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Happy Thanksgiving

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 08:33:30 +0900

Time flies fast and it seems it gets faster and faster as we get older. The cold season here in Japan has come quickly and we are dreading the life without central heating system. Please know that you all in the States are spoiled (smile).

Thanksgiving is always a busy time for Marcia and even though she is 5 months pregnant, this year is not an exception. She will be cooking a bird for the family and the friends on 23rd, and then another 3 birds for the church's English Program. It will be fun, but as you ladies would know, a bit pressure some.

The church's party is an outreach effort and some of our friends from kids' school are coming. It seems I will have a little time to share the gospel with them so please pray for that. There will be about 80 people (kids included) for that dinner and many of them are not believers.

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving. There are so many things to be thankful for as we count His blessings and we are thankful for His provision through your prayers. We appreciate your love and care for us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

posted by Daisuke

Upadte

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:04:09 +0900

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

Back safely

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:03:46 +0900

Those of you who were praying for us, thank you so much. I am back safely from NY and the family survived well without me at home. It was really nice to be with the fellow members of TMAI from all over the world (13 nations, 5 schools represented at the symposium). It sure is an encouraging and learning time for me to be with the men and to hear from what other TMAI schools are doing. The Lord is doing an amazing work around the world.

Next up for me is a special seminar at the end of the month (10/26-27) on Philippians taught by Ken Fuller from The Believers Foundation. He is a board member of the TMAI also. I will be busy with translating his note for the next couple of weeks. Please pray for the seminar.

Noah's sports day is this coming Saturday and I am praying that it won't rain (if it does, it will be on Sunday and that is always be a bad idea for us believers).

It really is good to be back home. I am super exhausted for some reason but I am hoping for the quick recovery. Again, thank you so much for praying!

posted by Daisuke

Seminar time

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 09:13:15 +0900

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.

Photo albums

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:37:45 +0900

I just added .mac web gallery link to this site. You can see some of the photos in flashy web 2.0 format for your enjoyment. Click above link to see it for yourself!

Delightful Dinner

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:03:21 +0900

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

We are back

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:37:46 +0900

Thanks to all of you who prayed for us, we are back safely from our recent trip out to California. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, Marcia and the boys visited the grandparents for the month of July, and I joined them for my 18 day trip to Lancaster, CA visiting our American home church.

Marcia's dad had a radiation therapy earlier in July and she wanted to help her parents out so we decided to go and try to help them out. I joined them in Lancaster in August to visit Valley Bible Church and we had a wonderful time there.

There are many things I can write about our trip, but I will save that for later. Just wanted to drop in and say that we made it home in good shape. Boys were really excellent in the plane.

Again, thanks for your prayers. I will write again soon.

posted by Daisuke

JJ4D and stuff

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:17:51 +0900

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

Ok, I repent

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:17:51 +0900

All of you who told me that you check our website time to time, here is official word of response to you... "Yes, I repent."

It is shameful that the last entry talked about turkeys. We skipped Christmas, New Year, Spending time at Marcia's Parents, Disneyland with some of our favorite people, an encouraging message at Grace Community Church, another seminar for me to teach, Noah's school play, Nathan's birthday, ministry difficulties, TMAI Symposium in LA and Shepherds' Conference, and finally going home of our dear sister in Christ. We really had extremely busy 3 months. We were running at full speed. And guess what, we are not yet stopping.

Boys school year is nearing the end (it finishes in March). Nicki is almost done with his 1st grade and boy, he has become quite fluent in Japanese. Most of all he has grown to love the Lord and to aim his life to glorify God. I see the same with Noah. Though he had some difficult time at his school, he has endured those difficulties with sense of humor and held himself together. It really was neat to see them grow into such little men who love the Lord.

Tonight I was playing guitar and singing some praise songs and Nicki and Noah started to sing with me. What a joy I had hearing them praising the Lord.

Nathan turned two this month and is showing off his sinful self. He is challenging at times, but most of the time, he is a delight of our house and brings smile to all of our faces. Little monster seems to be the funniest of all boys and we are excited to see what kind of man he is growing into. I see a lot of myself in him (and Marcia would confirm it in a flash). We constantly pray for his soul that he would come to know our Lord as his savior and his Lord.

Marcia is fighting a good fight with everyday duties of taking care of 4 boys... (yes, I am counting myself there, thank you). She is worn out a lot in the evenings but continues to love us and care for us. She spends a lot of time with Photo Album stuff. Though I call it a cult, she is reaching out many ladies in the community through this. We are thankful to the Lord for providing such opportunities to spend time and share life with non-believing friends.

As for me, life goes on. Doing my best to keep my eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ so that I would not fall down. Ministry is busy but rewarding, especially seeing the fruits of it more often these days. The Lord is giving us many opportunities to reach out to the community around us and expanding the ministry of the church and the institute. My teaching responsibilities are rewarding and I am excited about what the Lord has in store for us.

Okay, the boys are off to bed and I should be caring for them. Yes, I repented..., at least for now. May the Lord grant me the heart of updating the blog (or should I ask Him for spare time?).

Next stop for us is Joy Joy 4 Days. A team from Valley Bible Church will be here to help us do a children ministry. We are excited to have them here. Be in prayer for us. We love you all!

posted by Daisuke

After the 4 Turkeys

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 07:41:02 +0900

"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

Preach the Word

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 10:13:46 +0900

Well folks,

Thanks for praying for me over the last weekend. I was able to teach "Expository Preaching" class to 4 men and really had a good time teaching. It seemed that the students did not know anything about expository preaching and how to prepare and preach a sermon expositionally.

2 days of teaching and a day of listening to them preach was a little too much for my body this time that I am feeling quite weary today. The students wished that they had known what they learned sooner and that was really great to hear.

We are having Thanksgiving dinner at home on the 23rd. We will have church Thanksgiving party on 25th. Please pray that we will have a good impact upon our non-believing friends through these events.

Okay, time flies

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 20:27:17 +0900

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.

So a few reports

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 07:18:39 +0900

Well friends,

Thanks for your prayers. We made it through one of the toughest week without much trouble. It was all because God was good to us through your intercessions. We praise God and give glory to Him!!!

On 9/19 Marcia and I went to Nicki's school to teach 60+ 1st graders including Nicki about life in America. We focused on the difference between American and Japanese elementary schools. Marcia had a photo album (of course) from when she taught back in the States so we used some pictures from that for the visual aid. We asked questions to kids like "What summer thing does American Schools not have but Japanese schools have?" and "What is one thing that most Japanese classroom does not have but American classroom has?" We talked about the ways to get to schools (there is no school buses in Japan) and difference in Lunch (which kids just loved to hear). We sang a couple of songs and we just had a enjoyable time together. A few days later we got a thank you booklets from all the students (their notes were made into booklets and they are just so cute). It was really nice to have that kind of time. It is pretty rare to have parents participate in a class activity like this in Japan. We were thankful for the opportunity to share our lives with other kids.

On 9/21-23, I taught a 3 day seminar on Hermeneutics for the Bible Institute. 12 men were there in my class and I had wonderful time sharing the principles of interpretation and looking at Scripture with them. Since there is no (and I mean really and emphatically NO) recommendable books on hermeneutics in Japan, I had to basically write one to teach. That took quite a bit of energy before the class. I was pushed to the wall on time but the Lord gave me the strength to finish it up on time. 7h x 3 days of teaching was a first time experience for me, but I got through without my voice going out. However, until yesterday or so, my voice gotten so low and deep that I was hitting the note that I have never hit in my entire life as I sang hymns on Sunday.

Next big event will be Noah's sports day. Noah is struggling a bit with his school so please pray for him. There are two big events in the fall for him at school, Sports day and Art festival. We would like Noah to participate on both, but we are praying about what is best for him at the moment.

That's it for now. We miss you all and are thinking about you.

posted by Daisuke

Summer 06, summary

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:44:08 +0900

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.

Back to School

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 14:03:40 +0900

Officially the summer has ended here in Japan with the school starting back again for the second trimester on Sep. 1. Nicki and Noah went back to their schools and reacquainted with their school friends again. Right now Nicki is besides me doing his math homework. Noah is working with Marcia on his English letters, and Nathan is just hanging out.

Nicki's school asked Marcia and I to come teach about children's life in America so we will have the opportunity to do that on the 19th of September. We hope this will go well that we can do it well on this. We will have about 60 first graders to share things with.

We had church Sports festival on 9/2. Our friend Mrs Sakai and her kids, Ryota and Shodai came to join. Her husband and she are interested in sending their kids to Sunday school. They have been taking English classes at the church and came to JJ5D this summer. Marcia is doing Creative memories with her and our boys are the same age as her kids. (Okay, totally random order of list here... did it make sense?) We have been praying that they will come to know the Lord. Please pray for them.

I will be teaching a Hermeneutics class for the upcoming Expositors' Seminar Series at our training center. I am trying to put together a note without writing a full brown book. So please pray for that as well.

Well... time to listen to Nicki read Japanese book. We'd love to hear from you all!

posted by Daisuke

Seminar and the brain freeze

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 21:03:04 +0900

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

Busy summer continues

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:41:02 +0900

The past few weeks have been one of the busiest weeks for our family. The STM team from Grace Community Church came on 7/22 and ever since then it seems that our wheels have not stopped. Two weeks of JJ5D were enjoyable for all of us as we served and partook in the program. Noah enjoyed his first ever JJ5D with some of his friends and Nicki did well in memorizing the verses. Both boys seemed have helped out the English classes and tried to be a good example to the others.

After the Joy Joy, we had a friend of a friend come stay with us for a few days while I prepped for the upcoming seminar by editing the translated notes for the Deuteronomy seminar. I somehow put in a round of Golf with the men in the church which was extremely hot but was fun. I (not a good golfer) made a par and a birdie on the last two holes to finish the day and that really made up the many swings that I made throughout the day. I believe this was the first time I ever made a birdie on par 5 hole. I was very happy about that.

From 15-17, Nicki went to a Sunday School Camp, the first time ever for him to do that. He was a bit nervous and sad when he found out that he needed to spent 2 nights away from home (he thought it was only for a night), but he enjoyed his time with his friends. Meanwhile, the rest of the family spent a day with our friends, Sakai's. We crashed the party (at least I felt that way) as we joined the IICC (the church we have been helping for a while now) family camp and ate a nice BBQ lunch and played at the river. It was a nice fun day with Noah and Nathan.

Yesterday, Dr. Michael Grisanti from the TMS came to Hamadera and we will be having the Deuteronomy seminar for 3 days. I will be the translator for the seminar so I covet your prayer on this. Looking through his notes, I am already excited about the time we have together. We will learn a lot about our great God and what He expects of us as we serve Him.

God has been good just as always. I am happy to tell you that the Lord taught us a lot this summer. Though we all wish that we could have seen you all this summer, we are thankful that the Lord gave us this summer to enjoy His blessings here in Japan.

Right now, Nathan is sick with severe diarrhea. So please pray for him on that. Marcia's hands has been pretty bad lately. We appreciate your prayers for them.

I will keep you posted on how the seminar goes.

...posted by Daisuke

Passing the torch

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 07:30:15 +0900

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.

Newsletter is out

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:17:27 +0900

We sent out our latest newsletter the other day. If we failed to mail it to you and would like to receive one, please leave a comment with your email address.

Today, Marcia and the boys are out with the team to Namba, a city nearby to get some shopping done. We had some serious rains last week but weather is holding up the last couple of days. It supposed to rain again today but right now, the Sun is out and so I can get some laundry done! YEY!!!

Please do pray for JJ5D and JJ4N. I feel a little bit concerned about it this year because of the transition of leadership from myself and Etsuko (who led the practical aspect of the ministry the last 5 years) to younger guys and girls.

May the Lord bring true joy to the children who attend JJ5D/4N.

Time for Joy Joy again

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 07:41:50 +0900

Well, quick note. The summer mission team from Grace Community Church arrived on Friday and we are starting Joy Joy 5 Days and 4 Nights on Tuesday the 25th.

We have 200+ kids for JJ5D (in 2 sessions) and 14 kids in JJ4N. Please pray that we will be faithful to the Lord as we serve. Please pray that the message we share will be used by His spirit to penetrate the hearts of these young ones. Please pray that the missionaries will be able to share their love for the Lord and for the students clearly so that both kids and their parents might come to know the love of God through them.

We have extremely busy two weeks coming up. May the Lord be glorified all in all.

Heat, Humidity, and a Broken AC

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 07:06:15 +0900

We think of summer beginning (in a practical way) after a month long Rainy season so to many of us the summer has not begun yet. But certainly the uncomfortable heat and humidity has given us several hard to sleep night, recently. Over 80º F with the 80%+ humidity equals very very sweaty night.

Japanese houses do not have a central air and heating system so each room has to have an AC in order to make a room livable condition. But our used-up-over 10+yr-old AC unit that we had in our boys room broke last night. We quickly made a camp out at the parents room (where the best AC unit is ^_^ ) and the boys rejoiced over the opportunity. On the other hand, Marcia and I spent quite a bit of time (esp. Marcia) trying to make it work. At this point we are hoping that a miracle would happen (which biblically speaking will not occur since there is not direct intervention of God in this dispensation).

BTW, yesterday was an interesting day for me. He had to attend a funeral in the morning and then wedding in the afternoon. What was so funny was that I had to wear black suit for the occasions one with a black tie and the other with a white tie. Sometimes formalness of Japanese society is rather silly and funny. I guess you had to be there to share the funniness of it...

I will be preaching this morning at HBC. I have been going through the Beatitudes when I get to preach at the big church. It has been a blast for me to study this great passage. Pastor Kondo is in England, right now. He is attending a Shepherds' Conference at the Metropolitan Tabernacle (where Spurgeon taught) with the group of deaf men. They visited the church last fall on the way to Israel and met a deaf group there at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The deaf pastors invited our group this time. God keeps bringing us some interesting contacts. We are hoping to build more relationship with the MT in the future.

Well, gotta run to church and get ready for preaching. It will be a long day just as always, but the Lord will provide the strength.

Thanks for reading a random stuff. You see, I am trying to keep this up.

...posted by Daisuke

Thanks Christi

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 22:11:53 +0900

Today, our dear friend, Christi Ng finished up 1 year and 3 months missionary work at HBC and went back to the States. Over the past year, our family grew to love her and it was a sad day for all of us.

Christi served as an ESL teacher for kids at MinnaMana English School, a part of an outreach ministry at HBC. All the kids as well as their parents came to love and appreciate her so much. In fact, when we had her good-bye party, there was an overflow of students and members of the church that the hall area was filled with people (and the food was too quickly devoured).

She was a great friend to Nicki and Noah and a great nanny for Nathan. She was a great friend to Marcia and a good buddy for Daisuke. We will miss you, Christi! We sure hope that the Lord will bring you back here sometime soon in the future. But wherever you will be and whatever you may do, we will always be praying for you.

Ministering to Deaf, a sure blessing

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 21:21:45 +0900

Hi All,

Thanks for praying for my trip this past weekend. I was at a city called Matsuyama, where there is one of the ABDWE churches that we work close with and ministered to the group of deaf people at the two day regional retreat. I taught 2 sessions and the Sunday morning service and numerous Q&A and counseling sessions.

On my sessions, I taught on “the fruit of the Spirit” and “What it means to walk in the Spirit.” With the help of my translator Jun, we had really good time studying the Word together. In fact that we enjoyed it so much that we almost taught 5 hours over just two sessions. Funny thing was that my voice was gone by the time I finished the second session on Sunday afternoon. I guess I forgot that I was teaching to people who could not hear my voice. I was just too excited.

The church I ministered at currently has no pastor and has been struggling with various issues, but it was encouraging to see people with serious desire to study the Word and apply it to their own lives. One of the leaders of the church asked me how he could better protect the flock and asked us to continue to help them to grow more. I was so moved by their desire that I almost said I would just move out here.

Everywhere you look, the need is significant. Jun and I wished that we could duplicate ourselves easily and place ourselves among the churches where our beloved people are. But the Lord is not allowing us to take that kind of rout (especially it would be so annoying to have multiples of me around), so we patiently wait the Lord to raise more people who desire to minister to them just as we do.

May the Lord give those local leaders the wisdom to lead the flock. May He give them the encouragement and hope in the midst of serious issues that they face. May He give them more training opportunities so that they would be more equipped to care for His people. May He use us for a part of that plan.

So much have happened since...

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:34:31 +0900

I was just wondering what I could wright as the first entry to the new website (um..., ok, we have changed the site too many times, I know, I know...), but cannot nail down to something specific. Last post on the old weblog was when JJ3D was over, so it has been about... 2 month now? WOW time flies.
Since then, Nicki became an elementary school student, Noah became 5, Nicki lost two teeth, Nathan began saying “this” and “that” and “Douzo” (“Please” in Japanese), Marcia is began teaching Mako (oldest of the 5 Mortimer boys just started to do home schooling) at home two days a week, and Daisuke began getting up earlier in the morning than he has been in the last few years. We have made a family trip to “Iga” the home of the Ninja, and spent time with our friends at the Osaka Dome watching our first professional baseball game. We want to share God’s providential care in our children’s education (in terms of the teachers they have), and we want to share bits and pieces of our life as a family who live in a foreign land.
Ministry wise, things are happening too quickly as well. I have kept myself quite busy (okay, I heard that “what’s new about that!”), but it seems that a lot of things are beginning to fall in places especially about our training center. Summer Short Term Mission Teams are coming soon, and JJ5D registration is a couple of weeks away. We are expecting another busy but a productive summer.
We want you to know what’s going on with us and we want you to pray for us and with us. Please let us know that you are reading this and please let others know about this. Email us if we don’t update as we should.
Well, time for me to wrap up. Nathan and I need to pick up Marcia and the two older boys (they were at the Universal Studios, Japan today with their friends).
...posted by Daisuke