Today we were assigned to the Abe family's house. This house was not as structurally damaged as the previous one, as there was only about 3 feet of water in it when the wave hit, but this house's biggest problem was mold. Today was different as well in that we (the mud out crew) was working with a carpenter crew. Usually the mud out crew starts and gets everything stripped down, clean, and ready to go, and then the carpenter crew comes in and finishes the rebuilding. The reason this house is different is because the family is still living in it. This adds a special challenge because we have to do things in sections and a lot more carefully so we don't break anything. In addition, at the end of the day we have to board everything up for overnight.
But I'm getting ahead of myself here...first I want to mention the verse God revealed to me this morning. After breakfast I grabbed my Bible and prayed, "God, what verse do I need to have in my mind today?" I then did one of those 'magic' open your Bible to a random page and read what's there deals. I had opened to 2 Corinthians 1. I only made it to verse 5 before it was clear what God wanted me to know. I sat and meditated on verses 3-5 for about 10 minutes and prayed about it. I encourage you to read it and find someone who needs to be comforted.
So then we headed to the worksite, and we started by ripping out drywall and removing the millions of drywall nails. After that we ripped out the floor and cleaning the mud and muck out from under the floor. By that time it was time to head back to the base. We made temporary floor out of plywood so that the family could still get around their house. As we were doing that the ten year old son came home from school. He was very polite but in obvious shock at the sight of 9 Americans ripping apart his house. Luckily our translator was right there and explained to him what was going on.
His mother and father soon got home and the carpenter leader talked with them about rebuilding specifics. They were extremely nice people and continually thanked us for our work. We found out that the boy was a really good golfer, and was the best golfer in the entire Tohoku region in the 12 and under age bracket. We had a lot of fun talking with him and trying to convince him to admit that he was a better golfer than Tiger Woods...being a Japanese person, he was extremely humble and we could not coax him into it, but he laughed a lot about it.
It was really good to meet the people we were helping. Yesterday the owner came by for 5 minutes, but I was in the back and didn't get the chance to meet him. Just to meet the people and put a face with the house was really encouraging.
Tonight at sharing time there was a story from one of the house dedications (house was dedicated and declared finished). The Japanese pastor, Suzuki-sensei preached a message on John 3:16 and both the mother and the daughter that lived there made a decision to walk with Christ!! Hopefully they get plugged into a church and grow. Being a Christian as a Japanese native is so extremely tough here because of a number of reasons including ancestor worship, Buddhism in culture, an family pressures of staying with the family tradition. Great things are happening here, but Satan isn't letting go of his old stomping grounds easily. Much needs to be done yet, but this is a good start!
Right now I am sitting in the commons area listening to the Japanese people sing common worship songs in their native tongue. There is something about worshiping in Japanese that makes my heart melt for the Lord...I love it!!
But that's all for now. Specific prayer requests:
-the mother and daughter who accepted Christ today
- the Abe family..that they would begin to ask about Jesus. We had a short devotional time with them this morning and a prayer time with them before we left. Hopefully it sparks some interest..
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