心から、ありがとうございます。。。
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
In the last two months, I have visited the small coastal town of Shichigahama three times to help with tsunami relief efforts alongside missionaries and church friends from Saipan, America, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, and Japan. It is amazing how God brings people together for specific times - how could we have ever known we would be bonded together through service in the wake of an unimaginable tragedy? More than that, how could we have ever known how blessed we would feel at the end of each trip? The truth is that it is heartbreaking to be there and the work is hard, but overall we felt tremendous joy and had a great time being with each other and with those living in Shichigahama that we were able to work, talk, and pray with. I find myself thinking of Shichigahama often now when I am in Tokyo; I'm thinking of the locals who have been working tirelessly day in and day out since the quake to help those who lost everything and those from far away places who are sleeping in cars and on shelter floors just so they can be there to see the bulk of clean-up through before re-build begins, and the outpouring of experiences and stories from those that survived March 11. I wasn't even there that long, but something about the place has made its home in my heart. I pray for that city constantly, and I hope to see it again before I leave. I hope to see it again a year from now, and two years from now.
As I said in my last letter, I went up with a team of missionary teachers from Saipan for five days. We had so many amazing experiences and opportunities working at the Shichigahama Volunteer Center. On the first day, the ladies group swept out the home Mr. Sasaki, who later told us his story from his mother-in-law's destroyed portion of the house while looking out to the ocean that he was never able to see before the tsunami over the houses that used to stand between. We were able to pray with him and encourage him before we left, and I'm excited to see how God allows our relationship to grow with this family as we partner with them in rebuilding their lives in Shichigahama. The next day, Joyce and I stepped out with the boy's crew to help dig out the thick layer of mud in a home that was flooded up to the second floor during the tsunami. It was most definitely some of the hardest work I've ever experienced, but it was more than rewarding. Everyone was so kind and so eager to work and to serve. Everyone had a smile to share - and that was a beautiful thing to see even with masks hiding its phsyical appearance. There were some University of Tokyo students working there that day as well - connecting my life and ministry in Tokyo to Tohoku. God is amazing! They were such fun guys to work with and we are looking forward to meeting up with them again in Tokyo. We also met Ray, a guy from Pennsylvania who dropped everything to get to Japan to help with relief for three whole months. He is living like those who have survived the disaster, sleeping on the floor of a local shelter, but he is loving every minute of it. We were blessed to have him join us twice for dinner at the cabin and just enjoy his friendship. On the third work day of our journey, we helped a crew from Yamaguchi serve up some fried goodies for the volunteers and those living in the shelter. Ridiculous amounts of fun with the Saipan team and the guys from Yamaguchi, and it was really an honor to serve the people living and working there. The last day, we were able to work with a local carpenter to clean his shop so he can get his business running again in order to help those around him. We came home exhausted, but feeling so blessed.
The third trip up was just last week. We made a quick Golden Week run with a team from Yokota-ICA, Tokyo City Church and Tokyo-ICA/GAP. Again, God really opened our hearts and eyes during the time spent in Shichigahama. We were able to work around the Takayama campgrounds, where the cabins we have been using are located, and again at the Shichigahama Volunteer Center. Just two weeks after the Saipan team trip, Shichigahama already looked totally different. The resilience and speed of recovery is astounding. Golden Week (perhaps the second busiest holiday time in Japan outside of New Year's) traffic made the normally 5 hr. drive an approx 9 hr. drive - but it was interesting to think of how many people on the Tohoku Expressway were also volunteers. The news estimates that some 8,000 people went north during the three day holiday to see what they could do.
While we were sweeping sidewalks that make up the route children walk each morning to a nearby school during this Golden Week trip, a mother and her two sons rode by on their bicycles. The boys, who were quite young, said shy "hello's" as they passed and we called back smiling. Their mother followed with the phrase at the top of this post on her lips and, though I had heard many different forms of gratitude during the shorttime we have been able to spend north, the sincerity of her words and in her eyes has really stayed with me.
Japan is a nation of recognizing the work another has contributed or has done, of compliments, and of gratitude. These are common phrases that everyone expects to hear and are often required to say, and I do believe they mean it. But, it is a rare thing indeed for complete strangers to reveal their heart - their pain, or their struggle - in a single moment. In the wake of this tragedy, we've all experienced the reality of our own mortality, that nothing short of the Divine is infinite, and that at the end of the day, we really are all in this life thing together. For now, the walls are down and our fragility is exposed - but it is kind of a beautiful thing.
I can feel God's love at work.
Most believers have experienced the way it hurts to bare our souls before Christ with the lies we've held tightly in our hearts, knowing that His outpouring of forgiveness, and love, and acceptance on the other side is what redemption is really about. It isn't really about creating a safety net against Darkness. It is about experiencing love with the only Being that knows exactly who we are and what we are capable of and accepts us completely anyway. It is about loving the only One who truly cares about us too much to let us hate ourselves.
I guess it kind of reminds me of that. We are all here - our fears and hurt exposed - but there is a sense of freedom that I haven't felt in this place before and with that comes joy and opportunity. Our other ministry activities, which have all resumed this week, are colored by it. The hues run deep, a mixture of grief for all that has been lost and hope for all that will follow.
So - to that mother on her bike, to all those striving to rebuild their lives and those that are helping them, to those around the world who have lifted up this nation in prayer during the last two months, and to my Father God, whose love and mercy are limitless and unchanging,
心から、ありがとうございます。
Until.
Amanda
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