The Hallman's Virginia bound!

There is such a joy in my heart when I saw this picture. The Hallman's have been such a blessing in my life and with joy and anticipation we await the day they leave to start their new ministry in Virginia. I remember talking to Tom and asking him "what is the Lord saying to your heart" and he stated that God has put the state of Virginia on his heart. I said "Virginia, who is in Virginia". He said, no one that he knew, but God is speaking to him. So a few months later we were on a plane heading east. The rest for them will be history. History of the beginning of a great work. We are blessed for them, and cannot wait to hear the wonderful reports as God blesses their Ministry. Please pray for them, as they prepare to leave in a few months. Tom will be graduating from CCCM School of Ministry, shortly after that, he is heading to Israel. When he gets back from Israel, shortly after that, he boards the plane for Virginia Whooooaahhhh! Praise the Lord! On the left of the picture we have, Matthew, Jeanne, Tom and Patrick. We love you guys, and God's speed to you. Pastor Tommy

The Douville's in Hagerman Valley, Idaho!

Look at this beautiful family! Dion and Cindy have been in Idaho now over 2 years, and the Lord is doing a great work up there. A team from CCLivingwater has just come back from doing some ministry work with the church, and were blessed as they came home with pictures and stories of what the Lord is doing through Dion and the Church. I will post some pictures of their venture real soon. From Left to right, starting at the Bottom is Cindy (mom), Joshua, Cody, Dion, upper left, Juliana, and Jared. Please continue to pray for the Douville's and the Church up in Idaho. God has brought some wonderful people to help in their ministry, and we are excited for them with the work up ahead. Pastor Tommy

Children's day May 5th, 2005

We were driving to school today near the Yomitan river dock area, located next to Red bridge. We noticed that they put up the flying fish kites getting ready for Children's day. In Japan they dedicate a special day for all the children. Every house who has a child will fly one of these Koi fish kites and the children will get special gifts, usually toys. These kites were so beautiful waving in the wind, I had to stop and take a picture. Don't worry, we were not late for school.

W2 (Worship/Word) Biblestudy

Please continue to pray for the home Biblestudy held at the girl's discipleship house. It is such a blessing to be able to teach this study to the young adults. I am so blessed to be able to teach in English and have Yumi translate into Japanese. It is a challenge to teach this way, but I am getting use to it. Pray that the Lord will continue to lead and guide us as we reach out to the people of Okinawa. There is so much vision for the future, especially for the summer, we want to make sure that we are led by His Holy Spirit. Pastor Tommy

The actual Menorah that will be in the New Temple

This is the Menorah that will be in the New Temple, that will be built in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. There is an organization in Israel called the Temple Institute that is dedicated to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. This organization is building all of the utensils and objects that are needed for Jewish worship. We know that in the Last Days that the Temple will be rebuilt in Israel, so we say "Maranatha" come quickly Lord Jesus!

Original stones of Antonio Fortress

Pastor Mike is touching the original pavement of the Antonio Fortress where Jesus would be whipped and Scourged. This site is directly next to the temple area where Pilate would order Jesus to be taken to, where he would be stripped, beaten and whipped by the Roman guards. Jesus took the pain and shame for you and me as He would later be led to the place of Calvary where he would die for the sins of the World.

Prayer at the Western (Wailing) Wall

This is Israel's most holy site. The Jews from all over the world come here to pray in this site. This wall is all that remains of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem that Solomon built, and later, Herod helped beautify. The women pray on one side and the men on the other.

The East Gate

The gate where the Messiah will return through. The Bible states that when Jesus returns back to Jerusalem He will enter through this gate. The muslim people have buried their dead in front of this gate just in case the prophecy is true. They believe that a holy man will not pass through the area of a cemetary. For Jesus, this will be easy. For more picts click onto http://photos.yahoo.com/e3missionsisrael

Camel ride into the Bedouin tent dinner

They look like naturals! Professional Camel riders. For those of you who do not know the one on the right is Takako, and on the left is Lisa. We were escorted on camels to the bedouin tent where we were given an incredible dinner that evening. We felt just like Abraham as he lived in the desert preparing to dwell in the promised land.

Golgotha-The place of the Skull

It was on this hill that Jesus was crusified and died. As you look at this picture you can see the skull in the mountain. Look right in the center of the pict and see the eyes, and nose. Jesus was crusified on Skull hill. For more picts click onto http://photos.yahoo.com/e3missionsisrael

Pastor Tommy at the Western Wall

Because it is a holy site, all visitors must wear a Yamika to cover their head while they pray. People come from all over the world to pray in this place. The men pray on one side and the women on the other. A wall separates the men from the women. It is a special place for all people.

Rose of Sharon

A land flowing with milk and honey, and flowers too! One thing that I love about Israel is its beauty. Everywhere you go, there are wild flowers. These beautiful flowers are everywhere, they are deep red poppys. In California, we have only orange ones. But in Israel, they are red, orange, and there are blue ones too!

The 3 brothers at Engedi

This is one of my favorite spots in Israel. You might remember the story. Saul is chasing after David, so David hides in the strongholds of Engedi (place of the wild goats). It is here that Saul wanders into a cave to relieve himself and David and his men are hiding in one of the hundreds of caves up here. (You can see the caves everywhere) Well, David could have killed him, and gained the kingdom, but instead he leaves it in God's hands, and eventually, we know the story, David is later made King of Israel. We spent over an hour here, worshipping the Lord, doing a Bible Study, but no wild goats. Then low and behold as we were about to exit the area, we saw a few family of goats coming out of their hiding places in the cool of the afternoon, what a site! We were totally blessed. For more picts click onto http://photos.yahoo.com/e3missionsisrael

Kayo is back from China!

Everyone remembers Kayo! She is back from China, she finished up her schooling and hopefully she is back for a long time. She is such a blessing, so when you get a chance email her and say hi.

Fellowship time at the Ruiz's

Takako, Yasutomo, and Mariko came over our house and prepared for us "Sukiyaki". It was totally oishii (tasty)! What you do is put vegetables, meat, and sauce in a pan, and let it cook. When it is done, you just put your ohashi (chopsticks) into the pan and dig in. So they add the food, and you just keep eating, and eating, and eating. What a feast. You have your side of rice and you are in heaven. We had a great time of fellowship.

Go!Go!Eigo house signs going up soon.

Hi everyone! These are the signs that will be going up in front of the gogoeigo buiding on the house. We are blessed that this new ministry will be happening soon. We will begin classes on April 14th. Please keep us in your prayers.

Tommy and Joanna's Anniversary and Takako's luncheon

Hi everyone! We are having a little difficulty with our posting. So if you would like you can read the headlines below and if you would like you can turn to our photo albums and see more pictures of the events. Takako's pictures are at http://photos.yahoo.com/takakomiyagi1 and Joanna and my photos are at http://photos.yahoo.com/ruizanniversary . God bless you all and I hope that you enjoy the articles.

March 23, was Joanna and my 19th Wedding Anniversary. Can you believe it! 19 years! I am the most blessed man on the face of the earth. To look back on those years seem to just fly by. I am so blessed that God provided for me such a wonderful wife, I mean it! Who else could have put up with me for all these years and even followed me to Okinawa Japan! With all seriousness, we are blessed, God has done many miracles in our lives and we look forward to what He will do in the future. Please continue to pray for us, that we would have fruitful ministry and the visions that God has put in our hearts will be fullfilled in His timing. We have such a heart for Japan and especially the Okinawan people. We want to see the Lord glorified throughout this Island. Pray that God will give us the opportunity to help start many Calvary Chapel's on the Island. There are 1.2 million people in Okinawa and presently only 2 Calvary's. There is so much work to do, but all this will be fulfilled in God's timing.  

Takako Miyagi has served at OCSI for 10 years, but recently she has heard the call of God to resign from her position at work to serve the Lord in a new capacity. She does not know where that is, but she is following the calling of God. You might remember Genesis 12 where God called out Abram to a land that he did not know. He followed the Lord's leading even though God did not tell Him exactly where that will be. So it is with Takako, all she knows is that God is calling her to follow Him in a new way. For many of us, this seems kind of scary, but remember, God just asks us to follow and He will do all the leading. The men and women in the "Hall of Faith" (Hebrews 11-12) were ordinary people who were led by an extraordinary God. Continue to pray for Takako, she will be heading to Israel with Pastor Rick and I. This has been a life long vision to visit the Holy Land, and in a few weeks it will come to pass. 

A beautiful picture of a small dock in Yomitan, Okinawa. The square block of rocks in the water is an old monument, or once a house out there. The boat in the dock is also beautiful.