Last post

With the last entry I sent a picture with a grand piano in front of a house.  I had thought I had posted a picture of the same place two weeks ago when we removed the grand piano andcleaned out the back rooms.  I did not, as it turns out, so I am posting it now.  I intended to show the progress of the cleaning effort as a whole street that was lined with garbage is now clear.
As I sat at the gate waiting for boarding to commence I was thinking it was a little ironic that the train I rode to the airport on was stopped for  15 minutes on the way to the airport because of an earthquake.  The other thing I noticed is that life in Tokyo has pretty much returned to normal.  It made me a little sad for the people up north where life is still anything but normal.  I don’t want people to forget what is going on up there.  There is so much in life that we take for granted that can change in an instant.
I was blessed at the airport to get to spend some time with Richard Nakamura, my classmate from Multnomah.  What a blessing to get to catch up with him and hear how God is working in him.  My mostly empty very large suitcase came in handy in getting a replacement chime back to the States in time for Easter.  You can’t get just one in the States.  You have to get a whole set.  So Rich was getting a single chime replacement.
The weekend before Mark’s call I was wondering if it wouldn’t be better just to send money instead of spending the money to actually go.  Now looking back it is easy to see that actually going was the right thing to do on many levels.  A person  can offer encouragement, comfort, care and make connections  Not only was I able to help meet some practical needs of people who have lost much, I was also able to minister to the deaf community on the weekends.   I was able to encourage the Japanese just by my willingness to come over and help.  Being there gave me the opportunity to see a family who had lost a Bible in the flooding and to replace it.   Being there gave me the opportunity to spend meaningful time with my brother and encourage him.  Being there for three weeks, working under the leadership of the Shiogama Bible Baptist Church was an encouragement to them as well. 
Presence is important.  I am thankful that God could use my presence there to minister to and encourage many people.   Once again, thank you for your prayers and support.  Please continue to pray for Pastor Otomo and the crew up in Shiogama as they continue in the daily grind of the relief effort.  (The picture is of Pastor Otomo).
I am safely home now.  I received a very wonderful pleasant surprise when I returned home.  A project I had originally planned on doing during this period of time that I have been gone was completed.  Thank you Carey and Stan!  Its a load off my mind.

Thursday the 14th

Three weeks seems like a long time when you are starting out on an adventure, but it sure seems to have flown by quickly.  We got to work in Ishinomaki again today with the Samaritan’s Purse team.  There were more of them today and my interpreting ability was put to use with them today as we had two teams and only one interpreter for them today.  Mr. Hori also came so both my non-Japanese languages came in handy today.  Our team finished up where we worked yesterday then moved on to another garden cleaning job.  The other team was cleaning inside a house like we have been doing often lately.  There was another team that stayed in Tagajo and worked on things like we have been lately.
As my time here comes to a close I want to thank everyone who has been praying.  I have felt your prayers throughout my stay here.  God has been very good.  I also want to thank those who have given financially to help this cause.  The Shiogama church really is a hub for relief activities.  They have worked with a number of agencies and churches in Japan to keep spreading God’s love by being involved with the relief effort.  I am glad to have been able to be a part of this effort and to pass on your donations to a good cause.
The church here covets your prayers as they continue in the relief effort.  I would appreciate your continued prayers as I travel to Tokyo on tomorrow and on the States on Saturday.  Thanks for helping me be here and have a small part in this huge effort.

Wednesday the 13th #2

Today I didn’t get a chance to get on the internet and send the blog update until late as the team was already loading up and getting ready to go to Ishinomaki to help out there.  We were working with a Samaritan’s Purse team who had helped out with Katrina.  They had a Japanese  interpreter, a Japanese driver/worker/interpreter and 3 American disaster relief team members.  We were working under their tutelage today as they are experts at this sort of thing.  It was interesting to learn a few more tips about flood damage control.  We did pretty much the same thing we’ve been doing in terms of cleaning out water ruined stuff, sorting and cleaning.
I got another surprise when the Hori family from the Yamagata Deaf Peoples Church showed up to help.  I got to be a three language person today.  They went out to find obentos and then came out to Tak to keep me company over dinner.  They knew I didn’t have a whole lot to offer foodwise.  It was nice to spend time with them.  Mr. Hori is part of the ViBi translator team (Japanese Sign Language Bible).  I’ve known both he and his wife since dad got started in the deaf ministry way back in the mid-70s.  I also got to meet their youngest son who came along to help as well.
It was fun to meet Kishinami Sensei again after 30 years or so.  He is a former kick-boxing champion turned pastor.  He is just as genki (full of energy) as ever.
Tomorrow will be my last day working out of the Shiogama church.  It is a little hard to leave as there is still so much to do.   There are still some areas that have not been opened up for people to return to their homes as the police and self-defense force soldiers are still searching for bodies.  A number of the streets around town that had garbage piled up all along the sides of the roads have been cleared and some areas look close to normal.  There is still some places where the cars are piled 2 and 3 high.  Those piles still catch my attention, but the single car with its front bumper on the ground and rear bumper 5 feet up a telephone pole on the back side of an apartment building almost doesn’t register as being out of place anymore. 

Wednesday the 13th

When I got home this evening I had a visit from my neighbor down the
hill, Teddy.  She had come to let me know the water was going to be
turned off at 10 pm for three days so the sewer system in Shichigahama
could be fixed.  Evidently it is damaged to the point that it cannot
handle the drainage.  They had asked people not to wash their rice or
drain their tubs when the water came back on in order to prevent
backup issues.  We are not on the sewer system but will still be
losing our water.  So, now that I have washed the dishes, eaten, made
rice balls for lunch, washed the rice and started it soaking for
tomorrow, taken a shower/bath, washed the tub and put a load of towels
and stuff in the  laundry, I can settle down to reflect on the day.
A new group of KGK volunteers came late yesterday afternoon.  So there
were 19 guys spending the night in the downstairs of the church. There
were snorers on either side of me.   As I was laying there trying to
sleep on a hard tatami pad in my sleeping bag without having taken the
few meds I usually take or brushed my teeth, I got to thinking this
was just a small taste of what evacuees are dealing with.  I had
plenty of food, a knowledge that it would most likely be for only one
night and no overwhelming loss with which to deal.  What’s a few hours
lost sleep compared to what they have been dealing with on a daily
basis for over a month now.
There is still a fair amount of fear that another big one is going to
hit.   Adam, a former short term worker in Sendai who has been working
with us for about a week was helping a friend from the Sendai area
cleanout her house when an earthquake that I didn’t even notice
happened.  There was a nine year old girl who was so frightened she
closed her eyes, covered both her ears and started turning around and
around in a little circle when that earthquake, a 4.2 by Japanese
measurement, happened.  The TV which was turned on as soon as
yesterday’s earthquake happened was showing pictures of crying
children in the evacuee centers.  Several people were sure the three
fairly strong earthquakes we had within an hour or so were a
foreboding of another big one just around the corner.   “We’re gonna
get another big one tonight”.
Since we had a fairly big group we split up into three teams today.
One moved out tatami from an apt. then cleaned up mud.  My group and
another group ended up looking for work.  My group found work at the
first store we stopped at.  There were two rooms in the back that were
still a mess.  We sorted through stuff to keep and stuff to throw then
cleaned up the dirt and muck all over the floors.  Then from about
11:00 I got to play with a pressure washer  cleaning two public
bathrooms and a storage area with mudlines up to about my neck.  Other
team members were scrubbing the walls but I got to do the fun stuff.
The other tool I like to use is an 18 or so inch wide,  thick rubber
squeegee on a handle that we use to cleanup runny mud and water.   I
have no idea what the other team did today except that we cleaned a
lot of shovels at the end of the day and our crew used maybe 3 of
them.  Another good day.

Monday the 11th

We did more cleaning up around the same apartment complex and then
from 11:00 on we cleaned up the yard around the kindergarten next door.
 “Many hands make light work” was shown to be true today.  There was
literally mountains of garbage that had been cleaned out of the
classrooms that needed to be moved to a spot more easily accessed by
the front loaders.  I will send before and after pictures. The young
teachers at the kindergarten were the first this whole trip to get
excited to see foreigners like I remember happening all the time when
I was younger.  I wonder if it is the shock of everything that has
been happening around here with the tsunami or if foreigners are that
much more common than they (we) used to be.
The greater excitement came later in the afternoon just as I was about
to leave to go to Tak.  We had another shaker with tsunami warnings.
The field of the middle school next door started filling with cars as
it is an evacuation center.  I was told there were many more cars last
Thursday night with the bigger earthquake that took out our
electricity and water.  Needless to say I put off going out to Tak.
After several aftershocks it didn’t take too much argument to get me
to stay the night.  Thankfully I had forgotten my sleeping bag the
other day and still had my food suitcase in the van as it was covered
with plywood until this morning. (Speaking of plywood, the plywood is
to be used to make the fixer-upper house next door into housing for
volunteers in the relatively near future).
I'm glad my earplugs are in my backpack.  One of the older American
guys already fell asleep and he is sawing logs big time.  Time for a
sleep study and some CPAP.  Hopefully I sleep well tonight..

Sunday the 10th

I really enjoyed my weekend.  Spent a couple hours looking for stuff
at “recycle stores” with Mrs. Araki on Saturday afternoon.  Enjoyed
the evening chatting with them about this and that.  I had spent a
little time in the evening trying to figure out what to say to the
kids during the short kid’s message they asked me to do late Saturday
afternoon.  Mrs. Araki suggested I just tell them about how God
provided for this trip, so I went with that and it seemed to work ok.
I thought it would be just the kids, but everyone listened to it.
Since I don’t sign and speak regular Japanese at the same time that
well Mrs. A interpreted the Japanese into sign for the adults.
I also enjoyed spending the afternoon renewing old friendships and
making new acquaintances.  I was able to talk with Jiro by phone as he
and his wife had to go to her parents to help get ready for rice
planting.  I was a little disappointed they couldn’t be there.
By the time I left at 6:20 I was mentally exhausted.  It is amazing
how much trying to communicate in a foreign language that you haven’t
used in a while can take it out of a person.  I had considered taking
the old highway home for old times sake but by that time I just wanted
to get back to Tak as quickly and safely as possible so I took the new
toll road.
Imagine my delight to get back to Tak and find out I had both
electricity and water again.  Woohoo!!  The first thing I did was to
wash the rice and get it going so I would have some in the morning
even if I lost electricity in the night.  It’s interesting how
experiencing that bigger earthquake last week has affected my thinking
and decision making.

Saturday the 9th & Sunday the 10th

I am writing on Saturday early in the afternoon.  Yesterday was
another interesting day workwise.  We went to an apartment  complex
next to the Sony factory.  The first thing we did was move a car that
was sitting in front of a storage shed.  We were finally able to get
it moved by pulling it with the pastors little truck (smaller than my
Fit) and 10 or so of us pushing.  Then we were able to get to the
storage locker that needed to be emptied out.
All day long the garbage haulers were there loading up trucks with a
small front loader.  For the rest of the day most of us  were moving
garbage to areas that a front loader could reach or cleaning up the
playground .  During the lunch hour I was able to give an elderly lady
a ride to the Jr. Hi school in town where she had some business to
take care of.  It would have been a fair distance to walk for a lady
who was not in very good health.   She was most appreciative.
As I mentioned at the end of my last entry the church was also without
water and electricity on Friday.  So was Shichigahama.  I had been
wondering if I had gotten the water to them too late when we were told
they had water when we delivered it on Tuesday.  Well, they need it
now because the water is off again.  So God knew they would need it
even though I thought I was too late.
I made it to Yamagata safely last night.  It was good to catch up with
the Arakis.  I also got a chance to talk to Miss Yamauchi, an old
friend from our Shiogama days.  It was good to catch up a little and
laugh about fun memories.
This morning I noticed how the earthquake the other night has subtly
changed my thinking.  I found myself filling up my water jugs for the
trip back over to “no water land” first just in case there was another
earthquake and we lost water here too.  The Arakis have a bathtub full
of water as well as drinkable water in the fridge just in case the
water goes out.
Another thing I haven’t mentioned on the daily entries is that there
has been some thievery going on in the neighborhood in which we’ve
been helping .  Gas has been siphoned from ruined cars regardless of
to whom the cars belonged.  At least two families said that stuff from
the upstairs that wasn’t damaged had been taken.  There wasn’t the
widespread looting that took place during Katrina when this first
occurred but there has been some of that going on that hasn’t made the
news.
Sunday late afternoon.  I got to do the kids message as well as the
regular message today.  I’m not very good at telling whether my own
sermons are good or not.  At least one person was asking further
questions about dealing with conflict so I must have been somewhat
understandable.  The folks here all said it was easy to understand.
Sometimes they say things to be nice.  Was able to get 10 sheets of
plywood for the church.  No more will fit in the van anyway, so its
just as well that they are limiting purchases to five sheets per
person.  I got 10 cause Hiroya was with me to show me the way.

Thursday the 7th

Today was a late start and an early finish.  No complaints from me.
There were only enough people for two teams and there were two
pre-arranged work sites starting at 10ish each.  One team went to the
house of an elderly gentleman and helped move things, clean out the
back rooms and clean up mud.  My group went to an older ladies place
and helped clean up her garden and parking area that was covered with
silt (that sounds like too nice of a word for the mud mixed with oil,
sand and sewage that covers everything after a tsunami).  Her response
at the end of the day was, “Now I’ll be able to sleep tonight.  I’ve
been so worried about how I was going to get that all cleaned up by
myself”.
She had an interesting story as well.  She was on her way home from
work in Sendai on the train when the earthquake happened.  The trains
stopped working so she started walking home.  A friend came along in a
car and gave her a lift home.  She had no idea there was a tsunami
coming.  The rest of the neighborhood was evacuated by the time she
got home.  She was stuck on the 2nd floor of her house for two days
before anyone could come get her.   She said the tsunami started small
but she was too afraid to watch as it got higher and higher.  After
the fact I started wondering what happened to the friend in the car
who had dropped her off a few minutes earlier.
We actually got done by about 3:15.  That was the goal that we never
attained last week.  Now that we were actually aiming for 4:00 we got
done early.  At the church I got to briefly meet Nan Jordan, a ViBi
(video Bible translation into sigh language for the deaf) board member
and friend of Mark and Mary Esther’s.  She and her husband are up in
the area looking to help deaf people in the disaster zone in whatever
way they can.
When I got home, after carrying another 30 liters of water up the
hill, I found out that they had finally turned the water on.  We’re
not supposed to drink it for another couple of days yet, but thanks to
my labors the last couple of days I have drinking water to last for a
while.  I also have neighbors for the next 3 days or so and was able
to get assistance starting up the water heater.  Mark and I neglected
to go over that detail when he was up here because there was no water
to heat at the time.  I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.  This
makes life a whole lot easier.  Thank you Lord!
Quick addition almost 24 hrs later.  At 11:34ish I was awakened by an
earthquake and hung out with the neighbors for a few hrs until the
tsunami warning was cancelled.  Didn’t sleep too well after that.
Since I have no water or electricity (its also off at the Shiogama
church) I will head over  the mountains to Yamagata tonight instead of
tomorrow morning as originally planned.
I got to talk with my girls around 4:00pm my time, midnight their time. It was nice to be able to talk with them again.

Wednesday the 6th

Today we worked with a church from Izumi and one that we worked with
last week from Yonezawa.  We were able to finish the inside of the
Bikkuri Ichi store by 2 pm.  I was part of the group assigned to help
clean-up  the parking area while other teams went out to help folks in
the neighborhood.  Since the parking lot filled up with cars our job
became quite easy.  It was amazing how much sand we cleaned up for a
store that far inland.  The owner said he hoped to have it up and
running in a month or two.  There is still a lot of work to be done
before then as all his refridgerated displays, freezers, meat lockers,
butcher shop machines, etc need to be fixed or replaced.  He does have
a small area on the end of the building where there are fresh
vegetables and a few other items for sale.  I was able to get some
eggs for my breakfasts without having to go looking for them and give
him some business.
On my way home I swung through the harbor village just up the street
from Tak called Hanabuchi.  The destruction is amazing.  I will
enclose a few pictures.  I found it interesting that some of the front
line houses/shops are still standing but there is an entire area
behind them that is just foundations.
I’ve been writing a little in between sterilizing water.  It’s amazing
how much water we use.  You don’t really notice until you have to
carry it up a hill.  And this is with conserving ie. a bath is using
baby wipes.  Of course I could go back to digging holes in the woods
like we had to last week with so many more people here.  I think its
worth a little extra weight coming up the hill though.   Fortunately
today was quite warm, (somewhere in the sixties I presume) and the
cabin was warm when I got home so I didn’t have to mess with a fire in
the wood stove.  The layers of clothes are slowly being added however.
 Glad for a warm sleeping bag and a stocking cap.  I’m going to sign
out and go back to sterilizing water so I can get to bed at a decent
hour tonight.

Tuesday the 5th

It’s been a few days since I’ve had a chance to update.  I got in last
night (Monday) after a 6 hr drive from Tokyo with 400 liters of water
and a generator.  The water was from CRASH for the Shichigahama folks
in refugee housing.  I was also able to take a couple boxes of cup
noodles.  The generator was procured from a store near Mark’s place,
the fourth place we had tried.  No one had them and they were not sure
when they would get any as they thought the generators would be sent
to the Tohoku.
Sunday was a good day as well.  I went to church with Mark and Mary
Esther.  I ended up staying until 4 pm talking with the folks there.
Good sign language practice for this Sat and Sun.  Back at M&ME’s I
was alone so I spent some time prepping for next Sunday.  I’m glad I
brought both the Japanese-English and the English-Japanese
dictionaries.  I should have brought a magnifying glass to read the
furigana on the side of the kanji in the Japanese Bible.  In the
evening after M&ME came home I was able to help Mark put up a ceiling
fan in their new place.
That brings me back to today.  Today we started cleaning out a store
that we have been parking at to go out into the surrounding
neighborhoods.  For those who know the area its Bikkuri Ichi, a store
that M&ME have shopped at while spending time at Takayama.  My
favorite part was cleaning out the walk-in freezer for storing meat.
After more than three weeks it had a definite odor.  I decided to toss
my gloves after that particular chore was finished.  There is still
more mud to muck out, as well as a kitchen I assume is for employees
to remove furniture, debris, etc. so we will be going back again
tomorrow.  Today’s group was largely made up of college students from
the Kanto area KGK group.  (KGK is the Japanese version of
InterVarsity  Christian Fellowship as opposed the KGB as one of the
other workers kept calling them).
We got back to the church at 5 pm.  Then I took the water and food to
the Shichigahama shelter/hdqr.  with Pastor Otomo.  They were
appreciative. That is probably the last water they will need as water
is being restored to the shelter.  (Still hasn’t come to Tak yet).  It
strikes me as somewhat ironic that I deposited 400 liters of water and
then spent the evening with the Steri-Pen my brother Tom gave me
making sure the tap water I got from the hose outside the church is
sterilized and drinkable. Thats all for now. - Bruce

Monday the 4th

God provided amazingly yesterday for the generator.  The 4th place we
stopped at had them when everyone else was sold out and didn't know
when any more would come in.  Was on the road by 3:30 and arrived by
9:30 as after Fukushima Prefectural line I had to go 50MPH We also got 400 liters of water from CRASH in Tokyo.

Sunday the 3rd

On the way over here on the plane I read about emotional care for people in disaster situations.  The section on self-care for relief workers talked about allowing oneself to get away and de-stress.   Staying out here at Takayama has been very good for that.  I can look out the front windows and see the ocean which, while being extremely destructive three weeks ago, has been a calming sight.  The destruction on the way in to Tak is disturbing in its completeness.  There are few houses left and those that are recognizable as houses are damaged beyond repair.  It’s a strange juxtaposition of destruction and peacefulness.
Today was an exercise in patience that finally paid off.   After a quick trip to lead the work group to where we left off yesterday Mark, Matsumoto sensei, Mr. Takahashi and myself went to the Shiogama City Hall.  We were referred to the welfare office in response to our questions about how we could be of help to the deaf population in Shiogama.  There we waited about 45min while the lady helping us got in touch with the head of the deaf peoples assoc. in Shiogama.  We were able to get see her at 1 pm and again had to wait about an hour  or so while she got in contact with the one deaf person in town who’s home was in the tsunami zone. 
We were able to visit with her and her family, four generations of whom were living in one room at the community center.  They had just been moved there the day before from the elementary school.  It was much more comfortable and warmer because they now had tatami mats instead of a cold, hard floor.  What they wanted the most was a bath.   Mostly they were glad to be alive. 
Right after the earthquake, before any tsunami warnings Mrs. Harada’s daughter grabbed a few things and packed  her family, mom, daughter and granddaughter into the car and fled for higher ground at the elementary school.  After the warnings sounded people had difficulty driving out with the roads getting clogged up with fleeing people.   She told of a couple she knew who had survived overnight in their car with water up to their necks.  They were rescued the next morning.  She told of another friend who had been in Sendai when the tsunami struck and had walked back to Shiogama past scores of dead bodies.  It had taken her three days before she could be reunited with her daughter who had been safe at school during and after the tsunami.
We were then able to go over to their house and remove two very heavy barber chairs from the barber shop at the front of her house.  Mr. Harada had been a barber until he died a few years ago.  They asked us to also remove the few items they had at the back of the house.  That took longer than expected because a bunch of debris was deposited in the back yard from the tsunami.  We were grateful to be able to help after a long day of waiting. 
On Saturday Mark and I will head back down to Tokyo since he needs to get back and I need to find a small generator for the church to use to help clean up houses in the affected areas.  Mark and Mary Esther have loaned me their van through the 15th. 

More than 24hrs later and I still haven’t had a chance to send this.  Back in Tokyo again after an uneventful trip.   Funny how nice a bath can feel when you’ve been living without running water.  Was able to talk to a lady who lives at Takayama year round and get some idea of what is needed around the Shichigahama area.  Hopefully I will be able to pick up some of these items to bring back up as well.  Tomorrow is church with Mark and ME then home to do laundry.  Still no internet connection at Mark and ME’s place much to their dismay.

From Mary Esther Penner

Mark and Bruce are on their way home. They left at 2:47 Saturday.

Yesterday they were joined by Matsumoto and Hiroya from the Yamagata Deaf church and together they made contact with the Deaf community organization's person (kai cho) in Shiogama.  They were really glad to do that.  Matsumoto and Hiroya stayed at the cabin overnight with the rest of the group.

Shiogama church wants a portable generator and so Bruce is going to shop for that here in Tokyo and take it back.    Also, Andrew and Emily's (Mark and Mary Esther’s son and daughter-in-law) Bible study group sent some boxes, so we'll be able to send those things up with him too.  The mission gave him permission to use our van, so he'll have it in Tohoku the next two weeks.  Pray for Mark as he resumes a busy schedule of his normal mission work and for Bruce as he travels back to Shiogama to continue in the relief efforts.  Thank you!

Thursday the 31st

Just finished the daily debriefing we’ve been doing in the evenings.  This has been a great group of guys to work with this week.  Today we were joined by Pastor Matsumoto and Mr. Takahashi from the Yamagata Deaf Peoples Church.  It was good to get reacquainted.
Today it was good to work with a bigger group of volunteers than yesterday. With a team of eleven, five of whom were from CRASH Japan, we were able to clean up an apartment the Aizawa’s from yesterday hooked us up with.  No one was there and the directions from the day before were to clean everything out.  It was much easier than having to ask about seemingly every little thing. 
Later in the day after helping several people out with small things we came upon an elderly man who ws beginning to clean out his house all by himself.  In about an hour and a half with the full team we were able to get  the rooms cleaned out and the mud scraped up.  There is at least 1/2 “-3/4” of mud covering the floors.  Mr. Sato was very appreciative.  He asked for directions to the church so he could go thank them in person.   He also gave us a lead on an elderly lady down the street who we could help tomorrow.
Starting tomorrow I will be on the insurance for Mark’s van.  He and Mary Esther have graciously let me have the use of their van for the next two weeks.   Depending on the churches needs, I may be returning to Tokyo with Mark to pick up supplies and then return.  They have a few pressure washers and are wanting a few generators to allow teams to help clean up the outside of people’s homes where the water line is very visible.  That would give them the opportunity to continue to serve the community after the inside cleanup is done.  A large majority of houses have the ruined, wet furniture and tatami removed from their houses.
 Friday going out with Mark and the deaf guys to see if we can find deaf people who were affected by the tsunami and need help.

Wednesday the 30th

Today the five of us from JBF were the entire team and went back to the grand piano house.  There were two rooms in the back of the house that were still essentially untouched since the tsunami.   It took us all day to clean up the two rooms.  The back room had five armoires or dressers which had been toppled either by the earthquake or the tsunami.  I had to crawl under a tipped dresser/armoire that someone was holding in order to even get into the room.  By the end of the day all the furniture was out as well as the 12-14 soggy, muddy, very heavy tatami mats.  The grandma was hoping to save some of the furniture that was basically destroyed, so things took a little longer than they might.  Toward the end of the day another group joined us and we were able to get all the mud that covers everything up off the floor.
Toward the end of the afternoon the family received some dango from a neighbor and we had a little break.  We were able to hear Mrs. Aizawa’s story of how she had to run with her dad to higher ground.  It is actually a pretty fair distance to higher ground from this house.  Her son was over in Sendai and was “chased by the tsunami”.  After her heaviness yesterday when the piano was being removed it was good to see her start to smile today.  She found a small album of intact pictures and showed us all the pictures of her family.  Her father has been to a church off and on over the years and we found a muddy Bible in the back room.  Please pray for this family.
After the day was done the Shiogama Four (Kevin had to go home this afternoon) was able to locate a bath house and got to get cleaned up Japanese style.  That was a wonderful way to end our day.

From The Voice Of Mary Esther

Mary Esther is Mark Penner's wife, who is living in Japan.

Here are two excerpts from Mark Penner, Bruce’s brother.

3/29/11

Spoke to Mark on the phone this afternoon. 

He said their team had already gotten a reputation for being willing and able to move heavy things.  He said you walk into a house and everything looks trashed, like the water rushed in bringing all sorts of dirt with it, tore things apart and left a huge muddy awful mess.  He said there are heavy pieces (pianos, frigs, washing machines) that are totally useless water soaked and totally filthy.  They need to be taken out of the houses so people can begin the cleaning and repair work that needs to happen.  So they take and move these things from inside the house and just set them outside by the street as there is no way to really dispose of them.  He said they moved 4 pianos out of homes today. 

He was pretty excited when I talked with him as he'd just helped a family who asked what group he was affiliated with.  He said "the Shiogama Church" Then the lady asked if it was Ohtomo's church and Mark said yes.  She then said her child had gone to school with the son.  Mark then was able to tell her that it was that son who was now in charge of the project directing all the volunteers.  He was so glad to be able to make that connection.

They will stay at Tak (this is Mark’s summer home) again tonight.

He said they have enough food and are staying warm enough.  He said they may not bathe the week they're up there. 

3/30/11

Mark called and said he and Bruce and the team went back to the home they were at yesterday.

The grandma and grandpa had a great deal of difficulty letting go of the muddy possessions.  They wanted to look at each thing no matter how bad it was, and decide whether to keep it or not.  They wanted to wrap up the old soggy magazines to throw out the proper way.  They didn't want the muddy futon thrown out.  I can't imagine saying goodbye to all your things, and seeing so much that you loved totally ruined.  The lady of the home was a piano teacher, and her grand piano was wrecked.  He said the tatami mats were so heavy from mud it took 4 people to lift them and carry them off.

He said the family was still experiencing earthquakes when the loud speakers were announcing a BIG tsunami and instructing people to leave.  The grandpa was hanging onto a pine tree because he couldn't walk because the earth was still shaking.  The grandpa wanted to go back into the house for his money, then for his glasses and the grandma kept urging him to leave it all and get going.  The fire department was making rounds trying to get people to leave.  They tried to leave in their car but the roads were so packed they finally left their car and ran to the elementary school on higher ground.  Their son had a closer call.  Their two nieces didn't make it.

Tuesday the 29th

What an interesting and profitable day.  It felt good to finally be able to do something about all the destruction we have been seeing on TV.  We broke into teams of 5-8 and went door to door asking people if there was anything we could do to help.  We carried out 4 pianos, shoveled mud out of houses and helped people put a lifetime of accumulation into plastic trash bags.  Several people were  having a tough time of the loss of some of the things that meant so much to them.  The piano teacher for whom we removed her baby grand piano was one who struggled more than others.  The water line inside most houses was to my chest.
At the end of the day my brother was skyping the pastor at Yamagata Deaf Peoples Church.  I will now be filling the pulpit on 4/10 while he accompanies my brother to a Forum to represent deaf Bible translation interests.  Thus I will particularly appreciate your prayers.  It has been 25 years since I preached in Japanese sign language.  I already warned him that I would be bumbling through with the language.
I have also yet to determine where I will be serving after the cb missionary team heads back south to Tokyo.  I would appreciate prayers for directions. Thank you!

Monday the 28th

Very interesting trip north.    The closer we got to Iwaki the more we noticed the roads with dips and rises.  The van being heavily loaded bottomed out a few times on some of the bumps. 
We were able to drop off some fruit and rice at Iwaki.  They had just received a donation from CRASH, from Samaritans Purse, but had no fresh fruit and were very grateful . 
Driving from the toll road in Sendai out to Shiogama we were able to see some of the the aftermath of the Tsunami.  There is still a great deal of cleanup to be done.  We were able to offload  much of the goods we brought for the Shiogama.  We’ll be delivering the school supplies directly to the school with the pastor either tomorrow or the next day.

Starting Tuesday we will be working from 9-12 then from 12:30-3.  We’ll be going out with groups Japanese believers who are volunteering from different churches and going out to help individual families in the area with whatever they need.   Pray that we and our Japanese brothers will have opportunities to share God’s hope and truth.

We are staying at my brother’s cabin at Takayama.  We have electricity but no water.  The most devastation we saw was in the neighborhood right by the beach.  Almost the whole neighborhood is missing. 

Arrival

As I fly over the Pacific looking forward to the weeks to come I realize just how appropriate the scriptures Claudia read on Thursday evening.  “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”IICorinthians 4:7 (but read through v 11).  I realize how much I need to rely on the strength of God to be able to help others in these next three weeks.  I am looking forward to working with a strong team  this next week.
God was faithful to allow some of the food I took in my carry-on to pass.  It was a paste in greater than 3oz measure and should have been in my checked luggage.   They had mercy on me when I told them why I needed it and told them they could take it if they needed to do so.
Got here safely at 4:35pm.  Found the right train.  It doesn’t really feel like I was gone except that everyone has cell phones on the trains now.  Also Tokyo is exceptionally dark as people are still conserving electricity so they don’t have as many blackouts.

March 25th

The passport arrived just before noon pretty much as advertised.  God is good.

The day has been spent running errands and paring down what I can take due to weight allowances. 

I am looking forward to starting an exciting new adventure tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone for your prayers.  I have a sense of calmness that is not my normal MO before a big trip. 

In addition to the above noted requests please pray that my bags arrive with me tomorrow.  I arrive Sunday evening and will be leaving early Monday morning for Shiogama.  We may be going up the coast to drop off supplies in Iwaki on our way up to Shiogama. 

March 24th, 2011

What an amazing journey! What an amazing, awesome God we serve.
Last week and especially over the weekend we were praying about my going to Japan. When, if and how long to go. Then on Monday in the late afternoon we get a call from my brother Mark in Japan letting us know of an opportunity to serve with a group from the CB churches in Japan. They will be basing at the Shiogama church and helping to do clean up in the town there. My family lived in Shiogama for five years and my dad worked in this church. Shiogama is 10 miles north of Sendai on the coast. It was hit hard by the tsunami.
We held another impromptu family prayer meeting with my sister Deb who was here. We all sensed we needed to proceed with this even though it would mean I would have to leave by Saturday in order to get there in time to spend the whole week there. I have no passport and not near the funds to make this happen. I would also have to get time off work to go. We made a few calls and got started on the passport application. We went to bed that night excited and trusting that if God wanted me to go he could work to make it happen in this ridiculously short amount of time.
Fast forward to Tuesday night. We went to bed excited again, and marveling that God had pulled it together. I was able to get the time off work in time to get airline reservations needed to get the expedited passport application sent off by Fedex. Late in the evening we got a call letting us know that our church (Suburban Christian church) is providing support to send me to Japan and disperse aide to those who need it.
Wow! Our minds our reeling, but we are in peace about this journey. The group I’m going with now have the nickname, “The Shiogama Six” and it will be a stretching adventure. Please pray for the following:
1. That the passport arrives by Friday!
2. For the team to bond together quickly.
3. We will be exposed to some extreme suffering situations. Pray for wisdom to respond appropriately as well as personal strength to deal with what we encounter.
4. For discernment as to how God would want to use my time in the best way possible (visiting other sites, etc.)
5. For physical health (with gluten intolerance, I am somewhat limited in what I’ll be able to eat)
We can’t thank you enough for all the support, prayers, and assistance that has come our way in a short amount of time!
Bruce Penner

And so it begins...

 A week ago, we were praying for the country of Japan and today - pow!  Bruce is going himself!  God is doing amazing things in His amazing way.  As most of you know, Bruce grew up in Japan and spent part of his childhood in Shiogama (one of the hard hit areas by the earthquake/tsunami).  He will be working out of the church that he attended as a child helping with whatever relief efforts they are doing at the time.  Bruce leaves Saturday, March 26th and returns Saturday, April 16th.  Please pray for the following:
1.  Rest and energy
2.  That the passport will get here by Friday
3.  For the multitude of details to take care of - both our girls are putting their skill sets to work to help their Dad
4.  For grace and power (Acts 6:8) as he deals with the devastation of people and their homes
5.  For direction for the best use of his time - the options are open and we're asking God to direct and put things in place.

 
We've already had people asking if they can help financially.  If you would like, you can send a check to Suburban Christian Church at 2760 Sw 53rd St, Corvallis, OR 97333 to receive a tax deduction.   PER IRS REGULATIONS, PLEASE DO NOT PUT BRUCE'S NAME ON THE CHECK!  You can put Japan on the memo line or attach a post-it note explaining that it is for Bruce's Japan trip. All donations remain anonymous to us unless otherwise specified. Bruce supplies his own air fare, food, water, travel, etc. for the trip.  He will also be working with area churches and organizations to see how best to help with relief supplies.  We read a report this morning from a nurse who just got there who said it is way worse than the reports have indicated.  Please be praying.

Thank you for partnering with Bruce on this journey.  God is doing His God thing!