Hey all of you sophisticated good-looking people!
 

The last couple of days have been fairly uneventful. I have been working hard to figure out a way to make the transition from volunteer to volunteer much easier and smoother. For starters I am taking the initiative to create a volunteer handbook for the center. This is going to include everything from how to make things work here at the center to where things like laundry facilities are. It is also going to include a list of community connections that have been made since being here. Prior to coming here I was able to talk with the Jaspersens but after about two volunteers information will get lost. This is one way we can attempt to prevent that from happening.

My peeps down at the temporary restaurant units have become a vital resource for information and I have been talking up the future volunteers so that they will be prepared to be as helpful to them as they were to me. This volunteer handbook is going to be one of the best ways to ensure that previously learned knowledge gets passed down. This is also key because some of the things took well over a month to learn and with some volunteers only being here a month we want to make sure they are as productive and efficient as possible!

Next up I purchased a sweet little calendar to keep track of English classes. This will more so be used for when there is a volunteer switch. At the end of March there will be a week where the center is closed. The plan will be to schedule all of the next volunteer’s English classes for at least that first week so that there are no issues with contacting students and trying to figure out times… This is what I like to call COMMUNICATION!!!!!

I am also developing a couple of different procedures so that we can collect contact information and use it effectively. There was a visitor book that people use to sign but it has been difficult to get people to sign it and sometimes even read it. This new procedure should fix that and by the time all of the volunteers have come and gone, God willing, there will be an extremely long list of people that volunteers have had contact with along with how that person wants to be contacted, if at all, who their first impression was with, and what kind of supplies they received. Doing this will provide the church in Japan a way to make additional contact so that they can build a stronger relationship with that person and God willing share the message of Christ love more extensively with them.

The next thing I am working on is additional clothing apparel with the LECC Logo on them. This was originally something that was done outside of the Aide and Relief committee. God has blessed the decision numerous times to have something like this. For example two days ago I was at the store doing some shopping when a man came up to me. He explained that he was a Christian too… I was utterly confused until he pointed to the LECC Logo on my fleece. He asked if I was a Christian and if I go to church on Sundays. I said yuppers!!!! We struggled through the rest of the conversation (in Japanese). In the end I gave him a flier that I had in my back pocket…that I had used for writing my grocery list on :/. Here is to hoping he calls someone!!! Anywho the fleeces with the logos on them have been a blessing time and time again. This is not something in the budget and so this is going to be a little side project. The Logo is digitized by a company in the Waukesha, WI area. We have about five more volunteers coming that I know of…most of which are women. And the only apparel here are these large men’s fleeces. If you have any ideas of how you can help out and get something here by the time the first female volunteer comes on March 27^th I would love to hear your ideas!!! My email is hieb.jah@gmail.com

I have had the opportunity to meet more individuals with Samaritan’s Purse and it sounds like they may be able to help one of my students with fixing the damage to his house! I also just made contact with an NGO here in Kesennuma. I am looking forward to getting to meet them again. At this point it sounds like they might be interested in doing some English class!!! There are six employees up here in Kesennuma. This may prove to be a great resource to learn about how volunteers can reach more people affected by the Tsunami as well as share the gospel. Also I just want to clarify that in no way is the LECC relief center joining with or collaborating with other church organizations. I am however making connections with organizations in the area because it is an opportunity not only to gather useful and needed information but also to be a “bridge to the Gospel” (I heard this was the key phrase in the WELS so I thought I would try to use it ;)

It is Friday tomorrow! And its going to be an awesome day!!