(I’m still catching up with my notes from Japan. I’ll be posting some comments that are Stateside based within the next post or two. Thanks for your patience.)
The term “human dynamo” is a cliche, yet the term best describes Rie-San, our training leader for Operation SAFE (and also the wife of CRASH Japan President Jonathan Wilson). I watched her lead a group of volunteers who will work with children at the different CRASH base camps, kids who have seen things that children really shouldn’t have to see. Her energy and enthusiasm was amazing…I was having trouble keeping up with Rie-San, and I was simply sitting there as an observer.
Operation SAFE is based on the template of the Vacation Bible Schools that many of us attended as we were growing up. The distinction here is that the curriculum is targeting children who’ve witnessed and / or experienced trauma. The story of P-Chan (Pete the Penguin, detailed in an earlier entry) is just one of the ways in which the theme of the week is emphasized — “Boku (or Watashi) wa hitorijyanai!” (I am not alone!), to which the kids reply “Fear not!” and offer a hug to an adjacent child.
The reality is that many of these children attending Operation SAFE will have, at best, have witnessed tragedies that would haunt an adult. Worse, some have lost family members and homes. It was a privilege to have observed the training session and learn about this program. Pastor Jonathan wants to be able to take this program and offer it anywhere a disaster happens to aid children and help the beginning of God’s healing and encouragement.
College students and recent grads (as well as anyone else interested) — Operation SAFE will be offered at all five of the base stations located in the affected areas in Northern Japan during the month of August. CRASH Japan can use volunteers from the U.S. — contact me at ayoda77@gmail.com if you want more information.
One interesting sidebar — I found that one of those volunteers attended a sister church of my current home institution. Yuri returned to Japan after ten (10) years in the States. We had many friends in common and I’d realized that I met her somewhere, somehow. Forget Kevin Bacon — we have the Body of Believers bringing us together.
To paraphrase Monty Python, “and now for something completely irrelevant.” I’ve two decent-sized tanks, 40 gallon (151 liters) and 100 gallon (378 liter) sized. I’ve been keeping tanks since I was eight years old. I found the paradise for a fish geek — Aqua Forest is in Shinjuku, an absolutely fabulous store. Too bad I couldn’t buy anything there to take home, but it gives me more ideas for my comparatively sad looking tanks when I get home. (And let me now apologize to my wife Donna as she again watches me obsess over my hobby.)
Speaking of home, the phrase “the end of the beginning” is something I stole from my niece, Kristin. She used it to describe her graduation photos (Uncle Alan is VERY proud of you Kristin!!) as she becomes an alumni of South High School and prepares to become a freshman at the University of California, Irvine this fall. As I start to think about going home, I also realize now that my real job will begin when I get back to the U.S. Japan will need people to come share love and hope for at least the next few years. I hope that somehow that my small efforts can somehow help bring that needed love and hope that the Gospel asks us to share.
I also have to decide what to do with this blog once I get home. I have some ideas, but I’d welcome any ideas you may have. Suggestions? Talk to you soon. Your prayers continue to be acknowledged and appreciated.
