A Quote from DL Moody

"A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it."

TYPHOON SCOOTER BOY IDENTIFIED!!

Two weeks ago we told you about this crazy guy we dubbed "Typhoon Scooter Boy". He was driving around right after the typhoon.
We couldn't believe it, especially because it was so windy and rainy. The streets were flooded but it did not stop him from coming out.

But yes... we found out his secret identity and give you this world exclusive! Typhoon Scooter Boy is Mario Mendoza!
We wish. Mario's a great brother in Christ who is from the same sending home church as us, Calvary Chapel Livingwater (who, by the way, has a new website - www.cclivingwater.com). Mario is currently serving with Calvary Los Alamitos with John Greenroyd. He e-mailed to let us know how he was doing and that he wants to try to outrun a super typhoon someday too.
Mario's been to Okinawa several times and all the kids remember him- for his crazy hair, for his wonderful smile and sincere love of Jesus. We'll look for you at the next storm Scooter Boy.

Baptisms at Calvary Chapel West Tokyo

Pastor Santo from Calvary West Tokyo e-mailed some pictures of their recent baptisms.
Before the baptisms, the church got together near the river and worshipped the Lord in song.
Check it out... they got a mini-amp for the vocals. That thing is sweet.
Here's Pastor Santo and his assistant, Kazu giving words of encouragement before the big dip.
God bless the work of Calvary West Tokyo. Thank for Santo, his family and ministry there.

Homeless Outreach continues on...

Oh no! They forgot Johanna! While the rest of the CCM left, Johanna is staying behind an extra two weeks. She was on Okinawa 5 years ago and God has kept Okinawa on her heart...so... she's just hanging out and jumping into ministry here for a few days... then over to Ginowan and then to Naha for a few. She has a blog site too... http://godsgraciousgifttome.blogspot.com/
Ministry continues on... it was our Homeless outreach day (every 3rd Saturday). We meet at the church at 3pm for prep, cooking and prayer. Then head out at 5pm to the parks to feed and minister the love of Christ. Today's menu- chicken stew.
We are blessed because several of the Okinawan ladies from the church will also come out to help minister. The folks are often drunk but respectful. We are praying that they will surrender their lives and addictions to Christ.
Here Jeremy is explaining the gospel message to Yashi. Yashi was an interesting man. He spoke very good English. So we asked him how. He explained to us that he graduated from the University of Tokyo with an English degree and was teaching English at a local High School. We asked him 'what are you doing here?' His reply. "I am an alcoholic. I lost my job. I lost my family. I lost everything." God gave us the opportunity to share what the true source of joy, fulfillment and satisfaction for life truly is- Jesus Christ.
Roy Toma was also sharing with two other guys. Please pray for our outreaches. We are seeing more fruit each time. They know that we come every 3rd Saturday now and praise be to God, that one guy said that he is now understanding that God is real and loves him because we keep coming back. Our vision is that other churches and groups would join but on a different day that we might increase our efforts for Jesus.

Sayonara to the CCM Team- thanks!

The time had come to finally say "Sayonara" to the team from Montebello. Joseph had to fly out one day earlier, so he's missing from the photo. We really did have a great time with crew and will miss them much. God willing, CCM will send them and another crew out again for more ministry and fun on Okinawa. God bless you.

Last outing: Churamura Aquarium

After the hike to Hiji Falls, the team went to the Expo Park Churamura Aquarium. It used to be the world's largest but now it's second.
Here's the crew plus a few extras. We sure did have a great time with them. After all their hard work, they earned alittle R&R.
I don't know what Nicole and Lynsie were doing but it was a funny picture. One cool thing about these two... this is Nicole's fourth trip to Okinawa (she must like it) and Lynsie's 2nd trip. They were part of a team that came last year and blessed us.

Hiji Baptisms

The amazing oasis that God provides in His creation. It became a beautiful backdrop for some of the Calvary Montebello team that decided to make a public proclamation of their faith in Christ here in Okinawa. For 4 of the 5 girls, this was their first time to be baptized.
We only regret that mom & dad and the rest of the family wasn't with us to celebrate.
God bless you! Please pray for Shelly, Nicole, Jennie, Lynsie and Sonia who were baptized this day.

Hiji Falls finally

So after almost 7 years being back
and growing up here, I finally went
to Hiji Falls.
It was part of the team's visit, so...
After the mini-rain shower
then the 100000 mile hike
we made it the water fall

It was so refreshing and relaxing
to be there.
Of course, too bad there's no
escalator to bring you back
the thing that sweetened it all
some of the Montebello team
decided to be baptized!
It was awesome! What a day!

The crazy pastor and fun loving church

After service, we went down HWY 58 and stopped at Blue Seal Ice Cream. Growing up as a kid, I remember eating Blue Seal ice cream at various carnivals and festivals. My favorite is mint choco chip, but tonight I got BanaPaco.
There's Donny holding John. Donny serves at CC Naha along with his wife Ayano. One cool thing we remembered was that we first met Ayano 5 years ago when the Montebello team first came and brought Priesthood for outreach concerts! We met her at one of the concerts and she had given her life to Jesus- isn't that cool?
The Montebello girls chillin'...
Masaru is a nut.
He got my kids to do some zany things. He's not your typical Okinawan or Japanese pastor, but he's Calvary style.

Ministry with CC Naha

We had a great time at Calvary Naha. God has blessed the church

with many young people who love Jesus and have a desire to grow

in the Word and to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

After service, we had the world famous "Oshiro Curry".

Joseph had a song translated into Japanese during his visit to Japan.

He left the song with the gals at CC Naha.

Calvary Chapel Naha's new building!!!!

How blessed we were to see what God has done in Calvary Naha. The Lord has provided a wonderful facility for them. Pastor Masaru was sent out from Calvary Okinawa three years ago and God has done a miraculous work there. Praise be to God!!
It is newly built and we were able to join them on their first Sunday in the new place. It was hard not to covet their building. :)
Here is the entry way leading up to the sanctuary on the 2nd floor.
This is their roof! It was amazing. They have a fenced-in area that has artificial turf for the kids to play and for fellowship on the roof.
The Montebello crew gets to check things out.
This is their view from the building. It was an incredible sunset that God blessed us with that evening. We joined them for worship, service and fellowship after.

The snake handlers

Just before the actual snake show and demonstration, they pull out this huge boa constrictor and offer for anyone to come and get a picture. Joseph and the kids went down. Caleb, like his father, is enjoying the snake moment most.
For the Montebello gals, it was no problem.
The entire Phipps family wanted to join the fun. Glenn said that he wished he could get one for Christmas. Glenn's new favorite verse is Isaiah 11:8 "The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den".

CC Montebello Outing- Okinawa World

We took the team to Okinawa World. Okinawa World is a type of tourist place where they have cultural shows, an old Okinawan village replica, glass blowing factory, creepy caves and the best part- a Habu snake show.
The typhoon destroyed the outside stadium, so the Eisa dance show was inside the shop.
Visitors lined up in the shop to get a good seat for a good view.
This "shi shi dog or lion" was part of the Eisa dance show.
At the end, the performers invited the audience to come participate. Joseph jumped up, grabbed the drummers stick and went to town! It was a fun time.

Myra Grace Freeman dedication

God blessed the Freeman family with a little girl. She was the answer to a long awaited prayer! Lisa was excited that now there is another female in the house! Her big brothers are so proud too.
It was a true joy and honor to dedicate little Myra Grace Freeman to the Lord and to thank God for the blessing that the Freeman family are. Please pray for them. They will be leaving us next week bound for the states. Rodney is a Warrant Officer in the USMC.

Men's Breakfast @ Awase

The typhoon passed and the guys came out for food, fellowship and the Word of God.
Because of the storm, the place was not busy at all, so we were blessed by the typhoon.
Roy Higashi from Calvary Montebello shared with the men from God's Word. We were encouraged from Ezekiel 33 to be the "Watchmen" that God desires us to be.
The Montebello girls came too but we kept them away from the boys. They were able to enjoy the American style breakfast before the day began.
There's Shelly. She's so happy for toast.

The car, the trees, and the Noah

These are the trees...
one fell on the car, one nearby...
This is the Noah who stood on the tree... (no real damage to the car, nor boy). Special thanks to Glenn "the animal" Phipps who came over with a chain saw and hacked up both trees.