Serving Kumamoto with God’s love donate
Thank you for your support of CRASH Japan. We are finally now giving you an update about our activities in the Kumamoto region of Japan. Sorry that we have not written before now – we started writing in each language several times, but we have all been busy dealing with the disaster response itself. The Japanese text below was written about two weeks ago, but we’ll give you more fresh information in English.
Beginning with a Magnitude 6.5 on April 14th that was merely a “fore-shock” of a magnitude 7.3 before dawn on April 16th, damage has continued to spread across a wide area as hundreds of aftershocks hit the area. Every day in Kumamoto, multiple small aftershocks can be felt.
CRASH Japan sent out an assessment team a few days after the main quake and joined with other Christian groups coming to the area. On the 19th, the team visited Pastor Tomiyo and family, from East Kumamoto Bible Christian Church in hardest hit Mashiki town, whose building was destroyed and the pastor’s daughter trapped immobile for a harrowing five hours. At North Kumamoto Bible Christian Church, the team had a time of prayer and fellowship with suffering church members. Not long after that, the Kyushu Christian Disaster Response Center was formed to coordinate efforts of various Christian groups.
Harvest Church’s Pastor Nakamura leads morning devotions for about 50 volunteers.
Kumamoto Harvest Church, which suffered damage but is still usable, serves as a central hub for volunteers as well as a facility for organization of relief supplies, since the church building was originally a warehouse. CRASH has been sending volunteers to work with the Kyushu Relief Center ever since, also providing IT services, leadership assistance, and logistics support. During the string of holidays known as Golden Week, a YMCA school allowed us to house volunteers, and many people took off from work to volunteer – in that week alone, over 300 volunteers were dispatched through the Kyushu Relief Center (including CRASH volunteers, of course).
Volunteer activities have included cleaning out houses, construction-related help (including both people with carpentry/electrical/plumbing qualifications and simple willing hands), relief goods distribution, hot food provision, emotional care, children’s activities, medical/nursing, and many other things.
The first few CRASH volunteers reflect together on the day’s experiences.
While Golden Week is now over and most people have to go back to their jobs, the need for volunteers continues. Naturally the need for funds is also great. Please visit crashjapan.com for information on how to donate to CRASH, how to register as a volunteer, and how to pray for victims and volunteer efforts. And for more photos and the most current updates, see the CRASH Japan Facebook page.
