From Harry Landaw: After moving to Sendai on July 25, we will begin to network with pastors and other international workers in the region so that we can determine how we can best serve there. We will be looking especially for a facility to rent so that we can begin a center-type ministry to minister to the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of the suffering people in the region. “New Life Center” seems a very appropriate name for what we envision doing in the devastated region. We are praying that we will be able to find a suitable facility during the month of August.

CAMA has recently sent $66,000 to help establish the New Life Center.

From Harry Landaw: Praise God! On Thursday night there was an email from our real estate agent informing us that the owner of the house we wanted to rented said “YES” and that she was preparing the formal contract. Thank you all for your partnership in prayer with us in this first stage of our move to the Tohoku Region. This is a major miracle. After three weeks of searching, God led us to the only house that was available to rent, and then He gave it to us.

We also were able to visit the Headquarters of Samaritan's Purse and talk with them about possible future partnerships in the Region. Before leaving our home, we had filled our van with a load of relief items to deliver to one of the CRASH Japan bases in the region and we were able to do that.

From CRASH Japan: In the last month, over three hundred volunteers have put more than 14,000 hours of work into bringing relief and hope to Tohoku. As we assessed the need of communities, the greatest need by far in every location has been for emotional and spiritual care.

“Kokoro No Care” (emotional and spiritual care) is central to the vision of CRASH Japan. All Kokoro No Care team volunteers receive special training in how to minister to the needs of the people within the evacuation centers. The EmoCare volunteers are using their hands to build trust and bring hope. Ken Nishiono and his team of nine volunteers went to an evacuation shelter in Fukushima to give hand massages to evacuees. Members of the team listened to the evacuees trying to understand their emotional state and giving encouragement when they could. Those massages led to conversations of healing and hope. For some who were evacuated from high radiation areas and labeled almost “untouchable,” this personal touch meant all the more. During her massage, one evacuee was able to cry for the first time since the tsunami, while another young man’s massage led to a three-hour life-changing conversation.

Harry and Jane Landaw, the lead couple of the U.S. Alliance team serving in Japan, are moving to the impacted area this summer where they will invest in outreach to the people there. CAMA is assisting with the expenses related to the outreach in the north.

Alan Kropp has been the U.S. international worker serving as point person to coordinate a shared response with the Japan Alliance Church, our primary family of partner churches in Japan. A project of getting needed tools out to people in the impacted area has already been implemented. Alan and others helped with food distribution in partnership with Samaritan’s Purse.

It has been determined that the greatest need at this point is to assist homeowners with tools to begin clearing the rubble from their homes and do basic repairs. One way to help people recover from trauma is to enable them to do basic work which focuses their mind and energy on tangible steps to restoring their homes. A unique aspect of our work is that each tool (shovels, brooms, picks, etc.) has a Scripture verse taped to it. As our international workers and members of Japan Alliance churches work alongside earthquake survivors, the hope is that conversations will lead to sharing the Good News in the midst of a difficult trial. Though there were no Alliance churches in the disaster area, Alliance workers are considering ways to do church planting in the affected area. Your prayers for discernment and courage would be much appreciated.

From Harry Landaw: Your donations are being sent to CRASH Japan, the relief organization here in Japan with which we are partnering. The Alliance team in Japan is partnering with CRASH by volunteering to do whatever we can to help at the Command Center located near us here in the Tokyo Area. This past weekend, some members of our team were involved in driving some volunteers up to the stricken area so that they can work out of one of the many bases that are being set up in churches in the region. Others of our team have been involved with volunteering to do various jobs at the Command Center, ranging from data input on the computer to helping out with preparing lunch for the 80 or so who are involved in working at the Command Center.

On Monday, March 28th, two CAMA representatives made an exploratory trip here. Tuesday we drove to the Command Center to meet with Jonathan Wilson, the Director of CRASH and hear from him how things were going and how best CAMA could partner with CRASH. A plan for further assistance is forthcoming.

With volunteers working overtime, CRASH is sending their first team to establish a base at Meisen Academy in Sendai on Thursday, March 17th—four days sooner than previously anticipated. The team consists of volunteers who have committed at least two weeks, and will ensure that the site is a secure base of operations from which future teams can operate safely and effectively in Sendai.

Truckloads of supplies are being distributed from the CRASH bases. These supplies include such things as blankets, bedding, first aid equipment, portable hospitals, and water purification systems.

Yesterday, March 14th, 2011, four CRASH teams traveled into the quake zone to scout locations for relief team base camps. Six areas have been identified as optimal sites.

CRASH is working with leaders in each area to ensure that the camps will be safe places through which volunteer teams can operate effectively. Despite avoiding search and rescue situations, CRASH Japan teams receive training on safety and trauma before departure.

CRASH team reconnaissance from Iwaki and Ibaraki confirmed that there is still a great need for water, even though many relief groups have already supplied it. Stores in many areas of Tokyo are completely sold out of bottled water due to panic-buying.

CRASH survey team leader Joey Millard has been to Sendai twice already as of Tuesday, March 15. Millard and another person departed Tuesday night with a van and $9,000 in supplies: fresh fruit, toothbrushes, hand sanitizer, batteries, a butane stove, diapers, baby milk, etc., and another group will follow on Wednesday. “We’re trying to get a truck tomorrow,” Millard said. If there is enough gas, Millard and his team hope to make trips every few days.

Thank you for your partnership with us in prayer for Japan at this time of the tragic earthquake. Many of you have responded by email and Facebook to let us know that you are praying for our Alliance workers as we minister here in Japan. I will be getting more reports as the day goes on, but it seems that all of our people and churches are safe. The epicenter of the earthquake, about 250 miles north of Tokyo, has been hit hard and the devastation from the earthquake, which registered a magnitude of 9.0, and the subsequent tsunamis has been awful. As of Saturday, March 12th at 11:30 a.m., there have been over 1,300 reported deaths. The death toll will be much more than that as it is impossible to calculate how many were swept away by the 20-30 foot tidal waves.

The Alliance does not have any workers or churches in the area of the earthquake, but there are many of our colleagues from other denominations serving in that area. We are very concerned for their safety and well-being. According to records that we have available, the area affected by the earthquake and tsunamis is one of the most spiritually needy places in Japan. One of my colleagues from another organization shared that there are about 4.9 million people in the area, with only about 9,000 active Christians. Please pray for our Japanese brothers and sisters in Christ there in that region as they deal with the devastation and also try to offer comfort and solace to their friends and neighbors.

Around our neighborhood, in the Tokyo Area, it looks like a normal Saturday. Elementary age boys, with their colorful baseball uniforms, are practicing in the baseball field across from our house and cars are running up and down the streets. Yesterday, all the trains in the Tokyo Area were shut down, but now they are up and running again, almost back to normal. There was some damage, even in the Tokyo Area, where the quake registered 7.9. This is the strongest earthquake that Japan has ever had and I read somewhere today that it was 8,000 times stronger than the recent earthquake in New Zealand. I have not been able to confirm that yet but I was shocked to read that.

We have felt aftershocks all through the night and continuing on through this morning. The TV, of course, is completely devoted to reporting on the tragedy and the attempts to rescue people who are trapped in very dangerous places. Airports and road traffic to the area, of course, have been affected. Because Japan is an earthquake prone country, they have a very well organized system for relief and assistance. Schools, community centers, offices, etc. have kept their facilities open all night so that people who cannot return to their homes can find a place to get food and a little rest.