Impressions of Iwate - Day 1

Last night six of us headed off from Sapporo bound for the ferry terminal at Tomakomai and the overnight crossing to Aomori. After not too much sleep in the somewhat mis-named 'easy comfort zone', we arrived early this morning and headed down through Aomori, part of Akita and into Iwate, one of the prefectures most badly hit by the March 11th tsunami. We were destined for Miyako, the large town where OMF now has a base for future work. Everything looks quite normal as you enter the town. You pass a Mr Donuts and even a new McDonalds. People go about their daily business. Then we headed down into the areas nearer the coast. While much clearing up has been done, the devastation was still shockingly apparent. Mangled buildings. Large areas where houses had been swept away in an instant. Piles of scrapped cars. Some areas survived unscathed. Others continue to live on the second floor of their houses. Still others have houses that are totally intact. Everywhere you see buildings with what looks like red graffiti - a condemned building to be knocked down. Later we met the pastor of the local church and it was great just to observe him in action. He has got to know people. He is earning trust. He is building bridges. As we went to a temporary housing area, he obviously knew and was known by a number of the people there. This evening a mobile cafe was set up there (run by the son of an OMF missionary) where people could come and gather, chat, and enjoy free drinks and cakes. We paid a visit to a school where we will go on Friday. A number of the children there have been badly affected by the tsunami and its aftermath. They want us to do a barbecue - as well as games and probably some English too. And to cap off an eventful day, bizarrely we ended up chasing a little dog for about 2 km. We were passing in the van and saw the owner chasing it as it had run away. Dog was retrieved and owner very grateful. We didn't quite know what to expect when we came here. We certainly didn't expect to be rescuing a dog! But our eyes have been opened - to the sheer scale of the devastation (and we have not been to the worst areas yet). But also been opened to see a pastor and other Christians sharing the love of Jesus in word and deed. And also to see people, from young children to the elderly, who have been through so much but who are moving on with life as best they can. Tomorrow we visit another area to deliver vegetables and other things. May we all be open to show and share the love of Jesus and just be alongside, even for a moment, these precious people.