A letter from Bill Geppert in Japan
December 2011
Christmas Joy Amidst the Debris of Life
Dear friends in Christ,
It is my favorite time of the year. Ever since I was a child, I have loved Christmas and the Christmas season the most. However, I remember when I was a junior high school student, my mother announced that there was a strong possibility that we were going to lose our home and have to move to a small public house in a poor section of town. Suddenly the joy of Christmas had been replaced with fear and anxiety. I had not yet recognized the importance of truly trusting in God. There were few presents under the tree that Christmas. And there was fear in my mind and an awful feeling in my stomach. Even today I can still remember the fear of losing the home that was so important to me and being separated from friends and the community where I grew up. To this day I do not know how the family home was rescued (I suspect my grandparents sold a stretch of their lakefront property to finance the mortgage).
In the event that we had had to move, we would not have lost everything, even though it would have felt like it. My heart goes out to those in these modern times in America who are losing their homes and their places because of financial difficulties. The stress and anxiety can make Christmas feel like the worst time of the year.
I came across a story told by another missionary here in Japan. It comes from the Yomiuri News, from a story by K. Takano. It is about an elderly woman who lost everything in the earthquake, Tsunami and nuclear plant destruction last March. It is a story of perseverance in the face of loss.
FISH PEDDLER AT 72
Naka Shiga lost everything in the 3/11/11 triple disaster except for the clothes on her back!
When Shiga's late husband died at age 42, Shiga, then 38, became the breadwinner. She had four children and her bedridden mother-in-law to support.
To make ends meet, she worked as a fish peddler. Riding her mini motorbike with its two-wheeled cart, Shiga touted small fish, salmon slices and dried fish all around town. The honking of her mini motorbike's horn became a familiar sound that was heard even on weekends.
“Even after grandma died and the children left home, I never felt like I was at a loose end, because I kept on working,” Shiga recalls.
On March 11 Shiga was at home when she suddenly felt a strong surge through her entire body. She immediately knew that a tsunami was on its way. She went outside, almost crawling, and a neighbor picked her up in his mini truck. They escaped the roaring tsunami.
The next day Shiga and the other people in her neighborhood had to leave Fukushima because of the disaster at the nuclear power plant.
Shiga had to relocate several times to different shelters, and every time she found herself faced with a completely different lifestyle. She had nothing to do and knew nobody. Every day she would sit alone at some window gazing at the outside world. She became deeply depressed and lost 7 kg. She felt that she couldn’t endure her situation any longer and decided to return to Fukushima, where she had friends living in temporary housing units.
It occurred to Shiga that living there did not prevent her from running a fish-selling business. She started selling fish to only a few households to lift her own spirits as well as those forced by the nuclear crisis to evacuate their homes.
Shiga, now 72, receives frequent visitors in her small apartment. When prospective customers drop in, Shiga smiles and offers them a seat at the kotatsu (a low table covered with a blanket and an electric heater mounted underneath). After displaying her goods, such as packages of salmon and salted squid, talk of business is set aside. They speak instead about the troubles they face, and Shiga always has encouraging words for her guests. Yoshiaki Mori, 65, a former poultry farmer and neighbor says, “I used to have panic and anxiety attacks, but since Naka-san moved here, I feel confident about chatting with people.” “The threefold disaster brought about many hardships. But I am energized from talking with my neighbors. We can have a good laugh together,” Shiga says. (Source: Yomiuri News, K. Takano)
The once thriving seacoast of Japan is now in shambles. People are still suffering. But, people like Naka Shiga are finding a way to keep going and actually enjoy life as they recover. And so it is for us who have all had to face the debris of life. We can move it out of the way, go over the top of it, or go around it. The joy of Christmas does not require its complete removal, or a time shift back to when times were better and there was no debris. Jesus came into the world to save any and all of us who recognize that God has not abandoned us, even if many people are scarcely aware of the strength that God does give.
Let us give thanks to God this year and to Jesus our savior. For we have so much to be thankful for even in the midst of debris.
Will Geppert
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 148
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 200
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