Thanks, Whoopi!

The movie "Sister Act" really struck a chord in Japan, and gospel choirs have sprung up all over, singing in the style of black churches in the US. The uninhibited joy in the songs really connects with people who don't know what the lyrics mean. Christians and missionaries have formed choirs as a means to explain what those joyful words mean.

We had a concert in Harumi arranged by a believer in our Harumi Praise Time, and it included a local gospel choir that two of our people are involved with. The poster behind these happy singing faces announces that it's a concert in support of the Tohoku region, which was hard hit by the triple disaster of March 2011.

We also had gospel music in traditional Japanese styles.  Enka Friends performed, and a video of one of their songs, based on I Thessalonians 5:16-18 is included here. This particular song is in the style of music used during the "matsuri" or festival season in late summer, and the actions resemble "bon odori" style of dance at those occasions. Remember, you saw it here first!

西洋料理 Means "Western Cuisine"

In the case of our two weeks of cooking classses held in four locations, it was chili with taco salad in a tortilla bowl, pizza and lasagna. There were classes for children, who were assisted by their mothers, and then classes for adults. Lasagna was the recipe people expressed the most enthusiasm about learning, although judging from the leftovers (none) there was considerable enthusisasm about eating all the culinary creations.

"Gramma Eva" came to us from Westburne Alliance Church in St. Catharines to share her recipes and cooking tips and her walk with Christ with the women and children.

The classes enabled us to make first time contact with a number of people, and also were a benefit to churches like Sayama, where we lived and ministered in the early 1990s. That church now has its own pastor and building, something we couldn't have imagined back in those early days.

Recruited!

Heather returned last week, and Chris and Jeremy, her friends from church in Calgary were coming through Japan at the same time and wanted to see and be involved in our ministry in Harumi. Say no more! We'll get something together for young people, including Boys' Club boys.

As soon as they arrived, they put together a program of English and games to go along with the pizza

Since the young people made their own pizzas, it was difficult to keep enough toppings on the table!

We had ten youth plus some parents involved in the pizza night, and hope to follow up with some more events and continuing contact, so it was a good start.

Next to Our Apartment

Our apartment is in the background of the first shot of this video and appears again later in the video. Harumi Triton Square is a shopping/dining/office complex right next to our apartment. What you see on this video is a one minute walk from our front door. And no, I have no idea what "Racky Brain Cam Labo" is, other than a potential name for a rock group.

Where Is This?

Is this Japan? Vietnam? No, it's Taiwan, where Carol and I attended the installation service for My and Dao Nguyen at the Vietnamese church in Jhongli, near Taipei. My and Dao came to Taiwan from Windsor, where we served in the early 1980's.

This picture looks a little more like Taiwan. We'll be popping in to Taiwan to support the two teams working in that country and to represent Brem Frentz, our Asia regional consultant, who is pictured here with us at the night market. I'm not sure what this stall was selling, but I know it wasn't stinky tofu. We didn't spend much time in the vicinity of the stinky tofu vendor because it abundantly lives up to its name.

Who's That?

Well, the one doing the presentation is a CRASH Japan worker, but the face in the power point or video presentation is a familiar one. This appeared on Facebook recently, so even though Carol hasn't worked at CRASH since June, she appears in this presentation, which probably shows a little of the short history of CRASH's response to the triple disaster in Tohoku a little more than a year ago.

Famous people have this experience all the time. They see their faces in magazines, or hear their voices singing in BGM in public places. It's a little more unusual for us, but in the past year we've had this phenomenon. There's a link to Heather's blog here, and her account of the day of the earthquake and her reflections on it have attracted readers from all over the world to her blog, and her words have appeared in church bulletins and other blogs and publications. If it's disaster in Japan that makes us famous, we'd rather be anonymous!

The Latest from CRASH Japan

A year ago I was in Mongolia when Psalm 46 happened in Japan. When the earth shakes, and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, when the waves crash and foam, and the mountains shake before the surging sea. As I returned to Narita airport, I suspected I was entering a totally different Japan, and that was the case. Train service, electricity, and supplies in stores were all less than normal. Meanwhile, Carol had started working at CRASH Japan, and I soon joined her. Our colleague Don Love and I drove the first team up to the base in Tono, a couple of days after the expressway was reopened, and before it was properly repaired. That was one rough ride, only outdone by the aftershocks we felt at the base camp in the middle of the night! Meanwhile, Carol Love established the financial department of CRASH, often working until midnight with all of the details.

Our first two weeks at CRASH Japan were 9:00am to 8:00pm with meals provided. The work day reduced to more normal hours, and we cut back to three days a week helping in volunteer coordination. I was able to help with Donor Relations from home, and Carol continued going to the office until June. Yet, as you can see from the one year video, the work has continued since our time there, and the statistics speak for themselves.

Carol, Heather and Laura experienced CRASH Japan as volunteers, helping to muck out homes. Heather was able to volunteer with United Japan, and then Carol Megan and I went with a group right in our neighbourhood to serve lunch to people in Ishinomaki, back in September. No matter how much help Tohoku receives, the work that remains seems endless. Much of what CRASH Japan has been doing in recent weeks involves meeting the emotional and spiritual, as well as physical needs of the people in the affected areas.