ELCA Begins Response to Pacific Earthquake, Tsunami

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     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is responding to a massive earthquake and tsunami March 11 that caused considerable loss of life and property in Japan. The earthquake was centered near the city of Sendai, a city in north-central Japan with a population of 1 million.

     The president of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Rev. Sumiyuki Watanabe, expressed his gratitude to members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for their response to the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
     "I am very thankful to Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and members of the ELCA for their prayers and encouragement," Watanabe said. "You can only imagine how encouraged we are as the Japanese and, especially, members of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church for these sentiments."
     At the time of the earthquake and tsunami, Watanabe was in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, attending a Lutheran World Federation-sponsored meeting. Also attending the meeting was the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, ELCA area program director for Asia-Pacific Continental Desk. Ishida plans travel to Japan March 20, he said.
     The Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church is a 22,000-member church, and like the ELCA, is a member of The Lutheran World Federation, a global communion of churches with more than 70 million members.
     "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," Watanabe added.
     Watanabe said the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church plans to develop a relief and recovery plan not just for its members but also for the communities affected, Ishida said. The ELCA will contribute to and assist the Japan church with its plans, he said.  
     The Rev. George Oshiba, president of the eastern district of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, reported March 13 that he had made contact with the pastor of Sendai Lutheran Church, the Rev. Hiroaki Fujii. Sendai is a city of more than 1 million people in northern Japan and was near the epicenter of the earthquake and the tsunami.
     Oshiba reported that Fujii, his family, and all of the children in the congregation's preschool program are safe. However, some of the preschool program's teachers have not been heard from. Cell phones do not work and gasoline supplies are scarce, he said.  "The greatest need is food and water," he said.
     Sendai Lutheran Church has power, but nearby Tsurugaya Lutheran Church has no electricity, gas or water, Oshiba also reported.
     The ELCA, along with predecessor churches has worked in Japan since 1892. Currently, there are 22 missionaries serving in Japan, and all are safe. Among them is Dana Dutcher, stationed in Tokyo. She teaches conversational English and works with several ministries of two congregations, Koishikawa Lutheran Church and Hongo Lutheran Church. 
     "The earthquake was quite powerful here in Tokyo, although we have managed to escape any large catastrophes," she told ELCA News. "The aftershocks are still coming here in Tokyo as new earthquakes are still striking around the country."     According to media reports, hundreds of people have died and hundreds more are missing. Tsunami waves as high as seven feet struck Hawaii, but there were no reports of significant damage there.

     The ELCA has 22 missionaries serving in Japan, working in partnership with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church. Many of the ELCA's missionaries in Japan have communicated that they are safe, said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, ELCA program director for Asia-Pacific Continental Desk.
     Ishida, who is attending a conference in Malaysia, said in an e-mail he was seated next to the Rev. Sumiyuki Watanabe, president of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, when news of the earthquake and tsunami reached them. He said Watanabe's "first concern was for Sendai Lutheran Church," but there was no immediate communication because of power and cell phone outages in the area.
     According to Ishida, the ELCA has missionaries serving at a Christian seminary in Tokyo, and pastors serving a Lutheran congregation in Tokyo. ELCA missionaries serve on the southern island of Kyushu, providing chaplaincy and parish services, as well as teaching at Kyushu Lutheran College.
     The Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church operates schools and other programs that provide English language instruction as part of the church's ministry. There are 10 ELCA missionaries serving in the local church's "J3" program, to teach English and to serve in local congregations, Ishida said. "J3" references the program's three-year commitment.
     He said five of the J3s were in Tokyo when the earthquake and tsunami struck. 
     "Within the first hour we heard requests for prayer from our partner churches. If you'd like to stand with them through your financial support, I would encourage you to give through ELCA Disaster Response. Gifts designated to the Pacific Earthquake and Tsunami fund will be used entirely -- 100 percent -- in response to this disaster," said the Rev. Daniel Rift, director for the ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal.
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     Financial gifts for the Pacific Earthquake and Tsunami can be contributed through the ELCA website. Credit card gifts may be contributed by calling 1-800-638-3522. Gifts designated for the Pacific Earthquake and Tasunami can also be sent to: ELCA Disaster Response, 39330 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL 60694-9300.

     Gifts may also be sent to ELCA Disaster Response where the need is greatest, enabling the ELCA to respond where help is needed most around the world and close to home.