We are safe! Nagoya is 100s of kilometers away, and while we felt some of the earthquakes, there was no damage here that we've heard of. Our church members with family in the hard hit areas have finally made contact and so far, it sounds like all are well. Our missionary friends in the area have also been accounted for. We thank God for that, but of course our hearts are heavy with the millions who are affected by this disaster. We have a large number of Japanese friends in the Sendai area from the Dothan Sony Plant. I don't know how to make contact with them, or how to search for them at this point unless we have names and phone numbers. IF you have someone in the area you are concerned about, send me their name and phone number, and i will try to get word about their safety--there is a system in place for that and will access it for any friends in the States who need help.
Many have called our parents and are emailing--we have sent an email out to as many as we have addresses for--please pass on word about us to anyone who may be concerned.
Of course everyone is asking what they can do, including us. I think there will be many opportunities in the days and months ahead. Our spring break is approaching, and perhaps by then there will be a specific way a team from our church can help. But here is what we can do immediately:
PRAY: For God to pour out his mercy on this land. The region hit the hardest by the earthquakes is some of the most unreached parts of Japan:
Pray for the spiritual needs. The areas affected by the earthquake and tsunamis of Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki are some of the most spiritually needy places in Japan. With over 4.9 million people yet only about 9,000 active Christians (about 0.15%). Fukushima has the lowest average worship attendance with only 19 per church. There is one city and 44 towns still with no church. (John Mehn)
GIVE: Much will be needed, as in any disaster. MTW is working on our "Minuteman Appeal", which is a fund for relief efforts. It should be up and running soon. See www.mtw.org for more details.
GO?: Not sure yet. We are partnering with a group of missionaries and churches in a disaster response group called "CRASH". Anything that we are able to do will be coordinated through this group. Please contact us if you are interested in sending teams, and we will work through MTW and CRASH to facilitate this. You can contact us at amy@newsomellc.com or by phone: (from the States: 011-81-561-63-9392 or 011-81-80-4071-9392)
So glad to find your blog. I knew that Nagoya was unlikely to have experienced any of the tsunami, but have been thinking about my Nissin Church friends.
ReplyDelete