Japan Mission Trip Update

Below is a report on the Japan mission trip written by Justin McKee, who, along with Cindy Lescarbeau and her son, Julian, traveled to Japan in August representing TCC. They, along with missionary Garry Kline, were able to distribute the 400lbs of goods collected by TCC that were shipped to Japan following their devastating earthquake:

On March 11, 2011 at 2:34pm, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan bringing catastrophic destruction to the entire coast. As if that weren’t bad enough, the quake caused a tsunami which swelled over 30 feet high that flooded the streets of dozens of cities. The unstoppable wave swept away cars, houses, and the livelihoods of thousands of people. The death toll was in the tens of thousands.

But as hope was returning and plans of rebuilding were formulating in the ever-productive minds of the Japanese, something even more menacing occurred. The Fukushima nuclear power plants, having lost power during the earthquakes, became unstable. Backup systems maintaining the cooling process were destroyed by the tsunami, and the threat of a nuclear meltdown became imminent. While the Japanese government maintained limited communication about the situation in order to foster calm, experts from around the world agreed the situation was more severe than Japan was admitting. A 25km (15.5 mile) evacuation radius around the Daiichi reactor was mandated, but uncertainty bred panic that reached as far as Tokyo. Panic buying in affected regions caused bottled water, food, and gasoline to run out. As despair set in, everyone’s spirits were crushed.

Meanwhile, many foreigners and missionaries were leaving the area, but Garry Kline, the missionary in Japan supported by TCC, was determined to stay and see what could be done. He and his family were about two weeks into a 40-day fast to hear God’s clear direction on their future in Japan, and the aftermath of the quake revealed such an obvious needs. He and his daughter headed north to Sendai with a disaster relief team just one week after the initial earthquake struck.

What had begun at home as a fast from sweets turned into almost a total fast at the relief center as Garry and other workers chose to eat very little so they could give away the bulk of the food to those in need. “I knew there were people going without food; I felt led to endure it with them.” Hearing this, I thought of Hebrews 13:3, “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” For ten days, they would assess the damage and begin connecting needs and resources from a network of over 100 churches in the Tohoku region. “While I’ve never witnessed anything as devastating as the damage here, I’ve also never seen such resolve and unity in Christ being demonstrated by the hundreds of volunteers and pastors coming to Tohoku,” Garry recalls.

Five days after the disaster and the panic had caused a shortage in supplies, Pastor Joe called Garry to see what was needed. Money wasn’t really an option because there wasn’t anything left to buy. Half the country had bought up everything in sight. Pastor Joe sounded the battle call, and TCC came through with a 400lb pallet of disaster relief goods that were nowhere to be found in Japan. By April 14th, it was well on its way by a ship headed for Tokyo, the closest port not destroyed by the tsunami.

Of course the enemy needed to have his place in this story as well. Garry wrestled with customs to get these supplies for nearly four months. At first, the import company couldn’t locate the shipment, and then they said that an import broker would be necessary to complete the delivery. “I kept trying to explain to them that these weren’t personal items, they were for their own people!” It wasn't until August 12 that Garry was able to pick up the supplies at the dock in Tokyo. A short term mission team from TCC just happened to be visiting at the time. Ironically, it was the same team who had delivered the goods to the shipping company in Ormond back in April.

From there, Garry and the team drove the goods four and a half hours north of his home to the city of Iwaki. There, an operation consisting of Christians from all over the world was helping people who had been affected by the disaster. Each day, teams from the Global Missions Center went out performing various tasks such as clearing and sorting debris, helping local businesses prepare for re-opening by doing dishes, pouring concrete, and repairing walls all while praying with whomever they helped as they went. Some of the teams stayed behind and distributed goods to families that were still dependent upon them.

As the first day of work at the Global mission center was drawing to an end, Garry looked at the team with a smile on his face and a child-like gleam in his eye, “I saw some of our diapers go out today.” The satisfaction in his voice sufficed to say, “Thank You, TCC.”