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A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

11:00 AM EST May 19, 2011

Many smiles are shared at the opening ceremony for the “class of 2011” at the Asian Rural Institute in Tochigi. Repairs from the March earthquake are underway thanks
to a grant from UMCOR. Photo courtesy of Steven Cutting/Asian Rural Institute.
View in Photo Gallery

Two months after Japan’s devastating earthquake, the Asian Rural Institute held an opening ceremony for the “class of 2011” at its damaged campus in Tochigi, where repairs are underway thanks to a $150,000 grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Steven Cutting, director of ecumenical relations for the institute, a long-time United Methodist partner, found the May 14 event particularly meaningful this year “just because we were able to have it.”

In Sendai, near the earthquake’s epicenter, pastors affiliated with the United Church of Christ in Japan gathered recently at the Emmaus Center for the second meeting of the Tohoku District Church Recovery Committee. The center, which has become a focal point for Christian relief activities, is slowly resuming its daily routines, with student activities expected to begin again in June.

But amid the signs of recovery are the stories of cities and lives at a standstill because of the destruction wrought by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that killed up to 27,000 people, about half of whom remain missing. The nuclear crisis, created when the earthquake knocked out the cooling systems of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear-power plant and spewed dangerous radiation into the atmosphere, has rendered nearby villages unlivable.

Many have already left Otsuchi, a town north of the epicenter more than half destroyed by a tsunami waves as high as 50 feet, the New York Times reported  on May 16. Its survival is in question if younger residents do not return.

Iitate, a farming village of 7,000 people in Fukushima Prefecture, is on its way to “becoming (a) ghost town” — as the headline on the May 13 story in The Japan Times stated — because dangerous radiation from the nuclear power plant 40 kilometers away has lingered in its mountainous terrain.

Churches uniting to provide relief

Churches in Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan — under the umbrella of the North East Asia Churches Forum of the Christian Conference of Asia  — want to help the Japanese recover from this “triple disaster.”

A satellite image of Japan shows damage to the nuclear reactor after the March earthquake and tsunami. A web-only photo courtesy of Digital Globe.

Their representatives gathered May 6-7 in Seoul, Korea, with Japanese counterparts and others from partner organizations to explore  how to build a consortium to conduct relief efforts.

Among the participants at the consultation were Melissa Crutchfield, the executive in charge of international disaster relief for UMCOR, and Ciony Eduarte, director of UMCOR Philippines. To date, the United Methodist relief agency has received $3.8 million in donations for its response to the Japan earthquake.

Crutchfield said she found the consultation helpful as a means of strengthening relationships among ecumenical partners in the region and identifying ways of improving the capacity of Japanese partners.

“This foundation of partnership and cooperation will help us coordinate better for more timely and effective implementation of relief and longer-term recovery and rehabilitation activities on the ground in Japan,” she said.

‘Deep concern’ over nuclear power

The effects of radiation on Japan’s disaster survivors — and the rest of the country — are important factors in the recovery process, the religious partners believe. A press release from the May consultation addressed the “deep concern” over a heavy reliance on nuclear power by nations of the world to meet increasing energy needs.

“The problems at Fukushima should not be repeated again for the sake of human life and the integrity of God’s creation,” the release said. “Future generations should not be saddled with this generation’s inability or refusal to confront the difficult issues of our time.”

Japan’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake left areas such as
this street in Ofunato in shambles. A web-only photo
courtesy of the U.S. Navy/Mass Communications
Specialist 1st Class Matthew M. Bradley.

The Rev. Claudia Genung-Yamamoto, a United Methodist missionary who attended the Seoul consultation, believes churches must pray, raise awareness and do advocacy work on the nuclear issue.

She noted that while John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, did not have to deal with the threat of radiation, he did speak up against the injustices of his day, such as slavery.

“Today we are enslaved to the use of nuclear-power, and we need to question what is being told to us by the nuclear power industry and media in regard to safety,” she said. “Empowered by our ecumenical family and the Holy Spirit, we need to speak out and not be silent.”

The Rev. Jeffrey Mensendiek, a United Church of Christ missionary assigned to the Emmaus Center gave a report at the consultation; he pointed out that “the church in Japan is in no position to try to solve this problem on its own domestically. We need international help and work in the area of advocacy.”

Mensendiek has heard firsthand reports about the radiation threat in his region. When pastors from the Tohoku District gathered at the Emmaus Center on May 10, one pastor said he could not see any future for his congregation in Fukushima.

The Fukushima church, severely damaged by the earthquake, has been torn down, but the pastor remains concerned about radiation in the area. He said elderly church members have contributed “large sums of money,” to rebuild. “But I cannot bring myself to rebuild a church in a place that I know is dangerous,” the pastor said.

In addition to suffering earthquake damage, at least three of the 86 churches in the Tohoku District are closed due to radiation, and kindergarten classes housed in churches have been cancelled. Many families have moved away either because of the radiation or because they have lost their homes and many farmers have lost their livelihood.

Cooperating to provide relief

The proposed consortium will focus on current relief needs. “I think that the consortium speaks to the need among Christians in Japan to work together,” Mensendiek told United Methodist News Service. “Therefore, it is a concrete step that the church in Japan can take to show that it will cooperate according to the spirit of the church worldwide. It is not time to be isolated in our efforts.”

A support team from the West Tokyo District, United
Church of Christ in Japan, brought a gift of 10 mountain
bikes to the Emmaus Center on April 25. A web-only
photo courtesy of the Emmaus Center.

Being able to rely upon a network of trusted relief and church partners “has been especially effective,” said Cynthia Fierro Harvey and Thomas Kemper, top executives of UMCOR and its parent agency, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

In a May 18 letter to bishops, the executives wrote, “The magnitude of the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, complicated by the nuclear threat in Japan will require an intentional and thoughtful release of funds over several years. Working with our existing partners, we anticipate providing comprehensive funding for long-range, grassroots services.”

Donations received by UMCOR for Japan earthquake relief include a total of $81,550 raised by Korean United Methodists, according to the denomination’s Korean Caucus Leadership Team.

Among the $220,000 already released to regional partners by UMCOR is the $150,000 grant to the Asian Rural Institute to repair earthquake damage to its facilities. The independent Christian-based school trains grassroots community leaders from Asia and Africa in leadership, sustainable agriculture and community building.

The 20 participants and one training assistant in the institute’s class of 2011started their session May 2 at the Theological Seminary for Rural Mission near Tokyo, and probably will remain there through July until the main campus can accommodate them.

But on a weekend trip to see those facilities, an opening ceremony for the class was arranged in the new farm shop, which is 80 percent complete. Cutter believes it is “a miracle” that the program was able to continue this year. “And it feels really good because this is why we are here, why we exist,” he said.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her at http://twitter.com/umcscribe.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.