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The Lord has also recently moved Pastor and Mrs Takahashi to join the team and work in Kamaishi, a 45 minute drive further south from Yamada. At some point it is hoped that a ‘Step by Step Kamaishi’ can also come into being there. Rowena McGinty visits tsunami survivors on an almost-daily basis. As the anniversary of 11 March 2011 approached, she says, people needed to retell their survival stories: ‘Last week one grandmother told me that her grandson carried her on his back. Today they look at each other and wonder how they ever had the strength to do that. If it was today he could never carry her. People speak of a strange strength to escape the water or fires on that day. I think they are wondering why they survived. I wonder whether, if God allowed them to be saved from that freezing water and ensuing fires, (several have talked about water up to their necks) he also wants them to be saved spiritually?' OMF’s relief focus in Iwate has been about helping rebuild people’s lives and communities through community cafés, which continue to provide survivors with a safe place to unburden. Often there is a word of encouragement, a conversation with a Christian volunteer, a book taken from the bookstall, a hymn sung together. Some ask about God.