[__ Prayer __] PJT in Japan

[pjt]

Has any one heard from PJT?

Reba, I am doing fine. Thank you for your many thoughts and prayers. I am just busy now with my children home from school and trying to help some with this ministry. Also I got a little concerned that this thread was getting so long since the situation in Japan is ongoing. The nuclear situation has not been solved and now they are finding radioactive material in the water and food. The government says it is fine to eat and drink but no one believes it so now there is a bottled water shortage and in my area there continues to be a shortage of basic foods and supplies for example after going to 3 stores yesterday I was only able to get 1 loaf of bread which is 6 slices in Japan and two 500 ml bottles of water (vending machine size bottles). But still my area is better than some. Some areas still don`t have running water for bathing. I count myself very blessed. And I am at a place of peace and acceptance now. The situation is what it is.

As for providing host homes for people, I ran into a situation I should have foresaw. Despite the fact people are dying in these shelters and the conditions are terrible, the people don`t want to be relocated and it makes complete sense. In Japan communities are very important and relocation means breaking up strong community ties. One person will go to this county and another will go to that county not knowing where each other are headed. The Japanese are saying it is better to stay in the shelter and go through what they have to go through together than to be broken apart, and those who are saying they want to leave are being told they won`t be welcomed back if they go because to leave for luxury is betrayal of the community and the elderly who cannot so easily relocate. They are saying everyone must work hard and rebuild the communities together not run in the face of hardship. Some can even remember the bombings and food shortages of WWII and remind the people that they survived that and they can survive this too but only if people stick together.

The government is now acknowledging the need of the people to stay together so it is offering to relocate people in groups where a group of children and their teachers will be relocated to the same school and community together and their teacher can teach them in the new school. Of course, it is harder to relocate a group of people but for the Japanese that seems to be the best option. Nevertheless, it still means breaking up communities into chunks rather than small pieces so it is still resisted by many.

Anyway, I like the Japanese spirit of loyalty and devotion. It is a good spirit to have.

 

[pjt]

I have just read this entire thread and my heart just aches for those suffering in Japan! I am so sorry you have had to endure such horrible conditions. I want to help but I don't know how. I am praying for you. It might be a silly question, I don't know, but would it be possible to send nonperishables to you and your family? Things you could eat without needing electricity or water? I just want to do something. I will pray that God will bless your efforts and guide you. You are wonderful for wanting to help others! If there is anything I can do/send, please let me know! God Bless you PJT!

Praise, I don`t feel like I am having to endure anything horrible. Actually I feel very grateful to God for what I have. Truly, I am living in luxury compared to the people in shelters.

As for help, I think the best thing you can do is pray for Japan. But if you want to do something material, more than me, I think it is better to help the people hit by the tsunami. They are in a MUCH worse situation than myself. There are 2 Christian ministries in Japan I can recommend that are taking supplies to the tsunami hit areas.
They are CRASH Japan - Love On Japan 2011 or Second Harvest Japan - Home. Both are good ministries but I really like the CRASH Japan ministry because it has a strong focus on sharing God with the people and working with local churches.

 

[Mike]

Pjt, I'm so glad you checked in. There has been a great deal of concern for you, here and in PM's. With everything we're hearing in the news, not knowing what to believe, I guess my concerns started spinning a bit over the top.

Pizzaguy hasn't been around the last few days. He'll be happy to see your post too. I will pray that He keeps you in this place of peace. What's going on around you likely won't, but being centent in all circumstances as Paul was, will be the greater part of the battle.

Be blessed

 

[reba]

What a sweet spirit... Blessing to you PJT

 

[pjt]

Thank you Mike and Reba for your kind comments. I`m sorry to have caused people concern though.

As for not knowing what to believe, I still don`t know either but it doesn`t bother me anymore. I live in a little village town and I hear the ambulance going very frequently now which I did not hear so frequently before, and there are reports of people getting high fevers and vomiting although none of this gets in the news so even though the radiation levels may be in check, I really wonder after the first 2 explosions if some other stuff got in the air that has temporarily affected people`s health. So it is not deadly radiation sickness, but something may have got in the air and caused some minor side effects perhaps. But I am not afraid of it! Through the kind listening ears of each of you I was able to sort out my thoughts and now my mind is solid. I`ve got nothing left to sort out, at least for now ! For now, I am just trying to make life as normal as possible for my children and their friends who pop over during the day, and to think of ways I can help make life a little better for the tsunami victims.

 

[Hitch]

What a sweet spirit... Blessing to you PJT

Yup.

 

[Mike]

What a sweet spirit... Blessing to you PJT

double yup (that's twice as much yup as Hitch )

 

[Pizzaguy]

PJT,

I talked to my son last night, he called from their home near the base. His attitude has not changed, "...it's all way overblown, Dad."

I sure can't remember all that was said, but here is some of it:

Kevin says that the elevated levels are still well below anything dangerous, if you are pregnant or under two years old, there is something to be concerned with, other than that, no.

He was telling me of the 'half-lives' of the contaminants. The iodine's half life is around 3 days, the other major contaminant's half life is around 3 weeks. This means that IF you ingest some of it, since the level is so low, by the time you had been exposed to it for any length of time, it would have ceased to be radioactive.

He says they are drinking the water in Tokyo, that is, he, Yuki and her parents - this is based on Kevin's knowledge and training as a Nuclear/Biological safety officer. He sure had some interesting stories about working with the Japanese "Defense Force", seems the Navy has been crosstraining with them these past few weeks.

But to summarize, he said, "Dad, if I thought there was any real danger, I'd stay on the ship and do my job, and fly Yuki back to Michigan to stay with Grandpa Ken. Since her parents are effectively retired and have money, they could go stay with Grandpa, too. But we aren't doing that, are we? Tell your friend not to be too concerned."

 

[pjt]

PJT,

I talked to my son last night, he called from their home near the base. His attitude has not changed, "...it's all way overblown, Dad."

I sure can't remember all that was said, but here is some of it:

Kevin says that the elevated levels are still well below anything dangerous, if you are pregnant or under two years old, there is something to be concerned with, other than that, no.

He was telling me of the 'half-lives' of the contaminants. The iodine's half life is around 3 days, the other major contaminant's half life is around 3 weeks. This means that IF you ingest some of it, since the level is so low, by the time you had been exposed to it for any length of time, it would have ceased to be radioactive.

He says they are drinking the water in Tokyo, that is, he, Yuki and her parents - this is based on Kevin's knowledge and training as a Nuclear/Biological safety officer. He sure had some interesting stories about working with the Japanese "Defense Force", seems the Navy has been crosstraining with them these past few weeks.

But to summarize, he said, "Dad, if I thought there was any real danger, I'd stay on the ship and do my job, and fly Yuki back to Michigan to stay with Grandpa Ken. Since her parents are effectively retired and have money, they could go stay with Grandpa, too. But we aren't doing that, are we? Tell your friend not to be too concerned."

It is good to hear news like this from your son. Please thank him for me, and I am also drinking/using the tap water now, but not for the same reasons as your son. I`m using it because it`s still too difficult to find bottled water where I am at so I don`t have much choice in the matter. However, I`m not worried about it. In the Mayak disaster children were swimming in and drinking that highly radioactive water but it didn`t kill them. There were severe long term effects that showed up but nothing deadly in the short term so if they can swim in the worst of it, I think I can drink a highly diluted version of it without falling over dead! However, I am a bit skeptical of reports that it is "safe". I don`t think eating, drinking, and breathing small quantities of radioactive material is as healthy as the government is promoting, but that`s just me!

I wonder if your son can explain this though. After almost a month after the plants exploded and now things are getting under control at the plants, America sends a nuclear rescue team to the Yokota base. Why would they send a nuclear rescue team now when basically the explosions are over? They came into Japan wearing gas masks and baggy grey suits and have said they have no intentions of going North near the nuclear site unless they are called on to do an emergency nuclear rescue. The most senior member of their team said "“We’re here to assist and advise the Japanese military and to be a quick reaction force if something really, really bad does happen" I thought that to be a really strange statement. The worst has got to be over with these plants. There`s not much left to explode in any of them. Some people even question if there was a complete meltdown in one. So why would America send a rescue team now? There`s nothing left really bad to happen other than more earthquakes which we continue to have or a volcano could always erupt. But these teams are trained for nuclear rescue not that stuff.

I can imagine Kevin must have some really interesting stories of training with the Japanese. Have you ever seen the Japanese SDF recruitment videos? When you compare it to a US marine recruitment videos it is hilarious.