August 10, 2011, Wednesday

It was mighty hard to go to sleep last night and get up this morning. I didn’t have the sweet luxury of the air mattress since we’ve deflated and folded those up to make room for all the extra bodies. By 6:30 AM we had all managed to flop somewhat upright. Breakfast preparation began and by 7:30 the kiddos commenced feeding their faces. We had some delicious hot dog/sausages. Afterward, Team Stone Gate + 1 powered through the dirty dishes.  

My appreciation for symmetry was indulged by our return to the Michinoku Park that we visited during the younger kids’ camp. Our trip this time was markedly different by the presence of abundant sun. We helped haul the barbeque gear to the base camp set up under a tree. Lunch preparation didn’t start for another hour, so we waddled off to find some ice cream. While we were out, the temptation of a giant roller slide proved too great for me and Erika. In the time we had before going back to start lunch, Erika, Maki, and I joined Sarah under a gazebo. We melted just sitting there, but it was better than melting and moving.

Lunch was a rice dish with shrimp, squid, and…some other meat…plus they grilled delicious thinly cut steaks. After lunch the kids separated into teams and started a park wide game of hide-and-seek – of sorts. Two people hid and everyone else had to catch them.

Once we got back to the church in the late afternoon, some of us stayed there while everyone else trotted off to bathe at the ofuro. Those who stayed behind took their showers (best time of the day!) and helped get the room ready for dinner.

The message this evening was covering another part of Psalm 46 – the part about how God is “a very present help in trouble.”  The speaker talked about how troubles are not necessarily punishment for something you’ve done, but how it is part of his plan for your life. He used John 9, the story about the man who was born blind, and Jeremiah 29:11. In John 9, Jesus’ disciples could not understand that it wasn’t because of the blind man’s sins that he was unable to see. Jesus explained that it was not the man’s sin, or his parent’s sins, but rather so that God’s might would be displayed in him.

Tomorrow’s schedule is a little more relaxed – it looks like we have some downtime. Maybe we’ll sneak a nap in there somewhere. Thank you for your prayers!

August 9, 2011, Tuesday              

Psalm 46:1-3 – God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. NASB

Youth camp started today in the afternoon. Everyone but Sarah and I headed off to the pool and onsen for the first camp activity. While they were gone, we helped the church staff with whatever needed to be done – some weeding, window cleaning, and general spiffying-up of the sanctuary. In the down time, I practiced flexibility in my napping requirements by conking out a few times with my head on the table. I believe it’s a worthwhile skill to hone.  

The rest of the team returned a little early and we started getting dinner ready. Setting up the multipurpose room for 47’ish people can be a little like a jigsaw puzzle. When there’s working to be done, you won’t find our team members shirking duties – usually, it’s a fight to first blood to get the choice spots in the kitchen. We had delicious teriyaki-style chicken with rice, salad, and a cabbage’y soup. For dessert we broke out packages of flan for everyone. Clean-up after the meal is our finest hour. Because the staff is in their evening meeting after dinner, we don’t have to jostle for jobs. Erika (our volunteer buddy) and the Stone Gate team make a crack dish cleaning machine.

The rest of the evening was spent upstairs singing songs and listening to the message. It was based on Psalm 46:1-3. He talked about how everything changes around us – fashion, school, even how people run (apparently!). It is impossible to stand on changing, unstable ground. The only solid foundation is God’s word. Some of the kids went off for one-on-one counseling while the others remained upstairs and for a bit more singing and teaching.

Bedtime was 10:30 – but in typical giggly-girl fashion, it wasn’t really quiet until 11:00.  I am not a typical giggly girl, so as soon as I was ready, I took advantage of all our allotted sleeping time. Due to lack of space, Meggie and Maki decided to sleep in the van. We’ll see how they fared in the morning.

I'll try and post pictures later.

August 8, 2011, Monday

The sanctuary is now back to being a sanctuary! All the boxes have been moved to another alcove in the hallway. The electrical work is also finished, so we dismantled and removed the scaffolding. I think the staff is happy that they have the room again. The cleaning was also to prepare for this week’s youth retreat. This week is different than last week when we got to get our hands dirty doing traditional relief work. The church is hosting a youth retreat from Tuesday to Friday morning. We’ll be helping out in whatever way they need. The work will probably be similar to what we did at the childrens’ camp at the beginning of our stay, and what Maki, Tomo, and Sarah did at the Iwate Kids’ Camp. We’ve also been told that just being here all the way from America can serve as an encouragement –I hope that’s the case.

I’ve heard that about 30 high-school-age kids might be attending. They’ll be sleeping at the church, so our sleeping arrangements will also change. I think we’re all a little anxious about the next few days. We haven’t killed each yet, so continued prayer for our attitudes and nerves would be fantastic. I’m not sure how much writing time I’ll have this week, but I’ll do the best I can. Our schedule is quite booked!

August 7, 2011, Sunday

Sunday morning we hauled our pile of bags upstairs again to make room for service. Since the sanctuary upstairs is still full of supplies and construction scaffolding, the church is still meeting in the downstairs all-purpose room where we sleep during the week. It’s quite a neat room set-up – there are tracks in the ceiling for light wall pieces to run on, allowing the room to be made up of several smaller cubicles, or removed for one big room.

There was a guest speaker this morning from CRASH, Andy Meeko, a second generation missionary. He has been working in Fukushima doing relief work, as well as doing counseling. His message was on joy, how it differs from happiness, and how it’s possible to have joy in any situation. He also talked about how finding joy in life takes practice, like any life skill. Joy isn’t an attribute reserved for believers, but unlike non-believers, we can truly find joy in any situation because our joy is in the Lord. We also had the chance to witness a baptism – it was quite sweet. The church usually provides a lunch after the service. We helped as much as we could, but only so many people can squish into the kitchen. We arranged tables and chairs, and served the meal of rice and curry.

Once we were done with cleaning up, we tromped off to the train station for our trip into Sendai. The Sendai station wasn’t as crowded as it had been on the night of the fireworks, but the festival was still going on, so there were more people than usual. The group split up and some people headed off to Aoba Castle, and another group stayed around the station to shop. We met up later back near the station, regrouped, and then split up again – some people returning to the church, others staying in the city for a few last minute things.

One of the highlights of this trip has been to meet the other volunteers. Spending time with Erika and Iha-san has been a very bright spot. Erika is from South Carolina, speaks wonderful Japanese (and English…), and is always cheerful and encouraging. Iha-san is from Okinawa, also staying at the church with us, and is so much fun to be around. One morning, he made us authentic spam musubi – so delicious! I wish I could speak more Japanese so that I could get to know him better. I have never had such lively train-rides in Japan than with Erika and Iha-san. We’re going to miss them a lot.