English Class

Is this a Tea Party?



No, this is one of the benefits of having English classes in your home.

Instead of a stuffy classroom, the ladies can enjoy tea or coffee, practice their English, and have a qualified native English speaker (Debe) there to help them out.

We teach about 22 students privately or in groups.
This accomplishes 3 things:
1) it provides a needed service here in Japan (learning English),
2) it allows us to meet many people we might not otherwise meet (we can then invite them to outreach events, later),
3) it provides additional income. After all, Japan is an expensive country to live in.



It's an interesting part of our life.

Peace Park

Today we went to the Okinawa Peace Park.



During World War 2, Okinawa got caught between American bombs and Japanese conscription and delaying tactics (delaying their approach to the Japanese mainland).

This was an interesting museum, though full of sad events.



We went as a fieldtrip for Debe's homeschool student.



and Emi had her first taste of ice cream - Yum!

Japanese Christmas

Happy Holidays!

So it is December and soon Christmas will be upon us.
Japan is no exception. Gift giving and celebrations are a big part of Japanese culture (and I think even more so in Okinawa).

Of course, all the commercialism exists here too.
Unfortunately, you don't hear much about the true meaning of Christmas.















These are some of Dan's 1st grade students.

They are decorating a tree with origami decorations.

We made candy canes, Christmas trees, candles and elfish looking Santas. The Santa's aren't in red because he does not always wear red (that's an American tradition), but mostly it's because I used up all the red on the candy canes.

This was more colorful anyway.

So I figured "Hey origami! It's from Japan. These kids are Japanese, so they will be really good at it...well, not yet anyways.

We had fun though.

Guess Who's Birthday?

Well, Dan turned another year older.
We went to his favorite Italian restaurant (in Okinawa anyway): Capricciosa

It's located in "American Village" which has many American shops (Tony Roma's, 2 Starbucks, several other giftshops) and even a ferris wheel

Debe's sister Lisa and our friend Ping also came.
We all ate well...and Dan got some nice stuff.

Hawaiian Outreach

Hey, everyone loves a party. This was a great opportunity for us to invite some non-church friends that we have. We had lots of great food and Debe even did a hula. Our pastor had a message as well. Hopefully these kind of events will continue to attract people.

More Pics Here

In an English Room. Far, far away...

What's going on?


Well, this was a fun class I like
to do with my 5th graders.

We were reviewing directions
(left, right, up, down, go, back).


To add a little excitement to their lives (and mine),
we did the Star Wars Game.

They cannot see due to the mask.
They must depend on their teammates to give them directions.

What a day!

Today was a great day: Debe's mom was baptized!
Praise the Lord! We've been praying for her for years.

She has been a believer for a few months,
but in Japan people usually won't call themselves
a Christian until they are baptized.