Debe's Birthday

Well, we all have them: birthdays that is.

Debe is another year older, but Dan thinks she becomes prettier with each year.

Anyway, here is a photo from the coffee house.


















We also went on a little date (a rarity these days).





We went to this neat little cafe (it was kind of "girly" in there, but the cake was good!)

Happy Birthday!

My own room?

Before we moved to Ishikawa, we were living in a house in Naha.

One nice thing about the house was this large tatami room (straw mat). We would all sleep in there on the floor, plus it was a "safe" place to fall down for those just learning to walk.

Well, our apartment in Ishikawa is "American style", which means:

1) the toilet and bathtub are combined (they are in separate rooms in Japanese style apartments.

2) the apartment size is larger (which we desired for bible studies/fellowship), and

3) there is no tatami room.

This meant the girls would have their own room for the first time.

Emi loved the idea!...well, at least until bedtime. She got used to sleeping with us, I guess.

She does like having her own bed and room though and is getting more used to sleeping by herself.

Living in Ishikawa

Well, we are officially Ishikawa-ites!

Actually, we live in Uruma City, in the area of Ishikawa.
Ishikawa used to be its very own city, but as years went by, and the population decreased, and the bills mounted...well they decided to merge with two other smaller cities and now (since 2005) is the newly created Uruma City.

But everyone still calls it Ishikawa.

Well, no pics for a while (we no longer have internet at home), but we will definitely keep y'all updated.

For now, it is nice to be home!

Prayer Request

Well we have been praying for God's leading about moving up north. We have felt Him guiding us to relocate in Ishikawa.

Ishikawa is kind of inaka, meaning rural. They are known for their bullfights and pig farms.

It is an area that does not have much of a gospel outreach either.

Our prayer is that God will open the doors for us to be a light in this area. We are praying to be able to start a bilingual Bible Study soon. The apartment we hope to move into is large enough for a small Bible Study and there is lots of parking.

Please join us in praying for the Ishikawa, Okinawa area!

Baby Box

Recently the first "Baby Box" opened in Japan (in Kumamoto).

What is a Baby Box, you ask? Well, sadly, it is a place for people to put their unwanted babies. I guess they have a similar system in Germany, from which this was modeled.

Is this a good or bad thing? I feel torn: on the one hand, it may be a positive alternate to having an abortion or abandonment. On the other hand, will this encourage people to "discard" their children?

Well, abandoned or not, God loves all children. As Jesus put it, "...it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:14)

A Vote for Change?

Well the big news today is that they voted to allow amendments to the Constitution. Japan's Constitution, in place since WW2 has never been changed.

Primarily, they want to allow for a Japanese Military, which is currently not allowed. Of course, they get around this by calling it a "Self Defense Force" (SDF), instead of the Military.

I guess they feel it is time to update the Constitution to deal with the threat of North Korea. And many people in the U.S. feel the same way about America's Constitution -- that it is a "Living Document" and needs to be changed and updated from time to time.

Well thank God that we, as Christians, have a document that never changes, never needs to updated or amended. God's Word is...well, God's Word. And His Word doesn't change despite the attempts of man.

Go!

God will often say "Go". Think of Abraham, Moses, Jonah, the disciples. They were all given that instruction.

God does not necessarily give you all the details of what you are supposed to do when you get there, however.

A good example of this is in Acts 9:6. Here we have Paul, recently converted, being told by God to: "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

Notice the three action words:
"Arise": nothing happens until we get up and decide to go.
"Go": When we follow God's leading and step out (in faith), that is when we will get to where He wants us.
"Will be told": God will give us the next instruction after we follow the first one.

Until we get up and get going, God will not lead us to the next stage.

This was from this morning's service. It spoke to us as we are stepping out to relocate. We are not sure exactly where or when or what will happen when we get there...but we feel strongly that we are to get up and go. Please keep us in prayer!