pictures by Vunder
This Sunday we had a great time as the body here in Ginowan was able to welcome the students from the Bible College. After the service we had a potluck Japanese style. It was such a blessing, all the food was out of this world. Some of the students have to get use to Asia food, they are trading in their burgers for Sushi, Curryrice, and noodles. Their tastebuds will never be the same.
Joel Coronado! He is now here, and this makes all 12 students accounted for and present. Counting Misty and Yoshi, there are 14 total for this semester. Oh yeah, the Lord blessed us with one more full time student. Her name is Aaron Shaver and she will be attending full time with the rest of the students. We are blessed by God's faithfulness to bring them all here without any hickups. They went through customs with no problems and they were all in great shape. Please continue to pray for all of the students, we are so blessed by the Lord. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy
Hi everyone! This is Britney Barger (left) one of the missionaries that was sent out from CCLivingwater. She is serving the Lord in Williamsburg under Pastor Tom Hallman. She is also one of the missionaries we support here in Okinawa at w2 (Worship/Word). She sent me this picture from a recent youth retreat that CCWilliamsburg's youth attended. She stated that it was a blast. The girls and guys really jelled together, and got closer with the Lord. Keep up the good work Britney, go strong for God. Please leave an encouraging word for Britney below. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy
Friday morning the girls were getting settled in their new apartment, while the guys were doing the same. Then we moved in the last of the bunk beds for the girls and planned an afternoon trip to the beach. We headed up to Kadena Marina, and since we had the snorkeling gear till the evening decided to jump in the water. At first the water was real hazy, but once we passed the outer breaks the scenery was incredible. We saw a large blue and black sea snake, a pair of squids, and hundreds of tropical fish. Once we were done, we just chilled on the beach. We had to get back early, we had a leadership meeting at 5pm, dinner at 6:30 and prayer and youth group was at 7pm.
They arrived late Thursday night, but they are doing fine. To the left is Shannon Ray from Northern California, Michelle Bonner from Peru, Nicky Whalen from Hawaii, and my beautiful wife Joanna from Okinawa. We are planning on taking the girls out for a time at the beach today, to relax and unwind before we start the new semester Monday. Please keep all of the students in your prayers. God bless you, Pastor Tommy
School has not started yet, so we have been taking some time off, showing the students the island. Today, we took them a little up north to a great snorkeling spot called "Maeda Point". They were able to feed the fish and even venture into some WWII caves. They had a good time jumping off the rocks and talking to some of the Okinawan people. It was a good time.
You pronounce it "juji", but her real name is Djurka. She is from Austria, but her parents are Serbian. I first met Djuji while I was in Israel, and she has a heart to serve young people. We are so blessed that she is with us in Okinawa, and we totally believe that God wants to do something wonderful in her life while she is with us here. Please keep all of the Bible College students in your prayers. Love, Pastor Tommy
Today is Natsuki's Birthday and we were blessed to celebrate it at the Koinonia Cafe after Wednesday night service. Natsuki is such a blessing to all of us as she helps translate on Sunday evenings and helps with the kids on Wednesday night. We are so thankful for her humble, loving service to the Lord. God bless you girl! Please leave an encouraging birthday greeting for her below.
Wednesday afternoon Pastor Tim took Yoshi for an interview in Naha city. After the interview they picked up Aaron at Naha International Airport. Aaron is originally from Riverside California so we are close homeboys from the Inland Empire. He has recently come from attending CCBC in Jerusalem, and that is where we first met. We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord will do in his life this semester. So, please keep Aaron in your prayers, as well as all of the other students. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy
These three students arrived Tuesday evening and the next morning we took them to Tropical beach for some reef walking. We were checking out the fish at low tide. High tide came up quickly so we went for a swim. The top picture is Jeremy Zierigan, in the middle is Haley Brooks and on the bottom picture is Mark Starr. We are blessed to have them with us.
We put Mark right to work. Never mind he is a Captain in the US Marine Corps, he is first a Servant of the Lord. Mark has been such a blessing to all of us here at CCGinowan and CCBC Okinawa. Please continue to pray for Mark as he continues to serve the Lord every day. God bless you, Pastor Tommy
Sunday morning we had a visitor from Czechslovakia (far right). He met Lewai (left) in Fukuoka. He had a few days to visit, so he came with Lewai back to Okinawa. He was a real cool guy. That is the way Lewai is, a good example of a friendly loving Christian.
This is a picture of Manna, and she is wearing an Okinawan Yukata. A Yukata is like a kimono but they wear it in the summer. It is light weight, and cooler in the summer, so it is a summer kimono. This weekend their was a big Matsuri in Okinawa City and Manna was able to attend it. She came by the Koinonia Cafe to pick up her brother Kodai, so we made her get out of the car and pose for this picture. She looks so beautiful neh (right)!
Ayu got a new job! She is the proud worker at Lawson's. There are three major convienent stores in Okinawa, Family Mart, Hot Spar and Lawson's. Ayu recently started at Lawson's and Vunder took these pictures of her. We have to watch out for Pastor Tim. Ayu will probrobly be bringing home some onigiri (rice balls with seeweed, tuna or chicken) and Tim might be gaining some weight. What do they say about marriage? Two years twenty pounds, four years forty pounds, watch out Pastor Tim.
Let the good times roll. Tonight after w2, we celebrated Jun's birthday. Vunder, Trevor and Zach, sang a birthday song for him. During the song, they invited Jun and Kodai to join on in (upper left and right picture). On the bottom right, Kodai is singing a song for the group and on the bottom left is Jun holding his birthday cake that Vunder made for him (yummy). Happy Birthday Jun! When you get a chance, please leave a greeting for the birthday boy below.
This is a picture of Michal holding the cage of one of the types of bugs that are in Okinawa. The kids love playing with these things (yuck!). You can buy different kinds of these beetles at bug shops (that is right, bug shops!) but they are quite expensive. They cost about $30.00 dollars each. The kids will play with them, and even challenge other kids bugs against their bugs. The bugs will fight and the one bud that turns the other bug on its back, wins. (go figure?) The bug in the picture is one that Jason Arbogast' son Justin caught at one of the parks. You can go into the jungle and hunt these down for free. My son Asa wants one of these, but they often escape in the house. That is the last thing that Joanna wants in the house, a bug infestation. God bless you, Pastor Tommy
Thanks for all of your prayers. Misty arrived safely from California today. During Sunday morning service, Vunder and Hannah went to Naha Airport and picked her up. It was a long flight from Cali, but she arrived happy and in good health. Misty will be helping with the Bible College as well as doing ministry at CCOkinawa during the week. Please continue to pray for her that she adjusts well to the climate and that the Lord will continue to use here in a wonderful way.
Some of you might remember Yoshi, he is a recent graduate from CCBC Murrieta. He visited with us a few months ago. Well, the Lord has spoken to his heart and he has returned to Okinawa to assist in the Bible College. We have been praying that the Lord would allow us to start teaching Bible classes in Japanese, but until now there was no one who was able to teach in the native language. Please keep Yoshi in your prayers. We will be teaching the book of Matthew in Japanese. Please pray that the Lord would send those who are interested in taking the class in Japanese. God bless you, Pastor Tommy
photo and article by Dan Pallmann 
We say it is all about the fellowship. Today, after Sunday morning service, we had a potluck at the church. Our potlucks in Japan are similar but different than potlucks in America. We eat things like, curryrice, goya champura, japanese noodles, lots of rice. But we also get our mix of salads and italian food. Pictured above is Pastor Tim and Nick Pukish, Tim just explained the Biblical secrets of the universe and Nick is totally blown away. Just kidding. They are really deciding who gets the last piece of sushi. God bless you, Pastor Tommy
Long travels. Mark (left) Keegan (right) started out their trip from California a little over a week ago. Their travels sent them first to Hawaii, then to Mainland Japan, and finally to Okinawa. Mark serves in the Marine Corps and will be stationed here for 1 year. While his son Keegan will be attending CCBC Okinawa for one semester. We have had the opportunity to hang out for a few days together and they are a blessing. Please keep them in prayer, especially Keegan, as he will begin school in a couple of weeks.
Well, here it comes. There are three typhoon's out there lurking in the South Pacific (Saomai, Mary, and Bopha). One is headed toward Taiwan, the other Mainland Japan, and Saomai is near us in Okinawa. It does not seem like it will do much damage, the skies were clear today, with a nice breeze, but that can be decieving. Please pray for us in the south pacific that the typhoon's will miss us, and will cause no damage. God bless you, Pastor Tommy
Hi everyone! I just wanted to drop a note and tell you that Zach and Hannah arrived back safely from Virginia and California. They had such a wonderful time on the missions trip to Williamsburg. We spent the early evening talking about their great time, before they crashed because they were so tired. This is an earlier picture that I took off of Segmon's website. We were standing in front of King Kong Yakiniku, an "all you can eat" Japanese restaurant. The house was real quiet while Zach and Hannah were gone, but we know the volume in the Ruiz house is now elevated. Pray for us, our two teenagers are back home. Yikes! Pastor Tommy
Sunday August 6 begins the Obon Festival in Okinawa. Obon is a holiday that is dedicated to their dead ancestors. Sunday the Okinawans will begin by cooking a lot of food and in the evening, each city will have asa dancers going down the streets welcoming the spirits back to their homes. Also, they will light small fires outside so they will recognize the lights to their houses. Monday, they will eat and put food on the "butsudon" an altar for their dead ancestors. Then, Tuesday is a big celebration, sending their ancestors back home from the events. People will also burn fake money that their family members will have money to spend in the after life. So much tradition and superstition. Pray for us that God will give us the opportunity and words to share the Love of Jesus Christ. To see more information on Obon and Japanese statistics, check out Dan Pallmann's blog at: www.pallmann.blogspot.com .God bless you, Pastor Tommy
Friday night we celebrated Kento's birthday after youth group. Kento is Debe Pallmann's student, and has been attending w2 and youth group regularly. Recently Kento was baptized at our last Beach bash, and has continued to be a blessing in our lives. Kento will be leaving for Mainland Japan for the next three weeks vacationing with his relatives. We are going to miss him. Please continue to pray for him, that he would continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Hello everyone! Well, Rob made is safe to Chico State where he will be studying for the next four years. Rob was such a good brother here in Okinawa, it is really a bummer to see him leave, but we know that God has good things in store for him. Please keep Rob in your prayers that he would find a good church and get involved in ministry out there. He also has a blog, so check it out when you get a chance, www.robmastriano.blogspot.com . Oh yeah, I think he is going to have a hard time fitting in, if he keeps wearing his kimono around campus. God bless you buddy, Pastor Tommy
After Wednesday night service, we celebrated Debe Pallmann's birthday. Debe's birthday was officially on Saturday the 29th of July. Like always, Vunder baked an incredible cake. He really outdid himself this time. It was filled with strawberries inside and on top. We had a great time. Please leave an encouraging comment for Debe below.
