Like many of you, I’ve been heartbroken over the Japanese Earthquake and the consequent aftermath of the Tsunamis and complexities of the nuclear reactors.
I came home late Thursday night and saw the Twitter feed noting the earthquake. I immediately turned on CNN and watched – helplessly and in horror – the tsunamis pound the Japanese coast and it’s people.
By now, you’ve heard, seen, or read most of the increasing stories and statistics of the earthquake that has now been categorized as a 9.0 – the 5th strongest earthquake in the world since records were kept beginning in 1900.
This was, by far, the most amazing and horrific first person video of the power of the tsunamis and nature. This was taken in Kesennuma, in the Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. When the footage begins, it seems like a harmless trickle of water and then in a matter of couple minutes, it transforms into raging chaos.
Please keep the people and country of Japan in your prayers.
The dangers of the earthquake’s aftermath is far from being over. At our church, several congregants have family in Japan and I have numerous friends and colleagues in Japan as well.
Some analysts are expecting the damage to exceed 100 billion dollars and more tragically, I fear that the death toll will exceed our worst predictions.
And while the Japanese government have yet to specify how or if they will need help, I think it’s safe that the global community needs to respond – even while tending to the other numerous areas of grave need and attention. While our initial response is to just give, I also think there’s great wisdom in being prepared to give so that you can give prudently and efficiently.
While giving to some of the huge organizations such as Red Cross and World Vision are solid options, I am personally recommending our church to prepare, plan, and partner with local Japanese churches in the relief efforts. The relief response needs to be varied and diverse but I think the local Japanese churches have a very unique perspective and role in the relief efforts and I hope that many churches consider these kinds of partnerships.
If you want to give to organizations, I would highly encourage that you give directly to Japanese NGOs.
Simple question:
How are you praying and/or responding?
_____
Eugene Cho is the co-founder (with his wife) and executive director of One Day’s Wages—“a movement of People, Stories, and Actions to alleviate extreme global poverty.” He is also the founding and lead pastor of Quest Church and the founder and executive director of Q Cafe—a non-profit community cafe and music venue in Seattle. Eugene is considered one of the prominent bloggers on issues of justice, faith, ministry and utilizing social media for good. You can follow him via his blog or Twitter.
