CMS missionary Karen Darda works at the Oyumino Christ Church a few hours’ drive south of the worst affected areas. Oyumino joined other church
and Christian groups in delivering aid and basic supplies to those in need after the quake – and people from Oyumino still visit the disaster areas weekly.

“In a country where the church is very denominational and there is little cross- denominational fellowship, the past few months have seen an outpouring of Christ’s love crossing these boundaries,” Karen says. From giving practical help such as clearing mud from farmlands so farmers can plant crops to offering support through care and counselling, Christians in Japan have been tireless in their efforts.

But although news about those in Japan has been off the front pages of our newspapers for months, the clean-up and reconstruction will not be completed anytime soon. Many survivors of the disaster lost their homes and livelihoods and are only now being moved out of evacuation centres into temporary accommodation. About 87,000 Japanese were made homeless by the quake and tsunami and nearly 5000 people are still missing. And the country is exhausted.

Deep scars

For Christians in Japan, including foreign missionaries like Karen, the emotional rebuilding will take many years as they seek to support and care for those devastated by the events in March. Shin-Urayasu, where Karen was on the day the quake struck, was the most damaged part of the Tokyo region and she says conversations there begin with two questions: “Where were you on the day?” and “how are you coping?”.

“There is great fear as people contemplate the possibility of another big earthquake,” she says. “Uncertainty and panic is just below the surface and, because of many months of ongoing earthquakes and aftershocks, people are living with a lot of stress.
“We want to witness to the fact that our God doesn’t change, we can depend on him and he is our ‘very present help’. We know that we can call on God; he is our comfort, our rock, our fortress. This alone is a great witness.”

Before and after: Volunteers dig through debris and rotten fish to reopen a canal in Ishinomaki, Honshu.
Karen Darda has served in Japan for 20 years and says that the country’s problems did not start with the March earthquake and tsunami. She says that while people “feel overwhelmed and saddened when we learn that over 15,000 people died in March 2011... there is another tragedy that haunts Japan – suicide claims the lives of 30,000 people every year. Japan is a nation that needs hope and comfort.”

She asks for prayer that there would be wise and sensitive evangelism by Christians in Japan and more workers to share love of Jesus, as well as prayer for the nation’s ongoing clean-up and reconstruction and spiritual and emotional healing for the people. 

 

(Photo credit: Flickr Kordian)