Easter is coming

Easter is not big in Japan. Just like Christmas, it is not a public holiday here. However, whereas Christmas is in some way celebrated (albeit in presents, cake and bright lights fashion), Easter just passes by unnoticed. For the churches, Christmas is a big opporutnity for outreach and many events are held, usually very well attended. But Easter is often simply marked with a special service for the church folks on Easter Sunday and that's it. There is little observance of Lent and nothing to mark Holy Week (of course there will be churches which do so but generally that does not happen, at least that has been so in our experience). But how we want to celebrate Easter and take the opportunity to proclaim the message of the cross and a risen Saviour! This Easter we are doing something a bit different in Hiragishi. We got the idea from visiting church at this time last year. That church has for the past 20 years or so held an Easter Festival for the community on a Sunday afternoon at the end of April having held their worship service in the morning. Japanese people love festivals - food, games, fun things to do (and they are often associated with the Shinto shrines). The church we visited has built up many contacts over the years and had well over 250 people coming that Sunday afternoon. We are planning something much more modest and who knows how many will come. Like we did at Christmas we are renting a building very near us which has lots of space both inside and outdoors. We are palnning food, games, crafts and a section in the middle where one of our OMF colleagues who does hip hop dancing will do his stuff and everyone can join in. We'll have a simple Easter message then too. Just now we are busy with all the preparations - always a challenge for our small church. Later that day we will hold the Hiragishi Easter worship in the same building and it would be great to see some folks coming to that too. Easter is not known here - but through this Festival we want to make the message of Easter known. Jesus is alive - may people in Hiragishi hear that and come to know him!

Half term

This being April, it means a trip to India for one of us. And this time it's Lorna'a turn. Remarkably this time we found a route which got her there in 24 hours. Usually there needs to be some stopover somewhere. One bus ride, four flights and a 3 hour taxi ride up the mountain and Lorna was at the Guest Home in Ooty last Friday evening (Indian time) having left here on an 8.30 flight Thursday evening. The first week at Hebron (Parents' Week) is always a bsuy time with parent/teacher interviews, music performances, sports events (the swimming gala this time in which Daniel excelled in all his races) and an Easter play/musical in which both Daniel and Matthew have main roles. As well as being a time to catch up with the boys, it gives time to meet the teaching staff and dorm parents informally and also meet up with many other parents who work in a whole variety of roles in many different places. Hebron really is a multi-cultural experience and every time we go there we appreciate the family-like atmosphere around the school. After a busy half-term of study and many other extra-curricular activities, everyone is ready for a holiday in the second week. For us the destination is usually the same, whether it is April or October - Kovalam, a town on the beach right at the south west tip of India which is lined with little hotels and restaurants and with a warm sea (for surfing in rather than swimming). After the week away, it's the long overnight train and then taxi journey back to the school for the final weekend and boys settling in to life in the dorm again - and for exams which lie ahead. In many ways we lead an odd lifestyle. But the blessings are rich and varied. We are so thankful for Hebron school and the many opportunities it has given our boys in ways that go well beyond mere education.

Continuing to Care

As we enter the month of April, this is a time of change in Japan. It is the start of the new business year and the new school year. Many people move home at this time due to a change in job. Of course for thousands of people last month brought about such cataclysmic changes that they will barely notice that we have moved into April. The changes for these people who have lost so much will continue to impact them for many months and years. Just as the business and school years start this month, so does the new year for most churches. Many choose a theme and Bible verse to guide them over the coming twelve months. It is now just over six weeks since the tragic death of the pastor at Otaru Church. We have been involved much there over these past weeks helping with preaching and the children's work on some Sundays and also being with the people, visiting them and listening to them as they process all that has happened. One of our colleagues who is trained in counselling went one Sunday and shared with the church folks about dealing with loss and their grief and that was a very helpful time. She will go twice more over the coming two months. The question for us is how far and in what ways we can or should be available to help. People have not only faced the death of their pastor but now also the sense of sadness and loss that is affecting the whole nation in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. For Otaru, this Sunday is the start of the new church year and David will be preaching then. The pastor had already decided on the theme and guiding verse for the coming year so David will use that on Sunday as a basis for his message from God's word. It is the start of a new church year but a new start unlike any other as it is so connected to all that has happened over these past weeks. May we continue to know how best we can help care for and serve the people in Otaru as they move forward but continue to face many challenges in their walk as God's people in that part of Otaru.

An unfolding tragedy

It is now over 10 days since the earthquake struck and the ensuing tsunami caused such devastation of lives and property along the north-east coast of Honshu island. While the media coverage in the west continues to focus much on the nuclear plant in Fukushima, here the stories of human tragedy continue to emerge. Whole towns with reasonably-sized populations have just been wiped out along with many of the residents who failed to escape the waves in time. Many simply drowned. Many were fleeing with their special 'earthquake' bags filled with essential documents and basic suppplies but could not reach the high ground before the tsunami came crashing into their towns at heights no one could even have imagined. In many towns a line can be drawn where the waves stopped - on one side there is almost complete destruction; on the other houses stand as if nothing had happened. Different buildings serve as evacuation centres for those who have lost their homes. Some churches are using their buildings for that purpose. Getting sufficient supplies through can be a challenge. It is cold too. The elderly in particular find it hard. Obviously there are many physical needs. But so too are there emotional and spiritual needs. One of the tasks which needs to be done is identifying and then burying the dead. In some places mass graves have been prepared. But the task of finding survivors even yet is not over. In one place a 16 year old boy and his elderly grandmother were found (both amazingly well) after 9 days buried under the rubble of their house. The OMF team is preparing to go into one town from tomorrow and set up base at a church which suffered some damage during the tsunami but is still inhabitable on the second floor. Two missionaries who have scouted out the area have found some grim sights. The needs are vast. The task is great. But each of us can play our part, whatever that is, to bring relief, comfort and hope to those who need it so much.

Jesus' Hands and Feet

At the moment life is busy here. Since Friday we have been involved in coordinating a trip by a small team of OMF missionaries in Sapporo to one of the areas devastated by the tsunami from next Tuesday. Two of our colleagues who work in the north of Honshu have already gone to search out the area, make the necessary contacts and see in what ways OMF can help. An area has been identified, contact made with a local church which can be used and a decision made to use this visit to minister by way of providing simple hot meals and any other practical tasks which can be done. It is not a case of simply turning up and trying to help. There is lots we are learning as we go along and we are glad of the expertise of a group called CRASH which started a few years ago and is staffed mainly by missionaries which has the specific aim of reaching out to help people in crisis situations. At the moment we are gathering together supplies; a team is place; vehicles are ready; and we are trying our best to source the necessary equipment and not least the fuel which is in short supply in certain places. All being well the team of six will leave at 5am on Tuesday morning to connect with a ferry to Honshu at noon and then the long drive to the base camp. How it will all go, no one really knows. The key is flexibility. And a servant heart. One of our colleagues talked helpfully of being Jesus' hands and feet. We may well not be in contact with our missionary friends once they are in the area as communication is very difficult with no phone lines and few mobile providers which work there. We will try to keep you posted as to how things go. So how can you help? Please pray for the team for safety, stamina, good health and oppprtunties to love and serve people in Jesus name. If you would like to give to the relief effort in which OMF and other agencies invovled, you can do so by donating to the Sendai Earthquake Relief Fund which is an OMF project. If you are in the UK, visit the omf site at www.omf.org.uk and you will be able to give online or by cheque. It is a blessing to us to be able to help in some small way and to know the depth of care and support from round the world.

When disaster strikes

It was a day never to be forgotten. It was day which saw many lives lost in a moment. It was a day which saw some of the most horrific devastation left along vast areas of the coast and further inland on Japan's main island of Honshu. It is a day which has forever changed Japan. Things are not the same now and never will be. Although we felt the power and intensity of the earthquake to some extent where we are in Sapporo, we are far removed from the areas which were literally swallowed up the sheer force of the waves as the tsunami crashed into the north east coast of Honshu. Some had managed to flee to higher ground. Many did not. Thousands of people killed. Countless homes destroyed. Half a million in evacuation centres. The logistic challenge facing the country is almost unimaginable. The scenes on television screens, the stories of human tragedy leave everyone numbed and heavy-hearted. How do you begin to move on from here, far less to understand it? Even now there are many heroic efforts ongoing to find people as yet unreached. There are fears about the state of the nuclear reactor where some brave workers are risking their lives daily to fight off the threat of radioactive leak or worse. The immediate needs are vast. The long-term needs are also vast. What can we do? For the moment it is very difficult to get into the affected areas. OMF is joining with other agencies and looking to help in whatever way we can. We can of course be and are praying, caring for people and just being with people around us. What can you do? Of course pray. Give. Consider what practical help might be possible in the weeks and months that lie ahead. We plan to follow up this blog with more detail as to what we and you can do in the next entry which will appear soon. Meanwhile we appreciate the prayers and concern of so many. As we see the vast needs around us, may we also keep our eyes fixed on unseen things, on the Lord of grace and mercy who is in ways that may be a mystery to us working out his eternal purposes.

Masks

Seeing people wearing a white surgical mask is a common sight in Japan. People who have a slight cold, or do not want to risk catching a cold, can be seen with one of these masks that covers the whole of the mouth and part of the nose and is attached with elasticated string behind the ears. In times when flu is doing the rounds (it usually hits at some point in the winter months causing school classes, and even whole schools, to close for a few days) the masks are well on display. It's always a challenge for us to try to understand someone speaking Japanese behind a mask - it can be hard enough at the best of times! Recently we heard of a new trend in mask-wearing which has nothing to do with keeping clear from bugs or spreading your own. Some people are wearing (or perhaps it should be hiding behind) masks simply to give them a sense of security. Designer masks are now also in vogue. Some use the masks to hide what they feel they don't want others to see on their faces. There was a story of a high school girl who resorted to wearing a mask after being teased about being ugly. However, she was in time able to kick the habit by coming to the realisation that masks can conceal the face but not the heart. One of the discoveries we made early on in our time in Japan is that what you see on the surface is not necessarily the same as what lies underneath. That can apply in many ways from words spoken (or not spoken) to facial expressions to the way the dynamics work in a meeting or group setting. The trend of mask-wearing (for non-health reasons) seems to take that to yet another dimension.