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