Japan's Christians celebrate Easter in the midst of disaster

KESENNUMA, MIYAGI, Japan (AP) — This Easter, the story of the resurrection which is a deeply personal message to the small community of Christians in disaster-hit Japan. By Hiro komae, AP

Renka Hashimoto, 7, centrum, and Maika Kakinuma, 8, retrieved Easter eggs in their Baptist church in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Northeast Japan, hard hit by the tsunami. Easter, the story of the resurrection felt very personal for this small Christian community.

By Hiro komae, AP

Renka Hashimoto, 7, centrum, and Maika Kakinuma, 8, retrieved Easter eggs in their Baptist church in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Northeast Japan, hard hit by the tsunami. Easter, the story of the resurrection felt very personal for this small Christian community.

More than six weeks after a huge earthquake and tsunami the northeast coast of the country afflicted, leaving 26,000 is missing or dead, the region is trying to clean up and continue. "When you are confronted with so much death, it really makes you think, "said Junko Chiba, 46. "But there are things that you realize that by suffering. It helps you your blessings, even more than if you lead a comfortable life to understand. "Chiba drove all night from the Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo to join about 20 people to worship and Sunday during Easter services in the Kesennuma Bible Baptist Church. Her family home in nearby Oshima, and she was a regular at the Church during high school.The white wooden church, one of a handful in this devastated fishing village, sits atop a hill. Escaped the physical damage, but its members lost homes, jobs and neighbors.They say they are blessed and believe their suffering has them closer to God. Christians still represent a small minority in Japan — less than 1% of the population by most estimates. Although Christianity centuries-old roots in the country, has struggled to win the religion impetus as it has in neighboring South Korea and China. Japanese society today is largely secular, sprinkled with Shinto and Buddhist rituals depending on the occasion.The disaster is the country's tight-knit Christian community further bound. Groups such as CRASH Japan, short for "Christian emergency aid, help, support and hope," sent teams throughout the North to deliver supplies and clean damaged churches. A Catholic group, Caritas, Japan also mobilized volunteers and money.The Church Pastor Hitotsugu Chiba in Kesennuma acts as a Centre for relief supplies and volunteers, as well as worship. In the weeks following the disaster arrived help from Japan and around the world. Boxes for clothes and toiletries lined the first floor, while Easter eggs and flowers decorated above the main church hall.Believers Sunday were accompanied by four members of a badly damaged sister Church in Ofunato, Iwate, further north. The tsunami there reaches nearly to the ceiling on the first floor.In his sermon challenged the 64-year-old pastor of worshippers to think beyond physical reconstruction to spiritual resurrection. Suffering, he said, could lead to important lessons and insights. "In this life, we are confronted with questions of why," he said. "But everything has a meaning."He acknowledged, however that he was not so eloquently when questioned by his 7-year-old granddaughter. "She asked why a God that was supposed to be friendly would do, "said Chiba, who have no connection with Junko Chiba. "I admit that it was difficult to find the right words."For Kazue Oyama, 52, was literally by Church that they found new life.The tsunami destroyed the first floor of her family home and the shrimp factory where she worked washed away. She and her elderly parents ended at an evacuation shelter. But the Spartan conditions made her sick. She developed a high fever and a cough that wouldn't go away.Pastor Chiba made several visits before you decide that they need more help. A fellow Member of the Church opened a separate room and offered the Oyama and her family. "I'm so blessed, "said Oyama. "I feel really God's great power."

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