Relief Work?

It was the beginning of April, 2011. I (Haidee) had just stepped off the plane into Narita airport and used a pay phone to alert my roommate in Fukushima that I wouldn't be making it back that night--with aftershocks, the trains were an unreliable method of transportation for such a distance. "Well, can you make it back by 1pm or so?" my roommate said. "A meeting with a local English company came up, and it'd be good if you could make it." I said I'd try, hung up the phone, and (about 18 hours later) stumbled (with my luggage still in hand) into the church for the meeting.

So began (for me) the season of relief work and rebuilding after the March 11th earthquake. I'm not sure what relief work looks like in other places of the world, but for me, it's been a season of immense change (some good, some bad), pressure to serve, and what feels like a constant flow of "crisis situations" that can only be reacted to or stumbled into, rather than planned for.

Take yesterday, for example. I was cleaning the kitchen stove-top and had spent the last hour brainstorming with Eric and typing up an adult English curriculum when my cellphone rang. I picked it up too late, but called the pastor's wife back and chatted with her regarding some English school plans and concerns. While I was talking to her...and cleaning the stove...and still had my document unsaved, open on my laptop to finish typing out the English school curriculum...there was a knock on my door. It was my pastor, who had just gotten a call from a non-profit organization who was going to pass out socks at the government housing area and was asking for more volunteers...to meet in 2 hours. And we needed to turn in some forms for the upcoming Kids' Camp (another relief program) by that afternoon, he said, so he and I needed to have a meeting and complete that paperwork.

After a year of these kinds of situations, I have a hard time reacting graciously. What I'd like to do is just yell, "One at a time! Take a number! And if I don't have time to get to you today, you'll just have to come back tomorrow. And no, don't try to guilt me into doing anything."

In the end, I saved my unfinished English school curriculum, went to an English school meeting, finished the necessary Kids' Camp paperwork, and said that Eric and I would pass things out at the government housing area the next day. Eric spent the afternoon prepping Easter baskets for the Kids' Camp. Today we went and spent time with the elderly people living in the government housing area, passing out socks and engaging them in conversation.

What is relief work? Is it doing as much as possible for as many people as possible all the time? Is it physical--handing out socks, making Easter baskets? Emotional and relational--conversations, time spent together? Spiritual--prayer-walking, worship? Is it more economical--helping the city and society get back up on its feet, helping the students get back into routines of learning? Is it distant--do we need to go to the government housing area? Is it nearby--does it count as relief work if we simply talk to our neighbors, who are separated from their families because of radiation?

We want to help the people of this city. We want to share God's love and light. We also want to make decisions as adults and be better at saying yes or no to things...not just living in a state of reaction, guilt, and stress. What is important? What is not important? How do we decide? There is so much that can be done...

A blessing is that in moments when it is all just too much, and we feel pulled and twisted and disfigured by the needs and demands, I can look across at Eric and know love...receive love...feel it.

A short summary: relief work, in all of its ambiguity and busyness, is just plain difficult. Please pray for wisdom, strength, and peace as we round the bend for year number two since the earthquake! And perhaps...some relief.

A Letter from Ben!

Those of you who know me well will remember that I lived for two and a half years at Camphill Village, a farm where volunteers live and work with adults with disabilities.  It's an incredible place where daily life and relationships are highly valued.  The friendships I made during my time there were life-changing! 

One person in particular that I will never forget is my friend, Ben.  Here's Ben, the "Blues Man" jamming on his harmonica.

Ben has a gentle spirit, a sensitive heart, and a great laugh.  We enjoyed making lunch together, playing board games (while eating popcorn - of course!), and playing the blues together on guitar and harmonica.  Ben loves to draw, write lyrics to songs, and send letters to his friends.

  The two of us singing at church.

And so, it was with great joy and some amazement that I came to church last week and found an letter for me from the United States addressed with some familiar hand-writing:

 "Amazement" because I can't believe the letter actually made it to me!  The address number is incorrect, and the name of the church is missing.  And yet, somehow, the letter got delivered to the church where Haidee and I work.  This is either a testament to the dedication of our Japanese post man, or the fact that there are very few foreigners living in the Noda Machi neighborhood in Fukushima City who would receive a handwritten letter (in English characters) from the United States.

Either way, receiving Ben's letter was a wonderful surprise!  Here's a brief snippet:

Dear Eric and Haidee (spelled correctly, by the way!).  I wish you to come to the popcorn and games night.  Sarah and I miss you a lots times.  Please comeback to us.  I said, 'I miss that Dude.'

P.S. send photos

Thank you, SO much, Ben.  I WILL most definitely send photos.  And to you (and everyone) who would like to send us letters, in the future please use our complete address:

Eric and Haidee Selle
Izumi Lutheran Church
1-2-10 Noda Machi
Fukushima-shi, Fukushima-ken
Japan 960-8055

Nihongo (Japanese Language) Part 2: Shopping for White Day

March 14th is a special day here in Japan called, "White Day."  This is the day that men give small gifts (typically cookies or candy) to their wife or girlfriend, to female co-workers, and female friends.  This may sound similar to Valentine's Day, which occurred one month earlier.  The only difference is that in Japan, on Valentine's Day, the women are supposed to give gifts to the men!  I was pretty excited to hear about this when I first arrived in Japan, but quickly learned that the guys are not off the hook - the gift-giving obligation is simply fulfilled one month later on White Day.

So, I set off from our apartment this afternoon in search of flowers and chocolate.  In the past I've purchased flowers (already assembled into bouquets) at the flower shops attached to the grocery store or mall near the train station.  The process is simple enough:  the prices are on the flower arrangements, so you simply pick out a bouquet that looks nice and pay for it at the cash register.  No need to speak (or understand) any Japanese. However, today I was feeling brave and thought I would stop by the small flower shop only a few blocks away from our neighborhood.

Here's how the conversation unfolded:  (compare this to my first conversation as documented here)

"Please come in! (very polite form of Japanese)

     "Hello." (very generic, simple form of the greeting)

[Lots of rapid Japanese that I don't understand.]

     "I'm sorry, I didn't understand."

[Another polite question that I don't understand - but I think he's asking me what I'm looking for.]

     (pointing to the only pre-assembled bouquet that I see in the tiny store) "I like these.  How much do these cost?"

"500 yen." [Then, more Japanese that I don't understand - I think he's asking who the flowers are for.]


    "Today is White Day.  These are for my wife."

[more Japanese - I think he's telling me not to buy the flowers]  Then, recognizing that I don't understand Japanese, he draws a picture of a coffin on his notepad and shows it to me. 

    (Hmm, I think he is trying to tell me that this particular bouquet of flowers is an appropriate gift for a funeral.)

    "I see.  Okay then.  One of these, one of these, and one of these please (pointing to three different colored roses)."

"Yes.  Very good."
 

     "How much does it cost?"

"900 yen."

     "Okay.  Thank you very much."

Okay.  Mission accomplished (I hope!).  As the shopkeeper created the bouquet and wrapped the flowers he tried to engage me in some small talk:

"Where are you from?"
"I'm American, I'm from Minnesota."
"When did you move to Fukushima?"
"January."
"How long do you intend to stay?"
"Two years or maybe longer." 
"Wow, that is a long time to stay!"
"I am teaching English at Izumi Lutheran Church in the Nodamachi neighborhood.  I think Fukushima is beautiful."
"Thank you."

He is finished wrapping the flowers and then charges me only 800 yen (he probably felt sorry for me, or something).

     "Thank you very much.  These flowers are, um (desperately groping for an appropriate adjective), fun!"
 
[He gives me a sideways nod of the head - which means my adjective of choice didn't make sense]

     (*crap*)  "I mean, these flowers are . . . . . cute!"  (One hears this adjective even more often than "Sa mui!" here in Japan).

"Ah yes!  Thank you very much."

     "Thank you. (past tense)."

We then went on to exchange many more bows and "Thank yous" as I left the store with my flowers.

Whew!  I little more stressful than shopping at the grocery store, but at least all the Japanese lessons are starting to pay off (I hope!).

Happy White Day to my beautiful wife, Haidee!

3/11 Earthquake

Do you remember where you were one year ago today, when the Great Tohuku Japan Earthquake struck?  Today, March 11th, marks the one year anniversary of this life-changing event.  The Great Tokuku (Northeast) Japan Earthquake, measured at magnitude 9.0 on the Richter Scale, was the largest ever recorded earthquake to hit the country of Japan (and the 4th largest ever recorded in the world). 

I clearly remember the morning I heard about the quake.  Haidee had already been living and teaching in Fukushima, Japan, since June of the previous year.  I was working at Mount Carmel Ministries, in Alexandria, MN.  I woke up around 7:00 am, just as the rising sun was poking through my window.  I noticed a new text message on my cell phone.  It was from Haidee's mom, Sue:  "Have you seen the news yet?  Did Haidee email you?  Do you know if she's okay?"

Having no TV or radio in my house, I immediately turned on my computer and opened up my email.  There I found a new message from Haidee, sent just 30 minutes earlier:

"Hey.  So I spent the afternoon with my English students under the table for 45min...and then I cleaned up part of the church wall that had fallen down...we just had what they are calling the biggest earthquake in over 100 years. Anyway, so I'm letting you know that if you see things on the news, etc., don't worry, we really are fine...we're just riding some aftershock waves and waiting for power to come back on."

"IF you see things on the news" . . . .News stories were everywhere!  I spent the next hour browsing the internet as more and more updated news articles with headlines like:  "Hundreds dead as earthquake, tsunami rake Japan," and "Nuclear fears emerge after quake," became available.

I sent emails and text messages to Haidee, but didn't really expect that she would receive any of them, with the power being down in parts of Northeast Japan.  That afternoon I drove down to a hotel in St. Cloud, MN to speak at a regional youth gathering.  The news at the hotel started using words like "leaking radiation," "meltdown imminent," and "just like Chernobyl" to describe the situation at Fukushima nuclear power plant.  All 250 high school students and youth leaders present at the gathering said a prayer for the people in Japan that night.  I returned home late that night (incidentally driving through a blizzard that would close Interstate 94 - just after I made it back to Alexandria) to find no new messages from Haidee. 


Thankfully, 36 hours later we were able to have a Skype conversation.  There was a lot of cleanup work to be done, and you had to wait in long lines to obtain drinkable water, but Haidee and Cindy, and the members of the church were doing okay.  And, only two weeks later, Haidee was still able to come home to Minnesota for her brother's wedding, so we got to be together for a short while.

Here are a few pictures that Haidee took after the earthquake.  Click here to read some of the blogs Haidee wrote in the aftermath of the earthquake:.

 People in Fukushima City waiting in line for food and water.

Koriyama Church and the apartment in Fukushima after the earthquake.

So much has changed in Japan since the 3/11 earthquake.  Many people have lost their homes from the earthquake or tsunami damage, or have been forced to evacuate the radiation zone near the power plant.  Families have been separated, as many have chosen to send their children to live further away where radiation levels are lower.  Anxiety and hopelessness have further increased suicides in a country which has already has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.  (25 out of every 10,000 Japanese people took their own lives last year).  


In the midst of these disasters, God has opened more doors for His love to be made known among His children in Japan:  Concerned about radiation levels, many foreign English teachers left, creating job openings in Fukushima that have been filled by Christian teachers!  The local Fukushima churches began to work together shortly after the 3/11 earthquake, forming a Christian Network of churches that has never before existed in this city.  A country whose people put so much pride in their own strength and endurance has lost an illusion of stability, creating a need to find a True Source of a firm foundation.

I find it no coincidence that I opened my Mount Carmel Daily Texts devotional book to find today's verse (chosen by lot by the Moravian church) to be Proverbs 18:10:  "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."  Yahweh is very much the Lord of heaven and earth.  The same God who created the sea and ordered it to obey His command is still in control of His creation today.  In Him we find our strength and safety.  And He loves us so very much.  He loves the people in Japan so very much.


PLEASE PRAY for God's will to continue to unfold here in Fukushima, Japan.  Pray that He will make His love and peace known to people whose lives have been riddled by anxiety and despair.  Pray that people here will be filled with a longing for real Truth and that they will seek Yahweh, to find their strength and safety in Him alone.  Pray that Christians living here in Japan would always be prepared to answer everyone who asks them to give a reason for this hope that we have.  (1 Peter 3:15)


And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

Wedding Photos!

Haidee and I have already been married for two months!  Praise God for His faithfulness.  We've been enjoying our wedding pictures for the last couple weeks, and we'd like to share them with you, too.  Here are some of our favorites:

 

 

   

  
Click here to view ALL of our wedding photos at Walgreens.com.  You will need to create your own Walgreens account to view the photos; then you can order prints if you'd like.

Special thanks to our dear friend, Katy Baxter Sunstrom, for being our wedding photographer!  We were super impressed with her work.