Day #1: Wednesday 20^th June 2012 (Morioka/Ofunato)

We arrived in Morioka by Shinkansen for our 2.30pm meeting with Ps Yoshiya Kondo of the 3:11 Iwate Church Network (3:11ICN). We were met at the train station by Micah Ghent, a 3:11ICN staff member and driven to the Morioka Baptist Church (Conservative Baptist International).

Ps Yoshiya Kondo (Morioka)	Micah Ghent (Ofunato)	Ps Fumiaki Otsuka (Morioka)

Ps Kondo introduced us to the work of the 3:11ICN using a PowerPoint presentation which I will share with the EPMC on 18^th July. It is being updated and then translated into English by Ps Otsuka, the co-leader of the 3:11ICN. The network is newer and less established than CRASH but is Japanese led by these 2 younger and progressive pastors who have a tremendous burden to see churches planted in Iwate, especially along the coastal area where there is a dearth of evangelical churches.

We were also introduced to James & Charley Ballinger, OMF missionaries from the UK who were recently appointed to assist Ps Kondo at the Morioka Baptist Church. After our meeting, we had dinner with the Ballingers, Micah and Ps Kondo at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.

Dinner with Ps Kondo, Micah & Ballingers	Ps Kondo & family, Ofunato & Miyako base leaders

We then left Morioka with Micah and drove 2.5hrs to the 3:11 ICN base in Ofunato. We arrived at the base shortly after 9pm. Just as we arrived, a group from Taiwan also arrived and proceeded to share their vision of a prayer network for Japan. We finally made our way to our room at 10.30pm.

The base camp is situated in a house that had received water damage from the tsunami but was otherwise structurally sound (for a 40+ year old house). As the water had reached 4ft, the entire ground floor had to be refurbished. They have been working on the house for the last 3 weeks before our arrival when they signed the 2 yrs lease with the Japanese owner. He has graciously rented the house to the network for 2000Yen/month (S$32). God truly provided for them.

Front of Ofunato Base	Work in progress – Ground floor room

When completed, the house will have 4 rooms that will double up as bedrooms for the staff and also the short-term volunteers. They hope to complete the renovation within the next 3 weeks. In my opinion, they can house up to 12 volunteers at a time comfortably. However, there is only 1 toilet and 1 bathroom in the entire house and this could pose as a challenge during the summer months. There is however, a public sento (bath house) less than 10 mins drive away so this could be an option as it only charges 250Yen to use this.

We were housed on the second floor in an unfinished room with futons and sleeping bags. While it was cold, it was thankfully bearable. However, as the sun rose at around 4am each morning, I ended up waking up at around 4am each morning! Breakfast was at 7am with the base staff and volunteers followed by devotions at 8am.

Our room on the 2nd floor	Breakfast with the Ofunato team & volunteers

Day #2: Thursday 21^st June 2012 (Ofunato)

After breakfast and team devotions, we left with Micah Ghent to accompany him as he went around the different temporary housing shelters (kasetsus) to provide carpentry work. The Ofunato base serves the residents of these kasetsus by providing basic carpentry work at subsidised costs to help make it more bearable to live in very cramped quarters. Residents need only pay for half the price of the materials and Micah’s expertise is provided free of charge. Because of this service, many hearts and doors have been opened to the network to serve and connect directly with residents.

Micah making his rounds at the kasetsu	Paul assisting Micah to build a storage shelf
The finished product which Paul assembled	Volunteers sanding a deck before repainting

 Later that morning, Micah drove us to another kasetsu where some other team members were conducting a cooking class making takoyaki-style desserts. It was clear that the Lord has blessed the faithfulness of Paula Chen, the current Ofunato team leader, who has been ministering in the area for the last 6 months. The kasetsu caretaker (there are at least 2 caretakers who are employed by the local government to look after the needs of the residents) that we met expressed her sadness that Paula would be leaving at the end of September as her sending mission wants her in Tokyo for another ministry assignment. Paula is a Taiwanese missionary who has been in Japan for the last 8 years. Fred & Chikako Whitwer (USA/Japan) will be assuming base leadership after Paula departs.

After the cooking class, we drove by a nearby supermarket to purchase lunch. Everyone bought their own lunch as there was no time to cook lunch. Later in the afternoon, we headed out with Micah to another kasetsu to observe a weekly Children’s English class that he conducts for primary school kids living in the kasetsu where he also lives.

Micah conducting the English class	Playing with the kids outside after English class

We returned to the base to a home-cooked dinner, the cost of which was shared equally by all (staff, volunteers and guests alike). We turned in early that night as it had been a long day of fruitful ministry. Thankfully, the work on the flooring in our room was completed and our room was less dusty and more habitable. The handrails were also re-installed making it safer to use the steep stairs.

Day #3: Friday 22^nd June 2012 (Ofunato/Morioka)

After breakfast and team devotions, we headed out with Micah to a 3^rd kasetsu for more carpentry work. This morning’s work entailed modifying a deck so that the resident could water her plants without having to bend below the existing handrail. The modification can be seen in the raw unpainted pine wood. Later that morning, we helped another resident modify his front step to make it wider. Micah had previously built the garden shed (below left) for this couple so that he could store his gardening tools. Though these may seem like small tasks, they make life a little more bearable for these folks who have lived in these very small spaces for almost a year and who may yet remain in them for many more years to come.

After lunch at a ramen restaurant, we headed back to the base to prepare for our trip back to Morioka. On our way back to base, we stopped by the Ofunato Baptist Church, one of only 2 churches in town. This church has only 4 members and the pastor comes on Sunday afternoons from the Kesennuma Bible Baptist Church about an hour’s drive away. Micah has started preaching there once a month to help. We drove back to Morioka with Fred & Chikako Whitwer and had dinner with them before heading to the 3:11 Network’s Morioka Base Camp a.k.a. Olive House (Gen 8:11).

Ofunato Baptist Church	The 3:11 Iwate Church Network Logo

The Olive House was purchased using funds donated to the network and doubles as a relief supplies warehouse cum retreat center for their staff and volunteers to rest when they return to Morioka for the weekends. The staff has their off day on Saturday, attend worship service on Sunday and have staff meetings with Ps Kondo on Monday before returning to their respective bases on Tuesday. Although the building is more than 40 years old, it has 4 bedrooms and a large meeting room upstairs as well as a large garage which can hold 3 vehicles when not filled with relief supplies. There is also 1 bathroom and 2 toilets. Additional housing is available at the church although I did not see it and do not know how many can be housed there. We spent the night at Olive House in preparation for an early departure for Miyako City (another 2.5hr drive away).

Day #4: Saturday 23^rd June 2012 (Morioka/Miyako/Morioka)

After grabbing breakfast at a nearby convenience store, we headed to Miyako with Kyle (25 year old English teacher from USA) and Ayaka (19 year old Japanese from the Morioka Minami Church) who both volunteer regularly at the weekly Children’s program in Miyako. This is another initiative that the network started in March this year and is conducted at a local public elementary school. It is basically a free child-minding service offered to local parents in partnership with the school. The children get dropped off at 10am and are looked after till 3pm. Parents provide lunch and the school provides a snack at 3pm.

The volunteers assist the Miyako 3:11ICN staff in running a variety of indoor and outdoor activities for the children. What is amazing is that God has opened the door for an openly-Christian church network to run such a program in the public school. There are no overt evangelistic activities although the staff members do share with the children when teachable moments occur.

Kyle (on the floor) playing with the kids	Nobu (Japan) & Jemima (Switzerland)

Since I don’t speak Japanese, I ended up outside playing soccer with the boys – learnt the painful way that I am not too fit for that kind of strenuous activity.

Paul playing soccer	With Nobu-san and some of the kids

Midway through the program, we made our way to the network’s Miyako base camp which is a house which has 3 bedrooms, a toilet and a shower and serves to house the volunteers as well as store the supplies for the residents at the temporary shelters.

Each of the 3 bedrooms can sleep 4 people on futons although having only 1 toilet and 1 shower can prove challenging in the summer months. I am not aware if there is a public sento or onsen nearby that the team can use.

3:11 ICN Miyako Base	One of the 3 downstairs bedrooms

After joining the kids for tea, we left Miyako and headed back to Morioka (yet another 2.5hrs drive) and returned in time to have dinner with Ps Kondo and his family as well as Hiroko Matsui. During dinner, Ps Kondo mentioned that Emiko Matsumoto (CRASH Japan Ichinoseki Base staff) had asked to meet with him, presumably to join the network after her time with CRASH. I mentioned to him that if he found her suitable to pioneer a church planting work in Murone, then it would address our concerns about a lack of pastoral care, support and oversight should she work on her own next year. I also mentioned the possibility of some private financial support for her in her church planting work, which could then be channelled through the network for proper financial accountability.

Day #5: Sunday 24^th June 2012 (Morioka)

We joined the worship service at Morioka Baptist Church which began at 10.30am. The late start was to allow time for the members/worshippers who come from other towns that are about 1.5hrs drive away. We stayed behind for bento lunch with the church and I gave a demonstration on making teh-tarik (see below). This was requested by the OMF missionary couple. After lunch, we were sent to the train station to catch our train. This concludes the survey trip report.

This is how we ‘pull’ our tea in Singapore	Fred Whitwer was my best apprentice!

Prepared by: Ps Paul Teoh (Hope Presbyterian Church)