One Year Later

On March 11, 2011, at 2:46 Japan Standard time, Japan was hit by a 9.0 earthquake—the most severe earthquake in its recorded history.  The resulting tsunami produced waves over forty feet tall, pouring over the seawalls across northern Japan.  These waves also breached the seawalls of the nuclear power plant, Fukushima Dai-ichi, leaving the plant in danger of meltdown in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.   We watched on the far side of the Pacific as the black water swept over cars, tossing them around like toys, even crushing huge boats under bridges.  We watched with bated breath as we heard mixed reports from what was happening at Fukushima Dai-ichi.  The world watched Japan as over 15,000 of its citizens lost their lives.

I was on Spring Break last year when it happened.  I remember sitting in my hotel room watching the TV, feeling my stomach drop as I watched the ticker-tape scroll at the bottom of the screen showing the increasing death toll.  I learned about nuclear reactors for the first time, and I checked online every day for the next month to see if there was news of success or failure at the power plant.

While I hope that news reports today bring Japan to our mind, I think many people have forgotten the condition that Japan is still in after the earthquake.  This week we have been folding a thousand cranes (which is a symbol of hope in Japan) to send to the Tohoku region all week, and many people who pass by aren’t aware that the anniversary was today.

Today is a day for mourning and remembrance.  Please take some time out of your day to pray for the many people in Japan who lost loved ones to the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. 

Please also continue to keep Japan in your prayers.  For those living in the disaster areas, the crisis is not over.  One year later, over 300,000 people are still living as evacuees.  Some are in hotels or relatives homes, but many are still in temporary housing, which is usually no more than a school gym with cardboard partitions set up for rooms.  In addition to losing their homes, almost 40% of the evacuees lost their job in the disaster and have no source of income.  People are suffering from depression and insomnia.  These people who have already lost so much have to rebuild their lives—even their homes—from scratch. 

As we pray and mourn for the loss in Japan, I hope it encourages you to act.  Be the Good Samaritan and do what you would want to have done for you in this situation.  We pray for the Japanese people’s sorrow but we also pray for their hope.  We pray that in spite of the incredible scale of destruction, that Japan can be rebuilt.

Our team’s verse this year is from Isaiah 54 and it says, “’For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be moved,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”  I still believe that God loves Japan, and that there is hope for the people of Tohoku.

If you want to make a donation to help Japan, you can visit http://crashjapan.com/.  Crash Japan provides food, water and other necessities to the affected disaster areas, and they provide a message of hope and love through Jesus Christ to Japanese people who are in desperate need of it. 

Thank you for keeping Japan in your memory, in your heart, and in your prayers.