New signs for the Coffeehouse

A company down the street is preparing the signs for the Koinonia Cafe. They are looking pretty good. Tim Newell designed them. Yesterday we recieved the commercial coffee brewer from California, and now we are waiting for the espresso machine. Please keep us in your prayers, we are trying to locate a refrigerator for the kitchen, and then, we will be on our way.

English lessons at Okinawa College

Today we had the opportunity to teach english at M.E.L.T. (my english lunch time) and after that we headed up to Jason's work and helped him with his english classes. We had a good time just talking to the students, getting to know them. There truly is a need to share the Love of Jesus Christ with the people here in Okinawa. Jesus loves people, and that is who we need to be talking to. Wherever we go, just shining the Love of Jesus.

The CCLivingwater Youth House!

The guys at Livingwater are at it again, doing some great stuff. Leave it up to Jon Horne and Royce Rull to come up with some cool ideas. The Youth have transformed the Coffeehouse at Livingwater to a sweet Youthhouse! Go for it guys, let the Lord lead and guide you in different ways to reach the young people of your generation. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy

Part II Samurai Tug-O-War

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Hi everyone, we are just having some fun uploading these videos. Rememeber, this is just fun stuff here at e3missions. We hope you enjoy part II of "Samurai Tug-O-War.

Worship at CCWilliamsburg

This is a picture of the worship team at CCWilliamsburg. Patrick and his brother Matthew (Dejembe player) lead worship with a few other guys at the church. Both of these guys are busy doing other ministries like their skate shop outreach on Friday nights. Please continue to pray for these cool dudes as they follow Jesus Christ. Hey, Patrick and Matthew, keep serving Jesus Hommies.

Sunday morning service in Ginowan City

God has opened some new doors for us and we are totally blessed. On Easter we rented the Ginowan city town hall, and after the service we asked the director of the building if we could continue to rent the auditorium weekly and he said yes. So for now we will be holding Sunday morning service here at the town hall. Please continue to pray for us that the Lord would continue to give us direction, and bring new Japanese Okinawan people to the Church.

Hey, it's Joanna's Birthday

Joanna is one year older today. Last night we had a surprise Birthday party for her at Koinonia Cafe. She told me that she did not want a party this year, but some of the gals said that they wanted to do something for her, so, we had a blast!
Every Sunday night we have w2 (Worship/Word) at the Koinonia Cafe. This week was really interesting. Like always everyone stays late and fellowships, but last night we had a lot of visitors from off the street. An older gentleman wanted to know what we were doing so we invited him in and he stayed and talked with Trevor a long time about the Lord. He was not a Christian, but he knew much about Him. Then later that night, a young skater came by and Rob talked to him. Then about that same time a young man was riding his bike and we invited him in. He stayed for a long time, and the guys began to share Jesus with him. He was going through some difficult times and we shared about the Love of Jesus Christ. He knew nothing about God, and as we continued to share with him and talk, we asked him if he would like to invite Jesus into his heart. He said Yes! So we led him in a prayer of asking Jesus into his life. We were so blessed, it was awesome. About that same time, a lady came by and asked what this building was all about. We told her, and then she said that we should use it to share Jesus with people. It was such a confirmation for us. She was a Japanese believer and was blessed that we were in her neighborhood. So many great things happened that night. Please continue to pray for us that we would be a light in the Ginowan area. Pastor Tommy

A new video on e3missions

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Hi everyone! Segmon Joyce created this video the other day. It reflects some of the ministries that the guys are involved in. Just a small note; it has been such a blessing to have these guys out here helping in ministry. Thank you Pastor Jerry and Pastor Cisco, for encouraging these guys to take a step of faith and come out here and minister. I hope you like the latest Segmon creation, drop an encouraging word to both Vunder and Seg when you get a chance. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy

Another beautiful baby!

Praise the Lord! Regin and Beth Rodriguez had there first child on Easter Morning. Raine Rodriguez, sounds so beautiful. Some of you might know Regin and Beth, they both teach at OCSI. I have had the privilege of being on a missions trip with Regin to the Philippines. They are both such a wonderful couple. Please continue to pray for them, as they faithful serve the Lord here in Okinawa.

Farewell Kayla

It's a bummer. Kayla Silva is leaving Okinawa to head back to Iwakuni, mainland Japan. We had a blast with her staying in the Ruiz house. But now she goes back to sanity (the Ruiz house gets wild, for those of you who know Asa). Thanks again Sonya and Mike for allowing her to spend the time with us. We will really miss you Kayla. Love, the Ruiz family, Vunder and Segmon

A new Arrival

Fia (Fiafia Cleary Liaga) arrived on Saturday April 15th at 6:48 am, weighing in at 7lb and 02 oz and she was 20.7 inches long. Like how Moses wrote down the starting point of the journey of Israel by the command of the Lord (Numbers 33:2) we want to acknowledge God's hand in starting out Fia's life here on earth.
This is the scripture the Lord gave us when Fia was still in Mom's womb. Psalm 139: 16-17 - Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Love
Pule, Colleen and Fia Liaga

A new video on e3missions

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Hi everyone! We just put up this new video on e3missions. The guys had a fun Easter afternoon the other day. They did some entertainment for the company that Tim Newell is employed by. Cast your vote by clicking the comment button below and tell us what you think. Come on guys, write an encouraging comment for the boys. Pastor Tommy

Beach season opens in Okinawa

Saturday was the official day to kick off the opening of the beach season in Okinawa. In Ginowan city they lit up the sky with fireworks for almost an hour! Monday is our day off, so we ventured down to Tropical beach to check out the water. There was only one problem, the weather is still cold. It is really peculiar this year in Okinawa. Usually it is already hot and we start to use our A/C units, but like I already stated, it is still cold. It was low tide, so we checked out the tide pools. Hannah is holding a blue starfish, and above to your right, we took pictures of the beautiful tropical fish.

Easter Service in Ginowan

Easter Service in Japan! What a blessing to have the opportunity to share with the Okinawan Japanese people. God opened the door for us to meet at the Ginowan Town Center. So we rented the small auditorium, a children's room, and the kitchen for an Easter luncheon. After the service and lunch, we had an American Easter egg hunt. For many of the egg hunters, this was their first time. Later that afternoon people came over our house and we introduced them to our Mexican heritage side; Joanna made confetti eggs, some of you might remember what that is. You save the egg shells and fill them with confetti, then you break them over peoples heads! It is a lot of fun, especially when people think that they are filled with egg yoke! We were blessed to share the love of Jesus, this Easter season.

Naru wins RC Racing, drifting tournament

Naru attends the church in Ginowan and recently he entered a tournament for racing battery operated drifing racecars. He did a great job and won 1st place. Congradulations Naru for a good job!

Evening Good Friday Service

Friday night we gathered at the Koinonia Cafe for dinner and the Good Friday Service. We met at 6pm and ate lots of curry, rice and chicken stew (Ayu Newell is a great cook). Afterwards we saw the Passion of the Christ, and Tim Newell gave an Altar call message. We were so blessed, a few of the people who were there gave their hearts to Jesus Christ. Many of the Japanese Okinawan people have never truly heard about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After the movie, Tim took time to explain God's love for us His people, and they responded. For many, it was a time to plant seeds in their hearts.

We were so blown away. Many people showed up. The Cafe was packed! There were not any more seats open and some of us had to sit out side and watch. That was ok, because you really did not have to hear the movie to understand the message. Also, we showed the movie with Japanese subtitles, so they would understand everything. I was personally blown away, because I thought "2 months ago, this building was a dump" and now the Lord has it filled with people learning about the love of Jesus. God willing, this is just the start. We want to reach the whole Island and bring the Love of Jesus Christ to the Okinawan Japanese people. Please continue to pray for us, that the Lord would continue to lead and guide us, giving us fresh vision for His glory.

Okinawan Ramen Shop

Yesterday we had a 12 noon prayer and praise time for Good Friday. After our time with with the Lord, Jason told us about this Okinawan Ramen Shop. Well, we are always looking for a new place to eat, so we all went. It was really good. They not only brought us the Ramen, but we also ordered the lunch set for 100 yen more (1.00 dollar). It came with rice, seaweed, and tofu beef. We all chowed down. Oh yeah, they also gave us daikon (Japanese radish), lots of bean sprouts (in a chili sauce) and don't forget the whole and crushed garlic. The garlic might not sound that good, but it was delicious.

Decorating for Easter

The other day, the gals got together (and Asa) and dyed some eggs for our Easter Celebration this Sunday morning. It was fun because Joanna had some of her students help her (not pictured) For many of the kids it was the first time they had ever dyed eggs. I thought about it, and we take some of the fun things that we do in the states for granted. All my life I have colored eggs for Easter, and for some of these kids, they have never heard of doing this before. Well, it was so fun for them all. Please continue to pray for us, we are hoping that many of these kids will show up and we will have a great Easter Celebration with them all.

w2 at the Koinonia Cafe

We had a great time at the Cafe tonight. We gathered for a time of worship and the Word. After the message that Dan Pallman taught, we had a little afterglow, just allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts. It is such a blessing gathering with the Body of Christ.

Sunday morning in Ginowan

God has blessed us with some wonderful translators. Some of you might remember Jason Arbogast (e3missions Korea trip), this is a picture of his wife Kaori. She does a great job translating the messages from English to Japanese. It is such an honor to teach the Word of God in Okinawa. Please continue to pray for us, as we prepare for this Easter weekend. We will be having a Good Friday service at the Coffeehouse showing the "Passion of the Christ", and then, Sunday morning we will be having Easter Service at the Ginowan town community center. Love, Pastor Tommy

Koinonia Cafe

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We uploaded a little video on the Koinonia Cafe here in Okinawa. God is really bringing it together. We hope that you will like the video. (click it above) Please continue to pray for us, the work for Jesus is just beginning. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy

Kayla back in Okinawa

We are so blessed here in Okinawa. Kayla Silva (Mike Silva's daughter) is staying with us for a few weeks. Well, not the whole time, she is heading out to a spring break retreat that Kadena Airforce Base hosts called "Shorebreak". She will be at camp for about a week. After that, she will be hanging out with us for the rest of the time. Some of you might remember Mike, he is in Mainland Japan in the city of Iwakuni starting a new church plant. Again, we are blessed that Kayla will be hanging out with us. Hopefully she will not go crazy at the Ruiz house, something is always going on over here.

Vunder and Trevor

Today, Rob renewed the car ministry again by working on Trevor's vehicle. It was an easy job, just changing spark plugs. Just one of the many talents in a day in the life of the Vunster.

Ministry at New Life Academy

Yesterday, we were again blessed with the opportunity to minister at New Life Academy. The elementary kids are always a blast! Joanna taught them a wonderful Easter message. Pictured above is Segmon doing a game with the kids. He comes up with the coolest stuff to do with them.