Sunday, November 20, 2011

Final Dispatch from the land of the Rising Sun

Good Friends,
 
    I am writing this last dispatch from a hotel room in Tokyo. We left Tome base this morning with a grand send off from those continuing the home rebuilding work. Rode the bullet train at an incredible rate of speed and here I am just a few hours from flying back home tomorrow. I have got to say, when you are standing in the train station, patiently waiting and out of nowhere comes a bullet train at close to 200 mph and without slowing down, screams past, just a few feet from where you are standing, its amazing ! 
 
 
    If you have any feeling of wanting to participate in this rebuilding work in Japan, I want to encourage you to follow through. Contact Samaritan's Purse  to apply and plan for a life changing experience. Workers are divided into two work efforts: those who "mud out and dissassemble damaged wall and floor assemblies and those who replace the damaged materials. The carpentry is fairly fundamental and only an average level of skill is required. If you can commit to a month or more, housing, food and transportation are paid for by SP. Your only expenses will be spending money. Air Fare for a shorter committment is about $1500. This opportunity will probably end in March.
 
 
Our coworkers here have come from many locations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Singapore, etc.. All types of people from all points on the compass have gathered here with a singular focus, to share the love of God to those hurting from the natural disasters that occurred here. It is a true Christian community environment where there is joy in the sacrifice of leaving home to providing homes for those without. 
 
 
I have been honored to have helped complete two home repairs in the two weeks I have been here. We have held dedication ceremonies for both homes as well.

 At the dedications the family and relations are present, as well as SP carpenters and staff. The local Pastor, David Suzuki and his wife lead the event with some hymn singing, scripture reading, a Bible presentation and a very clear gospel message based on John 3:16. 
 
Bear in mind that typically there is zero understanding of the Christian faith, only a Bhuddist belief system that seems to be only marginally practiced. He tells a story of a Japanese woman who risked her life to return into her burning home to retrieve and rescue her Bhuddist god (there are thousands of different ones). She arrived at a shelter with this idol and a worker asked her about it. She said that her god was the only thing she rescued from the fire and then carried it to the shelter with her. The worker replied by stating that the Christian God doesn't need to be rescued or carried, in times of tragedy the One True God rescues and carries us.
 
 
    So, let's talk construction. It is vely vely different...  
 
 
 
 
The floor system starts with a stem wall foundation and 4x4 floor girders laid out about 3' apart. Over these girders are laid 2x2 joists about every 19" apart. 1" foam insulation is cut and fit between these 2x2's. 1/2" plywood is used for subfloor. 
 
 
The walls are kind of a hybrid system of timberframing and mobile home framing.The strength comes from a frame of 5x5 posts and then infilled between with 1x2's running horizontally. 


 
 
The exterior is some sort of stucco or imitation brick product. The interior, between the 5x5's is done either in drywall covered with wall paper or luan mahogany plywood.The roof system is an insane mixture of lumber sizes, joinery and ornate metal. 
 

 
Common features in every home is an abundance of sliding doors (both sides slide in both directions - how clever), a sunken entry area where shoes are removed, two side by side rooms surrounded by sliding soji screens, multiple funky sized storage closets and a Bhudda shrine spot. The room sizes are laid out based on the tatami sleeping matt (about 1 meter by 2 meters - 3' x 6'). All room widths and lengths match up to multiples of the size of these matts. The sheets of drywall and plywood are also the size of these matts. All of our measuring is done in metric and precision cuts within 1mm is essential. Pretty challenging when the house has been racked by the tsunami.
 
 
    So, I hope these email updates have been interesting to you. I have felt like what I had to offer to the effort here has been a good fit and well worth the challenge of getting here. Along with assisting with the work here ,my desire has been to bring you along with me as much as possible, so that you have a better understanding of the Japanese culture and their very real physical and spiritual needs. Yes, financially they are a very successful people, but as we have discovered in America, money can't protect you from physical or spiritual harm. Only the currency of heaven can do that.
 
Arrigato gozaimasu and sayonara for now,
(Thank-you and good-bye)
Bruce
 
p.s. I have included a couple extra pictures that testify to the destructive force of the tsunami.
 
The first picture is simply of a row of pine trees that are between the town of Ishinomaki and the beach. We were told that the tsunami wave was seen coming over these trees as it entered the town.
 
The second picture is a mountain of debris collected from the town which is being sorted and recycled.


3 comments:

  1. Very well explained Brusote. We look forward to hearing more about your trip very soon. Have a great trip returning to WA state. Blessings!
    Mateo

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  2. This has been an interesting journey. Thank you for letting us come along. Thank you for accepting God's call to bless this small portion of God's people in Japan. Aunt M & Uncle J

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  3. He is a blessing from God. Using his talents to help others. Some would go and just stand around or blog about it and not do any work. Its not just spreading the word of God, its doing the physical work too. Thats where Bruce comes in. He has probably been a blessing to everyone that has crossed his path. ♥

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