Joanna is now an official driver in Okinawa. She passed her drivers license test. Praise the Lord! It has been a difficult road but so well worth it. For most Americans the test is extremly hard, but there are those folks who pass it in the first time, but it is rare. Well, the wait is over for Joanna, a special thank you for all of you who have been praying for her.
Today in Pastoral ministry, we are learning the proper way to do a hospital visitation. Aaron volunteered to be our patient for the class. Afterwards everyone gathered around him for the group picture. It was a fun class! Everyone is learning the basics of ministry in this class.
It was a blessing this morning, Tom led the students in a time of worship. For some of you who do not know Tom, he is originally from Australia. He has been in Japan for the last year and a half. In December he will be heading back home to visit with family and pray where the Lord will lead him next. Please continue to pray for out good brother.
This was an interesting article that Kayo Yamauchi sent to me from someone who sent it to her. It talks about how athiests are now holding sunday school for children. You really need to read it yourself. The Bible tells us in the last days that the Love of people will grow cold. (Matt. 24:12) They will gather for themselves teachers who will lead them astray. (2 Pt. 2:1) This article is interesting, when you get a chance check it out for yourselves; http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1686828,00.html?cnn=yes
We are totally excited and blessed! Teresa from Ishigaki Island will be with us the week of December the 10th. She has graciously offered to come to Okinawa and teach Hula to the people here in our area. All are welcome. We are offering the class Tuesday afternoon at 1:00pm. The second class will be Thursday evening at 7:00pm. Please invited your friends, it is an outreach to the people here in Okinawa. It is going to be a blessed event, please come.
Well it is Big Aaron's Birthday today, he is 20 years old. As you can see in the picture everyone could not wait to eat his lucious cake, they dived right into it. Happy Birthday bro! We hope that this Birthday was a great one. For everyone else, please leave him a birthday greeting below.
For the past few weeks we have fired up the Espresso machine and are now making hot Latte's. The weather is unusually cooler at this time of the year, it feels like January, February. On a cold night, a mocha or vanilla latte sure hits the spot. Courtesy of the Koinonia Cafe.
We have begun the Wednesday night midweek study in Ishikawa. Dan Pallman will continue to teach through the book of Exodus. Zach led in worship this week. Please keep this new work of God in your prayers.
The other day, Asa had to visit the Dentist here in Okinawa. They are very kind and patient with children. The Japanese do such a good job with serving people. Asa has been here a few times, and he always gives a little trouble. Nothing that a good pep talk from Dad cannot handle. It was kind of funny, they are not agressive but pretty gentle. After they filled a few cavities, they were done, but Asa fell asleep right there on the chair (bottom picture), they had to wake him up, it was time to leave.
Tuesday, some of the pastor's on island were invited to a luncheon hosted by the US Airforce Chaplains. They wanted to get to know some of the Pastor's who serve in the community. After the meeting, they gave us a tour of the flightline and the rescue helicopters that are on base. These in the pictures, are ones that are being serviced.
It is a blessing to have Pastor Tim and Ayu back in Okinawa. They left at the beginning of November for a visit with the family and also so Tim could officiate at his sisters wedding. They had a wonderful time in the states. Also, today is their 2nd Wedding Anniversary. So when you get a chance, please leave them an Anniversary greeting below.
There are two Typhoon's that are barreling down on the Philippines. It is said that they will bring a devastating effect on the country. One is already upon them (Typhoon Hagibis) and the second one will be following shortly (Typhoon Mitag). They have already began evacuating some cities. Please pray for the country of the Philippines, especially our brothers and sisters who are living and ministering in that area. God can hold back the rain and the winds. This is peculiar to have Typhoon's at this time of the year, just a sign of the end times. Thank you for your sincere prayers.
Foster chapel, Thanksgiving weekend, held a retreat for the Jr. and High School youth. It was such a blast! The students had such a great time. Chaplain Owens and Pastor Tommy were invited as guest speakers, as the Bible College students were in charge as councelors and speakers for the retreat. Saturday night's session and the afterglow was a blessing in which we saw the Holy Spirit work in an incredible way in the students lives. We look forward to what the Lord will do in these youths lives as a result of this retreat.
This time of the year normally is warmer. But this year we are experiencing an unusually cooler November. In fact this is the coldest November in the 3 plus years that I have been here. And with the cold weather brings on a "cold season". Many people in Okinawa are experiencing sickness. Coughing, sore throats, fever, you name it, and it is bad. Please keep us in your prayers, that the Lord would heal those who are sick, and keep the rest healthy. Especially the children and the elderly. Thank you so much, God bless you all. Pastor Tommy
We received a package in the mail the other day. It was a case of apples from Pastor Tom's Aunt in Tokyo. Once a year she sends apples during the season. Apples in Japan are huge. Joanna did not waste any time at all. She baked us an apple pie, and it was delicious. As you can see, Asa loves apples. Hey buddy, save some for us, don't eat them all yourself.
This is a great picture of Keegan sitting across the Kidron Valley overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock (Muslim Mosque, the gold dome) is right behind him. Very interesting that the New Temple will be built next to it, just to the right. Hopefully Keegan will not be around in Israel to see it! Well Keegan, we are so blessed for you being able to study the Word of God in the Holy City, walking in the footsteps of Jesus. May the Lord continue to lead and guide you. Hey, we dig that long hair. Love, your family in Okinawa.
It was a blessed evening. We gathered at the church for our Thankgiving meal. We had three turkeys, one ham and all the fixins. Dan Pallmann cooked a tasty turkey (pictured above). It was such a blessing to have all the Okinawan folks with us. The turkey chefs did an outstanding job, as well as the desserts were "out of this world". After dinner we played some fun games together (Dan you did a great job!) And we shared the Word of God with the people. It is such a blessing and honor to be able to serve the church body as well as the Okinawan Japanese people.
For the last 6 months I have had the opportunity to correspond with John's wife Kyoko. They live in Sasebo mainland Japan. John is in the Navy and a few months ago he was on island but we were not able to hookup together. Well John is back and we were blessed to have him attend our Thanksgiving Dinner with the church body here at Ginowan. He is a great brother who loves the Lord with all his heart. Can you please pray for John. Monday morning he goes into surery for a lower back operation. He will be here in Okinawa for a few days to heal up. It is such a blessing when the Lord sends us visitors from the Mainland. God is great!
This was our team for our annual Turkey Bowl here in Okinawa. Don't worry folks, these guys are not dangerous, they just look like it. The only person missing in the picture is Big Nate. We had an international team this year because Tom Cotton from Australia was with us. We had a great time. Here are just some of our outstanding players; If you look in the picture you can see that Sosimo and David are "all business baby". Third from the right you have Erik the "I forgot this was not tackle" Bloom. On the bottom left is Daniel the Hammer "I ran out of steam in the last quarter" Sedota. And lets not forget one our our most outstanding players; Jesse "the Hands" Spencer. That guy was pulling flags everywhere, he stopped at least two touchdowns. This team was awesome this year.
The upper picture is Sosimo and Aaron clownin around in Korea. While the bottom picture is the guys on one of their early morning runs. It was so cold in Korea. Some mornings were below freezing. The fresh air was good, but the cold was almost unbearable. It was a lot of fun.
It was such a blessing to gather together with the body at Calvary Ginowan. As we shared out of Luke 17 we gave the people the opportunity to give thanks for what the Lord has done in their lives this past year. I was blown away at the growth of the body maturity wise and how far the Lord has brought everyone this past year. As the Japanese people spoke it was incredible to see and begin to understand the impact that we are all making in the lives of people here in Okinawa. It is so wonderful to see that the body here at Ginowan is split down the middle between Japanese and English speaking people. And there is not a big difference, the people fellowship with eachother and the bond of love keeps us growing in Christ. I am humbled by His work that He continues to do. No man can get the glory for the work that the Lord is doing. God bless you all, and please continue to pray for the work of God here in Okinawa Japan. Love, Pastor Tommy
They look cho mature! What happened to our sweet Okinawan couple? We miss them in t-shirts and flip-flops. This is what California does to you folks, you become business people, you cannot escape it. Praise God they will be returning back to Okinawa this Monday. We miss them so much. God bless you Tim and Ayu have a safe trip coming back home! Love, CCGinowan
When we boarded our flight back to Okinawa, we knew that there would not be a lot of people on board, but we did not think that it would be this empty. The plane up front seemed like there were enough people, but when I went back to use the restroom I began to laugh. The whole back side was empty! Except for these three Bible College students sitting together. Now mind you, this was in mid flight. You do not see this often when you fly. Usually it is wall to wall people.
Now, everyone is quite tired. We had a great busy week of ministry, but now it is time to go home. Tuesday morning we had to wake up early and get to Inchon airport so we would not miss our direct flight back to Okinawa. We are all so appreaciative for all the love and friendship that everyone gave us here in Korea. God is doing a great work out here and we look forward to what He has in store for the people here in Korea. Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters at the Korean School of Ministry and the surrounding areas. God bless you, Pastor Tommy
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Such a blessing! It is always wonderful to see the work of the Lord. Pastor Tom Hallman has been serving in Williamsburg for some time now. Since their humble beginnings they have been renting a place to meet for services out in the community. Well God has totally blessed them with thier own church, and it looks beautiful. That good looking biker Pastor (he is not really a biker, but this was taken on one of the church work days) has been hard at work with all of the people at the church getting ready for the services. To look at all the photos please double click on the link below;
But it was freezing, literally! While we were walking around Seoul we were tempted when we saw these huge ice cream cones. So we all ordered one, but it was so cold. The temperature was -5 Celsius, or about 28 degrees Fahrenheit. We could have carried the cone all around town and it would have never melted. It was a blast!
Today (Monday) we spent the day in Seoul. It was such a blessing just hanging out with the group. Mike Loudermilk took us around and showed us the town. It was so fun. For those of you who do not know, this is the Album cover for Neely's new CD entitled: "Kornfed Kimchi". We are not so sure of the name, but please leave us your comments below on what the new CD should be called.
