Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 7:48 AM
Subject: Need Urgent Prayer

Hi Friends,

This is a real quick email but I'm asking for your urgent prayers.

The nuclear plant is at a major turning point tonight (right now) and weneed your prayers. You may have heard already but the Japanese government declared the plant to be at danger level 5 as there's a possible breach in the reactor. They were going to try and douse the reactors (namely reactor #3) with water again but decided to concentrate all efforts on restoring
electrical power to the plant so they could use the water pumps, which would be far more effective. As it turns out, the project head is a Christian. His name is Naoyoshi Sato, believed to be a member of the First Baptist Church of Fukushima.At such a time as this, God has placed a Christian inthe midst!

• So please join all of us so we can pray as one. Pray for God's anointing upon Sato-san. Pray for a miracle, and that he and his team will be able to accomplish restoring electricity to the badly damaged power plant and that the water pumps will be functional to cool the reactors down.

• Also, please pray that just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were protected from the burning furnace, Sato-san, his team, the firefighters, police officers, members of the self-defense force and government officials on the scene will also be fully protected from all harm.

• And pray for a solution to the crack in the reactor which could result in major radiation leakage.

May all those involved witness the power and majesty of God that allglory will be his.

Thank you,

Lillian

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 11:56 PM

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers and thank you for the many emails of concern and offers of help. I am fine though the situation here is just so unstable.After five days since the initial earthquake, we continue to experience strong aftershocks and recently separate powerful earthquakes in otherareas. Just now, we had a 6.0 earthquake in Chiba and last night a 6.2 (?) earthquake in Shizuoka. Right after the earthquake in northern Japan,quakes registering over 6.0 in Nagano and Niigata were felt in Kanto aswell. Landslides and damage have been reported. These earthquakescompletely surround the Tokyo area raising fears for a possible quake here.

But the most serious situation is of course, the northern region of Tohoku. Destruction to buildings and roads was followed by the horrific tsunamis that literally wiped out communities. The radiation leak at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima is causing anxiety for even those of us in Tokyo. We are about 130 miles from there and today the winds are very very strong. Reports on the power plant change by the minute as the desperate efforts by the workers, engineers and government officials there are felt by all as we follow the news. Please pray for their safety and wisdom.

The JHC has churches in the Tohoku area and recently we have found that they escaped major damage but had some damage and that members are accounted for. The JHC is accessing the situation and OMS is on stand by and we are also in communication with CRASH, a Christian organization that responds to disasters, to assist in any way. One of our missionaries will be going into the region tomorrow to take water with our OMS truck, if he can get gas. The destruction is of catastrophic proportions. I can't even begin to explain the needs of the people as well as the emotional and mental trauma.

The injuries are experienced by all, whether it's physically visible or invisible. The earthquake stretched from the northern tip of Honshu, the main island of Japan, to the Kanto area where we are, on the Pacific coast and deaths have been reported in all of the prefectures in between. There are seven deaths in Tokyo. In Tokyo, we are running out of supplies as people lined up to stock up. The store shelves are empty and you can't find bread or toilet paper in any of the stores around us. Gasoline stations are closed as they ran out of gas two days after the 9.0 earthquake. I have half a tank left. The government has asked that we all remain calm and allow our priority to be that supplies reach the people up north first. In the meantime, public transportation in Tokyo came to a standstill on Saturday and improved to 20% by Monday. We are at about 50% now. However, we have a shortage of electricity and for months ahead, there will be rolling blackouts. Today, our power in this area will be cut between 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. The day has been divided into five parts and tomorrow our blackout time will change. We are daily reminded to conserve.

The aftershocks are unnerving and my cell phone sometimes alerts me to oncoming earthquakes. Even on T.V., all of a sudden there is an alert of an earthquake and warnings to take cover. These are not always accurate but they do create sudden anxiety. I, however, will never forget the shaking of the 9.0 quake. I had never seen the very ground I was standing on move the way it did. It was frightening to see buildings sway as I fought to be still. It was not a violent vertical shaking like the Northridge quake (which I was there for) but a rolling type earthquake that almost felt like we were sliding. I suppose that explains a little the tsunamis. We suffered no serious damage on the campus. TBS postponed its graduation, instead holding a send-off prayer meeting with the students, the faculty, myself, and Fujioka sensei who came to see Tanaka Yasuko-san graduate. Tanaka-san is from the Walnut Creek church and she will be assigned to a JHC church at the end of the month. Though brief, it was good to see Fujioka sensei.

Other schools have cancelled or postponed their graduations and schools have closed entirely due to the difficulty of people to travel. The trains coming in and out of my town of Higashi Murayama have all stopped. On the eve of the 9.0 quake, people walked for hours to get home when all the trains and subways stopped. The scene of crowded streets at night was unbelievable. My brother walked three hours to get home while others walked as much as eight hours. Others never made it home that night.

Up north, it is snowing today and they do not have electricity, water, or gas. They are in shelters set up in schools and various buildings but everyone is saying that they need water and that the bathroom situation is bad. The north has a large elderly population and they are suffering incredible fatigue. When asked, however, what their number one need is,
every single person says they want to know the whereabouts of their loved ones. They want some kind of information, all of them have a missing member. Communication has been difficult and in even in Tokyo phone calls are disrupted. Please pray that the necessary resources will get to them as roads, ports, and railways have been destroyed and that family members will
be able to find each other.

In the midst of this, I am moved by the Japanese exemplary conduct during such a crisis. One shelter that is housing 1200 evacuees, has large posters on the wall saying things like, "We're in this together. Let's all hang in there. We'll get through this." These were written by 10-11 junior high school students who themselves have lost parents, families, friends, and
homes. People are quiet and orderly even though the lines are so long for food and water and in Tokyo, crowds are calm in stores when making purchases. People sit patiently in long lines for hours to get gas. It's just amazing. Their manners are impeccable.

At church, we're praying about how we can help and our young adult group will be doing a fund raiser this Sunday for donations to rescue efforts. It is time for us all to come together indeed. We turn to the Lord for his mercy and help, and as Christians I believe that he is calling us to "mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12:15). So please remember Japan in your prayers. It is however, not about "them" apart from us, but really about "us all." This is a reminder of our weakness and brokenness and need for a Savior no matter who and where we are. May the Lord forgive us for our pride and independency and grant us his ever saving grace and mercy that we may know him.

May the Lord bless you all and thank you again.

From my heart,
Lillian