Life of the Supers

In our effort to update better, we have changed our website. New address is similar but different so please change your bookmark and rss address.

New Address:
http://homepage.mac.com/dokada/index.html

We will keep older pages available for a while until we completely move over. Thanks!

Today (oops, it’s already yesterday) was the first day of “Joy Joy 3 Days” at HBC. I (Daisuke) am not involved with this as much as the summer ones, but still I was quite excited to see these kids coming to church and listening to the Bible stories. About 60 kids from 8-11 are at HBC until Friday to study English and learn about God. All but 4 (I believe) are students from JJ5D (summer kids program) and it is really nice to see these familiar faces continue to show up at these events. With a help of the team from Valley Bible Church, we are hoping to further build relationship with these children and their families and to share the Gospel with them as we have better interaction with these precious children. We covet your prayers as we try to reach out to these young ones. They are learning about God the Creator the next few days. May the Lord use this opportunity to bring them closer to Him. May He use the lives of the Short Term Missionaries and the Japanese staff to bring glory to Him.

I (Daisuke) will be in LA from this coming 2/26-3/6. I will be attending TMAI Symposium and the Shepherds' Conference at Grace Community Church. It will be extremely busy week, but I still would like to see you and spend time with all of you!

We had sign-up for JJ3D last Thursday. While it was not like the JJ5D signups, we still had several parents lineup way before we opened it. Total of 45 singed up that day and we added a few here and there. Currently we have 50 students and most of them are returnees from past ministries. We are hoping to have around 60 students. Please pray for the kids as well as the teachers, both Japanese and Americans.

Summer of 2001 was the first time we begun a program called Joy Joy 5 Days (back then it was called "Joy Joy 5 Days Club" ... I know it is not grammatically correct that's why I changed it to what it is now). HBC had a summer kids program that was like a mini camp at church for Sunday School kids. After I took my position in August, 2000 Marcia and I thought we should do something about kids program and envisioned something like Vacation Bible School or AWANA. Something that is fun and attractive to the neighboring community here at Hamadera. Since ESL is a big deal here in Japan and one of the most often used way to bring new people into the church, we decided to use it with the help of Immanuel Bible Church. Several key members of HBC (i.e. people like Etsuko if you know who she is), we began creating plans for JJ5D. We handed out flyers around the community hoping that the program was attractive to our neighbors. We weren't sure what to expect, but when it was said and done, we had around 100 kids signed up for this program. Since then, Etsuko and other key individuals have made the program even better and it gotten even bigger (last summer we had over 200 kids for JJ5D).

This spring, we are going to do something new along the line of JJ5D. We are planning to host Joy Joy 3 Days (okay, we are not so creative when it comes to naming things...) in order to better share the Gospel with older students of JJ5D. With the help of Valley Bible Church, we will do 3 day program with ESL and Bible. We will host 7-12 year olds and hoping to spend more personal time with them. We expect around 60 kids for this and we are hoping many will be returnees from JJ5D in the past so that we can have better follow up with them this time around.

We will begin the signup on 2/16. Please pray for the preparation for this program. Pray that the Lord will generate great interests in the hearts of kids concerning Him so that they are ready to hear His Word with open heart. Please pray that we will be able to minister not only to those children, but also to their parents. Please pray that many will come to the saving knowledge of our Lord who is the source of true joy.

"Odoes are a little persons inside my brain! I am not talking to Minna mana anymore" says Noah
"when I didn't eat the stuff I didn't used to like, that's when I got Odoes."

End of Minna Mana, the era of Odoes begin NOW...!

HBC has done ESL ministry for quite a long time. I know a little bit of pre-Thompson era and was a part of Thompson era, missed a bit between here and then, but we were back in full time capacity by the time Betsy came. Rachel, and David were part of ESL ministry prior to that and since Betsy (hey Besty, have you moved? We need your new addy!), Charity, Andrew, Aaron, Amanda, and Christi has spent hours upon hours working with the students faithfully. I am thankful that the Lord let my wife to be involved in this ministry as well in the past. Over these 15+ years, the Lord sent us many non-believing neighbors and gave us opportunities to share the Gospel and the Love of Christ with them. While the majority came and left without showing interest in Christ at all, others remained with the program and allowed us to explain about our wonderful Savior. A few did came to know the Lord and remain faithful to Him to this day, serving the Lord at HBC in various capacity.

a couple of years ago, a lady got saved through the adult ESL program. At the time life seemed difficult for her but the Lord has changed her quite a bit over the years. This past summer, she invited her nephew to take a part in our Jr. + Sr. High ministry called Joy Joy 4 Nights. With much prayers and the work of the Lord, he came to know His Savior at the end of the summer. Now this past Sunday, her aunt professed her faith in Christ. Her sister (the nephew's mom) now is attending the church with quite an open heart. It has been exciting to see the Lord using this lady to spread the Gospel in her family.

Some might argue that the ministry is not successful because we are not getting as much result. True, there has not been much fruits in terms of conversion. But I believe that the Lord is using this ministry to propagate His kingdom in our neighborhood.

Merry Christmas to you all.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Our Christmas day was a busy day starting with kids getting up around 7 am to open the presents, then getting ready for the church service, ended with having Mortimers over for the dinner. I was not particularly feeling well by the evening our but overall it was a nice Christmas for us.

We sent out snail mail to friends (whom we know physical addresses) in the States. We are putting the pdf file [1, 2, 3] (it's huge by the way!) on the web for you to read if you did not receive it.

Just wanted to let you know we deeply appreciate your prayers and support. We wish you have a wonderful new year!

... posted by Daisuke

P.S.
We are going to Tokyo to visit my parents for the new years. My dad has a liver cancer and has decided not to treat it. He is not a believer and has responded negatively to the Gospel. We are hoping to share with him when we go there. I'd appreciate your prayer on this.

Although the country is still blinded by the power of the darkness, Christmas is one of the rare occasions that Japanese people are more open to things that are Christian. Consequently, a lot of special activities such as evangelistic meetings and concerts, etc. are conducted in December as we move toward Christmas. HBC is not the exception to the rule of piled up events this time of the year. We have already done a Children's Christmas program, two Christmas dinners, a concert, a several special home Bible Studies and it is still not even the 15th of December.

I have taught a short evangelistic message for one of the events and will be sharing a Christmas message at Senri (a church plant site in Northern Osaka). He also will be directing the HBC's Christmas concerts on 23rd and 24th. There are a few other things that I will be doing besides these.

Thankfully, I have finished teaching classes this trimester so I can be more relaxed now. Praise God for the three deaf men I taught this trimester. I am not exactly a kind teacher when it comes to classroom discussions. They have endured and they have learned a lot. Although there are still a lot more to learn, I was impressed with their desire to know more. Please keep them in prayer as they continue their education in January. May God grant them a wonderful rest from loads of homework ;)

Noah had cold and had a bit of fever last week. Nathan is teething and cranky from that. Marcia is using all the patience she has to keep up with the demands of children. 4 boys she needs to take care (if you know what I mean) have given her much trouble ;)

Boys school is almost done as well. We are excited to see Nicki and Noah using Japanese more comfortably.

Well..., that's enough for now. I am trying to keep it updated :)

...posted by Daisuke

Well..., no not really. There is no direct divine intervention in this day and age. But what seemed to have been the nightmare was surely turned into a display of extreme providential care. Okay, I am pushing it a little too much here. Here is what happened.

As you have read the article below, I have experienced some Computer woes recently. After taking the PB to the Genius Bar (where Apple genius resides), I pretty much had a final verdict on my machine: Replacing Logic Board or Buy a New PB. The curse was put upon my PB and there seemed no possibility complete recovery.... yet God was way too powerful (Yeah, I am over dramatic here).

After I reinstall the system into my cursed PB for what seems to be 70th time in 3 weeks, I put it back in my carrying case and drove back to home. PB was sitting right next me on the passenger seat in the carrying case when I stepped on the break... That's when the miracle took place. I usually place my computer on the floor of the car and I usually belt the PB in the case and zip it up. That day when I stepped on my break, none of these was the case. I saw my silver PB flying out of the carrying case.... and "BANG!!!" (well, it did not make that kind of sound, but you know... gotta be a little dramatic for excitement) onto the floor. I surely thought that would be the end of my PB. In fact I was carrying it with it on sleep so the chance of damaging it was greater.

I went home, and woke the PB and... there it was, as happy as it can be. It's been about a week since that incident and I have not had a single system crash so far. I don't exactly know how safe it is to work on this but it seems like I have my PB back, at least for now. Hopefully it will continue to act normally until I can replace it sometime in the next few months... (hopefully...).

Thanks for your encouraging comments. Maybe it was God's way of answering your fervent prayers.

...posted by Daisuke

Our Thanksgiving picture is up. Click Here to view the pictures.

Well, we are 17 hours ahead as well as have a sort of Labor Day/Thanksgiving holiday on 11/23, we celebrated our annual "Turkey @ Okadas" dinner today. Every year we try to invite different people and this year's guests were, Christi, Amanda (we still call her Amanda 2), Mortimers, and Mika and her kids (Jun and Mana). Unfortunately Nono Mortimer got sick so Midori and Kotoba and Nono were not able to make it to the dinner.

We will post the pics from the dinner sometime soon, but sad thing is that I took a nap in the middle of dinner. I apparently put myself to sleep as I tried to put Nathan to sleep. I felt bad for Mika because she was the only Japanese speaking adult in the house as I snoozed.

My deep appreciation goes to Christi and Amanda for their help. They did a great job cooking. And as usual, Marcia put a lot of effort for making this day a wonderful day. I was kind of grumpy all day but she made it good for everyone.

Nicki did a great job decorating the entrance, and Noah was just a cute and funny guy all day. There are so much to be thankful for in the midst of various challenges. We thank you all for your prayers. Knowing that only thing we deserve from the Lord is a judgment in hell, we are absolutely thankful that the Lord has granted us a wonderful family and life here in Japan..., and most of all the eternal fellowship with Him.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

... posted by Daisuke

Since the end of the last month, my beloved Powerbook G4 has gone insane and I have been in a panic mode ever since. I have completely wiped the disk over dozen times in the past 3 weeks, have replaced the HDD and have been running disk utility and virus softwares like you would not believe, yet the problem persists. This has been a woeful 3 weeks.

Everything began fairly quickly one day when my PB had kernel panic. It simply quits running in the middle of me doing something. It happened several times and then began not booting up at all. After fiddling with it for a day or two, I have found out that there is no other way to resurrect the PB unless I replace HDD. I did that hoping all my hardship would end, but the Lord had different plan.

After receiving a new HDD in my PB, I renamed the disk as "Lazarus" reflecting the fact the PB came back to life. Then I reinstalled the softwares and reloaded the backup files.... then it happened again, and again, and again, and again. There is no longer a HDD problem, no hardware failures, and no software issues. I even had freshly installed OS only HDD crash like crazy. So I have been without a properly functioning computer for nearly a month and my PB (formerly named as PBG4 then as "Lazarus") is now named "Devil" because of its demon possession like behavior. This morning was pretty funny since I had to print out my sermon and the PB would not want listen to my command. I almost spanked it, then I figured a way to print it out. This seems to be the story of my life recently.

All in all God is teaching me patience (Yes, I have not thrown it out of the window yet), and reminding me not to be depended upon things other than Himself (I now have realized my utter dependence on my computer for a lot of things). He even makes me preach without sermon notes fo that I speak from my heart rather than from my notes (..well, on this one, I really prefer to have notes at hand rather than trying to memorize my flow of thoughts, especially since I am not good at remembering any longer).

It is good to have challenges of life. I now pray before I boot up my PB or wake it up from sleep. We can always learn from events that the Lord brings to our lives. They are with good purpose.

... posted by Daisuke

The boys were testing out their photo shooting skills the other day. Here are a couple of pictures they took.









If you want to see the complete collection, please click here.

Aren't they cute?

Some time ago I found an interesting article on the web talking about the difference between the cultures of East and West. This article explained the result of a research on how two culture differ in identifying and relating objects tracked through eye movements. There are some truths to the research and made me think about how I could better communicate with people in Japan as well as people in the States. I believe I am more Americanized than many Japanese, but still remain to be Japanese in the core. It puts me in a oddity as I relate to both culture groups.

What do you think about the article? Leave your comment ^_^

... posted by Daisuke

So in light of what is taking place (i.e. bringing in this new blog), I am trying to update our website.

I hope I can get this done in timely manner since my wife is telling me that I need to sleep. Well... I am sleepy but you know it is one of those guy things that I just gotta do it. Get this done! I feel like I owe you all for not keeping this website up (I can't even remember when was the last time I updated the main page). Well, just to let you know that change is coming... so keep checking the site.

...posted by Daisuke

Hello everyone.

I am here to announce today that we are starting another attempt to publish a blog of our family and ministry. I found this interesting software and thought I would try it. I have made attempts to write a blog on our family life in the past, but several technological difficulties as well as lack of discipline and interest/time on my part have prevented me to update the blog at all. But this software I found could solve all the technical difficulties I had in the past, so I am giving this a shot.

Whether this will continue or not really depends on how Marcia gets excited about it. I think this is a good way to send info to those of you who care about us (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVE & PRAYER), and good way to have ongoing contact with you all. So, please drop us lines to encourage us to keep posting.

...posted by Daisuke