Japan (MNN) — Asian Access reports that their team survived the quake safely.
The mission group was gathered for their annual retreat, about 200 miles from the epicenter. A group of visiting friends from the U.S. provided a calming presence and stability for the staff children during the early hours.
However, Asian Access does have several partners who have likely been severely affected, but communications are limited.
The team worked with a church in Sendai, which is the
epicenter of the earthquake. While they successfully contacted a close friend from that church, this friend was unable to contact other friends from the church. Both the church and their old neighborhood are less than 2 miles from the coast, so the possibility of
devastation is likely.
Still, they remain confident that God will use the faith of these believers to reach out to the hurting in the community.
A note of interest: six days ago, the leaders were part of an all-day training to help Christians in Japan be prepared to respond in case of earthquake. One of the team members was supposed to teach that day, but they both felt that attending the training was more important. It is likely that one of them will be part of relief efforts. They are thanking God for His timing in preparing them to be able to help in practical ways.
Pray with them as they move to respond. Pray too that God will quickly move and unite the Church to reach out during this terrible tragedy.
