Prayer requests for the first week in February

This is a side shot of the new Javahouse. Please continue to pray for us as we begin cleaning up the building and getting it ready for ministry. If you click the button below you can hear our prayer requests for this month. Thank you for all your prayers, they mean everything to us. God bless you, Pastor Tommy

A Miracle Signing

Praise the Lord. What Asa is holding is the rental agreement for the New Ministry House in Ganeko, Ginowan city. We take possession of it tomorrow! This is the reason it is a miracle signing; In Okinawa Japan you cannot rent property unless you are a Japanese Citizen. I have a visa called "Child of a Japanese Citizen" it is the same Visa that Rick Barnett has. But because we are new in the country, it will take a while before we can rent property on our own. We are like Japanese citizens but we cannot vote. So, to rent property you must have a guaranteer. Originally when we spoke to the rental agent, he stated that we needed a guaranteer, I did not think much about it at the time, so when he asked who it would be, we asked if Ayu (Tim's wife) could guarantee for us. They stated no, because of her age. Then we asked if Tim Newell could, because he is her new husband, and they said YES! We were blown away, so we waited to hear from the insurance company who would ok the rental, and they Ok'd everything. We signed the papers today, and tomorrow we get the keys, Praise the Lord! Thank you everyone for praying for us, we look forward to what the Lord will continue to do. We are seeing miracles everyday. Please keep us in your prayers. Love, Pastor Tommy

Ginowan Coffee House

Praise the Lord! God gave us this building to rent! Last week, we looked into renting this building. When we checked it out, we realized that it needs a lot of work. As we spoke to the rental agency, they stated that it has been empty for 2 years. They originally wanted 100,000 yen a month (1,000 dollars) but to make a long story short, we offered them 70,000 yen (700 dollars) and they took it! We filled out some paper work last week, and we are to go in Monday morning and put down the deposit, return Wednesday, and get the keys. We are totally blessed. We believe that God wants us to make it into a coffee ministy house, reaching out to the youth in the neighborhood (there is a large high school across the street) and the local people of Ginowan City. Thank you for all of you who continue to pray for us, and please continue to pray for us, that everything comes together. We want the perfect will of the Lord, so we are walking in faith every step of the way. I will keep you posted on all the developments. Also I will put together a photo album so you can see all the changes step by step. We love you all and thank you for everything from the bottom of our hearts. Love, Pastor Tommy

Ministering at MELT

Now that Christmas break is over, MELT (My English Lunch Time)is back in full swing. Tim is back leading the group and we are supporting him in this ministry. There were a lot of people who came this week. This week Tim taught the group "things that annoy you", so we talked about annoying situations. Talking in movies, the light on when trying to sleep etc. The Scripture reference was to "love our enemies". So it was a good time. Please continue to pray for Tim and the MELT group, that we would reach out with the Love of Jesus Christ.

An Incredible Blessing!

Praise the Lord! We are blown away. Many of you know that we have been praying about starting a Kids Club in our neighborhood, well it has now started. The other day, there were some kids playing in our area, so we invited them to come and be a part of our kids group on Wednesday night. Well, this Wednesday night they showed up. We were so blessed. About 6:40pm we heard some kids talking and Michal said that they were coming. So we got things together quickly as we rejoiced in the Lord. Kayo was translating for me that night, and then Natsuki showed up so we had her join the group upstairs in the Gogo Eigo house to help Joanna. Praise the Lord! Thank you so much for all of you who have been praying for us. Your prayers are priceless, and all of you are a huge part of what the Lord is doing and going to do in Ginowan. If you click on the little picture above, you can see their names and pray for them. Please continue to pray for all of us, as we reachout with the Love of Jesus Christ. Love, Pastor Tommy

Nago Cherry Blossom Festival 2006

Once a year in Japan the Cherry Blossoms bloom. It is an important event in both Mainland Japan and here in Okinawa. The cherry blossoms are the most beautiful flower in all of Japan. The trees bloom in Mainland Japan later this year, but for here in Okinawa they are in season now. So, we took a trip up to Nago city and visited Cherry Blossom park. We had a great day off. If you would like to see more pictures please click onto http://photos.yahoo.com/okinawacherryblossom2006 . Oh yeah, we also had lunch at a famous soba shop in Nago city and had soki soba (spare rib soba), it was awesome. Check out the picts.

Second week in Ginowan

We continue on in Ginowan. Hey that rhymns. But really, we are blessed to have the opportunity to continue sharing the Love of Jesus Christ in this part of Okinawa. We had a wonderful Sunday morning as well as a great Sunday evening w2 (Worship/Word) service. On Sunday morning we are studying through the Book of John. Our focus of the chapter this week was the calling of the first 4 disciples. They were average people just like you and me, and God called them to change the world. Please continue to pray for us as we proclaim the beautiful message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Kids club in Ginowan

We have a special prayer request for you. The Lord has been speaking to our hearts about starting a kids club in our neighborhood. So, last week Segmon made a flier with a huge help from Tim and Ayu Newell. So, monday afternoon, evening, I was putting Asa down for a nap and I heard kids playing outside. Normally you do not hear alot of kid noise (only Asa) so it caught my attention. I went outside, went around the corner but did not see anyone. So, I went back inside, then I heard kids playing again and went outside, but went the opposite way. I saw a small group of kids playing on their bikes. I went inside, copied a few fliers, took Hannah and Michal with me, and we started talking to the kids and invited them to come over this Wednesday night at 7pm for the kids club. They sounded real interested, so we talked to them for some time, and invited them to see our house, where the club will be. They came and I introduced them to Joanna, Rob and Segmon. Again, they are real interested. Will you please pray for us that they will come this week and also invite their friends. We would totally be blessed to be able to minister to the kids in Ginowan city. God bless you, Pastor Tommy

An incredible day of ministry

At the end of this day, I was just reflecting on the great day of ministry that the Lord gave us. Our day really started Friday evening. Segmon, Rob, Zach and Hannah headed out to Youth group and Joanna and I spent the evening with people coming over and spending time in prayer. We got to bed late that night and got up early Saturday morning. Saturday morning the guys and I led worship at CCOkinawa at the men's video conference (men gathered to watch the conference held in Anaheim California). We left early because we were invited to Okinawa University to meet with some students, eat lunch and spend time talking to them in english. We headed home and regrouped, then went out to the Pallman's Birthday party for Emily their daughter. After that, we had an outreach at Naha Justco. God gave us a fruitful day. We were so blessed.

Naha Outreach

Saturday night we headed out to the south end of Okinawa to Naha City. There was a birthday party for the Pallman's little girl Emi. We had a fun time fellowshipping with a bunch of Christians. Afterwards, a group of us headed out to Justco Naha and did a little outreach. We sang on the street corner, passed out tracts and Bibles and did some one on one sharing the Gospel. Segmon had a great time. He stated that he wanted to talk to people and not just give them a tract, so he did. People came over and sat near us and listened to the music. At that point some of us went and talked to them. Almost everyone took one of our tracts and if they were interested, we gave them a Bible. Segmon and Natsuki talked to a man who is interested in attending CC Naha. We were blessed that God gave us open opportunities to share His love in a short time that we were there. At the end, as we were wrapping things up, it began to rain. Thank you Lord for holding back the rain for us.

Midweek Service

This past Wednesday night, we had a great midweek service. We had some new people come. Some of you remember Asuka Asato. She stayed with us in our home in California for a few months in 2001. It is always a blessing to see her. Rob led worship that night and the Holy Spirit really touched our hearts.

Thank you for all your prayers

Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. I was training with the guys Thursday morning and I got a concussion. When you get a chance, please click the audioblog below and hear a message from me. God bless you, Pastor Tommy

Tamiko's Birthday !

Thursday evening we celebrated Tamiko's Birthday by heading out to Kadena Airforce base and bowled the night away. It was a real blessing. We also invited the Japanese group, and they had a blast. Please click the comment button below and leave Tamiko an encouraging Birthday greeting. God bless you, Pastor Tommy

Sunday morning in Ginowan

We were so blessed this Sunday morning. We held our first service in Ginowan city and the Lord brought some people. As many of you well know, our heart is to minister to the Japanese people in our area, and some people came. Kayo translated for us that morning and Rob, Hannah and I led worship. On Sunday mornings we will be teaching out of the book of John. After the message I gave an invitation for those who would like to recieve Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I felt the Spirit of God leading me to give the invitation, the message just went in that direction. To my knowledge no one at that time reponded openly to Jesus. But later that evening the Lord did a wonderful work. One of the gals who came is Kumiko. She has been studying English with us for the last 8 months. She attended that morning service. Later that evening she went out with Yumi, to the sea wall, and Yumi led her to Jesus Christ. It was the first time that Kumiko has ever asked Jesus into her heart. The Lord began speaking to her Sunday morning and the seed was planted in her heart. Later that night, Yumi was blessed by leading her to Jesus. Praise the Lord! Please continue to pray for Kumiko, as she has been emailing Yumi stating that she wants to continue to grow in Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for us, that God will continue to use us in this area of the city. Pastor Tommy

This weeks prayer requests

God bless everyone! Last night we held out first Wednesday night Biblestudy here in Ginowan. It was a blessing that Mana was here and later her mother and brother arrived. Please keep us in your prayers, as we begin this new venture of faith. Please click the audio button below to hear this weeks prayer requests.

Olga Robertson and Frank Drowns

These are some cool pictures that we took at the CCMissions conference. In the picture above is Olga Robertson in the middle. Olga has been a missionary in the Philippines for over 39 years. She lives in the hardest prison in Manila, ministering to the inmates on death row. She is featured in the book "Heros" written by Harold Sala. Incredible testamony too long to write at this time.
On the bottom picture is Mr. and Mrs. Frank Drowns. He was the guest speaker this year at the conference. Mr. Drowns was a missionary in South America for over 37 years ministering to the different tribes. He was one of the friends of Jim Elliot, and in fact, he was the one sent in to recover the bodies of the missionaries who were killed. Frank, is featured in the movie "beyond the gates of Splendor", an incredible movie about the life of Jim Elliot and those who were killed in South America. Mr. Drowns was a great speaker, challenging us to go into the farthest parts of the world spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. He also challenged us as parents to send our children out and not to be concerned about money and education, but putting the Great Commission first and formost in the front of our lives. When you get a chance, click onto http://www.calvarychapel.com and listen to the conference sessions online, you will be totally blessed.

Zachariah's 16th Birthday!

Today we celebrated Zach's birthday with an all day event. We started the afternoon by taking him out to "King Kong Yakiniku". As you can see in the bottom right of the pictures there is a life size statue of King Kong himself. On the upper right hand side you see Zach eating at the table. It is really good food. You get together with friends and there is a grill in the middle of the table where everyone cooks their own food. The best part about it, is that it is "all you can eat". Well, later on in the evening we gathered at our house, and some people came over and Joanna baked Zach a cake. Pictured above to the left is Kodai, Kayo, Mana, Kumiko, and Joanna. We had a wonderful night. When you get a chance, click the comment button below and leave Zach a birthday greeting.

Audio blog "Back in Okinawa"

Hi everyone! We are now back in Okinawa, and we have recorded this short audioblog. So when you get a chance, please click the button below.

Bloggin in Taipai

Waiting for our last leg of the trip Hannah and I jumped on the computers. We have enough airline miles that allows us to use China Airlines computers. So, we started emailing, and I started bloggin. Again, we are in Taipai, Taiwan now, and we will be back in Okinawa soon. We love you all. Thank you so much, family and Church family, back in California for all of your love and support. Thank you!, all of you who joined with me in ministry while were were back in the States. Keep your eyes on Jesus, occupy until He comes, and let's joyfully continue to share the Love of Jesus with the rest of the world. Love, Pastor Tommy

Flying back from California

The plane trip back to Okinawa went well. We flew over 15 hours. We left LAX and headed to Alaska, which took 4.5 hours. Then after a brief 1.5 hour layover, we headed from there to Taiwan, a 10.5 hour flight. Suprisingly Asa did well, Itsuki slept most of the way, and the rest of the kids did great.

Ministry at CCLaHabra's Singles Biblestudy

Friday night the 6th of January, we had the opportunity to lead worship and teach at CCLaHabra. Mike the Single's Pastor invited us out to come and minister. We had such a blast being with the group there in LaHabra. We also brought a group from CCLivingwater to help in Ministry. Pictured in the center starting from left to right is; Pastor Tommy, Eli Jennings, Monique Salazar on gymbe, Melisa Joyce, and Itsuki Kudaka. This was our last ministry outreach before we headed home to Okinawa.