Special Speaker: Tom Cotton

While Pastor Tom was in Ishigaki Island, Tom Cotton filled in for him on Wednesday night. He did a great job. It is a blessing to see the Lord develop Tom into a teacher of the Word. Please continue to pray for Tom that the Lord would continue to lead and direct his path.

Time to head back to Okinawa Island

It was a real blessing to be able to hang out with Teresa and her family. We had a great time of ministry and getting to know each other. We look forward to see what the Lord will do next as we got a lot of vision for ministry in the future. Please keep all the Christians in your prayer on Ishigaki Island.

Wednesday night Worship and the Word

We were blessed with the opportunity to worship with some of the Christians here that gathered at Teresa's studio. It was a blessing to sing and spend some time in the Word. God is so good.

Ishigaki Beef

The island is famous for its "Ishigaki Beef". When you visit Ishigaki Island everyone says "make sure you try the beef". Well, we didn't, but we got some cool pictures from this farm out in the country side. What is different from Okinawa, here in Ishigaki there are a lot of farming grazing land. Much land for the cattle to eat well, bath in the sun and drink fresh water. The cattle here do look strong, lean and healthy. That might be the reason that the beef is expensive, and that is why we did not try the beef.

Sightseeing on Ishigaki Island

 

It was low tide and the fishermen were out gathering sea weed. It was amazing to see them gathering it all by hand. There were a lot of older women out there doing the work. The area was so beautiful.

Day 2 continues at the "Upper Room"

 

 

The Boyz are rockin the house at the D house. It is looking great. Just taking it "one day at a time". Before you know it, the work will be complete. Please continue to pray for us as we go forward for Jesus Christ.

Children's Outreach

 

We expected only two or three kids, but the Lord brought us 9, we were blessed. In the pictures above Joanna is teaching them the wordless book. It tells the story God's Love through Jesus Christ. Afterwards we played a game, did a craft and had snack. Everyone had a great time. Please continue to pray for the wonderful kids here in Ishigaki Island.

Our humble room

This is only part of the room (Joel's side), mine is much cleaner. It is just enough room for two beds. That is ok because all we need is just a place to sleep and it is real clean. The Hula studio is located right next to our mini rooms, and it makes it convenient. Look how happy Joel looks.

The Hula Dance Studio

 

The place is beautiful! It is about the size of the Bible College upstairs building. She has it decorated so beautiful. The view is so nice as you can see the ocean. And you get a nice breeze during the day.

The Hokumori Family

We were blessed with the opportunity to have dinner with Teresa's family. They are all located on the left hand side of the picture. It was a blessed time getting to know her family.

Hungry Boyz

photos by Tom Cotton

After a full days work, you get the munchies. You can see the paint all over these guys, I told them before they painted "don't get Japanese paint on you, it is hard to get off". As you can see from the center picture, that we are located right above "king tacos" on the second floor. These guys are either eating a taco burger or a full on hamburger. Check out the size of these monsters, not the guys, but the burgers. They look yummy don't they? Boy, I hope these guys do not become regulars down stairs, if so, they are in a heap of trouble, too many calories.

Let the work begin!

pictures by Tom Cotton

While a few us us are on Ishigaki Island, the guys jumped right into business. They started getting the guys shower room together as well as started painting the center room. Tomorrow they will paint the ceiling black. The idea is to put ceiling fans in for more air movement. Please keep us in your prayers, their is a lot of work to be done, and we are just getting started. Good work guys, it is looking sweet!

Tallest Mountain in all of Okinawa

Mt. Omoto, the tallest mountain in Okinawa, and it is located on Ishigaki Island. It does not look that large on the photo, but it is quite big. This island is beautiful, in the words of Joanna "it is a cross between Hawaii and Samoa".

We made It!

We are here on Ishigaki Island and Teresa met us at the airport. God is so good! One of Teresa's friend on island is letting us borrow her car for the 3 days that we are on the island. What a blessing! Please pray for us that we would have a fruitful trip with our sister Teresa. You might be wondering "what is the picture with the Haka (tomb) all about?" Well, this is the burial sight of the first Martyr to be put to death in Okinawa for the sake of Jesus Christ. In the early 1600's after hearing about Jesus Christ, he was forced to deny his faith. He would never deny the Love that he has for Jesus Christ, so they burned him in front of the people. His name is Ishigakisan. The island was not named after him, but that is just his name. Teresa told us that the Christians on island wanted to take care of his burial sight as a reminder of his faith. The prefecture on Ishigaki island decided to keep his tomb as a memorial for all to remember. His bones are still in this tomb. A wonderful witness for Jesus Christ.

On our way to Ishigaki Island

The Students were on the plane heading back to the States while we were on our way to Ishigaki Island to see Teresa (our sister from the Hula Outreach). We are taking a small missions trip to see what doors God will open up for us to begin doing more outreach on our neighboring islands. Please pray for us. We will be doing a children's outreach on Tuesday night, and a special Worship service on Wednesday night. God bless you all, Pastor Tommy

Evan's Artwork

Evan Van Kirk left our family a little note. He is a great artist. This is as you can see the Ruiz Family. This guy cracks me up. We are going to miss you Evan, but we know that God has wonderful things in store for you life.

Students leaving for California

It has been raining all night, Okinawa is sad that these Bible College Students are leaving the island. We are really going to miss this group. The only bright spot is that there are a handful of students who will be staying with us for the summer. We are totally sad to see them go, but we do look forward in anticipation on the new group that the Lord will be bringing next. We love you guys (and Fredee), be blessed! May the Lord continue to lead and guide you all. Love, your extended family in Okinawa.

Happy Birthday Bryce

Well amost. Bryce's Birthday will not actually happen until the 23rd of this month, but most of the Bible College students will be gone. So we decided to celebrate his coming special day, CCBC Okinawa style, with a cake. Joanna did a little extra and bought some ice cream for this event, yum, yum, yum. Happy Birthday buddy, be blessed!

Last Outreach of the Semester

The weather was good so we headed out for our final outreach at Mihama with this semester Bible College students. It really is a privelege to be able to go out and share the Love of Jesus with the Okinawan Japanese as well as the American Service people. We distributed Prayer Flags that came from a ministry out of Calvary Costa Mesa. They are always greeted with a big smile.