Two Years After in Japan: Remembering, Healing and God's "tsunami of love"

Aimee Herd : Mar 13, 2013
Mission Network News, YouTube, ABC News

"This is indeed a kairos [moment for the Church in Japan], Japan's Hour for the Hope of Christ." –Joe Handley, Asian Access

On Monday, March 11th, Japan held a moment of silence to mark the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that left the country's east coast towns looking like a war zone.

An incredible hour-plus documentary, "Japan's Tsunami—Caught on Camera," uses amateur video and photography, coupled with interviews of residents, to tell the story of the disaster. (Photo: 2011 Tsunami/National Geographic)

The riveting video documents the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami's approach in Japan's east-coastal towns of Kamaishi, Ofunato, Rikuzentakata, Kesennuma, Minamisanriku and Tagajo.

Interspersed with unbelievable shots of the encroaching water are some of the area's own residents' accounts of escape and desperation as they watched their cars, homes and entire towns swallowed up by the sea.

"It never occurred to me that the tsunami would reach us, it looked surreal . . . like watching a film, I honestly couldn't believe it," related Shinsuke Itoh, a survivor from Tagajo. (Photo: 2011 Tsunami/Washington Post)

One film is taken from inside the car of a victim as the wave rolls down the street and sweeps his car and everything around it away; amazingly, he lives to tell the story.

According to an ABC News report, nearly 20,000 people were killed in the tsunami.

Even after two years, over 300,000 people "remain displaced" from the affected towns.

Resident Rin Yamane, who lost her mother in the disaster, told ABC, "Two years later, I have found some strength. I feel like I can move forward, even if it's just a little."

What the video and news report fail to mention is the hope that seems to have grown out of the ruins. (Photo: Tsunami aftermath/LATimes)

Since the first days following the catastrophe, Christian ministries have been working to help bring relief to the victims.

One ministry, Asian Access, notes that although depression and anxiety are commonplace, the Lord has "turned a tsunami of destruction into a tsunami of love."

The Mission Network News report states that the "spiritual healing that is occurring across the affected regions is profound as Believers have served as the hands and feet of Jesus, bringing hope and healing to the country."

"This is indeed a kairos [moment for the Church in Japan], Japan's Hour for the Hope of Christ," said Joe Handley, president of Asian Access.

CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube documentary, "Japan's Tsunami—Caught on Camera"