hi everyone!
i'm back in Kona and DTS is quickly coming to an end. outreach is already over which is blowing my mind and everything is just happening so fast. but i am so happy at the same time.
my team left Japan at 7pm on March 3 and arrived in Hawaii at 11am on March 3. confusing much? i think so. : )
we got to hawaii and it simply felt weird yet exciting! we instantly saw the difference in the Japanese costumer service and the American costumer service. the Japanese people are always kind, loving, very servant hearted and selfless.. in just about EVERY situation. they are very pleasant to be around and we were incredibly blessed the past 3 months! sometimes we'd just sit at a restaurant and marvel at how nicely everything gets done. it was hard coming into america.. this isn't meant to sound like a complaint. i'm more of noticing the differences in cultures and how blessed we were to get to experience something so amazing! i am thankful!
so a summary of outreach: where to even begin.
outreach was a huge combination of growth, struggle, challenge, hardship, joy, laughter, and more! i guess that's what it should be. i started DTS with the goal of living with no regrets! and for the first month or so i struggled a lot.. with everything.. i just wanted to go home. it took some time for me to realize that the reason i was struggling so much was that i wanted to be home with my family for the one year of Heather's death. it killed me not to be home. my family was all getting together.. with friends, other family, etc. they went to her gravesite, did all the stuff Heather loves. and the fact that i couldn't be there was so hard. but i was determined not to give up! i did NOT want to give up. i knew i was supposed to be doing this DTS for a reason and i wanted to finish it until completion. i wanted to be able to say i completed what was for me, a very hard task. it's like in the song You Are My All in All, "and to give up i'd be a fool!" it's so true! God called me to Japan and yes, it was hard but i couldn't give up!
i don't want it to sound like the first month was all hardship and no fun cause if i said that, it'd be a lie. i did have lots of exciting and fun times in Chiba/Tokyo. i made really awesome friendships with the people of the church and had experiences that i will probably never relive. we got to experience tea ceremonies, try on kimonos, learn Japanese calligraphy and flower arrangements and more! it was an amazing time of learning all about the Japanese culture. one big thing i got from Japan is that they love processes. while learning calligraphy our teacher told us, "everyone starts together, everyone finishes together, everyone cleans up together and stays strong until the very end!" that quote will stick with me the rest of my life! God has called me to things in life and whether they are big or small, i have to finish strong! he doesn't just throw random, unimportant things at me. he's very purposeful and intentional! so i knew, i had to finish each and every day strong! i learned so much in Chiba that i am so thankful for! it was one of the most challenging months of my life but i do not regret it and i'm thankful for it.. i saw God using me and growing me in ways i never thought possible.
the next part of outreach was incredible! we went to a city called Ishinomaki which was severely hit by the tsunami and earthquake. 6,000 people died just in this city. and only 3,000 of the bodies were found. terrible, awful destruction happened in Ishinomaki. but we go the privilege of helping to rebuild the city. we spent most of our week cleaning out houses. we would tear up the floors, break down the walls and mud out the houses. sometimes we'd get houses ready for reconstruction and sometimes we'd get to actually build things. for example, Camayama-san is a man we built a shed for to work on cars in as a side job. i was so thankful for the variety of different ways that we could help the people out. sometimes just spending time with the people and keeping them from being lonely for just a few hours was all they needed.
God has also blessed us with getting to see the fruit of alot of our work. one day as we were leaving Camayama-san's, he thanked us (volunteers) for working behind the scenes to help put the city back together and look more beautiful. that seriously touched my heart. i'm so thankful God allowed us to see so much of the fruit.. we'd be praying for that for a while and God was so kind to allow us to see it. he didn't have to let us. we are simply called to obey no matter what. Thank You, Lord! the organization we worked with called Be One was trying to get another house put back together to expand the organization. we cleaned out the first floor of that home and right before we left Ishinomaki we got to see all the progress that had been made on redoing the home! that was so amazing!! one of the biggest things i long for is helping someone out and getting to see how God is working in them or through them in the future.. past that one moment. we got to see how our help actually helped.. progress was being made. another story: a man lost his ramen shop and Samaritan's Purse (an international disaster relief organization) helped prepare his restaurant for reconstruction. he said after Samaritan's Purse helped him he was able to re-open his shop within 10 months. if they had not have helped him he said it would have taken 3 years for it to be done! and that's what i mean.. we are helping and God is allowing us to see the next stages of the help! we are blessed! there are so many more stories i could tell but i can't write them all down.
so in a nutshell, outreach was challenging but something i do not regret! for so long i've come home after an event or trip.. big or small and there's always something i regret and beat myself up about. and i can honestly say that for the most part, i regret nothing! no moment.. big or small. and that's what i was going for! thank you for allowing me to see my own growth, Jesus!
one of the volunteers that works with Be One, Lora, wrote me a goodbye card and in the card she said, "have fun seeing your family and continuing to say goodbye to your sister." that hit me when she said. i didn't realize until then that i haven't really said "goodbye".. it's just still not over. she was such a huge part of my life and every little thing on outreach reminded me of her. everything. she was constantly on my mind. i didn't realize that it was still effecting me so much. i know that's okay but it was something i really had to work through on outreach! i was thinking about how God was saving me from having to go through alot of things if i were at home during the one year. God knows what He's doing!
i am so thankful that God is always present, he doesn't ask us to do really hard things and just leave us as he watches and laughs. he asks us to do hard things and is there with us through every single step. he laughs when we laugh and cries when we cry. he was there holding my hand saying, "you can do it, kathryn. i'm here. i love you. let me be your strength in your weakness." wow. that blows me away. thank you, Father! thank you for being there for me until the end and past that!
i am so thankful.
aaaaand ready to go home. : ) but i gotta push through strong until the end!
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