leaving cornfields

This Blog is Moving

2009-06-19T12:46:00.003+09:00

Hey everyone. I have decided to change blogging platforms. I have a new blog up and running at http://www.reachokinawa.com. Please stop by and check it out.

Thanks.

-Andrew

We're engaged!

2009-05-22T16:50:00.004+09:00

It all happened on Monday morning. Kayo and I had been in a relationship for a day under a year. We went to the park that morning to spend some time together, so I went out and picked up some things for breakfast. After we ate breakfast I gave her a box, it looked like a chocolates box. After she opened it and found no ring in the ring case, I pulled the ring out of an envelope and proposed. She said yes! We're engaged!

We're very excited to see what God has planned for us, and how He wants to use us together. For all of you who have been praying for us, we are very thankful for your prayers. Praise the Lord!

Hakugaijin Released!

2009-04-28T10:11:00.003+09:00

Here it is! The debut release "Welcome to the Ai Land" by Hakugaijin. (Ai means love in Japanese, so it's a play on words with island.) In the picture, you see, from right to left, Tim, Ayu, Hannah, Daniel, Rob, and myself.

For more info, check out christian-style.com

3 More Years

2009-02-26T09:29:00.013+09:00

After 2 months of talking to the immigration office, sending them information, answering their

questions, etc., I received the postcard in the mail Tuesday night that told me to buy a revenue stamp and go to the Naha Immigration office to pick up my visa renewal. When I got there yesterday, as the lady was putting the renewal sticker in my passport, I noticed that it was a different color that the last one that I had. What did that differnet color mean? 3 years!

I had applied for a 3 year visa, but I figured that I would only get another 1 year, because 3 year visas are a bit harder to get, and I hadn't turned in any FBI background check information.

But God has provided me a 3 year visa, and I am very thankful!

In other news...

Check out http://cts.ti-da.net/. It is the blog site for CTS (Creative Tact Service), the company that is producing our band's (Hakugaijin) album. The album comes out April 15th. Take a look at the right side bar and there is a little promo video and you can hear clips of the songs on the album.

Back from Tonaki trip 5!

2009-02-03T14:33:00.007+09:00

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.

Calvary Chapel Ginowan Podcast!

2009-01-29T14:53:00.002+09:00

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!

2009-01-12T14:18:00.003+09:00

Here is the crew from the November Tonaki trip. It was a great time. As you can see, some kids who live on the island wanted to jump into the picture. Through the outreaches we did, we ended up making friends with about a dozen kids. We were also able to share the Gospel with a few adults that came. Thanks for your prayers; it was a great weekend.

I am working on a trip for the last weekend of January with Yoshua, the guy that went with me to Tonaki on the first trip we took, back in June. We are hoping to go to Tonaki again this month, but we also want to take a day and visit Kume Island. We want to meet some of the Christians on that island and if possible go to the church there.

Kume Island has around 10,000 people on it; a bit more than the 400 people on Tonaki. I'm currently praying about whether God wants

to use Kume as a kind of ministry hub for the islands west of the main Okinawa island.

You can see in the top map picture where Tonaki is. Kume is on in the bottom map. It is on the same ferry line and only about an hour away from Tonaki.

Please pray for this upcoming trip. We desire to see a harvest in the islands, but we also recognize that some spiritual preparation may be required first. Please pray that God would guide the trip, the encounters, and the vision in this area; and that we would be obedient to his direction.

The Islands

2008-12-04T15:16:00.002+09:00

Tonaki Trip!

2008-11-26T12:19:00.002+09:00

This Friday through Monday, a group of 20 or so of us will be heading out to Tonaki Island. We will be camping on the beach for 3 nights. We will also be having 3 outreaches, as well as a Sunday morning service on the island. One outreach will be for the children, the other 2 will be showings of the God's Story video. This island only has about 400 people living on it, and we have only found 1 Christian on the island. Please pray for us this weekend, and please pray that God would reap a harvest on the island this weekend.

November 08 Newsletter!

2008-11-12T11:10:00.001+09:00

Please click on the picture above and check out what is happening out here in Okinawa!

an afternoon in naha

2008-04-24T13:59:00.009+09:00

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.

a first time for everything...

2007-12-18T17:54:00.000+09:00

This last sunday marked a first for me. I was asked to be the translator in the Sunday morning service. Pastor Tim gave the message in Japanese and I translated into English. Up above are the notes I received to work from. I really enjoyed translating and hope that I will be able to translate more in the future. It is going to be interesting to watch as we transition more into giving messages in Japanese and translating into English, rather than the opposite which we have been doing.

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.

He's got a Ticket to Ride...application.

2007-12-04T11:30:00.000+09:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I've updated this site. My apologies; I tend to get caught up in everything that is happening and spend my spare time studying. Blog spot seems to have been thrown on the back burner. However, I'm putting this on the high priority list so that you all can see what is actually happening here in Okinawa.

The picture above is the paperwork that I am filling out in order to remain in Okinawa for a year. It is the application for a religious activities visa (i.e. missionary visa). I've spent the last few months becoming more and more involved in the ministries here, especially in leading worship for the Sunday and midweek services, and I, as well as the senior pastor here, feel that God wants me to stay long term and minister here in Ginowan, while being trained in pastoral ministries. It is very exciting, and very scary. It means that I will have to depend totally on God to provide for everything I will need. But where God guide, God provides. Japan needs Jesus, and I have no doubt that God will provide for His gospel to go through Japan. Please keep the ministry here in prayer as we are not only experiencing the Enemy coming against believers very intensely lately, but we are also seeing fruit from the gospel being preached.

2007-09-24T14:45:00.000+09:00

Here's my newsletter covering the first month. Click on it to see the full size version.

pictures...

2007-09-13T16:22:00.000+09:00

Here's a link to an album of pictures I've taken while here in Okinawa.

last day of the first week

2007-08-30T10:43:00.000+09:00

It's been an interesting first week here. It's been great being able to ministry and worship with the Okinawan people. This weekend was Obon, a holiday where ancestor spirits come back and visit their families. The families prepare food for their ancestors during the evening meal, and also then worship their ancestors. It was definately a weekend that was heavy in spiritual warfare. It's amazing that when Japanese decide to become follow Christ, they face being thrown out of their houses, being shunned by their families and losing their inheritance. Yet there are so many that have given their lives to Christ even though they would lose so much.

View from Calvary Chapel Ginowan.

Main room at CCGinowan.

Classroom for CCBC Okinawa.

Eisa dancers performing for Obon.

in japan

2007-08-25T15:23:00.000+09:00

So I made it to Okinawa without too many difficulties. It's been a blast hanging out here. It's been pretty laid back here since the students at CCBC Okinawa don't start classes until the next week or so. It's been fun talking with Japanese people and working on my Japanese. Tonight is an outreach event in Mihama with some churches from the area. We'll play music, pass out tracts and talk to people. Here are some pictures from my trip so far.

Southeast of Tokyo. I wonder what they farm.

The main street near where I am staying.

A random shrine we found while wandering around.

Overlooking Hwy 330.

Random tombs (not sure if it's taking pictures is ok here...)

A cool garden we found while walking over a bridge.

the start of a new journey

2007-08-20T06:50:00.000+09:00

Well, I figured that since I will be in Japan for the next 3 months, I would create a blog to keep everyone informed on what's happening during my trip, what's going on with Calvary Chapel Ginowan, and of course to post pictures of Japan. However, since I'm still in Iowa until Wednesday, I thought I would post some pictures of good ol' Iowa. Enjoy.

Cedar Rapids from the William's bridge and I-380.

Corn.

Corn...and beans.