Japanese survivors suffering due to cold and lack of supplies
Bob Savage, Global Learning Exchange Director for Partners International (WorldShare’s sister organisation in the USA) arrived in Japan on Sunday to meet with our Japanese affiliate office and assess how we can continue to help in the aftermath of the disaster. Here is an excerpt from his first report upon arrival.
“We met with a couple of key leaders at the headquarters of the United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ). Tomorrow we are going to try to go up to Sendai to look around. Sendai has more Christians than most of Japan (3%).
“This will not be an easy trip. It's about an eight-hour trip by bus. We have to carry food as there may not be any there. We have to carry our own bedding, no hotels are open. And it's really cold there, snowing probably. I might not have warm enough clothes. Lots of their church members have wanted to go there and help, but so far they are being told not to come as there aren’t enough supplies to take care of them. But somehow they agreed to let us come.
“The UCCJ has about 100 churches in the disaster zone. Most of these churches are ok. About 10 were badly damaged by the tsunami; two were completely destroyed. More were affected by the earthquake, with big cracks in the walls and broken things inside… maybe 30 are like that.
“Even the government doesn't know the extent of all the damage yet. Some areas are still too hard to get to. This is because the northern coastline has big mountains that come down nearly to the seashore, and all the main roads are along the coast. The tsunami either knocked buildings or trees onto these roads or took sections out completely.
“There have been big earthquakes in Japan before. But if you survived you could walk to a safe area that was unaffected. With this one, the area of devastation is so vast that stranded people couldn't get to a safe area no matter how far they walked.
“I asked Rev. Kato of UCCJ what he wanted to say to the worldwide church. He said, ‘People there aren't able to cook, they are eating cold meals, it's freezing and they need something warm. They suffered so much and need people to stand by them and hear their stories.
“Pastors have lost their own homes. And I'm concerned for the pastors’ health too - they are working non-stop. It's still chaos there, not enough food or water or blankets. There is no gasoline which makes it hard for people to get around to help. I drove my own car up there to assess damage and had to leave it there as there was no gas to fill it up to return.’”
Please continue to pray for God’s provision for survivors and for Japanese believers and pastors as they minister to those who are suffering.
