Sunday, July 17, 2011

Simon Leaving Okinawa

It hits you really hard when you think about an old friend who was with you right from the beginning, Simon was one of the first guys to begin the program here at Teen Challenge. Temote started Teen Challenge around the same time as we began our ministry here in Ginowan City. In fact Temote brought the first guy who joined Teen Challenge to the cafe for our Sunday night w2 service. Shortly after the first guy came Simon, I thought to myself after meeting him, "I don't know if this guy is going to make it". But Simon continued to grow, even to the point of becoming a leader for the rest of the guys. As the Lord grew Simon it was quite evident that the Lord had a special calling upon his life. The Lord opened the doors for him to become involved with the Tohoku/Sendai relief up in Mainland Japan. The guys from Teen Challenge Okinawa began working closely with Samaritan Purse. Simon quickly began to be a leader and served well with them up North. Well, today Simon made the commitment to become full time with the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. He will be leaving Okinawa this Wednesday to begin full time making preparation for the BGEA outreach in Sendai next year.

One message can change your life, it did for me, it was one message that started the whole process of moving to Okinawa; On Wednesday nights we have been teaching through the book of Joshua. We were told that when the priest's put their feet firmly in the Jordan that is when the Jordan parted. It is when we put our feet firmly down in the work that God has called us to do, then we will see the waters part. We are going to miss Simon here in Okinawa, he is a special friend, but we know that God has great things in store for this brother. We love you Simon, God is good and He will do great things in your life.

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