TOKYO -- A two-member disaster relief assessment team is on the ground in Japan and a second team will follow in a week, Baptist Global Response’s executive director, Jeff Palmer, has announced.

The first team arrived as the estimated death toll from the March 11 earthquake soared past 10,000, and nuclear plant operators worked frantically to keep prevent meltdowns in several reactors crippled by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, according to news reports.

Thousands of survivors are coping with near-freezing temperatures for hundreds of miles along Japan’s northeastern coast, which was wrecked by the one-two punch of earthquake and tsunami.

The first assessment team arrived in Tokyo on March 12 and made contact with a representative of Tokyo Baptist Church, Palmer said.

“Tokyo Baptist Church will provide our first point of contact and partnership for our initial assessment,” Palmer said. “The assessment team will explore links with Japanese Baptists, the Japanese government, and the NGO community. Once the initial assessment is done, we will create a blueprint to guide our relief efforts.”

Once the assessment and blueprint have been completed, BGR expects to move into a broad relief initiative in partnership with churches of the Japan Baptist Convention, Palmer said.

The Japanese government has requested international assistance for the large-scale relief effort, and two U.S. aircraft carrier groups are off Japan's coast, beginning to help deliver food and water, according to new reports. Two U.S. search and rescue teams arrived March 13.

The government, however, has said it does not intend to request large numbers of international volunteers, so the BGR strategy will be designed around partnership initiatives with Japan Baptist churches, Palmer said. Working through those congregations, who have deep ties in their local communities, will ensure the effectiveness of BGR relief efforts. It also guarantees donations will be used efficiently, since a portion of gifts will not have to be diverted to cover overhead expenses.

Search and rescue teams have been buoyed by moments of good news -- like the 60-year-old man whose house was swept out to sea but he clung to the roof for two days until a military vessel spotted him about 10 miles offshore, the Associated Press news service reported. More than 1,400 people are confirmed dead, but a police chief in hard-hit Myagi state said he believes more than 10,000 people were killed there.

Japanese Christians gathered in churches and Bible studies Sunday to pray for those still missing, the Baptist Press news service reported. Teresa Seelen, a Southern Baptist missionary serving in Japan, worshipped with believers who spent the entire service praying for friends and family by name, as well as collecting a love offering for disaster relief.

“Through tears, they called out names and lifted them to God,” Seleen told Baptist Press. “We prayed for courage for the believers to reach out with the Gospel. … It was precious to see the generosity of this small group of believers.”

Another Southern Baptist in Japan, Carlton Walker, quoted a colleague’s sharing her emotions about the tragedy in Japan: "My heart is racing with emotions and thoughts that come. I want to fly to the hard hit areas and minister. I just want to be their hands and feet for whatever they need right now. ... What do you do in times like these but pray and ask for [God’s] guidance?"

Walker added: “All of us around the world can be there in prayer! Although it doesn't make sense in human terms, perhaps the way that most of us can make the most significant contribution for the time being is to pray because the lives of others both physically and spiritually depend on that.”

Walker suggested friends can pray:

-- for survivors, for opportunities to minister, and for God to use the disaster to help people understand his great love for them.;

-- that Christians will know how best to serve the Japanese during this time of crisis, that relief efforts will touch the hearts of people in need;

-- that those who hurt will receive aid and comfort, that all will recognize there is only one Rock who will never be shaken.

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Updates on Baptist Global Response relief efforts can be monitored on Twitter, Facebook, and www.gobgr.org. Donations to help with the disaster response can be made here.