Monday, February 28, 2011

Fun In The Son

It was a relaxing day on Okinawa. We took the Bible College Crew out for some fun. The weather was perfect! Some swam, some slept, some just frolicked around. It was a fun day!

King Kong Yakiniku

One of the best Yakiniku on island. Pastor Rick blessed all of the students with a delicious meal. Thank you Rick, the students were so blessed! It was a great Monday afternoon.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Special Night

Andrew taught in Japanese and Zach translated. The message was right on the money. It was a great night of ministry, the Holy Spirit spoke to our hearts.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

A Dinner for Two

All the students are at CCOkinawa helping babysit for their couple's dinner so Joanna cooked a special meal. It was a blessing to just hangout and enjoy one another. Look at how beautiful the weather is behind us.

Beautiful Wall Painting

Amanda is doing a great job painting! She is so talented. The Scripture on the wall is Acts 2:42 "And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers". The flowers are also so beautiful. I can't wait until it is finished. Praise the Lord!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Natsuki Kochi leaves for Italy

 photo (10)Little Natsuki is just going for two weeks. We are going to miss her, but I know that she will have a great time. She is going to be spending some time with some friends out there. We told her to visit CCMontebeluma when she gets a chance, hopefully she will be able to do so. Be blessed Natsuki, we love you and will miss you.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Garden to Dinner less than 24 hours

That is how fresh most of our produce is here at the college. We purchase from a local farm in the area which is picked that morning. The farmers here in Okinawa do not use pesticides so this is organic grown food with fresh rainwater and clean air. It is quite amazing!

Chow Line at CCBC Okinawa

It is time for dinner and these guys and gals can cook some good Japanese food. Today is stir fry cooked ala Chara. She is a great cook, but don't forget our Famous French cook; la Joeru!

Double Anniversaries!

image (1)This Sunday night after w2 we celebrated Chuck and Yumi Robb’s Second Wedding Anniversary, and we also celebrated Andrew and Kayo’s First Wedding Anniversary! It was a double celebration, and it was a total blessing. God continues to do a good work in these couple’s lives. Both of the guys are involved in “full time” ministry as their wives faithfully continue to serve the Lord in the work place. They are a team and the Kingdom of God continues to go forward in Jesus Name!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Takoyaki Party!

Tonight we gathered at the Cafe for our "Takoyaki Party". They are made out of octopus, but they are delicious! We also make ebiyaki (shrimp) and hamburgeryaki (you got the idea). It was a Rockin night.

The Jesus Wood

Read the story below.

The New/Old Church Sign

This sign has some real history. Last week we had this massive rain storm that flooded our neighborhood. It was really a freaky storm that dumped a lot of water fast! In the morning there was this old piece of wood in front of our house. Cars were flooded but this wood was right there. I knew right what I was going to do with it; Make the Church sign. So we dried it out and Amanda painted it and we sealed it against water. It looks pretty good. Thank you Jesus!

Women's Breakfast

Some of the ladies got together for a morning breakfast. Samantha taught the Word and blessed all the gals with some Valentines flowers. The gals had a great morning. Some of the gals were not able to be there because of prior commitments, you were really missed.

Glenn: Lectures in Ministry

It was a good morning, it started out great having Glenn with us at the Bible College. The students really enjoyed his fellowship and teaching. Thanks Glenn for blessing the students.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Joanna at CCGuam

DSC01354

DSC01352The first day of the women’s conference has begun and it started with a night session. Tomorrow morning the gals are meeting for a breakfast and the second session begins at 10am. Joanna has been blessed and having a great time hanging out with Jocelyn and the gals at CCGuam. Please continue to pray for them that they have a blessed conference. Check out Joanna in the summer out fit. She better enjoy it, because it is still cold in Okinawa.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

New Lights!

The new lights are up at the Koinonia Cafe and they are looking good! These guys did a clean job and they work pretty fast. They are still putting up the ones on the downstairs parking lot, and that should look great too. Praise God!

Japanese Baseball Autographs

photo (9)Monday night is usually “Men’s Discipleship” Biblestudy at the cafĂ© but this week they headed out to Goya Baptist Church to listen to Matt Murton. Matt plays for the Hanshin Tigers here in Japan and he recently broke Ichiro’s record of single hits in a season here in Japan. He is a born again believer and the guys went and heard his testimony. They had a blessed time and even received autographs from Matt.

New Lights being Installed

We are blessed with the new lighting. They were not supposed to do it until Friday, but the new date is good for us. The lights are looking sweet!

Ping in Taipei

IMG_0085Joanna was able to spend some time with Ping when she was in Taipei. Since her flight had a 10 hour gap before she flew to Guam they were able to have dinner together. Ping is looking and doing great! It was such a blessing having her with us here in Okinawa but now she is living and working back in her home country. The invitation is always there Ping to come back and visit with us. God bless you!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

At Pastor Dylan’s Wedding

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Pastor Dylan sent me this picture today, it was taken at his wedding. Vunder is getting married soon and he remembers being at this wedding. It brought back a lot of memories for both of us. Joanna looks so thin, and I look like I have been eating too many tacos! Ahh the joys of weddings. Can you see Anabel and Dylan in the background? It really was a joyous occasion. I am looking forward to renewing my vows next month with my beautiful bride. Again, how time flies, wow. We have so many good memories.

Jackpot!

Michal and I stopped by the recycle stores on the way home from the airport dropping off Joanna. At one of the stores they were selling these commercial frying pans. They are usually quite expensive, but I got them for a low price 500 yen (total). Joel is going to be one happy cook.

Joanna heading to Guam

We are blessed in that Joanna is heading to Guam to go and serve alongside Pastor Steve and Joyceline at CCGuam. Joanna will do some teachings for the ladies of the Church. It should be a blessed time. Please pray for safe travels and the moving of God's Holy Spirit.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day!

The guys really were blessed! The girls gave them so much. As you can see Martin has some cookies, chocolates and goodies. Just a few of the snacks the guys were blessed with.

Sakura Season

The Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom but now it is so cold and rainy. I can't believe it. But a few days ago we had a beautiful day! Look at our Sakura tree on front of our house. In the background you can see the guys small apartment upstairs and Casey and Jenny's below. It is a blessing having them with us.

Valentine’s Love Feast 2011

photo (2)Last night it was a blessing at w2; we celebrated Valentine’s Day Japanese style. We had a potluck buffet and many non Christian’s were there to join in on the celebration, it was a good outreach for Jesus Christ. Everyone had a great time, we had to kick everyone out at 10pm because the party did not want to stop and we had to clean up. A blessed night and a blessed event.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Naoko Studying Hard

The Bible College Semester is in full swing and the students are not wasting any time in the Word. It is Saturday night and they are still burning the midnight oil. Please pray for these students that they would continue to go strong for the Lord.

Pastor Rick from CCO

We were blessed in "Lectures in Ministry" this morning. Rick came over as our special guest speaker. It was a good meeting in the morning. Thank you Pastor Rick for the blessing.

Happy Birthday Andrew

On Wednesday night we celebrated Andrew's Birthday. Joel baked a Rockin banana bread dessert. It was a fun night in the Word and celebration. Happy Birthday Andrew!

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Rob's Rika is back!

It just hit me; R&R Rob and Rika so relaxing. God is good to bring Rika back with us this semester. Well she better be back, she needs to be here for her Wedding. The big day is coming soon, we love you Rika!

Andrew and Cotton at w2

We are blessed at our Sunday night Biblestudies. The guys do such a good job at teaching the Word. The translation is always excellent. Good job guys and keep up the good work for Jesus!

Megumi's Mini DTS Graduation

She was one of thirteen students who graduated from YWAM's mini course study. Megumi is real blessing and always nice to have around. God bless you girl and congratulations.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Akemi Graduates from Mini DTS

Akemi took the 8 week course with YWAM in Okinawa. It was a blessing to go to her graduation. The Robb's, and the Ruiz's had the opportunity to be a part of their ceremony in Okinawa city.

Yes! She is back!

What a joy it is to have Aya back with us. She was such a joy last semester and we are looking forward to they joy with her again. Please pray for Aya that she will continue to grow in Jesus Christ.

Winner's

The students did well at the Super Bowl Party, these are the winners from our group. Cotton won a shirt, Hannah won a hat, Michal won a video, Joel won some corning ware, Aaron won a cordless drill, and Rob won the Grand Prize; a handmade Oriental Chest (that is a great first Wedding gift). All in all the group made out pretty good. Good gifts, good game and good prizes, Praise the Lord!

Super Bowl Party

We are all partying at the Butler O club on Plaza Housing watching the big game. They have an "all you can eat" breakfast and lunch buffet. The food is Rockin, the game is in fire and the Christians are having a great time.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Mihama Juice

There is no rain (hurray!) so we ventured out to witness at Mihama. The team does such a good job for Jesus. Lord bless Your Word as it goes out. Please change lives.

Penny made it home!

She was delayed because of all the snow in the States. It was a blessing having Penny with us. God bless you girl, thank you for beige such a blessing and for meeting your future son-in-law.

Cabbage Growth

Ahhhh the green gold! The cabbage growing in the fields. We try to buy our vegetables from the local growers, it is so good for you to buy local. The island is so packed with nutrients.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Goodbye Penny! Wait!!!!!

She left for home but her flight was cancelled! There is over two feet of snow in Chicago. So Penny will have to stay a few more days with us. Her daughters are excited!

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Now that's a good looking Family!

The church got together for a family meeting at Calvary Living Water this past weekend. I just know that they had a great time. God bless you CCLW.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Please Pray for Australia

201101311700-00Cyclone Yasi is set to hit Queensland by Wednesday. This is a big one! It is estimated to hit land at 149 miles per hour. The last Cyclone that hit last week was not as powerful but it caused a lot of damage. What is the difference between a Typhoon and a Cyclone? It is in the direction that they spin. Remember Australia is below the equator so they “spin” different. Please pray for our friends “down under”.

Our very own Aya with the Snow monkeys

DSCN2933We were joking that some of these monkey’s look like the guys in the D house. (just kidding) Even though the two monkeys that are sitting by the water look like Joel and Eder.

Aya is with the famous monkeys in Nagano. This is incredible, how many of you remember the iconic picture in National Geographic of these monkeys on the front cover. Awesome to be there. Aya, we love you and thank you for sending this picture to us.

The Final "Step"

Literally the final steps; we "grouted" them today. The guys did an excellent job and all Glory goes to God. Praise the Lord!

The Homeboys!

Well, they were roommates at Murrieta last semester. Meet John and Michael, but not "John Michael" he is at Murrieta this semester. They arrived last night and they look pretty good, no jetlag yet.

Casey and Jenny Fain

Remember it is "Casey" and not "KC" and it is not "pain or main" but Fain. They too arrived last night and are doing great. Every is doing good. No jet lag for this crew.

Orientation Spring 2011

Let the orientation begin! We have a big crew again this semester. We are looking forward to a blessed time. These students are so interesting, they come from all backgrounds of life. One thing for sure, God brought them together for this special time.

It's been 6 1/2 years!







It has been over 6 1/2 years since we last permanently lived in the United States. God has done some amazing things these past years. We are so blessed as a family to be serving here in Okinawa, Japan. The Bible College continues to grow as well as the church body here in Ginowan City. We are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us this year.