Churches Shattered

Today we were meeting for our Converge Worldwide Japan Field Council. We have been planning on our response to the triple disasters of March 11th. More coming very shortly. Jeff Chapman, who went on a relief trip (see previous posts) to Kessenuma and Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture a week ago, shared some photos and video of his trip. The destruction is what we have seen elsewhere but it was encouraging to hear how they were…

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Rengo and Converge Respond

Our Asian Area Director and I met with Pastor Yonai and Pastor Sasaki, the Rengo General Affairs director to discuss Converge Worldwide and our CW Japan Team response with these Rengo leaders. Pastor Hiroaki Yonai is the chairman of the Japan Baptist Church Association (Rengo) and the pastor of the Kokubunji Baptist Church in West Tokyo. Pastor Yonai had just returned from a trip north to Higashi Matsushima City in the hard-kit area of Miyagi…

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CRASH base now in Hitachi

In Hitachi, CRASH Japan’s second hub for support and hope has been established. A core team left Tokyo on Friday, March 25, to set-up the new base-camp in Ibaraki. In line with the goal of helping churches share love and hope with their communities while meeting their practical needs, CRASH Japan is searching for potential base sites in each of the affected areas of Tohoku. Once a location has been chosen, a team is sent…

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Continue to Pray for Japan

PRAY that God would bring the Hope of Christ through Christian relief efforts by the Japan Evangelical Association, CRASH Love-On-Japan, Japanese churches and denominations, and Christians throughout the region. ASK God to grant each church a special measure of peace for their community that they may be safe places of calm. PRAY too that they may help the grieving. Everyone knows at least someone in the affected areas. Government leaders like Prime Minister Kan remind…

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Continue to Give Generously

On Friday, Converge Worldwide sent an additional $15,000 for Japan relief work through CRASH Japan, this is in addition to the $20,000 already sent. This Japanese based evangelical relief organization is a cooperative effort of both missionaries and Japanese leaders. Funds are helping set up relief bases in the hard-it areas and buying necessary relief supplies. Thank you for this giving that brings smiles and shares hope. PRAY that all needed funds will be received…

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Christian Congressman has Hope

Japanese Congressman Ryuichi Doi became emotional as he walked the streets of Sendai for the first time since the tsunami waves devastated the city. There was so much damage, so much destruction. So many people lost their lives. So many people don’t know where to turn for help. “It was such a big disaster,” he said. “But we must have hope. We must overcome. We must overcome.” Congressman Doi has been instrumental in getting emergency…

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Tsunami of Prayer for Japan

Join us in a Tsunami of Prayer for the Heart & Soul and of Japan! By Carlton and Joshua Walker The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing 30-foot tsunami on March 11 were the worst in Japan’s recorded history. The devastation they wreaked, along with the continuing dire threat of escaping radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plants, has led both Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Naoto Kan to call this Japan’s worst crisis since World…

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Sat 3/16 Update

Recovery efforts continue throughout the hard-hit areas, many people are still hurting without needed food, water, and medical care. Major efforts continue to restore cooling systems at the Fukushima #1 nuclear plant and the environment continues to be impacted. The Japanese people continue to struggle on some in desperation. Many are banding together to give hope and consolation in the midst of this terrible triple tragedy of the earthquake, tsunami, and leaking radiation. This will…

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Teaming Up for More Relief

CRASH Japan reports that the reopening of expressways in Miyagi Prefecture means they will be able to move needed relief supplies and will soon be able to open their second and third base camps in Sendai. But along with needed relief supplies is the need for people to be touched by Christian believers in relief volunteer teams with the message of hope. Love-On-Japan Relief Volunteer Director, Bryan Thompson, explains, “At the present time we are…

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Proud to be Japanese!

From Yahoo News In Soma, a hard-hit town along the Fukushima prefecture coast, rubble covered the block where Hiroshi Suzuki’s home once stood. He watched as soldiers dug into mounds of timber had been neighbors’ homes in search of bodies. Just three bodies have been pulled out. “I never expected to have to live through anything like this,” he said, mournfully. Suzuki is one of Soma’s lucky, but the tsunami washed away the shop where…

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