Japan Earthquake
Japan Earthquake Map (time lapse)
Tsunami Video 1
Tsunami Video 2
Tsunami Video 3 (James MacWhyte via Facebook)
Japan Music Video (by Jodi Davis via Facebook)
Before-After Satellite Photos (New York Times)
12/5/11 TOKYO (AP) — "Japan's crippled nuclear power plant leaked about 45 tons of highly radioactive water from a purification device over the weekend, its operator said, and some may have drained into the ocean."
3/27/11 "Radioactive materials 10-million-times normal levels in water at the No.2 reactor complex of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant" NHK News
3/24/11 "Japan disaster: over 25,000 dead or missing. Radioactive iodine has been detected in Tokyo tap water in levels above the safe limit for infants." NHK News
3/20/11 "Number of dead, missing from quake tops 21,000" NHK News
3/18/11 "Rescue and recovery efforts after the nuclear disaster in Japan are being stymied by a nearly overwhelming array of obstacles, as government and aid groups struggle with the physical devastation of last week's earthquake and tsunami, the specter of radiation dangers and harsh weather conditions. "The huge challenge for the aid workers on the ground is just the operating conditions they are dealing with," said Kirsten Mildren, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "Search and rescue workers are saying they've never seen anything like this." Mildren said the tsunami that followed last week's magnitude 9.0 earthquake "took everything in its path. … The level of destruction is just monumental and you've still got flooded areas, and now on top of that you've got this rain and this snow." The need in Japan is extreme, the United Nations reported. The 450,000 refugees crowded into 2,444 shelters don't begin to tell the story: About 1.6 million households are without water in 12 prefectures. Temperatures are below freezing in much of the area. Anxiety is rising over radiation leaks from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors." From MSNBC 3/17/11 By Miranda Leitsinger and Alex Johnson Reporters
3/17/11 "U.S. to begin evacuating some Americans"
3/17/11 "Fears mount as Japan takes desperate steps to cool reactors" (Reuters)
3/16/11 "50 workers bravely stay at troubled Japan reactors. Small crew of technicians could be last hope to prevent catastrophe."
3/16/11 "Japan faces potential nuclear catastrophe. The crisis escalates as radiation leaks." (Reuters)
3/16/11 "Radiation fears spark panic buying, evacuations in Tokyo."
3/16/11 "Panic swept Tokyo on Tuesday after a rise in radioactive levels around an earthquake-hit nuclear power plant north of the city, causing some residents to leave the capital and others to stock up on food and supplies."
3/15/11 A third explosion occurred at the nuclear plant in northeast Japan. Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from the damaged reactors and warned of more leaks.
3/14/11 Radiation alert in Japan. U.S. ship contaminated 100 miles offshore
3/14/11 Prime Minister urges public to limit power usage.
3/14/11 2nd explosion at nuclear plant.
3/13/11 Japan tries flooding damaged reactor to stop meltdown.
3/12/11 "Japan launched a massive military rescue operation Saturday after a giant, quake-fed tsunami killed hundreds of people and turned the northeastern coast into a swampy wasteland, while authorities braced for a possible meltdown at a nuclear reactor. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said 50,000 troops would join rescue and recovery efforts following Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake that unleashed one of the greatest disasters Japan has witnessed — a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami that washed far inland over fields, smashing towns, airports and highways in its way."
3/11/11 "A massive earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Friday afternoon, generating massive tsunami along broad areas of the Pacific coast. Numerous deaths have been reported. Many people are missing. Japan's Meteorological Agency says the quake struck at 2:46 PM Friday local time off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture. The quake's estimated magnitude has been upgraded to 8.8 -- the strongest on record to ever hit Japan."
Please Continue Praying
The Rutherford family are missionaries in Japan with Mission to Unreached Peoples (MUP).
MUP is an evangelical, interdenominational mission agency which focuses on
unreached people groups. To support our ministry please use the following address: Mission to Unreached Peoples, P.O. Box 860548, Plano, TX 75086-0548 Account Number: TDRJP1
Spiritual Needs in Japan
The spiritual needs in Japan are great. Japan is regarded as one of the most resistant countries in the world.
The Japanese are the 2nd largest unreached people group in the world. (Shaikh people of Bangladesh are the largest).
There are still 1,700 towns & villages without a single church.
True born-again believers represent less than one percent (this is less than some Muslim countries).
The number of new believers each year is almost completely offset by the number that fall away.
There has been very little progress during the past 50 years in spite of intensive missionary efforts.
The growth in the number of Christians has declined from 4.6% per year (following WWII) to less than 0.4% currently.
At the current growth rate it would take 1,200 years to bring the percentage of Christians up to only 7% of the population.
There has been a serious decline in interest & openess to the Gospel.
Most of the churches are very small.
There is a shortage of Japanese pastors (86% of them are over 50 years old).
There is a shrinking missionary force. The number of missionaries has shrunk by approx. 20% during the past 20 years.
"There is no country in the world where the church has sown the gospel so generously, yet reaped so sparingly." Doug Birdsall,
Japanese Evangelistic Links