Men's Breakfast

The guys got together Saturday morning for our monthly Men's Breakfast. This past month we met at Stack's. It was a great time of fellowship, worship and God's Word.


Steve Gaines exhorted the men in the Word with living lives devoted to Christ.
Here's Nathan getting a cup of java.

Calvary Ginowan Worship Conference

Calvary Ginowan sponsored a Worship Conference and several pastors came to support. It was a neat time of reunion with the guys and hearing the messages God gave them.
Pictured above are pastors, Travis from Tokorozawa, Gil from Bakersfield, and Jeremiah from Tokyo.
After the sessions, there was a time of fellowship, it was good to reconnect with familiar faces and meet some new folks too.

The Baptized

Working from the upper left top... Praise God for... Jennifer, Hannah, Lisa, and Mrs. Nishihara (this is Keisuke's mom and Lisa is Keisuke's sister!!!) What a blessing to baptize them both. I know that Keisuke would have loved to been there.
Praise God for Yasutomo... for Colby... for Hunter.. a total of 7 in all that day! The number of completion- and a perfect ending to a perfect day in the Lord! What a blessing!
Here's the crew. Despite the cold water, you just had a warm fuzzy inside.
And the Holy Spirit descended upon Juan Y.... just kidding... here's an action shot of Yasutomo coming out of the water... oh yeah!

Baptisms After Picnic

After lunch, we got together on the beach for baptisms. It was the cherry on the cake! What an honor it is be a part of this special event in the life of a believer. The blessings of God just continued through the whole day.
We gathered on the boardwalk for a time of worship and sharing from God's Word. Acts chapter 8 records for us when the Ethiopian treasurer asked Philip, "What hinders me from being baptized?" Philip answered, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." The man was baptized on the spot.
A group from the church came out to show their support and love for those being baptized today.
Thank you everyone who came out and prayed, supported and loved on the folks taking this very important step in their life of faith.

Picnic Fellowship After Service

We had to stay true to the "Calorie Chapel" traditions :) After service, we got together and had a big CCO family picnic right there at the beach park- You know after Jesus rose from the dead, He met the two guys on the road to Emmaus - walked with them, taught them - and then had a meal with them together - so we had a meal together.
Here's Cindy Langley "Super Servant" extraordinaire... what a blessing she is! Look, so professional too... gloves and all. Thanks Cindy for getting everything prepared! We had forks and spoons this year too! :)
Even in line, we got to fellowship and meet new folks. Derek Norris is giving me that look... "don't take a picture of me, I'm hungry".
We took over the park benches - praise the Lord they put up new awnings- it made for a perfect place to hang out, eat and fellowship.
The wonderful Longoria familia. Naomi is our "sopapilla angel". Did I spell that right?
Ah, the beauty of the blue tarps in Okinawa. They make for a great picnic blanket. Here's the Pol family... Hunter Pol (eating the chips) was getting ready for his baptism that day! Yahoo!

Our God Reigns! Our Jesus Lives!

What can you say? God is too good. Once again, He proved Himself faithful and mighty by holding back the rain. The weather reports said 95% of rain. It rained all the night prior but for our outdoor Easter Service, God blessed us. Of course, not just us, but all the other churches and chapels that met outside that day on Okinawa! What an amazing testimony for the Lord!
Pictured above is our worship team. They did a wonderful job leading in beautiful worship! It was great to be outside with the ocean as our backdrop and worship the God of all Creation- both in English and Japanese.
The overcast clouds above didn't keep us from coming out to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If a stone couldn't keep Him, a few threatening clouds are nothing.
It was a great day. God deserves all the glory. Even the Okinawan sound workers and the parks people were blown away that God held back the rain. They came to us after and said it was a miracle! It was a miracle in deed! Thank you Lord.

Kids ministering @ Easter

So, we got all the kids up on stage to minister to the parents and adults in song. It was awesome. God continues to bless us with the wonderful Children's ministry servants and the best kids. In addition to the songs, a few kids got in a "hello Mom" in there.
Here, Jeremy is about to lead them in a special song. Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

The little ones on their way to the stage...
They did such a great job in song. How blessed we are by our kids ministry!

Easter morning preparations... will it rain?

The sky's were threatening. The forecast said 95% of rain. We had a huge down pour all through the night.... but in faith we moved forward... trusting and hoping...
The children's ministry team were decked in blue and gathered early for set up and prayer. What a huge blessing these folks are to our kids. We have the best children's ministry ever! (Is that too boastful, sorry)
The work crews were out early to help set up for our picnic afterwards and get all things prepared for the church. It was great to have so many come out to help. What servants!

Wednesday: Pastor Tom Hallman

Last Wednesday, Pastor Tom Hallman shared with us in a great study. It was so good to see Tom again. Some might remember that he came out 4 years ago to do one of our first marriage retreats. It was good to have him back. Please pray for CC Williamsburg and for the Hallman family. We love you guys!

F-15 Fighter Jet Tour

Lt. Col. Wayne Martin is a F-15 Fighter Jet pilot who knows his stuff. However, he will be the first to admit, the most important thing he knows is that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior. Wayne blessed the crew from Virginia with an incredible tour of the fighter jets. We got the "behind the scenes" tour from someone who flies and loves the Lord. Thanks Wayne!
We're getting the brief outside before we go into the Squadron HQ.
Here's Pastor Tony and assistant, Jimbo sitting in the pretty sweet brief room.
Nick, one of the kids from Williamsburg is a part of the Civil Air Patrol and was stoked to be able to do this. Wayne was gracious enough to stand for a picture- he actually belongs to the other squadron but we won't tell.

Sunday: Praise Celebration KOMI

Last Sunday night, many churches on the island gathered at a Celebration of Praise event sponsored by KOMI (Kingdom Outreach Ministry International). The turn-out was great and it was a neat time to worship the Lord in a variety of worship styles. I was blessed. It has been a great blessing for me personally to partner with other churches and fellowships on Okinawa that love Jesus and have a heart to worship God and outreach to the lost.
We are in the business of building His kingdom and not our own. What a witness and testimony Christ receives when we as His collective church work together for His glory! We are blessed to be a small part of God's big plans for Japan and for Okinawa.

Sunday: Youth Paintball Outing

The High School Youth, Jr. High Youth and a handful of "youthful" guys gathered Sunday and made their way out for some friendly paintball fellowship. Do those two words go together?
Here they are, the group returned, thankfully with smiles, fun stories, especially of Glenn and some war wounds to brag about.
The Jr. High crew ("Tsunami") looking hard...
No Lauren, that's not a hickey, that's the kiss of a paintball fired at Ed at close range. Ed, who is a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Instructor who does that for a living, unfortunately couldn't dodge the paintball fired at him by his OWN teammate! Ooops.
Oh yeah, even the Senior Chief was the receipient of a few good shots. This one even bled!
Matthew Hallman was visiting from Virginia with Nick. We wanted to give him something to remember us by! Here's one for now and the other for the road!

Sunday: Japanese Outreach Fellowship

God blessed us this past Sunday with a great turn-out for our Japanese Outreach fellowship. After services, we gathered in the fellowship trailer for lunch, fellowship and Naka-san shared his testimony with the group that gathered. It was so great to see how God has continued to bring the Okinawans to church.
It is always a festive time as we share our meals and lives together. Please continue to pray for us as God leads in this new and growing ministry outreach.
We were amazed by the Lord. The Japanese doctor who delivered Benjamin showed up at church today! It was so great to see her. She stayed for our outreach time as well. Dr. Takeya shared with the girls that she loved it and would be back when her schedule permits. She gets one Sunday off per month. Please pray for her salvation with us!

Last Sunday: Pastor Tony Clark

Last Sunday, we were blessed once again by Pastor Tony Clark who shared with us from Ephesians chapter 4. The message was entitled, "8 Ways We Imitate God". It was a powerful, soul-searching message. Tony recounted his days in the military which spoke to many hearts.

OCSI Annual Bazaar

Every year, Okinawa Christian School International hosts a huge Bazaar to help raise funds for various projects at the school. It takes alot of work to put this together. We went over to volunteer some time and poke around some.
Here's a familiar face shopping around. Hoy Vanessa! Whatcha buying girl?
Her husband Niel is the head soccer coach for the OCSI boys' team.
This year the school had many fun craft, game and photo booths as well. This is one of the outreaches that blesses both the school and community.

Men's Study: Pastor Tony Clark

At our weekly Men's study, we were blessed with an awesome message by Pastor Tony Clark from Calvary Chapel Newport News, VA. Pastor Tony was saved in Okinawa as a young Marine stationed at Camp Courtney. This was his first time back in 21 years. Thank you Tony for sharing with the guys!

Daniel Sedota from Calvary Livingwater (currently attending CCBC Okinawa) along with Nick and Matthew from CC Williamsburg led worship for us that morning.

The fellowship was the best. The guys really enjoyed all the special guests. Thank you to Pastor Tom Hallman, Pastor Tony Clark, Tristan, Jimbo, Nick and Matthew! It was a blast to meet you all and please come back to visit anytime!

Wednesday Service

Each month, we are blessed by the CCBC students who come to serve with us on Wednesday nights. This is Mark and Keagan leading in worship for our mid-week study. These guys are a huge blessing and servants! Thanks fellas.

Mona Torres, pictured here with Lisa Freeman, has been visiting with us for a few weeks. Pray for her husband Larry who's holding the fort back in the states with Brandon and Anthony.

We were blessed and encouraged in the scriptures by our very own in house resident theologian Justin Peterson. Justin teaches our Foundations of Faith class every Sunday morning in the Fellowship Trailer. Justin challenged us and shared on the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Word of God.