Earthquake in Japan - felt big!

Just want to let everyone know that we are okay here in Tokyo. We felt the earthquake, it went on for ages and then lots of aftershocks. We are a long way from the coast so the tsunamis that you will see aren't affecting us. Nothing damaged in our house, a few things shifted on the shelves - that is all. David's lab is on the third floor of the school and he said there was a mess of broken stuff up there. Buildings aren't damaged where we are. The power is still on, but phones aren't working quite as usual.

The biggest issue immediately affecting us is that the trains have stopped. Because we live close to the school it was easy for us to walk home, but many children are still at school because they usually ride the train home. They're waiting for parents to collect them or the trains to start up again. Some students commute from an hour away, so it isn't so easy as to walk. The mobile phone service is down, so that makes it hard to contact parents. Please pray for families - not knowing where your kids are is hard. Some students may have to stay overnight in the gym at school.

Our 11 y.o. was supposed to go on a middle school youth group camp today. They're departure has been postponed until 7.30am tomorrow. We will probably end up with one or more of the kids in our house overnight.

We don't know how other OMF missionaries are - particularly the handful who work in Sendai - closer to the epicenter. You could pray for them and their families and those they minister to.

You can pray for the spiritual state of Japan too. Pray for hearts to turn to the Lord amidst the emotional upheaval that a natural disaster provokes.

I'll write more later. This is just to let you know what our situation is now as the news doesn't really help that much when you're concerned about individuals.