INVITATION TO THE 2ND DISASTER CHAPLAINS’ CAFÉ

Posted on January 14, 2014August 19, 2015

Date: January 16th, 2014 (Thu), 4:00 p.m. ~ 6:00 p.m.

 Place: Ochanomizu Christian Center, Room 416  

Topic: “Spiritual Care ~ Self Care  Listening: Creating A Safe Space for Chaplains and Pastors to Speak Their Hearts”

Facilitator: Helen Kwak, CRASH Japan Care Coordinator

Those who were involved in the disaster responders program, or who  are still active in it, or are interested in such activities are all welcomed.  It is a café type meeting and   refreshments will be provided.  Registration is not required, but your advanced registration by e-mail would be much appreciated.

Sponsor: Disaster Responders Chaplain Program Committee  (DRCnet) 

Contact: e-mail: info@drcnet.jp

Tel: 03-5577-4824, Fax: 03-5577-4865

THE 3RD GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL SYMPOSIUM

Posted on January 13, 2014August 19, 2015

Theme: “Raising Leaders through Sufferings beyond the Walls”

Date: February 15^th (Sat), 17^th (Mon)

15^th 10:00 a.m. ~ 5:00 p.m. pastors and other Christians

17^th 10:30 a.m. ~ 4:00 p.m. seminary students, younger pastors and Christians

Place：Ochanomizu Christian Center 8^th Floor Chapel

Fee：one day ¥1,000（including the handouts）; student one day ¥500

Pre Registration is required and seats are limited

15th（200 seats), 17^th (80 seats)

Registration is only from the Webpage: http://drcnet.jp

The dead line：February 7^th (Fri)

Contact：DRCnet (East Japan Disaster Relief Net Work)

　　　　E-mail: info@drcnet.jp Tel: 03-5577-4824

DISASTER REDUCTION CHURCH NETWORK SEMINAR REPORT

Posted on January 6, 2014August 19, 2015

The seminar was held at Ueno Holiness Church on October 8th, pastors were invited from Arakawa, Sumida, Taito, Koto and Chuo wards of Tokyo. The seminar was sponsored by the DRCnet Tokyo Disaster Preparedness Project and co-sponsored by CRASH JAPAN. 40 people attended the seminar. In the morning, there were three sessions. First, Kazu Kurihara from CRASH showed a PowerPoint presentation concerning the predicted risk of the coming earthquake disaster and how to reduce the risk, as we need to pay special attention to eastern Tokyo, which is subject to flooding. Second, Pastor Matsumoto, chairman of the Japan Evangelical Association disaster relief committee, spoke on the need of church network to cope with disaster. He emphasized the importance of a leader who can take an initiative to start face-to-face community within walking distance. In the final morning session, Jonathan Wilson, director of CRASH spoke on how to help the vulnerable. A highlight of this seminar was the introduction of a Salvation Army canteen car, which has a rice cooker system that can make 100 servings in 20 min. We were able to eat GYUDON (Beef Bowl) for lunch prepared by this canteen car. After lunch participants divided into small groups and discussed how to start church networks. The purpose of these networks is to create a face-to-face disaster reduction community. Through this seminar in Taito ward, seven churches have been networked and are ready to go.

Tokyo Disaster Preparedness: Kazu Kurihara

OPERATIONSAFE CHILD TRAUMA CAMP IN ZAMBOANGA, PHILIPPINES

Posted on December 27, 2013August 19, 2015

From September 9th to the 30th of 2013, armed conflict between MNLF rebels and the troops of the Philippine government resulted in the evacuation of civilians as homes were being burned. At the end of October, the number of dead was placed at 140, wounded 268, and the number affected at 20,810 families or 105,705 individuals currently in need both outside and inside evacuation centers. The number of homes totally damaged by the series of fires is 10,160 homes.

The Grandstand” Evacuation Center in Zamboanga

Our local partners, the Philippine Children’s Ministry Network sent an assessment team the last week of November and since Typhoon Haiyan struck Visayas, the situation in the evacuation camps has deteriorated with government resources being pulled elsewhere.

The main concern for us is the care and protection of children and helping them recover from trauma. We are holding an OperationSAFE child trauma camp in Zamboanga from December 26th to the 31st at Manpang Elementary School which functions as one of the evacuation centers. This will become a model and training for local church workers to continue psychosocial care for the children in the months ahead.