Oyster Farming

Today eight of us and two from the Shiogama church went back to help oyster farmers Jun and his parents. Wednesday we helped cut the rope to the right lengths. Today we put shells in the rope where the oysters will grow for two years. When I say "in the rope," I mean in the rope. You stick the rope on a contraption that holds it up about three feet off the ground. You use a crank to loosen the strands. You then pull apart the strands in one area big enough to squeeze the shell between the strands. You place the shells a fist and a half a part and as you continue unraveling the rope to make room for the shells, it gets harder and harder to pull the strands apart. When the rope has all the shells on it, you crank the strands tight again then wrap them up in a basket. Each basket can hold five ropes. Once you have seven to ten baskets full, you take a forklift over to Jun's fishing boat where you then drive out to the oyster beds, lowering the ropes into the water and tying one end onto the line held up by buoys. They will stay there for two years until the oysters are fully grown. 

We left the church at 5:00am this morning to arrive by 7:00am. We took a quick mid-morning break, an hour long lunch at noon, and another fast break mid-afternoon, and finished at 4:00pm. We completed 200 ropes, each containing about 30 shells. Quite a task, but oh so much fun!

I have such an appreciation and respect for the oyster farmers now that I know all it takes to grow these crops. The tsunami took out all their crops and they had to start completely over. Every year they put in more shells, each taking the two years to grow. The tsunami also took out their boat and many other supplies. They are having to start from scratch all over again. And they rely on those crops for income. They probably had to tap into savings and take out loans in order to buy a new boat and start over. And they now need to wait two years to earn money from them. However, the government needs to test the oysters for radiation levels. Their income will depend on the level of radiation. And if the radiation is too high, they won't be able to sell the oysters. Though we made a very small dent in the total number of shells Jun and his family will plant, we have saved them days of work which benefits them greatly. The result of our hard work over the past several days won't be seen for another two years, but we know that we have helped strengthen relationships the farmers have with the church and impacted their views of both Christians and Jesus Christ Himself. 

Please be praying for Jun and his family and for their crops, the rebuilding of their home, and for their salvation, for all we have done this week is worth nothing in comparison to their souls being saved. We know the Holy Spirit is at work.