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!'"
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.
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.
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!'"
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| Radiation contaminated topsoil in black bags after being removed from the field. |
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."
 |
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.
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