Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Busy, busy, busy!


7-25-12


Whah! It's been such a busy week!Which pretty much explains why I haven't updated this until now...
And it's already getting late so this is going to be kind of choppy but here is kind of a glimpse of what is going on over here:

Saturday-
We had a BBQ here at camp for the homeowners in the Shichigahama area. There was a pretty good turn out – I think about 30 or so homeowners came. We had a little concert for them, an amazing Christian singer from southern Japan came up and sang for us – and I think she really touched a lot of the people – and I heard from a few of the translators that she really conveyed the gospel with the music and with what she said between the songs. Praise the Lord!

Sunday-
I ended up going with Mami and Becca first to get my hair cut, then our for lunch and then to Ishinomaki for church in the afternoon. It was a really fun girls day out. The church service was really casual but really good (and all in english), and after that we went to a recycled shop and then the mall – in all we ended up being gone ALL day and didn't get back to camp until like 8:30pm!

Monday-
Was totally exhausted from my busy Sunday. Worked but quit early so that we could go visit our little japanese carpenter volunteer man, Okoyama-san, who had gotten hit by a car while on his motorcycle on Saturday. Stopped and bought sushi before surprising him by showing up at his doorstep. All in all it was a very interesting visit. We (Justin, Simon, and I) were literally FORCED to stay for dinner, after being given coffee, tea, and pudding – and they tried to talk us into staying for the night – which didn't happen but anyways.... it was really fun though. Got to meet his wife – who is a super sweet lady. And he is doing pretty good – His leg was the only thing that got hit I guess and it was wrapped but didn't look to bad. Got back to camp really late again.

Tuesday-
Still REALLY tired. More work!
For lunch we took our bentos to the Nihei-san's temporary housing unit and ate lunch there so that we could make a suprise visit to 'Oba-chan' aka – Grandma. The almost 90 year old lady who had taught us Taiso the other week. Ended up being there for a really long time – and almost fell asleep – because I was so tired, full and there was air conditioning.....
Anyways – it was another fun outing.

Wednesday (today)-
A bunch of new volunteers came in last night. And we got one of them added to our team today. Okayama-san showed up to work today again – and shocked us all 'cause we thought he should still be resting, but he said her had just been to the hospital and it was fine. It was interesting though because it seems like we've made a better connection with him through the whole accident thing - so it's good. It was kinda funny to though today – we were talking about how and when I'm heading back and Okayama-san pipes in that his daughter's room is empty now that she lives in Tokyo. Lol – So yeah, I have officially been offered a place to stay here in Japan... :) it was sweet of him....
So yeah - making progress on the house – Justin thinks we will be finished by Saturday – but I think it may take us a little longer then that....

And that is about it. Tomorrow another day of work and then lunch at Yunome-san's house.
Well – now it's really late.... off to bed.

Erin-chan

Sunday, July 15, 2012

In Weakness Made Strong

Jul. 16th 2012

Well I think I can honestly say that today is one of the hottest days since I've been here. It rained pretty much all day yesterday and today is cloudless – therefore making it VERY humid and just plain HOT!
So what did I do? I went for a run up a mountain obviously!! - I think I must be crazy....
Anyways – Now just killing time until 4pm when our work crew plus a few others are meeting up with the Kikawa family for dinner at some fancy French restaurant that they really wanted to take us to.
But yeah. Going back a little bit – I just really want to thank everyone for their prayers for me, everyone here at base, and for Rebekah and Josiah's family. Through the week we were being informed of when the visitation and funeral were taking place and were constantly praying for them. I kept looking on facebook to see if there was anything from Rebekah and watched as her page got covered with notes – and then as I opened it up on Saturday there was a post by Rebekah on the top of the page that literally blew me away. Here is it:



I cried.
God is truly incredible. He is indeed close to the brokenhearted and gives grace to the humble. The strength that the Lord has given her is simple amazing. And I wonder if I could possibly say the same thing if I were in her place. It has definitely challenged me.

On another note. This week is filling up with things. Obviously today we have our dinner appointment, Justin's birthday is on Thursday, on Friday the states volunteers are heading out with means we will be losing “grandpa” Nigel, and before he goes we are going to take him out for dinner, Saturday we are having a BBQ for a bunch of our homeowners, and then Sunday Yunome-san is getting baptized! It's all very exciting. And after all that the last wave of volunteers will be coming in – I can't believe that phase 2 is almost over...... so sad. :(

Well – that's all I can really think of at the moment....

Many blessings to you all!

Pressing on!

Erin-chan

Sunday, July 8, 2012

In a Moment's Time


7-8-12

Life is a breath, merely a vapor in the morning air, and as soon as the sun rises is evaporates.
Yet we don't always live as though it were. Instead we live our lives as though we'll live forever – forgetting that there will come a day when our anticipated tomorrow will never come.

We are reminded of this reality when someone we know and love doesn't follow us into tomorrow. When what we planned to do or say ceases to matter and for a while time itself seems to stop. Our hearts break and we question everything we once believed in. We find is unfair – wrong even that such a person should be deprived of their tomorrows, and we wonder how such a thing could ever be allowed to happen. But the Lord says that His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts – but that His are higher. So we may never understand the reasons behind the things He does or allows – but this is my thought:
That life and breath are a gift from the Almighty, but they come with an expiration date, and everyones date is different. He gives us everyday that He desires for us to have and not a day more, and to each man is given enough breath to accomplish everything the Lord has for him to do.
And for those of us who are still breathing at this moment in time:
Live. Live everyday to the fullest. Live every moment, breathe in every hour – because you never know which one will be your last. Don't leave things unsaid and don't put things that could be done today off until a tomorrow that my never come.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”
-Psalm 90:12

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Just less then a month ago, Morigo camp bid a bittersweet farewell to the beloved Josiah Bubna and Rebekah Falcone. They had both been here in Japan for many many months serving, had met here and gotten engaged and were finally heading back to the states to prepare for their wedding in August.

Today SP Japan and Morigo camp received the news that Josiah is no longer with us. He apparently went for a run and had a heart attack and has gone to be with the Lord. He was 22.

Please pray for his family, and friends – and especially for Rebekah, as I can't even imagine being in her shoes right now.


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

7-3-12


7-3-12

July 3rd already. I can't believe it. Especially since the weather here is still cool – although I think this week it's going to get a bit warmer this week (like in the 70's – lol).

Well - I do apologize (again) for the lack of updates – but I'll be completely honest with you – it wasn't on my top priority list this week. I'm kinda going through a bit of a rough time right now – just trying to figure out where God is leading and what lays ahead for me – so most of my spare time has been spent reading, praying and just sitting in the dark listening.

Anyways. Going back to Saturday.....
On Saturday our crew was the only crew that worked, which is typical, but this time we kidnapped the keyboard from the dining hall before leaving for the day, and stopped at the store to buy flowers before getting to the house. A short while after we got to the house Mrs. Kikawa-san and her two daughters arrived – we stopped working and talked for awhile, and then brought in the keyboard. We had been told in one of our previous conversations that both of the daughters played – so we had brought it for them – But as I thought, I was the one who ended up having to have to play for everyone – which was...yeah. For those of you who don't know – I don't actually play piano..... so yeah it was interesting.
But Justin later informed me that while I was watching my fingers, he was watching them and they were crying. So I suppose God can use us in anyway He chooses and can even show Himself strong in spite of our weaknesses. But yeah. They ended up staying for quite some time – we had tea, got to share the gospel with them, and had an all around time. They all agreed that they hadn't laughed that much since the tsunami and they wanted to stay with us all day (which of course they couldn't). but it was awesome – we gave them the flowers and then later that day Mr. Kikawa showed up – and apparently the girls had stopped at his work office to show him the flowers and tell him about our visit and he was so grateful for everything. It was such a great time.

Sunday I went to church in Izumi with Simon and Justin (and Yuki). And we ended up being there until 4pm! After the service they had a curry lunch for everyone and then a testimony time and they wanted Justin and I, and another guy from the states who is here are an english teacher, to all give our testimonies as how God brought us to Japan. So yeah... full day. Had a headache for most of it – which has stuck with me into today. :P

The rest of this week is looking pretty busy on the social end of things. We are having a 4th of July thing here at camp tomorrow after work, going out for Ramen with some of the people from church on Thursday, possibly going out to Shichigahama to visit so old homeowners, and going to a flower arranging show in Sendai probably on Sunday to see the Kikawa girls who are a part of it.

So yeah – it's getting late and I've got another full day tomorrow – finishing our current house and moving to the next one!

Prayer:
The Kikawa family – especially the girls who have shown interest in coming to church with us.
All of the homeowners – we claim them for the kingdom in the name of Christ!
That the fears of returning was dissipate – and that the traumatic memories would fade.