At 2.46pm on Friday 11th March, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the north-eastern coast of Japan. It was the largest in Japan’s recorded history, resulting in a series of major tsunamis that caused widespread devastation over an estimated 500km of coastline.

To a large extent, the initial relief phase following the earthquake and tsunami is over. Lifelines to the disaster-stricken areas in Tohoku are now well established and supplies (food, clothing, blankets, etc) are readily available. However, tens of thousands remain in evacuation shelters. Therefore, the challenge now is recovery. This will be a much longer and more complex process, but assisting with this also offers unique opportunities to get alongside people, build relationships, and model Christ’s love.

The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, which was critically damaged in the tsunami is now under control and fears of further widespread release of large amounts of radiation have reduced. However it now appears that the situation in the week following the tsunami was much worse than originally thought (or reported). Therefore concerns about radiation in and around Tokyo and fears that worse news will be revealed continue in the hearts of many Japanese. In addition, it is becoming increasingly apparent that those evacuated from the 20km exclusion zone are unlikely to be able to return to their homes to live for years, if not decades.

OMF workers in Sendai and Aomori are involved in local relief work and OMF is looking to extend its operations to assist with recovery work and share the love of Christ in Iwate Prefecture. OMF is also working with CRASH (Christian Relief Assistance Support and Hope - crashjapan.com) a local, inter-Mission relief organization that is seeking to establish bases in the disaster area where volunteers can be brought in to assist with the recovery

Iwate Relief Project

Under the Iwate Relief Project, OMF Japan will work with local churches in one or more coastal cities in Iwate Prefecture to provide relief and recovery assistance to those in the area affected by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. The Project will be for two years. In June 2011 we established a base in the Tohoku city of Miyako as the headquarters for the Iwate Relief Project. The church we are working with in Miyako is the Miyako Community Church.

The Iwate Relief Project is 100% funded by the Sendai Earthquake Relief Fund, so does not receive donations directly.

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Sendai Earthquake Relief Fund

The Sendai Earthquake Relief Fund, an OMF Japan project, was created to channel funds for OMF’s and CRASH’s earthquake/tsunami relief and recovery work. Support for this project has been overwhelmingly generous and exceeded our expectations many times over. We have now reached the financial target we set for the Fund and have therefore closed the project to further donations. This does not mean the project has finished, however, as we still have much work to do over the next few years in employing the funds received to bring God’s Kingdom to Tohoku. So please keep praying for this work.

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Prayer requests

‘Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ…’ Colossians 4.2-4

Pray for spiritual openness and awakening throughout Japan.

Pray for churches and Christians living in affected areas to know God’s help and strength and to reach out in Jesus’ name to those around them.

Pray for churches and Christians from outside the area that are helping in relief operations. Pray for good co-operation and partnership with churches in the area and with each other.

Earthquake/Tsunami

Pray for those who have lost so much
• families who have lost family members;
• communities that have been decimated;
• all who have lost jobs and livelihood including farmers whose land has been saturated with salt water.

Fukushima Power Plant

• Pray for those living in fear of exposure to radiation.
• Pray for those still living in evacuation centres and are unable to return to their homes in the exclusion zone around the plant.
• Pray for those working at the Fukushima Plant, that they would be kept safe from the high levels of radioactivity around them.

Relief Efforts

Pray for relief efforts to be appropriate and effective in meeting physical and emotional needs.
Pray for OMF as we plan longer-term relief: for churches to work with; personnel; wisdom in knowing how to couple practical relief efforts with spiritual ministry.