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Flipping burgers dirty (though not the same day)

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Saturday, June 27 (click on any photo to enlarge) We pivot from being out in the field to back at Noto Help headquarters. I may have mentioned previously that restoring communities is a priority of the work here. One way to facilitate this effort is to offer something that promotes meeting and conversation. A monthly feature of Noto Help is to distribute free hambugers to residents, many still living in the kasetsu jyutaku (temporary housing). This food truck was either donated or was purchased with donations (it's pretty snazzy). Burgers are freshly made and distributed to those who take a bag home. We also welcomed people who wanted to sit down and enjoy coffee. Some decided to consume one of their burgers while it was still warm and tasty. Egawa Sensei is manning one grill, Ty and Daniel are toasting the buns and adding cheese. Miyuki is assembling the burger, adding barbecue sauce and mayo. I can already hear the burger purists crying foul over the mayonnaise. Sorry, the Japan...
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We have returned!

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  (I try to offer daily updates, sometimes I may be delayed. My apologies). Tuesday, June 23 See if this makes sense: Ty and Daniel traveled to Japan last week with their families. Carol, Miyuki, and yours truly flew from LAX on Sunday night (tecnically early Monday morning) to Tokyo. Our flight was delayed for close to an hour-and-a-half but we airborne and was able to make up for lost time. Suffice to say, whoever works with me has to be used to…er, surprises. Like leaving my phone on a table in Customs (I got it back). I’d also had trouble finding the kiosk to pick up a portable wifi unit. Suffice to say Carol and Miyuki had to suffer through unexpected “touring” of all three terminals with me (they were very patient, unless they’re cursing behind my back which would be appropriate, but I digress). We finally gathered at the main Tokyo train station. “Finally” is the key word here. Eventually we did make it to Anamizu, where Noto Help is now permanently stationed. We...
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The hat

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Many of you know my Dad peacefully passed last month from Alzheimer's, we were fortunate to have shared many of his 98 years with him. This had was originally worn by his oldest brother, it was handed down to my Dad. As we're slowly going through his items. I found the hat in the garage. We're learning that we'll be doing some agricultural work in Noto, given my Dad was a gardener, it seems apropos for me to wear his hat. It'll be my small tribute to him. This photo is taken from the Noto Help Facebook page . I'm assuming this is one of the tasks we'll be part of. I also know there's going to be needs in the temporary housing, from providing meals to participating in community building. One thing about being a disaster relief volunteer, the need to be flexible is a given. We continue our prep as we prepart to depart on late Sunday night / early Monday. For those of you who pray, please remember our team as we get packed and get ready for this venture. Gr...
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Noto Help 2026

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  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...
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