It’s rainy season in Japan. And it’s been a true rainy season, with rain and/or clouds almost every day. It has started to affect me – I’m ready for it to be over….
This week my Japanese accountability partner and I have been reading Leviticus and Numbers- not bible books that we think of immediately as relevant! But I found some verses that helped me to greatly relate to the Israelite women as they were establishing their homes in a new land:
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan….the priest is to go in and inspect the house. He is to examine the midew on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days…If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down – its stones, timbers and all the plaster- and taken out of the town to an unclean place. (Leviticus 14:33-45).
Well, we haven’t yet hired a priest to come in and declare our house unclean, but we have been feeling overrun by destructive mold and mildew. Rainy season and mildew are best friends! We discovered this week that under several of our carpets there is lovely blue mildew growing – on the floor and the underside of the rug. All of our walls are very textured, and the mold that has been growing in them is more than a challenge to get out. If you have any suggestions short of tearing it down and taking it to an unclean place, let us know. (My neighbor friends are promising me the rain should end next week. Sunshine will definitely help the problem).
Second Bible relevance lesson this week:
For Father’s Day, I ordered Eric a Hawaii Pidgin New Testament. It was on back-order, so we just received it this week. It’s for real- it’s not a joke! Its been translated by Wycliffe Bible Translators. We have had fun reading some of the verses:
Here’s the most famous verse in the Bible, in Hawaii Pidgin:
God wen get so plenny love an aloha fo da peopo inside da world, dat he wen send me, his one an ony Boy, so dat everybody dat trus me no get cut off from God, but get da real kine life dat stay to da max foeva. (John 3:16)
The first verse Eric read when he opened it was from Matthew 1 as the angel comes and visits Joseph:
But wen he stay tinking lidat, right den an dea, one angel messenja guy from da Good Boss Up Dea Inside Da Sky come by him, wen he stay dreaming. Da angel guy say, ‘Eh Joseph! You from King David ohana. No scared take Mary fo come yoa wife, cuz she hapai from God’s Spirit dat stay good an spesho. She goin born one boy, an you goin name him Jesus, cuz he goin take his peopo outa da kine bad stuff dey do.’ (Matthew 1:20-21)
It’s great! I love reading it and getting new perspective – anyone who has spent time in Hawaii can understand what it means that God has plenny love an aloha. More than enough love and aloha for each of us, any day. Enough for rainy season and mildew days.
The Takameter 
Try “kabi killer” in katakana (カビキラー). Beware, it is extremely strong. Spray on area and let sit for 5 minutes, or so, and then wipe-up. Keep ventilated, use rubber gloves and keep the kids away! Chris M.
P.S. Watch out for “kabi” in the shoe box and on and in shoes! Michael’s good (expensive) sandals were attacked one year and we had to throw them away.
If this doesn’t motivate you to look for a new place… We keep our A/C’s on “dry” during most of the summer, even when we’re gone a few days we keep it running at a higher temp and that the dehumidifying effect helps.
There’s always bleach and water…but I’m sure your Japanese friends are the best source of advice! It took me a long time to realize that what they said came from a lot more wisdom and experience here than what I thought was the “right” thing to do. (Case in point is the great efficiency of those stick brooms!)