The beginning of our last week in Japan...
Gyoza making!!!
This last Monday in Iwaki, our team did some thorough cleaning in the GMC building. Lillian tackled separating trash. Luke, with his minor OCD, rearranged the dishes in the kitchen cabinet and thoroughly scrubbed mugs. He also cleaned the men's bathroom on the third floor. Caitlyn vacuumed and organized the blankets and futons in the women's room. Lily bravely cleaned the women's shower/tub and bathroom. And Brandi reorganized/cleaned the living room shelves and the kids' play area. After our morning of service in the GMC, our team went to Maruto!--our favorite, nearby grocery store. We saved a lot of money this lunch, by only buying salmon filets to cook and yogurt for a sauce, and then eating, rice, cucumbers, and chicken from the GMC.
For the rest of our afternoon, the team met to discuss and plan our last five days in Japan. We also prayed together and then helped to make dinner for the night. Sugio (a GMC volunteer) taught us how to make "gyoza", like potstickers. Together we made 150 gyozas, which were stuffed with pork, green onions, garlic, and some other things that we don't remember/know. In the end, they turned out wonderfully, and it was great to have contributed to dinner and worked together as a team to make the gyozas. We also had a fun time playing with two children, Shion and Ana, whose father works for GMC, and their family is regularly around the center. Basically, they are GMC's children who run around wildly, sing worship songs when they stop for a brief moment, and are under the care of whoever is nearest to them at the time. It was a blessing to fellowship with everyone who was around for dinner, and each day, it's becoming more and more surreal that our trip is almost over.
For the rest of our afternoon, the team met to discuss and plan our last five days in Japan. We also prayed together and then helped to make dinner for the night. Sugio (a GMC volunteer) taught us how to make "gyoza", like potstickers. Together we made 150 gyozas, which were stuffed with pork, green onions, garlic, and some other things that we don't remember/know. In the end, they turned out wonderfully, and it was great to have contributed to dinner and worked together as a team to make the gyozas. We also had a fun time playing with two children, Shion and Ana, whose father works for GMC, and their family is regularly around the center. Basically, they are GMC's children who run around wildly, sing worship songs when they stop for a brief moment, and are under the care of whoever is nearest to them at the time. It was a blessing to fellowship with everyone who was around for dinner, and each day, it's becoming more and more surreal that our trip is almost over.
Tai Chi & Delivery Church
Hiyashi, Haruta, & Janet (from Taiwan)
At 8:00am this morning, Luke, Lillian, and Brandi joined Haruta-san, a Tai Chi master, for a morning session/stretch. It was invigorating to awaken our joints, muscles, minds, and souls...and a tad bit painful too. But it was definitely a blessing to be under the direction of Harutasan, who is such a gentle, wise, patient, and caring man. Whether teaching Tai Chi, leading morning meetings, or just hanging around the GMC, He is a peaceful man of God.
Later in the morning, Luke, Lillian, and Brandi joined Harutasan again for a Tai Chi class at a kasetsu that our team went to for a sewing class. About five women showed up to this class, we had several good laughs, and also got in some good exercise too. Hayashi-san, who is a full time employee at GMC and usually runs the cafes at the kasetsus, also attended the Tai Chi class and we all had tea afterward, like the previous Tai Chi class we had participated in.
In the afternoon, our team went to go eat ramen for lunch. We went to a cute, "ma & pop" ramen shop not too far from the GMC and enjoyed some oishii ramen, fried rice, and gyoza. It was also funny to see the sign in front of the shop because we learned that it was a cartoon version of the owner, who was our waiter, and the restaurant had been open for 30+ years! So of course, Luke had to take a picture with the sign ;)
Before dinner time, our team also joined Shohei, the leader of GMC's "Delivery Church"--which is basically like street evangelism. Luke and Lillian played music with Shohei, and Janet (a volunteer from Taiwan), while Lily, Brandi, Caitlyn, and a couple other of GMC members walked around the station and handed out fliers for a a gospel concert and workshop that is coming up. It was cool to see commuters--businessmen, students, mothers, children, elderly folk, etc--stop in front of the worship band, to simply just watch and listen. Even if the songs being sung were in English, people passing by were still interested and intrigued enough that they stopped to look. By the end of Delivery Church, Shohei had guided one high school student in commiting his life to Christ, and Shohei has also been building relationships with other young men in that boy's group of friends.
God is working in Japan...He is the God of Iwaki, the God of Japan, and the God of all the earth. May the people of Japan see God more and more everyday, and may they be open to receiving, submitting to, and worshiping the one, true LORD.
Later in the morning, Luke, Lillian, and Brandi joined Harutasan again for a Tai Chi class at a kasetsu that our team went to for a sewing class. About five women showed up to this class, we had several good laughs, and also got in some good exercise too. Hayashi-san, who is a full time employee at GMC and usually runs the cafes at the kasetsus, also attended the Tai Chi class and we all had tea afterward, like the previous Tai Chi class we had participated in.
In the afternoon, our team went to go eat ramen for lunch. We went to a cute, "ma & pop" ramen shop not too far from the GMC and enjoyed some oishii ramen, fried rice, and gyoza. It was also funny to see the sign in front of the shop because we learned that it was a cartoon version of the owner, who was our waiter, and the restaurant had been open for 30+ years! So of course, Luke had to take a picture with the sign ;)
Before dinner time, our team also joined Shohei, the leader of GMC's "Delivery Church"--which is basically like street evangelism. Luke and Lillian played music with Shohei, and Janet (a volunteer from Taiwan), while Lily, Brandi, Caitlyn, and a couple other of GMC members walked around the station and handed out fliers for a a gospel concert and workshop that is coming up. It was cool to see commuters--businessmen, students, mothers, children, elderly folk, etc--stop in front of the worship band, to simply just watch and listen. Even if the songs being sung were in English, people passing by were still interested and intrigued enough that they stopped to look. By the end of Delivery Church, Shohei had guided one high school student in commiting his life to Christ, and Shohei has also been building relationships with other young men in that boy's group of friends.
God is working in Japan...He is the God of Iwaki, the God of Japan, and the God of all the earth. May the people of Japan see God more and more everyday, and may they be open to receiving, submitting to, and worshiping the one, true LORD.
Kasetsu Cafe & An Unexpected, Afternoon Adventure
Lillian's friend, Mika, who game this oragami piece to our team as a gift.
This morning Caitlyn and Lily finally got to go to a kasetsu cafe, and our team went to the location that Lillian and Luke first went to--where residents' original homes are located 3km from the radiation danger site. It was nice for Lillian and Luke to see some familiar faces and our team, despite the language barrier, sought to connect to the residents in some way. While Luke used his "angel fingers" to play background music for the cafe, the girls in our team tried to connect to the cafe attendees through origami. We mainly learned how to make cranes, and one woman who Lillian had previously interacted with, Mika, was more than happy to give Lillian an origami, flower-ball that she made. It was definitely a challenge to connect with, or merely communicate with, the men and women at the cafe because of the obvious language barrier. But by the grace of God, we did our best, and Brandi and Caitlyn even were put on the spot to dance hula for the residents. Though Brandi didn't have her music with her, Luke--with his crazy, music skills--played a version of the routine song on his guitar. While Caitlyn and Brandi nervously performed the dance routine that Brandi choreographed for Jiyu Gakuen, the residents were memorized by the dance. It was as though they could see the beauty, love, and grace of Christ through simple hand motions, hip movements, and gentle smiles during the dance. One volunteer at GMC who was present (Janet), later reflected that she felt like the residents truly enjoyed the simple hula routine--she thought that the men and women really experienced peace and relief when they were watching us dance. I (Brandi) had no idea that a simple, hula dance could bring so much joy and hope to a devastated group of people. Overall, the cafe in the morning was a challenging, but beautiful experience.
Later on in the day, Papa-san gave each person in our group bracelets--they read, "Ganbappe Iwaki", which has been the slogan of encouragement and hope for the city since the tsunami--"You can do it, Iwaki!" It was an honor and joy to receive those bracelets from Papa-san, and we will all cherish it greatly.
Before dinner, our team also spontaneously stopped by a large building in Iwaki. On our way back from a 105 Yen sushi restaurant to the GMC, this massive, dirtysand brown colored building caught our eyes. It sort of looked like a cathedral slash mansion slash castle. So out of curiosity and a surplus of free time, we decided to check the mysterious building out. It turned out to be the "Granpaly Iwaki", a wedding hall where 200+ weddings take place each year. When we went in, one of the main workers at the front desk was more than enthusiastic to talk to us. We suppose since he didn't really have anything else to do, he was more than willing to give us a tour of the venue. He showed us the different reception halls--one contemporary and the other traditional (Buddhist)--the dining halls, the bar areas, and the courtyards. It was a beautiful venue! But definitely a pricey place to have one's wedding. It was a fun, unexpected adventure, and we had to have a picture with our "tour guide" at the end. Lastly, our tour guide, like many other random people we've encountered in Iwaki, was so grateful towards us when he learned that we were volunteers. There is definitely a genuine appreciation and gratitude towards people who freely volunteer to help Japan, and it was a privilege and honor to be so affirmed by this man and other people in Iwaki.
Later on in the day, Papa-san gave each person in our group bracelets--they read, "Ganbappe Iwaki", which has been the slogan of encouragement and hope for the city since the tsunami--"You can do it, Iwaki!" It was an honor and joy to receive those bracelets from Papa-san, and we will all cherish it greatly.
Before dinner, our team also spontaneously stopped by a large building in Iwaki. On our way back from a 105 Yen sushi restaurant to the GMC, this massive, dirtysand brown colored building caught our eyes. It sort of looked like a cathedral slash mansion slash castle. So out of curiosity and a surplus of free time, we decided to check the mysterious building out. It turned out to be the "Granpaly Iwaki", a wedding hall where 200+ weddings take place each year. When we went in, one of the main workers at the front desk was more than enthusiastic to talk to us. We suppose since he didn't really have anything else to do, he was more than willing to give us a tour of the venue. He showed us the different reception halls--one contemporary and the other traditional (Buddhist)--the dining halls, the bar areas, and the courtyards. It was a beautiful venue! But definitely a pricey place to have one's wedding. It was a fun, unexpected adventure, and we had to have a picture with our "tour guide" at the end. Lastly, our tour guide, like many other random people we've encountered in Iwaki, was so grateful towards us when he learned that we were volunteers. There is definitely a genuine appreciation and gratitude towards people who freely volunteer to help Japan, and it was a privilege and honor to be so affirmed by this man and other people in Iwaki.
Goodbye Iwaki <3
Our GMC Family
After three weeks of staying at the GMC, our Westmont family truly became a part of the Global Mission family. Through serving at kasetsu, delivery church, a kelp factory, and other places, our team fell in love with Iwaki and even more so with the people of Japan.
Though we met and saw devastation, loss, hopelessness, and suffering during our time in Iwaki, we also saw beauty, grace, joy, hope, and love. With Jesus as our center and leader, our team was able to reflect Christ's love and hope to those we came to me, encounter, and grow closer to.
On top of all of these blessings, each member of our team also had amazing experiences, together and individually. The five of us truly became our own special, unique, crazy, diverse, and God-loving family. Brandi as "Dad", Lillian as "Mom", Caitlyn as "the eldest child", Lily as "the middle child", and Luke as "the baby". We shared too many fun, ridiculous, and wonderfully unexpected moments together that have linked and bonded us for life. Making silly, spontaneous music videos for our Japanese, friends' birthdays, eating incredible, oishii food everyday together, surviving traveling between Tokyo and Iwaki with way too much luggage, earning "gaijin points" for being obvious foreigners, and so much more!
Four weeks ago, our team could have never foreseen where we would be now and what God would have taken us through...but we are pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed by our time in Japan. We will never forget the friends we made, the lessons we learned, the challenges we faced, and the love of God we encountered while in Japan. Though our time in Iwaki has come to an end, we say, じゃあまたね (jā mata ne), "see you later", not さようなら (sayōnara) "goodbye", to Japan and its people.
Though we met and saw devastation, loss, hopelessness, and suffering during our time in Iwaki, we also saw beauty, grace, joy, hope, and love. With Jesus as our center and leader, our team was able to reflect Christ's love and hope to those we came to me, encounter, and grow closer to.
On top of all of these blessings, each member of our team also had amazing experiences, together and individually. The five of us truly became our own special, unique, crazy, diverse, and God-loving family. Brandi as "Dad", Lillian as "Mom", Caitlyn as "the eldest child", Lily as "the middle child", and Luke as "the baby". We shared too many fun, ridiculous, and wonderfully unexpected moments together that have linked and bonded us for life. Making silly, spontaneous music videos for our Japanese, friends' birthdays, eating incredible, oishii food everyday together, surviving traveling between Tokyo and Iwaki with way too much luggage, earning "gaijin points" for being obvious foreigners, and so much more!
Four weeks ago, our team could have never foreseen where we would be now and what God would have taken us through...but we are pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed by our time in Japan. We will never forget the friends we made, the lessons we learned, the challenges we faced, and the love of God we encountered while in Japan. Though our time in Iwaki has come to an end, we say, じゃあまたね (jā mata ne), "see you later", not さようなら (sayōnara) "goodbye", to Japan and its people.
Last Night In Tokyo: SURPRISE!
Our beautiful, amazing tomodachi (friends)!
Early Saturday morning, we set off from Iwaki to Tokyo, in hopes of surprising our friends from Jiyu Gakuen and spending our last night in Japan, in Tokyo. Once we arrived in Tokyo, we met up with a fellow Westmont student, Amos Cole, whose parents are missionaries in Japan. His family graciously allowed our team to stay at their house for the night and they also met us at the station to take our huge luggage home with them. Right after that, we went to a onsei (public bath), which was fancier and bigger than the sento that we had previously been to in Iwaki. After some much needed relaxation and rejuvenation, we rushed over to the Suzuki household to surprise all of our friend.
Originally, we had planned our surprise with Barbara and our friends, Pon and Izumi. We told all of our close friends from Jiyu Gakuen to go to Barbara's house around 6pm so that they could Skype with us one last time while we were still in Japan. They were not supposed to know that we were actually coming over to the house to surprise them. However...once we walked into the house, Barbara was acting a little strange, and then she opened the living room door. There, the room was filled with inflated balloons...and then out popped our friends from beneath the balloons!!! It was just like the scene from the movie, Patch Adams, which Barbara shows in her English, college classes. It has always been Barbara's dream to reenact the scene from the movie: where Robin Williams fills a dorm room, floor to ceiling, with balloons, wears a clown nose, and surprises a girl he likes by hiding in all the balloons. Though our friends didn't completely fill the room--though they did blow 300 balloons from 1:30-4:30--it was still an amazing and unexpected surprise. They really got us ;)
After the initial surprise, some intense balloon fighting, screaming from balloons popping, and eating some delicious cake, our group of friends joined us for dinner. We went to a Japanese, pasta restaurant, followed by karaoke, and dessert from a grocery store. Overall, it was a fun, full, and fabulous evening with our friends. It was the perfect way to conclude our time in Japan, though it was hard to say goodbye to our friends. But as we like to say, "It's not 'goodbye', it's 'see you later'".
Originally, we had planned our surprise with Barbara and our friends, Pon and Izumi. We told all of our close friends from Jiyu Gakuen to go to Barbara's house around 6pm so that they could Skype with us one last time while we were still in Japan. They were not supposed to know that we were actually coming over to the house to surprise them. However...once we walked into the house, Barbara was acting a little strange, and then she opened the living room door. There, the room was filled with inflated balloons...and then out popped our friends from beneath the balloons!!! It was just like the scene from the movie, Patch Adams, which Barbara shows in her English, college classes. It has always been Barbara's dream to reenact the scene from the movie: where Robin Williams fills a dorm room, floor to ceiling, with balloons, wears a clown nose, and surprises a girl he likes by hiding in all the balloons. Though our friends didn't completely fill the room--though they did blow 300 balloons from 1:30-4:30--it was still an amazing and unexpected surprise. They really got us ;)
After the initial surprise, some intense balloon fighting, screaming from balloons popping, and eating some delicious cake, our group of friends joined us for dinner. We went to a Japanese, pasta restaurant, followed by karaoke, and dessert from a grocery store. Overall, it was a fun, full, and fabulous evening with our friends. It was the perfect way to conclude our time in Japan, though it was hard to say goodbye to our friends. But as we like to say, "It's not 'goodbye', it's 'see you later'".
America, here we come...?
We are family!
After a fun night out with our beloved friends from Jiyu Gakuen, it was time for our team to return home--except for Lillian, because she's from Japan and is actually going on another mission's trip TWO days after we leave. So we left Amos' house around 9am, took a bus to the train station, then took a train to the Tokyo station where we could take a direct train to Narita airport. Now, typically this wouldn't be too hard of a route/journey to the airport, but...our team does not pack light. Let's just say, by the time we were able to check our bags in at the airport, our arms were dead and we definitely got our workout for the day. On top of having a lot of baggage, literally, we ran into some unfortunate train delays. Unfortunately, we had missed the Tokyo to Narita train that we were hoping for, so we had to take the next one, which was not until an hour later. Then on top of that delay, that train ended up being twenty-five minutes late.
Once we finally got onto our final train, we said farewell to Mom aka Lillian, who was going to head home, and our friend Pon took her place. Pon would help us get to the airport and also translate for us too...not to mention, we just plain love her and it was a blessing to have her see us off. But...once we were on the train for about half an hour, it stopped. All the conductor could tell us was that there was an unexpected delay at a station up ahead. Our train had stopped around 12:45pm, and our flight was scheduled to leave at 2:55pm! We were about half an hour away from the airport still, and we had no idea when our train would be able to move again. As each minute passed, we got a little bit more nervous that we would actually miss our flight back to America. Thankfully, Pon called Barbara, and Barbara called Korean Air to let them know about our delay. And then... HALLELUJAH...the train started and we had less then an hour and a half until our plane was to take off.
So once our train finally made it to Terminal 1 at Narita airport, we literally sprinted to the check-in counter. With our huge, heavy bags in hand, and Pon guiding the way, we ran! However, we were running so fast that Lily and Brandis' backpacks opened and Lily had to stop and collect all of her belongings. But thank the Lord, we checked in, got rid of our bags, said farewell to Pon, and made it to our gate with about fifteen minutes to spare. Whew. Then after a ten(ish) hour flight, we landed back on American soil. Five strangers, four weeks, three (thousand+) memories made, two different cities...all with one God.
Once we finally got onto our final train, we said farewell to Mom aka Lillian, who was going to head home, and our friend Pon took her place. Pon would help us get to the airport and also translate for us too...not to mention, we just plain love her and it was a blessing to have her see us off. But...once we were on the train for about half an hour, it stopped. All the conductor could tell us was that there was an unexpected delay at a station up ahead. Our train had stopped around 12:45pm, and our flight was scheduled to leave at 2:55pm! We were about half an hour away from the airport still, and we had no idea when our train would be able to move again. As each minute passed, we got a little bit more nervous that we would actually miss our flight back to America. Thankfully, Pon called Barbara, and Barbara called Korean Air to let them know about our delay. And then... HALLELUJAH...the train started and we had less then an hour and a half until our plane was to take off.
So once our train finally made it to Terminal 1 at Narita airport, we literally sprinted to the check-in counter. With our huge, heavy bags in hand, and Pon guiding the way, we ran! However, we were running so fast that Lily and Brandis' backpacks opened and Lily had to stop and collect all of her belongings. But thank the Lord, we checked in, got rid of our bags, said farewell to Pon, and made it to our gate with about fifteen minutes to spare. Whew. Then after a ten(ish) hour flight, we landed back on American soil. Five strangers, four weeks, three (thousand+) memories made, two different cities...all with one God.