Happy 5th Birthday Hannah!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

This last Saturday we celebrated Hannah's 5th Birthday. We had a wonderful time with friends and family.

As you can probably guess Sandra cooked up a feast with several different types of finger foods and hamburgers that Hannah's uncle Dave cooked up for her. The Orpillas and other friends from Farmington came and joined the birthday celebration.

Hannah had a great time and received many, many gifts. She was so blessed. She is really growing up to be a wonderful little girl who loves the Lord. She really has been a huge blessing throughout our transition, she does a great job of taking care of her little brothers. She also received her first Bible, she was so excited and feels like such a big girl now that she can take her own pink Bible to church. Please! Continue to pray for Hannah, that she would follow Jesus with all of her heart and be an example to all.

Monkey's on my bed...

Just a picture of the monkey's taking over my bed. The kids are growing so fast, I am blown away everyday at just how fast they grow. On the 23rd of June Hannah will be half a decade! Whooo, back off guys.

No the boys aren't matching in their pajamas. Micah is wearing Cars and Silas is wearing Thomas and Friends.

Please pray for them, that they would come to an early saving knowledge of Christ.

Movie in the Park @ Calvary of Albuquerque

This evening (Friday Night) we went to a viewing of Charlotte's Web. CCA had a family night in the park behind the church. It was really a great opportunity for them to provide a wonderful place for families to gather.

The evening was incredible and the sunset was truly amazing to see. Just before the movie started the wind picked up and a few rain drops fell, but the storm clouds soon past and made for a great night.

It was hosted by Renovate, the College minstry at Calvary, they are trying to raise money for a mission trip they will be taking to Montreal. It was great to see all the college kids come out and serve the Lord and the body here in Alb.

Hannah's First VBS at Calvary of Albuquerque

Greetings! Tomorow (Friday) is the graduation ceremony for Hannah. This year was the first year that she has been a part of the summer Vacation Bible Shool. She has been thrilled to be a part of it. The theme of the VBS is Adventure at the Gallilean Sea.

They had little robes and head scarfs for all the kids. They have spent time singing traditional Jewish Worship songs as well as shopping at the Market place like they did back in the days of Christ.

We as a family have been fellowshipping at Calvary of Albuquerque, it has been a tremendous blessing. Skip Heitzig is a tremendous teacher of the Word. We rejoice that the Lord has provided many options for us to prayerfully consider here in Albuquerque. This next Sunday we will be attending Calvary Chapel Rio Rancho.

Please continue to pray for Hannah, that she would truly experience the presence of the Lord through the VBS, be blessed.

From Califoria to New Mexico

The windmills outside Palm Springs, California


Entering The Grand Canyon State


Traversing the enchanted home of Billy the Kid


Hatch, "The Chilie Capital of the World"


Greeting friends and family!

We pray that all is well with you guys. Well, we have started our journey across the US. Last Wednesday we departed Southern Califonia. Over the next few weeks we will be travelling to Jacksonville, Florida. We will be making stops in Albuquerque NM, Nashville TN, as we hope to be driving into Jacksonville, FL on the 26th of June.

We hope to be making this a "Calvary Experience" as we will be visiting different Calvary Chapel's as we traverse the US. We are excited about our trip, although a part of me is dreading the long hours at the steering wheel. Praise the King for I Pods and Ravi Zacharias podcasts. Thus far, since we stepped off the plane at Tom Bradley (LAX) airport from Marco Polo (Venice) airport we have traveled about 6000 miles. Too bad you can't get frequent taveler miles for driving.

We have been blessed by the Lord in that we haven't had one single car problem or speeding ticket, not that we speed or anything :) We can't wait to see our friends in Nashville and Jacksonville.

Please continue to pray for us and our travels over the next few weeks. We will be spending Sandra's 26th :) b-day with our friends Mike and Ruby in Jacksonville. Currently we are in Albuquerque spending time with my mom, Virginia. Thank you guys for your prayers.

Stay with us over the next few weeks to see pictures from our journey as we traverse our nation.

Busy in California!

Gen, Sandra and Tamiko at Livingwater



Jessica, Sandra and Vanessa trying to stay cool in the shade at Livingwater



Men's prayer breakfast at Calvary Chapel in Vista, California



Worship at the Calvary Costa Mesa Japanese Minsitry home fellowship in Irvine



Rick, Travis, Santo and Masaru are grinding Japanese style with friends in California



Baptism with Japanese Home Fellowship


We have been incredibly busy since our last post. We have been here in California visiting friends, teaching classes and well eating. At the end of May I was teaching a class for S.E.N.D. Minsitries Leadership Development Program, it is their lecture phase. The three day class I was teaching was about the Father's Heart in Leadership. The class was at Horizon School of Evangelism in San Diego. It was truly a blessing to be a part of everybody's life that was involved. The class was specifically for the leaders of this years outreaches to Morroco, India and Israel. The bunch were all very seasonsed missionaries and I was humbled to be a part of the program.

Our Pastor (Rick Barnett) from Okinawa arrived last Thursday. We linked up with him and his crew from Japan for a time of fellowship with the body from Calvary Costa Mesa's Japanese Ministry. It was great to be with Japanses people again for food and fellowship. We had an abundance of food and Santo from Calvary Chapel West Tokyo brought the message. It was good to see all our friends from Japan. We were also able to celebrate with two people as they were baptized that night California style, in a swimming pool.

This past Sunday was the 16th Anniversary for Calvary Chapel Livingwater in Corona, Ca. We celebrated with them the 16 years that God has been using them in Corona. It was great to meet everybody who has been part of the fellowship since its birth in 1991. We were also able to see the Orpilla family all the way from Okinawa. A family that we are very close with, they hold a special place in our hearts. They are on their way to Albuquerque, NM. Niel is being stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base. It was also his birthday on Sunday. We then spent dinner with them eating all you can crab legs at an asian buffet in Torrance. Overall it was a very blessed day.

Please continue to pray for our visas, we rejoice in the Lord's faithfulness...

CCBC Murietta Graduation

This past week we were able to celebrate with our friends who graduated Calvary Chapel Bible College Murietta. It was great to see their familiar faces. These students have studied hard over the last 2 years to complete the four semester requirement. For many of them their studies with CCBC allowed them to study abroad in several different countries. Israel, Germany, Japan, Hungary, Brazil to name a few countries many of them had the opportunities to live and study in. While many of them were in Japan we were blessed to spend time with them and get to know them personally.

We had a great time with them. We didn't make it to the graduation, but we were able to see them at the reception following the graduation then for sushi after that.

Please contniue to pray for them as they all seek God's will for the next step of direction concerning their lives.

Avalanche Ranch VBS

Calvary Chapel Farmington spent last Saturday decorating for their summer VBS Avalanche Ranch. We went out to help them in the process. We had a lot fun getting out and fellowshipping and getting to know the body from CC Farmington.

It was a very hot day as temperatures reached about 90 degrees, but that didn't stop the body from coming out and contributing to the effort. The VBS will actually take place the second week of June. Unfortunately we won't be here any longer to be apart of the VBS, but our prayers are with them.

This summer they are hoping to be able to reach a local group of unchurched kids with the VBS. Farmington is a city being overrun with drugs and alcohol, but in the midst of all this God is doing a work in people's lives. It's in the darkest places that the light of Christ shines the brightest.

We're having ANOTHER baby!

For those of you who don't yet know, We're having another baby! We went to the Doctor yesterday in Durango to see the obstetrician.

It was quite a challenge to find a physician to see Sandra since she won't be delivering here. But we finally found a physician to see her and she had her first ultrasound, No! I didn't do it for those who are wondering, it was kind of funny because over the last several years I was able to do ultrasounds on many friends of ours, but when it was time for my own wife to get one I didn't even get to see it, much less do it.

Sandra is 21 weeks and 5 days, we are having a little girl! We are all excited and can't wait to see little Charis Priscilla come September 18th. Hannah is especially excited as she has been praying for a little sister for some time now. We thank the Lord for all His blessings completing our 2 pairs. Please pray for Sandra and the baby over the next few months while we will be continuing our travels.

Visit to Durango!

Yesterday while we were in Durango we were also able to take the kids to the Steam Train Musuem. The kids really enjoyed their time in the musuem. They are in that Thomas and friends stage right now, so for them it was really exciting

It was also interesting to see and learn how the steam trains operated at the turn of the century. It was incredible to see how men laid all the tracks across the Rocky Mountains with hand tools. We had a wonderful time, Durango is a very beautiful city tucked away into the mountains.

Dinner with Calvary Chapel Farmington!

This past Wednesday night we had the opportunity to fellowship with Andy Fine and his family. Andy is the Pastor of Calvary Chapel Farmington, NM. We had a wonderful with them as we were able to share about things going on in Italy and our lives over the last 3 months.

Andy and his family have been a great blessing and encouragement everytime we have traveled through NM visiting family.

The Lord is doing a wonderful in Farmington, the Lord has opened up doors and allowed the church to minister to a lot of kids that have never been exposed to the Gospel. They are having a VBS in upcoming weeks, please keep that in your prayers

Visit with the crew from CCBC Murietta!

We were recently blessed with the opportunity to visit with our friends from Calvary Chapel Bible College Murietta, previously when these students were in Okinawa the Lord allowed us to establish a wonderful friendship with the students.

Our kids love all of them very much and ask about them all too often. We were also able to see Jessica Valadez, she was previously a missionary in Okinawa. We had a wonderful time with all our friends. We had the opprotunity to go to dinner and Downtown Disney with all of them. The Lord is always so faithful to us.

Mike Langley visits California!

We were recently blesssed to see and spend time with Mike Langley. It was a wonderful surprise for us to see him, the relationship that we have established with the Langley family over the last few years has been a blessing to us. Our kids speak often of Tyler and Maddie, they have many fond memories with them, as well as Cindy has been such a blessing to Sandra.

Mike is a sailor in the Navy, he was here attending a conference for work related activities. We found out from Cindy that he was going to be here in So Cal for a week. We were so glad the we had the opportunity to take Mike to Pizza Port in Carlsbad, Hands down, one of the best pizza places in California. We spent the afternoon with Danny and Michelle from S.E.N.D. Ministries, Danny was also a sailor at one point. After having pizza we took Mike to one of our favorite hangouts in Carlsbad. We went to Kafana's Java House, where we spent some time doing some good 'ole fellowshipping.

We ended the evening worshiping together at Calvary Chapel Oceanside's mid-week service. Overall, we had a great time with Mike reflecting on all the wonderful memories that we shared from Okinawa. For all of you guys in Okinawa, I am a bit dissappointed at the news that their haven't been any trips to the Ofurro (Japanese bathouse). Maybe when we come to visit in June.

Fellowship at Calvary Chapel Whittier!

Sorry! I know that we haven't updated in sometime, but our internet access has been extremely limited. We are doing well, we have been in the states for almost 2 weeks, Wow! Has time flown by. We have been real busy reconnecting with friends, familie and churches.

We have been so blessed by all the fellowship with many friends here in California. It has been a blessing to see all that the Lord is doing in peoples lives here in So Cal.

This passed Sunday we fellowshipped with Pastor Alvin, and the body at CC Whittier. The saints at CC Whittier showed us abundant love as I was able to share from God's Word with the Body. We are so encouraged by all the people who have been praying for us, without even knowing us. It was great to connect with all of those faithful prayer warriors who have been interceeding on our behalf. We look forward to our continued fellowship with our friends at CC Whittier.

Please! Continue to pray for our time here in the states. I will be keeping busy serving at different churches here in California. Sandra and the kids stay busy with homeschool stuff suring the day. We thank everybody for the prayers that have been made on our behalf. We give all glory unto the Lord as He honors all those prayers.

Off to the states we go!

Greetings friends and family! Well, we are off to the states again to take care of our visa paperwork. Otherwise we are doing well.

We were blessed with the opportunity to spend the day in Venice prior to leaving Italy. We had a wonderful time together as a family, although we did quite a bit of walking while we were sightseeing. Their were crowds of people so it took a while to get anywhere. We were able to enjoy soem pizza, pasta and Gelatto

While we are in the states we will be in California and New Mexico visiting family. We will also be visiting various Calvary Chapels in California and New Mexico, the Lord has opened up some doors for me to share from God's Word. Please keep us in your prayers while we are away.