Dear Prayer Partners
This one is a bit longer than usual. On 11th March God gave Japan a tap with his little finger to wake it up. These are momentous times and it is an immense privilege to be here. We returned from SA and UK on 26th Feb and were staying at Takayama, a holiday place for missionaries by the sea at Shichigahama in Miyagi Ken. 10 years ago we bought one of these old wooden cabins from our mission, OMF International, because they couldn't afford the maintenance, and each holiday period we would come here with our family. (Today we were due to move to a flat near the church in Sendai, but can't contact the estate agent). There is devastation on both sides of the hill and it seems that we are in the eye of the storm. We have had great opportunities to help people, show sympathy and at the same time tell the gospel and give out tracts. Please pray that we will be faithful as we try to make the most of the opportunities we have each day and that the seed sown will bear fruit in fertile soil. We have no water, electricity, phone, or internet but we have gas and plenty of wood for the fire so we are warm and cozy and there is no need to worry about our welfare. We have been running on adrenalin. Thank you for all the messages of concern. On Sunday after church I was able to download all my 600 emails as the area around there is almost back to normal. I enclose my abridged diary for the events since 11 Mar. Since the tsunami, we have heard only the radio news and while we are aware that this is not a local event we havent seen the TV news so you will all know more about the big picture than we do. All the Sendai church people are fine though some have moved to different parts of the country. One man lost his car to the tsunami as did we but the church and member's houses suffered no major damage. The past 2 weeks we cancelled mid-week meetings because we had so few attend on Sunday 13th and I wanted to concentrate on ministry here.
Anyway please keep us, this ministry at Shichigahama and the Sendai church in prayer (that they will all live out their faith at this time especially),
God bless
Rod & Glenda
PS A word about support and sending relief
We are unable to receive goods to distribute from overseas. If you wish to donate, please refer here.
http://rodthomas.drivehq.com/mission/Donate.html
Let us never forget that Japan's main need is still to hear and respond to the gospel, the same as before the quake. I believe that is why God sent it. So let us cooperate with that purpose and do our part to evangelise this country.
PPS For photos see here.
http://rodthomas.drivehq.com/mission/Tsunami_2011.html
Some of these links might not be operational yet as they take so long to upload so please come back in a few days.
Tsunami Diary
The earthquake struck at 1448 on Friday, I was down at the car park about to load some tools into the car. Early that morning I had spoken at the Miyagi Gakuin service to 1100 boys and done an English class in the church and was looking forward to fixing the Takayama gate.
There was a roar and rumble and the pheasants squawked and the dogs barked as always at the beginning of a quake. The car started to bounce up and down and the trees swayed and rocked violently. I ran back up to the cabin which was like running along the deck of a rolling ship. Glenda was outside looking up at our cabin as it swayed back and forth. After about 4 minutes it stopped and we went inside to see bookshelves and tape shelves had toppled over etc, but no serious damage. We made the fire safe and rushed to the cliff to see the tsunami that had been predicted over the loud speakers that are dotted along the coast. We saw small boats fleeing the harbour and a tanker trying to head for deep water. After 30 min nothing had come and visibility was worse now because it had started to snow. So we went inside and started to clear up. After 10mins we heard screaming. A huge tsunami had hit. We ran down to the car park and saw a mass of grey water rushing in, there was a smell of HS and a terrible noise of crunching buildings. The car park is about 7m above SL and our green Subaru car was floating around in over 1m of water. (News reports said that Sendai harbour had been hit with a 10m tsunami). I ran back up to the house to get some ropes to secure the car so it wouldn't be swept away. These took some time to find and by the time I had got back the water was receding from the car park and our car was being carried further into the small ravine that goes down to the sea. I put two ropes onto the front wheel but it was too late. Just then there was a call from across the fence and neighbours Mrs Aikawa and her 77yr old mother were trying to get in. Their ground floor had been flooded and they had taken refuge in their upstairs and they wanted to be let in before the next tsunami came. The gate was blocked with debris and after clearing it, told them to go up to our cabin where Glenda would give them a cup of tea.
Then the 2nd tsunami came with a roar and reached to where our car had been dumped (this one was 5m). That slowly receded. Then I went to the cliff again to look and the seabed was visible for 500m out to sea where there is normally 3-4 m depth of water. Then the 3rd tsunami came. It was small and didn't go over the sea wall. Visibility was better and the sun had come out. Hanabuchiyama (to the east of our hill) was devastated: hardly a house remained where there had been a fish factory, shops and many nice homes. Looking west toward Sendai the skyline looked like a WWII air raid with many fires and columns of black smoke (even the breakwater about 1 km offshore had a burning house that had floated out). Shobutahama (to the west of the hill) was flattened, only foundations remained where houses once stood and the second storeys of houses were sitting disconnected in the roads. Looking out to sea there were many containers bobbing and it seemed that a container ship had lost its load when it was hit by the wave.
It was getting dark and I went back to help Glenda look after our guests. It was very cold and we lit two wood fires. Electricity and water were off and there was no cell phone reception. We lit some candles. Our gas oven however was working. We unpacked the'earthquake kit' which had a small radio and listened to the news. It was an 8.8 quake on the Japanese scale (later upgraded to 9.0) and the wave had hit the whole of the Japanese Pacific coast. We tried to chat to our guests. Mrs Aikawa was ill at ease and seemed hesitant to accept our hospitality. Glenda made a chicken and broccoli pie and put it out along with soup, salad, cake, rice etc but they hardly touched it. Her mother was cheerful and talkative. I found some water we had stored. We put our 2 Japanese guests in the downstairs bedroom and tried to sleep though after-shocks continued throughout the night. Then about 10pm we heard loud reports rumbling like thunder. I got dressed and went out on the hill. The petrol/oil depot connected to the oil refinery about 5km away to west had blown up. Huge flames were leaping up and a column of black smoke ascended'like the smoke from a furnace' (Gen 19). Fortunately there was no wind.
Saturday. We woke up about 0530 and made tea. The Aikawas were up early too and the younger one went down to her house to get her mother's diabetes medicine. We spent the day surveying the devastation and trying to cope with what had happened. We put out buckets to catch the snow melt water to use for washing, washing-up and flushing the toilets. I also tried to contact relatives by phone but no there was reception. We went for a walk along the beach and were stunned by the desolation. We made sure we had firewood and Glenda tidied up. The sky was full of army helicopters and there were many announcements on the loud speakers to stay off the beach. I also tried to prepare my sermon and charged my Macbook by running Glenda's car.
On Sunday we went to church. We left home at 0645. We were appalled at the mess and devastation at Tagajo further inland, usually a busy shopping centre. (We learned later that many people were killed here trying to leave a department store car park). We spent a long time trying to thread our way through upside-down cars covered in seaweed and streets deep in mud, before heading a long way inland and then turning west. We arrived at church about 9am and were relieved to find it undamaged. (Tadamitsu had been in on Saturday and cleared up some broken cups and fallen books). Only about 6 had come by 1030. We started anyway and I spoke on Heb 12:28 on 'God's unshakeable Kingdom'. By the end of the service we were 11, whereas normally we are 35 adults. Glenda had cooked up 2 kgs of mince and we ate that and some took it back to their families. The church had running water but there was no electricity anywhere in Sendai. We decided to cancel the English service. Then we came back to Shichigahama. On the way we were able briefly to get cell phone reception and called Esther in South Africa with a request to tell everyone that we were OK. After that reception was lost. There were long lines of people queueing outside shops and cars outside petrol stations. We arrived back after 2 hours - it normally takes 35 mins. We heard late that night that the tsunami warnings had been lifted.
On Monday we got up early and I went down to help some the people who had started to sift through their belongings and remains of their houses. Gave out some tracts and spoke about the Lord. Most of them were elderly and put a brave face on it and said they were grateful to be alive. Helped an old couple called the Mishimas sort through their devastated house full of broken stuff and found his medicine which he was happy about. Offered a few others help and said they could come and borrow tools. I went off in late morning to try and phone and eventually got through to a few people and had a clear call from California though most of them couldn't hear me. There was a grey atmosphere and a strong smell of burning oil. I stopped at a 7-11 and met an Al-Jezeerah film crew, no doubt telling the Arab world this was the wrath of Allah. The 7-11 guy came out and said they had no more food. In the afternoon went for a walk and spoke to the neighbour of the Mishimas who works for the Town Office, who tells me sadly that he lost his two kayaks, one which he bought for 400,000 yen 3 years ago. Never mind that his house has been smashed by the wave, he is grieving for his sport. I like this guy! I tell him about my surfskis and to come out sometime. Glenda cooks up a huge meal for 5 members of a Dutch film crew.
Tuesday. Go to the International Centre. Our freezer is defrosting so deliver meat to old Mr Endo in makeshift shelter (and later our green tent) and to the main person in the International Centre (which is now an evacuation refuge looking after those made homeless).
There is a lot of worry about atomic dust from the Fukushima Power plant which later turns out to be exaggerated. Walk with Glenda around Yoshidahama - terrible destruction with boats on top of houses etc. Chat to a few people and hand out tracts. Put out buckets for rainwater again after seeing that the fallout is only 30 km radius. Surprise visit from 5 UK Embassy staff who are very nice and let me use their sat phone to call Mum and Dad.
Wednesday is a miserable cold day with a strong wind, driving snow and temp doesn't rise above 3C. Go to old Mr Endo and put up tent. Give blue sheet to young family camping in the carpark. Go inland to try to download emails but nothing comes through. Cant phone anybody or buy anything. Come back and find that the tent has blown over because they didn't peg it down - too busy drinking beer in his shelter. Queue for 1 1/2 hours in the freezing wind for 20l water. Find one of Glenda's hearing aids - the other one is lost. Try unsuccessfully to siphon fuel out of the Subaru and hear from my mechanic friend that it is definitely a write-off which is a pity as the roadworthy certificate was expensive.
Thursday. As always get up at 0530 and go to bed at 8pm (no electricity). Today is also a miserable cold snowy day but I feel much happier. I think I have found my little niche by offering lifts to people who have collected water on foot. This is greatly appreciated and gives me a captive audience to tell the gospel. Some of them have walked for 4-5km, queued for 2 hours for 10l water, all in a blizzard (it also means I can re-charge the Mac & phone while the car is running). The woman in charge expresses concern in case I have a car accident while carrying passengers. This is priceless. We have all survived the worst tsunami in memory and she is worried about a car accident! Loads of Facebook emails etc from people interested in sending relief - it would be nice if they also considered ensuring the missionaries on the ground were fully supported. I go to the Town Office and ask what I should tell foreign volunteers and local churches concerning the needs. I'm introduced to the head of the relief committee and she says the needs are futons, blankets, petrol, containers for petrol and water, paraffin, nappies, food etc but that these could change within a short time. When I ask if they are happy with me giving lifts, they very happily give their blessing, but I would do it anyway because it meets a real need. Phone Mrs Takada and ask her to tell all the church people to bring any of the above to church on Sunday. Had a long call from a pastor in Dallas who I don't know but had to cut him off as I was giving people a lift. Go for a walk with Glenda along Shobutahama Beach in a blizzard. How everything has changed! No houses left. New streams and lakes. Route 58 is cut by a huge gully just before the Cosmo station. Find half a litre of milk in a fridge in a wrecked house and lots of kitchen stuff (detergent, bleach etc) along the beach that we collect. Also 10 litres or so of petrol that must have fallen off a fishing boat. The Lord provides! The blessing with the cold weather is that the food in the freezer is still frozen. See in an email that some missionaries are following embassy advice and leaving Japan. I wouldn't swop this time or place for anything and I don't even want to move to Sendai. It has been the most fulfilling interesting week. May the Lord help us to use this small window of opportunity when Japanese might be feeling a little less self-sufficient, more open to the gospel, and when we have the ability to show practical help they actually need. This is not a criticism of those with small children and health problems who leave. Mark 13: 8-10 Earthquakes arent signs of the end but birth-pangs of the kingdom. Jesus says they must happen. So what must we do? Preach the gospel to all nations - and then the end will come!
Major roads are now cleared and the rubbish is being removed.
Friday. Sunny and cold. Arrive at the water station and am told that I need to register as a volunteer, which I do, so now I have a little blue vest to wear. Do two shifts 9-11 and 3-5. Well organised but the water distribution is very slow and people have to queue for hours. Give about 10 lifts to people - some of whom really were in dire need. Clear up the beach gate with Glenda. Phone around and fine . Two UK embassy staff visit and try to persuade Glenda that we should leave (irony: would they give her a visa??). The tsunami was a week ago.
Saturday. Sunny and warm. Do lots of trips carrying water. Tell my car occupants that this tsunami wasn't caused by some little deity but the Big One who made heaven and earth and that the meaning of the tsunami is that people should repent from sin and believe in the Creator. One woman said she was atheist but in complete agreement! At least the Japanese aren't embarrassed about being inconsistent. Make some phone calls. Drop in at International Centre to see the casualty figures of Shichigahama: 27 confirmed dead (the youngest 17 yr-old girl and the oldest 101 yr-old lady) and 42 missing - many of those will likely be dead. The hardest hit area is Hanabuchihama. Grim. Apparently 4000 are homeless in Shichigahama alone.
Sunday. Load frozen stuff into the car. Leave early and travel without delay to the church. Find a free wifi spot and download 100s of emails which takes ages. Send some emails. We have about 15 to the service. Happy cooperative sympathetic atmosphere. Praise the Lord. Preach on Ps 67. May we be blessed so as to be a blessing. All we have learnt up until now might be for this very time (Esther 4). We must use our faith (Luke 8:22-25). Mrs Kuroda is chirpy and brought her 2 sons. She always seems to rise to a crisis. Takuma brings food for everyone. Mrs Takada does our washing and gives us bags of food. Miyoko lets me use the internet. Mrs Higashi brings us a box of food. Mrs Tada and Mr Higashi give water tanks and blankets to distribute. Have the English service and do Ps 46. All meetings cancelled this week too. Mr Abe comes and I have a nice phone call with Joel using his phone!
Monday. Collect useable timber from the beach. Phone CNN (Constance Cheng emailed me just after the quake to set up an interview but her email was buried among the 600 or so I had to download), anyway she didn't seem very interested now - probably moved on to the next big story. Oda-sensei from Kuroishi Church phones to find news of the church and if we are all OK. He delivers newspapers to stay in the ministry and deserves all our respect and in my opinion our support. Here that the wife of the mayor of Shichigahama was killed in the tsunami - but he keeps working. Also two people among the volunteers have lost their homes. I'm not sure I would volunteer or keep working if the same had happened to me. A large water truck comes from Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture and the queue moves fast. (This is a nationwide rescue: we have had a police team from Chiba come through our area searching for survivors or bodies and a generator truck from Kansai providing power to the International Centre. Japanese civil defence has moved in high gear helped by the military). People are friendly and recognise me. Visit the International Centre and met the Mishimas and chat. The evacuation centre has put them in different rooms according to their neighbourhoods, so that your bed space is next to your neighbours (so the Oginos, Aizawas and Mishimas are all in a row). Talk about the Lord, the tsunami and repentance. Mrs Aizawa is feisty and says she will re-build in the same spot and invite us over. I say 'Not somewhere higher?', she replies 'No! The same spot!'. These are elderly Japanese and used to deprivation and suffering. I wonder how the younger generation would cope. Slightly dispirited - nothing in the way of aid has come through to us, even though I feel we are at the sharp end of ministry. It has been 11 days since the quake. Still we are so much better off than those who have lost everything.
Tuesday. Still feel down. Tell the Lord that I don't feel strong in Him but I certainly feel weak in myself, if that is good enough for Him. Sing hymns in the car esp 'Guide me O thou great Jehovah' and feel my faith and joy come back. A voice mail from Thierry Richards says he is in Shiogama with petrol for me. A angel from heaven! And within an hour six young people (2 from MTW and 4 from Chiba Grace Church) in two trucks deliver 40 l of petrol to me and fruit and underwear to the Town Office warehouse. Very much encouraged after this.
This one is a bit longer than usual. On 11th March God gave Japan a tap with his little finger to wake it up. These are momentous times and it is an immense privilege to be here. We returned from SA and UK on 26th Feb and were staying at Takayama, a holiday place for missionaries by the sea at Shichigahama in Miyagi Ken. 10 years ago we bought one of these old wooden cabins from our mission, OMF International, because they couldn't afford the maintenance, and each holiday period we would come here with our family. (Today we were due to move to a flat near the church in Sendai, but can't contact the estate agent). There is devastation on both sides of the hill and it seems that we are in the eye of the storm. We have had great opportunities to help people, show sympathy and at the same time tell the gospel and give out tracts. Please pray that we will be faithful as we try to make the most of the opportunities we have each day and that the seed sown will bear fruit in fertile soil. We have no water, electricity, phone, or internet but we have gas and plenty of wood for the fire so we are warm and cozy and there is no need to worry about our welfare. We have been running on adrenalin. Thank you for all the messages of concern. On Sunday after church I was able to download all my 600 emails as the area around there is almost back to normal. I enclose my abridged diary for the events since 11 Mar. Since the tsunami, we have heard only the radio news and while we are aware that this is not a local event we havent seen the TV news so you will all know more about the big picture than we do. All the Sendai church people are fine though some have moved to different parts of the country. One man lost his car to the tsunami as did we but the church and member's houses suffered no major damage. The past 2 weeks we cancelled mid-week meetings because we had so few attend on Sunday 13th and I wanted to concentrate on ministry here.
Anyway please keep us, this ministry at Shichigahama and the Sendai church in prayer (that they will all live out their faith at this time especially),
God bless
Rod & Glenda
PS A word about support and sending relief
We are unable to receive goods to distribute from overseas. If you wish to donate, please refer here.
http://rodthomas.drivehq.com/mission/Donate.html
Let us never forget that Japan's main need is still to hear and respond to the gospel, the same as before the quake. I believe that is why God sent it. So let us cooperate with that purpose and do our part to evangelise this country.
PPS For photos see here.
http://rodthomas.drivehq.com/mission/Tsunami_2011.html
Some of these links might not be operational yet as they take so long to upload so please come back in a few days.
Tsunami Diary
The earthquake struck at 1448 on Friday, I was down at the car park about to load some tools into the car. Early that morning I had spoken at the Miyagi Gakuin service to 1100 boys and done an English class in the church and was looking forward to fixing the Takayama gate.
There was a roar and rumble and the pheasants squawked and the dogs barked as always at the beginning of a quake. The car started to bounce up and down and the trees swayed and rocked violently. I ran back up to the cabin which was like running along the deck of a rolling ship. Glenda was outside looking up at our cabin as it swayed back and forth. After about 4 minutes it stopped and we went inside to see bookshelves and tape shelves had toppled over etc, but no serious damage. We made the fire safe and rushed to the cliff to see the tsunami that had been predicted over the loud speakers that are dotted along the coast. We saw small boats fleeing the harbour and a tanker trying to head for deep water. After 30 min nothing had come and visibility was worse now because it had started to snow. So we went inside and started to clear up. After 10mins we heard screaming. A huge tsunami had hit. We ran down to the car park and saw a mass of grey water rushing in, there was a smell of HS and a terrible noise of crunching buildings. The car park is about 7m above SL and our green Subaru car was floating around in over 1m of water. (News reports said that Sendai harbour had been hit with a 10m tsunami). I ran back up to the house to get some ropes to secure the car so it wouldn't be swept away. These took some time to find and by the time I had got back the water was receding from the car park and our car was being carried further into the small ravine that goes down to the sea. I put two ropes onto the front wheel but it was too late. Just then there was a call from across the fence and neighbours Mrs Aikawa and her 77yr old mother were trying to get in. Their ground floor had been flooded and they had taken refuge in their upstairs and they wanted to be let in before the next tsunami came. The gate was blocked with debris and after clearing it, told them to go up to our cabin where Glenda would give them a cup of tea.
Then the 2nd tsunami came with a roar and reached to where our car had been dumped (this one was 5m). That slowly receded. Then I went to the cliff again to look and the seabed was visible for 500m out to sea where there is normally 3-4 m depth of water. Then the 3rd tsunami came. It was small and didn't go over the sea wall. Visibility was better and the sun had come out. Hanabuchiyama (to the east of our hill) was devastated: hardly a house remained where there had been a fish factory, shops and many nice homes. Looking west toward Sendai the skyline looked like a WWII air raid with many fires and columns of black smoke (even the breakwater about 1 km offshore had a burning house that had floated out). Shobutahama (to the west of the hill) was flattened, only foundations remained where houses once stood and the second storeys of houses were sitting disconnected in the roads. Looking out to sea there were many containers bobbing and it seemed that a container ship had lost its load when it was hit by the wave.
It was getting dark and I went back to help Glenda look after our guests. It was very cold and we lit two wood fires. Electricity and water were off and there was no cell phone reception. We lit some candles. Our gas oven however was working. We unpacked the'earthquake kit' which had a small radio and listened to the news. It was an 8.8 quake on the Japanese scale (later upgraded to 9.0) and the wave had hit the whole of the Japanese Pacific coast. We tried to chat to our guests. Mrs Aikawa was ill at ease and seemed hesitant to accept our hospitality. Glenda made a chicken and broccoli pie and put it out along with soup, salad, cake, rice etc but they hardly touched it. Her mother was cheerful and talkative. I found some water we had stored. We put our 2 Japanese guests in the downstairs bedroom and tried to sleep though after-shocks continued throughout the night. Then about 10pm we heard loud reports rumbling like thunder. I got dressed and went out on the hill. The petrol/oil depot connected to the oil refinery about 5km away to west had blown up. Huge flames were leaping up and a column of black smoke ascended'like the smoke from a furnace' (Gen 19). Fortunately there was no wind.
Saturday. We woke up about 0530 and made tea. The Aikawas were up early too and the younger one went down to her house to get her mother's diabetes medicine. We spent the day surveying the devastation and trying to cope with what had happened. We put out buckets to catch the snow melt water to use for washing, washing-up and flushing the toilets. I also tried to contact relatives by phone but no there was reception. We went for a walk along the beach and were stunned by the desolation. We made sure we had firewood and Glenda tidied up. The sky was full of army helicopters and there were many announcements on the loud speakers to stay off the beach. I also tried to prepare my sermon and charged my Macbook by running Glenda's car.
On Sunday we went to church. We left home at 0645. We were appalled at the mess and devastation at Tagajo further inland, usually a busy shopping centre. (We learned later that many people were killed here trying to leave a department store car park). We spent a long time trying to thread our way through upside-down cars covered in seaweed and streets deep in mud, before heading a long way inland and then turning west. We arrived at church about 9am and were relieved to find it undamaged. (Tadamitsu had been in on Saturday and cleared up some broken cups and fallen books). Only about 6 had come by 1030. We started anyway and I spoke on Heb 12:28 on 'God's unshakeable Kingdom'. By the end of the service we were 11, whereas normally we are 35 adults. Glenda had cooked up 2 kgs of mince and we ate that and some took it back to their families. The church had running water but there was no electricity anywhere in Sendai. We decided to cancel the English service. Then we came back to Shichigahama. On the way we were able briefly to get cell phone reception and called Esther in South Africa with a request to tell everyone that we were OK. After that reception was lost. There were long lines of people queueing outside shops and cars outside petrol stations. We arrived back after 2 hours - it normally takes 35 mins. We heard late that night that the tsunami warnings had been lifted.
On Monday we got up early and I went down to help some the people who had started to sift through their belongings and remains of their houses. Gave out some tracts and spoke about the Lord. Most of them were elderly and put a brave face on it and said they were grateful to be alive. Helped an old couple called the Mishimas sort through their devastated house full of broken stuff and found his medicine which he was happy about. Offered a few others help and said they could come and borrow tools. I went off in late morning to try and phone and eventually got through to a few people and had a clear call from California though most of them couldn't hear me. There was a grey atmosphere and a strong smell of burning oil. I stopped at a 7-11 and met an Al-Jezeerah film crew, no doubt telling the Arab world this was the wrath of Allah. The 7-11 guy came out and said they had no more food. In the afternoon went for a walk and spoke to the neighbour of the Mishimas who works for the Town Office, who tells me sadly that he lost his two kayaks, one which he bought for 400,000 yen 3 years ago. Never mind that his house has been smashed by the wave, he is grieving for his sport. I like this guy! I tell him about my surfskis and to come out sometime. Glenda cooks up a huge meal for 5 members of a Dutch film crew.
Tuesday. Go to the International Centre. Our freezer is defrosting so deliver meat to old Mr Endo in makeshift shelter (and later our green tent) and to the main person in the International Centre (which is now an evacuation refuge looking after those made homeless).
There is a lot of worry about atomic dust from the Fukushima Power plant which later turns out to be exaggerated. Walk with Glenda around Yoshidahama - terrible destruction with boats on top of houses etc. Chat to a few people and hand out tracts. Put out buckets for rainwater again after seeing that the fallout is only 30 km radius. Surprise visit from 5 UK Embassy staff who are very nice and let me use their sat phone to call Mum and Dad.
Wednesday is a miserable cold day with a strong wind, driving snow and temp doesn't rise above 3C. Go to old Mr Endo and put up tent. Give blue sheet to young family camping in the carpark. Go inland to try to download emails but nothing comes through. Cant phone anybody or buy anything. Come back and find that the tent has blown over because they didn't peg it down - too busy drinking beer in his shelter. Queue for 1 1/2 hours in the freezing wind for 20l water. Find one of Glenda's hearing aids - the other one is lost. Try unsuccessfully to siphon fuel out of the Subaru and hear from my mechanic friend that it is definitely a write-off which is a pity as the roadworthy certificate was expensive.
Thursday. As always get up at 0530 and go to bed at 8pm (no electricity). Today is also a miserable cold snowy day but I feel much happier. I think I have found my little niche by offering lifts to people who have collected water on foot. This is greatly appreciated and gives me a captive audience to tell the gospel. Some of them have walked for 4-5km, queued for 2 hours for 10l water, all in a blizzard (it also means I can re-charge the Mac & phone while the car is running). The woman in charge expresses concern in case I have a car accident while carrying passengers. This is priceless. We have all survived the worst tsunami in memory and she is worried about a car accident! Loads of Facebook emails etc from people interested in sending relief - it would be nice if they also considered ensuring the missionaries on the ground were fully supported. I go to the Town Office and ask what I should tell foreign volunteers and local churches concerning the needs. I'm introduced to the head of the relief committee and she says the needs are futons, blankets, petrol, containers for petrol and water, paraffin, nappies, food etc but that these could change within a short time. When I ask if they are happy with me giving lifts, they very happily give their blessing, but I would do it anyway because it meets a real need. Phone Mrs Takada and ask her to tell all the church people to bring any of the above to church on Sunday. Had a long call from a pastor in Dallas who I don't know but had to cut him off as I was giving people a lift. Go for a walk with Glenda along Shobutahama Beach in a blizzard. How everything has changed! No houses left. New streams and lakes. Route 58 is cut by a huge gully just before the Cosmo station. Find half a litre of milk in a fridge in a wrecked house and lots of kitchen stuff (detergent, bleach etc) along the beach that we collect. Also 10 litres or so of petrol that must have fallen off a fishing boat. The Lord provides! The blessing with the cold weather is that the food in the freezer is still frozen. See in an email that some missionaries are following embassy advice and leaving Japan. I wouldn't swop this time or place for anything and I don't even want to move to Sendai. It has been the most fulfilling interesting week. May the Lord help us to use this small window of opportunity when Japanese might be feeling a little less self-sufficient, more open to the gospel, and when we have the ability to show practical help they actually need. This is not a criticism of those with small children and health problems who leave. Mark 13: 8-10 Earthquakes arent signs of the end but birth-pangs of the kingdom. Jesus says they must happen. So what must we do? Preach the gospel to all nations - and then the end will come!
Major roads are now cleared and the rubbish is being removed.
Friday. Sunny and cold. Arrive at the water station and am told that I need to register as a volunteer, which I do, so now I have a little blue vest to wear. Do two shifts 9-11 and 3-5. Well organised but the water distribution is very slow and people have to queue for hours. Give about 10 lifts to people - some of whom really were in dire need. Clear up the beach gate with Glenda. Phone around and fine . Two UK embassy staff visit and try to persuade Glenda that we should leave (irony: would they give her a visa??). The tsunami was a week ago.
Saturday. Sunny and warm. Do lots of trips carrying water. Tell my car occupants that this tsunami wasn't caused by some little deity but the Big One who made heaven and earth and that the meaning of the tsunami is that people should repent from sin and believe in the Creator. One woman said she was atheist but in complete agreement! At least the Japanese aren't embarrassed about being inconsistent. Make some phone calls. Drop in at International Centre to see the casualty figures of Shichigahama: 27 confirmed dead (the youngest 17 yr-old girl and the oldest 101 yr-old lady) and 42 missing - many of those will likely be dead. The hardest hit area is Hanabuchihama. Grim. Apparently 4000 are homeless in Shichigahama alone.
Sunday. Load frozen stuff into the car. Leave early and travel without delay to the church. Find a free wifi spot and download 100s of emails which takes ages. Send some emails. We have about 15 to the service. Happy cooperative sympathetic atmosphere. Praise the Lord. Preach on Ps 67. May we be blessed so as to be a blessing. All we have learnt up until now might be for this very time (Esther 4). We must use our faith (Luke 8:22-25). Mrs Kuroda is chirpy and brought her 2 sons. She always seems to rise to a crisis. Takuma brings food for everyone. Mrs Takada does our washing and gives us bags of food. Miyoko lets me use the internet. Mrs Higashi brings us a box of food. Mrs Tada and Mr Higashi give water tanks and blankets to distribute. Have the English service and do Ps 46. All meetings cancelled this week too. Mr Abe comes and I have a nice phone call with Joel using his phone!
Monday. Collect useable timber from the beach. Phone CNN (Constance Cheng emailed me just after the quake to set up an interview but her email was buried among the 600 or so I had to download), anyway she didn't seem very interested now - probably moved on to the next big story. Oda-sensei from Kuroishi Church phones to find news of the church and if we are all OK. He delivers newspapers to stay in the ministry and deserves all our respect and in my opinion our support. Here that the wife of the mayor of Shichigahama was killed in the tsunami - but he keeps working. Also two people among the volunteers have lost their homes. I'm not sure I would volunteer or keep working if the same had happened to me. A large water truck comes from Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture and the queue moves fast. (This is a nationwide rescue: we have had a police team from Chiba come through our area searching for survivors or bodies and a generator truck from Kansai providing power to the International Centre. Japanese civil defence has moved in high gear helped by the military). People are friendly and recognise me. Visit the International Centre and met the Mishimas and chat. The evacuation centre has put them in different rooms according to their neighbourhoods, so that your bed space is next to your neighbours (so the Oginos, Aizawas and Mishimas are all in a row). Talk about the Lord, the tsunami and repentance. Mrs Aizawa is feisty and says she will re-build in the same spot and invite us over. I say 'Not somewhere higher?', she replies 'No! The same spot!'. These are elderly Japanese and used to deprivation and suffering. I wonder how the younger generation would cope. Slightly dispirited - nothing in the way of aid has come through to us, even though I feel we are at the sharp end of ministry. It has been 11 days since the quake. Still we are so much better off than those who have lost everything.
Tuesday. Still feel down. Tell the Lord that I don't feel strong in Him but I certainly feel weak in myself, if that is good enough for Him. Sing hymns in the car esp 'Guide me O thou great Jehovah' and feel my faith and joy come back. A voice mail from Thierry Richards says he is in Shiogama with petrol for me. A angel from heaven! And within an hour six young people (2 from MTW and 4 from Chiba Grace Church) in two trucks deliver 40 l of petrol to me and fruit and underwear to the Town Office warehouse. Very much encouraged after this.
