DEPARTURE TO JAPAN IN 3 DAYS
With three days left until my departure to Japan with Campus Crusade, I'm really starting to get excited. Just yesterday, it was difficult to even fathom the idea of going to Japan. It just didn't feel real. Today I've got my packing almost finished, with a few small things left to acquire, and I'll be all set to leave. I'm so excited, I'm so nervous, but more excited than nervous. Everyone who has been lifting me up in prayer, you are all so wonderful and I'm so grateful for your prayers. My heart, I feel like it has expanded just over these past few days. I'll be honest and say that in the surreality of being able to go on this missions trip, it was very easy for me to become centered around myself, even in little things like packing and what to pack, and details, and when I would get them. But thank you for continuing to pray for me, because God is showing me what it means to be more and more humble every day. It's not something that I can do in my own strength, this is certain. It's truly a work of the spirit, God's hand moved, by your prayers. Thank you so much, everyone.
Since the organization I'll be working with on the ground is completely volunteer run (this organization being CRASH Japan), getting details about what kind of work I'll be doing and where I'll actually be in Japan, came very slowly. But finally I got a tentative schedule in my email this morning, and my little heart just couldn't contain the joy I felt reading it.
The team I'm in will be going to work in Nasu, Japan. It's within Saitama, and very close to Tokyo. We'll also be spending some time in Sendai, which is further up north. I'm going to be close to my host-family and my pen pal while I work, just under two hours outside of Yokohama, but no where near my friend Narumi, who is volunteering in Iwate-ken. I don't know if I have introduced Narumi yet.
She and I met when I visited Yokohama for the very first time. At the time we were both in high school, and she was about to graduate and wanted to study to be a nurse. For two years we sent each other snail-mail, and special gifts at Christmas time. I remember she sent me a big package of fun snacks, and I sent her Teavana tea. We lost touch in the next year, and when the tsunami hit, I was so glad to be able to hear from her aunt in San Diego to let me know she was okay. Narumi is still studying to be a nurse, and according to her aunt has made exceptional progress and has stellar grades. She's really giving it all she's got. On top of that, Narumi has told me herself that each day she and a group of her classmates spend the afternoon volunteering in Iwate, removing debris and cleaning up the areas that have been damaged from the tsunami and earthquakes. Narumi and her classmates have been working together even through the nuclear panic that shook Northern Japan in March, and even to this day really. Her bravery and perseverance is certainly an inspiration to me. I'm very sad I won't be able to see her, but I am glad we are able to communicate via email. Her stories of what she is able to do, just as an available student, in Iwate, could encourage any one to take time out of their lives to just "be available" for someone or for a task. While Narumi may not see how honorable her actions are, the way she spends her time does speak volumes, at least to me.
In Nasu, a lot of the work that is done is based around distribution of food and supplies. I can see a lot of heavy lifting in my future, but I'm just ecstatic to be able to do tasks that show the love of Jesus to others. I'm also looking forward to the trip to Sendai. Sendai is one of the bigger cities in Japan, and one of those most deeply affected by the earthquakes, especially in areas like Miyagi, Iwate, and just a little bit further north, Fukushima. (And for those of you who were wondering if I'd be anywhere near Fukushima, it doesn't seem like I will be within any dangerous limits, and even if I end up there, it won't be for very long. CRASH and Campus Crusade have literally been working around the clock to ensure this team's safety. ) I know that it will be very sobering to see the way in which Japan changed in a matter of minutes. It's especially difficult because here in the United States, we covered the crisis in Japan on the news for maybe a few weeks and then stopped, as if it was all over, and the world was the way it had been before March 11, 2011. It will be very interesting, and I wonder how it will feel, to see that no, things are still needed to be done in Japan, very much so.
This schedule I received in my email is a tentative one, which kind of makes this trip fun, actually, because I won't know for sure what'll happen next. I'm looking forward to this more than ever. I'm so excited and trying very hard not to get ahead of myself, and continue to be prayerful and humble through this process. I'm so excited for the opportunities that God already has created, and has planned for this team and for the people whose lives God wants to heal and shower with his amazing grace and love this summer and forever. Jesus loves Japan so much, that makes me crazy happy!
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