It's Been a Long Time

It's been a long time since I posted on here, but tonight I decided to do a little blogging! Everything's been going fairly well for me and my family. We have some trials going on, but nevertheless, we're thankful and grateful to God for all the blessings he's bestowed upon our family.



My school kids are moving right along with their academics. Boy, did they really get into the election! If my school walls could talk, your ears would be burning just hearing all my little rascals had to say about what their parents were saying about the election.......wow! Anyway, the election is over and we have what seems to be a good man about to lead our country. Presidential Elect Barack Obama will need our prayers as he takes on his this new position.



My family will be here for this Thanksgiving. I just pray I don't over eat. It's just so hard to turn down my mom's cooking! Ha!



I guess you noticed I did a little face lift to my blog. I hope it looks okay. I'd like to figure out how to get one of those cool new layouts. Maybe I'll work on that over the holidays.



Bye.....

Continued Feelings

After being back home since July 8, Phyllis and I have gotten our sleep patterns under control. It was hard to stay awake during the day time after being used to the 14 hour difference between here and Tomobe, Japan.

I love being home with my family. They are blessings from God...even when we have our little family spats! Ha! I missed my friends a ton too. But I'm also wrestling with the feeling of missing my new reader/friends in Japan. I pray hard for each of them that they may continue learning about God and his son, Jesus.

Our trip to Japan was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. To be able to teach English through the bible opened up many thoughts and emotions for me. I've done Friends Speak before, but something about going out into the world touched my heart in a different way. I know you can evangelize anywhere (even across the street here), but seeing another part of God's creation was wonderful.

The night we arrived home, my eyes quickly scanned the airport looking for my honey! As we came down the escalator, I saw Phillip first standing with flowers in his hands (Phyllis' son) then looked to the right and saw the love of my life standing with flowers in his hands too. My breath was taken away by the smile James had on his face. I fell in love all over again! Jerry (one of my older boys) was there at the airport too because he wasn't able to play with his brothers at their softball game that night.

Along with the Taga team, Phyllis and I shared our thoughts about the missions work we did in Japan with our congregation. Jake/Tanya, Scott/Luanne/Tyler, and Phyllis and I all thank all our contributors for helping sponsor our work this summer. I personally, pray God will lead me back to Japan next year to do this work again....although 3 weeks is a long time to be away from my hubby. He actually encouraged me to do this work. That's just another reason why I'm crazy about the man! Ha! He puts God and his work first in order to be a good leader for our family.

What's next for me, lots of listening to God about all things. When another reader comes up, I'll do Friends Speak again. I will continue sharing my faith and testimonies everywhere I go. I've done a few workshops since returning home, have gone on a couple of short out of town trips, and will prepare myself for school to start in a few weeks.

Oh, I've been in touch with some of my reader/friends. A couple have signed up to do a continued LST session with the missionaries in August. I believe I have that correct.

Maybe I'll add some other pictures to this blog in a day or two. For now, I'm just glad to be home.

Tommie

Headed Home

Good Morning Everyone,

Our time has come to a close here in Tomobe. God has certainly taken us and our readers on a wonderful journey together. Each day Phyllis and I were amazed with our new friends and their desires. Many feel something tugging at their hearts. We believe that something is God. We`ve been treated as family here. Our readers don`t understand completely about God/Jesus, but they have certainly shown the love of Jesus to us. We pray they will continue studying and one day become our sisters and brothers in Christ. We are patient. We know it takes time. We`ve planted the seeds.

This past Saturday, the new LST team from Oregon arrived. Two men, Matt and Rolland, took over Monday as Sunday was really a day for us to introduce the readers to Matt and Rolland. They did do a lesson with some of the readers. Phyllis and I felt like "Mother Hens" passing our chicks along. Ha! The readers are in good hands.....God`s hands delivered through Matt and Rolland.

We will do another blog with closing pictures when we get home. Pray for our safety as our flight lives here Tuesday evening at 7:00 which will actually be Tuesday morning there at 5:00 a.m.

We thank each of you for praying for us, supporting us financially, and for encouraging us to serve. Now, when will you allow us do the same for you? We know some of you are having your hearts tugged to either serve here or in your neighborhood in Arlington.

In God`s Love,
Phyllis and Tommie

Soba Night with Mr. and Mrs. Sugaya

These pictures are out of order......this is the meal the Sugayas made for us Thursday night. I don`t know how to rotate the pictures....sorry! tempura, sushi, soba, veggie gelatins, and mango cream for dessert......mmm....good!There was different dipping sauce for each food item.
Mr. Sugaya cutting the soba after Mrs. Sugaya made it below.
This couple has their own recipe for soba (buckwheat noodles). Yummy to the tummy, I tell you! Look how Masako got busy with her head tie. You roll the dough out sort of like pizza.
Phyllis had a turn at rolling the dough out too. Her pictures are on her camera which the disk doesn`t fit into this computer.
Here, the Sugayas are disgussing the exact measurements for the ingredients. Mr. S is an excellent bowler and furniture maker. She says he`s usually quiet, but he talked a lot Thursday night. I think this couple reminded me of Phil and Terri P. Mr. S`s mannerisms were even like yours, Phil. I loved watching how they worked together. I think I`ll try to include a video of this night. You led me to try this Tanya W. Thank you for leading an old woman into new areas.

Viewing Pleasure

Phyllis explaining the song "Yankee Doodle Dandy" to the crowd. This little girl`s mother actually reads with Jeanne....I think! Ha! Anyway, this little girl knew the song from her older brother`s class at school. EVERYONE DID A GREAT JOB SINGING!

My buddy and I checking out the food we prepared for the July 4th party. Phyllis and I recognize each of our strengths and have used them to help make our journey successful. We know God blessed us by bringing us and our talents together for his purpose. We`ve both grown in various ways and love what God has done with us. If I`m ever asked to choose another teammate for work such as LST, I`ll gladly choose Phyllis again. Was everything perfect... certainly not, but we`ve had some great devotionals together, have laughed about the most silly things you can imagine, have seen another part of this wonderful world God made, and have witnessed the love of Christ in many ways.
Another fire-works picture.
This is Royoko. She went with us to Mito today. Diggs, we know your former city well now. We walked all along the shops near the big train station today (Friday). Ryoko was shy and skeptical at first, but came right out of her shell with Phyllis` attention. She made us some very artistic earrings. Rachel, one pair might go to you as I haven`t decided if they`re too long for me or not. Y`all know I don`t have much of a neck! Ha! Ha!
This is part of the Wednesday night Ladies class Jeanne host from 8-9:30p.m. (yes...late schedule but works for everyone). Jeanne is a very hard worker for God.
front row...my reader--Yuriko Sugaya (ask me later about the doll her mother gave me) , Phyllis, Elyssa, my reader--Sanae Chiba (been studying for l0 years), my reader--Sachiko Anzo
back row....Phyllis` reader Tokono, regular Wed. class participant (name escapes me right now), Masako Sugaya (regular Wed. class member) (soba (buckwheat noodles...homemade) queen...invited us to her house for a meal fit for royalty, Jeanne (so sweet), and me.

There are actually more Wed. night regular members but they couldn`t be there this night. After hanging out one night with Chiba-san and Anzo-san, we decided to introduce them to Yuriko so we asked the three of them to come to the Wed. class and meet. They did and Yuriko Sugaya-san says she wants to go back to the class again. Connections connections connections. Masako and Chiba are friends...Chiba and Anzo have been friends for 17 years so the three have an English Conversation class at Anzo`s home once or twice a month. I think Yuriko might join them as well in the future. Anzo and Yuriko discovered they were at the same school around the same time while in Jr. High or High School. They squealed when they realized that fact! Women, we`re all the same no matter where we`re from.
Balloon Pop Game at the July 4th Party....actually June 28th.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Phyllis and I pray you and your families will have a Happy July 4th Holiday together as we remember our country`s beginning. Phyllis pulled off an excellent (early......actually had the party June 28th due to other plans from the church this coming Saturday the 5th) celebration between our readers and the church members. We had an abundance of food ( chips, sandwiches (p/b, tuna, and egg salad), cookies, and of course mugicha tea. The games and laughter were wonderful! In the picture above, the party ended with most everyone going outside to shoot off fireworks. What fun! The kids just squealed with delight to use the sparklers. They love fire-works here and have some the kids at WW would really want, but we can`t bring those items back.....sorry kiddos! Ha! God gave us perfect weather for this event.


Before the party actually got started, some of kids and grownups got busy playing with the balloons Phyllis and Elyssa blew up while I was with my readers. There were notes inside each balloon. When the balloon pops, each person had to perform the task on the note. The party goers had to sit on their balloons to pop them! You should have seen the expressions on some of the older members faces....priceless...didn`t catch them on film as I had walked away from my camera.


Here`s Phyllis playing Jengo with some folks before the real party started. Our new friends really liked this game as some are engineers themselves. I think I`ll add another picture on another post showing how the men really got into this game. I`m so proud of Phyllis. She worked really hard on her planning. And thank you Tammy (Phyllis` daughter) for all your help with the game ideas too. Your mom has been a great teammate.
And here`s the food table. These people love mayonnaise! I heard Phyllis and Elyssa talking about the egg salad and Elyssa suggested adding a little more mayo.........never would have thought mayonnaise would be so popular here! Everything was delicious. Can you see the napkins? Good old America! Jeanne also let us use some patriotic cups to drink from during the party. Everything was grand. I think I mentioned before about a young woman named Ayia helping us decorate. Well....she helped us again Saturday. She has an eye for details. We have readers on Saturdays too so it`s so nice to have that extra help feeling in on details while we`re reading and then doing our party chores.

This is Ayia and her daughter Lisa (being helped by Marlin) playing pin the star on the flag. I`m sure you`ve played pin the tail on the donkey before, so this gamed followed the same rules. The readers and church members had a great time celebrating the birth of our nation. Our July 4th party was a great success of bringing everyone together.

This coming Saturday and Sunday will be our last days with our readers. We will miss them, but know we`ve done what we came to do....plant seeds for Christ through English classes. Phyllis and I have seen some growth in a few of our readers. I think we`ve given out four Japanese bibles to those really ready to study more on their own. You might not think that`s great, but remember it takes years of study and trust building for the average person here. It isn`t to push the bible down anyone`s throat and think that will win them over. It`s love, patience, compassion, and time that will allow the readers (anyone actually) to see Jesus through our actions. Rushed baptisms don`t necessarily mean a thing!

I will add a few other blogs behind this one containing random pictures.

Pray for us as we end our work/stay here. Pray for the readers that they will continue seeking after the Oregon team leaves. Marlin and Jeanne will place as many of them as they can into followup group sessions with Mark and Elissa.

See you soon,
Tom Cat

Okay Nita Bita!

Read about this picture below the third picture. I added it after I started this blog and I can`t placed it with the information. I haven`t mastered this blogging yet! Look at Elyssa`s bump. I guess Mark and Elyssa have become my new `play` kids like so many others at Woodland West. Don`t worry Joe, Jerry, Andrew, and Rachel; you`re all still my number one kids! Ha! I think I mentioned their baby is due in August, but that`s wrong. Kayden (possible name) is due September llth! You read that correctly.
Nita asked me to write a few words about one or two of my readers. I thought I had, but I`ll let you into the lives of two of my readers/friends. Hiroko Miyokawa and her daughter (Riho...11 years old) have grown close to my heart. Hiroko is an office secretary. She is a very sweet person. Hiroko recently celebrated a birthday and couldn`t wait to show me her electronic dictonary. Many of the readers have these e-dictionaries to help them with their translations. After testing the waters to see what LST was all about and that we weren`t bogus, Hiroko started bringing Rhio along to the reading sessions. I pray this child will someday know Jesus along with her mom because she`s very intelligent and humble. Right now Hiroko is on lesson 3 and has questions about angels and why one(Gabriel) was sent to deliver the message to Mary about her being the mother of our Savior. She also ask very good probing questions with each lesson. Hiroko struggles a little with her English, but is making great strides. It`s her lack of confidence she has to overcome. I will be introducing Hiroko to the women`s class in hopes she`ll stay connected to the church when we leave. Pray she`ll accept the invitation to become a part of the women`s group. By the way, did you know you can click on blog pictures to see them up close? I just discovered that.
And my whisper girl! Tomoko Takeda is a precious young woman. She`s in her early twenties and is studying to become a teacher. Now you know we had a lot to talk about on the side after our lessons! This girl is so bashful and speaks so softly that I have to lean in to hear her. Her eyes are as big and beautiful as a doe`s. At our information meeting back on the 15, she told Jeanne she was afraid her English was too poor to benefit from the LST classes so she signed up to do readings with Jeanne which would be in half English and half Japanese. The day she came to read with Jeanne, I introduced myself and asked how she was doing. Jeanne had gone across the room to get a Luke book and not a beginner one. Tomoko answered every question I asked her. We connected and soon discovered she`d read with me instead of Jeanne. I love my sessions with her! Why? It`s because her expressions are so delightful. When she understands the seed thoughts, her eyes dance and the biggest smile comes on her face. She told me she`s happy to be working on her English and understanding a little more about Jesus. She says her boyfriend is proud of her and so are her family members. Alisha Osburn, you`d love working with Tomoko.

Now, speaking of Alisha Osburn......do you remember when her AIMERS team went to Thailand about two years ago? Well, I met someone today who knows Alisha! There were two girls at church today working on fund-raising to grow the church in Thailand. They are doing some sort of internship with a church here in Japan inorder to learn about how to spread the gospel better in Thailand. If I don`t get the picture placed here, it`ll be at the top telling you to read the information down here. The girl in green (Gade...sp) knows you Alisha. It`s amazing how no matter where you go, you eventually run into someone who knows someone who knows someone who know you! Ha! These girls (Yeng in yellow is a talker) also spent some time with the Snow/Wilson team at the Taga Camp this past weekend. I`m going to get you for what you told them about me, Jake!!!! Ha! Ha!

Anyway, Phyllis and I are dog tired as we`ve had two long days. We`ll write about our second party later. The night just sparkled!

Again I say how thankful I am for this opportunity to serve. Our new friends have treated us so well. We just pray we`ve showed them Jesus through our actions and words. Oh, another reader that orginally told me she didn`t want to hear anything about God comes almost every other day! She tickles me. God is beginning a process within her spirit. It takes years for the average Japanese to accept God. If this reader continues studying, I`m not sure it will take many years for her to take on Christ as her savior. It`s not for me to decide that or even worry about the when. It`s all in God`s timing and hands.

Good night

Mr. Risshi Sagusa

Good Evening Everyone,

Many connections are happening here in Tomobe between the readers, the church members, and Phyllis and myself. I`d like to take a moment to highlight Phyllis and one of her readers. Phyllis has been doing a bang up job with her readers, financial record keeping, and all other activities we participate in. Here she is with one of her readers, Mr. Sagusa. He is a retired high school teacher. He`s married and has two grown children. Mr. Sagusa is very anxious to increase his English conversation abilities. Here, on his first visit, Mr. Sagusa brought Phyllis some fruit (picture below) which is similar to apricots. You have to peel the skin off this fruit before eating it. During their conversation, Mr. Sagusa told Phyllis he is taking pottery classes. This has become his hobby. I think Mr. Sagusa was very excited to tell Phyllis this little information about his life. Phyllis says Mr. Sagusa reads English very well, but needs to grow in his daily English conversation skills.
Look at the little bag Mr. Sagusa brought the fruit in. As I watched the interraction between Phyllis and her reader, I was very proud to see how patient and understanding she was with him and all her readers. Guess what? I have a secret about Phyllis! If you want to know what the secret is, find me at church one day and I`ll spill the beans!

Have a wonderful night as I know we`lll sleep great tonight after two days of walking around and doing some terrific sightseeing! We`ll make sure to share the pictures with you all later. Tomorrow is Saturday and we`re having our Independence Party. Phyllis has planned it all out wonderfully. I will do another blog on our upcoming party later.

Our time is running short here and although we`re ready to go home, we`re thinking about our readers. Some are asking wonderful questions about God and the bible. Some are just getting more familiar with the idea of trying to practice English. Some are seeing God through our actions, but have a hard time believing there`s only one God. We don`t force that understanding on them. We`re letting God take that on.

Good Night,

Phyllis and Tommie

Random Pictures

Marlin and Jeanne (sweet Christian folks from what I`ve witnessed) working as usual. Marlin helped with translations during the game. He was co-host with me....so to speak! Jeanne deserves a medal. I don`t know how she keeps up with her hectic schedule. When we need anything, she`s there before we can get the words off our tongues. Thanks Jeanne.
Mark getting the power point ready for Bingo.
And no one is more graceful than Yuriko Sugaya. Mrs. Sugaya is a new reader and is very active in her community. She particpates in many activities at the community center. We are signing her up for her next session for this upcoming week. She wasn`t able to attend the party later in the same day. Maybe God will use Sugaya-san to bring in some of her other community center friends as they are all close. Let`s ask for that possibility in prayer. And yes, we have to take our shoes off inside the houses and church. That`s why I`m wearing those slippers.

Do any of you know these two strangers I just happened to ask to pose in a picture with me? I don`t even know how to begin talking about these two (Jake and Tanya)! Ha! Phyllis and I met up with them in Tokyo. Their other team members, Tyler Snow, Tanis, and Sammy were with us also. Just let me say Woodland West is blessed to have these kids (they are compared to some of our ages). Jake led us to see key spots in Tokyo then escorted Phyllis and me to the train station, put us on the correct train back to Tomobe, and stood there until we couldn`t see him in the crowd any longer. I won`t say much about Tokyo because what happened there, stays there! Ha! Ha! Alright, Brenda Pollard, I`ll tell everyone about our trip there some other time.

Bye folks,
Tommie

More Pictures

Asako and Mr. Kobot were the mixer winners with 14 names each. Way to go. Mr. Kobot is a new reader. He brought in two expensive melons for the party. Wasn`t that nice of him. He is a Christian already. He just wants to practice his English by going through the Luke book for now and will probably skip up to one of the other books quickly. He says he`s very thankful for this opportunity. Asako is a member at Tomobe. What a friendly woman.




Little kiddies and a 60/70 year old church member wokring together to complete their puzzle. I wish you could have heard their precious laughs.

















Snack break time. I thought Americans loved
chips and Salsa, well these people like munching on those food items too! See the girl in the dark blue blouse? That`s Aiya (sp). She lived one year in Alabama. She is a member at Tomobe. She has two children. Her kiddos helped us take the puzzles apart and right the numbers on the back. Aiya helped us place decorations around, ran copies, and giggled a lot!














Here are the winners of our Texas Bingo Game. All winners received a shiny Sheriff`s badge. We gave everyone in attendance, a Texas bookmark for their bibles or Luke books. The gentleman is a new reader and the woman in front wearing the white/peach shirt is a reader with Elissa. The little girl`s mother baked the pumpkin cake we devoured! They are friends of a T. member.

Pictures

Look how hard Phyllis is working as she signs party goers in. She nearly worked herself to death in the background as she signed in readers, cut up fruit, kept the drinks and helped control the music. What a servant heart she has! This is a new reader and her family. Her name is Yumiko. Her husband has a desire to study English too. He is supposed to sign up next week. Now, let`s see what God does with Yumiko`s older son (Hiroki). Hiroki signed up to join the church`s jr/senior high school conversational English class! Outstanding!
The first part mixer! Look at Mark in that hat. This young man is on fire for the Lord! He helped with the power point for Bingo, copied party fliers, moved tables, translated, etc. etc. Hallie, do you see Nishimuya-san in the back with the blue striped top on? She told me to tell you hello. The lady sitting with the gray pants on is a friend of Yumiko. She was sort of nervous at first, but got into the groove as the party went on.
Elissa and Hiroki picking puzzles pieces for the second game. As I`ve told you before, Elissa is Mark`s wife. They are from Oregon and are friends of Tanya Wilson. This young mother to be (due date is September llth--that`s right) is busy all the time. She leads study groups, helps at the church, and reaches out to the community. Elissa was right there working right beside us every minute.
Puzzle building!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which table will win??????

Texas/Cowboy Party!

Do you have your drink, glasses, chair cushion, and laughter ready? I`ll wait for you to get settled in! Ha! Ha!

Saturday, June 21st, was the date for our first LST Party. We had a bang up time! There were 30 in attendance! You might not think that`s a high number, but it is considering how small this church is. There were six of our 32 readers there. Many had prior engagements. l0 church members, 5 friends of readers, and 7 kids ranging in ages 3-16. The party was from 7-9 p.m. Our theme was Texas/Western Cowboy. We had salsa, chips, tea, Japanese melon, watermelon, and pumpkin cake! Yummy...finger licking good, I tell you. LST funds paid for the salsa, chips, and tea. Where did the other food items come from? One reader ( Mr. Todayoshie Koboto) brought in a watermelon and a Japanese melon (sort of a cross between a cantaloupe and a honeydew). Another reader brought in another melon, and a woman whose daughter is friends with a church member brought in the Delicious pumpkin cake. Weren`t those wonderful gestures of appreciation from our new friends? Keep in mind how expensive melons are over here......$7-) dollars for the small one like I was holding in another picture.


We started off with signing everyone end, getting their little paper friend name tags, and giving each participant a sheet with the mixer game we`d play later so they can become familiar with the directions and words before the mixer started. There was one American/Japanese translator at each table to go over the mixer game with the readers and church members. After everyone was signed in and studied the mixer rules, we got started! The mixer was a sheet with items such as ; find someone older than you, find a person who can sing, find someone with the same first initial as your name..etc. etc. This game was a get to know each other game. You couldn't`t just ask your friend or family member to sign the square relating to them. You had to go to new faces and could only use that person`s name once.

The next game was to relax and also designed to create conversations between new readers, church members, and friends of readers and the community. Each table was labeled 1-3. Three puzzles were taken apart and each piece numbered l, 2, or 3. Party participants went to the bowl of puzzle pieces, selected a piece and took that piece to the specific numbered table. Each piece built the puzzle. You should have heard the discussions (most of which Phyllis nor I could understand) generated. There was much gasping as the puzzles came to completion. These people know how to have fun!

We then took a snack break and listened to county/western/Texas themed music playing softly in the background. Whew!

We were going to have horse races and horseshoe tosses, but we only had time for one more game which was TEXAS BINGO! We had cards of famous Texas landmarks and historical figures as the draw cards. Mark placed all the cards on a PowerPoint for us and flashed the pictures on the wall which made the game much easier. We drew the cards out of a cowboy hat Jeanne let us borrow. You should have seen the expressions and reactions of everyone as each card was pulled. All the people would repeat the words after I said them and then Marlin would translate. Sometime the people would stop to ask for more information on the Texas symbols/landmarks, or heroes.
We finally had about six or so winners. You would have thought they were winning a million bucks the way they yelled out (BINGO). Ha! Ha!

The party ended with us singing a few songs and Marlin offering a prayer.

I will post the pictures in a separate post which will probably show before this one because I haven`t learned how to switch the order of the post.......he he!

Now here`s the thing....I worried about this party because I`m not a party planner. We really plan the party as a team, but Phyllis and I both are responsible for being the leader of specific parties. I was to take the lead on this one. I quickly forgot the love of the Lord for his children and servants. He guides and leads us to do what is best for his plan. The party was very successful in attendance and enjoyment not because of our planning, but because God wanted that success for his future plans for the party goers. God put together a wonderful team of workers for this event. Phyllis and I had the most kindhearted helpers from the ages of 3 and up.

I am so thankful for my heavenly father. He always takes care of us, doesn`t he? He used each of our talents to pull this connection off. We`re planting the seeds that God will water, nurture, and grow. Please begin praying now for our new readers and the Tomobe church members. Pray these two groups will become friends through this LST work and brothers/sisters through the blood of Christ. In this culture, it`s very difficult for the people to understand our belief of trusting, loving, serving, and being faithful to one God. To become a Christian means sometimes losing your family here or a life of semi-isolation from your family, friends, jobs, etc. etc. for many. Also pray for Marlin and Jeanne that they do not grow weary in their mission here. This is all part of why it`s important to host social events such as parties so the Christians can help uplift new readers as they start a new life in Jesus.

Thank you for listening to my/our thoughts. We`re tired after a long day of church and readers today.

Good Night or Good Morning/Afternoon there,

Tommie and Phyllis

Get Ready Folks

Good Morning,

We only have a few minutes to spare right now so we wanted to tell you to prepare your minds for a long blog concerning our first party we had last night (Saturday). We plan on working on the blog this evening sometime after church. Before you open the blog, go get a cup of coffee, juice, or some type of drink, your glasses, and a heart ready to laugh. God put together a connection you won`t believe! He`s so awesome!

Morris, we heard about your friend/business partner passing away. We send our sympathy to you, the Venture family, and his family as well.

Time to get ready for church....Phyllis and Tommie

God---Showing Up and Showing Out!

This is Hiroko. Suzuki she is a very polite woman that appreciates the opportunity to improve her English. We love sharing stories about our country and families. She has good language skills, so it will not be difficult to study with her.

News Flash! Guess who wrote the post above? That`s right....Phyllis! She keeps trying to tell me she doesn`t know how to give reports so this morning she took a leap of faith and tried blogging! Phillip, Tammy, and Derek, I know you`re proud of your Mom. God`s growing her in many ways on this journey.

Phyllis and one of her new readers. Phyllis has a couple of readers in the John and Acts books. Those are the more advanced books for readers who are either more proficient in their language skills, have gone through the Luke book, or have some religious background. Phyllis has discovered two or three ladies with very sharp insights about God and his plans for each of us. As I hear Phyllis studying with her readers, I see their relationships growing closer. One woman even brought in pictures of her trip to New Zealand after Phyllis told her about her tour of the same place. You should have heard them giggling like school girls! Ha! Ha!

As I stated before, Phyllis and I have devotional time each morning before we start the day with readers. We prayed to get in more readers and God has answered our prayers favorably! We each have 14 readers now....amazing isn`t it? We actually should have more (the limit is 15 per person), but Jeanne and Marlin have taken on 4 because of their limited English. So that leaves this LST Campaign with a total of 32 readers. Thank you God! He really showed us his trust in us to do his work by sending so many readers. Now, daily we put all our trust in God to step us through each day of showing Jesus to the readers. We asked and God showed up and showed out in bringing us so many tender hearted people!

One woman told me the first day how she didn`t want to hear about God while she learned English. I just smiled and nodded my head. The next day, she shared with me some life struggles and wanted to know if I have or have had any struggles. We shared how everyone has struggles and if we pray and rely on `God`, he shows us how to overcome any situation. Yoko, just looked at me and her eyes became teary. She thanked me and I asked her if I could pray with her about her new beginning with LST (and secretly God). She agreed. We were on the second lesson in Luke about how God can do anything to fulfill his plans. She told me she`s excited to read the next lesson. God....doing his thing!

God never fails us. I have a reader who`s been a Christian since he was 17 years old. He`s now 63. This man is a semi-retired teacher at a Law Technical School here. I was very nervous about working with him because of the knowledge he already has. I sat down and prayed before he came to his reading session Wednesday. God had my back! I think I enjoyed Todayoshi`s session more than the other 5. Yes, I had 6 readers yesterday (It`s Thursday morning here). Todayoshi enjoyed the Luke book because he gave him more basic English practice and we were able to go deeper into information about Luke and some of the accounts he wrote about. My new friend wanted to know if all women in Arlington know the bible so well. Ha! I told him at Woodland West, we love God and his son so much that we all want to know as much as possible about our loving God so the women study just as much as the men. His eyes became as big as saucers! Ha! I threw out names such as Glennell West, Emily Moss, Leisha Norwood, Pat Sayen, Nita McFarland, Ruby Herron, my sister (Ree), etc. etc. We prayed and gave all the glory to God.

Our first party will be Saturday the 21st. It`s a Texas/Western Cowboy theme. Pray that the social will be fun and a good way to help connect the readers to the members of Tomobe C 0f C. That`s what we are hoping God will do is connect these two groups together inorder for the readers to become Christians one day and for the membership to grow.

Today, Jeanne is taking us on a tour of a little shopping area in Kasama (right outside Tomobe). It`s our day off so we get to explore. After having so many readers Tuesday and Wednesday (marathon days), we need a little break.

I will send out another post soon with much information about the Rays. This couple is busy all the time. Their little church is full of action all the time! Marlin is Hallie Johnson`s cousin.

Bye for now....keep the prayers coming.

Banking and Reading Sessions

Monday, the 16th, started off with Marlin taking us to the bank to exchange our travelers checks for yen! That was a new experience I`ll never forget! Ha! To make a long story short, we were first told we`d have to fill out an application to exchange the monies and it would take two days to approved. Yes, new right? But after looking at the checks, they decided we could exchange them right away. Great! No one will ever steal from this bank as those check, our American bills, and our information was checked at least 5 or 6 times by different people. We finally got our yen. Oh, the exchange rate was different for the travelers checks and regular old paper money.

Anyway, we were thankful to have Marlin with us.

Our true excitement came when it was time for our readers to start arriving! Phyllis is here with her first reader. I could hear them from sitting across the room. They made a great connection. The first day is mostly just getting to know each other so the comfort level is set.







And here`s me and my first reader (Naoto). He was very nervous and shy at first, but he came right around and started telling me all about his life. We will do our actual first reading in the Luke book today at 2;00.


Look at Phyllis cleaning up the table after our snack break. The fruits are very expensive so when we found a little basket of miniature strawberries on sale for 125 yen, we bought them as our snack.


One of Phyllis`s other new readers has such limited English that she had to tag team read with him with Marlin`s help since Marlin is fluent in Japanese. Marlin will take this man on as a readers because of the language barrier.



Yes, I was shocked to see this little watermelon cost 780 yen which is $7.80! It`s very tiny. No, we didn`t purchase it. Elissa and I took a walk around the block from the church. This is the little discount produce store she loves finding inexpensive fruits and vegetables. This same watermelon would be about 900 yen in the regular grocery store.

We only had 5 readers total today due to some scheduling problems with the readers in their own lives and us taking the first part of the morning to go to the bank. Phyllis and I promised each other we`d do all those type things together. We really didn`t start readers until 1:00 Monday.

Today (Tuesday--17th) is going to be one of our marathon days as we each have 5 readers (l0) coming in today. Our reading sessions don`t start until l0 o`clock each day because we have devotionals at 9:00 each morning. We need this time to share our hearts with God and each other before our readers come. We stop for an hour lunch at 12 o`clock, start back up at one o`clock, stop for dinner at 6:00, then take our last reader at 7:00. Yes, the days will be long but so rewarding for us and the readers.

Phyllis and I want you to know how sweet our new friends are. The desire these people have to learn English is strong. They are very bashful and humble themselves a great deal in trying to communicate. What`s even more special is they are trying to understand why our love for the Lord is so strong that we`d come so far to plant seeds about the kingdom through teaching them English.

More Pictures of the church members in Tomobe

This is a young married couple. The man is Knishimura`s(angelic singer) son. He led the most precious prayer this morning. We don`t know what all he was saying to God, but we could feel his loving spirit.
See the man in the kitchen helping the ladies clean up after our luncheon? I didn`t expect to see the men helping in this way. Shame on me for thinking that way.
Mark and Elissa (couple missionary couple..live with the Rays) are going to have a baby in August. They are friends of Tanya Wilson. Notice Phyllis in the background? This is during our Information Meeting Sunday night. And might I say God guided us right through the meeting. Everyone said we hosted a very nice meeting. Mark and Elissa helped with any and all questions.
My Song Bird Friends telling me something funny after the Information Meeting. I asked them to think about singing a duet before I leave. I love their smiles, voices, and love of the Lord. Knishimura is praying her husband will one day become a Christian.

Random Pictures As Promised

Operation Drop off at DFW Friday morning at 4;30 a.m. June 13, 2008. Thanks for the ride, James.
Look at poor Phyllis after our long flight. Notice the time stamp. We finally arrived in Japan! Air Canada`flight service was excellent!
Phyllis working on our budget plans after breakfast...at the Ray`s. This is when we couldn`t go back to sleep after awakening at 3:00ish Sunday morning!
Me and some of my new friends after our lip-smacking good potluck luncheon Sunday afternoon! Bob and Jerry, they`d love your bar-b-que! The two older women on the left are the two with voices like angels. I can spell Uki (tan sweater) but not the other lady`s correctly so this is my phonetic spelling (knee-she-mu-ra)...black pants/white top.
Getting started at the luncheon...we did okay with the chopsticks while eating larger items, but used forks for everything else. Are you proud of us, Hal? Ha!

Church Service and Information Meeting

Me...standing in front of the Ray`s window. This is the beautiful scene they see every morning. There`s a pond on their property! This picture dosen`t do the actual scenery justice.




We have much to laugh about and much to be thankful for.

Phyllis and I woke up this morning around 3:00a.m. Our bodies and minds are completely off due to the time change. We tried to go back to sleep, but couldn`t so we just got up, ate breakfast, looked at the most beautiful scene outside the front door, and thanked God for giving his son. A few hours later, we went back to bed and finally slept an hour or so more. We laughed about our sleepiness and about how our morning started!

Church service was truly wonderful this morning. There are people here with such pure hearts. You can feel their love for the lord and one another. Phyllis and I both looked at each other when the members started singing. Awesome! Everyone sang so sweetly. Three ladies really have voices like angels! I don`t know what we expected, but we were shocked by the melody and vocal ranges. Tom Norwood would love to have these ladies singing in choir with him. Ha! Marlin (minister--Hallie Johnson`s cousin and missionary we`re staying with) preached a wonderful sermon on how Fathers are kind and provide willingly and lovingly for their families just as Jesus is kind, caring, and loving to us...even when we don`t deserve it. Oh, Happy Father`s Day to all you fathers. I`m sitting here in disbelief that I sang hymns in Japanese and was able to follow the sermon which was done 90% in Japanese.

Today was a potluck luncheon at church. Delicious food, I tell you. There were about 20-30 in attendance today for church and the luncheon.

We had our information meeting this evening at 7:00. There were 25 readers ready to sign up! It might not sound like a lot to you but in that small room, it felt like 50! They were all so nice and eager to get to know us and learn. The information meeting is designed to meet potential readers and sign them up for individual reading times. Phyllis scheduled ll readers and I have l0. Jeanne (Marlin`s wife) also has 3 readers schedule. Those three readers really have no English background. We introduced ourselves by telling where we come from, family background, occupation, etc. etc. The readers will give us all their background history during their first reading session. We want them to talk more and us listen and guide them to understanding the seed thought to each lesson.

I`m very proud of my teammate (Phyllis). She is the bookkeeper for us and is doing a great job keeping up with our finances. I`m also proud of her because she has such a love for God and is very easy to communicate with.

All in all, our information meeting went smoothly. There were so many smiles and hugs from everyone. I feel so blessed! Thank you God for this day.

Tomorrow we will go to the bank and start our readers after lunch. Pray for us and our readers. I promise (again) to post a session of random picutres soon. The one of me up top was my practice trial.

Good Night,
Tommie