ナスに着た！

It is a shocking mere 9pm here in Japan, and the team and I are finally in Nasu. Today we drove about three hours from Tokyo, and once we turned our backs on the Tokyo Tower, I knew I was headed into unfamiliar territories. This is a side of Japan I have truly never seen. There is so much green vegetation out here and small towns made up of mere intersections, darling buildings that are tall and spacious, cafes, hardware stores, and of course, the Nasu Crash Base. We stopped at a rest stop in Sano, and there I was able to indulge in the desire of my stomach's heart: Shoyu Ramen!

There is the delicious Ramen! 

I am so excited. :) 

I can't remember the last time I had Shoyu Ramen, and as always in Japan, I was not disappointed by this ramen either. The mere fact that we can pick this up at a rest stop is phenomenal. The weather in Sano was hot and humid, and somehow I felt cooled down like in the old myth that says if you drink extremely hot tea, then you will cool down in hot weather. Maybe it's not a myth. Hmmm.

We arrived at the Nasu Base, it was tucked away amidst many green bushes and tall green trees, like we were in a real camp. The building we are staying at is a bed and breakfast run by a reverend and his wife, whom we have yet to meet. Today we got a gracious tour of the bed and breakfast, the base, and tomorrow we will see the farm where half of our team will be working.

  

Rachel is happy because the
weather not humid at all here!

We met a great guy named Matt, who will be coordinating our team's work for the next two weeks with CRASH. He showed us around and was able to talk with us for a while about the development of the situation in Japan. Apparently here in Nasu, even though we are 100km away from the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, there is major concern about radiation among the Japanese people who live in the area. They don't even allow their children to play out side. Matt shared with us many stories he has heard from people who have been displaced because of the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation issue.

Some of the stories he shared with us about the older people who have worked so hard all of their lives on farms that are now deadly and contaminated was very heart breaking to hear. I feel as though no matter what work I am able to do to help restore Japan in this long time of recovery, I am here to help and I want nothing more than to help. After we had a little more familiarizing with the base, we headed out to see the warehouse where I will be working!

We are excited to see the new warehouse!

Everyone piled into a huge CRASH van and we took off on the very bumpy road out to the tourist-y area of Nasu. Nasu is like a summer get away place, and so there are over 50 onsen (hot springs) and many fun novelty shops and attractions such as the mountains to go to.  The Crash Warehouse is close by all of these things, and not a far drive at all. We were actually able to walk back to the base from there too.

This is the outside of the new warehouse where tons of storage and supplies is kept to be packaged carefully and sent out to Japanese people in need. 

We got to take a look inside the warehouse, it's very warm in there! I am excited to return there tomorrow to begin working and moving things. This base was just built, actually, and if you visit the Crash Japan website, there's even a little article on it's opening. It was a special day for Crash, and for many who want to be a part of the relief efforts in Japan.

 I am truly so excited to begin working. Many of my teammates have shared similar sentiments that our briefing time has been rather extensive, and we want to dive in and do our part as son as we can.

Love on JAPAN! <3

 Hearing this from everyone else, and feeling it on the inside, this sense of anxiousness may or may not be a good thing. I'm hoping that all of our nerves will be able to go towards good works in these next couple of weeks.

We walked back to the base from the warehouse after looking through a gardening store and stopping to take some photos of Nasu City. Nasu is beautiful. It's not beautiful like Yokohama or Tokyo is beautiful though. It's a completely different kind of gorgeous beauty, like you can see God in Nasu. There are endless rice fields and mountains in the hazy distance. There are clear skies, and today we actually had very little humidity. The wind was cool and breathable. In Japanese we say it's "suzushii". Nasu is certainly that way.

We took our time  getting back home. The sun was out and the bright and the wind was cool and there was a smell in the air so beautiful, it was not nostalgic, but new and fresh. I think as I reflect on this, being in Nasu has brought me to a kind of shock. In Yokohama it was like I knew what to expect, but this time is so different. Nevertheless, Japan has proven herself to be magical no matter where I am.

As we walked down the way we ended up passing by a place that sells Rasuku. Rasuku is like a toast, it's very delicious with different flavors. We stepped inside to try some samples, and we bought a bag of delicious maple Rasuku.

 

Our team coordinator, Micheal, got a heart shaped Rasuku out of the box by chance, and there was a small hole inside. He told us a story of a Frenchman who once said that there is a God-shaped hole inside every man's heart that only Jesus can fill, and thus the Rasuku had sentimental value to him. I don't think he has eaten it yet. He put it in a plastic bag to keep, and plans to share the gospel with the Rasuku. It wasn't even a joke, he was really seriously contemplating whether or not to eat it. I told him I would eat it, but I had little success with two Rasuku in my hands already. :)

This morning I read 1Corinthians 1, and verses 17-30 stood out to me a lot. I learned that there is nothing that I can do that will make me competent of carrying out the Gospel to others, or the will of God in my own life. God is all and in all, and He is the one who equips and empowers, by His Spirit, not by my works, or my ability. This is a part of the Gospel - God does not save us because of what we do for Him, He saves us because of His genuine love for us.  In the past few days it has been a pride of mine to be able to understand Japanese well, but I get nervous when I think about communicating with others, and worry that maybe I am not cut out for this project after all. The passage I read in Corinthians today completely erased my insecurities, and filled me with faith, not in myself at all, but completely in the Lord. I just want what He wants to be done and to follow Him as best I can in my service of others.

Tomorrow I will be working at the warehouse, and we are going to be moving boxes of pots and pans from one warehouse to another it looks like. I have heard many times however, that assignments are truly fluid in disaster zones such as this one, and so tomorrow will bring what it will bring, and I will be as ready as I can be.