Last night Eric was not able to call me until after midnight, but I was so glad to hear his voice.  Peter’s car arrived shortly after six;  they went to dinner and bath (I think he finally got that fish smell washed off!) and then came back and had a meeting with the karate master.  There are some ups and downs with a non-believing host and many people from all over who come in to work;  please be praying for the relationships and some challenges right now and  Eric’s position overseeing the relief work these next five days.  Eric said he thinks the meeting went well.  He was waiting up another 45 minutes or so for another team of three to come in who had also hit some closed freeways.

Yesterday they just had four members, and it sounds like one of those grueling days but one in which they were able to minister through their willingness to serve.  One of the young karate students who has been helping and hanging out with the teams who come had friends who asked for help.  They drove to their home, and were asked to clean out a fifty-foot gutter that ran between two fences.  They first had to get all the trash brought in by the tsunami, but then shovel out and bag up all the tsunami soot.  The problem was that it was only a foot or so wide, and so Eric couldn’t even walk between the two fences to get in there.  It was hours and hours of work.

It looks great now!

Then, the host and hostess asked them to wash their dishes.  The tsunami had come through their whole first floor, and they have not had the heart – or the manpower- to wash the soot off their kitchen things.  There were so many dishes they had to do it outside in buckets that they lined up.  Eric and Nozomi decided the couple had more dishes than a restaurant!  But the family was so so thankful for their efforts and the team was glad to be able to serve them and help them be able to rebuild their lives.

Today they will do a drop off of supplies and hopefully a barbeque tonight.  Thank you for praying for them!

I am off to an open “let’s play with the parents” class for Olivia this morning.  Because of my back,  I won’t be able to do all the activities they do so I am taking Annie to partner with Liv when they need to.

Here is my quote for this week:  “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.  Be the living expression of God’s kindness:  kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”  Mother Teresa