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!