Cancelled Flight

This morning I was scheduled to fly out of Okinawa to Hong Kong for the Calvary Chapel Asia Conference. Well, the flight was cancelled. The Typhoon is camping out right in Taiwan. China Airlines headquarters are in Taiwan. Most flights stop in Taiwan and then go all over Asia. So, we are grounded until the Typhoon moves on. On another note, the typhoon is heading back to Okinawa. As you can see in the upper picture it is scheduled to hit us on Tuesday the 16th. So please keep us in your prayers, we need the rain but not the destruction. God bless you, Pastor Tommy

Typhoon Party Time

The Typhoon was supposed to hit us hard Saturday night, so Wednesday we announced that we were going to have a "Typhoon Party" at the Koinonia Cafe. Well, no typhoon (Praise the Lord) but we still had the party. Everyone brought snacks and drinks, check out all the junk food! The girls, Gina, Hannah and Liz baked us some wonderful desserts. Check out the picture of the guys in the kitchen, it is not everyday you see Andrew and Josh working up a storm (just kidding). The photo of Kelii and Michal playing chess cracked us up. Look how concentrated Kelii looks playing against a 12 year old, that guy is competitive. Looking good bro!

The Hot Water is Now On!

Today Asa helped me connect the hot water in the Koinonia Cafe. The gas workers hookup the hot water in the down stairs floor but there needed more work to be done on the upstairs, so we tapped into the first floor for the second floor. Sounds difficult but it was quite easy. To make it short, we now have hot water to wash dishes and to mop the floors. Praise the Lord! Also, the shower down stairs works and that gives us more opportunity to host more missions team when they come and visit. So "Lord send us more of your servants to do Your Work here in Okinawa".

Filling in for Sosimo

Friday night Kelii (pronounced kelle-e) filled in for Sosimo at Futenma Chapel Friday night live. We have live worship and a special message out of the book of 1 Samuel. Kelii did a great job, Praise the Lord! We miss you Sosimo, but the guys are holdin down the fort for you. God bless you bro!

Thanks Pastor Travis!

Tokorozawa has one of the bast Gyoza shops in all of Japan. Every now and then Pastor Travis sends us a few boxes for the Bible College Students and now that Jiai and Tom Cotton are here they get a little taste of home. Gyoza are little pork dumplings in a pasta wrapping, they are delicious! Just look on the face of Cottonsan above. Thanks again Pastor Travis, we are so blessed!

Calvary Daejeon's First Service

These are some of the pictures from Pastor Mike Loudermilk's first service in the City of Daejeon. We are so blessed for him as he begins this new step of faith. Please continue to pray for this new Calvary in Korea. Also if you want to check out more pictures, click onto http://www.ccdaejeon.blogspot.com/. God bless you Pastor Mike, we are blessed for you.

Let's Get a Little Creative

As we continue to work in the upstairs Koinonia Cafe we are beginning to work on the down stairs too. As we begin working on the Foyer area of the Sanctuary/Livehouse we had to put in lighting. Lighting is real expensive in Okinawa so we had to get a little creative. In Okinawa the Farmers and outside workers wear these Okinawan hats to cover themselves from the sun. We bought some of them at our favorite place to shop "Makeman" (a smaller version of HomeDepot in the USA), got some light sockets and the such and whalla! We have our own Okinawan lights. Thank you Eder for standing in as our local moviestar to model the hats in action. Double click on the pictues to get a better look and tell us what you think. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy

Chaplain John Keith at Kinser Chapel

Chaplain Keith is a local boy back in Southen California. He has a Calvary Chapel background but attended Loveland Church in Ontario, California. Joel Coronado is our go to guy for ministry at Kinser Chapel. He set up the time for the students to meet Pastor John and get to know him better. Kinser chapel is one of the places where the Bible College students rotate to help in ministry. Thank you Chaplain Keith for taking the time to meet with the Bible College Students.

Devotions with Jessika

Jessika did a great job today sharing her testamony and giving us the Word. Every semester we are amazed and blessed with the students that He sends to us. Not only do they learn from us here at CCBC Okinawa, but we learn from them too. Thank you Lord for Your Goodness and Grace.

Typhoon Sinlaku

Typhoon Sinlaku is shaping up to be a big one. I know that Hurricane Ike is about to hit Texas pretty hard. Please keep all of us in your prayers as the Hurricane in Texas and the Typhoon here in Okinawa are about to pass through us. Pray that they loose strength and turn away from us in direction. Thank you for our prayers.

Sosimo is Heading Back to California

Thank you for praying for our brother Sosimo. As many of you know his Father passed away a few days ago. The Lord blessed him with a ticket home so he can attend the funeral. Please pray for Sosi, that the Lord would use him to comfort his family and share the Love of Jesus Christ with all his relatives. God bless you bro, may the Lord lead, guide and direct your paths.

Devotions with Jesse Spencer

This morning Jesse did a great job during morning devotions. He shared with us his testamony on how he came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior. It is a blessing to have Jesse with us again. He is a great brother in the Lord.

Typhoon heading our way!

Well, we have had quite a quiet typhoon season this year, but one is heading our way. Typhoon Sinlaku comin up from the Philippines. It should hit us either Saturday or Sunday. Please pray for us, it is heading directly in our path. We are used to typhoons in our area. But we can always use the prayer for safety and direction.

Back Online

The Koinonia Cafe was connected today with Fiber Optic internet cable. So it is lightning fast! Now the students will be able to email their homework, stay connected, and in tune with the world. Thank you Lord! We checked the access and we are online on all three floors. Look how happy Tokito is; that guy has a great smile.

Saimen Noodle Time

We are so blessed! I cannot describe to you the blessings that we receive from these two ladies; Satsukosan and Atsukosan. At least two times each semester these gals come to the Bible College and cook for the students. Today they came and cooked cold noodles for us with Tempura. This is a summer dish that is cooked for lunch. You put the cold noodles into a cup with cold sauce. Then you add the ham, mushrooms, cucumber, onions and fried egg. Yum Yum! It tastes soooooo goood! The students ate until they were going to pop! We were so blessed. Thank you again gals, thank you for all your service unto the Lord.

CCDaejeon Complete!

The Sanctuary is complete, the signs are up. Pastor Mike emailed me and said that they had their first service. They had chairs for 50 people and 70 showed up! Praise the Lord! He will be sending me pictures soon of the actual service. You can check out their blog at http://www.ccdaejeon.blogspot.com/ or you can see their website at http://www.ccdaejeon.com/ . God bless you Mike we are so blessed for you.

She's Been Spotted Again!

News Flash! The Japanese Actress has again been spotted in Okinawa, this time in the Yomitan area of Zampa beach. One of our trusted reporters (paparazzi) was able to bust into a moving van and shot this picture before he was plummeted in the shoulder with her mighty fists of furry. Stay tuned as it has been reported she will be in Okinawa until further notice. Okinawa Ocean Magazine

Hawaiian Boyz

Or at least one of them is. Kelii showed the guys how to sport the hibiscus flower in the ear. The guys wear them on the right side. But in the upper picture, I don't know what this guy was thinking. Double click on the picture to see what I mean.

They Look Great!

We just had to put this picture up of this lovely couple. Rusty and Amber have been such a blessing thus far. Amber is one of the interns here this semester and she is in charge of lectures in ministry and the Women's Discipleship class. Rusty is a third semester student. You can't see it, but Rusty got a little sunburned today, watchout bro, the rays here in Oki can fry you up.

Lunch Time in Yomitan

There is this small local joint located in the village of Yomitan right near the wharf. They serve "tempura" seafood. Tempura is a deep fried battered piece of fish, squid, octopus or vegtables. The cost is only 50 yen (about 45 cents) a piece. So you get a chunk of fresh tempura seafood real cheap! It is so tasty. We kind of overwhelmed the place as you can see so many gaijin (foreign locals) invading the place. The did not have any rice, which is unusual, but next time the obasans (little old grandmas) said that they will have it ready next time if we call ahead. The obasans said that they had ika (squid) but it was really tako. No, not taco like mexican tacos, but tako is octopus. You can imagine how Josh Dean felt when he bit into the fresh tempura and was met with the tentacles of the octopus. Don't worry though, the rest of us ate it, it was delicious. Double click on the pictures to get a closer look of the fresh fish that they were cutting. I think that the big one was either at tuna or a swordfish. These local joints are the best.

Our First Day Out

The Bible College has just finished their first full week. Every Monday we take the group out for a day of sightseeing and or learning Okinawan culture. Today we took them out to Toguchi beach and the area of Yomitan Village. In Yomitan we went to a secluded local beach as well as visited the lighthouse and suicide cliffs. Suicide cliffs is the place where some of the Okinawans committed suicide rather than surrender to the American Forces when they landed in Okinawa. The island is rich in history especially WWII. The students are a blessing. If it was not for them we probrobly would not get out in the countryside because sometimes you get so busy in ministry you don't get a chance to visit and see the island that you have fallen in love with. It was a real blessed day.

CCDaejeon: The New Work Begins!

Mike Loudermilk in Korea has stepped out in faith and began the new work in the city of Daejeon. As you see the pictures they have remodeled the building and are getting ready for services. Please continue to pray for Pastor Mike as he continues to step out in faith. We are so excited for this new work. Praise the Lord!

Urgent Prayer Request

Sosimo Avila's Father passed away today and went home to be with the Lord. In the hospital he came to know the Lord as Sosi's sister Rosie (Bergy) shared with him about the Love of Jesus. Sosimo was also able to send a voice mail through the internet that they were able to download onto an ipod and let his Father hear as Sosimo shared God's Love with him.

Please pray for the family as they make preparations for the funeral which will take place in Mexicali, Mexico. Also pray for Sosimo as he makes preparation to travel back to the USA. He has a lot of responsibilities here in Okinawa with full time classes and all his ministry that he does at Futenma Chapel ministering to the Marines. The Lord has given him a lot of peace in this heavy situation. Please continue to pray for the whole family that God would continue to pour out His Grace to them all. Love, Pastor Tommy