When Do We Go?

No doubt everyone would like to do something, anything to help here. Being right on site, we feel the same way. When can we get up there? Well, first the answer to the "how" question. There's been a Christian group that has responded to several disasters within and outside Japan over the years. Laura assisted with recovery after a quake through this organization several years ago. You can see her post and pictures on this blog if you go back to July 30 2007. CRASH is an acronym for Christian Relief Assistance Support and Hope. Their command centre is very active right now, and we're assisting them in the planning stages, and will move into the action stage when the time comes.


Here's what will answer the "When" question for us:

DEFINITION OF THE CURRENT RESPONSE SITUATION:

The following definitions were given to be helpful for understanding the aftermath of a crisis like this.

• Rescue: this is what is currently taking place. This is done by professionals, and we need to trust them with this phase.
• Relief: can be defined as the urgent and temporary provision of emergency aid to reduce immediate suffering from a natural or man-made crisis. There is a need to halt the free fall, to stop the bleeding, and this is what relief attempts to do. It targets those who are largely incapable of helping themselves at the time. The Good Samaritan bandaging of the helpless and bleeding man is an excellent example of this. Once the rescue work is done and access to the region is opened to the public, groups on the ground here want to be ready to have teams going in bringing relief and initial assistance.
• Rehabilitation: begins as soon as the bleeding stops. It seeks to restore people and their communities to the positive elements of their pre-crisis condition. The key feature of rehabilitation is a dynamic of working with the victims as they participate in their own recovery. This is a much longer term involvement. One way to engage with this is to get churches inside and outside of Japan to become sister churches with those in the affected zone, working through them to bring help in rebuilding the communities.

We've gotten inquiries from people in Canada about coming to help. Crashjapan.com will enable you to get started on the process, and many groups are channeling their funding through CRASH. Our colleague Carol Love is the financial director, and she's been very busy in recent days.

We're All Okay!

For those who are checking this blog to see if we're okay, we can tell you that not only are we okay, but our apartment is undamaged (other than a mess right after the quake) and we have power, gas and water, which is a great deal more than what people in the Tohoku region of Japan have.

Our girls stayed with our colleagues the Loves for the first night, and when the trains started running, were able to return home. The blazing refinery is visible from our balcony. Aftershocks continue. More details to follow...

I shouldn't be surprised by new fads in Japan, but...

Please note what people are willing to pay for this service! (80 yen=$1)
'IV bar' in Nagoya offering after work refreshment › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

Twice during our time living here hospitals have wanted to admit me for a week just to give me IVs. Once was for steroids, and once was for antibiotics. Can you imagine staying in the hospital just to receive IVs? I solemnly promised I would come in every day without fail to get the needed treatment, and they relented.

Curtain!

That's what the Covenant Players say at the end of one of their thought-provoking plays. No scenery, no costumes, almost no props.

The plays dealt with unmerited favour, a.k.a. "Grace/恵み". In both languages it can be a woman's name, and much more than that.

There were short plays about a child forgiving an unkind playmate, a man cheerfully donating a kidney to a friend (just a friend? why would he do that?) and a man feeling very uncomfortable about a freely given gift that he had not asked for.

You can tell from Kurt's expression that sometimes Grace is an uncomfortable topic!

But, it's a topic we discussed as we broke into groups a couple of times during the performance to consider the meaning of the plays.

As with music, sometimes the right-brain imagery of acting can touch people in ways other forms of communication cannot, and can cause people to think more deeply about the message conveyed.

Meanwhile, Kurt, Cathy and Iris head off to Kobe, then to Guam. Another church, another school, another performance. Visual parables.

Kopi and Kaya, a Great Couple!

Thanks to Ya Kun Coffeestall of Singapore having an outlet in Toyosu, the adjacent island to ours, we can continue to enjoy Kopi and Kaya from time to time. A taste of Singapore. What is Kaya? A great breakfast or snack with butter on toast. A sweet jam made of coconut, milk and some unknown plant. And Kopi? Maximum strength coffee, usually mixed with condensed milk. It's great hot or iced, provided you don't enjoy it too late in the afternoon, or worse still, in the evening.

While you can enjoy Kopi in Malaysia and Thailand, and now even Japan, the half boiled egg is a Singapore tradition. Immerse an egg in hot, but not boiling, water for 30 seconds or so, and then crack open in a saucer. If we want that, I guess we'll have to do it at home, but I don't think anyone's developed nostalgia for that yet.

Asia Spice Conference

An excellent conference in Penang, Malaysia last week for all Asia Spice international workers, and their families. Since Heather's contemplating a career overseas, we were delighted that she could get time off work to attend!

There were some sessions and seminars that were of benefit to her, but it was the networking over meals that was really memorable. It was great to hear stories of what God is doing all over Asia.

We had a little time off the last afternoon, and Heather and Megan went parasailing. Here they are harnessed up for flight.

Two steps forward, and then airborne! A great feeling, and in Penang at least, a low cost.

While we enjoyed flying into Haneda airport's new international terminal, a mere 40 minute journey from our apartment (compared to about two hours to Narita airport), I don't think Megan enjoyed the all-night flight.

A Pastoral Visit

Toshimi had been involved with our Harumi Praise Time since our return to Japan in 2009, and our girls enjoyed her son Kazuki. I had met with her husband a few times for coffee and English conversation. Then last summer they moved to Singapore.

Since we had the Asia Spice conference to attend in Penang, Malaysia, a stopover in Singapore seemed in order. They graciously showed us some of the sights in a city that is spectacular.

I'd have to say their new neighbourhood is like Harumi, but of course much warmer. Especially this time of year!

Looks like the school uniforms are made with the hot sun in mind! We were able to give Toshimi the addresses of some churches in town, including a couple of Japanese congregations.