Turning back the tide
Samaritan’s Purse is equipping local Christians to reach out to their neighbors recovering from the tsunami
A 300-ton ship tossed and swirled like a toy boat in a bathtub when the first tsunami wave hit the small port village of Kamaishi on Japan's eastern coast.
Setsuko Kobayashi, a 75-year-old grandmother, fled to higher ground from her fishing supply shop as soon as she heard the tsunami siren blaring. She dared to glance back, but only once, to witness the first enormous wave as it entered the harbor carrying the huge ship. She only had moments before the harbor and much of the village would be inundated and her life would be changed indelibly.
This was the third tsunami that Setsuko had witnessed. She remembers them all vividly, but this one would be different because of its magnitude in size and in destruction.
As she ran, she thought of her elderly and frail husband who was away from the shop on an errand. Did he get caught by the wave? What about her two granddaughters? Had the tsunami reached their school? Her mind raced with these worries until she reached a safe elevation in the low-lying mountains that surround the village.
Catching her breath, she mustered the courage to turn around to look at the devastation still unfolding. She watched the enormous ship coming closer as wave after wave pushed the sea higher and higher up the valley, engulfing bridges, homes, and factories. They were unrelenting, undiscerning, and unmerciful.
She eventually lost sight of the ship, but to her horror she saw people being swept away, disappearing into the tangle of rubble and wreckage. It was heart wrenching to see the ocean that she so loved become so violent and overwhelming. There was nothing she could do but watch helplessly from a distance.
When the waters receded, they exposed a landscape of utter turmoil and destruction. Vehicles were randomly scattered about. Lumber mixed with metal, electric lines, clothes. But Setsuko was determined to navigate around the ruins. She rushed to see if her granddaughters and husband were safe. Thankfully they were. Then her thoughts turned to her home next to the small shop.
Setsuko's granddaughters, Yumi, 17 and Chizuru, 13, accompanied her, all dreading what they would find. After great difficulty getting around the rubble piled several feet high, they saw an unbelievable sight. There, less than 15 feet from their damaged home, was the enormous ship Setsuko had lost sight of at the height of the tsunami.
It looked like it was randomly dropped right at her doorstep! When they went inside, the view to the harbor from the sliding glass doors of her family room was eclipsed by the bow of the 300-ton ship. It was incongruent and visually irreconcilable, but yet it was so real that she could almost reach out and touch it from her balcony.
For the foreseeable future the family with the large ship at their doorstep will live in a temporary shelter provided by the government. The shelter has no electricity, heat, or gas. They spend most days sorting through the rubble and their possessions to see what can be salvaged.
Setsuko managed to save a few of her valued kimonos that she used for tea ceremonies that were once a big part of her life. There is only so much she can do by herself, as her husband is elderly and weak. She has gone to the local church, which will be sending volunteers to help. 
Samaritan's Purse is working with churches such as the one in Kamaishi, providing tangible help with blankets, kitchen kits, and hygiene kits. We are training volunteers to clean out the homes of tsunami survivors.
The evangelical Christian community in Japan represents less than 1 percent of the population, but undaunted, they are eager to help their countrymen. Samaritan's Purse has set up a camp to house teams of Christian volunteers from southern Japan who will come to help and comfort people like the Kobayashi family.
Please pray...
That God would provide peace and comfort to the suffering people of Japan.
That relief supplies would continue to get to the people who need them most.
For wisdom and strength for our church partners.
Please give ...to our emergency relief fund and help us to respond to disasters like the one in Japan and in other parts of the world.
