From the Website of SEND International – Sunday, March 20, 2011
Overseas organizations are mobilizing to donate relief goods to Japan, but there are huge bottlenecks on the Japan end – customs regulations, trucking out of ports and airports, gasoline supplies to and from disaster areas. Please pray for breakthroughs.
Perhaps you were one of many who paused for a moment of prayer at 2:46 PM Friday to remember the victims and survivors at the one-week anniversary of the first major earthquake here. It is a marvel to think that many in Japan and around the world were joined in heart at the same time for this needy country. There have already been 566 more tremors since one week ago.
CRASH (acronym for Christian Relief, Assistance, Support and Hope), is coordinating relief work among Japanese churches. The organization works closely with the Japan Evangelical Alliance (JEA) and the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Association (JEMA). Workers in the Tokyo area are especially looking into how to get shipments of food and other items into Japan and transported up to the quake area. Please pray for the more than 60 volunteers who are working together to coordinate the many aspects of getting relief up to the affected areas. It is quite an impressive place to be with everyone working together.
A group of high school students went downtown in Tokyo to Shibuya area and collected donations from people on the street. After 5 hours they had collected over $2000 from Japanese people to help with the relief efforts.
One missionary says, “This afternoon and evening I went through all of our cupboards and closets and came up with about 8 boxes of things for evacuees (bedding, towels, toiletries, warm clothing, shoes, toys…). We’re trying to keep a steady supply of things ready in the Christian Academy in Japan cafeteria so that when CRASH trucks/vans get permission to travel they can load up with supplies and be on their way. There have been a number of vehicles who have gone up and come back already. Also, we’re praising the Lord that the first advance team has set up a base in Sendai and are helping from there for the next two weeks. There are plans to get at least six of these bases opened and ready to do whatever needs to be done to help out.”
Please pray for the Christian Japanese man with great responsibility in the recovery efforts. Even beyond the immediate crisis in the weeks and months to come, he will have to oversee the re-construction of the devastated roads, bridges and public facilities up and down the entire east coast of Japan. This is an unprecedented, unforeseen, and nearly unbearable situation for any one man. We are convinced that it is no coincidence that a Christian has been put in this position for such as time as this. He needs God’s wisdom and strength to see this through.
Please consider sharing in the effort to assist stricken Japanese communities through local church groups of the Japan Evangelical Church Association by contributing today to SEND’s Japan Earthquake Recovery Project.
SEND International is an interdenominational faith mission organization with over 600 missionaries in more than 20 countries of Asia, Europe and North America. Calvary East has established a special fund for donations to this project. Just specify on an offering envelope the amount you want to designate for “Japan Recovery.”