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| Minamisanriku -- hard to believe it used to be a town of 17,000 |
A man in his sixties (I'm guessing) was helping to unload trucks at the shelter. He was helping out because he'd rather do that than think about all he'd lost. His home and workplace were swept away -- I don't know about his family. I can't imagine how hard it would be for all the refugees -- they have so much time to do nothing but just think. I know I would have a hard time thinking about the life I'd lost and the people I'd lost and the uncertainty of the future. Please pray that God would comfort the refugees and help them with these mental struggles.
Judith's (one of my supervisors) brother's friend was a mechanic in the town. After the big earthquake, his mother and daughter went to check on his mother. When he saw the tsunami waters coming, the mechanic and one of his workers had just enough time to climb onto the roof of the shop. Just as he made it to the roof, the tsunami hit and he watched all his other workers get swept away by the waters. While on the "L"-shaped roof, he and his worker had to run from one side to the other to dodge a boat flying at them. Only by God's grade were they saved! The waters rose to within 10 centimenters of the room. There were no phone lines up so he couldn't reach anyone for help. Finally Judith's brother was able to get through to the man. Judith's brother called the police and it took 24 hours for them to be rescued. Unfortunately his wife and daughter didn't make it to safety :-( Please pray for this man (whose name I don't even know), that he would be open to the gospel and that God would comfort him through the loss of his home, his work, and his family and friends.
One of the doctors at the hospital in Minamisanriku was able to get some patients onto the roof of the hospital (the 5th story) before the tsunami came, but the rest of the patients were swept away (as the waters rose to the 4th story). Of those that made it to the roof, 9 died during the night, as they were all stranded in the cold without all the supplies they needed. Eventually (not sure if it was the next day or a few days later) they were rescued from the roof. Please pray for these survivors, and for the doctors and nurses working in hospitals throughout the area. Many have lost their homes and families and still continued to work nonstop to help patients in great need. Please also pray that people would get the medical attention they need during this time.
There are many more tragic stories out there, but through this tragedy God continues to work and to show Himself to the people of Japan. I am conintually hearing stories of hope about how the MeySen evangelism team is working to care for people in desperate need and how they are using this opportunity to share the good news of Jesus through words and actions.
For the most part, the big, main shelters in Japan are getting the resources they need through donations. But many small shelters or refugees still living in broken homes or back-woods places have great needs that are not being met, except for the work being done by the MeySen team. Mike has been a huge help using the GPS tagging system on his iphone to locate areas of need. The rest of the team finds out what people in those places need and take it to them. In most cases, these places would still be in great need if it weren't for the hard work of the MeySen folks. Mike wrote on his blog about how the team is building a shelter for 20-30 people who were homeless and had no where to live.
If you haven't checked out Mike's blog yet, you MUST!!!! You will not be sorry for spending 5 minutes reading about so many amazing things that are happening and that God is doing through Mike and the team. And if you've made any donations to MeySen, you'll see how they're being used in the places that need it the most.
If you are interested in helping people like those whose stories you read about, please go to http://friendsofmeysen.wordpress.com.
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