Greetings from the Swensons in a Japan that is reeling from the shock of the massive earthquake that occurred on Friday (3/11).
Many of you have sent us e-mail & Facebook messages inquiring about our situation and expressing your concern for us and assuring us of your prayers. Thank you so much for your concern, especially your prayers for us and for the people of Japan.
We are all fine. It was a bit of a harrowing experience when the earthquake occurred, the initial one lasting perhaps five minutes or so. One of our dressers toppled over, but otherwise, everything seemed to be intact. We're a ways from the coast, so the tsunami was not an immediate threat to us personally.
We were at home when the quake hit, hosting a small makeshift collaborative prayer & strategy meeting for reaching Japan with the Gospel of Christ. Because the Tokyo train system was shut down at the time, I ended up driving our friends back to their homes in Kawasaki.. Of course, the roads were jammed--it took about five hours to travel less than 20 miles, but by God's grace, I was able to get back home by 1:00am after dropping off our friends.
As we receive the reports of the aftermath of this catastrophe, the gravity of the situation has begun to sink in. The Tohoku (or northeast) region of Japan got hit the worst, both in terms of quake damage and tsunami devastation. This is the area where I (Greg) grew up, where my parents and their missionary colleagues primarily served in church planting ministry, and where many of the churches affiliated with our mission are located.
We have heard from the head of the church association that most of the churches are OK and are accounted for, but there are a number of churches for which making contact was impossible. One of these, Fukushima First Bible Baptist Church pastored by Akira Sato, was one of the churches we visited during our Tohoku trip last August. It is located about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Unit 1 of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which is in a state of emergency due to cooling system failures. Everyone within 10km of the plant was ordered to evacuate the area. Pray for Pastor Sato, his family and the Fukushima church.
One of the members of Shonan Grace Chapel, Mr. Y.O. (with whom I've had breakfast fellowships with in the past), has family living near the Sendai Airport (about 250 miles north of Tokyo), an area that was swept over by a tsunami. Although he has not been able to make direct contact with his parents (he did make contact with his sister earlier), we just learned that Mr. O. received word indirectly that his family members (parents & siblings, all believers) are safe and together. PTL! Nevertheless, please continue to pray for this family, the Shiogama church they are a part of, as well as the many other churches along the Pacific seaboard severely affected by this calamity.
Finally, pray that the light and love of our Lord Jesus would shine in and through us and the church all across Japan during this tumultuous time. And that God would open the hearts of many to the Gospel of Church in the wake of this disaster.
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