MARCY (WEBER) NINOMIYA
THE POWER OF CHANGE
A Mennonite Girl's Footprints in Asia
SUMMARY
Because my health continued to decline. . . I started bargaining with God. I was not going to die; I would do whatever God's plan was for me if He spared my life. In my mind, I was going to become a nurse and go to Asia. . . Yes, I was going to get better and go to Asia as a nurse!
In The Power of Change: A Mennonite Girl’s Footprints in Asia, Marcy Ninomiya tells her cross-cultural life story of growing up in a small Mennonite village in Ontario, Canada, and then living in Asia for more than fifty years, first nursing at a Christian run hospital in Vietnam, during the war—where she met her future husband, Akiie—to becoming overseas personnel for humanity development in Japan and Thailand, as well as working with persons with disabilities in Japan, Thailand, and Myanmar—where a unique baking project became the birth of “Marcy’s Cookies.”
With candor, warmth, and a touch of humour, Marcy humbly shares firsthand accounts of what life was like in the places she served and travelled, the events she was impacted by, such as the long and costly Vietnam War, devastating Kobe earthquake, and a tsunami and flooding in Thailand, the inspiring people she met along the way, and her unwavering faith in God and His guidance through it all.
With candor, warmth, and a touch of humour, Marcy humbly shares firsthand accounts of what life was like in the places she served and travelled, the inspiring people she met along the way, and her unwavering faith in God and His guidance through it all.
"I was sound asleep on my futon when, suddenly, I was thrown awake vertically, then horizontally with a sound like a bomb exploding and a demon-like sound emanating from deep in the earth."
"We had twenty-nine beds in the hospital, but, when Zelma returned, we had sixty inpatients. Intravenous was hanging from nails on the walls with two to three patients in a bed. It was chaos!!"
"These tribes-people were forced to leave their nomadic mountainous way of life and relocate to the hot coastal area. With no access to clean drinking water, a subsistent diet and limited protection from the elements, many villagers become ill. We took as many patients with us as we could get back in the Xe lam after visiting three villages."
PRAISE FOR THE POWER OF CHANGE
"I wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed and appreciated reading your book. I have known bits and pieces of your story, but there was so much more depth and context in your book that I could not put it down at times. I was especially struck by your strong faith and willingness to let it lead you to places that most people would not be willing/able to go. You accomplished so much, in the middle of such devastation and loss.
Thank you for sharing your story with us. It is certainly a story, and a message, worth sharing. Even though most of your life was lived and shaped in Asia, I am very glad that you and Akiie decided to spend your retirement here. I'm sure it was, and is, another huge change for both of you, but clearly this is a challenge that you are both well equipped to handle! It's what you have done for your whole life - the power of change! "
~ Karen Martin, cousin of the author
"A pacifist, Marcy writes with grace and honesty about the anxiety of being surrounded by members of opposing military forces never far away and, in some cases very close indeed, armed and angry. Like all of us, Marcy learned to manage even the most casual contacts with military personnel with care.
In Pleiku, Marcy met Aki Ninomiya, the VNCS unit leader there. Over time, Marcy and Aki became an item, and have now been married for more than 50 years. Their life together has been filled with adventure, service, and many challenges along the way.
Marcy was always one to be cool under pressure. Her account of just barely surviving a deadly earthquake in Kobe, Japan, in which her home and neighborhood were destroyed, and thousands were killed included this comment: 'Our kitchen was rearranged: the cupboard contents were well distributed on the floor with soy sauce, cooking oil, broken dishes, and a generous amount of cinnamon sprinkled on top. The aroma was great, but what chaos!'
Thanks, Marcy, for this marvelous account of a life made up of service, adventure, excitement, tragedy, love, and the occasional moments of terror. And thanks for her advice: 'when chaos surrounds us, take a breath, and celebrate the full aroma of life.' "
~ Bill Herod, fellow VNSCer