Talking about Friends with my Friend! -by Mj

I had the privilege of sharing with a group called the "International Christian Women's Club." I talked about the many friends who God has used in my life over the years. My friend, Akiko, translated into Japanese. It was a lot of fun to work together. At the end I shared about the difference between living our life turned away from the sun and "walking on our shadow", or facing the sun and embracing God's forgiveness in Christ. One young woman prayed with me to begin a new life "facing the sun" and living in the light. Please pray for Kazumi as she grows in Christ.

Blog Tips -by Stacia

I just thought of some things I should probably mention...

The Videos: We're using Youtube to host our videos right now, which is great until you reach the end of the movie. Then advertisements for other movies come up across the bottom of the viewing screen, just begging you to click and watch. They are NOT our movies though, so if you feel like watching other random movies that probably (but not necessarily) have to do with Japan and/or missions, then proceed with the knowledge that we have no particular affiliation with them.

Posting Comments: Blogger allows anyone and everyone to post comments on individual posts, so please do; we'd love to hear from you. ^^ Below every post it should say something like, "Posted by The Wilsons at 3:15 AM 1 comments." To view comments left by other people or to post your own comment, click on the 1 comments link which will take you to a page where comments will be listed (if there are any) and you can leave your own comment. Simply write your comments in the empty text space under "Leave your comment" and choose your identity (if you have a Google or Blogger account you can use the first option, if you'd like to post under a name choose the "Nickname" option, or if you'd like to be anonymous you can click the last option), then click the "PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT" button. To make sure our blog doesn't get spammed and stuff by random people we have it set so that we have to approve comments before they show up.

Well, thanks for checking out our blog! =D

Old and New History

God has been so good to us. The Lord Jesus is bringing many into His family in these last days before His return. Recently our friend Mrs. K wanted to be baptized prior to the new year and her radiant smile reminded us of why we do what we do in Japan.
A little over a month ago, my good old friend Mr. S came from Tokyo and we were able to get together. We'll be friends forever because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of both of us!

The Work is Expanding -by Stacia

Mike discusses the exciting things happening in Japan!

SUPER FLYING SHEBA! -by Stacia

This is a picture I made in my multimedia class a couple weeks ago. It's a picture of my cat, Sheba, flying or diving or... something. O.o"

The Island Project -by Stacia

A church we're working with did an outreach concert on a small island. This film shows clips from the concert as well as a few of us passing out the chirashi (not sure how to say it in English... maybe... pamphlets?).

OH yah, the Bethel team was here during that time and came to the concert too. =D

Look at him grow! =O -by Stacia

Little Brandon isn't so little anymore...

August News

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers. Things are going well and we are praying each of the six churches will be able to develop a church planter and church planting plan in the next two months. Please pray with us and that God will give us a large harvest of souls. Our desire is to be used to help people find their way out of the dark and into the marvellous light of Christ. We had lunch with one of the key pastors in the network who had introduced us to many others in the network. He and his wife will take a 3-6 month sabbatical starting in Sept. We met the key leader who will take the reins during their absence. We are praying the pastor's absence will enable more lay leaders to grow up quickly in the mother church.

Mike's back

I appreciate anyone who reads this blog. For the last week I have been in a lot of pain with my bad lower back. Things are going great on the ministry front! Mitch came to church after not being able to for a long time. He never has Sunday off but this was Obon, the Japanese equivalent of Thanksgiving and Halloween rolled into one.

The Church Multiplication Network meeting on July 21 was really blessed. Pastor Chida came from Yamagata and shared insights learned through his experiences planting 9 churches. Everyone was encouraged and inspired to multiply churches in Okinawa, Japan, and Asia.

CM Network News

Pictured is Ito-sensei, a pastor we thought we would work with to plant a daughter church. However, her church members are almost all new Christians and really don't understand the priority of fulfilling the Great Commission yet. They have a very natural human desire to have a larger worship facility with a kitchen attached. Ito-sensei shares our vision for church multiplication and will be developing her congregation to multiply next time, if God so wills.

Protest Gathering Against Dump Near OCSI

Punctuated by heavy rainfall interspersed with bright sunshine, about 4500 local people including mayors of the 3 townships most affected gathered to publicly express their opposition to a proposed dump that would see hazardous materials like asbestos dumped within 100 meters of Okinawa Christian School International. Some of the homeowners expressing their opposition live even closer.

Sharon and Marty visit

Mike's sister Sharon and her husband Marty came for a visit--their first overseas trip. They were really game and we took them to the Ichiba where you can look at your food in the eye and pick it out while it's still moving before they prepare it for you. We had a great time and our hope is those great times can continue forever.

Welcome

Mike
We're trying something new on our website blog. You can write and post to this one. Give it a try. I'll check it a couple of times a week. Looking forward to dialogue.