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!

New Classrooms

Here are some pictures of the new classrooms. There are some challenges,but for the most part, everyone has their own room. We are not suprised at God's blessing, just amazed at His faithfulness.

Although we don't have a picture yet, we do have a Japanese Sunday School Class and don't want to forget to mention them.

This is half of the Nursary. The other half is for those babies that don't walk yet. 2 & 3 year olds.
4 & 5 year olds.

Kindergarden & 1st Grade. 2nd & 3rd grade.

Planet 45.
Tsunami (Jr. High)

TC-1 (High School)

Adult service.

Dedication Sunday Luncheon Fellowship

After our first Sunday in the new building, we had a Dedication Luncheon to thank God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon us.

It was a wonderful time. Sandwiches, Chips, Soda, Friends and Family and Awesome Fellowship.

And A New Season Begins....

Things have been very busy here. We have moved from our old building which, as you can see, is no more. This picture was taken on December 8th in the morning and by the end of the day the old church was gone.

Here is a close-up of the sun rise. As the old building is fading away, the rising sun reminds us that a new day is coming. We look forward to the new season God has for us in the new church building.
The Japanese take a lot of time to plan and they do it well. Once the planning is over and the work begins, they don't waste any time. I believe this picture was taken on Sunday or Monday afternoon. There is nothing left of the old building, but a pile of crushed concrete.
We have been blessed beyond comprehension. Here is the building God has placed us in for the next season. It is currently a beauty school, but they will be closing their doors over the next two Japanese school years. The Japanese school year runs from March to March each year.

We get to use the entire third floor, half of the second floor and one other room on Wednesdays and Sundays. In April, we will be able to use the entire first floor as well.

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.