Some Study, Some Sleep

That says it all, but don’t they look so comfortable! Who do you think the two girls are behind Eder. They sure were tired, but there is nothing like falling asleep on a tatami mat. Anna and Eder are such good students!

Atsukosan heading back to Mainland Japan

Atsuko has lived in Okinawa for many years, but her husband is retiring and they will be moving back to the Mainland. Atsukosan (center) has been such a blessing to us here at CCGinowan. Joanna has been meeting with her for discipleship for the last 2 years. The top picture is the gals praying for her. Please pray for her that God will lead her to a wonderful Church that she can continue to grow in the Lord Jesus. We love you Atsukosan, we are going to miss you greatly.

Happy Joe!

Somehow I don’t remember why I was laughing so much, but I am sure that Eder was the blunt of someone’s joke. Does anyone remember what happened? But as you can see from Eder, he was not amused. Someone must have said something about being Mexican in Tonaki. Eder, the happy camper, only that we are not camping but staying in the Tonaki house.

Campfire Crew

Picture by Anna Hebel Aaron Sanders taught us how to start a real campfire in the rain. Have you ever had a campfire in the rain? Do you even know how to start a blazing fire in the rain? We do, because we had Aaron to get it going. Wonders happen when you use a cotton ball mixed with a little Vaseline. It was raining but we were staying dry with the blazing fire. Everyone went wood hunting earlier and came up with a lot of wood. Thanks Aaron, it was a blast!

The Island

Pictures by Anna HebelThese are some of the picts from Anna’s camera, she has a million of them. So takes great pictures. We started out setting up the tents, but then the weather turned worse, so we had to move indoors. Praise the Lord for Yumiko, Brevik’s grandma. Josh asked me before we left “do you want me to ask my grandma if you could use her house?” I said, “ok”. Praise the Lord, it came in so handy. The girls are staying in Yumiko’s house, and the guys are staying in the Tonaki house. Praise God!

The Birthday Girls; well almost

Pictures by Anna Hebel There are so many Birthday’s this month; so we took a picture of the girls who we are celebrating this month. Like we said, girls birthday’s but then we remembered it is Justin’s too, coming soon. God bless you girls (and Justin) Happy Birthday!

Chillin in Tonaki

We are having a good time in Tonaki, fellowshipping, hanging out. We heard some bad news in that we are not able to make it back to Okinawa today. The weather turned bad so we have to stay here for the next few days. The waves are 2 meters high today (6 ft), Wednesday they are going to be 5 meters (15 ft), so the ferry is not running. Pray for us, that God will show us what He wants us to do. We will be studying in the Word today. Yoshua will be teaching the Word tonight. We did not bring enough food for 3 days, so we are doing some shopping thinking of creative ways to eat. We have rice, so we will see how the Lord will provide. Pray for us. Internet is limited. I have this program with Microsoft that allows me to blog offline and then upload when I connect, so we will keep you posted.

God bless you,  Pastor Tommy

Tonaki Time!

Well, 13 of us ventured out for a trip to Tonaki Jima. We don’t know what the Lord has in store for us, but we know that I will be blessed. This is a first for many of them, Praise God, He is with us.

Chillin at the Cafe

There is nothing like taking a “cat nap” at the Cafe Sunday afternoon. The oldest and the youngest of the Ruiz clan nappin together. Don’t sleep too long Zach you need to help lead in worship Sunday night.

The Birthday Girls

Today is Jillian and Emi’s Birthday, can you believe it, the same day! The angels rejoiced in Japan and America. Happy Birthday girls, we hope that it was a good one. Please leave the girls a Birthday greeting below.

Jackpot!

In honor of Geigy Boek we hit the jackpot. We went to the produce shop and the owner was selling this mega bag for only 600 yen (about $6.60 dollars). Ahhhhhh the wonders of cabbage, the secret of long life here in Okinawa. Hey checkout that guy with the new haircut, is that Wunderlich or Keifer Sutherland?

Don’t Worry Mom, It’s her Birthday!

As the girls went to Yakiniku Saturday, at the restaurant they have an “all you can eat” ice cream machine. Well, Jillian did not know how to turn the machine off, so here you go “mega cream”. I don’t know if she ate the whole thing, but those of you girls who were there can give us the “scoop”, get it “the scoop” as in ice cream scoop. I am so funny. So girls. send us a comment below and “give us the scoop”.

Girl’s Yakiniku!

Pictures from Anna Hebel To celebrate all of the girls birthday’s in March, the ladies went out for “all you can eat” Yakiniku at Bambohe. They had a great time! And especially for Taliya, she loves to eat, she was in heaven! A blessed time for the girls.

Happy Birthday Amanda!

pictures from Anna Hebel It is Amanda’s 20th Birthday! Happy Birthday girl! We are so blessed for you. It looks like you had the greatest time bowling with all the students and the youth. You go girl! Go for Christ! Please leave Amanda a birthday greeting below.

They Were so Young

Jillian and Justin, this is what they looked like around the time I first met them. Where did the time go? Everyone gets older. But check out Justin, he looks like a happy young kid, but keep him out of the cookie jar!

Kevin for Lectures in Ministry

This week we were blessed with Kevin Johnson from CCOkinawa. He gave us practical applications for ministry through the Word of God. All the students were blessed. He spoke clear and simple, “Simply teaching the Word of God Simply”. Thanks Kevin we really appreciate you coming.

Let the Library Begin!

We did some work in the new library building some new book shelves. As you can see Eder is studying really hard (on the phone). We are beginning to bring in the new books. It will be a good place for the students to come and study.

Devotion Style Worship

It is Eder’s turn to lead worship this week. He always does a good job. We have seen Eder’s guitar playing take a new turn, a new style. It sounds great. Good job bro, keep up the good work for the Lord.

“I’ll never give up my Ramen recipe”

After the Teen Challenge group got the secret recipe from Toki for the “shoyu chicken”, they went after the real prize “the Ramen recipe”. They went to the main source, “give us your World famous Ramen Recipe Joel” they said. Then Joel replied “I’ll never give you my Ramen recipe or my famous Joel’s fried rice”. Oh oh, Joel you said the wrong thing.

The Cooking Secrets Revealed

Toki was giving the secret recipe for our Shoyu Chicken to the guys at Teen Challenge. Joel stepped in and began to rebuke Toki for revealing our beloved secrets. We calmed Joel down and reminded him that it is all in the family.

Asa's New Craft

Asa did a new craft in Japanese school. It made me laugh! It was really cool! We hope you like it, just double click on the video above.

Girl’s Day after Midweek Service

We celebrated “Hina Matsuri” for all the gals at CCGinowan. All the gals had ice cream sundaes! All but Amanda she is lactose intolerant, so we got her some lacto ice cream. After service the girls sad back while the guys served them coffee and snacks. Don’t worry folks, the guys ate too, it just cost them 100 yen (about a dollar).

Hina Matsuri

March 3rd was “Girl’s Day” in Japan. This day is dedicated to all the girls in Japan.So in honor of their special day, we bought them ice cream. Wow! Ice cream for lunch and for after Wednesday Night Service, they are special. 

Incredible! Absolutely Incredible!

I am simply “blown away”! Six seven Nate in Peru! God has been using our brother in a great way out there in San Diego. Nate went on a missions trip with his church, also Nate has been teaching helping with the Youth Group in Cali. Nate also taught a devotion at the Surf Camp in Peru. Wow! He met up with Ina, such a small world! In the middle picture is a guy that Nate let to the Lord. Check out Ina sportin the Ira look! We miss you too Ina, we love you both!

The Neelyweds are Back!

Andrew and Kayo are back from their honeymoon. They spent some extra time on Kumajima. They look great don't they! It is a blessing to have them back. God has great things in store for this wonderful couple.

A Day Down South

Monday we traveled down south to the mouth of the Dragon (they call Okinawa the floating dragon). We went to Memorial Peace Park, Cave of the Virgins, and just hung out and had some fun. We had a blessed time with each other.

The Real Man of Steel!

This is what was written about the Tokyo Marathon that Pastor Jeremiah Boek was involved in this past weekend: "What a day. With 6 degree temperatures at the start, strong winds, rain turning to snow as temperatures fell, and a tsunami warning for the waterfront finish area, this year's Tokyo Marathon had the worst conditions in the event's four-year history. That is saying quite a bit after the cold rain in 2007 and the gale-force winds last year. Times were never on the table as runners fought simply to survive." http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2010/02/tale-of-two-fujiwaras-tokyo-marathon.html”

And this is what Pastor Jeremiah wrote, but first, we are so proud of you Jeremiah, Praise the Lord!

“By God's grace, I was able to run my first marathon and complete it in 4 hours 7 minutes.  I had hoped for under 4, but the conditions were extreme.  I am thankful for all of your prayers and support.  To God be the glory!  I am also proud of my wife, Gigi, who ran the 10K.  She trained hard and completed in good time.  We are excited to see each of you again soon and give you a big hug!!”

God bless each of you!  Pastor Jeremiah

Lectures in Ministry

Chaplain Keith from Kinser Chapel was our guest lecturer this Friday at the Bible College. It was a blessing to have Pastor Keith with us. He encouraged us to have “Passionate Spirituality”. Our relationship with Jesus should be real and personal. We were blessed with that good word.