Caution for Volunteers Heading to Tohoku

It has become evident in recent weeks that some missionaries and pastors have been experiencing Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder, or Compassion Fatigue. This can result in nightmares, anxiety, flashbacks, numbness, and a myriad of physical and interpersonal problems resembling depression or burnout.

These are stressful and frenzied times, and may be more so with summer teams arriving, but JEMA wants to encourage missionaries to take special care of themselves and short-termers that may be coming to work in disaster relief in the Tohoku area.

Confirm that adequate orientation, accountability, and debriefing are taking place. If you don’t have such options be sure to check in with CRASH Japan to take advantage of its excellent resources. Also check out the video “Emotional Care in Disasters” at www.crashjapan.com in the Emotional Care department.

Andy Meeko, Survivor Care, CRASH Japan

DOROTHY MONTEI ~ December 24, 1919 ~ May 21, 2011

DOROTHY MONTEI 
December 24, 1919 - May 21, 2011

"...when I was old I used to know my sorrow reaps the love I sow.
How sad and sweet it is to be a whisper of eternity..." Peter Reebs
Dorothy Montei passed away May 21, 2011 in Vancouver, Washington. She was born to Howard and Ruby Wynant on December 24, 1919 in West Memphis, Arkansas.

Dorothy obtained a teaching degree in Chicago, Illinois, and Masters in teaching in Portland, Oregon.

She married Douglas Montei, May 23, 1942 in Pontiac, Illinois.

Dorothy taught first grade between 1945 and 1955 in Vancouver. She taught junior and senior high school from 1956 to 1969 as a missionary in Japan. She also taught junior high school and first grade from 1969 to 1985 in Vancouver.

Dorothy was an active member of Vancouver First Friends Church. She had the gift of hospitality and generosity throughout her life.

She is survived by her sister, Mabel Kunkel; son, David Montei; daughter, Anne Reebs; granddaughters, Kelli Christian, Jeni Kalliainen, Nellie Riehle; grandsons, David and Mickey Montei, Ben and Jesse Reebs, and 13 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Douglas Montei.

Graveside service will be held Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. at Park Hill Cemetery. Celebration will follow at Bill's Chicken & Steak House on St. Johns Blvd., Vancouver.

Please view/sign Dorothy's guestbook at www.columbian.com/obits.

Courtesy of Bobby Howe '70

DO YOU MAKE TIME TO LAUGH?

On Screen

Apparently, the folks at the San Diego Asian Film Festival just can’t get enough. Though the fest itself isn’t until October, SDAFF is launching its first-ever Spring Showcase on Friday, April 15, at UltraStar Mission Valley. Eleven films will be presented during the next week, including a fundraiser to benefit the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Click here to read more.

Quake aid, local services

By ASHLEY THOMPSON

For relief organizations, groups or individuals needing translators, Taichi W. sent information about the Japan Guide Consortium Volunteer Interpreters, a group of translators initially formed at the request of the government. Four are working in Sendai with the Indian National Disaster Response Force; other volunteers are available upon request. For more information, see the JGC Volunteer Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Guide-Consortium-Volunteer-Interpreters-Earthquake-Relief/ 149712655091836 ) or ( sites.google.com/site/jgcvolunteers/ ).

If you'd like to help children left orphaned as a result of the disastrous earthquake and tsunami, Living Dreams and Smile Kids Japan, two nonprofit organizations supporting children in orphanages, have set up a way to help through Global Giving ( www.globalgiving.org/projects/help-orphans-in-japan-rebuild-lives-post-tsunami/?rf=ggWidgetz ). Their project will focus on immediate and long-term support to orphanages in the affected areas. See the Global Giving site for details.

Services: Here are some local services offered in English as well as Japanese. Please send us any others you know of.

Greg Copeland is a carpenter who "does fantastic house reforms." In the industry for 25 years, he works internationally and has served Tokyo since 1998. Call 090-1700-6212 or e-mail grc@gol.com.

Tony (Antonio) Canales is CEO of the general construction company KK Rising Son Express . Phone/fax 0423-334-9511; cell phone 090-6159-4601; e-mail rising_son_express@yahoo.co.jp. All services related to construction — heating and air conditioning, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, painting, wallpaper, flooring, concrete, gardening, fencing and more.

Daiwa Setsubi is a long-established plumbing contracting company in Shinjuku. President Takahiko Sato (whose wife, Lyn, is American) speaks English. He and his team of five are happy to sort out any problem, from blocked drains to re-plumbing an entire property, new or old. Call (03) 3370-6294.

Akiyoshi (Aki) Matsumoto can do all kinds of things in Japanese or English: gardening, painting and decorating, plumbing, walking pets, house cleaning, disposals, removals, interpreting, message and courier service. Based in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, he will extend out as far as Yokohama. Bilingual site: www.handyman-japan.com, tel.: 080-5678-3215, e-mail: handyman-tokyo@nifty.com.

Neil Hugo builds houses. One of the few foreigners to have a Japanese construction license, Neil's company, Foothill Homes , can design and build a home from scratch, build an imported log cabin or reform existing premises and spaces. Website (in English and Japanese): www.foothillhomes.net ; e-mail: foothill@mx5.mesh.ne.jp or neil@foothillhomes.net.

Stephen Young is a mover (and shaker). His business QUOZ Movers ( www.quoz.biz ) was founded in 1995 and is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. He takes care of moving, deliveries and also disposes of unwanted furniture. Call Steve at 090-3801-8083 or (03) 5932-7777 (his staff all speak English).

Cher Mori is an organizer and motivator. Describing herself as Tokyo's Personal Assistant, she will simplify errands, help you de-clutter and complete unfinished projects. Call her at 080-3340-7433. Website: www.jillofalltrades.jp/.

ChezVous specializes in housekeeping services, child care, handyman and cleaning services in Tokyo and Yokohama. Much recommended. Website: www.chezvous.co.jp/english/.

Ashley Thompson writes survival tips and unique how-tos about living in Japan at www.survivingnjapan.com. Send all your questions to lifelines@japantimes.co.jp

PRAY FOR AND WITH JAPAN AT 2:00PM TODAY

 

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WHEN GOD SHAKES A NATION

Japanese perplexed by slow quake response

In a nation known for speed and efficiency, people wonder why it took so long for the government to mobilize relief for the areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.

By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times

April 9, 2011

Reporting from Tokyo

The calls came into Tokyo's metropolitan government soon after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. What can we do to help, some asked. Others, seeing shocking television video of people homeless and desperate for food, urged officials to take up a collection.

"Many people said, 'I have a child too. I want to do something,'" recalled Kazutoshi Matsuura, a department head at Tokyo's Welfare and Health Agency.

But it was a full week after the initial devastation when the first truckload of donated diapers, bottled water and other essentials gathered by volunteers and municipal workers left central Tokyo for the worst-hit areas along the northeast coast.

Time had ticked away as 20 metropolitan department chiefs put their heads together; half a day was lost just getting approval for storage space for donated goods. Rules on how to pack boxes cost precious more hours.

The story of what happened between the first public calls for the city to rise to the occasion and the delivery of aid is in some ways the story of the puzzling slowness that has characterized Japan's overall response to the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami.

Weeks after the disaster struck, officials and relief workers say the basic needs of most people in shelters are being met, with many volunteers helping with cleanup as convoys loaded with water and even portable showers rumble along coastal roads.  READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE

SOS from Mayor of Minami Soma City

The anatomy of a megathrust earthquake

It was the biggest quake to rock Japan in recorded history. On 11 March 2011, just 130 km off the coast of Sendai, on the main island of Honshu, a section of the massive submarine fault separating the enormous Pacific plate from northern Japan failed.

In a few minutes, over 500 km of the fault catastrophically ruptured, and rocks on either side were thrown over 20 metres along the fault.

The island of Honshu was wrenched 2.5 m towards the east, and the Earth's tilt axis moved by 16 cm in response to this enormous redistribution of mass. The seafloor upheaval shunted a column of water over 6 km deep upwards - a massive disturbance which culminated in a 10 m tsunami swamping the Japanese coastline.


At magnitude 9, the quake was propelled into another class of monster - a megaquake. The scale used to measure earthquake magnitude, whilst useful, does not do justice to the energy involved in the biggest of the big.


The moment magnitude scale is logarithmic - meaning the energy released by a magnitude 9 is around 32 times greater than a magnitude 8, and almost 1,000 times larger than a magnitude 7.

READ MORE HERE.......

International 'Golden Rule' Day

April 6, 2011

Unfortunately, this one had escaped our attention before the 5 April 2011 Ekklesia daily e-bulletin, but today has been designated International Golden Rule Day.

The idea is to stop and ask ourselves and our neighbours how our lives might be different if the Golden Rule was lived… individually, in community, in our faith groups and denominations, in the city, the region, the nation, and the world.


The Golden Rule is expressed in the words of Jesus recorded in two of the Gospels as follows:

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7.12)

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6.31).

Many religions and spiritual teachers express this positive reciprocal responsibility in slightly different ways, points out the Rev Bosco Peters from New Zealand, who runs a wide-ranging liturgical resource website at: http://www.liturgy.co.nz/.

There is also a negative way of expressing a similar concept – the so-called “silver rule”: “One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated”.

2009 was the International Year of Reconciliation. Religious Leaders of Ethiopia proclaimed 5 April as the Golden Rule Day.

Ambassador Mussie Hailu was the chair of the Interfaith Peace-building Initiative and the representative of United Religions Initiative to the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa. He had Golden Rule Day endorsed by the United Nations. It is now recognised by numerous organisations around the world.

The back-story is here - http://allafrica.com/stories/200909230374.html