Life Goes On Without Us

 Carol's Girls Club was on hiatus for a few weeks this Fall after Carol's return to Canada. When the decision was made to move up our home assignment, Keiko took up the challenge to continue the ministry.

Making Christmas cookies has been a tradition in Harumi, and Keiko and Co. are continuing this. Girls' Club consists of some English, a craft or other activity, and some teaching from the Bible. 

Carol Love has stepped in to assist Keiko in the Girls' Club ministry. This is the ideal pattern, where we as international workers assist local believers in ministry. As you can imagine, Carol's telling the Christmas story here. It's great to be involved in the Girls' Club when we're there, and it's even greater to see it continue when we're on home assignment.

Postwar Reconstruction

 This morning's run took me past the newly reconstructed Tokyo Station. Of course, the station was reconstructed while still in use, which presents a considerable challenge.

The surprising thing about this work is that it is finally restoring Tokyo Station to its original form before it was bombed during World War II.

The top floors and rotundas were hastily cobbled together after the war, but now in 2012 the original glory of the building has been restored with all its ornate plaster work and copper cupolas. This might be the longest delayed reconstruction after World War II anywhere in the world, but some things are worth waiting for.

SWAG at CAWF in ROC about LRPGs

When I arrived at the conference site I knew I was in the right place, because of the logos on the banners. No, they didn't give us the banners, but they did give us many other things with the C&MA logo or the name of the conference on it. SWAG stands for either Souvenirs, Wearables and Gifts or "Stuff We All Get" depending on who you talk to.  Items we all received with the C&MA logo imprinted on them included two ties, two key chains, a lapel pin, a shaving kit and a flashlight. 

 The volunteers at this conference wore the "four fold" smocks to identify themselves. CAWF stands for Chinese Alliance World Fellowship, and over 160 gathered in Taipei, Taiwan, ROC for the fourth conference from all over Asia, North America, Europe and Africa.

The theme of the conference concerned encouraging the younger generation to get involved in world evangelization.

The conference was held in Mandarin, but fortunately translation was available. It was encouraging to hear the passion and vision of the participants, and to hear of a wider vision to look beyond reaching Chinese worldwide, to reach all LRPGs, or Least Reached People Groups.

Our colleague in Fukuoka, Pastor Shao, gave a heartfelt plea for a focus on the needs of Japan. I can't speak Mandarin, although there is some overlap with Japanese in the pronunication of some words, but even I could hear a difference in Pastor Shao's manner of speaking.

I learned later that it's the Beijing and northern China accent, and it stands out. Pastor Shao grew up in China as a loyal communist and atheist, until He met Christ in Japan. He's now introducing other Chinese to Christ in Fukuoka, where there are 40,000 Chinese living in the city.

I was thankful for the chance to represent the mission at the conference, and the swag was a bonus.

Japan or Taiwan?

When we first approached the C&MA about service in Asia, we were told that there were needs in Taiwan and Japan, and we should pray about which country we felt led to serve in. Twenty five years later, we find ourselves with a connection to Taiwan through our role as team leader overseers, coaching two teams working in that country. So, in answer to the question of twenty five years ago, the answer turned out to be "both".

We're of course serving in Japan, but our second trip to Taiwan is ongoing as we post this. As for the scene you see here, this is the Taipei Grand Hotel. While Japan has adopted many architectural aspects from China, the red pillars are distinctively Chinese.

What's Holding It Up?

A group from Harumi spent the weekend up in Ishinomaki in the disaster zone, cooking lunch for 70 survivors and doing some other volunteer work. One  task was to haul some rubble to this house, which has two walls torn away by the tsunami. The city will demolish the house and haul away the rubble with it. Looking at the place you could ask "What's holding it up?" but that question could be asked about the Tohoku recovery efforts more than 18 months after the triple disaster.

We arrived in Ishinomaki as the morning program for tsunami survivors was in progress. Miyuki of Enka Friends was performing, and you can see a video clip of the Enka Friends concert in Harumi by scrolling down on this blog. This program and lunch have been held weekly since March 2011, and  people have found Jesus through it.

So, let's get the food on the grill and get going! I've got mushrooms and leeks cooking on the charcoal here, and the strips of thin sliced beef for yaki niku are cooking on the left. In the middle are the noodles and cabbage of yaki soba. We were so glad to have the vegetables and meat prepared before our arrival. With a 90 minute traffic jam en route, we couldn't have been ready on time any other way. 

While in Ishinomaki we watched a two block long procession of Buddhist priests walking, ringing bells and chanting. Since Buddhist priests are best known for doing funeral rites, their presence in the neighbourhood reminded us again of what has been lost and how far the area has to go to get back to "normal".

You've Never Done This Before...

It's the summer, and if you want to waste a little leisure time and see a little of Japan via your computer screen, this link gives you a unique opportunity to drive a commuter train in Japan. The line is the one our daughters have used to get to school our entire time in Japan, so we know the scenes you'll see from the cab very well.

http://www.realrailway.com/en/ikebukuro/simulator60.html


When you hear the annoucement for the next station, you need to apply the brakes hard, and then ease off as the train comes into the station, being careful to stop at the exact place indicated. That's the way the real drivers do it.

The News Is Not Good...

This report from a credible news source gives some alarming statistics about health in Fukushima, near the reactors: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-stunning-36-percent-of-fukushima-children-have-abnormal-growths-from-radiation-exposure-2012-7