While David Baxter walked along the Alaska beach, something caught his eye. A soccer ball floated in the waves. But this wasn’t just any ball. It came all the way from Japan. It had traveled about 3,000 miles!

In 2011, a terrible tsunami struck Japan. A tsunami happens when a disturbance like an earthquake or a volcano stirs up the ocean. Huge waves hit land. They often wipe out people’s homes. In this tsunami, more than 15,000 people died.

The soccer ball had a message written on its side. Mr. Baxter’s wife, Yumi, is Japanese. She translated it. It was the name of a school in Japan. The Baxters followed this clue. They soon learned the ball belongs to a young man named Misaki Murakami. He lost everything he had in the tsunami. Imagine how happy he felt when he saw his soccer ball again!

Mr. Baxter found the ball in 2012. By then, a whole year had passed since the tsunami. Now more than four years have passed. But guess what? Alaskans are still finding rubble from Japan! Buoys, fishing lines, and plastic wash up onto their shores. They have to use airplanes and ships to carry it all away.

Recovering from a tsunami takes a lot of work. It takes a long time too. Sometimes after a disaster happens, we forget to think of and pray for the people who are suffering. But Alaskans have a great reminder. It washes up on their shores every day.

Remember the poor. – Galatians 2:10