Massive earthquake shakes Japan; fails to move believers.

Japan (MNN)–We begin today in Japan, where the island nation recorded its strongest earthquake in almost a decade on Friday.

Registering eight points on the Richter scale, damages were minor, given the quake’s intensity. Over the weekend, residents in affected areas of the north were on alert for tsunami.

The quake buckled roads, capsized fishing boats, and caved in part of the ceiling of the airport in Kushiro, a city of 190,000 located 890 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of Tokyo that was believed to be one of the hardest hit. Some 370,000 homes lost electricity.

Evangelical Baptist Mission’s Paul Jackson says due to location, the camp they recently built was undamaged. “The earthquake was considerably to the north. In fact, our folks didn’t even feel it, so they were far enough south that it didn’t really didn’t have any impact on them at all; we’re grateful for that.” As for the dangers of seismic waves, he says, “They’ve been through these kinds of things before. I asked them if there was any particular precautions they needed to take, and they seemed to be pretty comfortable with the situation.”

Jackson supports prayer for the EBM teams on location, especially since they just finished their first camp season. “This is a remarkable facility, and it is being use to reach teenagers for Christ, as well as families. They have just come off a season in which they’ve seen a number of young people come to Christ.”