Leaving Japan (Mar '12)

Kondo's, and good friend Jonie, representing the Nasu Base

CRASH was an amazing experience for us, and so great to see the Japanese Church take the responsibility to respond to needs around them. As we neared the one year mark we began praying about how much longer God wanted us to stay. We were willing to stay one day or one year longer, whatever He desired. We left with tearful goodbyes from our loving staff that had become such dear friends. Looking in retrospect and seeing Him work in such amazing ways and establishing such deep relationships, we would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thankfully, upon returning we found out we only had several months left to complete our MBA's before the curriculum would change.  So you can imagine what we are trying to complete now...

Some Random Highlights:

Visiting Mt. Fuji with our Japanese Parents

Protecting the young lady in my days as a Samurai

Japanese garbage must be divided into 9 categories, then what sounds like an Ice Cream Truck comes by to pick up; that is- if you sorted it correctly. 

Enroute to Costco w/ suitcases after two trains and a bus.

Treasured Time with Dad (Oct '11)

While in the middle of working in the Japan Disaster, our kind employer, Medical Teams International, made it possible for us to visit my (Anders') dad in his bout with cancer- twice in fact.  I felt in a constant state of struggle between responsibilities- leading CRASH Japan where God had surely brought us to provide "heart care" to dampen the emotional impact upon the remaining survivors or to spend precious remaining time with Dad who had been the best example of a unconditionally loving father and who taught me how to "fix anything" including why I was in Japan- fixing organizational problems.  It seemed that he didn't know why we had come the first time in June- probably thought a friendly visit, as we helped him crack out walnuts and would sit with him at his farmer's markets while he cut jokes and small talk with other sellers that he knew so well.  But, the second trip he knew why we had come.  In fact my sister had called to say that Dad had realized the terminal diagnosis and asked, "I want to see Andy and Lori before I go."  

We rescheduled our flights with aid of a kind friend's buddy passes and made the hard trip home.  It was hard to see my big muscular dad become so frail and instead of insisting on helping others, having to deal with us insisting on helping him.  It was an emotional rollercoaster with periods of happiness to see visiting family and to be reminded about the certainty of where he would be going.  November 1st he woke from his comatosed state to say "I love you" to each of us before nodding back off asleep.  That night my parents' worship pastor felt the necessity to come  by unannounced and strum worship songs to which he responded.  The next morning we found him passed on.  

It was such a hard mix of feelings to describe- utter sadness that he's gone, complete joy that we will see him again and for his new body which is cancer free.  The hospice nurse said, "It was the most peaceful death I have ever seen."  It is such a privilege to look back on a father that I can't remember ever being upset with me and remember as being so generous and always doing the right thing- just like my heavenly father.

-Obituary-

On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, Franklin “Hank” Norcutt went to be with his heavenly Father.  Hank was born on the family farm in Lucan, MN in 1933. He spent four years in the Air Force, before joining Douglas Aircraft, as an engineer- mechanic for the first Vandenberg missile program.He later worked for Coastal Earthmovers and Santa Barbara County. He enjoyed his retirement years by returning to his love of farming and tending to his walnut trees.He could be seen joyfully greeting and chatting with friends and vendors alike while selling walnuts at the Santa Maria and Lompoc Farmers Markets. He made two short term mission trips, the first to Romania in 1998 and second to Thailand and Burma in 2009, serving alongside his family.

Hank was a precious and Godly man, with his first love being his Lord Jesus.  As all could see, he was lovingly devoted to his entire family- married to his wife Arlene for 52 years, and having three children: Krystal Norcutt, Carrie (Scott) Smith, and Anders (Lori) Norcutt; and three grandchildren: Kaeli, Zachary, and Anika Smith.  Hank was part of a large ine family and is survived by brothers and sisters: Gwendolyn Bruns, Russ Norcutt, Beverly Quam,Richard Norcutt, Marjorie Schubring, Ramona McAdams, Ann Rolland, Grant Norcutt, Vicki Norcutt-Cairy,  Kendall Woods, and numerous dear nieces, nephews and friends. 

His family fondly remembers the precious years of opening the doors of “The House that Hank Built” to gatherings of great fellowships and joyous times together.

Aid to the Triple Disaster

Overwhelming… 
(Mar '11)
When we first arrived in Japan, just ten days after the triple disaster of March 11, we were a bit overwhelmed. With 60-70 people daily working around the clock in a room not over 800 sq. ft. The room was loud, crowed, and filled with confusion, as we attempted to place thousands of incoming volunteers to help in the initial cleanup. We soon learned that this organization had a p/t staff of two on March 10th, then on March 12th skyrocketed to 300 volunteer staff. In the ensuing confusion of it all, much of the work was being duplicated or triplicated, as the departments and roles were unclear. Anders worked with the President to implement an organizational management system similar to that used in US emergency services. This helped the madness by organizing workload through a clear leadership structure and identified roles and responsibilities for all staff. During this initial period, Lori created a communication system between the field bases and headquarters, as well as doing structural assessments of buildings that had been overlooked. These initial days were taxing, to say the least, as everyone at CRASH worked long hours, and was faced with emergencies on an hourly basis. Because of the urgency of the need, we were forming the systems as we were responding, often described as "building the plane while we're flying it!" Many often said that a day felt like a week, and a week like a month.

Getting Ahead of the Game (May '11)
After this initial two month period, we were asked to stay on long term (at least 3months) so Anders was asked to assume the role of Chief of Staff and right hand man of the President. Lori reluctantly took the position of Finance Chief, but later learned to love the position and her staff loved her! She led her team in creating the first ever budgets (in the history of the organization) and financial systems with clear accountability. As things became more organized, we were working only 60 hours per week, then 50, then finally to a more reasonable 40-45. This can only be attributed to the Lord, since as we prayed we would be given direction and vision, to help make the office much more efficient. The turnover began to slow down and burnout symptoms decreased as staff were given balance back into their lives. We were proud to see this transition take place as we saw capacity and efficiency and effectiveness to increase as over two thousand volunteers came through in those first six months! CRASH's mission was to connect resources and volunteers to the local church, so all the operations were aimed at empowering the local church to reach out in their community.  Yes, as you can see in that picture above, we rented out a retired convenience store!

The Strong 1%
Even though the local church is less than 1% of the population, we witnessed that 1% minority reach out and love their hurting communities in powerful ways. Christians were seen as a cult before the disaster, in many areas of Japan, but through demonstrated love churches continued to share, people began describing Christians as "nice" and there was a desire for that same joy!

Haiti Project (Oct '10 - Apr '11)

Lori was asked by a small NGO to do the structural design for 4000 transitional shelters for the Haitians.   The project had been outsourced to them by USAid to assist in re-building throughout the disaster stuck region.  
These emergency shelter "shells" were built by locals, enclosed with tarps, then in the next phase would "transition" into a fully enclosed permanent structure.  This was an interesting and unique project, as Lori corresponded with management on the ground to design structures using locally available materials.  


Many of the structures that had been constructed in the window of time after the disaster and before her consultation had not been designed to withstand another earthquake or hurricane!  She helped out greatly with by bringing them up to standard of the international building code through a creative and cost effective solution!  


While she never touched ground in Haiti, she was certainly glad to have a part in their future- a world away!  

Looong Overdue Updates- Our Apologies

We realize it's been way too long since our last update, especially without a Christmas card, so please pardon us.  Over the next several weeks we will be sending out little tidbits, catching up from a year ago.  Or, if you are just joining us, want to know a little more about where we've been and what we've been doing?  Then feel free to follow along with our mini series beginning with Part I.

It isn't money we seek, but could we instead ask something else of you? 

We have only begun to realize the power of prayer and know we are only still here because of it!  Would you help us see transformation (improvement) in the lives of people around us (e.g.- neighborhood, university, social-business, etc.) by pledging to pray for us?  We are seeking 168 hours of prayer per week.  Yes, your math is correct- it is 24hrs a day, 7days a week.

We ask you to pledge to pray for us for only 1 minute at each meal of the day or while you are commuting or walking...  We have confidence that God will do amazing things in your life, as well as ours, as a result of your faithful prayer!  

If you are willing to do that, please Reply to enablers.asia at gmail.com and note the minutes you are feasibly able to commit each day to pray for us.  We, in turn, will commit to send you brief updates more often and pray blessing upon you, your family and your work too!

Thank you in advance for your prayer!  Also, hope you had a very belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Your Enablers (for good),

Anders & Lori

Picture Courtesy of Amber McGaughey. Thank You Amber!

From 95 to 32 Degrees!

We left the blistering heat in Thailand to find the local conditions very cold and has created a major hardship on many evacuees in the shelters. Just a couple of nights ago on our walk home, it began snowing! Supposedly it is even colder up north!

Next week we will leave for Sendai, which is one of the areas devastated by the tsunami. The goal is to connect with the local churches and work through them to meet the area needs. Lori will work at assessing the local buildings. Many of the churches have been destroyed or greatly damaged, so she will also look for solutions to repair the damaged buildings that will serve as forward operating bases. There is talk of possible building programs facilitated by CRASH for reconstruction efforts in the future. While in Sendai, Anders will be working at setting up operations at the first new base of operation.

CRASH stands for Christian Relief Assistance Support and Hope in answer to the crises. They have previously responded to eight disasters in other countries, and have figured out an excellent model for reaching the unreached. See the CRASH website for more information for continual updates: http://www.crashjapan.com/

Working at the Command Center

Work has been continuing at the Command Center. Anders has been busy interviewing management and staff in preparation for modifications to the organizational structure. This process can be very long, but is moving forward quickly, as the organization is working towards having five base camps soon, and having the capacity to send out thousands of volunteers over the coming months!

From Japan Response

Our host Mayumi and fellow consultant Erin who put on a team building workshop today!

Radioactive iodine was also found in the water, and declared by government authorities to be at unsafe levels for infants. Bottled water was subsequently cleared from the shelves in wake of that news. This should not be anything of concern, as these levels have now since declined and are within the safe zone. The radiation levels where we are at are also very low now, and are actually below the current readings of most metropolitan areas around the world. In the Alps of Austria they have a reading of .31 milliseverts/hour and here in Tokyo we are at .12!

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (The Message)
Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you've got, be resolute, and love without stopping.