Calvary Chapel Japan Conference -Our journey out

A small group of us set out on Sunday after service to travel up to Tokyo for the annual Calvary Japan Conference. At the airport, we ran into Calvary Naha's crew. It was good to see the brothers.

This year, the entire Naka family came up. It was a blessing to fellowship with them.
Please pray for them as they continue to serve in our Japanese ministry.
Pastor Masaru says I have no antenna. He is right. We are thankful that he were able to travel with him through the subways and streets of Tokyo. He is a great tour guide.
Look at all them people! It was the beginning of Golden Week here in Japan. The city of Shibuya was packed with people. Its always a neat place to visit but I am glad I don't live in the city.

saying goodbye is never easy

It's coming again. That time of the year when they begin to move. The military call it "PCS season" when Uncle Sam says your time is up and you gotta go. It's always bitter sweet. Last week we prayed for Ashley and the Prutch family. We already miss them big time.

We also prayed for Ed & Lauren, pictured here. Along the way, God blessed them with cute little Caden. We got to dedicate him a few weeks ago. It was wonderful.

Please pray for us and our hearts. A little peice of it breaks off each time a family moves on. We are grateful that God has allowed us to minister in such a wonderful place with wonderful people.

I look forward to that day, when there will be no more "good byes" or "sayonara's". As they said back in the day, "See you here or there or in the air!" Love you all.

Mark & Suwanee

How could I forget that God has brought us to one of the most beautiful places in all His creation? Today was one of those days that we were just blessed by dear friends and the incredible island God has called us to.
Pictured above is my beautiful bride on a secluded beach on the east side of Okinawa.
A very dear couple, Mark & Suwanee asked if they could renew their wedding vows here on the beach. They will be leaving us this summer and wanted to honor the Lord for their marriage and recommit to each other on the same island that they were married before they depart to the states. I was blessed by them and for them.
Mark is a military pilot and Suwanee is professional photographer. I think she would not be too happy since I got a picture with their eyes closed but they still look good.
You can check out her stuff (its pretty good compared to my shots):
www.suwaneephotography.typepad.com
- and -
http://www.suwaneephotography.com/


Look at this place! I know what you are thinking. How can we suffer for Jesus like this here?

The Place where God has Chosen

God has been so gracious to us. As many of you know, a few months ago we were heading towards being without a home for our church. We had searched high and low, all the while praying and seeking the Lord in His Will for the place He had for us. The theme of our time was amplified by our weekly bible study in Deuteronomy by the repeated phrase "That you may worship... that you may prosper.. that you may obey... in the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide."
Well, God in His faithfulness and perfect timing, did in deed, show us the place where He chose for us to make His name abide.
And we are grateful.

The plan at the time was that this was going to be a temporary holding place for us. There was another building that we were interested in but was not going to be available until June of this year. So, we moved in here to the Beauty School with the intentions of moving on shortly after. But God has led us to remain and stay longer. We are excited about the near future and the neighborhood God placed us in. It is very rural unlike our old spot. We are in the middle of this little village with great opportunity to shine the light of Jesus.

Proverbs says that the plans of the heart belong to men but God directs his steps. So, we are trusting that God has directed our steps in this new step of faith.

Please pray with us. The first floor of the building has become available. The owners wanted to rent to us but at a high rate. We prayed and asked for a much lower amount - more than half in fact - and guess what? They said "okay". Okay!.. Okay... that means we now will be spreading out alittle more and taking over the first floor as well. It is very exciting and there is crazy space for us to do some really fun things. The picture above is the office space which also has three other additional office spaces, plus a tatami room, kitchen, shower room. There is a large meeting room as well all on the right side.

On the left side is the open meeting area where our Planet 45 kids meet already plus three large class rooms that all connect and open up to one huge room. Needless to say, we are once again just blessed out of our flip flops at God's provision and goodness.
So with it comes ideas of a sweet fellowship area - coffee shop - bookstore - kinda - deal but we'll see what God has in store.

The owners want to sell us the building and we are praying if this is what God would have for us. Would you join us in praying for this as well?

Men's Ministry Retreat "Building God's House"

A small group of the guys were able to get away for our men's ministry retreat. the focus of this retreat is to encourage and equip the men of Calvary that are feeling led into full time ministry.
Glenn and I taught through the book of 1 Timothy. We entitled it "Building God's House".
we were blessed as Damian led in our worship times.
we met up north at eco park. God blessed us with a beautiful weekend and we had some great time of study, fellowship, prayer, food, worship and hearing from the Lord. During one of the free times, Ken taught us how to play "bouchie ball" - we had a blast.
We met outside in the courtyard of the cabin we stayed in.
It also had a large meeting room inside where we ate and fellowshipped. This is was from one of our sessions in the morning.
during the afternoon on friday, we went to this huge fresh water lake (i did not know that okinawa had one!) and we got to kayak and have a neat time with the brothers.
what is Damian wearing??

Wednesday Night Fellowship

Every Wednesday night we gather before bible study for a time of fellowship and sharing meals.
There is always plenty of food and it is always yummy. Normally, I don't eat before I teach but lately, the dishes have tempted me to partake.
Allen and Jaime were down from Iwakuni! We were so blessed by their visit. They fellowship at Calvary Chapel Iwakuni with Mike & Sonya. Allen is one of Mike's key guys.
With Joe's surgery (please pray for his recovery and healing), God has been blessing us by stirring others to step up and minister their gifts with the body. Recently, Crystal has been leading in worship and we are so thankful to the Lord.
Everyone says, "Check out that pink guitar!".

Okinawa Children's Ministry Festival

Recently one Saturday afternoon, we joined with many other Okinawan churches to help with an island wide Children's Festival. We were honored to be invited. God has blessed us with ministry to both English and Japanese speaking kids and adults.
There were outside and inside activities & events.
We were asked to run the outside game booths and such. Many thanks to all of those that came out to be a blessing to the body of Christ. It was a great day. No one was there to promote a church or denomination- it was about uplifting the name of Jesus Christ and reaching out the kids He loves.

Beach Baptisms

God blessed us with an incredible day to gather at the beach and worship and rejoice with those that decided to be baptized.
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.
The brothers and sisters in Christ gather around those that were baptized to pray for them and over them.
Please pray for Calvary Okinawa and the 8 folks that were baptized this day. Some say that the number "8" is significant and represents "new beginnings". It was our prayer that this day was the mark of a "new beginning" for these our precious family in Christ.
It was a great day in the Lord. An entire family came forward to be baptized. Mom & Dad went first and then baptized their children with us. One dear brother, Michael came out fully dressed in his clothes and shoes and all... Erin, a neat gal that was saved on Easter came out and has jumped in with both feet in following Jesus.
The water was amazing. The day was blessed. What a great place to make this commitment.
The beaches on Okinawa are pretty nice.

Damian visits Okinawa

We were so blessed this past Sunday as Damian Velarde was back on island to share with us the exciting new venture of faith that God is leading him and his family towards. Please pray for the Velarde's as they go to England to plant a church in the city of Exeter.
http://supernaturalwarriors.blogspot.com/
Damian encouraged us from 2 Chronicles 17 this morning.

In the afternoon, we went over to visit with Tim & Ayu.
Later that evening, Damian was invited to share at CC Ginowan's W2 bible study.

Steve Gaines: Missionary with an assault rifle

Please pray for Steve and his family. Steve is still deployed in Afghanistan. He sent this picture of his crew and to show us the snow there. He has several more weeks until he returns to Oki. Steve and his family have a heart for missions and desire to return to Okinawa to minister along with us. We are excited about the future. We got to skype with him for a bit the other day. He's all buff boy now and even though, he never smiles for pictures, he was in great spirits. We miss you Steve and are praying for you! See you soon.

Noah turns 9!!! Yikes

It is one of those weird realities that sneaks up on you. You have a kid... kids... and your first-born is now nine. Nine. It is hard to believe. Just as all those before me warned me and told me- the time will fly. It has. If God should lead him to depart at 18 or his mom gives him the boot, we are at the half-way mark- that is weird. We are grateful for the joy that God blessed us with nine years ago.

Oh yes, McDonald's McFlurry was on the top of the "what would you like for your birthday?" list. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I know. BTW. They didn't have "Strawberry Shortcake" but "Double Chocolate" was just as nice.
That classic cheesy grin.

"Ja Mata" to the Petersen's

Last Sunday, we said "See you later" to Justin and Mary Petersen. They are leaving to Texas for 3 years and are praying about what God would have for them after. God has given them a heart for missions and has been stirring their hearts for the country of Turkey. Please pray for this wonderful couple. We miss them much but are excited for them in this new season.
There are many things we will miss about them.... Justin's quick, dry wit... his corny jokes... Mary's punchy-ness (Justin says she has a fire in her belly).... his intellectual, yet easy to understand teaching of the Foundations Class.... Middle Eastern food... Shadow.... Mary's cool tatoo... and all the fun we had about Star Trek.
Justin sent these pix when the arrived in Minnesota to visit family before heading to Texas.
The way is paved for Turkey. :)

Youth Servant Sunday

This Sunday was Youth Servant Sunday, where the youth were the ones who did the serving. They did everything from leading worship, doing the announcements, ushering, and greeting people at the door. They did a great job!

Allison is Here!

Allison is a dear friend here visiting from Calvary Chapel Monetebello! We are so excited that the Lord has led her to Okinawa several times. This visit was about a month long, and she has been helping serve the church in many ways. The Lord has blessed her in graphic design and photography. She will be leaving on Thursday, but with hopes on coming back as soon as she can!! Please pray for her and safe traveling.

A Special Visit

Kevin and Hallelujah


Hallelujah is a youth kid in our church who was recently diagnosed with a cancerous lump in his throat. He has been in Osaka getting chemo therapy and radiation for treatment. Kevin (his youth pastor) and Pastor Rick were able to take a couple days to visit him. It was an encouraging time for Hallelujah and his family to spend time together. Please continue to keep him in your prayers! We are looking forward to having him come back to Okinawa soon!

Hallelujah, Kevin, and Hallelujah's mom, Keiko

Tamiko's Departure..

Tamiko is leaving on Thursday to go to Germany for her 3rd semester of Bible College. She has been such a blessing to us, and we are excited for her to have this experience! We know that she will have a great time! Have fun Tamiko, and we will see you soon! =)

Korean Worship Team Comes to Okinawa!

We were blessed to have a Korean Worship Team come and visit us. They are with Campus Crusade for Christ. Every year, they travel all around the island and minister to people with the gifts God has given them. We were their first stop before they started their tour. Before worship, they filled up on the awesome grub we have on Wednesday nights before service.

Allison was able to get a quick shot of them while they were practicing, and doing sound. We truly had a fun and encouraging time as they led us in worship.

A Pleasant Visit

Just recently we had Ryuko Fujita,(on the right) Maria Williamson,( Middle) and Kayo (front middle) come and hang out with us for a bit. These girls graduated from OCSI in 2002, and just finished college. It was so good to see them and catch up. Kayo has been actively involved at Calvary Chapel Ginowan and is such a blessing! Ryuko will be staying here in Okinawa, seeking the Lord for what He has next. We want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Maria who is going back to the states and getting married! God Bless you girls!