“Prayers like a huge ring on the earth” is what Yamanota Fukuin Church, a Brethren in Christ congregation in Japan envisions by asking churches around the world to join in prayer on March 11, 2012 for victims and survivors and all affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred a year ago.

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0, now named Tohoku, struck the northeast coast of Japan, causing tsunamis of more than 10 metres. Some 20,000 people either perished or have not been found, and more than 23,000 people are still living in rescue camps, reported the letter from the Yamanota Fukuin Church.

The congregation invites others to pray with them for five minutes beginning 11:45 am on Sunday, March 11. “There is a time difference between each country,” noted the letter. “Thus our prayers from 11:45 will turn around the earth in 24 hours in the morning in each country, connecting our prayers like a huge ring on the earth.”

The congregation is a member of Nihon Kirisuto Keiteidan (Brethren in Christ Church of Japan), a Mennonite World Conference member church, and a partner in the East Japan Great Disaster Relief Assistance Committee formed in May 2011 by the Japan Mennonite Fellowship. The prayer request was conveyed to MWC by Takanori Sasaki, chair of the Japan Mennonite Fellowship.

MWC release