We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year. We have had many changes recently in our lives, including returning to the states from Japan. But as I look the mercies and love of God, my heart is filled with thanksgiving to the one true God. May God bless each and everyone of you with His love and goodness! Happy Thanksgiving!
Please take a moment to visit our media page and watch the videos from the Gospel Night of Joy, sponsored by the Tokyo Worship Tabernacle. It was an amazing event! It was held at a hotel in downtown Tokyo. To see the numbers of Japanese who were worshiping to a variety of Gospel songs at Christmas time, was remarkable. As a result of this event, they have been invited to multiple schools to sing, and at the last event, was specifically asked to sing a Christian song. We thank God for what He is doing in Japan! There is another event planned for June at a school, where we have been told there will be close to 1000 people present! God is Good! Please pray for His Spirit to do a mighty work!
Good Day Everyone:
From all of us in Japan to all of you, we would just like to say Happy New Year!
Thank you for all you do for us! We love and appreciate you very much!
May God richly bless all of you!
Happy New Year!
We would just like to say Merry Christmas to everyone! Thank you for all your prayers and support over this past year! We could not have made it without your prayers! It has been a very challenging year in many ways, but through it all, God has kept us and been good to us.
May God richly bless each and everyone of you!
The Pounders Family
Hello again!!
How are you all doing?
A couple months ago, my dad was asked by Chaplain Coker if he would speak at the Atsugi Gospel Service on Sunday, October 14. My dad agreed so on Sunday we went to Atsugi.
Here is Chaplain Coker during the beginning of the service before my dad got up there to speak.
Then the praise team got up and sang. Man, they were good!!
Here’s Daddy.
You can see the reflection of my dad’s iPad in his glasses. Oops! 🙂
Almost everyone was up at the altar by the time Dad got done preaching.
Sorry, Chaplain Coker but I thought this was kind of funny. Rebekah saw Chaplain Coker with a hat on that one of the kids had made and colored.
I’m sorry I didn’t get very many pictures from the Gospel Service. I was still not feeling the best then so I wasn’t up and moving around much. But I’m glad I was able to get a few pictures.
I’ll be working on a few more blog entries so be on the look out for those, too.
God bless you all!
Rachel
Hello again!
I just wanted to ask all of you a question but first, I want to show you something that someone wrote.
“As a kid I remember thinking how rough it was some days that I was required to attend school, but now as an adult I see how much of an asset that education truly is in a life. It literally shapes the foundation that we grow on, and gives a platform with which to jump off of in an attempt to conquer the world.
Unfortunately for the children of Honduras the reality is simply that there are not enough schools. Of the 37500 school aged children living on the Island, only 1/4 of them are able to attend school not only due to family financial situations but also because there are simply not enough schools. Of those that do attend school, only 50% of them will finish their education to a grade 6 level.
At the orphanage these kids will get a chance to not only learn and grow in numerous different ways, but they will also have a chance to broaden their horizens by meeting those that visit and take part in sessions at the training center. Help us give these children more than they could have ever dreamed of! Please give generously”
Most of you know that I went to Roatan, Honduras this summer for a missions trip. We (40+ students plus our instructors) spent 8 days there and what an amazing 8 days those were. The people of Roatan, and especially the kids, have a strong grip on my heart now. I told my mom that the only was to describe the trip in one word would be this: indescribable. There is no way to put into words what went on there spiritually. And I know for me personally, you all know that I have a soft spot for kids and seeing all of those kids there made me wish that I could help out more.
If you would like to see more pictures from my trip there, click on the following link:
http://blog.allinhimministries.org/?m=201208
Now, a couple of my classmates have started a campaign type thing. The goal is for $2,000 in 31 days. It has already been going for almost a week now. We have 25 days left and we have only $60 dollars raised. My question to you: would you all please pray about donating to Reach Roatan and to the churches in Roatan?
The link for the campaign site is:
http://www.indiegogo.com/reach-roatan-2012?c=home
There are different perks that you can get (a video of a concert by Covenant, the Reach Roatan Newsletter, a video of a normal church service in Roatan, etc) or you can just donate without claiming a perk.
It would mean a lot to me and I know it would mean the world to Pastor Malone, Pastor Jones, and Pastor Ponce if everyone could donate even just a few dollars. Pastor Malone, Pastor Jones, and Pastor Ponce are all very passionate about the work there. The work there is their life. The live for that work and it shows. There is an amazing revival going on there on the island of Roatan!
(Pastor Steven Jones and Sister Rachel Jones)
(Pastor Fidel Ponce and Sister Jessica Ponce)
(Pastor Steve Malone and Sister Deborah Malone with their youngest daughter Chloe)
Like one of my classmates said, “Please take a minute to donate, what is a moment of your time and a small donation to change the life of a child?” As much as these pictures can touch your heart, they do no justice for what you feel when you can actually hug one of these kids and when you can talk to them.
All I’m asking is that you pray about this. Just as with anywhere, God’s work requires 4 main things: 1) God’s involvement, 2) faith, 3) laborers, and 4) funds. I do know that God will provide. He always does. But He also uses His people to help. If you sacrifice in giving, God will reward in blessings. These kids are the present and the future. What they experience today will make them who they are to become. What is being donated will go towards bulding an orphanage for these kids so that they can get an education and grow into good, Godly, young people who will then change their world for the better for God.
God bless you all! Please keep the Malones, the Jones, and the Ponce families in your prayers and pray for God’s strength to be given to them daily as they continue reaching Roatan!
(Reach Roatan website: http://www.reachroatan.com/)
Love you all and thank you for your prayers and your support of God’s work!!
Hello again to all!
I hope all of you are doing good and well in each of your cities/states/countries.
For those of you who didn’t know, on October 6-8 we had our annual Northern Japan UPC Camp Meeting. Our guest speaker was Brother Tom Bracken from Taiwan. It was awesome!! I’ve read his book before (actually, I’ve read it twice) and ever since then, I’ve wanted to meet Brother Bracken and I didn’t think I’d have the chance until I visited Taiwan (which I am planning to do one day anyways). I never thought that I’d see him and be able to talk to him here in Tokyo, Japan. But it happened!!
Anyways, because I wasn’t feeling good, I wasn’t able to get that many pictures. But I’ll share what I got and the ones the Rebekah got.
These are from Sunday night.
The TWT worship team lead worship that night.
Yep, that’s Rebekah up there!
I wasn’t able to get many pictures from Sunday but I’m glad I was able to get a few.
Now, for Monday’s pictures.
Also on Sunday one of the ladies from Nakameguro’s TWT was baptized. Praise God! God is doing great things in Japan!
I’ve been wanting to get my picture with Brother and Sister Kon for quite some time now but I just never have. Finally on Sunday I asked Sister Lucas if she would take my picture with Brother and Sister Kon. ありがとうございますto the Kon’s for allowing me to get a picture with you two and ありがとうございますto Sister Lucas for taking the picture.
Here is Silas and Aliye with a few of the Japanese girls.
After the service on Monday, the International congregation went to one of the public halls near the church for a fellowship. After the fellowship, when everyone was starting to pack up and head home, I was able to get my picture with Brother Bracken. 谢谢, Brother Bracken!
Rebekah and Brother Bracken.
And Daddy and Brother Bracken.
And Brother Bracken also signed our book that we have! So cool!
And that was the end of another amazing camp meeting! Brother Bracken, thank you for coming! I will say that during several of the services, I would look over at my mom and say, “This couldn’t have come at a better time”. Especially what was said about God may be taking you through some training to make you stronger and that we need to have stubborn faith. Don’t give up now.
And to everyone from all of the churches around Japan, it was so good to see all of you! It is always such a blessing to be able to see each and every one of you. People were there from Haijima, Saitama, Sendai, Osaka, Nakameguro, Ibaraki, and even Okinawa! Well, technically, people were there from all over the world but we won’t count that. 🙂
That’s all I have for this entry. We love you all!
God bless you!
Hello!
On October 30th, we went to Tokyo Worship Tabernacle for their monthly Thanksgiving service. Also there that day was Brother and Sister Coker and their two kids, Silas and Aliye.
Brother Coker preached for us that day,
Brother Datsomor.
The alter call that day was great! People were being touched all throughout that room.
After an amazing service, we had an amazing feast! I always enjoy fellowships for two reasons: 1) the fellowship and 2) all of the AMAZING food there!
So after everyone ate to their fill and had a good time of fellowship, we all packed everything up and headed home.
The service was great and so was the food!
Also, while I’m on here, I just wanted to say a great big thank you to everyone who has been praying for me over the past few weeks. It really means a lot to me. I’m doing much better now. I’ve been getting up and about around the house and I’ve actually been able to eat the past few days. And let me tell you something, after eating bland food for over a month and only bread and rice for for 2 or 3 weeks, food has never tasted so good! I was asking my mom for more food after my first meal. My first meal consisted of: rice, hamburger, and two bites of hash browns. But that was ever so good!
Anyway, thank you all for your prayers! God bless you all!
Please keep reading for more on what’s been happening in Japan!
Love all y’all!
Hello again!!
How are all of you doing? I’m sorry I’ve been slacking on the blog here lately. I’ll be sure to get caught up over the next week. Y’all will be having a lot of reading material so get ready! 🙂
So in August, I was able to go to the Skytree. Let me tell you something, if you thought the Tokyo Tower was amazing, this will completely amaze you! You know, when you’re standing in the Tokyo Tower and you look out and see how high you are, you sort of wonder if it can get any better than that. Then it does!
These pictures are completely unedited. Just wanted you to know that.
It looks big, but not bad, right?
Then we get closer…
…and closer…
…and closer! It almost looked as if it could disappear into the clouds. Well, the clouds were low that day, but you know what I mean. I was also secretly hoping that God did not look at this as the Tower of Babel because I didn’t know how to get home from there on the train 🙂
We had to wait in line to get our ticket telling us what hours to return to the area there.
So while we were waiting for the time to come, we went and had lunch at an Italian restaurant in a building near the Skytree. That food was good!
We got a seafood pasta and just a beef and tomato sauce pasta.
We got a cheesecake and a fruit tart for dessert. Can you say “おいしい！” (oishii! delicious!)
After the meal we headed back to where we had to get in line to get into the Skytree. Once we got up there, the view was worth every minute of the wait.
And like I said, none of these have been edited.
Bekah and I were talking about how the buildings look so small they look like Lego pieces.
I like the pictures with the clouds in them best.
Do you see that taller red tower on the left side? Yeah, that’s the Tokyo Tower…looks quite small from the first observation floor in the Skytree.
Then we went up to the special observatory deck.
I think these just look awesome!
It may look like a lot of buildings from the ground but when you see it from above, it looks even more packed!
And here is the glass floor. There was thick glass, 4-6 feet of space, and another piece of thick glass. No, I didn’t stand over it. I stood about 2 feet back and held my camera over the glass. There is no way I would stand over that.
That’s about it. Isn’t it gorgeous from up top? I’d love to go one day around sunset to watch the sky and then to see all the city lights after the sun has gone down.
I hope you all have enjoyed this entry and I hope you enjoy the coming entries.
Please continue to remember Japan in your prayers. God is doing great things here and I’m so honored that He is allowing me to be a part of this.
Much love from Japan,
Rachel
Hello again!!!
2 weekends ago, we went up to Ibaraki for our Outdoor Park Service on Sunday. Normally we have a Bible Study on Saturday night but since everyone was preparing for the service the next day, we decided not to have Bible Study that night.
Since it was supposed to be a wet and rainy weekend, Brother Okunushi had gone up on Saturday night and hung some tarps up so all the seats would be dry and so they rain wouldn’t get us.
Brother Okunushi opened up the service for us that morning.
Sister Perlita was translating into Nihongo and Sister Cris was translating into Tagalog.
Sister Cris and Brother Vic got up and sang a special song for the service.
We had four visitors that morning, three of which got baptized after services at the church.
Sister Perlita was at the front near Brother Lucas translating for the Japanese speakers and Sister Cris was to my right in the following picture translating for the Tagalog speakers.
Sister Cris.
Some of the kids were playing near the back. They all looked so cute!
This guy (I’m not sure of his name) came that morning. He somehow found out about the church and wanted to come. He came to the park service that week and also came the following week to church. He came wanting a place where they studied the Bible and he definitely came to the right place!
Daddy!!
There’s nothing better to see than different nationalities all praising God in one place.
After the service, we had an American-style barbecue there at the park.
Brother Okunushi had taken a blow torch to start the grills with.
Reminds me of the song, “I wish somebody’s soul would catch on fire, catch on fire, catch on fire!”
All the men and women working hard preparing everything.
Chef Papa!
Some of the sisters preparing the corn and squash to be grilled.
Brother Lucas was entertaining the kids by playing the guitar and singing to them. I love listening to Brother Lucas play the guitar! He sang a couple different songs to them in Nihongo but the one I recognized easiest was “Jesus loves me”. I wish I could remember the words to it but I can’t.
These kids are all so cute!
When it started raining pretty good, Justin ran out into the rain. When I called his name, he said, “Daijoubu, daijoubu”. I could only laugh when he said that. He’s a little cutie!
Look at all that good food! And that wasn’t all of it. There was still quite a bit of meat on the grill and another table of food to my right.
After the fellowship, several of us went back to the church to baptize three people. Before we actually baptized them, my dad gave them a short Bible Study and then we all prayed with them.
All three of them were crying throughout the whole Bible Study and while we were praying.
I couldn’t get a good picture facing everyone who got baptized so I had to take the pictures facing the mirror on the wall.
And here is the third baptism.
After we got done with all three baptisms, we handed out the baptism certificates.
When we left the church, a huge storm had just left. This is what it looked like after the storm.
It always looks gorgeous right after a storm.
Please remember the JUPC this weekend as we start off our annual Japan United Pentecostal Camp Meeting. It will be from Saturday, 6 October and going until Monday, 8 October. Brother Tommy Bracken, missionary to Taiwan, will be the guest speaker. I’ve never heard Brother Bracken in person but I have read his book “The Saving of a U.S. Navy SEAL” (http://tommybracken.com/Tommy_Bracken_Home_Page.html). I couldn’t put the book down! It’s an awesome book! It is definitely a MUST read!
Okay, I think that’s about it for now. I hope all of you have had a great week and I hope you have a great weekend. I’ll work on getting more pictures up here soon.
God bless all y’all!!