Divine Appointments

I am sorry for not updating my blog sooner. We have been busy and the wi-fi here can be slow and difficult.

My team leader is a man from Boone, N.C., by the name of Wayne King. Wayne has the construction skill sets and knowledge I wish I had. He has been to Africa 5 times with Samaritan's Purse to help do electrical work in hospitals. He is very knowledgable in various construction techniques and I am desperately trying tom get up to speed. We have both been talking a lot about "divine appointments" in our lives, and Wayne is definitely someone God has placed in my path for my encouragement. There are several other people here that are fitting into the "d a" category, and is has been fun to talk about it when stressful things happen and you have to deal with people. Of course, "divine appointments" also come in the form of various situations as well. Take for example on Wednesday when we were caravanning to a hotel in Sendai and the guy who knew how to get there ran off and left us....STRESS! We are in a foreign country, can't read half the signs and don't know the name of the hotel or where it is! We did manage to call him and say SLOW DOWN, but not before visions of a good ole fashioned beating were thoroughly discussed. Ever been in a situation like that?

We are almost finished with my first house, but we were pulled of the job to go to Sendai to help do the set up for the Franklin Graham meeting this Friday through Sunday. It is in a large convention center and we had to get the floor, stage and seating ready. On Saturday, we go to a dedication ceremony for some houses that were renovated and Franklin will be there. We then will do some security and parking assistance on Saturday and Sunday. As soon as the program ends Sunday night, we have to help tear down the seating, stage and flooring arrangements. We will have Monday off since we don't expect to be back in Tome-Towa until 4 or 5 in the morning.

So, I guess the main thing I want to put out there is, do you look at the people you meet and the situations you find yourself in and see God at work? Would your response be different in you viewed things that way?

I am beginning to look at stuff a little differently, and hopefully be better aware of God's handiwork...and how I react to his "divine appointments"...

Did you know I look at you as one of his "divine appointments" in my life?

Project pictures

Again, uploaded by Diane. I hope Mike will blog soon. Their Internet was rather questionable over the weekend. He did get these emailed to me.

More pictures

Mike is still having trouble getting pictures to post from his iPad. He did manage to email these to me. I asked him about pictures of their work project but he says he has not gotten any. I guess too busy with a hammer to pull out the camera. Anyway, this is their site at the Samaritan's Purse complex today. Diane

1st uploaded picture

This is actually coming from Diane. This is a picture that Mike emailed to me titled..."This is how far the water came up". I have been working to find a solution so he can post pictures from his iPad. This is my attempt with me doing it. Praying it will work. I know he is anxious to show pictures of what they are doing.

Random stuff

Sorry I have not been able to update you on my Japan adventure, so here goes....

This week we are working on a home that is only a few block from the ocean. We asked the homeowner if he was home when the tsunami struck, since his neighborhood took a pretty good beating. He told us that he was at work at a cannery further to the north and that area sustained substantially greater damage. After the quake, he and his co-workers were told to stay at their jobs. When the tsunami warning was sounded, he and some other workers left the building. He saw the ocean had receded, which is a prelude to the tsunami coming on shore. He ran for high ground and fortunately was able to make it to a nearby hill. He said other co-workers had ignored the warning and stayed behind, and died. His place of business was destroyed and he is now unemployed. He is a good guy and is helping us with the rebuild.

I am working on getting you pictures, but I cannot figure out how to download photos from my iPad to the blog...any suggestions?

The cold really is the biggest issue. The temperatures are in the mid to high 30's in the day and low 30's to mid 20's as soon as the sun goes down.

The real issue is going to the bathroom and sitting on a very cold plastic porta-potty seat.
Taking a shower and going out into the cold is really interesting.

I was just told they are shutting down the internet for a while so bye bye...

A preview of the weeks to com

What a fantastic day! My crew foreman took 4 of us on a tour of the area where we will work in the neighborhoods impacted by the tsunami. If you have ever been to a disaster area you will understand how odd it is to see such massive destruction at one spot and just a short distance over nothing seems to be wrong.

I will try to post some photos, so be patient. But, we were in a neighborhood where over 400 homes were destroyed. Only 17 homes were left inhabitable and only 3 families have returned so far. Try to imagine your 2 story house where the entire 1st floor is filled with water...what would you have left and what would you do? There was heavy equipment tearing down the houses that were damaged beyond repair and empty lots are everywhere. For those people whose homes are salvageable, Samaritan's Purse, will remove the flooring and scoop out all the muck under the house. They will remove the damaged sheet rock from the walls and other junk. My job is to put in new floor joists, sub-flooring, wall studs and new sheet rock and plywood where applicable. The home owner is responsible for new doors, windows and all finish work.

It is COLD! It is 27 degrees right now at 6:30 p.m., with it only getting colder later. Our bathrooms are porta-potties...OUTSIDE! This makes the middle of the night bathroom run a real adventure...especially when you sit down! The water pipes to the showers froze overnight...oh yeah...the showers are in a tent...a big unheated tent.

It is dinner time so I must go...I will update as soon as I can.

Mike

Home in Sendai

What an interesting day! We woke up to snow this morning, which was not totally unexpected, but still a surprise.

We rode the train from Narita to downtown Tokyo and then rode a bullet train up to Sendai. In the Tokyo train station we had to buy a box lunch to take on the train, so we went to a food court. I have never seen such a delicious display of food in my life! Naturally, I bought sushi and had a great lunch on the train.

We arrived at our base camp around 4:30 p.m. And let me tell you...the word rustic is about as close as I dare get! Trust me on this...Mexico Caravan Ministries never looked so sweet! The dorm in Mexico looks like a palace right about now.

There are quite a few people here, both volunteer and paid staff. Several of the men who are carpenters have been here 3 or 4 months and some 6 months or more. Just listening to some of them and sensing their servants heart really puts me to shame.

If you think of me, pray for my spiritual growth. I have much to learn on this trip and I feel confident I will be stretched well beyond my comfort level.

Tomorrow we are being taken to some of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami, and I will try to give you a quick overview.

Goodnight,

Mike

On my way Sendai

I think I am finished packing...at least the suitcases are full so I must be finished.

I leave SMF on Tues. for LA, and then on Wed., I am flying from LAX to NRT to join my other travelers.
According to The Weather Channel, it is snowy, rainy and cold...nice huh?

Samaritan's Purse has been a first class operation so far.  I am looking forward to our work and to see how things are being done.

You can go to samaritanspurse.org and look up "volunteer in Japan" and see some of what they are doing.

Pray for me while I am gone and for Diane as she stays behind to get things done around here.

Talk to you soon,

Mike