We had a special BBQ at the BOB study. The guys gathered together and it was BYOM (bring your own meats). We had everything imaginable, pork, beef, chicken, and even Eder's "mystery meat", we did not know what it was, but Eder sure liked it. It was such a blessing to hang out in fellowship with the Lord.
Since Monday's are always a relaxing day and especially the day before SOS orientation, we decided to take the group that is here for a day trip up to Yomitan Village. There we spent some time at Zampasaki beach looking around and then we swam at the local beach in town. It is always a good day at the beach.
Last night two more of our brother's arrived, looking good after a 16 hour flight. They made it just in time to meet some of the folks at w2. It is always a blessing and a surprise to see these new faces. Please keep them in your prayers, that the Lord would do a great work in thier lives these next 5 weeks.
Kayli arrived in Okinawa this morning. Our girl from Guam! She flew in via China Airlines. It is great to have Kayli here and she fits into the Japanese pose perfectly! Check out the Japanese peace signs. God bless you Kayli.
Ayu is modeling our first plumeria flower from the branch that we are trying to grow at the church. Plumeria's are so beautiful, a choice flower in Okinawa.
The girl from San Diego arrived safely in Oki town. She has some relatives in the Tokyo area so they met her when she arrived in Narita and gave her a ride to the Haneda airport. She arrived in Okinawa at 10:45pm Saturday night. Great to have you Samantha.
He arrived safely from Florida yesterday and he looks great, not a sign of jetlag. It is great to have our brother with us now. God has great things in store for him this month.
In prepartion for the SOS (Summer of Service) we took some time to pray for the coming weeks ahead. It is always a blessing to come before the Lord is prayer, worship and the Word before we start our day.
The start of the SOS crew are landing in Okinawa. Adam and Jonathon are now here and it is a blessing to have them. They had a great flight from California and are doing great. We look forward to what the Lord will do with them and the other students who will be arriving next. Tonight we have two more students arriving. One at 8:30pm and another one at 10:45pm, wheww, a late night tonight.
Tom is visiting Mainland Japan for a few days before he heads back home to Australia to attend his sister's wedding. He stopped by he old work place "Coco Curry House" and spent some time with his old boss. They had a great time together. Please pray for Tom that he has a fruitful time while he is away from Okinawa visiting family and friends.
Please keep Kevin in your prayers, he leaves for Miami today. He has not seen his mom and dad for 2 years. And boy are they in for a surprise! Kevin has been training for some Triathalon's as well as some marathon's and Iron Man's. For those of you who have know Kevin he has always been buff, but lately he has been trimming down for all the strenuous races that he will be facing. Please pray for our brother, a week after arriving in Miami he will have his first race. God bless you Kevin, we are going to miss you bro for a month, but we look forward to seeing you again soon and you are in our prayers.
We took over the lanes at Futenma Bowl. The Amargo's had a huge party for their middle daughter Ina, she turns 18 this month! It was such a blessing, food, fellowship and fun! All the ingredients for a blessed party. Ina will be leaving this week, she will be heading down to CCTokorozawa to help at Pastor Travis's ministry. She will also be doing a lot of ministry in Fuchu with Pastor Rich at the Day Care Center. God bless you Ina, we love so very much!
This is the house that Pastor Tim and Ayu have been looking at in Nago City. Thier prayer is to start a new work of God up in this city. They put a rental offer on this house but we are now waiting on the agency to accept it or not. Please keep them in your prayers.
Sunday morning because Andrew was at Tonaki Jima, Joanna and I were able to lead worship with the rest of the crew. It has been a long time since we led worship together, it was a real blessing.
They boyz arrived safely back from Tonaki. They had a great time just seeking the Lord and spending time with one another. They had a lot of time with Jesus. On Sunday afternoon they had a church service with Izuru, he was totally encouraged. They stayed at the Tonaki house, it was a total blessing. We will make sure to put up some pictures for you.
Tom Cotton is heading back to Australia for a summer break and to attend his sisters wedding. We are going to miss this cool blok but we know that he is going to have a great time. So in honor of him leaving Wednesday we decided to get in one last lunch at the Dragon! Check out the size of his kimchi ramen, a meal fit for a king, an Australian king that is. (Duuurrrrrr!)
It's that time of the year, when the Sakada's are fully out in Okinawa. They are weird creatures. They emerge from the ground as ugly bugs, then they morphosize out of their bodies and become these even uglier bigger bugs. They fly around in the trees and make this hideous buzzing sound. But at the same time it is kind of cool, because you know that you are in full summer. We were about to drive home when Hannah notices that this Semi has just hatched out of its body, weird but cool.
At "America Fest" on Kadena Airforce Base, Asa had a great time checking out the F-16 Jet Fighters. He was looking around totally amazed. He really got excited when he was able to get right up close to the rifles and the machine guns, a true little boy.
Independance Day we spent on Kadena Airforce Base "America Fest". It was a lot of fun. We looked around at all the events and booths, relaxed and saw a great fireworks show. This was just part of the group, we met the rest of the crew on the flight line. Happy Birthday America!
July 4th, Big Dip Ice Cream Shop offers free ice cream to the first 200 customers today. So Hannah, Michal and Asa asked Rob to take them early Saturday morning. They got there in time for the tasty treat.
Not bad looking at in Okinawa ice cream runs close to $3.00 dollars a scoop. Do some of you remember the days of Thrifty ice cream in California? I remember when it was 5 cents a scoop, 15 cents for a triple. Seriously, I am not exaggerating, 5 yen a scoop! Ahhhh remember the good ol days!
The Lord blessed Dave with a beautiful apartment in Ginowan City. You cannot see it well because it was a hazy day, but he has a great view of the ocean (a million dollar view). Dave spent the first 4 months living with 9 other college students in the D House. He is a real trooper, those guys can get a little wild. Well, with the suffering comes the glory, this is a great apartment Dave, Praise the Lord! God is so good!
Andrew, Dave and Nate are on a short missions trip back to Tonaki Island. They are spending the 4th of July weekend with Izuru doing some ministry on the island. Please pray for a fruitful time in the Lord. The picture on the side was taken a long time ago to show what the houses were like on Tonaki Jima.
Hey everyone! This is a cool picture of Kelsi and her family in Lake Taho. What a beautiful scenery and a beautiful family. God bless you Kelsi, we sure do miss you here in Okinawa. For the rest of us, please leave a comment for our little sister.
How Dave and Liz have changed! They lost their color as soon as they left Okinawa. Just kidding! They are doing great. David emailed me and said that he has been studying so much. He has a lot of medical tests that he has to pass. Each one takes him to the next level. Liz is coming out to visit him and then she will travel back to Oklahoma. Please pray for Dave, he needs to do well on his tests. We miss you Barrios Family, you are in our prayers.
Praise the Lord! After many months of trying to find the right home, God has opened up the doors. Pastor Jerry and Kim are in escrow to buy their first home. They looked at many homes in Riverside, but God opened the door for them to purchase one in Corona. It is close to the church! It looks beautiful! "Lord, please lead Jerry and Kim, guide them in the Power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus Name, Amen!"
Today we did our devotions down by the beach. It was a blessing to spend time in His Word and then afterwards go for a morning swim. The weather was absolutely perfect! Dave gave a great morning devotion.
The Dean's had their Baby! Jeremiah Michael Dean! Praise the Lord! Here are the words of the proud Papa.
It is a blessing to be able to gather together for morning devotions here at the church. Many people cannot do that because they have to go to work, so we do not want to take for granted the opportunites that God has given us to get into His Word. Iza did a great job of encouraging us in the Word. "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever", Praise the Lord!
Trevor hosts a Men's Bible Study on Monday night (Brother's of Boaz). It is a blessing to worship, get into the Word and just spend some time fellowshipping together as men. Please continue to pray for this Blessed Bible Study.
This kid is getting cuter by the day. Pastor Tim and Ayu had a special outing and asked the girls to baby sit. They were so excited they cancelled all of their plans. Everyone wants to babysit little Masaki.
The Traininator's coming back from the Gym on Foster. After a hard mornings workout what do you eat for breakfast; cereal and donuts. That's right, donuts left over from w2, breakfast of champions. Check out Eder sportin Zach's shirt from Cali. Looks pretty good on him. Especially seeing that Eder has dropped another 13 pounds, that guy is rockin. No dieting, just eating regular and training hard, a good example for us all.
The Regina is going into the hospital today to have the Baby! Praise the Lord! Please pray for a safe and quick delivery. We are all so excited and blessed for them. The Dean's are so special to all of us. We look forward to what the Lord has in store for them in the future. God bless you Dean family, we love you!
We took this picture on the roof top of Chris and Julie's house during the party for Paul and Ally. The weather was absolutely beautiful and there was a strong breeze. The view of Okinawa City was beautiful. Just another blessing of living on a tropical island.
Brother Paul (center left) is leaving Okinawa and heading back to the United States. Paul is in the Airforce and has attended the church for a few years. It is always a bummer when people leave the island. We are going to miss you bro, may the Lord lead, guide and direct your steps. God bless you bro, your family at CCGinowan.
My English Lunch Time; it is always a blessing to head out to Ryukyu University and help with this weekly outreach. The students help Pastor Tim and Roy Toma at Campus Crusade for Christ as they reachout to the students on campus. Everyone does a good job of sharing the Love of Jesus Christ.
And ready to bake! Just one of the items that Hannah brought back from the States. The best thing about it, we all benefit from the blessing. It is good to be back home. The weather is hot and humid, but not that bad as long as the wind continues to blow. God bless you all, and thank you for all of your prayers. Love, the Ruiz Family.
Time to head back home to Okinawa. It was such a blessing with all the ministry back in the states. Zach will prepare to head to Israel in August and we head back to Japan to prepare for the summer SOS. God has great things in store for us all, we are blessed to be a part of His work.
We were chillin out at Grandma Miko’s house. One last BBQ before we head for Okinawa. It was a blessing to be able to spend so much time with our family. Please pray for Pastor Tom’s Dad, he is sick right now and we are praying for a fast recovery.
We were driving back home for lunch after church when we saw someone in the lane next to us say “Are you Pastor Tom”? We pulled over and she introduced to us that she is Regina’s mom. You can definitely see the resemblance! We were blown away! A God thing; His perfect timing.
The day before we left California, I was able to teach at Calvary Living Water. Before we went to lunch, we gathered the crew together for a pict. We are so blessed as missionaries to have a sending church in the missions field. We can never take for granted our spiritual family that supports and prays for us. We love you Living Water!
The family photo. We are all together! Good looking kids! Praise the Lord for them all! The top photo is Joanna’s sisters and her mom. Thank God for a godly mother who prays for us all.
Mark and Cindy Schroeder were our first youth Pastor’s growing up in and out of High School. Pastor Mark taught me a lot about ministry in those early years. Bob Solorio and myself were his interns. It is great to see that the Schroeder’s are doing great in California. Mark pastors the church; Heritage Christian Center.
This is Joanna’s youngest nephew; Paul Schreoder. He got married this past Saturday. Zach and Paul were born in the same year. He got married at a young age; he is 19 years old! Wow! The wedding was so beautiful, his older brother Daniel officiated the ceremony.
These are some pictures of my family when we were younger. We were looking through some photo albums and I had to put them up. The picture of Joanna and me are our first year of marriage (I was doing some hard core eating). The other ones are pictures of my mom when I was growing up. She reminds me so much of Natsuki, not only their size but their personalities. Natsuki does things that remind me so much of my mom. Well, there you have it, memory lane.
Our trip to Virginia was a short one but a blessed one. I was there only for 3 days but Joanna and Hannah were there for 10 days. Short for me, but longer for the girls. They were able to spend a lot of time with our niece Kristen, Bobby and the kids. Thank you again Tom and Jeanne for blessing us with a great trip and allowing us to minister to the body. God is so good! One interesting thing when flying back to California you notice how much smog is in the air, different from Okinawa.
I am sorry these are not the greatest pictures but we were traveling on the freeway as we took the shots. The most interesting object in the picture are the 3 points of the monument on the lower picture. This monument is new (well, it was not up 3 years ago). This structure was made to remember the flight pattern of the airplane that struck the Pentagon in 2001. A difficult day in our Nations history.
On our way back from Williamsburg on our drive to Regan National Airport, we stopped by Quantico and saw the entrance to the Marine Base, very impressive. There is so much history in Virginia, definitely you need at least a week to begin to see everything in our Nations Capital.
