Christmas Sunday Morning

The gang is holding down the fort there at CCGinowan. On Christmas morning they had a wonderful breakfast for the congregation. The pancakes look yummy! Exciting, full of blessings!

Tatsu and Rie Christmas Morning

It was fun having both of them with us Christmas morning. Before heading to Church we opened presents and ate a hearty Breakfast. Good day, blessed service.

One of the best Spots in the World

It is a blessing to surf "Old Man's Beach" in San Onofre. The waves are incredible! It was a beautiful surf day. To the Glory of God!

Time to Leave Shanghai

It was a good time hangin in Shanghai for 22 hours. It seems like we saw a lot. Thank you Keisuke for taking the time to come and show us your city. Thank you for the blessings! Now it is time to fly to California. To Go be the Glory!

Breakfast with Thanh

We ate a good Shanghai breakfast in China. The hotel offered traditional Chinese dishes. Delicious!

Christmas in Shanghai

It am absolutely shocked! This is a Communist country but they celebrate Christmas more than in Japan. They don't celebrate Jesus, but more the money making aspect. The city was decorated beautifully.

Sky Pearl Tower

What's Sight! Beautiful! You cannot see it well but between the tower are balls that look like pearls glowing.

New Shanghai!

This is absolutely beautiful! The new city across the bay reminds me of Hong Kong Harbor. Awesome!

Good shot!

Old City Banks

Most of the building in the old city Bund are banks. There is a lot of money here in Shanghai.

"The Bund"

We don't know why they call this part of the city "the bund" but that is what it is called. This is a view of the old city. Across the bay is the new city, but that is the next blog.

Traditional Shanghai Dinner

Hello everyone! Meet Than, pronounced "taan". She lives and teaches on base in Okinawa. We met in the airport and noticed each other at the Hotel. We invited her to hang out with us and travel in the city. She is a great gal! We have a new friend.

Downtown China

The streets are hoppin and the people are shoppin. It is raining but the people are still out on the streets.

Joel's paradise!

The Apple Store in Shanghai. There were so many people in line. It is true, the people in China are doing better and buying more electronics. Did you know that more appliances and cars are sold in China now than in the USA?

Da Boyz

Good reflection! Travel in Shanghai. Just chillin heading into the city.

Subway travel

Transportation in Shanghai is incredible! We traveled for 1 hour on the subway and it cost us less than one American dollar! The subway was just as clean as in Tokyo. Fun way to travel.

Keisuke in Shanghai

Well of course, he lives here! We were so blessed! Keisuke met us at the airport and showed us his city. First we went to the hotel and dropped off our luggage then we went sight seeing. We traveled Shanghai style! Taxi's, subways and local cars. The city of Shanghai is beautiful.

Arrival in Shanghai

We arrived right on time. Now through immigration and then whatever comes next. Be led by the Spirit.

Death of a Dictator

It is interesting that the Chinese Newspaper writes on the front page "A Friend's Departure". The sad thing is that the people of North Korea have suffered by the hands of a cruel dictator. The people in South Korea live in plenty with an abundance of food and a healthy lifestyle. In the North the people are frail and small in stature because of lack of nutrition just because of this Man's arrogance. Interesting; South Korea is a nation that honors God but the North has denied God. Please pray for Kim Jong Il' son, who has taken over. May his son come to know Jesus Christ.

Interesting Read

I like reading foreign newspapers because some of the articles are interesting. Because we are flying a Chinese Airline they give us a Chinese/English paper to read. You read some weird/good articles, like the one below. In a nutshell the students are rebelling because the school has been using "gutter oil". That is the school has been cooking lunches using oil that is scrapped from the gutters and back doors of restaurants. This is a popular thing to do (go figure). Some of the students have been getting sick (of course)!

Getting Ready to Board

We made it through immigration wit no problems. We are now just waiting for the first leg of the trip. Please join us in prayer for safe travels.

Joel!

Anna our head cook and discipler won't be in Okinawa for the Holidays! It is ok, Naoko will be there to hold down the fort with you. Have a blessed time in the States bro.

Tatsuhiko heading to America

Today we dropped him off at the airport as Tatsu will be joining us for a time in California. He will be visiting some churches and attending the Missions Conference in Murrieta. Pray that his English gets much better.

Keegan heading back Home

Our brother is heading back to California for the winter break. Please pray for the Keegster to have a blessed time. He also will be entertaining some guests. Guess who?

Ruiz Family Heading to Shanghai

Our first leg of the trip takes us via China. We have a 22 hour layover so we will be meeting up with Keiske and then staying the night at a small hotel. We will arrive in LA on Wednesday morning. Please keep us in your prayers.

Urgent, Urgent Prayer

Please pray for the people in the Philippines. They are being hit with a large tropical storm and many people have died, at least 200 people. Pray that they find the many who are missing. This is heavy duty, there are many brothers and sisters in the Lord over there.

The Journey Begins!

The Lord has the building! The owners accepted the offer. We begin renting the building on January 14th. The new journey begins with CCBC Tokyo. Will you join with us in deep prayer. Prayer for the new students, prayer for the instructors, prayer for the interns. And most importantly; prayer for the Japanese people.

The Blessed Couple

Japanese weddings are beautiful! During the wedding she wears the traditional Wedding Dress but then she changes for reception. Mami looks beautiful!

The Beatle's in "64"

That is what they reminded me of as they were singing. But they are Rockin for Jesus Christ. There is only one problem; the Beatles added a girl. Amanda, you rock!

Twins

This is my first picture of Tamiko and her mom; Yoshimi. Tamiko's mom is a school nurse here in Okinawa and will soon be serving in Ishigaki island. It was great to see them together.

Paul is Back!

It is a blessing to see Paul and Natsuki back together. Paul has been deployed for the last 8 months. We missed our brother, but now he is back.

Hakugaijin will Perform

The band will be playing today so some of the group were getting ready. There will be a lot of different performers blessing all the guests; the Gushiken Family will be Rockin the House!

Banquet Hall at Choichiro and Mami Wedding

This place is huge and they did a beautiful job of decorating the gymnasium at the school. It is going to be a beautiful wedding.

New Airplane

It is time to travel back home to Okinawa. But we are going home in style. Skymark airline has recently purchased new aircraft so this plane is sweet. The lights were white but then on takeoff they turned neon blue. Kind of like a "Star Wars" effect huh? Joel was giddy in happiness.

Faith, Faith, Faith

Our new step of faith. We are going to send in the papers tomorrow. If this is of the Lord may it be done! This place would be perfect for the Bible College, but perfect is whatever the Lord wants. Please join with us in prayer. (Courson) "Every Christian should be involved in something so big that it will fail miserably if God is not involved in it".

The Blessed Van

It drove like a champ! It is getting old but there were no problems at all. The new shocks worked great. Thank you Jesus for this van.

The Ride Home!

The trip to Tohoku was such a blessing. We were able to do so much outreach. It was a blessing seeing the Toma's and fellowshipping with our very own missionaries the Robb's. God bless you gang as you continue to serve Jesus up North. May this be the beginning of many trips in the future.

It was a Surprise Visit

But I knew they were coming. While Aki and Logan were here in Tokyo they planned to visit Okinawa and see the family. They stopped by the cafe to say hi. They are both such a blessing.

Second Outreach

We had a time of Christmas songs then the Word. Afterwards we cooked for over 100 people. They came in and we served them. Most of the people took the food home to their families. Afterwards they came back for coffee and snacks. We talked until close to 8pm. We arrived there at 12:30pm and started cooking, we were there about 7.5 hours. A very fruitful time.

Chuck and Yumi's Future House

Look way back to the left; that white house on the hill is going to be the Robb's house. God has opened some big doors for His Glory. Whatever He wants they want to go forward. Please pray for them.

The area is Still Devastated

Much of the area is cleaned up and ready to go, but then there are areas as you can see need so much work. It is amazing to see this house still in the water. It is still hard to soak it all in.

Nato Boy

Zach is a real Nijonjin; he absolutely loves Nato. He eats it right out of the package. Instant protein; in the words of Zach "It's like eating a steak". Go for it bro!

Getting Ready for the First Outreach

It is cold here in Higashatsushima but we are blessed to be here. We are getting ready to start the first of our two out reaches. Zach is going to sing some Christmas songs and Chuck will preach the people are starting to come.

God Bless You Zanny!

We are going to miss our sister. Thank you Zanny for a blessed semester. Try to stay warm in New Mexico. Watch out for the mud races, but do all for the Glory of God!

Sendai!

We made it to Sendai and had a great night with the Tomas's and the Robb's. It is so good to see our brother's and sister's (Okinawa Family)

Lunch Rest Stop

On our way up to Tohoku we stopped for a quick lunch. We don't want to waste a lot of time but we also don't want to rush. Just be led by the Spirit of God.

Can you see it? Can you see it!

As we drive past Downtown you can see the majestic Mt. Fuji in the back ground. It is covered with snow head to foot. A really beautiful sight!

Driving Past Downtown Tokyo

I have driven past Downtown Los Angeles about a thousand times, downtown Tokyo has that same feel. The building are high ad beautiful, towering above the sky.

Part Two of the Trip - Tohoku

We are heading out to Tohoku now. Please pray for us as we set out for the Glory of the Lord. We will meet up with the Robb's and serve at the new shelters in the area.

Heading Back to Fuchu

The sky is beautiful as the sun sets behind us. The church service at CCTokorozawa was a blessing. As we drive back to Fuchu from Costco in Iruma city it was nice and relaxing. More fellowship tonight.