A Full Christmas

Several events for community people, including an afternoon with our two Praise Time congregations,

...and then on the 27th turkey time with friends at our apartment.

Family Christmas Party

We had a room full of people for our annual Family Christmas Party. It's a great opportunity to explain Christmas and encourage people to be part of Bible studies. Children and parents from our various outreach programs attend.

Heather had just returned from Calgary, so she helped Kimiyo with the actions for the songs. What they're doing right now is the sign language symbol for Jesus. You point with your index finger to the palm of each hand. Aiko is doing that. Two Christmases ago Aiko was baptized.

Carol did the Christmas story using flannelgraph while Miwako read the story.

What people didn't know was that Miwako was reading an English book and translating into Japanese in her head. To hear her do it, you would have assumed it was Japanese she was reading.

Decorating Christmas cookies is an annual tradition. Obviously some children have the philosophy that "more is better"

They also made "yuki daruma" or snowmen, out of coffee cup liners, modeling clay head, and gloves cut up to make hats and scarves. Once again the hundred yen store (dollar store) is a vital source for materials.

It's good to have so many parents attend the party.

Kimiyo brought some donated merchandise that people could take for a donation to relief efforts in Tohoku with the group that serves lunches in Ishinomaki every weekend. On the previous picture you'll see an attractive maroon leather jacket that is now Carol's.

A Holiday Visitor to Harumi

No, not Santa Claus. The Kaiwo Maru is a training vessel for students from universities across Japan who are planning a maritime career. It's docked at the pier at the end of our island for the Christmas/New Years season. While the rivers to the north, south and east of Harumi are narrow and there are bridges joining them to other islands, to the west of Harumi is an expanse that opens onto Tokyo Bay, so we are looking northwest in this picture. You can take a look at the area through Google Maps:http://maps.google.ca/maps?rlz=1T4TSCA_enCA441CA441&q=%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E6%99%B4%E6%B5%B7%E5%9F%A0%E9%A0%AD&gs_upl=0l0l0l13321lllllllllll0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl

Another November, Another Community Barbecue!

Yes, November. It's never rained in five years of holding community barbecues and this year was especially warm. The only problem is, with so many new people moving into our area, the barbecue park is getting pretty crowded!

The barbecue gives us a good chance to meet the families of the children and women involved in various programs.

And since the Loves are in Calgary this year, the men of my Saturday English & Bible class stepped in to help with the grilling duties. We'll have to continue this even when Loves return, since it affords us an opportunity to mingle and meet people.

You can hardly see Carol and Tomomi for all the smoke from the grill. No burnt offerings, though.

Making s'mores has become a tradition, although roasting a marshmallow takes a very long time when one is timid about getting close to the hot coals and holds the marshmallow up high.

Fifty four adults and numerous children. Thumbs up on this day as a great opportunity to meet community people!

Boys' Clubs!

In Toyosu our cohort of boys has become busy with the rat race of cram school and entrance exams to get into high school, so we're down to just two. As you no doubt can tell, we're practicing the tautline hitch here. I didn't need to tell you that, did I?

30 minutes of English conversation, 30 minutes of some craft (like learning essential knots) and then 30 minutes of reading and discussing the story of one of the heroic men of the Bible.

In Hachioji, 90 minutes west of Harumi, there's a larger group of Jr. Hi boys meeting for Boys' Club. This is at snack time after our continuing study of the life of Joseph.

I learned that the bigger the group, the longer it takes to do the craft. No one had mastered any of these basic knots before I taught them at Boys' Club. And, no one had read anything in the Bible before Boys' Club.

Enough of knots. On to paper model building. This was printed on glossy photo paper, so the picture doesn't do it justice. How long will it take to do this project? How much more challenging a model can we attempt? I'll keep you posted.

Girls' Club!

Some games, a craft, some English, and a message from the Bible...That's Girls' Club.

...and, sometimes the little sisters sneak in on the action.

Immortalized in Plastic Bottles

Triton Square is the centerpiece of Harumi island. It's three office towers with a mall connecting them at the base, and then a food court and some apartment buildings included in the whole complex. Because the towers are so large, only one and part of another are visible in this picture. In the foreground are the model towers, constructed of a steel framework and 500 ml. plastic bottles strung together. Harumi Triton Square is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Here's another angle showing more of the model. The alcove  in front of the model represents the outdoor terrace in front of the food court where the model has been built. Just above the tower on the left is the real tower on the left, which is our apartment building. You may (probably do) have larger living quarters than us, but have they ever been commemorated in a model made of recycled water bottles? I don't think so.

Canadian Thanksgiving

The Japanese word for "turkey" is "Shichimenjo" which means "seven chin bird" We had some friends over for Canadian Thanksgiving and everyone enjoyed the traditional meal. As you can see, it's a pretty tight fit in our place, but we managed to pull it off. The turkey just barely fit in our convection/microwave oven. And, after a meal like that, we may just barely fit in our clothes!

Getting to the Bottom of It...

Hedoro, (tsunami sludge) that is. While Carol, Megan and I went up for 24 hours in Tohoku to help with serving lunch in a neighbourhood of Ishinomaki, we also got involved in removing the sludge from a home. Carol remarked that it didn't stink as much nor attract the flies as it had in June. We met a team there from Ontario, from Hamilton, Burlington and other nearby places.

Meanwhile, Megan was manning the beverage table, keeping people hydrated on a very hot September day. I posted earlier about a volunteer who'd been bathing the feet of the elderly in shelters, thus following Jesus' command, and here's Megan offering a cup of water in Jesus' name. Every Saturday since March Christians have been organizing this lunch for the people of this neighbourhood.

It's yakisoba this Saturday. That's a fried noodle dish with vegetables and chicken. Notice the huge imported propane barbecue in the background. Not a common sight in Japan.

Over 100 came for lunch and conversation, and there was also a program for children after lunch. Then it was pack up the food, fold down the tents, and head back to Tokyo. We slept for 12 hours on Saturday night after this exhausting trip that had started the previous night.

This is representative of the local neighbourhood. The house on the left is completely untouched since the day the tsunami flooded in. The house in the foreground is completely gone, either swept away or collapsed by the tsunami, and carted off to the five story tall rubble pile near the sea. The house in the background is in the midst of repair. The same could be said for the lives of the people living here. We provide a hot meal, a place to gather and meet neighbours, and a listening ear for the many who need to talk. We trust these bonds of friendship and trust will grow and bear fruit in time.

Back in Fukuoka

Carol and I enjoyed a quick trip to Fukuoka for the ordination service for the Shaos, who are planting a Chinese church in that city in western Japan. Francis Tam, representing the Canadian Chinese Alliance Church Association, conducted the service and I participated in the prayer for Ken and Winnie Shao and their ministry.

By removing some sliding doors between two large rooms, the Shaos were able to convert their apartment into a church sanctuary for their growing congregation. Check out the choir robes! They may be a small church, but they've got a well outfitted choir!

Rev. and Mrs. Hirai of the local Alliance church were able to visit at lunchtime, and we were glad to snap a picture of this international group. International cooperation and partnership is how things get done nowadays.

Sweating Out the Setsuden Summer

Japan's 20% short on electricity as a result of the Fukushima situation (how's that for a euphemism?), so everyone has to try to cut back in order to not trigger rolling blackouts.

As a result, this is a common sight at buildings and stations all over Japan. Shutting down escalators, fountains and some lighting is a quick and easy way to cut on electrical consumption in public areas.

When it comes to household electrical use, 25% of total demand comes from the air conditioner. With temperatures in the 30's and high humidity, using the a/c sparingly with a fan, or using a fan without the a/c is the way to survive and not overtax the system. Everyone's on board this summer, but the shortage will continue for years, since it takes time to replace such a massive amount of capacity in the system. So, will people forget all this next summer, or has "setsuden" become a new way of life for Japan? It will have to become a new way of life. There's no alternative.

Hedoro, Up Close and Personal

 

Four months later, it's no longer wet, but it still stinks and attracts flies and needs to be removed before sanitizing and reinhabiting buildings like this house. And once you've gotten if off the floor, you need to get the floor off to get the hedoro (sludge) out from underneath the building. Then let it dry, and disinfect, and replace the floor.

 

Carol and Laura went to Ishinomaki last week to help with the hedoro. Since it's so nasty, you have to remove it from yards and even pull down chunks of it from branches of trees to get rid of the stench and begin to have a normal neighbourhood again. The hedoro was bagged in the bags you see here, and is then trucked away by the city.

You might notice a little superficial earthquake damage to the church where Carol and Laura stayed. Last Sunday's aftershock was 7.1, which seems pretty minor after March 11.

Carol's Last Day at CRASH

 

Ami, to the left of Carol, will be heading up the Volunteer Coordination department of CRASH as Carol moves on. Carol was there from the first day, putting in 3 days a week at CRASH, but now it's time to hand the department over and move on. Today Carol heads to Okutama to be the camp nurse at Joy Bible Camp for a few days, enjoying the elementary school aged campers and the beautiful surroundings in the mountains. 

The Wrecking Crew

 It's hard to tell from all the protective layers that this is Heather. It's also hard from looking at this scene to tell that it's been three months since the earthquake and tsunami. While one would hope for rebuilding at this stage, what Heather and the other volunteers did this past week was to tear away all that had been ruined by the muck blasted in by the tsunami. Even the floor needs to be ripped up to empty out the 30 to 50 centimeters of black muck contained in the concrete footings.

This was Heather's second time as a volunteer in Tohoku. It still feels like scooping out the ocean with a teaspoon. Having worked for a year in Japan, Heather will return to Calgary and further studies leading to a degree in education.

"Can you give me a hand with this?"

Remember to keep your knees bent and your back straight when you lift this one! This couch is good for people who tend to overstay when they visit. It may be lacking in comfort, but it is very good with support, and it's quite durable and stain resistant.

This is in the outdoor courtyard of Triton Square, where workers from the office towers flood the place at lunchtime, either with box lunches or meals that they purchased at the food court. No brown bags here! That's our apartment in the background.

What...No Steeple?

It's been rewarding for us to attend the dedication services for churches who have recently purchased buildings. For many years, we wondered whether churches in the Tokyo area would ever be able to purchase property, because of the prohibitive cost. The bursting of the real estate bubble and the prolonged economic downturn have provided new opportunities for churches.

 In 2004 and 2005 we worked at the Sengendai church, pictured here, and rejoiced with the congregation at their dedication service. The children of the Sunday School sang a special song for the occasion. While the building doesn't look much like a church, it is on the main street, about five minutes' walk from the train station.






 

While Sengendai's in the northern suburbs, Asahigaoka is to the west of central Tokyo, where we live. Another four story building, another church dedication service. We've done ministries at this church over the years, in the four previous locations they've rented.

 

One cultural aspect of any special event in Japan, such as a dedication service, is the group picture. You might note I got the seat of honour next to the pastor. Pastor Kang  worked with us years ago in Sayama, and was ordained there as well. I had an opportunity to give an official message of congratulations in the service, another tradition in Japanese celebrations.

It was good to see Pastor and Mrs. Kang again, and to see their congregation enjoying the new location. To the left of the Kangs are the Landaws, C&MA colleagues from the US who will move this summer to Tohoku to start ministry up there.