Ofunato: The Harvest is Plentiful

Our team arrived in Ofunato on Monday evening. Since then, we helped Stephen Bay, a missionary called to Ofunato, move into his new apartment and visited 5 kasetsu, or temporary housing units. 

Ofunato is beautiful. Green mountains crowned with rolling fog and mist envelope one side of the city, while the sparkling bay dotted with oyster buoys and ships complete the scenic panorama. 

The bay, which once sparked terror, also provides the region's livelihood. The skeletal remains of buildings serve as an eerie and sad reminder of the tragedy that occurred. Much of the city remains unrestored. Many of the kasetsu residents are unable to return home because the land where their homes existed is now below sea level. 

The question which has been heavy on my mind has been, what goes on in their minds as they must rebuild after each devastation? What hope do they cling to? Is that hope enough to sustain them in such prolonged and great devastation of both physical and emotional proportions? 

Today, I shared about my hope in Jesus and his peace which transcends my understanding in the midst of my pain and discomfort. I sensed a connection being forged. They seemed interested in my story, and simply overjoyed and grateful at our presence. 

The people on the frontline here say the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. As more than 2 years have passed, many volunteers and organizations are phasing out, but the people here are becoming more open to the gospel, something almost unheard of in Japan. I hear stories of unbelievers' supernatural encounters with Jesus and know the time is now. God has not forgotten Japan in his great plan of redemption, and neither should we. 

J Lodge

This past week the team got to spend a lot of time in Tokyo. It was definitely a new experience for me! We learned a lot about life in Japan.

One of the things we got to do was leave the city and go to the Yokohama area. We were going to visit a JEMs ministry called J Lodge. J Lodge is a cafe that is located on a street heavy with foot traffic from the local college to the train station. They exist to create an environment for people to hang out and to interact with the customers and build relationships.

The couple running J Lodge are David and Yuka. David was there to help kick things off with the customers. There were a couple girls playing cards, a guy sitting at the counter, and a guy working behind the cashier.

Steph and I went to go meet with the girls. It was a bit awkward at first because they spoke little English and we spoke little Japanese. But then Mark came around and gave us a set of HIGH (How I Got Here) cards. These cards were created to be used as a tool to tell your story. When we laid them out for the girls to use, they opened up and through broken communication we were able to hear a bit about them.

It was through my conversation with them that I learned that the guy who was working, Takashi, also makes desserts and they said it was really yummy. After we played a few card games, we separated to meet with others so I talked with Takashi. It was very neat to hear about his passion for baking and for making coffee. He also has an amazing story (one that will have to be shared later!) but the one thing that was very affirming to me is his dream to become a better barista and open his own cafe in his hometown in Kyushu. We both want to use our love for food to love on others. It was nice to meet someone with a similar dream as mine :)

Many other great things happened that night that I hope the team gets to share later on! 

Noise of Silence.

On Saturday the team decided to spend some quality time shopping, a self-proclaimed “last night on the town” before we left Tokyo and moved up north to Ofunato for this coming week. After a pretty successful haul from Uniqlo the guys decided to take a personal trip to Akihabara, or otherwise known as “electric town.” As the name implies Akihabara is home to every electronic known to man and every component needed to build those electronics. 
  
We were expecting to see a light show that would shame New York Times Square, but no. To preface we did arrive at 8:30pm a time which many stores close at so that may explain the lack of illumination. Although, to our luck there were still a handful of stores that closed at nine, giving us a solid half an hour to venture the dim lit alleyways. 
  
But.
  
The more we walked around Akihabara the heavier my heart felt, to a point were I found myself in a state of overwhelmed sadness. Bewildered, I began to wonder, eyes darted left and right searching as if a billboard held the answer to my predicament. Then as I cleared my mind it hit me. It wasn’t a sudden flash of insight rather it a subtle resurfacing thought once locked away in the far corner of my mind. This may be a mere opinion of someone who’s been in Japan for barely a week but in this “noise” I speak as a veteran, for I too have spent a lifetime running and trying to drown out the noises of “loneliness.”
  
Japan fears loneliness. 
  
It was in this state of sadness that my eyes began to see past the façade and the “noise” that Japan was hiding in. Lit stores to draw you in, electronics to distract you, pachinko casinos that numb your senses, and arcades to help you forget the world you live in. But the places that pain me the most were the maid cafes. Young girls, someone’s daughter, were dressing up, getting all dolled up to flirt and spoon feed a stranger willing to pay.
  
We watched as old businessmen stumbled in and out of these cafes, maids lined the streets tugging and cooing any man that passes by. What a sad industry; but when there is no god, why not.  

Silence is a scary thing. How lonely do you think these men are to stumble into these cafés? Dreading the silence of their own homes they come to be masters for a night. Why do you think Japan has such a huge presence in the entertainment industry. An industry that thrives on people who seek to live in a different reality, to be entertained by a world of fantasy.

Upon arriving in Japan I wondered why Japan was known to have such high suicide rates, but after today I’m beginning to see why.
   

In the end these may just be thoughts, but they're giving me a bigger heart for those that seek false asylum amongst the noises of Japan.

Instagram Hashtag : #trexjapan2013

The team has been posting some fun pictures on "Instagram" and you can search up all our pictures under the hastag "trexjapan2013"

Have fun!

Presence.

A struggle of mine for awhile, and that comes up with every missions trip, is being useful. How am I able to be useful and bless our hosts? How can I bless the people that I'm serving?

It's really hard for me to discern what I can do to bless others. I've been realizing  on this trip, there's nothing much I can do. I don't have any special talents, I'm not the most fluent in Japanese, and I can't offer anything spectacular to them. Yet, through meeting new friends and reuniting with old, God is teaching me the most valuable thing I can offer to them is my presence. Being present with people, listening to their stories, and getting to know them better can far outdo any sort of talent I can offer.

Simply by hanging out with friends who have been living here and hearing their insights have revealed to me a lot about what's going on in Japan, more than if I were to just send money over without truly understanding the people and God's heart for them.

This morning, I planned on going to the park nearby to do devotionals, only to find it raining profusely outside. God reminded me of Proverbs 19:21, and I feel like it's fitting for this trip. :)

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."

Beauty

If there's one thing that has certainly held true about Japan, it's the observation that everything moves so quickly. People are rushing to trains or scurrying down escalators, all while staring down at their phones or catching a few z's during their commute back home. Everything is fast-paced and it's difficult to keep up.

Back home, I always find myself just doing life as it comes and not paying attention to the beauty around me. Sometimes it takes a trip somewhere to open my eyes to see the wonderful things God has created on this earth, otherwise, I'm stuck thinking about the "next thing" while driving alone in my car (This is partly why I love public transportation, but that's another story for another day).

Yesterday was our first day going out and about in Japan, eating, exploring, and observing. I still felt like everyone was in a hurry but when I finally tried to look beyond that, I found people looking for something and that something turns out to be beauty. Last night after going to Odaiba with Stephen, Soo and the kids to see a gigantic, 3-ish story Gundam statue, we sat and watched the sunset near a bridge. It was so nice after a long day to just sit and enjoy something so beautiful on a Monday; a day that would normally be a work day and I would find myself just eating dinner and sleeping early to prepare for the next day. As we sat and watched, I noticed that people started to gather to watch as well. Maybe it wasn't as big of a deal as I was making it, but to see people start showing up to watch the sunset, to point at it with huge smiles and taking pictures, to see the joy on their faces as they observed the beauty in their own lives, was an incredible experience. 

We all agree that the people in Japan are looking for something. Let's give them something to fall in love with. 

More to come! Thank you for your support.

#nofilter

Jet lagged!

Up bright and early!