Thursday, February 10, 2011

Boulders that rolled down the hill

This week and next we will probably do a couple of overnights out there to get as much done as possible,  Henry will help Dan with the construction, mudding, painting and whatever else.  Terri and I will clean and make some curtains for the rooms.  Sara will help where she can and read the hymn books.  

Henry doing some mudding.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

This morning Dan and Henry took off about 8:00 a.m. and went to camp to do more mudding and other stuff.  Meanwhile, Terri came over later and we ate lunch then went out in search of curtain fabric for the rooms at camp.  We went to a place called Shalimar, House of 66 Cents.  It is a fabric store in two buildings.  There was a variety of Japanese prints by Quilt Gate.com, a Japanese company.  The prints and colors were so gorgeous.  The cotton prices were very reasonable so I bought about two meters total of three or four fabrics.  I told Terri I did not need to be in this store.  :-)

She found a neutral fabric for the curtains also at a reasonable  price.   We saw some items made from waterproof fabric--a small purse and a folded book cover that was really spiffy and looked easy to do.  Maybe someday.

Later we returned to church and the men came back so we had dinner about 5:30 p.m.  There was a 6:00 p.m. English class in which a Mr. Miyashita came.  He was saved last August; his wife has been a Christian for a long time.  Henry then preached the service at  7:00 p.m.  He preached out of First Corinthians chapter 2.  

It was a long day, but we did get a lot done.  Tomorrow we will be cutting and sewing curtains.     It is a nice warm 70 degrees down here.  I am thawing out.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Dan and Henry left for camp about 8:40 a.m.    
It was actually cold in Okinawa today.  It had rained hard overnight and was overcast all day; the temperature was in the lower 50's.  I needed my jacket and mittens when I took a walk around the neighborhood.  The wind was blowing hard sometimes, so that made it seem much colder.  I saw people with heavy winter coats and hats.  When the sun does not shine down here, it is really cold.  Anyway, not like Tokyo or Washington, DC, but cold for the tropics.  

Terri came over about 11:00 and we worked on things for Sunday. 

After Henry and Dan came back, we went to a local restaurant located on a new golf course where we had an early Valentine's dinner.  The men had steak, Terri and I had the fish platter, and Sara ate chicken fingers and fries.  It was a lot of food.  Delicious.

When we got back to church, we were having something hot to drink and Sara wanted to play the Chocolaopoly Game.  It is similar to Monopoly only everything is chocolate related.  Fun facts to know and tell about chocolate:
What is the holiday that has the most chocolate sales?  

We finished about nine and left the game up in case we get a chance to play again before Sunday.  

Sara in front of shark Jaws

We left about 2:00 p.m. and ate lunch in the van on the way to camp which was about 45 minutes from the aquarium located in the mountains.  Before we got there we went up a mountain to see the cherry blossoms in bloom.  The trees in Kobe are a lighter pink and bloom in April.  These were very pretty.




Dan has added an extension to the main building.  Henry helped do the mudding.  Terri and I cleaned upstairs.  There are three large rooms with bunk beds and room enough for about 35 campers.  They have had as many as 50 for family camp so they put futon out on the floors.   Each room has its own shower and toilet plus portable racks to hang clothes.  The bunks are all hand made and sturdy.

The camp sits on the edge of a hill and probably is about 2-3 acres all told.  They have had two retaining walls installed.  However, one was not done right so when it rained heavily the large boulders rolled down the hill.  Now that needs to be redone.  
Boulders that rolled down the hill

This week and next we will probably do a couple of overnights out there to get as much done as possible,  Henry will help Dan with the construction, mudding, painting and whatever else.  Terri and I will clean and make some curtains for the rooms.  Sara will help where she can and read the hymn books.  

Henry doing some mudding.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Today we took a flight from Kobe to Okinawa where we will spend the next 11 days helping the Gardners do some work at their camp.  We took a Skymark Airline flight which lasted about 2 hours.  The entire way down over the ocean we were above cloud cover.  As we approached Okinawa, it was still hazy, but we landed safely and deplaned out on the tarmac.  Passengers were loaded onto buses and taken to the terminal.  We got in about 30 minutes later than scheduled due to a delay in departure.

Three years ago they put up a steel-framed building for their church called Shinko Baputisuto Kyoukai  or Faith Baptist Church in English.   Henry and Joe flew down then to help out a couple of weeks; Joe stayed a month.  It is a nice square structure with classrooms, offices and a guest room on the second floor.  The first floor is half church and half kitchen/restrooms.

It has been nice visiting with Dan and Theresa, also called Terry.  It is also nice being in warmer weather and we may finally get over the flu from the past two weeks. 

The first photo is the wing of the Skymark Airline.  The second is approaching Okinawa.  The last is a display inside the terminal near baggage claim.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

We are getting over the flu after 11 days; it is still hanging on.  However we all are on the mends.  The weather here in Kobe has warmed up a bit into the 40's now.  The ice in the buckets is not near as thick.

Sunday we have a guest missionary speaker, Mr. Sato from China.  We will have lunch after the morning service and then the afternoon service at 2:30 
p.m.  After church is over we get to pack for our 10-day trip to Okinawa starting Monday.  Henry will be helping Dan Gardner do some work at the church camp and I suspect Sara and I will be helping.  The current temp down there is in the 60's F.  much warmer than here.  Now, what to pack?
 

Sunday, January 30, 2010

This past week Sara and I have had a doozy of a cold starting off with a cough, then a fever, then the general achy feeling.  I think it has gone to the chest.  I've slept for three days mostly, something that is not normal.  The cough now sounds more like a hoarse horse.  We are on the mends.  The upside is I have lost one kilogram!  I've been stuck since November and could not get over this hump until last week.  This is good news.

On the 7th we are to fly to Okinawa for 10 days to help a fellow missionary do some work at his camp.  It will be much warmer down there.  Currently it is -4C where we are; Okinawa is about 25.  I may actually enjoy going to the beach if given the opportunity.  Now, what to pack?

This week we will be passing out over 4,000 flyers for a special meeting on the 6th.  We have a Japanese missionary coming who serves in China.  He will preach in the morning, then we will have lunch and then an afternoon service where he will show his presentation.  Please pray some new people come. 

There were just 10 in the service this morning as several people were out with illness.  

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Fun Cargo by Toyota.  We have a "new" little car.  It is a 5-passenger vehicle with a huge cargo area.  The seats can like flat in the floor!  The color is silver; the interior is gray and it is about 9-10 years old.  We needed to replace our older van and decided the smaller vehicle would serve us best.  Since we don't have so many people living here, the three of us do not need a van as much.  We still have the Honda Step Wagon, also in silver, and is still a great vehicle.  We have not had such a small vehicle since before 1987.  

 Front Dash board with Navi! There is also a CD player behind it.

 Rear door opens like a door.  Plenty of cargo room

This is the rear seating area--5 would be a bit tight, but 4 comfortably.

 
The Fun Cargo will cost less to operate and maintain.  The tires are fairly new; mileage is low at about 76,000 km so there is some long life in it.  

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Today Teresa is 22.  Happy Birthday!  She said she celebrated by working!  There was a winter Bible conference at college and she is on the cleaning crew.  Teresa is also hoping to be hired off campus this semester.  As for the summer, she is not sure what she will be doing.  Could be back to Camp CoBeAc or staying at Lancaster, or going to Independent again.  We shall pray with her on this. 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Happy Birthday to Henry!!  He is 57 today; does not feel any different than 56 he said.  We already celebrated on Sunday past by taking the January birthday people to lunch--Noseh-san, Mrs. Akamatsu and Teresa in abstensia.  Of course, Mr. Akamatsu came as well as Mrs. Miura who actually paid for the dinner.  

Sara asked since she paid for the dinner we have some money to go out tonight?  We went to a new udon restaurant which was actually inexpensive and really good.  You got your bowl of thick noodles, then could choose from several tempura items like chicken, shrimp, sweet potato and other veges. I'd go back just for the tempura!

November 14, 2010

We got a call early this morning, about 6:30, waking us up (we overslept and it was a Sunday).  Peter was calling and said he had been in an accident.  He and Joe were driving someplace looking for a car part and Peter ran a red light and smashed into a car.  The air bags deployed; Joe got a bloody nose and they were calling from the hospital in Waldorf.  They were fine, but the car is probably totaled.  It was a nice car.  He did not get collision insurance.   Character learning lessons. 

Friday, October 1, 2010

Peter seems to have secured a job in Vienna, Virginia, in the area of building maintenance, i.e., cleaning, which is similar to what he was doing at college.  It is a long commute from Clinton by either car (a pain in Northern Virginia traffic any time of the day) or via the Metro bus/subway.  Praise the Lord for answering this prayer rather quickly.

We learned Matthew's old Bonneville dropped an axle and is in need of repair.  He bought parts so hopefully he can get it fixed this week.  Trying times for #2, but also character building lessons.  Sometimes it is difficult to sit back and watch your kids go through testings.  However, God is good, all the time.

There were four new people in Wednesday night's service!  It was great to have our visitors, a very unusual happening.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

This is a statistical summary of the last three months, for anyone interested.  I like to keep stuff like this, details, details.
 
We traveled over 12,000 miles by car from California to the East Coast before the car was wrecked at the end of the trip.
 
We drove through or visited 30 states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Utah and Hawaii


Henry spoke in 18 Independent Baptist Churches, three of which were non-supporting ones.

 
I saw my five siblings: Joe, Bob, Barbara, Mary, Tom, and their families. Sara met her cousins for the first time: Nathan, Debbie, James, David and John, on my side and Chris Lynn's three kids on Henry's side.

 
We paid for seven different hotels on our own between meetings, and stayed in 5 other hotels supplied by the churches and in the homes of at least 14 families and friends.

 
We ate at numerous restaurants with good, All-American cooking. Had fresh lobster and clams in Maine and wonderful homemade ice cream.

 
The digital camera took 1797 photos, all saved on the computer. I made separate folders for the American Flags and the Water Towers which included in that number.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

This is my face a couple of days ago; the bruising under the left eye is gone and now just a small amount under the right eye, mostly hidden by my glasses.  The bump is considerably smaller and a nice shade of yucky green.  Perhaps in another week it will be completely gone.

In the meantime, I have developed a summer cold and am coughing more than usual; very annoying.  I hate colds.  

This is a photo of one of my iris beds taken on April 30th this year.  There were about 30 plants ready to bloom a week before I left for the states.  Missed all the pretty blooms. 

 This next one is what the same flower bed looks like now.  Something happened while we were gone that literally rotted all the iris plants.  This is true in several other places around the yard.  We were told that June and July were particularly wet which may explain the rotted chormes.  I am so sad to see these all gone; it took at least seven years to get the flowers to this stage.  However, there are some still around the yard in other places, so when the weather cools some, I will dig up everything and start over, putting some fertilizer and lime in the soil and other nutrients. 

Our pastor said recently that It Takes Time to Plant a Garden, speaking of building a church.  The real flowers take time also, some bloom for years, some wither and fade away, some don't grow big at all, while others are beautiful and have big blooms year after year.  The same can be said about the local church in many ways.    

While this flower bed looks more like a forgotten desert, it can, once again, produce beautiful blooms as before, but it will take some work, much like planting a church does. 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Henry talked to Peter early this morning about getting tickets for him to fly East from California.  He will be stopping in Chattanooga to visit Johanna and family for a few days, then go to DC.  Henry also talked to her dad and he said that there are some cars there at BIMI that might do for a replacement for Peter's car.  Peter said the insurance company called him and said the Camry was totaled and they would get back with Peter about what amount they will pay.  Pray it will be a good amount so he can get possibly a newer car with less mileage on it.

Friday, August 6, 2010

When we landed in Hawaii, we flew over the island across beautiful green/dark blue seas. The flight itself was about 7 hours; the food was fine, the movies not so great. This big plane did not have the individual screens in the seat backs, so had to watch the big screen in the middle. Fine, except for the extra-tall man sitting in my line of vision. Hollywood does not do reality. One movie was called Date Night; I did not listen to it, but watched when I could. This couple decided to spice up their boring marriage and somehow get mistaken for another couple wanted by the mob or somebody. Anyway, one scene, they were driving at night in the streets of NYC and somehow attached themselves to the front of a taxi and drove at high speed through Manhattan. #1—no cops anywhere to be found. They wrecked several cars in passing and weaving in and out. #2 At one point I noticed no seat belts in use. #3 This couple gets hit broadside by a SUV and it does NOT hurt them—no scratches, bruises, cuts, nada. They wreck several police cars trying to stop them. After our seemingly minor rear-ended accident, this entire scene was outrageous. It did not appear they even had sore muscles at the end of the ordeal. 


Approaching Honolulu Airport

 

 The remainder of the flight was actually on Thursday, USA time, from Hawaii to Japan when we landed on Friday about 4:30 p.m. There was very little turbulence, mostly clear skies all the way and a smooth landing. The Wakimasu's got us at the airport and we drove back to the house amid some wondrous clouds that appeared to be stormy, but we did not see any rain. It has been dry around here.

Twilight in Kobe
 
When we got home, I noticed and expected the flower beds and yards to need some work. They do. Something has destroyed a bunch of my iris—rotted them; the leaves are all dried and none coming out of the chorme. I will have to find out what happened after I get to that section. He grass is tall; the weeds are taller and it will take some effort to get the yard looking nice again for the fall planting. August is not the time to do yard work, but it will need to be done.

We will also need to pass out a few thousand brochures in the area that have not been done yet; they are stacked in front of Henry's desk.

It is good to be back, but somehow anti-climatic. I would be dishonest to say I would rather be here than the USA where my kids are. Teresa flies into Maryland on Saturday to spend about 18 days there with the brothers and home church. The church people here are wonderful. It needs to grow with more young people and kids and complete families. Through it all, we know that we are where God wants us and we will stay until He says we can go.

Thursday, August 5

I woke up about 5:00 a.m., so decided to get dressed and get ahead of everyone. We got down to the lobby and there were several other people waiting for the shuttle also. We got to the airport and unloaded, then got into the correct international line. I then remembered that I wanted to mail the book back to Valerie at the hotel, but completely forgot. One of the workers at the airport said he would drop it in a mail box for me. There are NO mailboxes in the LA airport.

We went through the lemming wait of passengers going through "security." There were so many TSA women that had almost nothing to do. There were three lines to go through baggage check. In the second line, one female just stood at the head of one line and waved people on to the next level and fussed with her hair when she wasn't using her hand. Other women walked up and down the long first passenger line barking orders about boarding passes. I am sorry, but to me there are too many employees doing not much of anything in the way of security and probably getting paid way more than their civilian counterparts, and it really does not make security any better, just more inconvenient. JMHO


We got to the baggage screening place and they found something suspicious so we went through a second screening. Turned out to be computer wires and sea salt Henry bought for gifts. The two men were really kind about having to go through our carry-on luggage. I suppose it is better to be safe than sorry, and it is a good thing we got to the airport a few hours before needed. No longer can you just get there at the last minute.


 

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

This morning Joe had his third scheduled driving road test. It did not work again. The car we borrowed has an engine check light on and the DMV would not let Joe take the test. The owner said he has had the problem checked numerous times and the problem cannot be found; nevertheless, DMV said no. While down there Henry decided to renew his license and that process took about three hours of waiting. Much like Japan. Then again, getting through DMV is not a swift thing on most days.


 
We again tackled the luggage thing and I think it is down to what we are finally going to take. One more checked bag would be convenient; Henry wants to save the fees. I said we have wasted lots of money on this trip, especially all the stuff poured into the now-wrecked car. We shall see if we can get another bag, just to lessen the weight in the others if nothing else. We fly out tomorrow evening. This trip is quickly coming to an end.


 

Monday, August 2, 2010

This morning we went down to Solomon's Island Rescue Department so Henry could get a physical for the life insurance policy he wants. The EMS lady who does it lives down there; she had her two kids in the station. I really liked the shirt on the one five-year-old. 

The physical went well. Some of the people at the department go to Pastor D's church; the one we were in the last Wednesday in June.

This afternoon we tackled the task of packing and making things fit into as few pieces as possible. The domestic flight Wednesday will probably charge us for the checked luggage, 4 pieces so far, and they are close to the 50 pound weight limit. It was much easier when the limit was 70 pounds and checked luggage was free.

Meanwhile the face is nicely turning darker red and blue. I could be a bandit without the mask now.

Not the most flattering of photos.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

This morning the bruising is starting to creep to my right eyebrow. I could cover some of it with face powder and my hair, but it will have to go as is.

It is Missions Emphasis Sunday at IBC today. Two missionaries are in the service. The Bunnells served in Russia for a few years and now have a ministry in London, reaching the Muslims in one part of that city. He said they were given three buildings to "revive" the area and they will set up a church and outreach area from there. 


He said recently while in London on a Sunday he went to a place in Hyde Park called Speakers Corner where probably 30 people just talked about anything they wanted. One guy was dressed in pink and said that if everyone would wear pink it would be a better world…one of the crazies. Another large group was two guys shouting at each other. One, a supposed Christian, was yelling vile things at a Muslim and he doing the same in return.
 

As Mr. Bunnell listened to this, a Muslim came up to him and engaged him in conversation. The man ended up saying something about the Muslims taking over London and then doing the same in the USA. Well, the Holy Spirit spoke to Mr. Bunnell to calm down and tell this man about the gospel. So for the next hour he quietly talked to the man and he was really interested in what was said because he had never heard that before. Mr. Bunnell had to catch a plane, so could not go further, but believes this Muslim will get saved.   Mr. Bunnell has reached several former Muslims who are now ministering to their own people in the Arab world and in Europe. Muslims can be reached and converted.


 

The Larsons are with Reseeding America, a church planting group with our mission board. He showed a DVD about the SW USA and the need for churches among ethnic groups that are in large numbers around the bigger cities. Some men have started churches and are reaching a diverse group of people including Cambodians, Mong, Philippino, Vietnamese and many others. They truly have an international church in the USA. We gave Peter's email address to Mr. Larson since Peter wants to start a church sometime in the not-too-distant future.  

I took photos of Sara, Anna Gill and Anna Long, who are all MKs and born within three weeks of each other.  Sara has enjoyed these new friends. 

Also took another family photo, but with out me in the picture for obvious reasons.  

 

Tonight my face has swollen up with bruising around both eyes. I look like a raccoon now with the left eye sorta reddish and the right one black and blue. Time for some heat therapy to disperse the blood. It looks worse than it is, really.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Henry made calls to some local pastors to help us out a little this morning. Henry is going over to the towing lot and check out the car to see if it is possible to drive back to MD. We are not sure what the insurance will cover. Meanwhile Sara and I waited at a Red Roof Inn.


We called Ken and Mary Gill to let them know we did not make it back last night and told them what happened. They offered to pick us up if we needed it.


I am doing fine, the swelling has gone down quite a bit and I can cover the bruising with my hair for now; it will get worse over the next few days, I am sure. The lady at the front desk allowed us to move into another room temporarily with the luggage, so they could clean the one we were in. Sara and I lugged everything from the car and our big luggage to the other room.


Day 1 of
bruising

When Pastor Ogden and Henry got back from the towing yard, he said the car is not salvageable and will probably be totaled by the insurance company. The back right door cannot open and the left one is sticky. The frame is bent. Henry also said they went to two car rental dealers and neither had one-way rentals. We thanked Pastor Ogden for his kindness; gave him a picture I had of us three years ago and he said we could call him if we needed.

 
We decided to call Ken and Mary; this was about noon and they would be here after 3:00 p.m. Meanwhile we waited in the new room, careful not to get on the beds or make a big mess. The Gills arrived about 3:30 and we loaded their van and headed up US 81 toward Northern Virginia. After stopping for dinner at a Subway, we got back to their house about 7:30. I managed to do the laundry for the week. Matthew came over after work about 11:00 p.m. My face was bruising nicely, just like the ER doctor said it would—the swelling would go down, the bump get softer and the blood under the skin would gravitate down toward my eyes and cheeks. It will be interesting make-up the next few days.