The Asian Rural Institute (ARI) is an international training ground for grassroots leadership located in Northern Japan and not far from the epicenter of the earthquake that struck late last week. The ELCA has an ongoing relationship with ARI, providing scholarships for agricultural education to many Lutheran companions throughout Asia and Africa.

Below is an update sent out by ARI Graduate Coordinator, Steven Cutting, on how the quake, tsunami and nuclear threat have and are affecting their community. Please keep Steven, his family and all at ARI in your prayers as they continue to learn how these disasters will affect their lives and their work.

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Hello Everyone,

Thank you for your emails and for your concern, worry, and prayers for us. We are all fine. My family is fine and everyone at ARI is fine.

ARI sustained quite a bit of damage from the quake, but nothing like you are seeing on the news. The worst hit areas are on the coast, which were slammed by the tsunami. Some of our buildings have structural damage, but we do not yet now the extent. EVERYTHING is a mess and smashed, since everything on every shelf, desk, or cabinet was thrown violently to the floor. We started cleaning up on the day after the quake, but we stopped to regroup in the face of the even scarier stuff happening at the nuclear power plant. The plant is about 100-130 km from here (hard to get a straight line fix on the distance). The latest news of the last few hours is even more serious than the previous days since it started leaking higher levels of radiation. They are evacuating to a 20 km radius and outside that they say to stay indoors. The radiation in this area is higher than normal but not to danger levels apparently, but the wind started blowing radiation directly in our direction. Before today the wind was blowing it away from us.

I took Miki and the kids to Gunma prefecture and stayed there with them for 2 days. They continued on south and west to Kyushu which is quite far away from all the danger to stay with Miki’s mother. Since the conditions seemed to be stable last night I returned to ARI to help clean up, but unfortunately conditions became much worse. Still we are sticking it out here for now, staying indoors, as running would also have its problems and would not necessarily be safer. Somehow most people living in this town are just going on with life as normal.

They will turn off the power in a little while for about 4 hours, so I will try to get this sent now.

Thanks again for your concern and prayers. We have enough food and water and we are working together.

Steven

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In a news release from the ELCA, the president of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC), Rev. Sumiyuki Watanabe, shared thanks for the ELCA, Lutherans worldwide, their prayers and support in this time of need in Japan. Speaking from the Lutheran World Federation-sponsored meeting he was attending in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, he stated, “Those in attendance at this meeting have remembered us in their prayers, and I feel great joy for the Lutheran family. Please continue to remember and pray for us.”

As reports have come in over the weekend it has been learned through the Rev. Hiroaki Fujii, pastor of Sendai Lutheran Church, that his family and all of the children of the congregation’s preschool program are safe, though some of the teachers have not been heard from. Sendai, a city of more than 1 million people was near the epicenter of the earthquake and was one of the hardest hit regions by the tsunami. Contact in the region has been spotty as cell phones continue not to work and gasoline has been scare. The greatest need expressed was for food and water.

To learn more read the full ELCA News Release.

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As the situation in Egypt begins to find some stability, members of the ELCA’s Global Mission office in conjunction with our companions have determined that things have calmed enough for missionary personnel to return to their work in Egypt. Over the next few weeks the six missionaries will return are:

• Rev. Peter Johnson, Erin Odgers, seminary intern Paul Schick and his wife, Stephanie, who will return to their work at St Andrew’s Lutheran Church of Cairo and with the St. Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS).
• Rev. Dr. Mark and Linda Nygard, who will return to their work at the Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Please keep them and their families in your prayers as they begin to find how God will continue to use them in this new reality.

To learn more:

• ELCA News Release on their return
• information on the ELCA’s engagement in Egypt.

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Our thoughts and prayers remain with Japan’s communities impacted by today’s earthquake, one of the largest in history.  As we continue to monitor the situation, the ELCA has been in contact with companions throughout the region threatened by the earthquake’s ripple effect sending tsunami waves throughout the Pacific region.

Reports from ELCA Global Mission personnel located in Latin America state that precautionary measures were taken to evacuate most coastal communities.  Anxiety in the region decreased after initial reports from Hawaii indicated the impact would be less than originally anticipated.

Chile continues to wait for the last tail end of the tsunami to come to shore sometime late tonight.  According to ELCA companion EPES in Chile, since early this morning families were informed about the situation in Japan.  In coastal areas, schools were suspended so that families could take precautionary measures.  In Penco, families of two camps that EPES continues to work with after the devastating 2010 earthquake have moved to elevated areas or are awaiting further instruction from government authorities.  Local news services report some 80,000 to 130,000 Chileans are part of the country’s evacuation measures.

The video below from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) illustrates the earthquake’s ripple effect through the Pacific region.

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Just before 2:45pm local time in Japan (early morning in the US) one of the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan, with a magnitude of 8.9, struck around the town of Sendai causing massive damage and creating a tsunami with waves up to 30 feet. As of this morning the situation is being assessed by ELCA with its companion on the ground, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC). In looking at the situation Pastor Eric Anspach-Hansen of Tokyo Lutheran stated, “Hopefully our church [the ELCA] will be able to get involved in the relief work in the coming months.” Through its predecessor bodies the ELCA has had a relationship extending back to 1892 with the local Lutheran community in Japan. As more is learned about the impact of this disaster, we will continue to build on this long-standing relationship.

As of date it has been learned that the 22 ELCA Missionaries (and 3 dependents), sent by ELCA Global Mission, working in the area are all safe and accounted for. We are still awaiting reports on how the local JELC churches have been affected, particularly in and around the area of Sendai. As the news was reported at a Lutheran World Federation leadership conference in Malaysia, attended by leadership of the JELC and ELCA, a representative from the Australian Evangelical Lutheran Church, which has recently been dealing with massive flooding and an earthquake in New Zealand, stated that of all the outpouring of help from the international community “prayer was the most important gift.” This sentiment was echoed by ELCA Missionary in Japan, Ally Streed, “Please keep the people of Japan (and just Japan in general) in your thoughts and prayers. This is the biggest earthquake they’ve seen since the Kobe earthquake of 1995.”

As we await more information and determine how best to respond please share the gift of prayer, for those who have lost their lives, those that deal with the devastation left behind and those who come to their aid. May God grant strength and peace where they can be found.

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A team comprised of staff from ACT member organisations Norwegian Church Aid, FinnChurchAid, the Lutheran World Federation and the Church of Sweden, has been working at full capacity on the Libyan-Tunisian border to assess and prepare for the possible humanitarian fallout of the situation in Libya. They are currently stationed at Sousha Refugee camp, located on the Tunisian side of the border. This camp has a current population of around 15,000 and is well maintained but the fear is that with unconfirmed reports of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands living in camps on the Libyan side of the border camps like this could be overrun if a violence in Libya continues.

In preparation for the worst the staff and the camp are attempting to expand the camp’s facilities for the potential new refugees. The hope is that with these expanded resources the camp could hopefully take in up to 100,000 refugees.

As the situation and the violence continues to worsen the ACT team will continue to assess what type of response or appeal should to enacted to meet the needs of those in need. Please keep these people, their work and those who they work on behalf of in your prayers. May God’s charitable and ever-giving spirit be amongst them in their times of need.

Read the full report.

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.