Editor’s Note: We will be providing weekly summaries of Disaster Relief activates in Japan, combining info from all of the various faith groups which are of interest to our readers. In this summary, we feature news from: 1) MTW including news of a huge aftershock in North Central Japan; 2) OPC update also including news of the large aftershock and note from the Lauer’s; 3) Details of ongoing relief work reported by the major English language paper in Japan.

1. Another powerful aftershock (7.1) has struck the North Central coast of Japan. Please pray for our people as they minister in an area that God is continuing to shake.

Update from Tom and Teresa Wilson, MTW Missionaries in Japan:

Please take a few minutes if you can to see a couple of videos:

1) A news report of the tsunami hitting Kamaishi City in northern Japan:
http://www.3news.co.nz/NEW-VIDEO-Tsunami-strikes-Kamaishi-Japan/tabid/313/articleID/202422/Default.aspx

2) Relief work in Kamaishi City (starts with a video of Tom there last week):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yuroJA6WPM&feature=share

Tom and nine others from here in Nagoya took a 4-1/2 day trip last week up north, primarily to Kamaishi City on the coast. They drove two truckloads full of supplies and a van of people to help. In Kamaishi they saw cars hanging from second-floor balconies and on the rooftops. The smell of death was all around, almost overwhelmingly. Dead bodies are continually being found, along with dead animals, dead fish washed in from the sea, etc. On one day when they were working at a house in the area, the police came and got another dead body from two doors down that had just been discovered.

The one church in the area has only 15 members. The members themselves are reeling from the disaster but doing all they can to help. The pastor’s house was wiped out and he is living in one of the shelters. The church is still intact and was the ONLY building in the area that had running water for several days after the earthquake and tsunami. They have gladly shared their “miracle water” with people from all over the area, along with food and other supplies that have been brought in to the church.

The team spread out. Tom and three others went to work helping Mrs. F, whose husband had been killed in the tsunami. She had been at her family business and had somehow been able to help her elderly mother to safety, with water lapping at their heels. Her husband was a few minutes away at home, where he, their home and neighborhood were all wiped out by the tsunami. Now she had no one to help go through the rubble that had been their family business. Tom and the others worked alongside her, salvaging what they could, ripping out rotting, destroyed flooring, etc. Three women went on the trip this time for the particular purpose of offering more emotional support to the victims. They had the opportunity to hug and cry with her, and the whole team prayed with her and offered physical labor support, which was very comforting to her. They even sang a song to her about God’s love for her.

While some continued helping her the following day, Tom and others went on to help a couple in their mid-70’s and their son who had fled to the 3rd floor of their home to escape the tsunami. (This home can be seen in both the videos above.) As the water continued to come higher and higher, they thought they would die, but they were able to go up into their closet, another step higher, and grab on to the bar at the top of the closet and hold on. They could look out the door and see three people hanging onto an antenna on top of a building across the way. Other buildings around them were being wiped out all the while. Their neighbors on both sides were killed and their homes were destroyed. Tom and the others helped them sort through the rubble and salvage what they could, particularly photographs and other things of sentimental value. The devastation is hard to get your mind around. They were also able to visit the hospital, also serving as an evacuation shelter, and deliver care packages to people there (including the elderly mother of Mrs. F., whom they helped the first day).

We asked the pastor there what else we could do to help; he said he would like help to take people to a public bath an hour away–a physical comfort and help, as well as an emotional encouragement and hope-builder. So another group from our church went after Tom and his group returned, primarily going to take people to get baths. A nurse and another young woman went along to help people in and out of baths who are not physically strong enough to do it for themselves. Another huge truckload of supplies went out as well. May God continue to help His Church be the arms of Christ during this time of excruciating pain and suffering for so many. And may the gospel bring hope that will never fail, that will never be wiped out or destroyed. Oh God, have mercy.

While relief efforts continue, so does God’s work in Nagoya. A new missionary family, Michael, Cathalain, and Tobin Carter have just arrived to join our team. We are continuing with choir activities in the midst of things, and the LORD is blessing that as well. One particularly exciting development is that we started an introductory course to the Bible for choir members this week, led by Bruce Young, a veteran missionary to Japan who is back in Nagoya for about 5 weeks. We had a small group in our home this Tuesday, and there were great questions and discussion. Others are planning to come in the coming three weeks. Please pray for this great opportunity and for how the LORD will continue to lead in that.

Please pray too for us as some of the choir members will be singing at an evangelistic meeting called “Heart and Soul” this Sunday afternoon and hearing a gospel message from our MTW country leader, Dan Iverson. We trust the LORD will use this in their hearts for the sake of the gospel.

Please pray for clear leading from the LORD. We are very tired–missionaries, church members, etc.–but we are so thankful for the grace and strength to serve. We really need ongoing clarity in HOW to serve in the midst of such need. We want to continue to be led clearly by the LORD, not just responding in a knee-jerk way to the urgency of the need. God is so good and will surely continue to lead.

We will continue to trust the LORD to take care of the nuclear situation. He is God and is in charge, even in the midst of this broken, fallen world.

Thank you so much for sending us, for praying for us and for praying for the people of Japan. We are simply an extension of the many of you who have sent us. The Body of Christ is beautiful.

2. Japan Disaster Response Report from OPC (including update from the Lauers)

Thank you for your continued support, prayers and patience as we look to the Lord for guidance and direction in moving forward in our disaster response in Japan in a manner that strives to be timely, yet in good order. When disasters happen on fields where we have a missionary presence, it’s very important that the OPC’s response to the disaster be guided by our missionaries. They are “on the scene” and know best the culture and practices of the people to whom we hope to minister.

This week we were thankful to receive an official invitation from the OPC Japan Mission to send a 4-5 person team to help them evaluate possible sites for establishing a for the next phase of relief efforts, including housing and storage facilities, and the longer term use of evangelistic outreach that grows out of the relief efforts. They would also like this team to evaluate damage to the church members’ homes and church facilities with a view toward drawing up specific proposals for repair or rebuilding.

Knowing the desire, abilities and resources of the church here in the US to help in this time of crisis in Japan, the time in Japan will be ideal for a joint discussion between our missionaries and representatives from the OPC as to how best to utilize the resources we have. There are great needs; responding to that are large hearts who desire to give and to serve. How can one part of the body of Christ serve another that is hurting so badly? How can we show the love of Christ to those who have lost everything? How can we come alongside our brothers and help? Please keep praying for wisdom. Lord-willing, this team will go toward the end of April/beginning of May.

The Japan Disaster Relief Fund is now up to $130,000 raised. The Japan Mission continually expresses their thankfulness for the outpouring of love demonstrated through these gifts.

On Friday another 7.1 earthquake struck Japan. Laurie Lauer reported the following on Saturday morning:

After last night’s quake, I have heard this morning that Murray, Cal, and Ogata sensei are OK. I believe that Yoshida sensei is also, although previous damage to the church there appears to have worsened. Electricity came back at Cal’s at 7:30 this am. Don’t know if Murray has electricity yet. We felt the quake here in Shizuoka so it must have been very unsettling up there at 7.4 mag. Roads and rails were closed last night. 90 people injured at last report. Tsunami was smaller this time. Damage should be assessable now in the daylight.

David and Noriko were scheduled to make a trip up there early this morning to Kessennuma and Ofunato, both hit last night. Roads are still closed, I think. I have called, but have not been able to get through to them. I am hoping they hold off for today.

We appreciate your prayers. Aftershocks have been occurring daily and are very wearing on the people. This quake just adds to the stress. May the comfort of the gospel be spread far and wide, and may the Lord be pleased to stop the quaking.
Thank you for your continued giving and prayers!

Yearning for the wisdom of Solomon,
David Nakhla, Disaster Response Coordinator
The Committee on Diaconal Ministries

3. Relief workers must adjust quickly. Individuals, groups face challenge identifying constantly changing needs of survivors (from Japan Times)

Numerous relief organizations, volunteer groups and concerned individuals have offered support by distributing goods and lending a helping hand in the earthquake- and tsunami-hammered Tohoku region.

While rebuilding from the widespread devastation will continue to require great amounts of aid, time and manpower, those who have been in the hardest-hit areas emphasize the importance of getting to know the local communities to grasp the constantly changing needs of the survivors and to maximize relief efforts.

Miyako Hamasaka of the nongovernmental disaster relief organization JEN said that as evacuees leave their temporary shelters and gradually begin working to restore their damaged homes, equipment to remove the massive piles of mud and rubble left by tsunami will be in dire need.

“As days and weeks go by, victims’ needs also change, and adapting to them is essential in providing adequate support,” said Hamasaka, who currently travels between Sendai and Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

JEN has set up a base camp in hard-hit Ishinomaki, where more than 2,400 people were killed and some 2,770 remain missing. Much of the local infrastructure remains paralyzed, and the group is currently recruiting volunteers to help clear out the rubble that still overwhelms the coastal area.

“JEN also plans on hiring local residents to set up an office in Ishinomaki in a step to promote the financial independence of victims who have lost their jobs,” Hamasaka said, adding that promoting survivor self-reliance is a significant part of their efforts.
Hamasaka said Self-Defense Forces supply depots are stockpiled with various goods collected from around the country, but in many cases the supplies don’t match the constantly changing needs of the survivors, an issue JEN and other organizations still struggle with.

Adel Suliman of the nongovernmental, nonprofit organization Peace Boat is also currently in Ishinomaki as part of a second group of volunteers dispatched to provide relief.

Suliman, of Libyan nationality, said their main activities include cleaning up homes damaged by mud and rubble, setting up soup kitchens, managing the inflow of goods and distributing them to various temporary shelters and households in need.

Read More: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110406f1.html