In the midst of such an overwhelming catastrophe, it can become paralyzing to know how to respond. In addition to praying for those who have lost loved ones and their homes and for those who are already there serving those affected, here are a few other ways we can help:
World Vision has people already in Japan serving and a wealth of experience in situations like this. Both my previous church (Mosaic) and my current one (Gateway) have been involved in supporting the efforts of World Vision.
Architecture for Humanity has offered help after other catastrophic events. This open source group of architects work together for solutions in the rebuilding efforts. The founder is one of the keynote speakers at South by Southwest here in Austin. Watch or read a CNN article with him here.
What are some of the other organizations you know that are positioned well to help?
My tribe, The Salvation Army, are out there on the ground trying to help where they can.
http://disaster.salvationarmyusa.org/
…and some of creative guys pulled together a great tee shirt as a fund raiser for Japan.
http://www.merchline.com/thesalvationarmy/categorydisplay.4972.c.htm
J
The International Mission Board is providing on-location aid:
Click here to donate: http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/product/detail/prodID/3352/page/1
Click here for an article about how they will contribute to the relief:
http://www.imb.org/main/news/details.asp?StoryID=9366&LanguageID=1709
“Tokyo Baptist Church will provide our first point of contact and partnership for our initial assessment,” Palmer said. “The assessment team will explore links with Japanese Baptists, the Japanese government and the NGO community. Once the initial assessment is done, we will create a blueprint to guide our relief efforts.”