At this time, they are safe and have all the supplies they need including food, water, and strong shelter. They have electricity and Internet access so they are connected. In addition, they say that winds are actually blowing towards them from the damaged reactors and therefore they have been stuck in their homes and told not to go outside for the last day. Winds are predicted to stay on this path for one more day and then reverse to blow out to sea.
I contacted them to see if I could help in some way. As I received emails from both he and his wife it became clear that they are psychologically impacted in a great way. After each paragraph, each of them asked that we would pray for the families and people in the North. They probably didn't do it on purpose, but they each repeated this request throughout the email. In times like these when you don't have a way to pray, all you can do is pray to Jesus that he would intervene and save as many people as possible.
I've attached a link to pictures here. They are sobering.
You can find more astonishing pictures here;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366395/Japan-tsunami-earthquake-Haunting-mages-450-Britons-feared-missing.html
The obvious question that some will then raise is what can I do as I sit in comfort in the USA? Many will give to the Red Cross and other organizations. Those organizations are already mobilizing and working to begin assisting in the hardest struck areas. We always hear that much of the budget for the Red Cross and other large organizations are spent on overhead, and I would agree, but guess what, they are often ready at the drop of a hat.
If you wanted to consider another charity, please think about Somebody Cares America. SCA is an incredible faith based organization that goes to the ends of the earth to assist in disaster assistance. When the earthquakes hit in Indonesia, SCA was called by the government and asked to coordinate the relief effort. This is amazing since the group is a Christian organization, AND is staffed with a minimal number of full-time employees. I use this as an example because it just shows how good they are and how highly respected they are for providing direction and distributing aid throughout the world. They are unique in that they attempt to find local leaders to funnel aid and money to directly so they can provide assistance and serve the needs of the community. In the aftermath of hurricane Rita, SCA didn't roll in and try to create their own infrastructure, they found a church that was big enough to become a distribution center and then served the congregation and the pastor so they could minister to the needs of the community there. This is unique as most help organizations simply look to take control of the situation. This may work in the very short run, but in the long run, the SCA model creates relationships where the community can be served in greater ways than just passing out ice or food.
In this complete disaster scenario in Japan, they will seek to provide whatever needs they people have from food, clothing, medical care, and shelter.
You can read more about Somebody Cares America here at http://www.somebodycares.org/ and http://www.somebodycares.org/pages.asp?pageid=64986
The group is mobilizing to enter Japan and needs your help in funding those efforts to help people that are in desperate need.
GOATMUG
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They know how to multiply every dime they receive and when they count on local volunteers, SCA is one of the best ways to invest in not only in disaster relief, but mercies of the Kingdom of God.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for including Somebody Cares in you blog! We are humbled by your gracious and kind words. Though, we have interfaced with government groups and our Somebody Cares Indonesia partners found great favor before and after the Tsunami there, we did not get asked to coordinate all the relief efforts there, but we were very helpful in the short and longterm efforts by bringing our global equity there. We were thanked and recognized, along with some of our partner organizations, as well as our Indonesian partners for our involvement in bringing assistance and hope there.
ReplyDeleteI was asked to have a private meeting with now a former President there to personally share their heart and to thank our us and our network of relationships for our help during and after the crisis there.
We are currently coordinating and communicating a large network of relationship equity of orgs to partner together during this tragic time in Japan. Some of our Japanese friends (who helped us during Katrina and Rita) are now in Sendai, and other partner orgs are currently working through this very fluid and difficult time onground there. We also have other partner orgs who arrived yesterday, as well as an assessment and coordination team from Somebody Cares International on plane and enroute there now (Tuesday afternoon).
Thank you so much Goatmug for helping us to get the word out. There are so many critical needs and time is important. Some of the needs are obvious, but also there will be great need for things like Baby formula, diapers, portal water filtering systems, etc. One of our partners that worked with us in Haiti, AirMobile arrived with a few water systems yesterday, but we will need many more to be purchased and set up. Again, thank you for caring!
Doug Stringer founder/president Somebody Cares America / Int'l. Houston, Tx.