"You have to work hard to offend Christians. By nature, Christians are the most forgiving, understanding, and thoughtful group of people I've ever dealt with. They never assume the worst. They appreciate the importance of having different perspectives. They're slow to anger, quick to forgive, and almost never make rash judgments or act in anything less than a spirit of total love . . . No, wait--I'm thinking of Labrador retrievers!" David Learn, 1998

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

MORE HEROES; MORE OPPORTUNITIES

Japan Relief

THREE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP FINANCIALLY:

A. Orthodox Presbyterian Church
This site includes detailed, informative updates about Christian pastors mobilizing and taking aid to isolated communities within a day or two of the disaster. In Update 10 (March 25) Cal Cummings writes, "On Wednesday, my sons Caleb and Luke and I drove up to Ishinomaki  to contact and volunteer at several shelters, seeking to build ongoing relationships. What an unbelievable scene! I have never seen or imagined such massive destruction. The chaos of the deep seemed to have been vomited up everywhere. . ." Read about lots of heroes here!

B. Youth for Christ International is asking for funds specifically for bicycles and tents with cooking supllies for Japanese made homeless by the earthquakes/tsunami--some of them still commute to their jobs. NOTE: When giving to organizations, you can trust those with the seal of  the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability (ECFA).

1. Bicycles – Due to a major fuel shortage and damage to the roads and train tracks, people are unable to travel by train or cars in the affected areas. Youth for Christ will purchase a number of bicycles that have cargo capabilities to be able to transport the sick and injured to clinics and hospitals regardless of the condition of the roads. They will also provide people access to food and water.


Donate a cargo bike like this including delivery to the affected area for US$220 each


Donate a cargo bike like this including delivery to affected areas for US$370 each.
2. Tents – Many people have been displaced from their homes. The majority have been relocated far from their place of origin, families and work places. Youth for Christ will purchase tents for those who find themselves homeless or those who have been relocated but would like to be situated much closer to their work or families. The tents purchased with your donations come with sleeping bags and cooking facilities.

C. Christian Life Charity, mentioned on my blog yesterday in the letter from Marjorie Mizuno, is now up and running. Their bank information is below:
 Intermediary Bank : Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas NY
 Intermediary Bank SWIFT Code : BKTRUS 
 Bank Name : Japan Post Bank
 Branch : Head Office
 Bank Address : 3-2 Kasumigaseki 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
                      100-8798  Japan
SWIFT Code : JPPSJPJ1
Beneficiary Bank CHIPS UID : 427593
Account Number : 00800-7-214328
Account Name : Christian Life Charity
Address : 4-64 Akasaka-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi
             464-0094  Japan
Phone : in Japan......052-721-7831
         : from overseas: 81-52-721-7831
MORE JAPAN-RELATED POSTS BELOW.

3 comments:

  1. Re: The quote at the top of your blog, about Christians and dogs

    My name is David Learn; I'm the author. I wrote that back in 1998. The item appeared in the Fishers of Grin electronic mailing list, and in the years since has traveled around the Internet three or four times. Somewhere along the lines, somebody changed "Labrador retrievers" to "golden retrievers," which has always struck me as an odd choice, given how saintly my Labs were.

    If you could add correct attribution, and fix the reference to Labs, I'd be much obliged. Thanks.

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  2. Thank you, David! I've made the changes. I hope you have had more positive experiences with Christians since then and that the collapse you speak of in your bio has bottomed out and your faith is reviving. I appreciated the sentiments you expressed to the Easter bunny in your Open Letter. After 40 years of following Christ,I'm just beginning to realize why the cross is GOOD news. I always saw it as a spanking, a reminder of how bad I am: "See what excruciating pain I had to go through because of you!" Now I'm beginning to hear murmurs of something more like, "See how gladly I chose to do this so we can be together?"

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  3. Thanks for the fix!

    The tongue-in-cheek comparison of believers to our pets is as self-referential as it is about other people. I've met many boneheads the past 22 years, but I've also met a few giants whose lives I've been fortunate to have intersect with my own.

    Glad you enjoyed you peek at my blog. The collapse of my faith that you refer to, is an ongoing one, one with no end in sight. That's how I prefer it. When our world is shaken and things collapse, what's left is what endures. Everything else is straw.

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