Marshalls Abroad

Japan Life

a real life story of inspiration for your monday

meet Ouchi-San. 🙂
a man who looks devastation and loss in the eye with joy and perseverence
we got to meet him and hear his inspiring story while in sendai.

after japan’s march earthquake, it was about a half an hour before the tsunami struck. Ouchi-San didn’t go run for cover, but first went through his town warning his neighbors and making sure many of them reached safety. by the time he got back, the tsunami hit.. as he saw houses and cars and debris surging toward his house, he said he thought all was lost.

  he also saw his dog tied up outside and floating in a 10 ft wave.

it had broken its hip and couldnt swim or walk. he said he couldn’t leave his dog to die, it’s a living creature, so he rescued it and held it all night on the top floor of his house.

{his calendar has stayed on march 11, 2011}

he lost around 100 of his neighbors and his home and land were destroyed.
he told us that because he and his family were allowed to live, he will continue to persevere to get that area back to how it was; to show his fellow farmers and surviving neighbors that not all hope is lost, that it can be done.

and it is.

{local CRASH volunteers have been helping him clear and work his land}

he was also told that because of the state of the soil it would be years before he could grow again.
yet here is he miraculously producing vegetables once more.

one of my favorite things he told us..
“i’m not a christian, but the bible verse, ‘God will not give you more than you can bear,’ stays with me. i like it a lot. so even with this tsunami, it isn’t something that we cannot overcome. as you can see, we’ve already come this far.'”

amen, Ouchi-San.
amen.

i don’t know about you…but hearing his story brought tears to my eyes, and even now as i re-tell it.
hope is so powerful.


Comments

  1. Jess - PrettyPhysicist says

    I am a new follower (found you from your guest post on Megan's blog this morning) and I have to say that a) I'm jealous of the time you're spending in Japan and b) I think the volunteer work that you are doing is amazing. Thank you for sharing yourself with the people of Japan and your story and their stories with us. I work for a Japanese company here in the US. Our parent company was not affected much in the earthquake, except a warehouse in Sendai. My boss is Japanese (they send engineers on 5 year rotations) and his wife is over here with him, along with their Shiba Inu, Rooney – who looks strikingly like Ouchi-San's dog. How is Ouchi-San's dog? I see him in the pictures, so did his hip heal OK?

    XO, Jess

  2. Raechel @ Our Island Outlook says

    I stumbled across your blog thanks to Megan's blog as well. As soon as I saw "konnichiwa" I became excited. Then I read you were in Okinawa and became more excited. We are, too.

    Ouchi-San's story is so inspiring; it is amazing he chose to save that dog and hs outlook on life is admirable. We can all learn a thing or two from him.

    I look forward to reading more of your blog. 🙂

    Raechel

  8. Autumn says

    I love this story, thank you for sharing. It reminds me of why I am a teacher- to serve…even though sometimes it feels more like drama with teachers than teaching.

    I love how incredibly open minded he is too that even though he isn't Christian he appreciates that verse- that verse has helped me a lot in my life too.

  9. Chelsea Coleen says

    amanda! you are goregous. i was just telling meg you are like the modern day gorgeous mother theresa. GREAT now my shallow little post will be posted on her bloggie tomorrow, after yours. thanks a lot MEGAN!

    hehe happy i found your blog 🙂

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