Bun Bun on the mend!

Meet "Bun Bun": Emi's favorite buddy.
A great Christian couple, the Taira's, gave
Bun Bun to Emi after she was admiring
their daughter's similar rabbit.










Bun Bun had been out of commission
recently with a broken leg.
Well, it was more of a tear, really.

Anyway, Bun Bun has been repaired and
is reportedly feeling "just fine...pretty springy"









Emi is glad to have her pal again.

Debe's Birthday

So today was Debe's birthday.
This year she turns...well, let's just say she
is another year older, but not as old as me!

To celebrate, we went on a date (a rarity with a toddler -- Debe's mom was kind enough to watch Emi).

We went to a restaurant called "Daikon no Hana".







What is interesting about this restaurant is: It is tabehoudai, which means "all you can eat", which is great! However, there is no meat. It is all vegetables. No beef. No chicken. Not even fish. Okay, there was a little sirloin in one dish. A true vegetarian's delight, I'm sure. It did all taste good though!

Afterwards we went to see the Pirates of the Caribbean 2, which Debe had wanted to see. We enjoyed it, but didn't care for the ending...

Happy Birthday Debe!

Mitsuo Fuchida

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought a reluctant U.S. into WW2. The man who led that attack was Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. He would later become a Christian.


It is interesting how he came to know Christ. God certainly had plans for him. He left Hiroshima the day before it was nuked.




A POW named Jake DeShazer played a role. At first Jake was filled with hatred towards the Japanese. After reading the Bible, God spoke to his heart and he became a Christian. He then acted on his faith, by acting differently towards his captors.

It was through his acts of kindness and forgiveness that Fuchida became a Christian. He would spend the rest of his life as a Christian Missionary!

You never know what impact your Christian Love might have on others!

Suika Wari!

Why is this kid swinging a stick around blindfolded?
He could be insane...










Or, he could be participating in the Japanese game of suika wari! Suika, for watermelon and wari meaning "to break".

Yes, much like a pinata the goal is to make a hole where there was none before.

Now you might be thinking, "yeah, but there isn't even any candy in there!", which would be correct. Consider though that a watermelon of this size could cost $20 or more!

Eventually someone got it.










This was a church party at our friends, Mike and Kazumi's church. Sorry Mike, you aren't in the picture.










It was a lot of fun!

Break Dancing?

If you like most people, you probably think of breakdancing as "something from the 1980's."


Today in Japan, however, it is as popular as ever. There are school clubs and other groups that meet regularly to practice "breaking" and "popping".

So last night was "Rhythm Unity 6" (the "6" meaning this was the 6th time to have this event). This is a competition with a gospel message presented. (and no, I was not competing!)

Now many people might not associate dancing with an opportunity to reach others with the gospel. Especially when much of the music in breakdancing uses questionable lyrics.
So for this event, the music is carefully screened and selected.

Many young people came -- these are people that probably would not come to church. There were several testimonies and a Gospel presentation.

Praise God that several young people prayed to receive Christ and a lot of literature was given away!

New Pastor

If you do not already know him, this is Tim Newell.
He has ministered here in Okinawa for 4 years now.

He has been faithful in ministry, in reaching out to Okinawans, and in learning the language.

Well tonight was his ordination service -- he is now Pastor Tim!

He and his wife Ayu are a blessing to many, especially at our church.

Baptisms!

So today was a pretty cool day:

First we had the first service in the new building.
The church in Ginowan outgrew the Ruiz's house.

Afterwards, we went to Tropical Beach for Fun, Food and Fellowship.

One other thing planned was some baptisms.

Yumi led us in a time of worship first.










It was neat because, being a public beach, there was a lot of the public there and they were quite interested in what was going on.

Pastor Tom is speaking with those wishing to get baptized.










Baptism is a very serious step in Japan. Despite what the Bible teaches, many people here feel you aren't really a Christian until you've been baptized.

Praise God! 7 people made a very public profession of faith. Especially exciting to us were three young Japanese men. Perhaps they will get called to be Pastor's in the future?

Even greater than baptisms: 2 others prayed to accept the Lord after many had gone home.