火曜日。

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

Web-Image 水曜日。

A Prayer Letter:

Dear Family and Friends,                                                     

Konnichi wa from the Land of the Rising Sun!  I apologize for not updating my blog enough over the last month.  After the earthquake, my schedule and general way of life in Tokyo changed considerably and it has taken this long to finally settle in to the “the new normal.”  I thought it would be a good idea to put a short letter together to share what I have recently been involved with since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami and some needs we would like you to partner with us in prayer about.

When the earthquake shook the nation of Japan, I was with about 40 Japanese pastors and university students at the Chi Alpha Student Center (my home) at the annual national Chi Alpha Japan training seminar.  We were scheduled to kick-off the seminar at 3 p.m., and were just settling in for the first session when the massive M9.0 earthquake hit. We stood outside for over an hour as the earth continued to sway and two subsequent M7.0+ earthquakes came less than 30 minutes behind the initial quake.  Aside from a few broken mirrors and a messy bookshelf, we were safe in Tokyo and, after a prayer for all those up north who experienced the most intense shaking and who were now awaiting the tsunami after, we began the seminar despite the frequent aftershocks through the day, night, and the rest of the weekend.  The number of aftershocks Japan has experienced since March 11 is approaching 1,000+, and we are still experiencing them daily.  As most if not all of you know, the 10 meter + tsunami has claimed countless homes and businesses, and some 20,000 lives in northeastern Japan.

Life was temporarily on hold.  The trains weren’t running regularly, the stores were empty, my classes were canceled, and the campuses were closed.  I was really ready to get involved with the relief effort, but I think it was hard for most to even know where to begin in that first week.  At the beginning of the second week after the earthquake, I began volunteering at the CRASH Japan (www.crashjapan.org) headquarters as a part-time journalist writing press releases and letters for the website and donation packets.  It was a really unique experience for me, and definitely God’s way of saying, “You still belong here, lady!” as it was the first time I’ve ever been asked to connect my degree to my ministry.  Since that first week working with CRASH Japan, my normal schedule of campus ministry and work has resumed, interspersed with sorting and boxing relief goods at Japan Assemblies of God’s Bible college, a trip up to the disaster area with national Chi Alpha Japan director Joyce Kitano and ICA – Tokyo pastors, Bill and Carol, to take up some fresh produce and check on a missionary cabin for relief teams to use, writing remotely for CRASH Japan when they need help, and generally feeling overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy about the flood of love and support pouring into Japan from sources on all sides.  God is so faithful, and He has been displaying His love and His power is amazing ways – whether it be through the seven Christian men still working at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the tender hearts of the kids in my English class as they wrote out encouragement for children in Tohoku, or the healings of the various injuries and stress-related oppression that many of the pastors and missionaries have been affected, but not defeated, by in the weeks since the disaster.

Next week, I am headed up to the same area again for five days with a team of school teachers from Saipan,  misionary Shelley Carl, and Chi Alpha director Joyce Kitano.  During the day, we will most likely be helping at the evacuation shelter or cleaning at the local volunteer center where many people have come to leave items found in the area after the tsunami.  At night, we will stay in the cabin on the hill that we went to check the last time we went to Tohoku.  I’m ready to get back up there and help any way I can!  I’m totally amazed at how much has already been done up there to clear and repair the streets – but there are still months and months of clean-up to go.  May God give us open doors to share peace and hope while we put our hands to work to restore this land!  Please remember these things in prayer:

-       The survivors and their families in the Tohoku area

-       Those still working inside the Fukushima Daiichii Power Plant

-       For the restoration of power and water in all the affected areas

-       The various teams going north to help with clean-up and counseling

-       The Japan Assemblies of God, AGMF Japan, and Convoy of Hope partnership

-       Our team going up to Takayama and surrounding communities next week

-       Peace over the land and in the hearts of the people. No more aftershock or tsunami!

-       Open doors for the love of Christ to be poured out over this land and the preparation of hearts ready to receive Him!

This letter turned out pretty long, so thank you for bearing with me and reading the whole thing! There are a few ways you can get involved financially with relief in Japan if you are interested.  The links are on my Facebook or you can e-mail me at fosburg@alumni.nsuok.edu, or if you want to continue to support me on the field in Japan – please contact me or someone in my family!  Above all else, thank you for your continued prayers and for all the encouragement and messages I received after the disaster in Japan happened.  “For such a time as this,” ne!  I feel so blessed to be serving the Lord in Japan at this time. Please keep praying and keep in touch if you’d like! E-mail me anytime!

Blessings!   

Amanda Fosburg

Web-Image 水曜日。