The boys had WAY too much fun with the fireworks! The kids really enjoyed it.. for the first 5 minutes... but it was nice to know that even though the audience left to go play games the men still put forth their best effort to put on an awesome fireworks show!!

GOOD JOB GUYS!!!!!!

Summer Series

During the summer months we take a break from our usual CKC (calvary kids club) and have a special "Summer Series" for the kids. This Summer, we're having the High School and Middle School help run the entire program along with our youth leaders. This year the kids will learning about the wonders of our God. It will be a ton of fun and a great time in God's Word!

Join us each Wednesday night at 6pm for a great time of fellowship and food. We have a big family potluck dinner just hanging out and enjoying our time. Then at 7pm, the kids go to their place and the adults to the sanctuary where we continue our exciting trek through the Old Testament. Currently we're in the Book of Judges. Hope to you see you at 6pm!

David's Retirement from Marine Corps

We were blessed to be invited to David's Retirement Ceremony after 20+ years of faithful service in the US Marine Corps.
It was such an honor to be there and to see and hear of his dedication to the United States, his family and to the Lord.
He is a beloved brother in Christ and we are going to miss him and his wonderful family.
Yes, even his crazy wife, Mary Beth.

Some of the Marines standing at rest before the official ceremony kicked off.

David... Lt. Col. Oliver stands at attention as his commendations from the President and Secretary of Defense are read.

Some of the church family that was there in support! We love you Olivers!

One of his sweet shadow boxes that was given to him as a gift.

May 09 Departures

I don't think it ever gets easier. Every year, we have the wonderful blessing of meeting new and awesome people. God brings them in various ways and we come to appreciate and love them dearly and then, God sends them out. This past 2 months we said "good bye" (really, 'see you later') to Rudy, John, Jeremy, the Kunter's, Matt, the Bassett's, Ivan & Suzie and this past
Sunday, the Ferry Family. We miss you and love you guys! Thank you for making Okinawa a wonderful place for us!

Beach Baptisms

So, it started off with one.

Amy, who wanted to be baptized before her family left Okinawa. So, we said, "let's go for it."
Then Steve & Phyllis Green...
Then Aaron...
Then Jacqueline...
Then Chantal...
Then Justin...
Then Anna...
Then Rebekah...
Then Jennifer...
Then Seth...
Then Joshua...
Then Ed...
Then Jonas...
Then Chandler...

Needless to say it was an awesome day!

It was an honor and blessing to be a part of God's work in the lives of these wonderful people.

(Click on the photo to enlarge image)

Firmly Planted - Women's Conference Pics

The gals had a great time on Saturday being strengthened in the Lord.
The title of conference was "Firmly Planted" and the emphasis was to be planted firm in the Lord in all areas of life.
They had specific workshops to encourage the gals in various ways.
There was a workshop for married gals, for single gals, a home-making workshop (Noemi taught it!), a workshop for our Japanese sisters on dealing with cultural and family pressures as a Japanese Okinawan Christian women, there was a fellowship time for the gals 40 years+, and one on dealing with difficulties that Amy & Amy taught!
All in all, it was a very blessed time. God gave great grace to the gals!

Women's Mini Conference - This Saturday, May 23rd

The ladies are planning a mini-conference (1/2 day) entitled "Firmly Planted". Please pray for the gals as they gather to be strengthened in their walk with Jesus. There will be workshops and general teaching sessions. Pray for the Japanese translation and we're having a special workshop for our Japanese sisters too! It should be a great time in the Lord.

Tuesday Morning Women's Bible Study

The Tuesday morning Women's bible study kicked off their new session this week.
God is doing a great work with the women @ calvary. what a blessing!
The bible study is "Women of the Word" and focuses on various women in the scripture. All you need is your bible!


here's katie greeting sarah on her way in...


the gals got high tech this session - here's jodi and ruth running the media, sound board and translation transmitter - all the studies are translated into japanese for our japanese speaking sisters.
the gals find their seats before the study begins...

the Lord brought nannette to help kristy a few months ago and she is a tremendous blessing. here she is teaching the word to the gals from genesis 2. she is a great bible teacher.

after the general session together, the gals break up into various small groups and share life application together from the earlier study - this gives the gals a chance to respond to the message and encourage each other in the Lord.

Easter 2009 Resurrection Sunday

The pictures are from our fellowship luncheon after 2nd service on Easter Sunday. Kerri Mills took some "pro" pics for us during the services, so I am waiting for her disk to come and will post more then, but hope you enjoy!

God blessed the whole day! We had a wonderful time of worship and praise. God moved in both services and people gave their hearts to Jesus for the first time! The message was from Luke 24. We had a blessed time afterwards just enjoying the fellowship of the believers.

During service the fellowship hall serves as an additional overflow room. We are blessed to be able to get a live feed downstairs and with Japanese translation too!

We rocked the double decker canopy action. God filled His house with His people and food!

Look there's Rick C. taking his time and making the ladies stand out in the sun... hurry up Rick and make your sandwich! :)

Easter 2009 Resurrection Sunday

We had a great time of fellowship with the body of Christ, rejoicing together, breaking bread together. The Lord graced us with a beautiful day and yummy food!

Palm Sunday Service

Join us this Sunday for a special message in God's Word from the Gospel of Matthew.
We will be looking at the events of the Triumphal Entry and what that means for us today as followers of Jesus Christ! See you then!

What hinders me? (this is really part 2)

"Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:16)
Lauren and her sister, Caroline (we need to get pics from mom! the camera battery died) were baptized today. How exciting it is to see teens that are on fire for Jesus!

Here, Emma makes a public confession of her faith. She loves Jesus and He lives in her heart!

There's no sprinkling here at Calvary Okinawa. It's full emersion when you get baptizimo'd here! Don't worry, we let them up... eventually.

the ladies prayed for all the gals as they came out. there's always that sweetness of Jesus when God's kids get together to pray for another.

Here's the Furious Five. Well, maybe not furious but fun and filled with Jesus! What a blessed day it was. It doesn't get much better than this, does it? What a great God we serve!

What hinders me?

in the book of acts chapter 8, verse 36, the eunuch asked Philip after they saw some water, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Philip had just preached Jesus to this man. Philip replies in vs. 37, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And the man replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."


Today, we gathered at the beach to baptize 5 people that had come to faith in Jesus.
It was spontaneous as the account in Acts. "What hinders me?" a few asked...
Our reply, "Nothing, as long as you believe."
Their response, "See here, there is water" (and lots of it on Okinawa)
Our reply, "Praise God, let's do it!"


And we did... and what a blessed day it was. All that morning it was raining. But when we got to the beach, God held back the rain (just for these guys!) - we had a glorious time in worship and then celebrating this wonderful step of obedience in faith. Of course, you old timers know that as soon as we were done... guess what? Yup, it rained. I chuckled inside. Many a miracle God has done with the CCO, the rain and Araha Beach.
First was Andrew. He was smiling the whole time, ear to ear, even though the water was burrrr!

Then his lovely wife, Jaci. Jaci gave her heart to Jesus recently. What a great day for them both!

The guys prayed for the guys. We look forward to seeing all that God has planned for them.

Derek and Allison in town and out again...

We were so blessed to have Derek and Allison back out for a short visit. It is always a huge encouragement to see them. Please pray for them as they return to India to serve the Lord in helping to prepare for the Franklin Graham Festival in Chennai.

We got to go the Barrel Restaurant and have some yummy food.

What an incredible week of fellowship and sweet reunions. God is so good!

Mike shares at Wednesday Night

Okay, like forever now... we know... its nice to know that someone's looking and cares about the updates... thanks and much Jesus love to the peeps... let's begin...

Last Wednesday, we had a wonderful time of fellowship. We gather about 6pm for a dinner potluck together and then afterwards at 7pm, we all head up and out to service.

This past week was a super blessing. Mike Langley is visiting us from the states. God put a special message on Mike's heart to share with us. It's a two parter from John chapter 9. Part 1 was a blessing, we're all looking forward to Part 2.

Harvest Carnival 2008

We will be doing our annual Harvest Carnival again this year and we are excited to see what the Lord will do.  Please pray for us.  This is the first year in our new location, so we're not sure what to expect.  Our vision and heart is 2-fold - (1) To give our own kids a safe, fun, Christ-centered alternative to Halloween.  (2) To outreach to our neighborhood kids and friends.  God has placed us in Nakagusuku Village, and we are in a residential area now.  We are praying that many of the kids and their parents will come out and experience the "sweetness of Jesus" as we look to be a "bright light" on a dark night.