Japanese Congressman Ryuichi Doi became emotional as he walked the streets of Sendai for the first time since the tsunami waves devastated the city. There was so much damage, so much destruction. So many people lost their lives. So many people don’t know where to turn for help. “It was such a big disaster,” he said. “But we must have hope. We must overcome. We must overcome.”
Congressman Doi has been instrumental in getting emergency relief supplies from Samaritan’s Purse into the affected area. He personally assisted our team to ensure the immediate issuance of travel permits for emergency access to highways and priority gasoline rations. He also has been a key partner in mobilizing the relief effort through the local church.
As one of the few Christians in the Japanese parliament, he knows the Japanese people need more than physical aid. “This is my responsibility, to tell the people,” he said. “As a Christian, and also as a politician. Let’s start from this. Let’s have hope. We need faith. If we don’t have faith, nobody can have hope. Here in Japan we are a very small group, as Christians in this society. So we must tell them how to have faith. “From this situation, people can live again.”
From http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/people_can_live_again Also an interesting video of him surveying the damage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLILuVFIKyQ&feature=player_embedded#at=22