A double role

Last week saw another job added to the Ferguson portfolio. It goes by the rather grand title of OMF Interim Regional Director for Hokkaido. Quite a mouthful that one. The former Director is moving next month with his wife to Miyako in Iwate Prefecture, one of the areas hit by the tsunami. A new OMF work has already begun there due to a couple coming back to Japan from the UK for some weeks over the summer and teams of volunteers which have gone to help. However, from next month there will be permanent presence there for at least the next two years. Anyway, back to Sapporo, this left us with a gap to fill here. Quite a big gap actually as the Regional Director role involves many things and easily fills the time of a full-time worker. Now we take on this role part-time for six months. David plans to be in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays but it is unlikely to work out as neatly packaged as that. There will be lots of juggling! We hope for no great crisis during these coming months. The work at Hiragishi continues and these are important days as we look to see the church built up here and some of the many people we know beginning to move closer to Jesus. We are happy to serve our colleagues here in Hokkaido and work together with them as we live and minister among the people here. These are challenging days with much to learn, lots of new experiences, many people to speak to, listen to and encourage. But they are also exciting days to be in Japan. Today saw yet another new Prime Minister. Governments come and go but our unchanging God is working out his purposes for this land and the people that he made.

All change - again!

The holidays are over. The older two boys left on Monday for India. The new school year at Hebron begins today. The younger two have a few more days before second term begins here. It was great to be a family of six again for some weeks, though during our holiday time we were not always all together as the boys had different camps in which they were involved. Daniel is now in his last year at Hebron. It's amazing this has come round so soon! He is a school prefect and has various other responsibilities during this final year. Next year will see him finish and hopefully move on to university. Matthew has three more years at Hebron but as Daniel goes into his final year there, Calum starts his final year in Japan. If all goes to plan, he will go to Hebron next year. Next year will be a time of even more comings and goings than normal - whatever might be considered 'normal' in our lifestyle! And as if that were not enough, there will be a major change of role for us at the end of next year with a move to Tokyo after that. But that is stil far off. While we prepare for the future, we live in the present and we are looking forward to continuing the task to which God has called us in Hiragishi once we are back into 'work mode' next week. There is another change of role to be faced then too - but a post on that can wait till then. Meanwhile we are glad to know Daniel and Matthew are safely at Hebron and we will enjoy our last few days with Calum and Alistair before we get back to the busyness of the coming weeks.

English Kids' Camp

Since April last year Lorna has run two weekly English classes, one for younger elementary school age children and another for the older year groups. As well as teaching them English from a native speaker, there is the chance each week at the end to share a simple Bible story (in Japanese) with the children. Many of these children (and their parents) have come to different events we have held over the past year or so. This past weekend we held a camp for some of the English class children - not all were able to come so we had manageable numbers. It was great fun. We were helped by a team which is over here from the UK in July working at another church nearby and two of them also stayed overnight. We had games. We ate some British food for supper - mince, potatoes, carrots and peas followed by trifle! That seemed to go down well. In the evening we practised a play which Lorna had written in simple English telling the story of Daniel in the lions' den. The kids did a great job saying their lines and enjoyed making some masks and props together. The evening ended with fireworks (always part of a camp here). We expected the children to be up early - and they were. Morning exercises took the form of hip hop and then it was time for bread sticks baked over the barbecue. The camp ended with parents being invited to a time of games and food on the Sunday morning and a presentation of the play. It was so good to see many parents turning up, including several dads. The children have had many seeds sown in their hearts over these past months. We trust that in years to come, and even now, some of these children - and their parents - might find their way to Jesus.

A Busy Weekend

This past weekend saw us once again rent the kindergarten building we have used before for Hiragishi Church events. On Saturday we held a UK Culture Day. A team of six from the UK are spending a month working with a church near us and came along to help in different ways. We had fun with icebreaker and other games; we heard about the different parts of UK culture; shared about the significance of the crosses on the flag; sang a traditional song; enjoyed some Scottish country dancing; and ended with a traditional afternoon tea complete with cucumber sandwiches and scones with jam and cream. It was great to welcome people who we know well and have come along to events before. It was also a joy to see a number of people there for the first time. There was a great atmosphere with time to chat to many of the guests who were there. For a small church like ours to hold something like this is always a challenge and we were glad of the help of the team from the UK. These kind of events are 'easy to come to' and offer a low key way to get to know people in our community and a place where we can invite folks we have been getting to know well. People are at ease coming. Our hope is that some will want to know more and come along again. Everyone took home a card with some details of Izumi Church and an invite to some other events we plan to hold in the autumn. As soon as the Culture Day finished we were straight into an overnight camp for the children from Lorna's English classes - but that blog can wait for another day.

Impressions of Iwate - Day 6

We are now back in Sapporo. Travel and catching an overnight ferry meant no time for the Day 6 blog yesterday. It was another action-packed day. The morning saw us loading up the vehicles again. The destination - the town of Yamada which we had driven through the day before and which had been badly affected by the tsunami. We headed for a large temporary housing area with some 150 houses. Some set up the mat and laid out all the things we had brought - vegetables, clothing, blankets, foodstuffs, things for children and babies. Others of us went round the doors telling people we had come. Everyone's eyes opened wide, they smiled, said thank you and headed for the area where we had set up stall. No sooner was everything laid out than it was all gone! No one here has access to shops (there are none left nearby) and many have no car. We helped some of the older folks carry things back to their tiny houses - little ways to serve and to chat. After a quick turn around at the base, we were off again to a smaller temporary housing area, this time small enough that we could deliver some items to each household. Again, the welcome was warm. Some even insisted on giving something in return - a can of juice or an ice cream bar. People with so little giving out of what they had. We drove back to our base again, tidied the place up for the next teams who arrived last night (not OMF teams) and headed north, passing through some other devastated places on our way to Hachinohe where the ferry was waiting. Yesterday, four months to the day of the tsunami, was the first day ferries could operate from that port since then due to the damage incurred that day. It was a busy ferry! Now we are back to daily life in Sapporo. But now is also the time to reflect. What have we learned? What can we do now? How does OMF move forward in these coming weeks and months? Other teams will go. A couple (and their young son) are in Miyako over the coming few weeks. A more permanent presence will be established from September. The needs are vast. The potential is great. Funds have been donated in abundance. Supplies are continually needed and those needs will change as the months go on. The challenge - to provide the resources, both human and material, so that the work of reaching out in word and deed, the work of listening, of being alongside, of encouraging, of being the hands, feet and ears of Jesus can continue in these hugely needy areas. The OMF July team's visit is over. But the work of rebuilding broken communities and broken lives goes on and will go on for many weeks, months and years to come.

Impressions of Iwate - Day 5

Today has been quite a day. It started off with a jolt just after 10am when a strong earthquake hit off the coast of Iwate. It was M7.1 and immediately the sirens went off and announcements started giving a tsunami warning and saying to people to move away from the coastal areas. That continued for some time, even after we had gone to the service at the local church. Occasionally the service stopped so we could listen to the announcements. In the end of the tday he tsunami amounted to hardly anything but it went to show how suddenly these things can happen - and almost 4 months to the day of the big quake. It was great to worship at Miyako Community Church and have fellowship with the folks there. We were given a warm welcome and it is so good that OMF can work in partnership with this church and Pastor Iwatsuka. The afternoon saw us head further south along the coast to visit some of the towns which had really taken the brunt of the tsunami. The scenes were quite incredible. As a team we reflected on our time after our evening meal. Some expressions people used - like a war zone. Like the aftermath of Hiroshima. Desolate. Sense of hopelessness. The buildings that still stood were gutted; some were badly charred due to fire; some still lay toppled over; some were just twisted wrecks. Mangled cars were everywhere. The roads through these towns have been cleared but it is like driving through a ghost town. You can't even imagine what it was like before. The town of Otsuchi lost over 60% of its population. The clear up seems hardly to have started in some places. The Ostuchi town office was swept away by the tsunami along with the town's mayor and other leaders. Later one of our team met an old lady from Otsuchi who survived by running up the mountain - she said simply that Otsuchi is finished. There were many poignant sights today but one that sticks in the mind is seeing a boat with the name 海友 - the characters for 'sea' and 'friend'. What an irony. The sea which today was so serene and beautiful - it is an idyllic coastline - is the same sea that had come crashing in with such force and swept away everything and everyone in its path. We stopped to pray for Otsuchi. We then moved further south and saw more of the same. Where do they begin? How do they rebuild? What about those who remain? Huge questions. All that we have done in our time here seems to have been but a drop in a bucket. Yet surely each drop counts. Each drop has meaning. And surely more and more need to be committed to come here and live with these people, serve these people and point them to the only way out of the utter devastation and hopelessness we saw today.

Impressions of Iwate - Day 4

Today was hot. 35 degrees hot! And our task for today (well, some of us anyway) - to pack some packets of special noodles along with the accompanying sauce into bags then head off to Taro, a badly affected area, to deliver these round the neighbourhoods there. This time we worked with a group from another church around a two hour drive away. People were so grateful to receive even the little we were giving them. Their words were kind. Their smiles were sweet. Some even bowed down in the entrance way on their hands and knees. As we delivered, there were several opportunities to linger and chat - in the shade thankfully. People were open to speaking about the dreadful events of 11th March. Our task - just to listen to their stories and say very little. It was evident today that for some the time has come for them to speak out their pain and tell their stories. Who will be there to listen over the coming weeks and months? This morning Daniel and Matthew had a different task as they headed off to a local primary school to play games and sports with some children there. The children were so happy and seemed to chat all the time. We were not long back from Taro when we were packing up the vehicles again with vegetables, clothing (some people can't readily buy or even have the rescources to buy things they need). This time we went to another temporary housing area in a remote part of Miyako. Soon people were gathering round, selecting what they wanted to have, chatting and thanking us for coming. Again some people were opening up, one man even describing the day of the tsunami when he had to cling on to a tree as the water rose and threatened to sweep him away. He survived as did his wife. Just one story out of thousands. As we chatted as a team tonight we wondered about the idea of a 'kikiya' (literally a room where you can go to have your story listened to). This is a time for those who love Jesus to be available to listen, to sit alongside, to be there as people release some of what has been in their hearts for these past months. That is a big challenge for all of us in the churches in Japan.