March 13, 2011

Hi!                                                                        March 13, 2011

         Thank you so much for asking how we are and especially for praying.

         I have been furiously emailing as many as I can and Ruth has been doing the same. I just can't keep up with the skypes, emails and phone calls. It is heartening /encouraging to know that so many are concerned and praying for us.

         We are safe.         I don't know what's to come (obviously) but as of right now, I can report that Ruth and I are safe and there's been no damage to our house or possessions.

         That earthquake was BIG! the largest in Japan's history and that is saying something in this land that has earthquakes all the time. It was so big we felt it very strongly even hundreds of kilometers away from the epicentre, down here where we live. Everything really rocked and swayed. Ruth did the right thing and evacuated the house. I was out and felt the ground heaving and saw the car swaying back and forth. But like I said, we are safe.

         Perhaps you know more than we do from the news reports you can see but, trains were stopped, highways were shut down, there have been 4, 5, and 6 meter tsunami in places and some cities are flooded in parts, whole towns and villages have been wiped off the map. In other places gas pipes have ruptured or other chemical pipes (there are lots of chemical factories near here) and there were huge fires burning completely out of control.

         Phone services are still not reliable/not working/are only getting through to some areas.

         There have been countless after shocks that have rocked us and even more aftershocks have rocked the folk up north closer to the epicentre since. Kind of scary but we are ok.

         It's been cold. I thought it could have snowed but its fine here today (top of 12 degrees C.) the poor folk up north are in freezing temps with snow on the ground in many places, many without electricity; some without water, most without phone.

         There are nuclear power plants in Fukushima that they can not stop (yet) from heating up. They have declared a national emergency. They have evacuated residents in a radius as far as 10 kilometers away and have vented radioactive steam into the atmosphere as the lesser of two evils. There has been a couple of explosions at the reactors.

         The T.V. is continuing to broadcast warnings for tsunami all along the coast. Possibly 4 meters high. We aren't close enough to the water to be effected, I'm pretty sure.

         We are safe.

         Thank you SO MUCH for praying. We worked in Sendai for a year and know and love people there. So far we've heard from some that they are safe, but nothing from others.

         It was hard to sleep the first night with tension high and numerous aftershocks. We still are getting earthquakes but they seem to be subsiding. I think we and everyone are feeling the pressure/strain/tension. And it also feels slightly unreal. All of that devastation and tragic loss of life is just "up the road" (about 332 kms to the epicentre, of course a lot less to damaged buildings), and yet everything in our immediate neighborhood looks "normal".

         Over 1,000 people are missing or dead. They report over 700 bodies found.

         Suddenly we really really really appreciate having a warm house, electricity, water, communications!

         How should? how can? we respond?

         Can this possibly help some folk to seek and find God? Or will they harden their hearts and turn even more fervently to their ancestors and idols?

         Thank you for praying.

         With lots of Jesus' amazing love,

                  Gary (& Ruth)