[3162] Sendai Rebuilding Center volunteers visits PCT and Taiwan

Sendai Rebuilding Center volunteers visits PCT and Taiwan

Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

Written by Lydia Ma

During the summer of 2012, PCT General Assembly sent more than 80 volunteers to Emmaus Rebuilding Center in Japan to help the United Church of Christ Japan (UCCJ). The UCCJ has been cleaning and rebuilding areas devastated by last year’s earthquake and tsunami, such as Sendai and Ishinomaki.

The Taiwanese volunteers stayed at the Emmaus Center throughout their stay and helped with tasks such as clearing mud, plucking grass, fertilizing land and sowing seeds. During their stay, they also became friends with Japanese volunteers working at Emmaus Center and 4 of these volunteers decided to visit Taiwan during a recent one-week break at the center.

Kenichi Tanaka, one of the Japanese volunteers recalled that when he first met PCT’s team of Taiwanese volunteers, he was very touched by their generosity. “It had been over one year since the earthquake and the media in Japan had long since forgotten about areas most hard-hit by the tsunami. I was moved to tears when I saw volunteers come from overseas just to help us. Taiwanese people are very friendly and easy to befriend. During their stay, they were also very hard-working and they never complained.”

Taiwanese volunteers left a lasting impression on Kenichi Tanaka during their stay in Sendai and he, along with 3 other volunteers, decided to use their one-week vacation to tour Taiwan.

To welcome these 4 volunteers from Emmaus Center during their break, a group of PCT volunteers living in north, central, and south Taiwan decided to host them during their stay. It was September 30 when these Japanese visitors arrived to Taiwan – just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival. One youth volunteer from northern Taiwan invited them to a barbecue. “This is my first time barbecuing in Taiwan. Taiwanese food is very delicious,” Kenichi Tanaka said.

The Japanese visitors visited PCT General Assembly Office on the morning of October 1 and attended the office’s morning prayer. They were introduced by PCT Church and Society Committee Secretary Huang Che-yen. After visting the office, they were taken to Tamsui for an excursion. They also visited major tourist attractions in Taichung and Kaohsiung later on in the week before heading back to Japan on October 5th.