Writing from Ishinomaki once again...

My time in South Korea was productive, and it was fun to see some friends as well. I got back into Japan with no problems and didn't even need to show my proof of flight back home in June. Praise the Lord for his wonderful provisions!!!

After South Korea I headed to Iwaki, where this trip started for me back in July 2011. As my Dad aptly explained on Facebook for me, "Iwaki is where this whole adventure started for Chloe, when we went there last summer and visited a section of town devastated by the tsunami. That is where she started sensing that she needed to come back to japan and help out." Thanks, Dad!! In Iwaki, I helped with their daily projects in the community. I helped out with a cafe in the temporary housing units and then got a "temporary housing tour" from one of the staff members at the church. I also helped out around the church (which is also a volunteer housing center currently) cleaning up and talking with some of the volunteers. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures, but I'm planning to go back during my "travel week" for a day, and will hopefully get some pictures then. 

When I cam back from Iwaki, I stayed in Chiba for a few days because I was exhausted from traveling so much. On Sunday (the day after I cam back to Chiba) I shared my testimony at the Ellison's church, Chiba New Town Baptist Church. I shared about how I became a Christian and how I came to Japan, with Mary Lou translating for me. It was a privilege to share with them what God has been doing in my life, and a few people talked to me afterward about it, which was encouraging :)

On Wednesday I took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Sendai, then took an hour and a half bus ride up to Ishinomaki. Ms. H, who I will be working with very soon, had to go to a conference for a week, so instead of staying at her apartment, I've been staying at Watanoha Christian Church (Watanoha is a neighborhood in Ishinomaki). While staying here, I've been weeding, teaching English, and doing Samaritan's Purse mud outs. There is another girl staying here with me. Her name is Naomi, and she is also going to be living and working with Ms. H. She is Japanese and grew up south of Tokyo, but speaks English very well because she has been a student in Portland, Oregan for almost 5 years. Naomi and I get along very well, which has been a relief, because we were both a little worried about living with someone we didn't know. 

On Sunday, two teams from America will be coming to Ishinomaki, and I will work with them for the entire two weeks they are here, with a few possible recesses if Ms. H needs me for anything. I'm excited to get to know these two teams while they are here, and to see what kind of jobs we will be doing this time. With so many people (total = 17) we may very well be doing a number of different things each day!

It's strange to think that I only have three weeks left in Ishinomaki, and four left in Japan. I'm not entirely sure what to do with that information yet, but I'm working on it :)

One thing I'd like to share with you all. While I was in Iwaki, someone read James chapter 4 out loud to everyone. I caught up later, but one short section really stuck with me. James 4:13-15 says, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'"

While the idea itself is perhaps a little disheartening, I feel that I'm able to relate to this passage well. I had all of these plans for my life - where I was going to go, what I was going to do, etc. - but God had other plans and showed me that my plans for my life were not the best for me. 

This passage and revelation reminds me of the Casting Crowns song, "Who Am I". The chorus declares:

"I am a flower quickly fading

Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours"

What a powerful and comforting thought! Even though we are "mists that appear for a little while and then vanish," God cares so deeply about us that He listens to every word we say, and He helps us through every situation and every struggle.

Thanks for reading my blog. As my time in Japan comes to a close, my blogging may slow as well. Hopefully I will be able to write a "finishing up" post when I arrive back in Boston at the end of June.

God Bless,

Chloe

PS. If you want to see photos from my time in Ishinomaki this time, here is a link to what's happened so far: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150866661091234.407575.608216233&type=1&l=ec8dc70ec1

Hello!

After the Sylvan Way team left, Nate and I stayed in Ishinomaki. I stayed with Ms. H, and Nate stayed in a house specifically for Christian volunteers. There was a lady staying with Ms. H for one night who was there when I arrived, and we spent that night and the next day (Wednesday) together. She spoke some English so we talked a lot. We went to see some of the devastation because it was her first time to see it, and we talked to a man who said that his mother and father's home washed away in the tsunami. After we saw the devastation, we went to a fish market and bought some tuna, which we make maki with (the kind of sushi that has seaweed wrapped around it). Such a good dinner!

Fish market!

 On Thursday a team from Kokubunji Baptist Church came to Ishinomaki. It took them 13 hours to drive there, but they finally made it (usually it takes about 6 hours from Tokyo to Ishinomaki) around 1 in the afternoon. They were all really tired from traveling so we had a relaxing day just spending time together and getting settled. On Friday morning we drove to Minami Sanriku and helped mud out and build a Christian Center there. Our sensei's included a 17-year-old guy who had just become a Christian two months before. While the guys mudded out a gutter, the girls and I became 大工さん (carpenters) and helped put finishing wood on the walls.

Our Sensei's

Carpenters for a day!

Nate mudding out a gutter

After we had lunch, we went back to Ishinomaki and prepared for a kids program in the temporary housing units that we did later that day. For the kids program we made カラフルだんご (colorful dingo - dango are small pounded rice balls that usually come four on a stick with some kind of sauce on top) out of tofu and flavorings, like green tea and pumpkin. Then we played with the kids outside, which was really fun :) Here's a link to all of my pictures of it and of our time together afterwards: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150798461996234.403310.608216233&type=1&l=59757c4280
After the kids program it was raining hard, and then there were flood warnings. At 9 pm there was an evacuation of the place the guys were staying, so we ate a quick dinner, packed the guys up, and moved them to a church in a different neighborhood where they could sleep overnight. In the morning the evacuation was over and the sun was out, so we decided to proceed with our plans. The guys cleared out a park and planted sunflowers while the girls did some errands. For lunch we ate at a chinese restaurant, which was really good, and then we went to the temporary housing again for a homework help time, along with some playtime :) I did a short English lesson on food, and then we had a snack and helped the kids with homework. This past week was Golden Week so a lot of the kids didn't have too much homework, which meant that we got some more playtime in before it was time to leave :)
We left Ishinomaki at about 7:30 pm and drove straight through to Tokyo. Usually the drive is about 6 hours, but it took us closer to 8 hours this time. We arrived in Tokyo at 2:30 am Sunday morning. Half of the group went to their own home and half of us stayed at the church for a night. We all attended the church service a few hours later and then went our own ways. I was provided a place to stay last night and will stay with my Uncle who lives in Tokyo tonight, then will head back to Chiba to stay with Tom and Mary Lou again. On Friday I will be heading to South Korea for a few days for some business.

Please pray for the kids in temporary housing, that they will gain hope from the volunteers who come, and that they would see the love of Christ shining through us as we continue to work with them.
Please pray also for safety in traveling as I go to many different places in the next week and half.

Hello all,

The "bathroom"

Well, the Sylvan Way team will be on their way to Tokyo tomorrow morning, half of them via van and half of them via Shinkansen (bullet train). We had a very productive week and completely finished cleaning the house we started when we arrived in Ishinomaki. It is such a blessing to see a house go from dark, dirty, and depressing to bright, clean and encouraging in just a week and two days.

The floor before

Look at those clean floors!

The entire trip was uneventful (I mean this in the good way where no one got hurt) except for one event: Lutheran Brethren Missionary Dean Bengtson, who is basically our boss when we work on a house somehow fell about 5 or 6 feet down and ended up laying on his side, shoulder, and head in a hole. Many of us thought he had seriously injured himself, but it turned out he only dislocated his pinky! He obviously has some bruising, but he was well enough to come to work again the next day and do an outdoor cafe for the neighborhood.

On Sunday we attended Abe san's house church and had an incredible meal afterward, as always. Yas then took us to Minami Sanriku, which is one of the largest worst-hit areas in northern Japan. This was a new experience for the Sylvan Way team, and we all went home with a new understanding of what the tsunami did to these communities along the Pacific coast.

It was such a blessing to get to know the guys from Sylvan Way. I know that I will never forget them or the good times we had as we worked hard together.

Eric from the Sylvan Way team
is showing how we felt about our
Yakiniku lunch after we finished
the house! :)

I am staying in Ishinomaki now until June 15, and will be taking a few short trips to other locations during this time. While living here, I will be assisting Ms. H set up a children's ministry. Please pray for communication between us and for the ministry opportunities that we will come in contact with in the next two months.

Blessings to you all,

Chloe Milhous