An ayoda in Noto

  May 2026 今日は！ (Hello!) We get asked why we spend our summers doing disaster relief missions. It’s our way of sharing Jehovah-Rapha (The Lord Our Healer – Exodus 15:26) to communities healing and recovering from natural disasters. https://www.bastillepost.com/global/article/5520045-two-years-on-japans-noto-peninsula-still-struggles-with-earthquake-recovery For the past two years, our assignment has been to work with Noto Help with the recovery from the 2024 New Year’s Day earthquake (magnitude 7.6). A recent headline reported there’s still work to be done – progress is steady, but slow We’re answering the call again this year. We’re returning to Noto from June 22 – July 4, 2026 . We’re pleased to introduce this year’s team: Daniel Wasiel: I am a 15 year old sophomore attending Culver City High School in Culver City, California.   I am excited about this trip as I want to make a positive impact on rebuilding efforts in Noto and support the community as it co...

  (Courtesy ABC10 / KXTV Sacramento) Yes I’m a  GLINTS  disaster relief volunteer, responding to the aftermath of earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan since 2011. Several people reached out to me for more details and info. I don’t claim to be an expert about these natural disasters. The best I can tell you is Japan was able to avoid a potential tragedy, as there was little damage in the country and for that matter, a surprisingly little amount of harm elsewhere. We even received a tsunami advisory here in Southern California, more out of caution. I’ve posted this photo at least several times, nonetheless it reminded me about the potential power of any tsunami. This particular photo was taken in Kamaishii, the ship being carried about a mile inland by the power of the 2011 tsunami. Eventually this ship was taken apart piece by piece since there was no crane or any other equipment capable of moving the ship back to the ocean. To see this firsthand was truly humbling. (Courtesy...

First, thanks to all who checked in the last couple of weeks. Thanks to Plaxovid, my experience with Covid was quite short lived, albeit I did isolate myself from family and wear a mask in the house. Neither Peter nor Andrew – or for that matter, anyone from Japan that I know of – have experienced Covid. Guess I’m just lucky. I am still regaining my stamina, but otherwise know long-term effects from this latest round with the virus (this is my second infection). We had dinner with Aaron’s family this evening to share stories about our time in Japan, particularly since Aaron was missing Japanese food. By the way, if you’re ever in the West LA area, I can recommend Sakura Restaurant on Centinela Ave, but I digress. I was able to remind Aaron’s parents what a fantastic job Aaron and my son Peter did while we were serving in the Noto Peninsula of Japan. The boys enjoying their final meal in Hakui before we departed (I posted this earlier but I didn’t provide context). They did any task ask...

  As we mentioned previously we’ve been back for about a week. We have more updates, including something from Aaron and Peter sharing their story about being in Noto, plus I’ve some reflections I want to share. Unfortunately I decided to bring home Covid as a souvenir, a reminder that even when you’re trying to serve the Kingdom, reality has a way of happening. We hope to be posting again over the next day or two, your patience is appreciated! (By the way, since I’m considered “high risk” – that’s another story – I’ve had access to all of the vaccines and Plaxovid. I’m almost healed, so again we should be back online soon!) #notohelp #glints #westlightcommunitychurch

  A brief note We are back in the US after our ten day excursion to Ishikawa, Japan. I’m up at 5 in the morning not because of jet lag, but because Peter and I shared a cold and I’m waiting for the decongestant to kick in. I nonetheless wanted to thank you for reading this blog, and for your prayers and support of our volunteer efforts. More thoughts about this year’s trip forthcoming, so please stay tuned.

  July 4 It turns out we didn’t return to the house we were helping clear out for demolition yesterday. Instead, we were sent to another building a few miles away, also set for demolition but had its own challenges. We cleared out a second story residence, mostly consisting of kitchen goods and children’s play items. That in itself was challenging. An added feature of this job was the stairs leading to the second floor were badly corroded, so we had to use a stepladder to carry goods down the stairs. The good news is the family did a good job of packing goods. However it meant some heavy boxes had to be brought downstairs via the ladder that served as our makeshift steps. So that’s me slowly sliding down a full box of items from the second floor to where Aaron was standing. It required some patience to keep the box (and me) from tumbling down. Fortunately, there were no incidents to either the goods or the persons involved. By the way, the moniker on the box (note it says “GOON”) i...