Esther 4:14 (AMP)
"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but...who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?"
That verse really makes me think...and I want to replace the words Jews with JAPANESE, because they're just as important to God, and I can tell something is moving here, but it requires Christians being attentive to what's being put on their hearts.
But moving on, here are the things that've brightened my day along with a few updates that I'm assuming haven't reached (or just aren't being shared) overseas:
RADIATION LEVELS GOING DOWN IN SEA WATER
I know a big concern has been about the amount of radioactive material being released into the ocean around the plant, and as of yesterday reports say the levels are going down. Actually, the materials aren't being DUMPED into the sea, as the drainage pipes coming out from the plant actually end 50-70 yards away from the ocean. But the concerns have been coming based on rainfall washing the elements into the sea, as well as from spill out of contaminated water from the plant. The reservoirs within the plant are filling because a couple of the water coolant machines still aren't working (radiation levels are still too high in reactor No. 1 for staff to reconnect it), so the government has been pouring water over the top via helicopter, but of course there's only SO much water the place can hold before it becomes full.
A big problem right after the earthquake/tsunami hit the plant was that power went out, and has still been limited to the Fukushima area, so for example the lights in the control rooms at the plant weren't working. So it's not that staff wasn't working on the situation, but issues like that work making work go a LOT slower. Also, there were over 800 workers at the plant managing reactor No. 2, but all but 50 left for several days because of the high radiation levels (aka the remaining staff could only take 2 hour shifts, otherwise they'd have too much radiation overdose). But I'm happy about the figures being released for the current situation in the surrounding ocean, since they're going down...not that investigators can even prove the radioactive leaks are coming FROM the plant, as opposed to rain water and whatnot.
Level of Iodine-131 as of:
Saturday 3/26: 1850x normal
Sunday 3/27: 250x normal
Tuesday 3/29: 28x normal
The Wallstreet Journal published a good article on the current situation this morning, so I'd recommend taking a look.
GOVERNMENT TAKING OVER TEPCO
The company that's been in charge of handling the plant situation as well as the electricity redistribution thus far has been TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co), but because of some disputes the government is thinking of taking it over. I think the main reasons are because of TEPCO releasing either really VAGUE information during its updates on the situation or retracting announcements it's made at random, which are both making the public and government very annoyed. The major problem I see is that Japan's government has never been in charge of the nuclear plants nor electricity, so them taking over might not really help, but anyway it's just something being dicussed, not implemented yet. You can read more about it from The Daily Yomiuri's report.
HOW IT'S AFFECTING ME
I guess I haven't really mentioned any personal effects all this has had on me huh. It's altered my daily routine a bit, but not too much. My train schedule is the biggest thing that's messed up I guess. TEPCO has decreased most trains in the Kanto region to working at 60-80% their normal amount, and for my line that means taking out 4 (of 6) of the services. By services I mean 6 types of trains come through my station (express, commuter, local, etc) and the 4 FASTEST have been taken out of service (as they use the most energy), so I have to take the local train (normally 30 minutes) or Commuter Express (normally 24 minutes). Not so big a problem except the amount of those trains hasn't increased, which equals MORE people trying to cram on at once and thus 20-60 minute overall delays because of taking longer to load the trains and stopping from injuries of people being squished, run over by others, etc. And I don't think most people overseas realize, but we have train staff here SPECIFICALLY for the purpose of cramming more people onto trains. Example:
Thanks for the update. It's really good to see your heart in all of this. I, too, feel God has placed you in Japan for such a time as this. All of your commentary and info is good, too. The train loading does not look very fun :(. Love you bunches.
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