Written by Katie Swann
The Asian Mission Fellowship held a meeting Wednesday, March 23, to discuss a relief plan for Japan after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the country March 11.The meeting was joined via Skype by Japan missionary Jonathan Straker, who suggested various areas in which Japan is in desperate need of help and what the Harding community can do to assist.As of last week, the National Police Agency reported the death toll at 10,035; 17,443 people are reported missing and 320,000 evacuees are staying in 2,100 shelters. The Kyodo News Agency reported 15,000 people rescued from the rubble as of Monday, March 14.Japanese citizens face a laborious and costly recovery. The relief cost is estimated by Bloomberg.com to be almost four times as expensive as the cleanup for Katrina: approximately $309 billion. The recovery process is estimated to last anywhere between three and 10 years.”I highly encourage making donations to the churches in Japan,” AMF member Neale Bryan said. Bryan said the Church of Christ membership throughout all of Japan is about 1,000. Bryan said he thinks the tragedy provides an opportunity to encourage these brothers and sisters in Japan by being a shining light for Christ and a contact and help in rebuilding their communities. These churches are also projected to be ready to ac- cept mission and relief teams starting mid-April to mid-May.”This summer would provide an excellent opportunity for teams to go and assist in the relief effort,”Bryan said.Though immediate assistance to Japan is limited to that of their own military and the Japanese Red Cross, teams are forming and preparing even now to depart for Japan in the summer. The Global Samaritan program will soon be assisting in team organization. The AMF and Center for World Missions are contact resources for team forma- tion at Harding.Besides forming mission teams, Straker has defined other crucial ways in which the students at Harding could assist in the relief project: fundraising and raising awareness about the continu- ing needs Japan will face in the months and years after this disaster.In this spirit, the Harding Student Association accepted donations in the Student Center after chapel Monday, March 28, and Tuesday, March 29, raising $1,800.63 to send to the Park Avenue Church in Memphis, who willthen transfer the funds to the Mito Church of Christ in Japan.”I am not surprised that we have stepped up in such a powerful way,” SA president Steven Ramsey said. “People have been praying we would give, and we have always been generous as students.”AMF is continuing the brainstorming and fundraising process, Bryan said, and is open to any and all suggestions from the student body.More information can be found atwww.workingandprayingforjapan.org.
