Golden Week in Tohoku ~ Day 2: Ishinomaki!

Saturday, May 4th (Greenery Day)

On Saturday, Aaron, Manami, and I drove to Ishinomaki to visit Dean and Linda Bengtson (missionaries planting a church in Ishinomaki).  It was about an hour drive and we got there to see Dean and a bunch of older neighbors planting some flowers at their community center.  Ishinomaki was badly hit two years ago, and much still has to be done.  There are a line of houses that have to be taken out.  Even the building we were in, we could see some damage.  The area was very quiet, in an almost eerie way.

Freshly planted flowers on Greenery Day.

Inside the building, we helped to prepare for the day.  Dean and Linda were hosting a gospel concert.  A woman came to play the piano/keyboards, and sing several songs.  It was all in Japanese, but she did a great job.  She played many common songs that the Japanese people knew and she tied it all together with her testimony.  It was a great way for the people to understand her story and how God works.

Shizu playing for the crowd.

Preparing for the day took some time.  While there, we met two girls from Thailand with the best names: Air and Pair!  We had a great time getting to know them, chatting with them about Thailand, and so on.  Together we made coffee and around plates of sugary sweets.  Seriously, every type of sweet you could think of: chocolate, brownies, cookies, donuts, and homemade mochi.  Lotsa sugar!

Manami, Pair, Air & Aaron on our lunch break.

So many goodies!

After the concert was all over, we cleaned up and headed over to the Bengtsons house.  It was just around the corner.  It was a nice change.  From the outside, it was your average Japanese house.  Inside, it was like stepping into an American home.  Big, fluffy couch and all.  It was pretty refreshing. We all gathered on the big sofa and had some girl talk.  Poor Aaron was outnumbered.  But Joshua and Dean later showed up.  We eventually broke up and headed our separate directions.  The Bengtsons went to get dinner and Manami, Aaron and I headed back to Sendai.

Me with Manami, Pair & Air.

By the time we got back it was already around 8:00pm.  We were pooped!

Everyone in Ishinomaki.