Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The spirit of love always overcomes fear

After posting about the upcoming excitement of meeting my future niece or nephew, here on day 28 I am supposed to find a picture of something I'm afraid of. I found a great picture of a wolf spider, but Laurie refused to read my blog ever again if there were any pictures or mention of spiders. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say she screamed and hid under my Snuggie while shaking in terror.

So because I have ample respect for the woman who helps me with the kids on a consistent basis, even on her days off, I thought I would write about something that is keeping me up at night since Friday. I haven't talked about my time in Japan much on this blog, mostly because I feel a lot of guilt at not keeping in close contact with my church in Hamakita. I was sent there for what I believe was a God-given purpose, and I feel as if I failed both as a missionary and as a Christian.
When I heard about the worst earthquake to hit Japan ever, I was devastated. My biggest fear is losing my friends without having any knowledge or any way to help. Since Hamamatsu is on the coast, I assumed the worst, especially in regards to the tsunami. Thankfully, it seems the Shizuoka Prefecture has been spared, although they did have a 6. earthquake today. I think everyone is most concerned about the nuclear reactor leaking radiation and possibly losing containment. The Japanese government is urging people to stay inside their homes, but many Japanese are weary of the corrupt government and some are not heeding the warnings.
Verizon is offering free calls to Japan until April 10th, but land lines are down and cell phones lines are busy, at least every time I've tried to call my friend Ayano-chan. If you are a praying person, please pray for Japan. Also, if you can spare even a few dollars, go to the Red Cross web site and donate. It does make a difference.

Please note: I do not own any of these pictures. They are owned and protected by law here from The Atlantic, which is also linked from the third paragraph above.

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