Thank you so much for all your messages, emails, text messages, and prayers. It has now been about 3 weeks since the earthquake, and many different things have happened over the course of these 3 weeks. We had our student conference in the first week and then promptly moved to Kyoto on the recommendation from our crisis management team. We were never in any true danger from radiation or earthquakes, but it was wise to take the early move in case something did happen and we wouldn’t be able to leave Tokyo.
So from the mission house in Kyoto, we’ve been anxiously keeping up with the news and waiting to find out when we can return to Tokyo. Most importantly, we wanted to go to the Tohoku region, where the tsunami hit. When we found out about the tsunami and earthquake on the 11th, our hearts broke and we immediately wanted to rush there to help in whatever way possible. We were told to wait, and let the professionals emergency rescue workers and military do their work first, and then come for the relief and recovery phase. But as we continued to hear updates from the area, we are becoming restless as we want to be on the ground with the hurting.
Currently the first CCC team has already left and are currently serving there, and another team will leave on April 4th for a week long ministry. Under the approval of the crisis management team in Tokyo and our US supervisors, the STINT team here will return to Tokyo on Friday. We will find out if there is any way we can help the situation in Sendai as soon as possible. The reason why we’re not there immediately is because we don’t want to be a burden on them, consuming the food and heat that could be given for the refugees. Also, most of us don’t speak Japanese, so we don’t know yet how we can be a blessing to the area. It’s all a little frustrating, but I still find it a blessing to be able to join together and lift the people up in prayer.
If you are interested in helping Japan, whether it be through donations or even flying over here to help, please look into CRASH Japan. Even if you aren’t, it’s a great website on how you can be praying and supporting the relief effort.
It’s the main Christian organization that is bringing relief to the Tohoku region. It’s an inter-church, inter-missions organization that coordinates and mobilizes the Christian body in Japan (and all over the world) to help in the relief effort. I am well aware that there are many different and great organizations that are helping here (Red Cross, etc), but I feel that this is a great opportunity to show Christ’s love to the Japanese people through our actions.
This triple disaster (Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear) has affected Japan in profound ways. It showed that all the things they have worked for can be taken in an instant, and the things they trust can turn on them. The recovery will take months to up to 10 years, so please don’t forget to pray for the people’s hearts here. God is still at work in the Japanese people, wanting to show His love and compassion through His children here in Japan and from all over the world.
Here is a video on the Christians’ response on the day of the earthquake:
Blossom in Japan – English Version
And here’s a video of Japanese people thanking you all for your prayers:
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me. I could say more about the situation but I feel that this short post is adequate for the time being.
Thank you for being a part of this opportunity to show love to the Japanese people.
