Japan is hit again

Please continue to pray for Japan as they were hit only 30 minutes ago (local time: 11:30pm) by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, triggering powerful tsunami warnings. So sad.  Read Psalm 46 below.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Praying for Japan, Jewel

Swept away...

I cannot get the recent catastrophe in Japan off my mind.

For more than two terrifying, seemingly endless minutes Friday, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan shook apart homes and buildings, cracked open highways and unnerved even those who have learned to live with swaying skyscrapers. Then came a devastating tsunami that slammed into coastal Japan, killing hundreds of people. The violent wall of water swept away houses, cars and ships. Fires burned out of control. Power to a cooling system at a nuclear power plant was knocked out, forcing thousands to flee in fear of deadly radiation. A boat carrying 100 persons was caught in the vortex of a whirlpool at sea.

According to Yahoo News, it was the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since the 1800s and was nearly 8,000 times stronger than one that devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

While the official death toll rose to nearly 1,900, the discovery of the washed-up bodies and other reports of deaths suggest the true number is much much much higher. In Miyagi, the police chief has estimated 10,000 deaths in his province alone.

This afternoon, from the Washington Post:

"Hundreds of dead have washed ashore on Japan’s devastated northeast coast since last week’s earthquake and tsunami. Others were dug out of the debris Monday by firefighters using pickaxes and chain saws."

Can you even imagine?

How can we respond to this? I was struck when I read Psalm 46 this morning,

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Praying for Japan, Jewel

"It was chaos"

I'm really going to avoid posting the same information on both my personal blog and my Cambodia blog, but because this is so important to me and I have so many more readers following here, I'm going to double post. I wrote this last night and posted it on my Cambodia blog. Thanks for reading!

Monday night during the traditional water festival in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh, a stampede killed 339 people and injured 329. [[Edit: Death toll has reached 375.]]



The scene shows hundreds of shoes, clothing and other personal items littering the streets, the bridge and the underlying water near where the festival took place.
According to CNN, the stampede, which began around 10 p.m., likely occurred because a suspension bridge packed with people began to sway, creating panic. Reports cite people jumping from the bridge into the river below. Police then began firing a water cannon onto a bridge in an effort to get them to continue moving across the bridge; that caused utter panic. A number of people lost consciousness and fell into the water; some may have been electrocuted, as the bridge was festooned with electric lights.

I cannot even begin to imagine the hospitals shortly following the incident, and my first prayer was for the doctors and medical staff that would be attending to the injured. According to CNN, "Dozens of people could be seen laying on what appeared to be the waiting-room floor of a hospital. They were attached to intravenous lines connected to bags strung along wires suspended in the air."

The three-day festival, which began Saturday, is held annually to honor a 12th century victory by Cambodian naval forces. During the festival, which includes boat races, participants pray for a good rice harvest and sufficient rain, and to celebrate the full moon.

This is the biggest tragedy since the Pol Pot regime, during which an estimated 21% of the population died in waves of murder, torture, and starvation. My heart is breaking; though I am thankful to have already heard from friends that report they were not in attendance. Please keep Cambodia in your prayers. The prime minister has declared Thursday as an official day of mourning - ironically, the day of Thanksgiving in the States.

Love love love, Jewel

28,000 homeless line up for food and water at tent camps that have sprouted up around the quake-devastated cities

Scores of people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless in central Italy Monday after a powerful earthquake shook a mountain region, severely damaging a historic city and leaving hundreds feared trapped in rubble.
The magnitude-6.3 quake hit L'Aquila and several towns covering 230 square miles in central Italy early Monday, leveling buildings and reducing entire blocks to piles of rubble. It was the worst quake to hit Italy in three decades.
The death toll has risen to 272, and six bodies have not yet been identified. Sixteen of the dead were children. Of the injured, 100 remained in serious condition.
Madonna pledged $500,000 in quake relief, said the mayor of Pacentro, the mountainside village where two of the pop star's grandparents were born.

One 98-year-old survivor, rescued by firemen in the hamlet of Tempera, 30 hours after quake, impressed Italy with her fortitude.
Maria D'Antuono said in an interview on private Italia Uno TV network that while she lay in her bed, surrounded by pieces of fallen plaster, she passed the time by crocheting.
When firefighters arrived to help her out of her home, she ate some crackers, and then told her rescuers, "At least let me comb my hair" before she was brought outside.

*Pictures attributed to BBC News.