On 11th March, Japan was rocked by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake – one of the strongest in history and sufficient to move the whole earth almost 10 inches off its axis. Images of the devastation caused by the earthquake and the following tsunami flashed around the world.
The official death toll rose to 12,300, with over 15,000 people missing. Over 500,000 people had to leave their homes. Whole towns disappeared completely.
To support WorldShare's Japan Appeal at any stage, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Talk about the hurts they feel
Report and photos from our representative in Japan
Japanese pastor says scale of damage is 'beyond imagination'
Added to this tragedy, Japan's people have lived in great fear of a nuclear disaster at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, a crisis which has brought back memories of the darkest days of their country’s history.
For several decades, WorldShare has had a small sister-organisation in Japan, Partners International Japan (PIJ), which raises funds for our projects, particularly in Indonesia and Ghana.
The Chairman of PIJ, Rev. Kazuo Kinouchi, is also a respected Pastor in the United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ). The UCCJ is the largest Protestant grouping in Japan and has over 1700 congregations. However, the number of Christians in Japan is very small, numbering only around just over 1% of the population.
The Board of the UCCJ has appealed globally for donations to help those affected by the earthquake. They will be looking to help in particular groups with special needs who are perhaps missed from the large-scale aid efforts of governments and aid agencies.
They will also be helping Christians specifically, and congregations in the affected area to rebuild their churches.
WorldShare’s sister organisation, Partners International USA, sent a senior representative to Japan to help PIJ plan the use of emergency appeal funds.
This is a very important opportunity for Japan’s tiny Christian minority to share the love of Christ in a practical way, and to offer comfort and peace in Christ to those who are in misery and fear.
Please help us to strengthen their hands to this task. May Christians around the world show their love for the Japanese people at this time. Your gifts, of any size, will help in this emergency situation.
Please give via the Donate button below, or using one of the following methods.
BY POST
Make cheque payable to ‘WorldShare’. Write ‘Japan’ and your name and address on the reverse, and mail to ‘Freepost WORLDSHARE’.
(NB: If mailing your donation from within UK, you do not need to put any other text on the envelope, and you do not need to add a stamp. For our full postal address, click here)
BY PHONE
Please telephone (01302) 775209, ask for ‘Japan Earthquake’, and have your Credit/Debit card details to hand.
Thank you.
