Life of the Supers

We transfered to http://web.mac.com/dokada/ Please update your bookmark!

Here is what has taken place in the last few weeks around Okadas.

After I came back from New York, in the beginning of October, we had Noah's school Sports Day, called Undokai.  I was not able to attend last year, due to the fact it was on Sunday, but this time, the whether held up for us and I was able to see him do stuff that was really cool.  Highlight for me was to see him run on the team relay.  He was so fast that he brought his team to the first place.

Nicki has had troubles with his stomach pains for a while now.  We appreciate your prayer for him on that.  He is learning a lot of stuff at school and it has been fun to see him mature in many areas.  

Nathan is becoming a big boy.  His language skill has improved a bit each day and we are enjoying talking with him.  

Marcia is doing well so far with the baby.  She is due in March.  We still have not found out what the baby is yet.  We should know that in a week or so.  Keep your fingers crossed!

We just had Ken Fuller from THe Believers Foundation and TMAI come and do seminar for us at the Church/Institute.  We had good showing (about 50 men&women) and we had great time studying from Philippians.  I had a privilege of translating him for the seminar and the Sunday Morning Services.  We al have learned a lot and had a great time of fellowship.

We are working on a translation project (The Gospel According to Jesus) and trying to nail down some details with the translator.  I would appreciate your prayer on that.  

I hope you all are doing well out there.  We love to hear from you!

... posted by Daisuke

I will be teaching 3 day Hermeneutics seminar from this coming Thursday.  This is a part of Expositors' Seminar Series (ESS).  Although this will be a small class (only two students) I am excited that the Lord has allowed us to have the seminar again.  

Please pray that I will be able to teach well and clear.  Pray that the students learn this important topic.

I just have to say "Our boys are super!"  Last night, all of the sudden Noah decided to give me a "Royal Treatment," by giving me back/shoulder/head massage and fanning me with "Uchiwa" (Japanes fan).  That "Royal Treatment" carried over to "Let's make a dinner for the Queen."  So here they are making dinner for us.

Noah and Nicki thought through what they can make on their own (Sandwich and Quesadilla) and  made a wonderful and delightful dinner.  

I am not sure where such a sweet idea came from, but Marcia and I are receiving a real royal moments from them.  Thank God for great boys.   

Though the boys are still in the summer break, life is getting back to normal.  My first full day back was good.  Trying to get rid of the stuff piled up on my desk seem to take a bit of time, but I did finish good amount of work so I am pleased with the progress.  

All our luggage are put away and the house is back to normal thanks to my wife's diligent effort.  The heat and humidity is really bad here this year (record high in temperature in 70 years), but thank God for the AC we have.

Well, time for me to get other things done.  The family is still somewhat jet lagged.  Please continue to pray for their quick recovery.

posted by Daisuke

Today was the last day of JJ4D and the team from Valley Bible Church is here at our house, being very very silly playing a Catch Phrase.  Since they are crazy silly and giggly and loud and all, Mr. Quiet here is updating our blog.  

The week went by pretty quickly as the team and the Japanese staff took care of 70 students.  The aim for Spring Joy Joy ministry is to have time to talk with the older kids about Spiritual matters more and follow up with them.  Jun (one of our student at the Institute) was sick with some virus at the beginning of the JJ4D, thus was out for the first couple of days, I got the privilege of filling in for him at several places including leading a small group for small people (actually to a group of 4-6th grade boys).  It was a bit of difficult task for me since I am not used to speak to children and these kids are not really used to keep their attention long enough to hear me explain their spiritual doom.  Nonetheless, God was good to give me opportunity to explain their need of true saving faith and the necessity of living out their profession in their own lives, each and every day.  

For me, the highlight of the week was what Nicki wrote on one of the worksheet.  It was a day when they studies from the life of Job and the worksheet had a question asking them what was the sad/hard thing ever happened to them and what they did about it.  Nicki answered the first saying, "My grandfather (my side) is not going to heaven" and wrote, "I am praying for him."  Last week, my father was hospitalized (AGAIN) with severe pneumonia and was in serious condition for a while (he is now recovered [AGAIN], though he still is in the hospital).  I talked to Nicki before I went to see him and told him that because of his unbelief he is not going to heaven and that we needed to pray for him that he would listen to my words and believe in Him.  I know that he comprehended well and was praying for him (and for me as I went to talk to him).  It was great to see how God works in Nicki's little heart.  I pray that he would continue to have his tender and moldable heart.

I was not involved in JJ4D as I used to be in other Joy Joy Ministries.  Others (especially younger guys) are replacing me slowly but surely.  I hope to pass the button successfully to others so that they can improve the ministry and reach out to the little children more effectively.  As always, Japanese staff worked extremely hard and the team from VBC as well as our missionaries (Aaron and Leah Faith) were workhorses.  I thank God for them.  They are faithful and committed servants of God and it is great to see them being used by God to reach to the children.

I have to put some words about our wonderful friend Camille Moes.  She came with the team to specifically help Marcia and encourage her.  I have no words to describe how wonderful it was to have her here at our home.  She worked hard as she and Marcia did the dining room wallpapers (I need to let Marcia write on this one).  She took care of our boys and they all sure loved her.  I thank the Moes family for letting their lovely wife and mother come to Japan for 2 weeks.  I thank God for her and allowing us to have such a privilege of  having great friendship with her in Christ.  

Okay, I am writing too long but they are still playing Catch Phrase.  I am not sure when they will be done.  I hope I won't be confronted by the members of the church as a party animal who would make tired missionaries stay home past midnight.  Really, it is not my fault.  I am innocent.  You can be my witness.

Tomorrow, we have American Dinner and I will be sharing the Gospel with the parents.  I pray that the Lord would use me for His glory.  

... posted by Daisuke

"Done with the Birds!" is what I screamed in my head when we finished the Thanksgiving Party at church last Saturday.  Between Thursday and Saturday, we have cooked 4 Turkeys and I have stripped them 3 of these birds.  It was a little too much for a Japanese man who does not like to get my hand greased up with the Turkey juice. 

On the more serious note, we had a real nice time hosting a party at home on Thursday with our friends.  Aaron, Leah Faith, Chiharu and Ma-kun from church and Sakai Family who have become good friend of ours joined for the occasion.  We played a interactive (?) video game based on one of the Japanese TV show before the meal and we prayed LEGO afterwards.  It was a real nice evening and Marcia did such a good job making everything for us.

On Saturday, there was a MinnaMana Thanksgiving.  We must have had about 70 non-believers (adults and kids) attending the party.  Marcia cooked most of the birds and other stuff like cranberry salad and mashed potatoes, etc., and some of the ladies from the church helped her out in the process.  Jun (one of my students) shared the Gospel with the people and they played the games etc..  It was a nice time as well.

I was hoping to upload a few pictures, but I don't have them on hand so you have to wait for that.  Thanks for praying for these parties. 

Oh..., I almost forgot.   Noah's kindergarten had a art festival in which they show off kids drawings and stuff.  We had good time looking at them.  My favorite by far is of course by my son's drawing of a 6 legged Lion.  It looked awesome. 

Next big thing for us is Christmas event for the Sunday School.  Our boys are in the Christmas play.  It will be on 12/10.  I wish you could be here to see it. 

...posted by Daisuke

Wow, this is incredible.  Why is our last update is over a month ago?  Boy, time flies, doesn't it?  So, here is a bit of update for those of you who are eager to hear what is going on with the Okadas (BTW, if you fall in to that description, you are most wonderfully patient people and we love you so dearly).

Noah's sport's day came and went rather quickly though it was tough for him to motivate himself going to school.  It was a beautiful day and was real fun cheering for him.

Daisuke had another seminar that he translated.  This time it was a New Testament Introduction/Survey class that was taught by Dr. Bob Freiberg who serves as a Navy Chaplain here in Japan.  This was a two day seminar open to everyone so about 20 people attended the class.  He mixed his lecture with many photos of the Biblical lands and cultures and everyone enjoyed the class tremendously.

Marcia and the boys did two Halloween parties (Photos here) and invited Sakai family to do the pumpkin curving.  We are enjoying our  friendship with the Sakais (their boys are the same ages as Nicki and Noah) and praying for their salvation.  

Nicki is enjoying his school and is getting real comfortable in both speaking and writing in Japanese.  Noah continues to struggle at his kindergarten.  It is hard for him to fit in right now.  We thank God that he has a good teacher right now who cares for him and trying to help him out at the Yochien.  

Nathan is sick right now, running fever the last couple of nights.  Other than that, he is also beginning to speak a bit, finally.  He understands quite a bit in both Japanese and English and to me, that is really impressive (but I am a father, after all).  

Next up will be my seminar from 11/16-18 (Homiletics), and Thanksgiving Dinners (at our home and at the Church).  

Keep on praying for us.  

This is a ministry update that we sent out to a few people and I thought I would just post this here for you all to see what happened during the summer months.  Most of the items are old news to some, but as we wrote this, we were reminded of the goodness of God in all that He has allowed us to do.  You can also check out some pictures of the summer here!  

Thank you for always caring and praying for us.  Here are some of the things that happened over the summer here in Osaka, Japan.

1. We hosted two Short Term Teams from US (One from a church called Immanuel Bible Church in Santa Monica and the other from Grace Community Church).  A team from IBC did a college outreach for 2 weeks, visiting several Universities and colleges around the area.  We held several special meetings to share the gospel with the students at church on the weekends.  Daisuke was a translator for the team and was able to share the gospel with the students in a couple of the meetings.  A few students continue to come to church even after the team left.  Please pray that we would be able to reach out to them.  Another team from Grace Community was here in late July to early August, helping out a VBS like ministry called Joy Joy 5 Days to the children as well as Jr and Sr highers called Joy Joy 4 Nights.  This is the 6th year of JJ5D and we hosted a total of 200+ children between 5yrs old to 6th graders over two weeks.  Our two older boys participated in the second week of the JJ5D and enjoyed the time with their friends.  We were praying that they'd see the time not only as a time to enjoy and have fun but also a time to minister to their friends and help the Short Term Missionaries.  Later we heard that they were good helpers during the English time and were careful to be examples during JJ5D.  Marcia also participated in JJ5D as a cook with her friends.  There were several children who made serious commitment to Christ.  However, there are various challenges for them to continue to come to church and be involved in the Sunday School Program due to family and social pressures.  Please pray for the many children who heard the gospel presented to them clearly.  Pray that they would respond to the good news of Jesus Christ and that they would be able to attend church and grow in their faith.

2. Our training center kicked off a seminar series called "Expositors' Seminar Series" through which we train expository preachers.  The lecturer for the first seminar was Dr. Michael Grisanti, a professor of Old Testament at The Master's Seminary.  He taught a 3 day seminar on the Book of Deuteronomy.  About 30 people were in attendance for the seminar and Daisuke served as translator.  Though it was intense, God used this time to challenge and encourage many of us.  It was very good to see a huge smile on one of the students (who is a pastor of a small church) when Dr. Grisanti commended to him for his enthusiasm to study the Word.

3. Nicholas went to a Sunday School Camp for 3 days for the first time.  He had a good time swimming and playing with his friends and teachers.  He also was very attentive during the Bible time.  He has begun to understand well what it means to hear the Word and learn from it.  He seems to desire to learn about Christ and His Word.  We are very thankful for that.  While he was away, the rest of the family went to a  church river outing with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Sakai and their son Shodai (who is in the same class as Noah).  We had a great time together.   Marcia and Mrs. Sakai spends time together often and we have been trying to share the Gospel with them.  Please pray for this family.  [They have another son, Ryota who is same age as Nicki.  He was also at Sunday School Camp with Nicki]

4. The summer break was rather short and both Nicki and Noah are back to school now. All of us weren't ready for them to go back, we were having such a good summer together.  Please pray that we would be able to help our children as they re-adjust themselves to Japanese schools and pray that Marcia would be comfortable in helping them with the everyday stuff.

5. Before the summer break, Nicki's teacher approached us and asked us to teach her students about life in America.  This will take place on 9/19.  Marcia will be the main speaker and again Daisuke will be translating.  We will talk about American school systems and family life as well as teaching some songs, etc.  We believe this is a great way to be involved in our childrens education and to influence teachers as well as other kids.  Please pray that this time will be beneficial for the students and teachers here and now, but also for their eternity.

6. Daisuke will be teaching the second installment of the Expositors' Seminar Series on 9/21-23.  He will be teaching Hermeneutics.  Please pray that he would be able to prepare the notes in due time and he would be able to teach clearly and impactfully.

7. Marcia's hands are really dry with exzema and the skin has peeled down multiple layers leaving open cuts which won't heal.  Please pray that it won't get worse.   Daisuke's body was acting up again a little recently.  Please pray that he would be able to have strength to carry his duties as a pastor, a professor, a father and a husband.  Nathan is doing well and trying to talk more. He really is showing his sinful nature more and more.  We covet your prayers as we raise our boys.

Again we thank you so much for your prayers and support.  We are blessed to have a church family who cares and prays for our family and the ministry.

In Christ.

Well, I said I would keep you updated... Okay, I lied.  Here goes the excuses.  MY BRAIN WAS FROZEN!  Dr. Grisanti was very clear and was so encouraging in what he taught us.  I just hope that I was able to communicate that in Japanese well enough.  There were about 20 men attending the seminar with just about 15 women who audited the class.  I wished I was one of those who sat there and listened to Dr. Grisanti.  It really was good.

After 17 Hours of teaching, my voice and brain was gone for a few hours, but I learned a lot through the teaching of God's Word.  If I can summarize what I learned in a few words, I would say this: "Who God is and What He has done should motivate us for godly living."  As I thought through, this was so true in my own life.  

What's up next?  Pastor Kondo is now in the States ministering to various Japanese congregations so I have pastoral duties and preaching responsibilities for the next few weeks.  I will be doing the Seminar in the late September on Hermeneutics so you can definitely pray for my preparation for the class.  

Kid's are almost done with the summer break.  They will begin on the first of the month.  Marcia was asked to teach at Nicki's school a special English lesson this coming month, so you can pray for her on that.  She needs to teach 60 kids for an hour... that could be a challenge. 

Well... Thank you for praying for me.  God surely used your prayers to strengthen me throughout the seminar.

... posted by Daisuke

As you might know, we are in the middle of the first week of busy busy Joy Joy 5 Days.  In this first week, we have just over 100 kids.  For those of you who are not familiar with the ministry, this is like a Vacation Bible School with ESL lessons.

This is the 6th year of JJ5D and I (Daisuke) has been the guy in charge for the past 5 years along with Etsuko who oversees the programs and details.  But this year, Etsuko and I are trying to pass on the baton to younger guys and girls the responsibility.  

5 guys whom I affectionately call "Joy Rangers" have been trying their best to give oversight and leadership to the ministry.  They have never really done anything like this so there are many areas where they are still not sufficient in.  However, it is a joy to see them work so hard to make this a great ministry and to really reach out to the kids.  

After the evening prayer meeting last night around 10pm, 4 of the Joy Rangers were at the church still discussing for the next day, looking at the detailed notes describing how the day went previously.  In that note, there are stuff that I have pointed out for them to focus on and to improve, etc., and they were prayerfully considering these items.  Their dedication to be faithful to serve the Lord makes my heart filled with joy.  While their leadership and oversight may not be perfect, I am sure that the Lord has been pleased with their hearts.  

Please pray for them the rest of the week as well as the week 2 of JJ5D.