Luau at Foster Chapel

Some of the Bible College students were able to attend the special event on Foster Marine Base, while the others attended an event at Naha Baptist Church where Pastor Tim ministered in Music. We had a great time at the Luau. The Chapel hosted the Luau, and they went all out on food. Everyone ate until they could not eat anymore. For those of you who do not know, the Bible College students are divided up into three groups on Sunday mornings. One group ministers at CCGinowan, the other at CCOkinawa, and the third group ministers at Foster Chapel. The Chaplains invited all the students to attend this event. In the picture below (bottom right) is a picture of the head Chaplain on Foster, Pastor Yi. He has opened his heart to us and we are blessed. There were other Chaplains there this evening, but our very own Calvary Chaplain, Pastor Charlie was not available that night and we missed him. We had a great night.

Our Prayer Request Needed

God has been speaking to my heart about renting the second floor of the building that we are renting presently on the third floor. The third floor we use for the Bible College and the Church service. But the second floor we are praying about starting an after school program called "Gogo Eigo Afternoon School". We would sign up kids to come learn english, help them with thier school work, do activities and teach them about the Lord. It is in the planning stages, we are seeking the Lord on this issue. Would you please join us in your prayers. We want to be led by the Lord, if this is of Him, He will continue to lead and guide us. Thank you so much, Pastor Tommy

Morning Devotions

This morning Keegan led us in a great time of worship during devotions. Every day, a different student leads us in a time with the Lord. It was fitting that Jeremy gave the morning message since today is his birthday. It is a blessing to have the opportunity to seek God together each morning.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

Yes, it is Jeremy Z's Birthday. He is the big 21. God has really gifted the Z man and his talents are incredible in the area of graphics and website design. I have seen some of his stuff and it is awesome. When you get a chance, please leave an encouraging birthday greeting below. God bless you Jeremy.

Ministry at OCSI

Tuesday morning Joanna had the opportunity to head down to Okinawa Christian School International and lead in thier chapel that morning. She took along with her Hannah and Michal. They had a great time. Joanna taught the story Elisha and the widow with the jar of oil. Please pray for the College students this week. They will soon be heading off to camp to help OCSI with the students. They are going to have a wonderful time.

Sushi, Sushi, and more Sushi

Monday evening we were invited for dinner at Satsukosan's house. Some of you might remember her, a while ago, I put up a blog about her. She ministers to the widows in Nepal. Do you remember?(bottom right picture) Well, she invited us over to her house for Sushi and Tempura. We all came, and I mean we all came! She invited the whole Bible College crew. We were so blessed! We ate, and ate and ate. We were tempura'd and sushi'd out. It was so good. After we ate, we had the opportunity to pray for Satsukosan's ministry, that the Lord would continue to lead and guide her as she reaches out to the Widow's of Nepal. Here are some of the picts. There were so many, I had a hard time picking the best ones. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy

Fresh Sugar Cane!

As we traveled back from the beach Monday afternoon, we passed a man who was working on his sugar cane field. We talked with him for a moment, asking about his work. Yoshi was there to translate for us, and afterwards, he cut a piece of the cane and gave it to us to eat. I thought that it would be sweeter, like a candy bar, but this was fresh stuff. It was sweet but not overpowering. For some of us, this was the first time eating sugar fresh off the cane. It was a great learning experience for all of us. Okinawa is known for two things that are grown here, Sugar Cane and Sweet Potato. Both, are exported all around the Japanese Islands.

Beach below Murasaki Mura

After we walked through the old Okinawan Village we followed a path through the brush to the ocean. It was such a beautiful beach, and we had it almost all to ourselves. There were just a few other people there. The sand was smooth, there were lots of shells, so we followed the coast to an old Okinawan monument (center picture). This has been here for many years, and I do not know the history about it, but don't worry, I'll find out. It was such a relaxing time.

Murasaki Mura

Monday we let the group sleep in and in the afternoon we headed out to Yomitan Village and visited the Famous Murasaki Mura. The place is an old Okinawan Village, and it is famous because there have been a few Japanese movies that have been made here. It is really beautiful. The houses are made with red Japanese tile roofs and the streets and walls are made out of coral that were cut right out of the beach that is located below the village.

Mark Starr is 21 today!

Mark is the big 21 and we celebrated it CCBC Okinawa style, with a special cake. But this time Vunder did not bake it but Mark Davis, Keegan's dad did the honors. Mark has been a real blessing here in Okinawa. He has such a heart to serve, and any time you ask him to do something for the Lord, he is more than willing. God has really gifted him in the area of playing the bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and he has a wonderful singing voice. When you get a chance please leave him an encouraging birthday greeting below. God bless you Mark, and Happy Birthday!

The nicest McDonald's yet

I have been to many McDonald's around the world. This is the best one yet. We were hanging out near Naha on Sunday afternoon after church. We went to visit an open house at SciTech College where Pastor Tim works and Joanna teaches a class. We decided to eat at McDonald's (this is about the 3rd visit to any of thier establishments in the two years that we have lived here) The place was really nice, they have seats set up for wireless internet and the place felt more like a coffeehouse than your typical McD's. Well, we ordered off the 100yen menu (5 chicken sandwiches, 2 cheeseburgers). In the center picture is Joanna holding the burgers while Aaron is eating a ramen bowl. No, McDonald's does not sell ramen, but Aaron refused to eat here. We had to stop by another store and then we came in. Before he was here in Okinawa, he was in Israel for about 4 months. He never ate at McDonald's while he was there either. Good for you Aaron, keep up the strong will power.

Mihama Street Witnessing

This Saturday the College group headed out to Mihama American Village and stood on the street corner and played some music sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is always a blessing just sharing your faith in Christ. We began with different people sharing in music, and we passed out Japanese tracts. Some people take them, some people don't. Some people stand and watch, some people walk by. But God always allows us to share with those who want to hear about Jesus. The Japanese translators are worth thier wait in Gold! They are such a blessing. Please pray for us that God would give us more opportunities to share the Gospel, and that more Japanese speakers will come on out and help us translate. The harvest is truly plentiful.

Friday Morning Devotions

photos by Aaron Meigide (kamechan)



Today celebrates the end of the 4th week of the Bible College Semester. That means that 1/4 of the Semester is over. It is going so fast! Because of this special day we loaded up in the vans early Friday morning, and went to Tropical Beach. There we spent some time worshipping the Lord, sharing in the Word, and then we spent some alone time with Jesus. God was speaking to all of our hearts. Please continue to pray for all of the students. God has opened some special doors for us to minister at different places and different venues on the island. In the first week of October all of the students will be heading out to different places on the island, and assisting OCSI (Okinawa Christian School International) at their fall camps. Also later in that month, some will be performing on Camp Lester at the Hospitals outdoor festival. There are many other events that we will be ministering at, and we will keep you informed.