veterans of Japan outreach, and strong convictions to transplant their lives from smooth-running Fukuoka to the chaos and challenges of Ishinomaki.  Looking forward to continuing connections with these wonderful people! 

In Sendai with Andy & Lorna Gilbert, Sylvia, Mark, David

Sylvia waiting to board the approaching bullet-train.

We hopped on a Bullet-train at 3:30 PM and "flew" from Sendai to Tokyo in just 2.5 hours (the van on the expressway took over 6 hours).  We took a local train and then a taxi to the apartment of close friends of Sylvia who live out in the western edge of Tokyo just beyond where we used to live.  We're staying with them for 2 nights - feels like coming home to be out here again. 

Monday 6/20 is our final full day in Tokyo.  We planned this day for decompression and debriefing, as well as a bit of sightseeing and shopping.  It turns out that we remaining 3 (David, Sylvia, and me) all felt comfortable going different directions to see and do different things.  Sylvia enjoyed hooking up with half a dozen friends throughout the day, David went with our host to nearby Kawagoe to see it's ancient buildings and museum, then spent the afternoon journaling, and I took advantage of a free pass to take the bullet-train up to Karuizawa (a mountain resort town where we often went for conferences and camps when we lived in Tokyo), and then back to Tokyo - actually the Ikebukuro area where our office used to be.  Fun to be in all these places.  

Looking north from Sunshine 60 in Ikebukuro

At lunch in Karuizawa, I happened to chat with the server about our work up in Ishinomaki, and how we gave away 2 bicycles.  He offered to give a bunch of bikes for the same purpose!  Turns out his dad owns a bike rental store and has too many bikes.  So this would be an amazing opportunity, and I connected him with the Gilberts and the partnership team.

We three gathered for a final supper in Japan and talked through our trip.  We've had some incredible experiences, some big challenges, and are deeply grateful to be part of the relief and recovery process here.

Ishinomaki and More - 6/15, 16, 17

The days are starting to blur.  Here's a quick summary and a few photos.

Wednesday 6/15 - Our team made 2 small teams today.  Sylvia and David went with Gilberts to help a missionary from Osaka, Chad Huddleston.  He and his team of volunteers have been working here since just days after the disaster and they are making good connections in the Watanoha area of Ishinomaki.  His team was renovating a house, then hosting a supper BBQ to give away fresh, hot food to neighbors whose morale was lifted before our eyes.  

The sign says "Welcome to Onagawa".

Meanwhile, Mike & I did video work in Shichigahama, Ishinomaki, and Onagawa. Mike videoed the devastated beach communities in Shichigahama, then we drove to Watanoha and got shots of Sylvia, David, the Gilberts, and Chad & team doing the house renovation.  At 1:00 PM we taped an interview with Rob Lehne, an English teacher in the Onagawa public schools who rescued school-children during the tsunami, and showed us some stunning photos of the area from the day afterwards (see below). 

Rob's friend took this photo during the tsunami in Onagawa.

Rob's photo of the same valley a day or two later.

Rob's photo of the main Onagawa valley days after the tsunami - comparing this to ours is really stunning. 

Next, we drove back to Ishinomaki to tape an interview with our new friends, Mr & Mrs Saito, who told about his seafood transportation business being destroyed and how she nearly drowned but her leg was miraculously freed and she escaped.

We all joined together to serve at the BBQ and enjoyed connecting with the survivors of the disaster, and sharing life with them.

BBQ for the neighborhood

Kiwako-san lived 54 years in this house; she worked daily to clean up.

Thursday 6/16 - Mike's time here ends today, so Sylvia and I went with him on the train to Sendai station, and helped him get on the 10 AM bullet-train to Tokyo, where he made connections for another train to Narita airport and his flight back to Seattle.  All went well, and crossing the dateline, he arrived home about the same time he was boarding the bullet-train here.  Wild, huh?

Mike on the Bullet-train ready to depart Sendai for Tokyo.

Sylvia and I had arranged to meet up with Mika and Hidemasa, and enjoyed a good talk and delicious lunch in Sendai.  We got back to the Guest House mid-afternoon and hooked up with David who had chosen to stay to do a prayer walk and help local teams do beach clean-up. We took the rest of day for catching up on bookkeeping, laundry, etc.

Oishii desu ne!

Friday 6/17 - In the morning, we met Amy Newsome and her 14 member international team from Nagoya, Japan, to pow-wow about English classes. She is part of the partnership with TouchGlobal, and will be doing some English language outreach next week after we leave.  David had prepared and brought some English materials for our team because of the possibly that we would do the English outreach.  But schedules readjusted, so Amy is going to start the classes, and the plan is for successive teams to continue.  

David shows the English materials to T.G. Lewis and Amy

In the afternoon, we worked with Amy and her team who are also partnering with Samaritan's Purse to clean houses in the Koganehama neighborhood of Ishinomaki.  Because the tsunami completely flooded the first floor of all these houses, all interior walls and floors have to be removed, and the crawl space cleaned, then everything is bleached.  Once that much is done, foam is placed in the floor ready for carpenters to replace the floor and walls. The owner of one of these houses told us that in this small neighborhood alone 58 people died.  How sad.

David removing wall board in the "tokonoma" area of a house.

Sylvia doing sweep up work.

Mark, David, and Sylvia shoveling debris from the crawl space.

At a nearly completed clean-up, Steven of Samaritan's Purse chats with Sylvia (behind the doorpost), David, and Amy.

A group blessing-prayer for the house owner, Tanaka-san, the man on the far right in light-tan pants.

BTW, the masks we wear are because of dust and asbestos problems, but also because of the smell: a horrible combination of rotting fish, sewage, and the stench of death.  We were told that another human body was found earlier in the morning just around the corner by crews cleaning out the piles of debris.

We have some deep discussions on our drives back and forth, and some very welcome showers once we return to the Guest House.

Ishinomaki & Onagawa - 6/13 & 14

Thought maybe a photo essay would be helpful this time...

David, Mike, & Sylvia learn the layout of Ishinomaki from Masahiro Takata,  co-leader of the Ishinomaki outreach.

Onagawa clean up - the two cars are gone from the roofs.

Mike and Sylvia chatting with Masami who lost his parents in the tsunami.

Mark & Sylvia, Hiro & Masami, Mike, and Andy & Lorna Gilbert (leaders of Ishinomaki outreach).

Memorial flowers at Onagawa

Masahiro explaining about English classes at the school.

Meeting Aoyama Sensei, the English Department head for Onagawa schools.

Aoyama Sensei showing the new temporary library for the kids who survived the disaster.

Sylvia, Andy, and Mike with an Army captain at the relief supplies area in Onagawa.  His white and red patch was an exchange with a US Army soldier on "Operation Tomodachi".

"Hang in there, Onagawa!" in the Tohoku dialect on a bumper sticker.

Surveying a possible building to renovate for a community center.  It used to be a dentist office.

Mr & Mrs Saito in front of their home in Ishinomaki - the downstairs is completely ruined, so they will have to tear the whole thing down.  He is a brother to Sylvia's friend, Shizuko Sensei.

Sylvia translates to David as Mrs Saito tells how she was at home when the tsunami hit, and her foot got trapped as the water was rising.  She was completely underwater when somehow her foot was freed and she climbed up to the 2nd floor and safety. 

The Saito's neighborhood in Ishinomaki.  They pointed out 3 homes on all sides of them where occupants died.

In front of Mr Saito's seafood transportation business.  This location is 100 meters from the shoreline, and he lost 20+ of his 47 delivery trucks, but all his employees are safe.

Standing on the beach embankment where the tsunami came from - the ocean is just yard behind the camera.

Mike surveys the neighborhood.  Ironically, the sign has instructions of where to go in case of a tsunami.

Saito-san's office and transportation yard.  The high-water mark is one foot below the upper joint of the post on the left,  just above the top of this warehouse opening.

The Saitos treated us to some of the best sushi in Japan.

Yummm!

 

Tokyo-Chiba-Sendai 6/10-12: Sylvia's Update

Hi from Sylvia. Mark asked if I'd like to blog this time, so here goes.

Friday night 6/10, we went to downtown Sapporo to see the Yosakoi out-door dance competition. This amazing dance phenomena is like a half-time show in a football game in the US, but the music style is a fusion of traditional Japanese folk dance with modern hip-hop, and done by teams of about 50 - 100 young adults dressed in traditional Japanese clothes. 

Mark, Mike and I flew from Hokkaido back to Tokyo around noon Saturday 6/11 and met up with our 4th team member, David Wyatt, who flew from Seattle to Narita. Then we met up with 2 leaders from the TouchGlobal / PC-USA disaster relief team partnership that we'll be working with this next week. We drove 30 minutes from Narita to a Very, Very Old, Mildewy small Japanese house that appears to have been empty (un-lived-in) for a long time in the middle of nowhere's-ville Chiba just for overnight. I was worried (unnecessarily) cockroaches would be scurrying over us…

Today, Sunday 6/12, we drove 6 hours up to the Sendai area, and have arrived at the Takayama Guest House in the Shichigahama area. It's been 3 months since the disaster, and it's so appalling. Mark says much of this area looks cleaned up, but it sure looks to me that LOTS of work has to be done. This evening we'll meet up with the Gilberts, the missionary family who is moving into the Ishinomaki area and our primary contact family here. 

Really looking forward to getting started on our relief and recovery work tomorrow!