Mr. and Mrs. Abe has moved in their daughter´s house. They do have a print shop and one part of the room they have changed into a worship church meeting place. It looks very beautiful.
The cleanup in the city of Kesennuma will
last a long time. You can not imagine how that looks right now. Everything is
gray, dirty and destroyed. As bad as after a war. I think if I had to live
there, I would be sick in my heart with pity and sorry. It will take years
before a reasonably normal city life with beautiful shops, etc. can be thought
of. And yet people have to continue to remain to live there, because they have no
other home. They have lost everything. Recently there were built a lot of simply homes.
I 've seen the houses, but to be honest they look not very nice. I am sure the victim´s will be lonely. Especially elderly people now die of grief and loneliness. And
there are already many new problems. Those who were allowed to move in such a
log house, are right now lucky, Because
they do have light, water, electricity and food, probably for the next
two years. Until then, they must have managed to maintain their own life. They
all need a job. And that's not easy to find. And those who can keep their houses, even if the tsunami
has caused a lot of damage, they get nothing from the government. They have to
support themself- No wonder that those affected are disadvantaged and now feel
dissatisfied. The mutual envy is inevitable.
The
Abe family takes care of several victims and hurt people in their city and will
distribute the supplies, which we buy and send over. First they were mainly
needed water, rice, warm blankets, vegetables, and items for the daily care
.... etc. And now six month
later, the victim´s need summer dresses, T-shirt's, bug spray, fans against the
heat, and of course all food items etc. The Abe family let us know by phone
what they need. One of my student, Mrs. Miho Yamada is a great help. She and
some of her church members buy the goods
and send them over.
We
were also able to make contact to one of another volunteer group, which is
sending young people from Tokio to Ishinomaki to help in the neighbourhood to
clean the durty houses. Young Japanese are willing to give their time and
strengh in helping the victims. Those affected are incredibly grateful for the
work of the volunteers. They have expressed this to me over and over. This
Japanese aid organization we will also support with your money. And I am sure
you are happy with this decion.
And
then we visited an elementary school in Ishinomaki. For the kids I was a
stranger. In Northjapan foreigners are very rare. I promissed the children and
teachers that my German friends are praying for them and will help them. The teacher
of one class was very impressed, I later learned that even her husband, who was
also a teacher, has lost his life in the tsunami. Even among those children
there were kids, who have lost family members, parents, grandparents, or even
the home or their school. They are living temporarily in other schools. We
bought gifts for about 100 children that were distributed in this school. I
realized how unfocused and confused some of the kids had been in their
behaviour. Please pray for them, that they will cure and be released from their
heart pain.
I
am thankful that I could find some good ways to help some victims. To bring
them a little joy is a delight. We want to continue with these personal
contacts in the near future. My
student Miho is an excellent manager. She is supported from some of her church
ladies and even her pastor and his wife.
I
want to thank you all for your faithful prayers and gifts of money. My prayer
is now that the victims will be
touched by your love. And may they find Jesus Christ, as their saviour. Any
further donations are still necessary and valuable. The Lord bless you all!
