2 months since the 'quake

Today marks 2 months since the great Tohoku quake.

March 11th will live forever in the minds of Japanese, especially those who have been directly affected by the tsunami that followed.

Last week, 8 people from our church went to Tohoku to take food and serve in any way they could. Together with 12 other people from the Hokkaido Christian Ministry Network (Hokkumin), they prepared meals, cleaned out peoples mud filled homes, and listened to people's stories.

When the students shared their experiences last Sunday, one theme kept emerging.

"There is still so much to be done!"

Progress has been made. The roads are reopening for non-emergency vehicles. Debris has been removed from some areas. Gasoline is no longer being rationed and hoarded. Yet, as one student commented, "it looks like the Tsunami just happened."

It will take time for Tohoku residents to go back to life as usual. One of the concerns, as reported by a church member, is that people will forget about what is still a reality for those living in the tsuamni affected area.

I am glad that our church as plans to return to the same area. I hope those they are serving will see Christ in them.

3rd Person P.O.V.

I haven't been posting nearly as much as I would like. ( I know, that is always my lament)

With the Earthquke & Tsunami, and now the relief efforts, I feel that I have no new information to give to the conversation. When I get a free minute, I am reading blogs of other missionaries, on the island of Honshu (where the "action" is happening), as well as news articles and I feel that all I can do is repost what they have already so eloquently said.

Here on Hokkaido (The Northern most island), life for the most part is as normal as it has been. There are people here who are trying to find family members, and there are small teams from various churches heading into the disaster zones to give relief, but for the most part life is normal. We are not suffering from lack of food or heat; we are not homeless; we are not fearing radiation; we are not having rolling blackouts to conserve energy.

That being said, there is A LOT going on in Japan right now.

A team from our mission is currently in Sendai, setting up base camps for relief work to be done, and distributing (90 tons of) supplies donated from Samaritan's Purse.

Our Tokyo missionaries are partnering with CRASH Japan, to help register volunteers. Once the main flood of relief from abroad is out of the spot light, organizations like CRASH will keep working in the shadows, making sure the devastated are being cared for with Christ's love.

Next week, our pastor and 3-4 college guys, are heading into Sendai to work with food for the hungry. Pastor Kaji has connections in Sendai through his denomination, and has been talking about going down to help them as soon as the tsunami hit.

Because, the best I can give you is a 3rd person point of view, here are some links to people far more informed than I.

The Asian Access Blog. This is updated frequently with articles from all of our missionaries and leadership. It's a great place to find out what is happening in Japan.

The Blog of one missionary family near Osaka. The Husband is on the team of our missionaries delivering aid to Sendai and preparing base camps.

The Blog of another missionary family near Tokyo. The Wife is volunteering with CRASH, and the family has connections to the Tsunami affected area.

CRASH Japan is the relief organization Asian Access is partnering with to distribute aid.

Food For the Hungry is the organization our Church in Sapporo is working with when they head to Sendai on Monday.