An earthquake of 8.8 hit near Japan and there is a tsunami warning along the pacific.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/11/japan-quake-tsunami.html
Please include them in your prayers!
An earthquake of 8.8 hit near Japan and there is a tsunami warning along the pacific. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/11/japan-quake-tsunami.html Please include them in your prayers!
I've literally just seen this on the news now and the destruction appears to be considerable...
We are praying.
The quake was centered very close to my childhood home. My parents went to Sendai, Japan as missionaries when I was nine years old.
Sendai is the largest city in Northern Japan with one million people.
Matthew, I didn't even know about it...I will pray for them....
Praying - MSNBC is carrying live coverage from Japan with translation. I found it via BreakingNews.com. I am seeing pictures taken at the time of the actual earthquake and the Tsusami that followed.
I will check the news and pray...
Kaye
Thanks for making us aware. I will be in prayer.
I don't know of any, but do we have any forum users that are directly or indirectly affected by this tragedy?
Thank you so much for sharing. I hadn't even turned on the television this morning, so I didn't even know. Time is truly filled with swift transition. I will certainly continue to keep Japan, along with all others impacted by this earthquake.
Blessings,
Christina
The brother of my church pastor is in charge over Sendai Evangelical Christian Church - http://www.sendaichurch.com/wp/
Although there has been no direct contact with Pastor Rod Thomas and his family, a third party contact indicates that they are alright.
Even so, please pray not only for the Japanese people but also for the congregation of Sendai Church.
Got news of hundreds of continuing tremors of significant magnitude since the initial quake. 250,000 evacuated from area of Fukushima Nuclear Power plant.Flooding from tsunami went much further inland than news videos have been showing.Through all of this there is an amazingly small number of human lives lost. The death toll could have been much higher. Still many people's lives have been drastically changed. Prayers are still needed.
The death toll could have been much higher. Still many people's lives have been drastically changed. Prayers are still needed.
Thanks for the reminder!
From news broadcasts there is a great need for water, food, shelter & warmth. Plus i pray that God opens the hearts of the Japanese people to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks, still praying here.
Through all of this there is an amazingly small number of human lives lost.
God have mercy!
I would just like to say that my heart is absolutely broken for Japan right now.
Amen! We are praying, and we should all be giving as well.
Through all of this there is an amazingly small number of human lives lost. I'm beginning to wonder about this Matthew. Initially this seemed true, but I read yesterday that the toll may jump to the unimaginable 10,000 + God have mercy!
I knew the death count can only go up. It appears their official reports are based on bodies recovered. Watching the videos of the tsunami you can see people inside of many of the cars as they are swept away by the waters. As dense as the population is in Japan it is probable there are already 10's of thousands dead. It will take a long time to even develop lists of the missing.
While the news media focuses on the nuclear power plant there are people without food, water, or shelter, just sitting and waiting on their government to come through for them. The relief efforts are not progressing for lack of gasoline and access to the effected areas. All trains are halted nationwide. Some highways are destroyed. The temperatures dropped and some areas got snow. The structures that are still standing have no electricity. Grocery shelves are empty....
My prayer is that in addition to their physical needs, their hearts be open to the gospel and souls be saved.
I've given to worldvision already and will doubtless do so again - but oh how I pray with you that the hunger in their souls to know HIM would pass even the hunger to be fed.
God Save Japan!
I am a Logos forum user and I Live on the main island (Honshu) in the northern most prefecture called Aomori.The earthquake and after shocks were definitely felt up here, and the eastern most side of this prefecture got trashed by the Tsunami. However, I live in a city in the center of this prefecture so we here were spared the effects of the Tsunami, and the earthquake didn't cause much damage here or take any lives in this particular city (at least not that I am aware of). So, I would say I would have to say I and my family here are somewhere between being directly affected and indirectly affected.
Our family lives south of Tokyo near Kamakura and it's a similar situation. Japan is built on electricity and those reactors were needed. So the electricity is out 3 hours daily, along with the trains. But I have a lot of confidence in the Japanese. They're good people and very talented. They'll pull through.
I don't know of any, but do we have any forum users that are directly or indirectly affected by this tragedy? I am a Logos forum user and I Live on the main island (Honshu) in the northern most prefecture called Aomori.The earthquake and after shocks were definitely felt up here, and the eastern most side of this prefecture got trashed by the Tsunami. However, I live in a city in the center of this prefecture so we here were spared the effects of the Tsunami, and the earthquake didn't cause much damage here or take any lives in this particular city (at least not that I am aware of). So, I would say I would have to say I and my family here are somewhere between being directly affected and indirectly affected.
BK:
Thanks for the details - we will keep you those around you in prayer.
Denise:
I trust things will not get worse for your family -
Both of you:
Do keep us informed if there are prayer needs that we can lift up before our Lord.
Yours because His,
Floyd
I agree. One senior missionary there, I read, claimed the affected area is the most resistant spiritually in the country. There is 1 church for every 20,000 people.
I have Christian friends in Hokkaido and Tokyo, and a cousin in Tokyo. All have fared well through the disaster thus far but of course are affected by the power outages, empty grocery stores and gas stations, etc.
Hard to wrap my head around how massive an impact this must be on the country of Japan. I just read that the confirmed death toll has climbed above 6000, with more than 10,000 reported missing. If those ones are never found alive, and no further people are reported missing than that (an optimistic hope given that entire towns of population in the tens of thousands have disappeared off the face of the earth, with nobody left to report their missing family members), it would mean a percentage of the population of Japan equivalent to 21x the percentage of the US population that died in Hurricane Katrina. That is enormous!! I know those numbers are all still very tentative, but just a rough comparison for us to get a handle on it. The health, financial, environmental, and psychological impact will last for decades. I know the Japanese are very skilled and resourceful and determined, and I trust they will solve the nuclear reactor problem and it won't end up being any worse than Three Mile Island after all (I pray and hope! this was a helpful post about that) but there is so much other destruction.
My prayer is that in addition to their physical needs, their hearts be open to the gospel and souls be saved. I agree. One senior missionary there, I read, claimed the affected area is the most resistant spiritually in the country. There is 1 church for every 20,000 people.
I'm not sure that's a complete picture of the situation. I read this on a Gospel Coalition blog post "Update from Japan: How You Can Pray" (Keiko is someone who works at Christ Bible Seminary in Nagoya):
"Portions of Keiko’s email were especially heart breaking. One in particular was her report of the 'Rengo' Christians. She writes: Among those killed [were the] many churches planted by the missionaries sent by the same denomination as John Piper’s denomination, called 'Rengo' in Japanese. Their church planting efforts have been predominantly focused on these east coast areas that were just swept all away!!! According to Keiko, biblical Christianity thrived in these eastern regions that were devastated by the tsunami waves. She writes, 'People in this area have been traditionally known for poverty and enduring patience due to the severe weather. [They were] well prepared for the God of all mercies and comforts (2 Cor 1).' They were 'precious believers' in a country that is less than 0.2 percent Christian."
"Portions of Keiko’s email were especially heart breaking. One in particular was her report of the 'Rengo' Christians. She writes:
Among those killed [were the] many churches planted by the missionaries sent by the same denomination as John Piper’s denomination, called 'Rengo' in Japanese. Their church planting efforts have been predominantly focused on these east coast areas that were just swept all away!!!
According to Keiko, biblical Christianity thrived in these eastern regions that were devastated by the tsunami waves. She writes, 'People in this area have been traditionally known for poverty and enduring patience due to the severe weather. [They were] well prepared for the God of all mercies and comforts (2 Cor 1).' They were 'precious believers' in a country that is less than 0.2 percent Christian."
The rest of that post is wonderful and well worth reading to know how we can pray for the people of Japan.
Therefore, what...What, was the missionary trying to insinuate?
There is 1 church for every 20,000 people.
How many temples and monasteries?
I won't be telling you something you don't already know.
Most religious surveys of Japan define "Christian" as any belief system that uses any portion of the Bible. Many groups listed as cults in Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults are included in that definition of "Christianity." ) The total number is still minuscule no matter what geographical region you look at. There are many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines all over the country. There are countless roadside altars and items in Nature that are worshiped because of their beauty, size, age or uniqueness. Then there are altars in the homes that are used for ancestor worship.
With all these religions the Japanese are still quite secular. I don't believe the Tohoku region is any less receptive to the gospel than other parts of the country. Right now I bet they are open to answers and love.
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