First I'd like to say this site is great. I've lurked here for a while and finally wanted to start posting some also. So here is my first post.
Anytime there is a disaster my mom will forward these emails to me (this one is about Japan). Sometimes I wonder if they are real or embelished through the JW email vine. There is a bit about an elder holding meetings in his house since the quake and not missing one since! I suppose meetings gave some semblance of normalcy, but still I had to role my eyes and think they could have cut down to maybe one every week or every other week?
This is the report given this a.m. here at the branch. Still haven't heard
from Pat and Dee. Have you? They are in the midst of teaching KMS so that
may be the hitch. We didn't have blackouts this week for the first time
since the quake. Not sure what will happen next week.
And on the size of the tsunami: last night there was a report on the news
by a bunch of scientists doing a study. They found that it covered many
places over 20 meters and some as high as 30 meters, so I guess that first
report was right. They showed coastal areas with high cliffs that were
completely swamped! No trees or anything left. Unbelievable.
Report from the disaster area:
Three BC members and 3 brothers from the service department visited the
three relief committee areas in the Tohoku region (North-Eastern Japan),
Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures. The latest statistics show that so
far 6 of our brothers and sisters are confirmed dead and 10 are still listed
as missing.
Fukushima Prefecture :
The brothers visited two congregations in Fukushima of 45 and 59 publishers
respectively. They report that there are plenty of supplies. They held
meetings in the Kingdom Hall and the brothers and sisters being helped there
were nicely clothed and told them that the donated clothing they were
wearing was nicer than anything they had owned previously. They are very
thankful to all the brothers and sisters in Japan who have sent relief
supplies and clothing for the congregation. They are holding all the
meetings and feel secure.
Next they visited Soma and Minami Soma, two towns hit very hard by the
tsunami and near the damaged nuclear power plant . There are 145 publishers
in the two congregations there. 7 brothers and sisters live within the 20
kilometer zone from the nuclear reactor and have had to evacuate from their
homes following the government order. One sister passed the BC brother a
note during his visit there. She said that the material aid they had
received was wonderful, but even better was the spiritual care supplied by
the branch and the congregation elders. The letters from the branch and the
visits by the brothers, the fact that none of the meetings were canceled,
but held, even under adverse circumstances, gave her peace of mind. All
their literature was destroyed, but she is looking forward to calling to
invite people to the Memorial and give comfort to the people in their
territory. All the brothers and sisters in Namie congregation had to
evacuate and are now meeting together with a congregation in Fukushima. All
attended the meeting held there.
Next the brothers went to the relief committee headquarters in Koriyama City
The brothers on the committee are working very hard caring for the needs of
all the brothers and sisters in the affected areas. (The pictures
accompanying the report really highlighted the smiles of the brothers and
sisters and their positive attitude.)
Miyagi Prefecture :
The BC brother met with 139 brothers and sisters at the Sendai relief
committee headquarters. The committee is well organized and caring very well
for the brothers in the area. They visited Kesenuma City, where the tsunami
did a lot of damage; that is the city with the huge black and white ship
thrown up on the land that you see in the news footage). It looked like a
bombed- out war zone. There was an explosion after the tsunami that caused a
fire, which accounted for a lot of the damage after the water receded. There
is one sister still missing from this congregation. The KH is a mud packed
mess.
The water marks are 2 meters high on the bulletin board. All the
congregations met together with the brothers from the branch for a talk. 49
brothers and sisters are getting together for their meetings in a brother's
home. Right after the quake and tsunami, 25 brothers were living in the
house with the family. There are now 9 still there and they still have no
running water. When they met with the brothers in Shimamachi ( Matsushima ),
they read the text in 1 It 6:7, 8 - "For we have brought nothing into the
world, and neither can we carry anything out. 8 So, having sustenance and
covering, we shall be content with these things." The KH is unusable, but
100 brothers met there and stood the whole while listening to the talk the
branch brothers gave. The brothers were able to meet the CO's wife, who had
been missing. She had been on a Bible study with another sister in Tagajo
City when the tsunami warning went out. Her husband was unable to contact
her because there was no phone service for the first few days after the
quake.
The next day he set out with some young brothers to see if they could find
her. When they got to the house where she was supposed to be on the study,
it was destroyed, and there was no one in the surrounding area. He thought
the worst. However, they decided to keep looking. They started up the hills
in the surrounding area looking for possible shelters. It was such rough
going the CO told the 20 year-old brother with him to go back and he would
go on alone. (If you have seen the pictures of the aftermath of the tsunami
you can imagine what it was like.) The young brother said "No way; I`m
staying with you." They kept on and eventually saw a small clubhouse
(Kominkan) on a hill ahead of them. When they got there, there were about 10
people there, including his wife. She said she was cold and scared, so she
stayed in the car, but she recalled some scriptures and read them with the
sister she was with, and they prayed. She told him she felt safe and as if
she had dedicated her life to Jehovah all over again. She was so surprised
to see her husband; she didn't think he would have the time to look for her.
Sendai, where the whole coastline was swept away, has their SAD next weekend
The responsible brothers told the branch that they will hold the assembly
as scheduled. The branch praised their excellent work in helping the
brothers and sisters.
Iwate:
The branch brothers visited two cities -- Ofuna and Rikuzen Takada that were
hardest hit by the tsunami. There are 40 publishers in each congregation.
None of the brothers in these congregations perished, but many lost their
homes and some have missing family members. The Kingdom Halls are not usable
In Rikuzen Takada, an elder went to get his daughter from school. They went
to the KH, but it had been swept away. He tried to visit the publishers, but
the roads weren't passable, and he was unable to visit them all. However,
that night they decided to have the meeting. People had to walk to get there
but 16 people met at an elder's home and they held the BS, TMS, and SM with
flashlights during the power outage .
They haven't missed any meetings since the disaster. One sister moved to the
area only 3 months ago. She and her husband had to abandon their car and run
to escape the tsunami. They reached a school on high ground. The wave took
their car. An elder in that congregation brought futons and blankets to a
family in a shelter. They were the first ones to receive any blankets to
keep them warm, so the family kindly shared their blankets with others in
the shelter – the sister ended up catching cold. One other sister is
handicapped and lived alone in a city run apartment complex. She was very
nervous, but the brothers visited her right away and young sisters stayed
the night with her after the quake. The next night an elder and his wife
stayed with her. She said she literally received the fulfillment of Isa. 32:
1, 2.
Today (Friday April 1) more brothers from the BC and service department
headed for the Tohoku region. They are going to visit more cities and give
talks to the brothers and assess the situation in those areas. The branch
will continue to do whatever possible to assist the brothers in this
disaster.
On a personal note. The young brother who sits next to me at the dining
table is a 3-month temporary worker. He is just 19 years old and from Sendai
His family home was spared in the tsunami, but it was damaged and his
father is not in the truth. He felt that he wanted to help out right away
after the quake and tsunami, but the roads were not passable and the
government was not letting anyone in. He finally was able to contact his
parents by phone about 4 days after the quake. His father told him not to
worry. Stay and finish his 3 months of Bethel service; there would be plenty
to do when he came home. Today was his last day in Bethel and he is packing
his car with goods to take to his family and the congregation. The road to
Sendai opened up at the end of last week, just in time for him to drive home
When he asked what they need his father told him "everything."
Mom said they have no fresh produce at all. All they are eating is rice and
canned or instant food. Dad has offered his diesel engine truck to carry
supplies to the brothers in the shelters and KHs. So, the table members are
going out for fresh vegetables to give him to take home with him. Since we
live in a relatively rural area, there are many small farms with vegetables
that they sell right out of the fields. Tomorrow, we will see what we can
find for him to take and he will leave on Sunday a.m. back to Sendai.
There are more experiences but they will have to wait for another time.
With love,
from Japan