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Dear Praying Friends,
REMEMBER THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN NEED

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

If “water” was the theme of our day yesterday, “gasoline” was the theme for today. First of all let me say that our water is back to normal today. Flushing the toilet never felt good! Now about the gasoline: Hoping to drive to Chiba to help Takeshi and his wife Tsubasa with their move to Tsukuba, I headed out at 6:30 am looking for a gas station that might be open. The previous day I hadn’t been able to find a place with fuel available. Three stations were closed, and I lined up at the fourth for 25 minutes along with another 30 cars but when it was clear that it wasn’t opening up anytime soon I decided to give up. Later in the day I saw two gas stations in neighbouring cities, each with between 120 and 150 cars lined up – but only one of which was actually open! Rob Fleming in Hitachi Naka had his car parked in a line up when I spoke to him at 5 pm and he said that they reported gas would be available at midnight and even then the ration was only 20 L.

A lack of fuel is complicating everyone’s plans, but it is getting in the way of volunteer relief efforts in particular. A representative from our church association was hoping to take supplies into the Sendai area tomorrow morning but had to delay plans due to a lack of fuel. Pastor Sato of Fukushima 1st Bible Baptist Church was able to join a CRASH team heading north at 2 am this morning however. Two trucks headed north packed with essential supplies for << shaking with a rather strong tremor right now >> people seeking shelter in churches near the affected region. One of our sister churches, Aizu Chapel, took in << another strong tremor coming in right now >> 35 people yesterday, and was expecting another 25 to arrive today. Almost all of these are from Pastor Sato’s church in Fukushima. The organization and response of Japanese churches and missionaries has been amazing.

While fuel shortages have created the most inconvenience to us over the last 24 hours, the greatest concern to us and perhaps you also is the troubled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant and the threat of nuclear radiation. There is a lot of confusion, panic and misinformation. The situation while serious is not yet a cause for alarm. There are six reactors at the Fukushima power plant. Three of them #4-#6 had been turned off for routine inspection prior to the earthquake. The other three #1-#3 were operating at the time but shut down immediately following the earthquake. As you know, when you turn a projector off it’s important to leave it plugged in for several minutes to allow the fan to cool it off or it will over-heat and fry the internal electronics. This is a very rudimentary comparison but in a similar way, although the nuclear reactors are turned off, continuing to provide cooling for the encased nuclear rods is critical to stabilizing them. Unfortunately, the cooling systems were damaged in the earthquake and so round-the-clock efforts have been in place to release the pressure build-up and cool them down.

When radiation levels were tested 20 km from the plant on Tuesday night, the readings were 200 – 300 microsieverts (and where we are 200 km away the levels are much, much lower). To put this in perspective, you get 100 microsieverts of radiation every time you get dental x-rays and 1 microsievert of radiation for every 12 bananas you eat (from the potassium!). All Fellowship International missionaries are safely outside of the 20 km evacuation zone, 200 to 300 km away from the plant. There was some concern about the forecasted rain because it tends to concentrate the radioactive particles in the air as it falls through the sky and if it lands on you while you are uncovered this is more dangerous. The good news is however that it rained while we were sleeping last night and as a result the air this morning is even safer, because the rain has washed a lot of the radioactive particles out. Even still we are taking every precaution, going outside as little as possible and wearing face masks and hats while outside just in case. Be assured we will continue to monitor the situation at the Fukushima plant and make every effort to ensure the safety of ourselves and our children.

Please join us in prayer:
l Pray for the fuel shortage to be resolved quickly. This affects volunteer relief efforts as well as evacuation contingency plans difficult to address.
l Pray for the Flemings as they are still without running water. Their gas and electricity have been restored and they have regular access to nearby well water.
l Pray that food supplies would return to the stores (toilet paper, rice, bread, and dry foods are sold out in most locations).
l Pray for efforts to cool the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima power plant. And ask God to direct winds out into the Pacific ocean carrying radiation safely out of harm’s way.
l Pray for Christian relief efforts that have begun through C.R.A.S.H. and C.B.A.J. as explained below.
l Pray that God work in the midst of this terrible tragedy to reveal His love through His people and turn many to the hope of Jesus Christ.

While the purpose of my updates has been to keep you informed of our situation on the ground here and encourage your prayers, many of you have written asking what else you can do, other than pray. Late last night I was on the phone to Norm Nielsen, Director of Fellowship International’s humanitarian relief and rehabilitation arm, F.A.I.R., and he agreed to advance $25,000 to aid in the relief efforts of two organizations we are partnering with:
l C.R.A.S.H. (Christian Relief Assistance Support and Hope) is a non-profit disaster relief organization created to provide assistance during crisis situations. They work closely with umbrella group JEMA (Japanese Evangelical Missionary Association) of which we are members. They have a large network of experienced volunteers in Japan who know the culture and language and are on the ground ready to act. CRASH Japan is initially seeking funds purchase vital equipment to outfit their Tokyo command centre and equip survey teams who are identifying and meeting physical needs (e.g. tarps, food, water, blankets, batteries, gasoline and medicine).
l C.B.A.J. (Conservative Baptist Association of Japan) is the association of churches with whom we work in Japan. It is centred in Sendai with a large concentration of churches in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures where the damage is the worst. Over thirty of the church’s eighty churches are located within 95 km of the earthquake’s epicenter and so they are at the same time the most critically affected, and the best positioned to make a difference in the name of Jesus Christ. They are seeking funds currently to meet immediate physical needs of those who have been evacuated to their churches, and will also require funds to help in the repair of church buildings damaged in the quake.
In addition to the needs of these two organizations we will be able to identify and respond to the earthquake-related needs of people directly related to our ministries here in Japan as well as loss that we have personally suffered due to the earthquake (which is very minor). Fellowship missionaries (Steve & Jacquie Willson, Rob & Kathryn Fleming, Paul & Jennifer Sadler) will directly administer these funds and make sure that they are used in the name of Christ to serve the most needy areas and provide reporting on the use of these funds through F.A.I.R.

Many of you in Fellowship churches will have opportunities to give to the F.A.I.R. Japan Earthquake Fund in Sunday services but if you would like to give directly please note the following links:

To donate to F.A.I.R.’s Japan earthquake fund click here:

https://www.fellowship.ca/qry/sd_donate.taf?dsfg=4&dsfd=333

To find out more click here:

http://www.fellowship.ca/qry/page.taf?id=308

If you are located outside of Canada, I would encourage you to go directly to the web-site for CRASH Japan:

http://www.crashjapan.com/

Thank you for your love and encouragement!
Paul & Jennifer Sadler
Brooke, Evan, Caleb

5 comments

As the new vision of Pastor Francis Chan unfolded, more communication is needed. The way to handle it has profound impact to the faith community at large. I pray that his vision will gain more and more support from his community. I found his sharing was not only inspiring but also challenging my way of following Christ. After all, I do believe God Has His purpose in my life which may be different from others. I should share it boldly as God wants me to do or be. However, it is only by His grace and our submission that we can work together in His kingdom.
I also found some interesting comments on his interview, like:
• Following Christ step by step for real will often lead us away from the institution called Church.
• Somehow I doubt that sanctification is achieved through the means of simplicity, poverty and suffering. If so, then everyone in poor third world countries is heaven bound and everyone in rich first world countries is hell bound.
• I agree that there was all kinds of interesting tension in this conversation. I think Francis Chan really stumbled in explaining his decision. He could have boiled it down very simply: “I’m following Jesus’s call on my life.”

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Interesting video. Click the link below to check it out.

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Short Term Mission Trip 2010
Ouje-Bougoumou
An opportunity to give and to serve
children ministries, teens ministries, renovation, praise & worship team, kitchen
Mission Team Preparation Meeting
Feb 22, 2010 (Mon)    7:30 pm
Scarborough Chinese Alliance Church
139 Silver Star Blvd. Scarborough
Midland/Finch
Contact person: Henry Chow
henrychowis@gmail.com

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