2014年 02月 21日
A Bond of Prayer #24
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Prayer Requests
1. That the removal of the fuel rods from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant will be carried with no troubles
2. That the health of those working in the cleanup will be protected
3. That the physical and emotional health of the people living in temporary housing will be protected, and that they will find a new place to live.
4. That the churches serving in the local areas of snowy Tohoku will be protected.
1. Tono Volunteer Center
From the 23rd to the 19th of November, this year’s last team from Seinan Gakuin (13 people) came to Tono. During their visit, there were times when it would snow, and the stove that we provided for each room was probably not enough to keep the students from Kyushu warm. They volunteered at 6 temporary housing estates in 3 days. They worked from early morning till late afternoon. They helped in making Christmas wreathes, pancakes, and owl shaped scissor holders.
Pancake making
The students, for the first time, visited places such as Otsuchicho town hall and Kamaishishi disaster prevention center, where many people lost their lives. The students lost their words and shed tears as they read the letters that were left at the memorial sites. After this they visited Shiroyama Park where they could see all of Otsuchicho. However once we arrived at the temporary housing estate they forced on smiles. They worked really hard for those 3 days. The team this time was a little different from the rest. Many of them were slow paced and never rushed. There were even times when the students would not let go of the hands of the residents they met. I often had to rush them off saying, “It’s time to go!” But the residents that held the students hands shared smiles and tears and thanked the students. They would always wave their arms goodbye. When seeing this, I was reminded of the most important point of “living beside” someone. That is to lend an ear, and to open your heart.
Owl Shaped Scissor Holder
Christmas Wreathe
2. Otsuchicho
In Otsuchicho you can see mounds of dirt being piled everywhere. Due to the earthquake the whole city has sunken 1.5m and it is necessary to raise the ground by 2.2m. Akahama plans to deposit 6m worth of dirt. The plan is to reclaim the sunken ground by adding dirt to the sunken areas. Otsuchicho’s ward development project estimates that the amount of dirt needed for the ward will be 860,000m3. There is not enough dirt for this project, and the backyard of the Otsuchicho Junior High School contains 7 times the allowed amount of toxic substances. This requires the soil of the school to be swapped, making the completion of the reconstruction to be 8months later than first planned. Please remember and pray for those who must live in the cold temporary housing estates. They must live, still uncertain of when life will be restored again.
3. The Last Aid of 2013
From December 17th to 19th, we planned a Christmas party. This was our last aid activity this year. We had 7 volunteers from Yamagata Church, and 2 volunteers from Yokohama JOY church. The 2 from Yokohama JOY provided us with 3 big wreathes, and Yamagata church provided us with cookies and hand made hand cream. We distributed the cookies and hand cream with all the Hokkairo that were sent to us from ministry centers and churches all over Japan. We were able to hold a Christmas message at 3 estates, Ostuchi estate #4, Kozuchi estate #4 and #7. We were also able to sing hymns with the residents, and we were all filled with joy. It is the third winter after the devastation. Through the continual prayer of all the churches around Japan, and the continued volunteer work, the wall between the people in the estates, and Christianity is slowly being taken down. Thank you very much. Tono Volunteer Center will pause aid work for January and February because of needed constructions such as water works.
Great East Japan Earthquake Aid Committee Team on the Nuclear Power Plant Issues
Column 15
This New Years, a relative came to visit us from Brazil, and we were able to have a great gathering and fellowship. My 77year old grandfather migrated to Brazil about 50 years ago. After continued hard work, he was able to build a life for himself. Now his children have set their roots in Brazil, in the land that he acquired. I love my grandfather. Before the war, he moved to Manchuria. After losing the war my wife’s grandparents and their family fled back, only to find that their home, Amami, had become occupied by the US forces. They therefore had to settle in Ebi, in Miyazaki Prefecutre. Just as they had started settling down, the cultivated land was forcefully taken by the Japanese self-defense force to be made into a training ground. At that time the recommended “dream like policy” was to migrate.
However once my grandfather moved to Brazil, what awaited him was wasteland and harsh slave like labor. My grandfather said that the state sent out its citizens without providing any support after they left. This is a history of abandonment. The Japanese state has, since the Meiji period, continued to create this history of abandonment over and over again. And each time it has been in the name of “national policy”. The nuclear power policy has also been called a “dream like policy.” I have heard many national and prefectural governors talk about this “national policy”. However for whom and for what is this “policy”? We think about the Fukushima accident and the damage it caused to the nature, the animals, the ocean and the land. We think of the devastation that we must live with for tens of years to come, and the unwillingness of the power companies and the state to truly come to terms with the gravity of the devastation. We see how there is lack in the effort to compensate the damage. When we think about all of this, we are once again reminded of the word, “abandoned”. It makes us think of what it is that we must truly be looking toward.
“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I have a dream! I have a dream!’” (Jeremiah 23:25)
2013 Fundraising Target Amount (General Donations): 20,000000Yen
12,170,000yen (2,250,000yen from over seas)
Another 7,830,000Yen needed
*We have also received 3,250,000 Yen as specified donations, which has not been included in the total above.
Please continue to donate for the aid work in the devastated areas.
00140-9-180881
Religious Institution Japan Baptist Convention General Affairs Division
1. That the removal of the fuel rods from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant will be carried with no troubles
2. That the health of those working in the cleanup will be protected
3. That the physical and emotional health of the people living in temporary housing will be protected, and that they will find a new place to live.
4. That the churches serving in the local areas of snowy Tohoku will be protected.
1. Tono Volunteer Center
From the 23rd to the 19th of November, this year’s last team from Seinan Gakuin (13 people) came to Tono. During their visit, there were times when it would snow, and the stove that we provided for each room was probably not enough to keep the students from Kyushu warm. They volunteered at 6 temporary housing estates in 3 days. They worked from early morning till late afternoon. They helped in making Christmas wreathes, pancakes, and owl shaped scissor holders.
Pancake making
The students, for the first time, visited places such as Otsuchicho town hall and Kamaishishi disaster prevention center, where many people lost their lives. The students lost their words and shed tears as they read the letters that were left at the memorial sites. After this they visited Shiroyama Park where they could see all of Otsuchicho. However once we arrived at the temporary housing estate they forced on smiles. They worked really hard for those 3 days. The team this time was a little different from the rest. Many of them were slow paced and never rushed. There were even times when the students would not let go of the hands of the residents they met. I often had to rush them off saying, “It’s time to go!” But the residents that held the students hands shared smiles and tears and thanked the students. They would always wave their arms goodbye. When seeing this, I was reminded of the most important point of “living beside” someone. That is to lend an ear, and to open your heart.
Owl Shaped Scissor Holder
Christmas Wreathe
2. Otsuchicho
In Otsuchicho you can see mounds of dirt being piled everywhere. Due to the earthquake the whole city has sunken 1.5m and it is necessary to raise the ground by 2.2m. Akahama plans to deposit 6m worth of dirt. The plan is to reclaim the sunken ground by adding dirt to the sunken areas. Otsuchicho’s ward development project estimates that the amount of dirt needed for the ward will be 860,000m3. There is not enough dirt for this project, and the backyard of the Otsuchicho Junior High School contains 7 times the allowed amount of toxic substances. This requires the soil of the school to be swapped, making the completion of the reconstruction to be 8months later than first planned. Please remember and pray for those who must live in the cold temporary housing estates. They must live, still uncertain of when life will be restored again.
3. The Last Aid of 2013
From December 17th to 19th, we planned a Christmas party. This was our last aid activity this year. We had 7 volunteers from Yamagata Church, and 2 volunteers from Yokohama JOY church. The 2 from Yokohama JOY provided us with 3 big wreathes, and Yamagata church provided us with cookies and hand made hand cream. We distributed the cookies and hand cream with all the Hokkairo that were sent to us from ministry centers and churches all over Japan. We were able to hold a Christmas message at 3 estates, Ostuchi estate #4, Kozuchi estate #4 and #7. We were also able to sing hymns with the residents, and we were all filled with joy. It is the third winter after the devastation. Through the continual prayer of all the churches around Japan, and the continued volunteer work, the wall between the people in the estates, and Christianity is slowly being taken down. Thank you very much. Tono Volunteer Center will pause aid work for January and February because of needed constructions such as water works.
Great East Japan Earthquake Aid Committee Team on the Nuclear Power Plant Issues
Column 15
This New Years, a relative came to visit us from Brazil, and we were able to have a great gathering and fellowship. My 77year old grandfather migrated to Brazil about 50 years ago. After continued hard work, he was able to build a life for himself. Now his children have set their roots in Brazil, in the land that he acquired. I love my grandfather. Before the war, he moved to Manchuria. After losing the war my wife’s grandparents and their family fled back, only to find that their home, Amami, had become occupied by the US forces. They therefore had to settle in Ebi, in Miyazaki Prefecutre. Just as they had started settling down, the cultivated land was forcefully taken by the Japanese self-defense force to be made into a training ground. At that time the recommended “dream like policy” was to migrate.
However once my grandfather moved to Brazil, what awaited him was wasteland and harsh slave like labor. My grandfather said that the state sent out its citizens without providing any support after they left. This is a history of abandonment. The Japanese state has, since the Meiji period, continued to create this history of abandonment over and over again. And each time it has been in the name of “national policy”. The nuclear power policy has also been called a “dream like policy.” I have heard many national and prefectural governors talk about this “national policy”. However for whom and for what is this “policy”? We think about the Fukushima accident and the damage it caused to the nature, the animals, the ocean and the land. We think of the devastation that we must live with for tens of years to come, and the unwillingness of the power companies and the state to truly come to terms with the gravity of the devastation. We see how there is lack in the effort to compensate the damage. When we think about all of this, we are once again reminded of the word, “abandoned”. It makes us think of what it is that we must truly be looking toward.
“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I have a dream! I have a dream!’” (Jeremiah 23:25)
2013 Fundraising Target Amount (General Donations): 20,000000Yen
12,170,000yen (2,250,000yen from over seas)
Another 7,830,000Yen needed
*We have also received 3,250,000 Yen as specified donations, which has not been included in the total above.
Please continue to donate for the aid work in the devastated areas.
Religious Institution Japan Baptist Convention General Affairs Division
by baptist2
| 2014-02-21 09:51
| JBC office