Fukushima Integrated Social Welfare Project

Every time I come to Nakoso, I learn something new from Rev. Sumiyoshi about what he's been studying in the Bible or the things he heard from God. It always amazes me to see how wide his vision gets each time we discuss God's work of reconciliation in the world, and how consistently Rev. Sumiyoshi's actions of obedience lead him to places where he had not imagined going but where he encounters the Holy Spirit at work among people. He and I have shared many deep concerns from God each time I come to Nakoso and have deepened our friendship through these life-giving conversations. We have talked about how his commitment for community service came from the Korean martyrs during the Japanese colonization in Korea, and about God's big vision for restoring the land and so on. This is a friendship we both know God is building beyond language barriers and beyond geographic distance because of our common vision and common passion for holistic restoration of the land and people in Fukushima. And that vision comes from Jeremiah 29:7:

"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." 

A year ago when Jonathan, my husband, and I came to visit Nakoso, Rev. Sumiyoshi showed us the books he was studying and the new vision he was developing.  Rev. Sumoyoshi was about to start an innovative pastoral & mission training network for the post-disaster East Japan among the grassroots pastors working closely in communities of disaster recovery. Jonathan's visit, as a theologian, was a timely addition to our ever deepening friendship.   

Translation: Public Welfare and Christianity

Sumiyoshi's holistic vision for Fukushima (version: 2014)

As Rev. Sumiyoshi started sharing about his latest reflections on mission and evangelical theology he drew the above diagrams on the white board to talk about the gap between soul-saving focused, narrowly defined mission and the needs of Fukushima's restoration, from the land, to economy, society, family and workplace, etc. After Jonathan and I returned to Vancouver, little did we realize how much we have been shaped by that conversation in our own life, in our work and teaching.

So twelve months later I came to Nakoso with Ken and Shihoko, but without Jonathan. Midori told us that when she called him back in January to plan for our visit, Rev. Sumiyoshi was very excited to hear about my plan to visit him in Nakoso during this trip with my new friends from Vancouver, though he had no idea about the kind of ministry Ken and Shihoko were involved in Vancouver. This time Rev. Sumiyoshi, again, drew diagrams on the white board to share with us the new plans God has given him:  

Fukushima, Happy Island: Fukushima Integrated Social Welfare project. 

Sumiyoshi's ever deepening vision for restoration of Fukushima (version: 2015)

 He started with the same diagrams he shared with me and Jonathan a year ago but this time the diagrams became a bit more complex and had advanced meaning with them. From the books he had read and the ministries he has been leading, he is now developing a comprehensive project plan called, "Fukushima, Happy Island." In this project, he has built stronger theological foundations for local church-centered  mission in all spheres of society for Fukushima: agriculture (most important one in Fukushima), health, education, family, welfare, workplace, and so on. He now has potential ministry partners joining from Korea and also a landowner who is considering donating a plot of land for this experiment.

After Rev. Sumiyoshi finished sharing his new plan for land restoration and community building, he asked Ken for feedback because he heard Ken was a horticulturalist.

Ken is a fluent Japanese speaker with much experience in agriculture both in Japan and Canada. He shared his insights on what ordinary people can do to restore the land by changing everyday lifestyle to live a more ecologically conscious lifestyle and what people in Fukushima might be able to do. He spoke from his experience of working in community gardens and working with grassroots organizations, not as an ivory tower expert.

Ken explaining how to restore topsoil with green manure.

Shihoko, Ken and Sumiyoshi

After sharing these important reflections, Shihoko and Ken also shared about their ministry in Vancouver: New Eden Ministry, which was birthed in Vancouver among a Japanese multicultural congregation after seeing the devastation of the triple disaster in Fukushima in 2011. This is a ministry in Vancouver where Jonathan and I volunteered last summer (see the story of their harvest celebration last October, click here).

They were all awestruck to discover how similar their visions for holistic discipleship and missions in their local communities were, whether it is Fukushima or Vancouver.

Blessed Generation - Young people of Fukushima

Now I am back to Vancouver after my two week long trip to Japan. Every time I go, God catches my attention for certain things right in that moment in that place, but there are other things that I need to brew for some time before I can get them out of my head. Especially having the long weekend over Easter was helpful for me to reflect on many things that Fukushima teaches us about faith and about life in Christ when the worldly outlook doesn't seem to be promising any hope.

The biggest difference this time for me was that we've seen changes in Fukushima, FOUR years after the disaster. Though these changes were hard realities of life in Fukushima that few people can understand watching from outside -- things like removing top soil everywhere or endless walls of black bags of radiation contaminated soil along the shore-line. We were able to drive along the coast near the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant, just around 1 KM from the plant,  and saw radiation clean-up workers in full protective gear walking in and out of houses in the 20 KM restricted zone because many of these areas are now open for clean-up before making it possible for residents to return.

"People are very discouraged about living in Fukushima. They hear everywhere people saying, 'Fukushima is becoming a big trash box!'"

Radiation contaminated topsoil in black bags after being removed from the field.

When we met with Rev. Sanga and his wife, Toyomi, at Grace Garden Chapel in Koriyama, this was one of the few things they told us about how local people were feeling about Fukushima and about themselves. The stigma of Fukushima is rising as the challenges of living with the radiation do not seem to decrease.

Grace Garden Chapel started serving their neighborhoods just weeks after the disaster, especially when the largest evacuation shelter was established just minutes from their church building. This church consistently focused on helping families and children, the most vulnerable members of community after disaster, working at the evacuee shelters to assisting families to move to temporary housing units, and then helping some of the evacuees to relocate to their "new" permanent homes.

Shihoko and Ken from Vancouver listening to Rev. Sanga and Toyomi

Consistent Direction: Fukushima's future starts with families and young people. 

Four years after the disaster, the world outside Fukushima has forgotten what happened.  The rest of Japan seems to be too embarrassed to talk about Fukushima. In this context, Rev. Sanga and his church have consistently been taking steps to build the future within Fukushima and from Fukushima. They are hoping to start a new alternative school for children in Fukushima called "Fukushima Future School." When Shihoko, Ken and I met with them, they showed us the brochure of the upcoming event they were planning for young people in Fukushima called, "Blessed Generation."

In Japanese kanji, Fukushima (福島) means "the Land of Blessing," so it is perfectly fitting to call young people of Fukushima, the blessed generation. They are not a people of "trash boxes."

One example of such a blessed, courageous young person in Fukushima is Simmy. I met her just a few months after the disaster when she was working as a volunteer in Iwaki. She recently moved to Naraha town located within the 20 KM area form the Fukushima Daichi plant when a Christian businesswoman opened a convenience store and wanted to hire several Christians to work in the area. The business owner called Simmy because they became friends when this business owner was living at an evacuee shelter right after the disaster.

Simmy is one of the seven Christian employees in this convenient store serving nearly 1500 customers daily, most of whom are temporary workers from the Daichi plant and other radiation clean-up sites. Simmy moved from Osaka to Fukushima soon after the disaster because she felt  a call from God to serve among the suffering people of Fukushima. Many volunteers didn't stay long in Fukushima, but Simmy still feels called to be there. She now has a dream of starting a community farm in Fukushima using hydroponic methods so the contaminated soil won't be used as the growing medium. Her smile and strong faith are big signs of God's blessing on the next generation in Fukushima.