And they're off!

Keeping posts up is hard. Lately I spend my days entirely at CRASH headquarters writing newsflashes and other things, so by the time I get home I'm too tired and brain dead to write blog updates. But I know everyone wants to know how things are going. Just forgive the lack of cohesion among my statements and if I repeat something I said in an earlier post - well, just ignore it.

Things continue to be really intense at the command center but I think we're moving along and each day everyone gets better at what they're doing.
Since we're all volunteers very few of us are actually trained in what we are doing.
I have been mostly focused on writing press releases and getting them posted to the crash website. It's a lot harder than one might think - gathering the news from various team leaders and then putting it in a newspaper-ish format. Since things are so intense here, diverting a leader from their work for even a moment feels like taking vital time away from relief efforts. But it's important to get the news out about what CRASH is doing so that people can see where the needs are and what prayers are being answered.
Today, for instance, some great news, CRASH has been promised 500,000 meals by Feed the Hungry. Our biggest problem now is getting it and other supply donations distributed. We need to raise a ton of money to pour into distribution so that we can get these supplies to where they need to be.

Our first team left at 7:30 this morning, bringing supplies with them, to head up to Sendai. Among them were my friends Erin, Drew, and Megumi. (follow Drew's twitter for up to the minute updates - http://twitter.com/the_goose84) Please keep them in your prayers, they had to drive within 40km of the nuclear reactors in Fukushima; hopefully they are fine, the wind was blowing away from the road toward the ocean so if there were radiated particles in the air, hopefully they weren't near the roads.
The team arrived in Sendai this afternoon and unloaded supplies but I have no other updates other than that it is snowing there. This is not such a good thing obviously, because it makes it much harder to work.

At around 3pm today several of the teams in the command center were moved to a different building so everyone could spread out more and not be so cramped. This was a good idea, but makes some communication between departments difficult. We'll see how tomorrow goes.
Christian Academy in Japan, where we are based at the moment, are being totally awesome in letting us use their space, their internet, and their school laptops for the relief efforts. School is canceled until April 4th so we will continue to be able to use the space til then. After that we'll figure something else out. Since school is cancelled, a lot of their high school students have given their time to help out. They're really awesome people with hearts totally on fire for God. I wish I had been as cool as them when I was 16. My only memories of being 16 are of being rather awkward and still trying to figure out who I was.

Around 4pm we got some news that the group of high-schoolers who went out to Shibuya earlier today had been able to raise around $2000 by asking people for donations. This is completely awesome, not only because it's a large sum of money, but also because people in Tokyo are not normally very open to giving to charity, especially on the street. Also, I have to say, personally I'd be highly unlikely to donate money to a bunch of teens asking for it on the street of a city. Being a skeptical person, I'd be really doubtful of their authenticity. But apparently there were enough un-skeptical and generous people that the fundraising today was a huge success.

Well it's now half past midnight and I have to be up early tomorrow to head in.
I am really so blessed to be able to help out in such a time of crisis. I know a lot of people are feeling really helpless right now, wanting to help out but not having the opportunity. Please just do what you can - pray, donate, and tell others about CRASH so they can donate.

Just another quick note - I see a lot of people still worried about the reactors. And again I have to say that I don't know what to believe since reports seem to be conflicting. BUT whatever happens, I am going to go where God wants me to go. Right now, HERE is where He wants me, and I am so very very sure of this. As long as I can be of help, I am not leaving.