Okonomiyaki Party for the Youth

After church service yesterday, some of the Bible College interns got the youth group together for a time of lunch and fellowship. We made Okonomiyaki - a traditional Japanese pancake type of food. You mix egg, batter, and vegetables and cook it on a grill.


Just when we were so stuffed with Okinomi goodness, two of the youth kids made Yakisoba (noodles, meat, and veggies with a sauce mixed in, and panfried).


Tatsuhiko also shared a little from the Word and his testimony, with Tom translating. It was a blessing to hear him speak because he'll be going back home to Tokyo next month. Please pray that the youth group at CC Ginowan will have more events like this and be able to grow in the Word of God together.

New CCBC Hoodies

A few weeks ago, I posted this logo design that Pastor Tommy had and wanted on a t-shirt (see above). Tommy came back with tons of printed hoodies (see below)!

This is the last weekend before classes start up again on Tuesday. This upcoming semester will be pretty exciting. Some definite plans are that all Bible College students will be heading up to Fuchū, Tokyo for the second half of the semester. That puts it at around mid March. I found out today that our graduation ceremony will also be there, so I will be walking in Tokyo. As I heard this news, I thought it was interesting that I was born in Tokyo, I got saved in Tokyo, and now I will be graduating from Bible College in Tokyo. Lord, you're wonderful.
Also, this semester, we have three new students along with returning ones. Two are from Korea (a brother and sister). The third is the brother of one of my roommates from the CCBC Murietta campus. It will be nice getting to know them and growing in Christ with them.

Keepin' Keegs in Prayer

Keegan, one of the interns, officially left on Thursday to serve the Lord on the upcoming Franklin Graham festival in Japan. The Graham festivals are going to happen during the next few years and this March will be the first of many - it'll be in Sendai and just one week shy of the one year anniversary of the Tohoku/Sendai earthquake and Tsunami disaster.
The news was sudden for everyone, but Pastor Tommy made a good point during last Sunday's evening service: when God gives out his marching orders, we have to respond. And no one can stand in the way of our Commander, Jesus. With that in mind, it was super nice to hang out with him during his last few days here, pray over him, and send him off. Keep Keegan in prayer - he'll be doing English/Japanese translation for those coordinating the events and also other ministry work. We miss you already, brother!
If you want more information about the Franklin Graham festivals, click here.

CCBC in Japan this Spring

The Calvary Chapel Bible College in Japan is opening up a brand new campus starting this spring. Right now, there's one campus and that's here in Okinawa. The second is going to be in Tokyo. For students, there's the opportunity to be at both campuses this coming semester. Half the time will be in either Tokyo or Okinawa and then students can switch over to the other campus. Who knows, maybe next semester I might be living in Tokyo! We'll see. God always knows the ending to our steps of faith, so take them and see what happens!
Check out a short video below about this spring's CCBC in Japan. If you know someone who's praying about Bible College or about serving in Japan, pass this along!




Calvary Chapel Bible College Japan

New Year's in Osaka and Kyoto

The day after Christmas, I headed off to Osaka to visit relatives for New Year's. For those unfamiliar with exactly where I am in Japan and where I went, here's some brief geography. Below is a map of Japan. The yellow specks that are labeled, "Okinawa" are (you guessed it) Okinawa. The large island mass that has the red dot showing city of Tokyo, is the island of Honshu. This is the island where most Japanese people live.


I flew to Osaka, which is about a three hours from Tokyo (see below: where the red arrow is pointing) on the southern part of Honshu.


I realized that as I was boarding the plane, believe it or not, I've never spent New Year's in Japan before. It was a very interesting experience ringing in the New Year with family I hardly knew, in a country where they celebrate it religiously (literally). I stayed at one of my aunts place and spent the first few days sightseeing around Kyoto. Kyoto is one of the neighboring cities to Osaka. It's famous for it's old, historical Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Much of it was not destroyed in World War II, so people can still visit and go inside these temples, which are still being restored and preserved.


This is the view of Kyoto from Kiyomizu-dera, one of Kyoto's famous temples, overlooking the city. The street to walk up to the temple is fun because it has a lot of tiny tourist shops and souvenirs. I walked for about an hour, passing through street shops and the walkway around the temple (seen on your right).


I also dropped by to see one of my cousins who has a small shop in Kyoto. Just opened last year, it's doing well and has good reviews in Japanese newspapers and magazines. He sells organic soup-to-go and tasty things like yuzu jam and spicy miso. Please visit if you're ever in Kyoto! It's called Shizukuya(しずくや) in the food shopping area Machimura(まちむら) Station.


Later that night, one of my other cousins and his wife came over to visit. He's been serving in the Japanese military since I was a kid, and is now a Major.


I also got some family history when my aunt and I took a walk by my dad's old High School. I could almost imagine my dad having to do the urban method of commuting to school (subway trains and crowded buses).


Later that week, I ended up shopping in Osaka and came across a huge Tokyu Hands in a department store. Joy! This store is amazing. They have tons of nice stuff. They sell a lot of art and craft supplies, gift items, stationery, kids toys, home stuff, food, electronics, etc. Product-wise, it's just like a Wal-Mart or Target because they try to sell anything you could possibly need, but has a more fun and creative feel, rather than grab-and-go shopping. You could hang around all afternoon at Tokyu Hands.


On New Year's Eve, I went over to another aunt's house to make mochi with her and another one of my cousins. Homemade Mochi is made and eaten during New Year's in Japan and made when you pound mochi rice in a giant wooden container with a giant wooden mallet for a long time. My aunt's automatic mochi-making machine made it in five minutes. Sweet!




(Above is My aunt and I rolling the mochi into balls for drying)

Overall, I had a blast getting to spend time with my extended family and learning more about the Japanese culture. Please continue to pray for Japan, that their hearts will turn from their traditional ways and seek the Lord Jesus. Buddhist temples and mochi making will pass away but Jesus Christ never will (Matt. 24:35). New Years in Japan is celebrated with Buddhist beliefs in mind. I did not take pictures or go to any New Years celebrations in Japan because it is centered around gods, pagan rituals, and superstitious thinking. Please pray for my extended family, all Buddhist, will come to know the one true God who truly gives new life and grace.
" The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” - Job 1:21

Design Projects

I thought I would post some of the work I'm doing for the Bible College. It's been so great to be able to do small projects, so I can brush up on my Graphic Design. Right now, one of the interns is building a new website that will combine the two campuses we'll be having in Japan, starting this spring. Through the website, you can go to both campus pages and check out bios, photos/videos, and also download application forms. The interns here already did an awesome job with the graphics on the main page. I'm helping them out with some small logos and icons, to be used for the website.


This is a logo in the works of using the Calvary Chapel dove and representing the Tokyo and Okinawa campuses. The Okinawa one is done (see below) but still working on the Tokyo one. We're going to have the Tokyo Tower overlooking the city with a Shinkansen (famous Japanese bullet train)passing through the tower and Mt. Fuji is in the distance.




Above is the mark for the Okinawa campus. When both logo marks are done, they'll be used on the Calvary Chapel Japan website. You can check out website here: CCBC Japan.


Above and Below is a logo for the MELT ministry, an English conversational class we do at a local university every Thursday. "My English Lunch Time" gets students to spend half an hour learning some fun idioms and slang phrases and then we lovingly share Jesus in the end and invite them to our church. I've met some pretty awesome college students through the ministry. The idea with the logo was, of course, a cheese "melt", to be used for flyers next semester.


Below is a simple type logo I worked on, for the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Tokyo. They wanted something to print onto T-shirts and that sort of thing, so we made a college friendly shirt that will be screened and distributed for this upcoming semester.


Note: All designs are property of Calvary Chapel Bible College in Ginowan, Japan.

Christmas Through Ministry - continued

Greetings to you in 2012! It has been an amazing time reflecting on this past year and all that God has done in my life. I am sure He has done many things in your life as well, praise Him for that! Christmas in Okinawa was one of the best I've ever had. I often found myself sitting back and enjoying all that God was doing in the lives of so many people, through His chosen few. It brought so much joy to my life.
On Christmas Eve, a group of us went to help out at a Christmas party that a church member was hosting at her house. The attendees were her ESL students, mostly kids and young teens. We playeda few games, did some face painting, and a Christmas craft project. The theme of the party was "Christmas around the world." We had different booths doing an activity that represented something that another country might have or do on Christmas. We also had a short message for the kids on the true story of Christmas and did a few Christmas songs, in English. The kids were first being a bit shy about coming and participating, but later they got into the party and we all ended up having a lot of fun.



Christmas is celebrated in Japan, but not as festive and glamorous as other countries. At most, families will have a small tree in their home, eat a special Christmas cake on the day of, and go see Christmas lights in the area. Giving gifts to your children isn't practiced either. Any gift giving is usually between couples. And unfortunately, as with most people who celebrate Christmas, many Japanese people don't know the true meaning behind Christmas. But the Lord allowing the holiday to be nationally celebrated in Japan must mean that those who know it's true meaning are to share with those who don't know. Good opportunity!
I was in charge of the face painting. It's interesting how this simple skill has come in handy so much. During my first semester of Bible College, I took a Children's ministry class and we learned how to face paint. Since then, I've done it for several kids events in Mexico and Japan. The funniest thing about face painting at this party was that none of the kids wanted it on their face, but on their hands. And they loved it when it was super small. Below is our "miniture hand painting creations".



On Christmas day, our children's ministry leader Taliya had a big Christmas Party for the kids at church. We had a raffle going, played some games, did a Christmas message, and then the kids all got to take home a candy lei and tons of prizes and Christmas cards.



I helped out with supervising and translating for Taliya. Working with children can be a bit difficult but I learned that usually they'll have tons of fun if you're having fun with them.
Post-Christmas weekend, I left to go to mainland Japan for a week to visit relatives. Check out the next posting on my trip to Osaka and Kyoto, Japan!