Exodus 13 Part 3!!!

 

Part three of Exodus 13 was going to be an example of how we are implementing the concept of Empowering people here in Kesennuma. Many have asked me what the point of teach English is particularly in a situation where there are people that are still in need of basic needs and other such things. To be honest this is a completely legitimate question. The answer lies in the LECC Vision and Mission statement, which I am hoping, will be developed before I leave. And when it is I will share it with you so that the answer to the English class question is answered.

In the mean time here are two stories in reference to how we are Empowering people here in Kesennuma.

Mr. Suzuki on our last Friday afternoon class

The First is Mr. Suzuki. This man really has a lot of challenges in front of him. But he has proven to have more motivation than anyone I have ever met. He has been a true inspiration to me but to others here that are involved with the relief center. Mr. Suzuki came to me in my first week in Kesennuma. He explained that he wanted to learn English because he wanted to be able to get a job. Mr. Suzuki is in his 50’s and recognized that he needed something that set him apart from all the young people that were also looking for a job. He also reported that he was unable to do hard labor as he has some health problems hindering him. He needed English so that he could get an office job. When asked how often he wanted to study he said…every day. I took a deep breath and thought…what am I going to do every day for English class when I don’t have a single piece of teaching material and no Internet. God sure does have a sense of humor sometimes. I was positive he was just messing with me to have a lil fun. But two months later Mr. Suzuki and I have had class every day except for Mondays (My day off). We have had conversations about business, office work, religion, home life, health, happiness, sadness, American baseball (I did not do well with this convo as I am not a sports enthusiast like the rest of the males in my family), and everything in between. We even managed to get in some good reading and a lot of learning.

Mr. Suzuki doesn’t have a job yet. But he looks every day. Some days you can really tell he is frustrated with it… but he comes to class and he comes with an attitude ready to study, ready to change his life. This is where Empowering is an awesome thing to watch. You have someone or some organization doing the empowering and you then you see the one being empowered filled with motivation… It is something I rarely got to see in my past career… If the USA had parents in child welfare with motivation like this guy… there would be so many smiles you would have to move to Illinois to get away from them.

Any way, back to empowering. The relief center provides a service. We provide a way for this man to achieve his goal with out hand feeding him. We don’t just give him money or a job and call it quits. Nope, we help him. We provide something for free because he wants it and he uses it to reach his goal. He is the one doing all of the work. And when he finally gets a job where hopefully he can use his English he is going to have an unstoppable self-esteem. And one day he may remember some of the conversations we had…and then maybe… God willing he will find out what ever happened to the LECC and want to learn more about why they taught him English for free.

Mr. Suzuki also motivated others. You see I had more classes with him than all of my English students combined. But what put a smile on my face was the other day when Mrs. Sato said to us that she was inspired by Mr. Suzuki’s dedication to learn. She also felt that she had finally realized that it was ok to speak “broken English”. She realized that after all of these years of being afraid to talk because it might not be right was not necessary. Communication was what was important… it was speaking up even if it wasn’t exactly the right word. Because if you say the wrong word… you can always explain what you mean… but if you say nothing at all then you are as good as the rubble left by the Tsunami.

Mr. Satoshi on our last Wednesday evening class

Another example of the Center Empowering others could be Mr. Satoshi who wanted to learn better conversational English so that he could do his magic tricks in English and maybe one day be able to perform. English class acted only as a way for him to understand the things he was saying so that he could reach his personal goal. We didn’t do the Magic for him and we didn’t tell him what to say. One day Mr. Satoshi is going to come to the States… and after he goes to Vegas to see his dream magician he is going to cruise over to WI where he wants to experience a Wisconsin tailgate. I am pretty excited for that day to come!

Yuri is a new student. I just met him on St. Patty’s day. This guy is one pretty cool cat. The long and the short of it is that he wants to learn English so that one day he can go to Australia for a year and work. He also has motivation…in fact he comes to class every morning at 9:00AM. He walks in tired sees me just as tired and then we start by making breakfast. So far he has had French toast and “Eggs in a nest”. We have had some pretty great mornings so far!!!

Any who there are plenty of ways for us to mess up this Empowering gig but as long as we remember that we are only here to give support encouragement… we will continue to make a difference. In the end God will decide how things will proceed.

One last example of Empowerment for you! Empowerment doesn’t just happen for a short time and then once some one reaches their goal we check out to never be a support again. The best example I can give you of this is the mission field in Japan. Now I may be a bit off on this… and that is fine… I have no problem being wrong. But before any of you get “all crazy on me” please note that this is supported by some pretty legitimate Bible stories.

Missionaries came to Japan… quite a while ago. Their Mission? I don’t actually know… I have no clue where their mission and vision statement is but if they have one I really hope is conveys the message that they were here to provide the tools necessary for the Japanese to grow their church and then leave allowing the Japanese to use the gifts that were trained onto them as well as given to them as a blessing from God. But it doesn’t end there! Empowering doesn’t ever end!

As a case manager there was a very significant word that went in front of my title… it was “Ongoing”. This means that even after a goal is reached you keep providing support. Well that is what the LECC relief Center does. That is where we come in you see. We are the ongoing support. We come here to provide support to the local church so that they can continue to grow and develop and God willing achieve their Vision for the Church in Japan. I will give you specifics on how we do this in another blog but for now all you need to know is the Relief center fits into the Empower model.

Blessings on the end of your week!!