The Girl's had some Fun

It is the beginning of "Golden Week" here in Japan. You might be wondering "What is Golden Week"? Well, we are glad you ask. This is the most important week of the whole year for the Japanese. Most people have the week off work, or the string of days that amount to close to a week. Let me explain; This year the Japanese will have this Wednesday off work, they will go to work Thursday and Friday. Then they will have Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off work. The schedule changes every year. If you are a little confused just remember they have a week off work! It is a busy time here in Okinawa because many people from Mainland Japan will travel here for vacation. Even though it is difficult financially this year, many people are still flying to Okinawa.
Well, the girls (Kayo, Naoko and Natsuki) took Joanna out for lunch to celebrate her birthday. They went to a good restaurant and Kayo sent me this picture to tease me because you can see the good looking desert that she was eating. I am jealous because they were eating lunch with that good looking gal in the picture. I love you Joanna, Happy Birthday Celebration with the girls. Tommy

Daniel has Arrived!

It is super great to have Daniel visiting back on the island of Okinawa. He looks pretty good, neh? We were talking and it is hard to believe that he spend roughly over 2 years with us here. He is having a great time in Korea, God is teaching him a lot. He will have a busy schedule here teaching at the Worship Conference and doing a lot of concerts with Hakugaijin. Great to have you back for the short time brother, God bless you!

Kudaka Boat Trip

Time to come home from Kudaka Island. The waves got a little rough, so they sent us home on the fast boat, it only cost about .80 cents more. Well worth the rough ride home. Even though it would have taken a little over a half an hour on the slow boat. This boat only took about 15 minutes. It was an A ride home. Hold onto your hats, we got some big time air on the way home.

Biblical Preaching Class

 

The Students are doing such a great job at learning how to give a Biblical Devotion in their Preaching Class. The students have shown great gifting and calling in the area of teaching God’s Word. This has been such a good class.

Teen Challenge Okinawa

The guys from Teen Challenge are always a blessing. On Sunday and Wednesday night they come to the Koinonia Cafe for Bible Study and w2. They invited the whole Bible College Group to come over their house for a BBQ at their new home. This house is huge! Perfect for the bunch that are ministering here on island. Their director Temote (center picture with the camera) is a local Okinawan boy, he has been here all his life. We were blessed with the food, fellowship and the Word.

On the Fast Boat Home

  It was a blessing on the island, but it was now time to go home. Well, not really home but to a BBQ at the Teen Challenge House. Because the water was now choppy and windy, this made for some bigger waves. They took us back to Okinawa island on the fast boat. It was awesome, but it made me a little sick. We were chopping through the waves at high speed! It felt like the Star War’s ride at Disneyland, you might remember, the simulator ride. Praise God we made it through.

Time to Rest

It was a little warm on the beach, so Rob and I found some cool shade. Right under the rock formations there was enough room to escape the heat and catch some zzzzzzz’z. It was funny, Rob was snoring so loud that he woke me up and also woke himself up. That was some heavy dozing.

Ocean Critters

They found some interesting things as they combed the beach and in the water. Ina and her gang turned over a large rock in the tide pools and found a bunch of crabs. While Michal found this blue starfish in the water, everyone had a great time.

Arrival!

We landed on Kudaka and made our hike to the beach. We found a nice secluded area and broke out the snacks. Lunch was a blessing, chips galore, but don’t forget the yummy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Ira is the greatest camper in the world! He brought everything from blankets to wetsuits. The group had a great time doing some beautiful snorkeling, they saw all kinds of tropical fish.

Kudaka Island

  The Bible College Students took a little trip out to a neighboring island in Okinawa, Kudaka Island. Kudaka is located on the Eastern side of Okinawa located on the Pacific Island. The boat ride was short, only about 25 minutes. It was a fun ride, Praise the Lord, no one got sick!

Viva La Espanol

Tonight was a first at CCGinowan, we sang in English, Japanese and Spanish, yes that is right! Spanish! Eder led in worship at w2 and he threw in some Spanish juice. We told him if he stepped out in faith that God would bring a Spanish person, and He did! Caesar showed up and was blessed. There are a lot of Spanish speaking people in Okinawa and we have always wanted to reach out to them maybe this is the beginning. Praise the Lord!

Birthday Dinner and Coffee

The pictures are not of the greatest quality, sorry, I had to use my cell phone. Joanna and I had the rare occassion of getting away for a private dinner, Praise the Lord for Birthdays! After dinner we went to Starbuck's, Joanna had a cup of tea and I had a hot mocha. Before I left Korea Sosimo gave me one of his Starbuck's cards that he had left over, he told me "hey, make sure you take Joanna out with this", so here you go Sosi, I came through with my promise. I made sure that Joanna knew that this was from you. Happy Birthday Joanna!

Flash Back!

Crazy Korea Crew! This sure was a fun group, they were a real blessing in Korea. There is only one guy missing..... Who is it? Dean! Like always, he is off somewhere in the airport, I do not know where he could have went, we are in a holding area. This picture is amazing because it kind of catches the personalities of everyone, just look at their faces, expressions, body movements, now you know what kind of trouble they got into.

Happy Birthday Joanna!

Today we celebrated Joanna's Birthday with a Tea shaped cake that Hannah baked. After we ate dinner and had cake everyone played the game "Cranium", they had a lot of fun. Happy Birthday Joanna, we love you! Please leave a Birthday greeting for Joanna below.

He's Back!

That is right! Rob is back in Okinawa. He felt it was time for him to come back to the island, so Friday, after a week of informing his team of his intentions, jumped on a plane. It is a blessing to have him back, right in time for the Hakugaijin tour. God blesss you Rob, Praise the Lord!

Christian Style Magazine

Hakugaijin are on the cover of "Christian Style Magazine" with the release of their new CD "Ai-land". They will begin their "mini tour" next week as they play different venues all over the Island. Daniel and Vunder will be flying back to join the band, it should be a lot of fun. Please continue to pray for Hakugaijin and all that the Lord has in store for them.

Tom the Preacha

Well, really the Teacher. Because we were in Korea Tom was set to teach on Wednesday night. He did a fabulous job! He really encouraged and challenged us to set our focus on the Lord, to do what is right. His text, the book of Philemon. Thanks Tom, Praise the Lord Mate!

Flying Home

The missions trip is almost over, all we have to do now is fly back to Okinawa. It is such a blessing being in Asia, instead of having to fly from the USA to Korea, we just have to fly 2 hours to get home, no jetlag! Praise the Lord! The team are doing great, just a little tired.

Final Get Together

Since Eder's room was the largest, we decided to meet together for one last worship time and testamony. Some of us shared our best moments during this missions trip. The Lord spoke to many on this trip and some of us received more giftings from the Lord as we stepped out in faith. God truly blessed this trip and we were all so honored to be a part of His work. Praise the Lord!

Only in Korea

We have never seen anything like it before. Some of you have put your money into a machine and tried to get a stuffed animal or a trinket out of the claw machine. Well this machine in Korea has the claw but you try to pick up a live lobster. If you get one, you take it home and have a good dinner. The students were so amazed they tried a few times. They actually picked up the lobster but lost it as it came close to the drop zone, it freaked out. Go figure, they think of everything now a days. This was an amazing machine.