We had a great trip to Tonaki Island this past weekend. It was just Yoshua and myself who went on the trip this time. Our plan was to visit Tonaki and then visit Kume Island the next day. However, the Holy Spirit kept us from going to Kume Island rather unexpectantly.

We got to Tonaki on Friday. The skies were clear, the water smooth, and the surrounding islands very visible on the horizon. We pulled into port, said hi to Izuru-san, jumped in the minshuku (hostel) van and got our bags into our room. After that, we did a little exploring and hiking around the northern point of the island (hoping to see some whales). After eating lunch at the Fukugi Shokudo, we wandered around some more, taking video and pictures and talking to a few locals here and there. The village was rather empty feeling because the school had taken a trip to Naha for the weekend, so there were no kids running around and I assume that some parents went as well as the teachers. That evening we met up with Izuru-san and ate dinner with him at his house. Following dinner we had a time of worship, Bible study and discussion, and prayer.
The next morning, we met at the beach at 6am and hiked up a small ways to a pavillion on the side of one of the mountains. Up there we had a Bible devotion and prayer time together.

The plan for the rest of the day was to jump on the ferry at 11am and head to Kume Island and visit Yoshua’s friends, as well as go to the church service Sunday morning. However, while we were eating breakfast at the minshuku, the owner came in and told us that the ocean waves were 4 meters high and that the ferry would not be coming to the island today. Suddenly, we had a problem. We were stuck. We finished up breakfast and went back to the room to talk about what to do. We’ll, when you’re stuck on an island, you can’t really leave, so that was a short discussion, but we realized that we might not have enough money to stay at the minshuku and still get home. The pastor on Kume Island was going to let us stay at the church, so we didn’t have the full amount of money needed to stay another night at a minshuku. We prayed and then we emptied out our pockets and bags of any money that we had, and then counted it up. We had enough for the minshuku and the boat ride home, and a little to spare that would allow us to buy lunch if we needed.

As the day continued, we ended up helping Izuru-san’s mom in their field for a little while. She was very nice and gave us a lot of fresh veggies to take back home. After eating lunch outside Izuru-sans house, Yoshua and I kicked back for a while and then ate dinner at their house that night. The next morning we were up at 6am and met with Izuru-san again. We were a little concerned that the waves would be too strong for the boat to come again that morning, but we figured that if that’s what God wanted, he would take care of everything. As it turned out, the waves were only 3 meters high and the boat did pull into port and we were able to return to Ginowan.

It was a very eventful trip. We were able to build stronger relationships with Izuru-san, as well as with his mom during this trip. Also, it seems that there may be an open door for us to rent a house out there for missions trips and for ministry. That’s a very exciting thing, as renting a room at the minshuku is 4000yen/person/night, over $40/person/night. We heard that renting a house out there is very inexpensive because there is not a lot of people moving to the island; most are moving away from it. So please pray about this opportunity. It would be great to be able to go out for a week or more a month rather than spuratically like it has been. Also, please pray for Izuru-san, as being the only Christian there can be a lonely thing. Please pray that God would bring a harvest on that island.

Hey all. The Calvary Chapel Ginowan podcast is now up and running. We will be podcasting the Sunday morning messages with Pastor Tim, in Japanese and English.
If you would like to check it out, search for “Calvary Chapel Ginowan” in iTunes podcasts, or if you don’t have iTunes, go to: http://www.reachokinawa.com/CCGPodcast/podcast.xml

Enjoy!

Monday, we had the opportunity to visit Naha a bit. We checked out a famous local joint called Jack’s Steakhouse, I think.

Then we mosied over to a temple area where we saw a monument to the first Christian missionary to Okinawa, Dr. Bettelheim.

We finished the afternoon off with a trip to the beach. Good times.

This is the monument to Dr. Bettelheim.

Here’s something interesting: on the side of the monument it has written “Brookfield, MO, USA”. That’s the place where Bettelheim passed away. I thought it sounded familiar, so I decided to venture over to google maps today.

I was right. Brookfield is about 1.5 hours drive northwest from Columbia,MO, where I used to live. Small world.

Here’s a map, just to enhance the experience. Cedar Rapids, IA is where my family lives; Columbia, MO is where I lived before I came to Okinawa; and the arrow is Brookfield, MO.

Yesterday, the last of the Bible College students left for home. Here’s a picture on the last day of classes. It was a good semester; some difficult times, some very fun times, a lot of ministry together. It seems so quiet around here without sharing the house with 7 other guys. But soon we’ll have another group coming in for another semester. Time to get ready.

The picture above is my main ministry here at Calvary Chapel Ginowan. I’ve been giving the role of worship leader. This means I will be overseeing the entire worship ministry, as well as leading worship at the services. Short term, this means I’ll be leading every week; long term, this means I’ll be able to train up some musicians in our fellowship and create a few worship teams that will be able to lead in the different services we have, and will be able to play and sing at the various outreaches that come up around here. Also, next semester I will be teaching the course on Worship at CCBC Okinawa. It’s going to be a very exciting year.