Contact: Bill Bray, Christian Aid Mission, 434-227-0811, bill@christianaid.org

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 18, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Christian Aid relief coordinator for Japan is calling Americans to pray and collect aid in Sunday services for the Fukusima families who lost loved ones in last week's killer quake.

Christian Aid Mission is sending the aid to Japanese believers working among residents evacuated from the nuclear reactor town on the northeastern coast of Japan. Fukusima is located just below the epicenter of the quake near Sendai.

"This weekend, the emphasis should be on prayer in our churches and collecting a special emergency offering," says Stephen Van Valkenburg, the overseas director in charge of disbursements to Japanese pastors and missionaries who are delivering relief on the ground.

Contributions for the suffering survivors may be made to Christian Aid Mission and designated to Japan Disaster Relief, gift code 850DIS. Credit card donations may be made online at www.ChristianAid.org or by calling 800-977-5650.

"Your contributions to Christian Aid will be sent directly to strategic indigenous ministries in Japan that are meeting basic needs and planning for the future," says Van Valkenburg. "Gifts are not sent through a bureaucracy or to pay for overhead, but go directly to Japanese Christian missionaries who are already physically there on the disaster scene. They are with the suffering people, reaching out to the survivors in word and deed -- in the name of Christ, the one who loves and cares for them in this time of tragedy."

Van Valkenburg listed three requests for prayer:

• Pray for the families who are burying their dead or still searching for lost loved ones. 50-60 are still missing from one of the four chapels in Fukusima. When people face the death of loved ones and the loss of all their earthly possessions, their hearts are laid bare. Christians need the strength to face their trials and then the ability to reach out to those around them.
   
• Pray for believers to be used by the Lord to personally pray for the hurting ones around them. If a Buddhist and a Christian believer are together in a shelter, the believer needs special grace from the Lord to show hope.
   
• Pray that the authorities will get the nuclear plants under control and that these problems will turn the hearts of many in that nation to cry out to God.

"These believers need our help to reach out to the suffering in the name of Christ," says Van Valkenburg.

"Christian Aid is sending financial assistance to provide basic needs and to give Christians the resources to reach out to the unbelievers around them. At this critical time, the Japanese people are seeking answers and looking for hope. With Christian Aid's help, local believers are able to provide comfort, encouragement and hope through Jesus Christ.

"As physical needs are met through generous gifts sent from all over the world, there is a still special role that Christians have in enabling Japanese believers to show their fellow countrymen how to have peace with God. In times of crisis, the needs of the spirit are always far deeper than the physical needs. "Japan has been resistant to the gospel. Pray that God will pour His love upon these people and they will come to know a love that is deeper than their present sorrow."

Pastors and church group leaders who want to send an offering by mail should forward funds to Christian Aid Mission, P.O. Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906. Checks should be designated to gift code 850IDS, Japan Disaster Relief.

ABOUT CHRISTIAN AID: Founded by Bob Finley in 1953, Christian Aid is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. It links American churches and mission-minded individuals to indigenous missions in 122 countries. Today it sends help to more than 800 native mission ministries that deploy over 80,000 missionary workers serving the Lord among 3000 tribes, tongues and nations. Visit online at www.ChristianAid.org or call 434-977-5650 for more information.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Bill Bray, Media Relations Coordinator, is available to arrange interviews and news updates on a round the clock basis during the Japan Disaster Relief crisis. His cell phone is 434-227-0811 or email bill@christianaid.org.