Visible, invisible

A fellow volunteer was ready. The plan to come to Japan was set. Then he got an e-mail from a friend. "I'm from Iwaki City. My brother's family is living in a shelter. Could you visit them?"

It wasn't in his original plan, but wasn't outside of it either. So he started looking for them when he arrived. But the shelter they were in was already closed, and their neighborhood was so badly mangled that a roadblock was set up to keep traffic out. It didn't look possible. 

Then one of the evacuees who came downstairs to the assistance center turned out to be his friend's cousin. Contact. And when he and the pastor went and showed their name tags to the roadblock guard, they were allowed through for a visit. Global Mission Center is a trusted name around here. 

They met with the family and offered their help. The family asked Global Mission Center to do a barbecue for the entire neighborhood on July 2nd. The former residents are sleeping in evacuation centers, apartments, and the homes of friends and relatives. During the day, they're coming through the roadblock to work on rebuilding the neighborhood. 

"How many people are we talking about?"

"Oh, about 500."

"................................ OK, let's do it."

So. July 2nd will be just a tad busy. That's a lot of barbecue. 

Now that's a visible result. Coming alongside five hundred people redoing their neighborhood?

But maybe, just maybe, the invisible results matter too. The respect he expresses when he serves a cold drink at the assistance center cafe. The gentle questions he asks. The way he defuses harsh conversations. You can't quantify that. 

There will be lots of chances to work with kids this summer. There's plenty that's visible. 

But right now, a lonely woman is having lunch with us and getting into deep discussions about history and the Bible, and getting prayer. And an exhausted staff member is taking a break with me this weekend. We both need it badly. 

Visible, invisible. I'll take both, please.