Stephanie is here!

Debe's sister, Stephanie, has come to Okinawa for a visit. It has been too long since we have seen her (about 2 years).





This was on Sunday, after church.

We got some bentos (box lunch) from a local shop.

Nothing but the best for our guests!

No, actually, we had to eat kind of quickly that day as Debe had a doctor's appointment.

We are looking forward to spending time with Stephanie and will post some more pictures later.

Family Worship Time

You are never too young (or too old) to learn from the Bible.

Debe and I have been thinking of how we could best have a time of studying the Bible together as a family. The challenge of course is 1) keeping the interest of a 3 and 1 year old, and 2) not speaking "above their heads", so they actually learn something.

Well, we came up with "Family Worship Time."

What we do is read 1 story from the girl's Children's Bible. This is a really simplified version of the story and we usually focus on one value (be honest, make good choices, don't be proud, etc.).

We then do a fun activity related to that value. It has been a lot of fun and we definitely recommend studying together as a family.

Here are a few pictures.




Building a tower for the "Tower of Babel"








Make a face game for "Making Good Choices" (Abraham and Lot)









Visual aids for "Abraham and Sarah"

Wednesday Nights

We have a Wednesday night bible study. Currently we are going through the Gospel of John.

It has been interesting for me (Dan), as although I have read, studied and taught through John before, I am continually learning new things. God's Word truly is amazing!

I often will learn something and soon after have someone ask me a question that directly relates to what God just taught me. Surprising? No, it is just God, the Master Coordinator arranging things.








It has been a blessing to have the Bible College students come up on Wednesdays. Here Rob is entertaining our kids with finger puppets.

BIOS

Today we went to BIOS.








This is a cool park near where we live.



There were a lot of flowers and trees and other things to look at.








The kids enjoyed the "park" section, which consisted of a lot of natural climbing things, slides, see-saw, etc.





We even walked a goat!









It was nice to have a day off and spend it together.

Boy's Day

May 5th is Boy's Day in Japan.

Well, officially it is "Children's Day", but since March 3 is Girl's Day, most people think of today as Boy's Day, still.


It is common to see koinobori, or carp streamers.


Carp are symbolic of the hope parents have for their sons: "Be strong"; perhaps even "Swim against the current", wishing for strength in any environment.

They are often displayed on people's homes and also in public places.


Well, happy Boy's Day everyone.

When the cats away...

Well the Pastors (Tom and Tim) are away, so we had some different faces leading in church today.


Dan got to speak Sunday morning, while Natsuki translated. Also, Kayo led us in worship.



It is nice that God has blessed our church with enough willing workers -- church does not "stop" when the Pastors are away.