"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

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

HEROES: Justiniano update about taking help to Sendai

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Justiniano-Tsunami Relief Special Report                          April 5, 2011
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Hope in the Midst of Tragedy

      We just returned from a 9-day tsunami relief trip to Sendai, working with CRASH-Japan.  The total destruction of whole cities along our north coast was staggering.  (Click on the underlined text to see photos.)  The once beautiful city of Minami Sanriku, the focus of our relief efforts, is now a desolate plain of scattered debris, and 9,000 of it's residents are now in evacuation camps.  The Lord gave us grace to build a relationship with the head supply officer for all of these camps, who then directed us to the individual camps for supply delivery.  The Lord then opened doors for us to build relationships with directors of two evacuation camps in particular, Mr. Abe and Mr. Yamauchi, pictured on the right.  Other teams have already been able to follow up with ministry to those camps with supplies, English classes for the kids, and time talking with the evacuees.  A local pastor and his daughters are also following up with the two camps.  We've been able to pray with both directors and they expressed their appreciation for that, one of them being moved to tears.  Please pray for encouragement and restoration for the 700+ evacuees in those two camps, and especially for their openness to Christ.  (Click here for a short photo album of the trip with captions.)


























More Areas Needing Assistance

     We believe there are still many more areas up to 80km (48 mi.) to the north of where we were working that still need assistance, such as Kamaishi City pictured above.  These are farther away from the bigger city of Sendai and receive less attention.  Please pray for the Lord's leading as to whether or not He wants us to search out these areas of potential need further north.
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Recap of Prayer Requests:

1)  Comfort and encouragement for the thousands of evacuees, especially those who have lost friends and family members.
2)  Follow-up for Mr. Abe, Mr. Yamauchi, and the evacuees at the Minami Sanriku camps; for open doors for the gospel and open hearts.
3)  The Lord's leading for: A) Whether to take another trip out or not; B) If so, that He would lead us to areas of need.
4)  The Lord's grace for those working hard to get the nuclear reactor damage under control.  The radiation levels in Tokyo are still far from dangerous; praise the Lord.
5)  That these disasters would cause many Japanese to seek the Lord and find Him.

Thanks so much for your faithful prayer!  You are greatly appreciated.
Peace and grace,
Ralph, for the Justinianos
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