April 11-17, 2011
General Assembly News
PCT General Secretary reports on ground-assessment trip to Sendai
Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan
Written by Lydia Ma
Barely one month after a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami and still struggling to keep a nuclear crisis under control, Japan’s road to recovery seems long and strenuous. But it was in the midst of such circumstances that National Council of Churches in Japan (NCCJ) invited its closest partners in Asia to share in the nation’s struggles.
PCT General Secretary Andrew Chang, who currently serves as the Chairman of National Council of Churches Taiwan (NCCT), was among one of the delegates invited by NCCJ to see the devastation in Sendai first-hand. Other delegates on the same tour included leaders from national council of churches in Hong Kong and South Korea.
General Secretary encourages Taiwanese Church in Tokyo
Chang visited a Taiwanese church in Tokyo on April 10, 2011, to deliver a Sunday sermon and extend greetings and condolences on behalf of PCT to Taiwanese living in Tokyo, before heading to Sendai the following day.
Focusing his sermon on the reason for similar tragedies around the world in recent years, Chang reiterated Jesus’ words in John 16:33: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
He added that there’s no need for Christians to sugarcoat, vilify, or mystify suffering, because Christians are called to proclaim hope and peace that comes from God alone and such instances are great opportunities to demonstrate God’s love.
While conversing with Taiwanese Christians after the service, he was told that while many foreigners fled Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake, many Taiwanese chose to stay instead because they still remembered how Japanese people came to Taiwan’s aid in the aftermath of the 921 earthquake.
One pastor’s wife said that her family had phoned several times to see how they were doing and urged them to come back to Taiwan. “The sheep can run, but the shepherd never abandons the flock,” she told her relatives.
Delegates survey hard-hit Sendai and Tokyo
A total of 11 delegates met up at Narita Airport on the afternoon of April 11, 2011, to board a northbound bus taking them to Sendai. The purpose of this trip was to get a hold of the magnitude of the devastation and make a ground assessment of people’s needs in the area.
They visited the hard-hit city of Ishinomaki on April 12 and saw many volunteers working hard to clear out mud and debris such as broken furniture or cars from residences and shops. All of these were leftover reminders of the tsunami.
The delegation also met with Higashimatsushina Social Welfare Council officers in the afternoon and Sendai Christian Alliance leaders in the evening to discuss some joint relief initiatives they could do to help Japan recover.
Power supply soon became scarce in the aftermath of the earthquake, prompting Tokyo to start partitioning electricity to conserve energy. At the urging of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), many homes and businesses began voluntary energy-conservation initiatives such as turning off furnaces and wearing thick sweaters, maintaining minimal indoor lighting and opening one branch per area only, or closing operating hours a few hours earlier. Such mass efforts to conserve energy helped TEPCO lift partitioning measures as of April.
The future of nuclear energy remains uncertain amid massive needs
When Taiwan Church News interviewed a few Christians from Tokyo Taiwanese Church about the possibility of foregoing nuclear energy after such a crisis, opinions diverged significantly.
One Taiwanese who’d lived in Tokyo for a long time said since weather in April is relatively comfortable in Tokyo, it wouldn’t be a problem to trade heaters for sweaters. However, summer can be scathingly hot to the point that elderly people may die of heatstroke without indoor air-conditioning.
Another Taiwanese said that nuclear energy was a necessary evil in Japan and recent nuclear spills have certainly awakened the masses to the dangers of nuclear energy. But unless society can function without television, computers, elevators, etc. Japan has a huge dilemma.
The most pointed question came from one interviewee who asked, “When summer comes around, will anyone still be anti-nuclear energy?” Though everyone acknowledged the crisis at hand, it seemed there was no way of overcoming the fact that urban society relies heavily on electricity powered by nuclear energy.
