From
Vicky: for her husband Seiju who left home March 12 with 300 others on a search and
rescue mission to Iwate near the Kuji River. They live in Hokkaido, the
northernmost island and you can follow her blog about this at http://hyotenka.blogspot.com. (Scroll down to start with March 11.)
Other blogs by Westerners living in Japan, most of them married to Japanese, which describe how the earthquake affected them on March 11 and days following include:
From Bill, on staff with Navigators in Sendai. (I think Jane must be his wife, although my friend Genie who forwarded this request says his wife is Japanese.)
Gaijin Housewife in Japan (Gaijin means "foreigner")
Gaijinwife (Note: the language in this one is R-rated but it really captures the conflicting thoughts, emotions and paranoia running through the mind of someone living through this. The writer must be from New Zealand.)
Dear family and
friends,
I
just got word that everyone living on our hill, including Jane, has been
accounted for. But there is no contact with people in that area and there has
been a lot of damage in the surrounding area. But I’m so happy that Jane is
OK! Also the word is that there was only minimal damage to the house.
The people who live on our hill
are working together evidently, melting snow for water, etc. There is enough
food for the time being. But they are also waiting for the waters to recede or
for some kind of rescue to arrive.
No
body has been able to contact Jane but at least we know that she is alive and
with friends living nearby.
I may
return home early from this conference although it is very difficult to travel
north. I can fly into Tokyo but there is no train
or plane travel north to our city of Sendai. The highway is also closed although
there are local roads that are jammed. That’s my understanding but I’m keeping
up with the news for changes. I could stay with Mark for a few days in
Tokyo until
transportation north opens up.
Thank
you for your prayers. The big relief is that Jane is OK. And even our house
seems to be in reasonable shape.
Pray
for that those who are stranded would soon get help and that we would all work
together to rebuild our community and city. Also, pray that all of our friends
would turn out to be alive and safe.
Pray
for continued peace and that our confidence in God and his ways would abound.
And most of all pray for many to put their faith in Christ through this
tragedy. There is a purpose even in this.
Thank
you so much for the expressions of prayer and encouragement from so many of
you. It was such a relief to learn that Jane is safe. I don’t know what I and
the children would have done without her. Thank you
again!
Just
as you prayed for her (and us) maybe you would have time to pray for others of
our friends whom we are very worried about. Some of our friends were living
right in the path of the Tsunami on somewhat lower ground. This is the
Shichigahama area which is east of Sendai, a
peninsula right on the Pacific Ocean
coach. This area is still cut off from communication because of power failure
so we don’t know and can’t guess how people are
doing?
Here
are some people to pray for:
* Eiichi and Naoko Tanaka. A
newly married couple. Eiichi was at work on lower ground when the earthquake
hit. We think Naoko was in her car but not sure. There was about 20 minutes
between the time of the earthquake and the tsunami. That may have been enough
time for them to get to a safe place.
* Hitomi Watanabe. She runs a
Bed & Breakfast type place on a hill overlooking the ocean. She would have
been cleaning up after lunch service when the earthquake
hit.
* Mrs. Sato. She works as
Hitomi’s helper. She is married and has three
children.
* Noriko Tsutsumi. She and her
husband, Kenji, live in a residential area called Shiomidai which was smashed by
the Tsunami.
* Kazumitsu Tanaka and his
family. Also Mr. Ambe and his family. Very close friends of Eiichi and Naoko
and also live in Shiomidai.
* Mrs. Yamamoto and her daughter
Rei. Close friends of Eiichi and us who also live in
Shiomidai.
* The Karihira family. I heard
from them and they are safe but were living in their
car.
Please pray especially for these
people. But also for many other friends in our Shichigahama
neighborhood.
*Atobe san as a leader in the
city government is hard at work in leading rescue operations. Pray for him: for
strength to carry on and that many would sense Christ in him, especially his
parents.
* I haven’t heard from Bun. Pray
for him and his family.
* Pray for Ikuko Ogawa. Toru and
Ikuko are our work partners in Sendai. Toru is away on a trip taking students
to the states. We think Ikuko should be OK but haven’t heard from
her.
There are many more but please
remember these. And I think you will know how to pray for Japan during
this disaster.
With much thanks and
praise,
Bill
From Pat in Long Beach, CA: My grandson’s teacher, a
Christian, is Japanese and has family in the Tokyo area. I VIP in her class each Monday
morning and yesterday her tears were very close. We hugged and I told her I had
been and would continue to pray for her and her family. She has a niece in
northern Japan who is a doctor so you can
imagine what she is experiencing in trying to help her
countrymen.
From Yuji, the Japanese pastor at Rolling Hills Covenant
Church in Southern California.
Dear
Praying friends,
Thank you
for your expressed prayers and concerns responding to my first
update.
It is time to give you second update on Tsunami. Unfortunately one of the disciples in our
ministry lost her father and her mother is still missing.
We are
putting together a love gift for her as she will be returning to
Japan.
I mentioned in my first update that the impact might
be smaller than Kobe where 6000 died, but it is already estimated that well over
ten thousand or more will be found dead eventually.
They also
upgraded the quake to magnitude 9.1 rather than 8.9. This is by far the biggest
in Japan and is #4 in the world since 1900.
One of the biggest impacts is
nuclear power plants failure. With the power shortage, it is affecting nation-wide transportation, industries and everything
else.
The
Japanese ministry will be collecting donations from the members and will be
forwarding to some specific needs in Japan, such as ministries and the churches
that are greatly affected by the tsunami.
Some of us are talking about going to Japan this
summer to help in the rebuilding process.
We will keep you posted.
Yuji and
Sumie
LOTS OF RELATED INFORMATION BELOW
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