Rob and Keiko Witmer are United Church overseas personnel in Japan. They stand in witness and provide comfort to those who continue to suffer from the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Their ministry is made possible through your contributions to our mission and service unified fund. Here is an excerpt from a letter received in March 2012 [links to a PDF file].

As people reflect on the past year, they experience complicated emotions. Many will speak of the year as the longest of their lives. After one year, the death toll stands at more than 15,000, the number of people still missing or unaccounted for is more than 3,000, and those unable to return to their homes is more than 340,000.

Emotionally many people are still waiting, hoping for lost family members to come home, for a positive identification of the many bodies that probably will never be identifiable, and waiting for the day when they can return to their homes or begin a new life. However, the same people may speak of the year as having flown by when they think about how little progress has been made.

A year has not been long enough to bring the nuclear accident under control, and although much of the debris has been cleared away, a year has not been long enough to make any final decision about what to do with it. People live from day to day experiencing gratitude and frustration, joy and anger, hope and anxiety, expectation and disappointment.

People in other countries seem impressed by the determination of the Japanese people as they work through this difficult time. Japanese people are impressed by the continuing support they receive.

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