Taiwan Church News 3789 Edition Oct 7 ~ 13, 2024 Weekly Topical Building an Unshakable Kingdom, PCT Reaches Out to Noto Earthquake Victims in Japan Reported by Lin Yi-ying Led by Rev Hsiao Ray-chiao, director of the Church and Society Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT), a team of 11 PCT volunteer workers, including Ms Liu Chia-fen, Mr Hong Rui-lang (both are PCT GA clerk), Mrs Lin Rong-rong(wife of pastor), Rev Yabu Eyo of Tayal presbytery and six co-workers of Yoshi Care Association, took a flight to Noto peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, to help implement a post-earthquake rehab program on Sept 23rd. Once the PCT group arrived in Wajima City at Noto peninsula, they started to help clean-up and rebuild the inflicted households on Sept 24th. After finishing their services for the earthquake victims, they flew back to Taiwan on Oct 3rd. Rev Hsiao said in the interview that the PCT Reach-Out Project was hospitably arranged through the Jesus Christ Church in Japan (JCCJ) and the Noto Christian Fellowship groups. The reach-out rehab program was originally aimed at the destructed households in Noto Peninsula after the 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred on January 1stin 2024, Rev Hsiao expressed. However, before the PCT team’s departure for Japan, “it’s very sad to learn that a further heavy rain inundated the Noto peninsula and seven citizens are killed in the floods,” she said. And even more, to everyone’s surprise, the PCT volunteer team became the first foreign charity group to arrive at the devastated Noto peninsula after a series of destructive earthquakes and floods. On the first day of the PCT rehab program in Noto peninsula, Ms Liu Chia-fen reported, the volunteer workers help clean up the earthquake-stricken households. And the most difficult thing, they found, is that they had to throw out as garbage the furniture used for decades. The necessary post-earthquake clean-up made the survived victims extremely heart-wrenching, Ms Liu said. On the second reach-out day, the PCT team helped clean up a lacquerware shop next to a flooded river. “When everyone moves out the handicrafts and cleaned them up one by one,” Ms Liu said, “I am very shocked to see those expensive price tags.” She was also deeply moved amid this event, because the Japanese earthquake victims trusted Taiwan volunteer group so much to rescue and sort out their valuable properties and belongings. “I feel a very strong friendship and mutual trust running between Taiwan and Japan,” she confessed. On the third day, Ms Liu indicated, PCT volunteers moved into the most severely affected communities and witnessed masses of debris and driftwood piled up along the streets. Traditional Japanese-style houses were inundated up to more than one floor high, and almost every household was soaked up in the water. Ms Liu said that volunteers entered into an old couple’s house to help clean up and pull out many water-soaked furniture. One woman in the next door saw the PCT volunteers and expressed her desperate needs for help. The PCT volunteers instantly promised to help after finishing their work at hands. . On the fourth day, Ms Liu said, the PCT volunteers entered the woman’s house to clean up as promised. They pulled out the furniture and appliances that had been soaked or damaged in the water. Meanwhile, as the soaked-up “tatami”(Japanese bed) was too heavy to lift up, it took four or five people to move it out of the house. During the break, leader of volunteers prayed for the woman, and everyone sang the hymn “Amazing Grace”, which moved the sad woman to tears, according to Ms Liu. On the fifth day, the PCT volunteers went to a lumber factory to sort out the devastated stuffs. Witnessing the wonderful blessings from the PCT reach-out ministry, Mrs Hsei Su-mang, a sister of Hua-Chiang Church of Taipei presbytery, remarked that when she saw the man of the disaster-inflicted household turned his eyes away from despair to hope, and shook hands sincerely with everyone to say thank you, she was truly inspired by God’s love revealed in “Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17). Mrs Lin Rong-rong, who is over 75 years old, looks forward to serving for the Noto peninsula residents again. Later, the PCT reach-out group attended Sunday service at the Kanazawa Church of United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ) on Sept 29th; traveled to the Makino Evangelical Japanese Institute (MEJI) for spiritual retreat and shared their charity ministries on Sept 30thand October 1st; went to Kyoto Church to visit the local pastor on Oct 2nd; and finally took the flight back to Taiwan on Oct 3rd. Translated by Peter Wolfe |