“But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.”  Psalm 71:14
2011 was a year of exceptional challenge to the nation and people of Japan with three disasters striking at once on March 11th, leaving almost 20,000 people dead or missing.  CRASH Japan immediately sprang into action helping hundreds of churches and international relief organizations respond to the needs of the survivors.  By mobilizing thousands of volunteers safely and effectively we were able to bring both help and hope to Tohoku in their hour of need.  However, as time passed it became very clear that the most important work that Christians could do to help survivors was to bring eternal hope into a hopeless situation.  As the harsh realities of post-disaster life set in our primary goal became suicide prevention.  In the words of one survivor living in temporary housing, “I had considered taking my own life, but you (Christians) keep coming.”  Our teams have stayed with the survivors, visiting regularly and consistently sharing the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Suicide in Japan is an ongoing disaster with a staggering toll of lost lives that far overshadows the disasters of this past year.  For the last 14 years over 30,000 people in Japan have taken their own lives each year.  At CRASH we have been very concerned that an even greater number of people would see suicide as their only option in the midst of all the grief and uncertainty following the disaster.  But yesterday the government released a very encouraging report.  In 2011 the suicide rate in Japan actually dropped by 3.7% to the lowest level in 14 years!  Even the number of suicides in the affected region of Tohoku decreased compared with the previous year.  The peak suicide season of the new year holiday and one year anniversary is not shown in these figures but the numbers are encouraging none the less.  The patient work of running mobile cafe’s in the temporary housing units, holding child trauma camps and delivering hand-made quilts door to door has allowed our volunteers trained in trauma intervention to touch many lives with hope.  It is difficult to measure prevention, things that did not happen, but we believe that the continuous Christian presence in each town and city affected by the disaster for the last nine months has made an incredible difference and has even saved lives.

God Bless You,
Jonathan Wilson

President
CRASHJapan