At the request of church partners in Japan, Samaritan’s Purse has deployed a disaster response team to the country to assess needs and begin coordination of relief supplies to help people affected by the deadly earthquake and massive tsunami that hit the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11.
The Samaritan’s Purse response team is currently on its way to Tokyo, where Samaritan’s Purse church and community partners have secured a convoy of trucks to carry supplies into Sendai where the supplies will be distributed. The relief supplies include food, water, first aid, blankets and hygiene items. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is partnering with Samaritan’s Purse to provide supplies and assistance.
“In a crisis like this, our primary focus is going to be saving lives and reducing suffering,” says Ken Isaacs, Samaritan’s Purse vice president of projects. For more than 40 years, Samaritan’s Purse has worked in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution.
Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham has conducted evangelistic Festivals in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Okinawa, and already has a network of church partners across Japan. “Please pray for people affected by the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and for Samaritan’s Purse as we respond,” says Graham.
“We’re going to do all that we can to help, and we have got to find the right way to get it done,” says Isaacs, who is traveling with the team to assess damage and determine a response plan. “Everything in Japan right now is in a state of chaos.”
Samaritan’s Purse is an international relief organization that provides immediate, no-red-tape response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations. Most recently, Samaritan’s Purse provided more than $30 million in aid to earthquake and cholera victims in Haiti. Efforts in Haiti are ongoing.
