Last Class

This was the last meeting for the "Ishimine Ladies Class."

They would meet on Fridays for an hour of English,
which was followed by a time of Bible Study and Tea.



This was a good outreach as many of the ladies are not Christians.

Well, now they are going on hiatus as Debe is getting close to her delivery date.

Please pray for God's will regarding the future of this ministry.

Baba's Birthday

Well it was "Baba's" (Debe's mom) birthday today.

As you can see, she is 5 years old. Nah, she is 29 again!

The weird thing is...she has a sister with the same exact birthday!

Well, actually it is her twin sister, so maybe it isn't so weird.


Rob taught from Genesis and afterward we had cake.

We were not expecting so many people on a Wednesday (22!), so we were a little concerned about having enough cake.
But we figured if God can multiply bread and fish, why not cake?

We were able to get enough cake slices for everyone!

Adult Day

Today is Seijin no Hi, or "Adult Day", in Japan. This is the day that 20 year olds are officially recognized as adults. Girls and boys will dress in kimono and attend many events throughout the day.




One reason Debe's sister, Stephanie, came to visit was to take part in her Seijin no Hi.







At W2, Pastor Tim (with Kayo translating) prayed for God's blessing on their life. Stephanie on the left, Tamiko is on the right.

New Year's Day, for kids

January 2nd and 3rd are times for family reunions in Japan.

We visit a few of Debe's Okinawan family on these days.

It is an exciting time for children as they receive otoshidama, or New Year's money.

Here is Emi opening her otoshidama.


Later, we went to Jusco (a Walmart-like store). We were surprised to see this rabbit pounding away with a hammer.

The Japanese say that there is a rabbit on the moon. They don't really believe it, but it is kind of like saying the moon is made of green cheese in the U.S.

Anyway, the rabbit on the moon is making mochi (a Japanese sweet). You do this by pounding it with a hammer for quite a while. This is fun for the kids to do, but Emi was not yet old enough to try.

"Peaceful Illumination"

Every year in Itoman City there is a display of lights.

Supposedly, there is 1.3 million lights (one for each resident of Okinawa), but we didn't count them all...

Year of the Pig

Well happy "Year of the Pig", everyone.

Well it is really the year of the Boar.



Supposedly, people born in this year are "Gallant, Chivalrous, and Honest."

We saw this pack of pigs on Christmas Day up north. They looked kind of Gallant, actually. Guess they didn't know they were headed to the SPAM factory, huh?





Of course we do not follow this kind of stuff, but this hat (a gift) was too cute to not wear.

Anyway, have a happy 2007 and be kind to any pigs, uh boars, that you meet.

New Year's Eve

New Years Eve was a lot of fun!

Rob gave the message at W2 and afterwards, we had an all night Fellowship!

We had our 1st annual Soup/Soba Potluck.



In Japan, they eat soba on New Year's Eve, with the hope that they will have a long life. We eat it 'cause it tastes good!


Next we played Karuta. Karuta is a traditional Japanese game that is played at New Year's.

As famous Japanese poetry is read, you try to be the first person to slap the card that has the same poem written on it.

We changed it slightly: we used Bible verses. We alternated between Japanese and English, since not everybody can understand both languages.



Well, the night was still young (even if I am not), so we broke out some board games. We are not playing Poker, even though it looks like it.


Finally it was the New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!