ICS Trip 2012: Oystering

Today, seven from the group, (Lauren, Becca, Maddie, Whitney, Cierra, Yana, and Emily) along with two leaders from the church and Professor Lunak went two hours away to a fishing village to help on an oyster farm. The fisherman have been known as some of the hardest group of people in Japan to reach, so this is a really cool opportunity to build relationships between the fisherman and the church. The oyster farmer (Jun) and his family lost all their crops in the tsunami and it takes two years to build the crop up again. We left early in the morning and went to the village which is about two hours away. We took the scallop shells which the oysters attach on to and attached the shells to a rope. We took the thick ropes, untwisted them, put shells between the cords of the rope, re-twisted it and then set it aside. Some people rode a boat to put the shells in the water and gather up more shells. The family was so generous to us, and even though they will not have an income until the oysters are fully grown in two years, they fed us snacks and were fun to work with. It was a great blessing to be able to work with them. The missionary that went with us said that the family could not comprehend why Americans would pay their money to come to Japan and work hard all day to help people they have never met. It was hard work but all for the name of Jesus so every second was worth it!