A prayer for recovery one year after the Kumamoto Earthquake
The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake was actually a series of quakes in Kumamoto and Oita prefectures, including two of magnitude seven (April 14 and 16). According to Kumamoto prefectural data, nearly 48,000 people are still living in temporary housing as a result. During a visit to the disaster area from April 14 to 16, 2017, houses reduced to rubble could still be seen in the hardest-hit town of Mashiki. Damage to the roof tiles and stone walls of Kumamoto Castle, a prefectural symbol, had yet to be repaired.
The first anniversary of the Kumamoto Earthquake fell on Easter weekend this year, and a number of memorial events were held at locations such as churches, temporary meeting halls, and facilities of Christian schools and organizations. On April 16, Easter Sunday, the Kumamoto Mission Network hosted an Easter charity concert at Kyushu Lutheran College, in Kumamoto City, to commemorate the anniversary and pray for further recovery.
During the concert, Pastor Yōji Nakamura, Director of Kyushu Christ Disaster Relief Center’s (KCDRC) Kumamoto Relief Base, expressed his desire to see smaller-scale and more personal support activities continue on a long-term basis. Nakamura reported that a total of 6,400 volunteers had come from all over the world to help during the past year. The KCDRC currently works in four of Mashiki’s temporary housing sites, supporting activities of the residents’ association. Nakamura appealed for a steady flow of volunteers and support for the KCDRC, before leading a time of prayer.
The concert featured gospel singer Yuri Mori, who lost her younger brother in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. She has since performed at a number of concerts in disaster areas to deliver a message of empathy and comfort, and this was her fourth visit to Kumamoto since the 2016 earthquake. Encouraging the audience to approach recovery at their own pace, step by step, Mori sang the hymn “Singing I Go.” She also performed “Flowers Will Bloom,” a song born out of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, as a prayer for true hope to bloom among the people of Kumamoto.
Yōsuke Kaneda, Pastor of Kumamoto Shinai Church, delivered an Easter message. He described how the despair of Jesus’ followers after his death was transformed into joy and hope when they saw the empty tomb and realized that Jesus had risen. The same joy and hope are still available today, Kaneda preached, for those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus. “The two big earthquakes struck Kumamoto suddenly, when no one was expecting them,” Kaneda acknowledged. “That day changed our lives completely. It brought us pain, suffering, and sorrow. However, Jesus, who experienced death and triumphed over it, will surely be with us through all of life’s troubles, anxieties, and fears.” Kaneda concluded his sermon with a prayer for great comfort through Jesus, who turns sorrow into joy and despair into hope.
From Christian Shimbun, April 30, 2017
Translated by Atsuko Tateishi