Recent Picture of Rose Avila in Jerusalem

Praise the Lord! Doesn't she look wonderful. It is great to see another picture of Rosie. She is doing great in Israel, and they are ready to start the second semester at CCBC Jerusalem. For those of you who do not know Rosie, she graduated from CCBC last year and is now serving on staff there in Jerusalem. There are so many things that she is praying about. Please keep her in your prayers, especially concerning her visa status. She wants to stay long term in Israel, and is willing to do whatever it takes to stay there long term. Pastor Tommy

Aaron Deleon from Osaka

For many of you, you remember and know Aaron personally. But for those who do not, Aaron is originally sent out from CCMontebello, Pastor Pancho's Church. Aaron has been serving in Japan over 2 years. He is presently serving the Lord in Osaka Japan, which is about 8 hours away North from Tokyo. As I spoke with him at the conference, he is excited and blessed to be in Osaka. Osaka is equivilent to New York city in the USA. In Osaka, things are fast pace to the max, in Aaron's own words "imagine getting out of a Dodgers game in LA, and traveling to your car", that is the way Osaka is 24/7, fast pace with tons of people. Continue to pray for Aaron, he is serving the Lord, and loving it. Tim Newell is planning a missions trip in the next few months to Osaka, so continue to pray that it comes together perfectly in God's timing. Pastor Tommy

Prayerful, future home of CCTokorozawa

The Lord has put this building in the heart of Travis Takiyama, Pastor of CCTokorozawa. Please join us in prayer that if it is the Lord's will, that the church will be able to move into this building. This past Sunday, January 30th, 2005, we had the opportunity of fellowshiping with the body there in Tokorozawa,and they are busting at the seams in their small building. It would be such a blessing for the body to move into a bigger facility. So, keep them in your prayers. Pastor Tommy

Some of the Pastor's at the CCJapan Conference

Calvary Chapel Pastor's Leader's Conference 2005

Starting January 28th 2005 begins the CCJapan Pastor's Leadership Conference in Tokyo. We arrived the day before it starts, to get ready for a wonderful weekend of being refreshed and encouraged in the Word of God. We were blessed this year to bring not only Pastor Rick and his wife Christy, but also Pastor Masaru, Keiko his wife, Pastor Tommy and his wife Joanna, but also, Yumi, Yoko, and Takako all from CCOkinawa. We have started a Yahoo photo album for this weekends conference, so if you would like to see what is going on, click on the link, and we will do our best to post pictures daily. God bless you all and keep the conference in your Prayers. Check the link http://photos.yahoo.com/ccjapanconference05 . Pastor Tommy

Praise God! The wait is over!

We are so blessed to finally have a picture of Dylan and Anabel's baby, Ethan Caleb Grajeda Smith. Whew! A long name for a cute baby. George Sedota and his wife Patty, had the opportunity to go up to Watsonville and visit with this couple for a few day, so they took these pictures. You can turn to their site and check out more picts. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bigdota/my_photos If you do not know, Dylan and Anabel Smith have been in Watsonville California for over a year now and Dylan pastor's a new Calvary Chapel work in the area called Calvary Chapel Watsonville. Dylan was an assistant pastor at CCLivingwater for many years. But the Lord called him out to start a new work up north. Now, God has blessed this couple with a new addition, baby Ethan. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to be faithful in the work that God has called them to do. Pastor Tommy

David Downs in Hungary!

Is this the coolest picture or what? It is a blessing to hear from our brother Dave. In his last email to me, he states that he is doing fine. He is seeking the Lord everyday for direction and loving it. He begins his last semester at CCBC Hungary, so keep him in your prayers. He is going to be totally busy. When you get a chance turn to http://photos.yahoo.com/daviddowns1 and check out his picts, and view them as a slide show. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy

Farah and Glenn are having another baby!

You heard it here first! Yes, Farah is going to have another child. This will be number 3, and they are excited. What a blessing for them. I spoke with Farah today after church and she said that she is doing fine. Just a little morning sickness, but nothing bad. Praise the Lord! Remember to keep them in your prayers as they continue to seek the Lord daily. Pray for Caleb and Jonah. I wonder what Glenn wants, another boy or a girl? When you get a chance, email them. Glenn's email address is gphipps1@hotmail.com Or you can send them a message by clicking below, and leaving them a comment. Love, Pastor Tommy

Mike Silva is back!

Back from Iraq! Mike has been in Iraq for 7 months and boy is it good to have him back. (How about those rhymes?) But in all seriousness, it is really good to have him with us again. Mike is a blessing here in Okinawa, and he is ready to get right into the thick of things. Starting Tuesday he and his wonderful wife Sonya, are taking the Genesis class that Glenn Phipps is teaching. Next Sunday morning he will be teaching here at CCOkinawa, for the Sunday morning services. Pastor Rick, Christy, Joanna, I and a handful of others will be heading to the CCTokyo Pastor's and leaders conference. I will send up some blogs next week, so you can see how the conference went. But in the mean time, continue to pray for Mike and Sonya. Mike will be out of the Marine Corps in 7 months. They are praying and seeking the Lord for their next step of faith. Pastor Tommy

GoGo Eigo house almost completed

Hi everyone! We just wanted to drop this pict to all of you and show you how much progress is going on with the Gogo Eigo building. As you can see, it is almost completed. When you get a chance, search our archives and see what this building looked like before we began the construction. (It is under, Pray for direction-December 3, 2004). The exterior is almost done, but the main things is still missing. Can you see what it is? If you said the roof you are right. We still need to finish off the roof, that is something we would appreciate you praying for. We are not sure what kind of roof we should put on. You cannot put shingles in Okinawa. The Typhoon's will blow them off. So we either have to put tile (it will be real heavy) or we will put this kind of galvanized corrugated stuff. But we are still in prayer about it. Please join us in prayer as we decide the finishing touches. We still need to put up new screens on the window, add A/C, carpet, chairs etc. But it is coming together, Praise the Lord!

Incredible picture off East China Sea

This is the view that we have from OCSI. I was heading to my car on Friday afternoon, and I just had to get this shot. Shortly after I took this pic, the clouds closed up and the shot was gone. In the back ground you can see an Island to the right of the picture, that is Tokashiki Island, that boasts one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. I have been on that island a few times for youth camps and the beaches there are just breathtaking. Pastor Tommy

Kite day at OCSI

Friday January 21st was Kite Day at Okinawa Christian School International. All of the elementary students brought kites to school, and they had the opportunity to fly them. It was a fun time. My Bible class was asked to take a class period off and help the kids get their kites airborne. I have not flown a kite in years, the last time was with Zach, and we were living in Norco in the beginning years of pastoring at CCLivingwater. But this day, Zach and I were both helping young students get in the air. You take for granted things in life, like I thought everyone knew how to fly a kite, but kids need to be taught. It was kind of funny, seeing them run all over to get it in the air, but then we just told them to stay still and let the string out, and we would throw it up in the air, and the wind would catch it, and it would fly up. The kids had a blast, and so did we. To tell you the truth, it made me think way back, to when I was a kid, and the first time Zach and I flew a kite together. This might seem kind of corny but, life is like this with the Lord, we all want to fly high, so we run all over the place trying to fly, but all God wants us to do is let the string out, trust Him, and the wind of His Spirit will catch us, and then, our life will really take off! Love, Pastor Tommy

Glenn Phipps teaches at CCBC Okinawa

We are totally blessed to have Glenn teaching at CCBC. Kumason (lovingly know as Mr. Bear)has been a Christian now for 6 years. Saved back in California while he was still attending College and working as a waiter on the Pier in Newport beach. A few years ago he received the call from the Lord to pack up his family and move to Okinawa Japan. When he arrived in Okinawa he taught at OCSI, but then heard the call of God into full time ministry at CCOkinawa under the leadership of Rick Barnett. To see Glenn step out in faith teaching at the Bible College is truly a blessing. He is presently teaching the course on Genesis, knowing by God's grace he can "do all things with Christ who stengthens him". Pastor Tommy

Tim Newell back from Cali straight into classroom

Tim has just returned from California attending the CCMissions conference and CCYouth Conference at Murrieta Hot Springs, and he hit the ground running. He arrived in Okinawa Monday afternoon and was teaching his class at CCBC on Tuesday night. Tim has been actively learning the Japanese language and culture from the beginning when he arrived on Island 3 years ago. He has been blessed by God understanding the Japanese language. He will not admit it, but he can read and write Japanese great. He can even speak some of the Okinawa dialect "hogan" with his close friends. We are blessed to have Tim teaching the course, conversational Japanese to us "gaijin" (japanese for americans). Tim has been a believer for 4 years, receiving Christ while still in school at Norco High in California. Shortly after graduation, he followed the calling of God in the missions field to American Samoa where he did a short trip followed by another trip to Hawaii. After these missions trip, he was bit with the bug to go longer on the missions field. He was invited to serve in Okinawa during the beginnings of CCOkinawa and has been here ever since. Continue to pray for Tim as he serves the Lord here, and trusts in the leading of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Tommy

Guitar class springs up at CCBC

Another class we offer this quarter at CCBC is a class on Worship. Pastor Tommy has had the opportunity to teach this course while pastoring at CCLivingwater in Corona California. A few days before the class began Damien Velarde (we will talk about him in a few moments, he is standing in the back of the picture holding the guitar) asked if he could teach a class on basic guitar after the worship class. We welcomed the opportunity for him to serve in this area. Word got out, and after the first class, these students had their guitars ready. I am sure that more will be attending and Damien will have his hands full. I sat in on this class, he is a great teacher, he has allot of patience, and the students are picking up fast.
Damien has attended CCOkinawa for about a year. He is in the Navy serving as a Radiology Technician, and before serving in Okinawa, he was in Sicily, Italy for 3 years. He truly has a heart for Sicily, and wants to return there in a few years and start a new Calvary Chapel. Please continue to pray for him and his lovely wife Sandra, and their 2 kids, Hannah (2) and Micah (1).

OCSI sends relief packages to Tsunami victims

The students at Okinawa Christian School are sending small relief packages for the victims and aid workers hit in the Tsunami areas of Asia. Some of the Marines that are located in Okinawa are being sent to the hard hit areas of Asia. These packages will be sent along with them to help in the relief efforts. The students are collecting items such as soap, toothpaste, tookbrushes, wash cloths, combs etc. Each packet will contain on of these items. The students here will not be able to be there physically, but they want to do all they can to help. Please continue to pray for the people hit hard in these areas, the churches in Asia, the Marines being sent, and also the aid workers who are serving in these countries.

Harvest time in Okinawa

Hannah Ruiz is standing near the sugar cane that is being harvested in Okinawa. At this time of the year all the cane fields are being cut down and sent to the cooking mills. It is amazing to the guys doing this by hand. The tractors cut them down, but they are bundled by the farmers. During this time of the year it is so cold in Okinawa. Being here mostly in the summer months, I never thought that it would be so cold. We wear jackets all the time now, and soon it will be cherry blossom time. When they bloom I will make sure to post you all some pictures. Love, Pastor Tommy

Beautiful Picture at Toguchi beach

During J term in Okinawa (J term stands for January term, which is a short 4 week school session for the students) I was needed by the Oceanography teacher to drive the students down to the beach for thier reef walk. Toguchi beach is about 7 minutes from OCSI. The skys were clearing up, but it was still cold. I shot this pictures to show you how beautiful this beach is. Last year CCOkinawa had a baptism at this beach. There is only one thing wrong with this pict, there are NO WAVES! It was a flat but beautiful day.

The team is back in Okinawa

Thank you for all of your prayers and love for the team that was in California. We want to thank all of our Church family for hosting the team. They were totally blessed by the love and support of Calvary Chapel Livingwater. We also want to thank all the Church's for allowing us to come and minister to their congregations. Please continue to pray for us, as we prepare to step out again in faith. We have another missions team ready to do ministy in the Philippines on Feb. 8th - 19th. If you would like to check out all of our pictures from the California trip, you can turn to http://photos.yahoo.com/e3missions. God bless you all. Pastor Tommy

Zach Ruiz's 15th Birthday

Can you believe it. Zach is 15 years old. He is the taller one, the smaller one is my other son Asa who always wants to be in the pictures. Please continue to pray for Zach as he seeks the Lord one day at a time. He wants to learn the Okinawan Guitar, the "Sanshin" so please pray for him. We love you all and Zach says "what's up".