The big news today of course has been about the death of America’s most wanted.  I do not want to get political, but in my heart the  news I am more excited about is  the love being poured out  and the  prayers being offered up for the Japanese people in Tohoku.

Eric called late tonight and said it was an “absolutely amazing” day.  There were high winds, so the team was praying about whether to postpone or not.   Eric talked to Aoki san (see previous entry) who is one of the leaders in the apartment complex.  He said please don’t cancel it – many people are excited about it, and most of us haven’t had cooked meat since the tsunami. So they made the decision to go ahead with it.

In the morning the teams had been split up doing distribution to different areas;  but everyone came back together to pull off the BBQ.  There was amazing teamwork!!  One of the highlights for Eric was that some of the residents wanted to help out cooking – they refused to eat until everyone else had been served.

Our friend Yasko was in there cooking with the guys….Eric said she has a lot of stories to tell…

Hundreds of people lined up – children, families, dads.  Many took food back to their families, as well.  There was laughter, playing, joy, conversations.  And real MEAT!  And pasta salad!  And lots of snacks….

There were several volunteers who entertained the residents during dinner with their hula dance.

One of the things for many of the team was seeing a group of boys playing soccer on the field that had originally looked like this after the tsunami (some before and after photos):

Here the boys are, able to finally have a place to play, after many on the team had worked for three days to clear it out for them:

The team is very tired, but thankful for such a great day.  Tomorrow they are planning another smaller BBQ and scattering across the area to continue to help families clean out their homes.  Thankful that another Asian Access friend, Stu, will be coming in tomorrow night as well.

Eric just posted this on his Facebook page:  “As I stood there in the middle of the park we cleared, shedding tears of joy and wondering why, God spoke. He said ‘those are from me to let you all know how I feel.’ Thanks to the 50+ volunteers who made it happen and to the hundreds of praying friends that covered the whole event with God’s blessings.”