Harvest Carnival 2007

Ms. Tammy headed up the Cake Walk and it was awesome. We had sooooo many cakes, pies, cookies and goodies- (thank you so much - all you bakers!).
Our purpose for having the Carnival is as much outreach to the community as in-reach to our own kids. This year we saw a great number of Okinawan and Japanese kids and parents come out for the event. We were able to pass out tracts, videos and share the gospel in small group and one-on-one settings. That night, a half-Okinawan man came with his kids for candy but found something much sweeter- Jesus and surrendered his life to Christ!
Some kids that came out were from the "Danchi" area (subsidized apartments) behind the church where we have done several outreaches with various teams. Some of the kids came back that weekend and came to church on Sunday!
We were blessed by several groups that came out to be a part with us.
The Harbor, Hansen Christian Center, Kingdom Outreach Ministries (seen above), Noah Community Church and CCBC Okinawa/CCGinowan worship.
This was the bounce house guy... he looked like our good brother Steve Gaines, so we took a picture. We miss you Steve!!!

Harvest Carnival 2007

This year's Harvest Carnival was over the top! God just totally blessed the night with incredible weather (it was "suppose" to rain) and packed the place all night long! It was great.
Dressed up or not, it didn't matter, we had a blast sharing the love and light of Christ on a dark night.
This was our "Knock the Idols Down" game. Sometimes even the "ghetto games" can be the most fun.
The Jr. High crew aka "Tsunami" made a "plinko" type game called "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" game. It was really cool, especially since the kids made the entire game themselves (with some help from the Johnson's)
Keeping the tradition alive- the High School group aka "TC-1" manned the food booth and was able to raise some funds for upcoming ministry events. Big time thank you to the Merrill's.

Surprise Appreciation Potluck

Kristy and I returned for Sunday services (thank you Roy Toma for teaching!) and were taken by surprise. Glenn and a few diabolical others had organized a surprise church potluck. We were so blessed. Normally I would be upset with Glenn for such things but it was Mexican food themed... it's just impossible to have yummy enchiladas and be upset. Thanks everyone.
God gave us a beautiful day to be outside and partake of the festivities.

Toni & Caroline blessed us with a special song. Toni composed, Joe played the music and Caroline sang- it was very beautiful and filled our hearts with gratitude to God for such an incredible church family.
All in all, it was a fantastic finale to a wonderful weekend that God blessed us with.
Thank you to everyone who was a part of the conspiracy :) We are so blessed.
This was a Snickerdoodle cake that Toni Hanson made. How cool is that?

10 Year Wedding Anniversary

On October 18th, Kristy and I celebrated 10 wonderful years of marriage. I am so thankful to the Lord for blessing me with such an incredible wife and terrific mother to our 4 beautiful children. We count it an honor and blessing to be here in Okinawa for almost 7 years now and to have had the privilege of sharing in God's goodness with so many. God has truly done exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could have ever asked or thought. Thank you Jesus for Your blessings upon our lives.
We farmed off the kids for the weekend and went up to the north of the island. We were so blessed because we were able use our travel mileage coupons for ANA at the Manza Resort Hotel. We didn't stay there but we were able to use the coupons for dinners and for Kristy's pedicure and stuff like that.
Kristy ordered a 50 dollar steak! Praise God we had those mileage gift certificates but we almost died when it arrived. Look at how small that thing is! "Where's the beef?" as those old Wendy's commercials used to ask. The steak was a "Yanbaru Beef". They said it was like Okinawa's version of Kobe steak. I don't know if it was worth 50 bucks but it was very yummy.
We got to hang around the Manza Hotel and enjoy the beautiful weather God provided.
On Kristy's birthday, we went to a dinner show buffet. The show was pretty good- it highlighted Okinawan music and culture. The buffet was all Okinawan food, which we love, so it was a great dinner.
The weater up in the Nago area was beautiful. We were so blessed.