Three months on

One of our Japanese Facebook friends added a simple comment to his wall today - 'just three months passed'. We knew immediately what he meant. The 11th of the month will always be a day to remember. Three months have indeed passed since the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 11th March. The huge relief effort goes on. Many thousands remain unaccounted for. Many more continue to live our their lives in the evacuation centres. The nuclear crisis is not in the headlines as it once was, but that does not mean it is over. Prime Minister Kan may be the next one to be out of a job. Here in Sapporo we are remote from the areas where the greatest destruction and loss of life occurred. Yet, the northernmost of those areas are reachable from Hokkaido (a journey of many hours including a ferry ride) and a number of teams staffed by pastors, local Christians and missionaries have gone to some of the worst affected places over these past months. OMF has decided to start a work in one of the cities (called Miyako in Iwate Prefecture). A couple has been appointed to lead that work and a building rented. It is hoped that this will be a base for others to come short-term to help in the ongoing relief work. Already it is being used. David plans to lead a small team down to that city early in July. A number of our colleagues, especially those who live in the north-west of Honshu island have been many times to the areas, helping in many different ways. It has been encouraging to see churches and Christians working together. The task is vast. What OMF can do is just a drop in the bucket in many ways. But each drop counts. We don't know what will come of this work but trust that somehow the Lord will use those there - not just through their words, but perhaps even more so through their ears and their hands - to be vessels of love, comfort and encouragement to those who have lost so much.