Sunday, December 31, 2006

Matt! Welcome to California...

 
 
 
 
On Saturday Matt Andersen arrived in Los Angeles, we welcomed him Calvary Chapel style with a huge meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We all had so much to eat along with a wonderful time of fellowship. Matt said that this is his first time in California, he is a New Jersey boy. It was a bit weird hanging out with the CC Okinawa crew in the states. We had a lot of fun together, and we are all looking forward to the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference that is going to be starting on the 2nd of January. Please pray for Matt and Jess as they seek God's will for their lives after Okinawa. Posted by Picasa

Christmas with Mark and Cindy

 
 
 
 
We were really blessed on Christmas morning to spend it with Mark and Cindy from Calvary Chapel Murietta. Cindy made a wonderful breakfast called Mom's delight, it was incredible. Then we opened presents, the kids were blessed with so much, more than they even know what to do with. We had a great time of fellowship with Mark and Cindy, we look forward to seeing them again.

We departed Murietta and went to Long Beach where we ate lunch with Sandra's family. Then departing there we made a stop in Irvine to visit and eat dinner with Uncle Bong and Auntie Carol. We closed Chistmas day 2006 with a drive back to Long Beach.

It was certainly different than what we are accustomed to, on Christmas day. Sandra usually cooks a big meal for the family, starting with fresh cinammon rolls first thing in the morning, but as different as it was it was such a blessing to see all of the friends and family that we did. Praise the Lord, He alone is faithful to meet us right where we're at, Be blessed through the New Year. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Psalms 19:1

 
A Psalm of David, "The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies display His marvelous craftmanship."

Christmas Eve 2006 "A Celtic Christmas"

 
 
 
 
On Christmas Eve we were invited to a Celtic Christmas concert at Calvary Chapel Murietta. It was a great experience, they had a lot of great music and insights into the season. The music was led by the Rick Blair band. Their were dancers, percussionists and a lot of other entertainment. We had a time of candlelight while they sang the last few songs of the evening.

Pastor Brian shared a great evangelistic message about Jesus the Christ. They had coffee and an abundance of different kinds of cookies available, we pray that everybody had a very Merry Christmas. Posted by Picasa

Goodbye to the Barnett children...

 
 
 
 
Greetings from California! I have been here about a week now, it has been wonderful thus far, as I have been able to see a lot of friends and family.

Today we spent the day in Corona with Pastor Rick and his family, Daniel Sedota and Jessica Valadez. We had a great time eating Alberto's and drinking Starbucks. It was quite an emotional time for Hannah and Micah as they said good-bye to their friends Noah, Rebekah and Nehemiah. They have spent the last three years of their lives buliding relationships with Pastor Rick's children. They will be leaving Saturday morning to spend time with their grandparents in Neveda. Then we will be leaving to Italia before they return.

They had a good time today playing together before they said good-bye until the Barnett's come to Italia to visit. Other wise things have been great, our time on the internet has been very limited, but God is still good. Check back soom for more updates. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Sayonara Okinawa!


Soon I will be leaving Okinawa until next year. Prayerfully we will be able to come back and share of all that the Lord is doing in Italy. Pray for our time in the states, we want to be led by God's Spirit in all that we do. Sandra and the kids have been there since December 16th. We will be attending the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference then departing January 16th to Italy.

Please continue to pray for our visas as we will be returning to the California in April to submitt the paperwork. Please pray that God would lead us as we begin to settle in Italy along with our language studies.

It is our hope to build long lasting friendships in Italy as we have in Okinawa. The Lord has blessed us with many friends here, friends that we will dearly miss, thanks again.

Prayer Card!

 
Konichiwa! We have been incredibly blessed recently, a friend of ours from Calvary Chapel Tokorozawa, Japan designed our prayer and information card. He did an incredible job with it. Please continue to pray for us as I depart Japan tomorow to meet up with Sandra and the kids in California.

Our time here has been wonderful, but we are ready to move forward with all that God has in store for us. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

More pictures from our going away...

 Our friends Glenn and Farah Phipps
 Micah and his friend Christian, it was taken on their way to Micah's first sleepover his friend house.
 Silas and his friend Yasutomo
 Silas and Sparky Posted by Picasa

Velarde's Send Off






Greetings everybody! WEll our time here in Okinawa continues to tick away one day at a time. Last Sunday on the 10th the church had a going away potluck for us. We had an incredible time and were extremely blessed. Many of our friends came out and shared many kind words with us. We gathered togehter for an Italian style potluck with many different Italian dishes. The food was amazing and the fellowship was even better. After the potluck Sandra and the girls went out for some coffee at one of the local Starbucks and had a lot of fun.

We have been so blessed here in Okinawa, the Lord has been so faithful to bless us out of our minds. The Lord has given us so many friendships, that I pray will last a lifetime. The night was really good and I am thankful unto the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness in our lives.

Sandra and the kids left back to the states on Saturday the 16th. They made it and are in good health. They are saying in Long Beach with her family right now. I will be joining them this Friday, I can't wait to see them. From their we will be departing to Italy on January 16th. Please continue to pray for us, the the Lord would lead us in all that we do, that our quiet times would be rich and fruitful, Thanks to everybody for your prayers and support, we love and will miss everybody very, very much. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Finally! Gen and Tamiko have returned...



Our friends Gen and Tamiko have returned from Austria. They were attending a 3 month discipleship program of Calvary Chapel Bible College Austria called "A VISION FOR LIFE". They were tremendously blessed by their teacher and the friends they made. The Lord did a wonderful work in Asutria in their lives, but
it is good to have them back in OKINAWA, they have been instrumental in the high school ministry here at CCO. Please continue to pray for them and God's leading in their lives.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

How can they believe if they haven't heard?



We often associate Italy with the Catholic Church but, that is no longer becoming the reality. According to OPERATION WORLD researchers, the Catholic faith in Italy is slowly being eroded with paganism. Occultism is widespread, there is roughly 100,000 full-time consulting magicians, nearly 3 times more than Catholic clerics. Also, if you don't know that Turin, Italy is the global center of satan worship. So, after examining the following statistics I pray that all saints would pray for the country of Italy and see the great need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached.

a) Only 1,500 of Italy’s 33,500 communities have an established evangelical witness.

b) The northeastern Veneto Region with the cities of Venice, Padova and Vicenza has 4,437,000 people, but maybe no more than 38 churches and 2,000 evangelical Christians — mainly AoG, Brethren and three congregations related to ECM.

c) Sardinia, a Mediterranean island with a limited autonomy, has 1,660,000 people with their own language and culture. There are only about 14-15 evangelical churches, and a few Christian workers. Suspicion of outsiders, fear, vendettas, the occult and the activities of JWs all make any evangelistic outreach difficult.

d) The wealthy, materialistic northern cities of Milan, Turin, Bologna and Venice have few churches. Many cities and towns have no evangelical witness at all. The northern provinces of Umbria, Trentino, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna have less than 0.1% Evangelicals.

e) The 1,600,000 students in 48 universities are a needy mission field. There are only around 100 students linked to the GBU(IFES) in eight cities, and a few others with CCC. Occasional outreaches by OM and YWAM teams reach others. The second largest student body (117,000 in Milan) has no evangelical campus group.

f) An estimated 400,000 heroin addicts, with an increasing incidence of HIV+ infection, pose a desperate and demanding challenge only beginning to be met by Evangelicals (Betel, in 5 centres; Teen Challenge 2; AoG 1).

Friday, November 24, 2006

HAIR RAISING DRIVE

 

Just wanted to share this picture taken during our drive one afternoon and as you can see the kids really enjoyed the ride. Have a bless day everyone! Posted by Picasa

THANKSGIVING





PSALM 147:1
Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful...

We have so many things to thank GOD about for His faithfulness and love,
may we all continue to give thanks to His name.

Here are some pictures taken from our celebration of Thanksgiving....check out Misty's homemade apple pie.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

MEET DAVID DOWNS



Please pray for our brother in the LORD David, who is serving the LORD alongside Pastore Craig in Italy. Pray that the LORD will continue lead him and guide him and also for God's provision for him.

HANGING OUT WITH THE GIRLS






Here are some pictures we took when we went out with the CCBC Students to Okinawa Ocean Expo. It was a beautiful day and the LORD bless us with a beautiful sunset to look at.
The heavens declare the glory of GOD and the firmaments shows His handy work.
Psalm 19:1