ALLinHIM Ministries Blog

Good evening everyone!!

I want to share with everyone the pictures that were taken from our baby dedication that we had today for the newest addition to our church, Sister Elizabeth Yayre Apedo. She is SO cute!! And she is so light as well. I also learned today the Elizabeth’s middle name, Yayre, means Blessing. Rebekah said, “Hey, now they are a house full of Blessing’s!!”

So, here are the pictures from our special service this morning.

First, we have during the worship service, while we were singing. I only got one picture during the actually singing, because sometimes, you just don’t have the time to get pictures!

And here is my dad while he was speaking.

And here is the Apedo family.

And my dad again.

And the Apedo’s again. This is while they were answering the questions that my dad was asking them both.

And here is Sister Blessing and Elizabeth.

And the whole Apedo family again.

Here you can see my mom giving Brother Paul his red roses.

I think that this is where my dad was either telling Brother Paul about his role as a dad, or maybe he was explaining what the red roses mean. I don’t know for sure. I was taking pictures, so I didn’t catch that part.

I don’t think Peter was too happy when this was taken.

And this was as Sister Blessing was receiving her flowers.

And the whole family again.

And here is my dad again. This is the first time that my dad held Elizabeth. He said that she was so small and there was so much blanket around her, he thought he would drop her and only be left with the blanket. He was kidding, of course…I think.

And here is the beautiful baby girl.

And this is as my dad was praying for Brother Paul and Sister Blessing.

And this is at the end after my dad got done praying for them.

And here are some extra pictures that were taken after service. Here is my mom on the far left, Sister Pauline in the middle, and Sister Yokoyama on the far right.

And here is Sister Pauline with my mom and dad.

Alright everyone, that is all I have for now. I hope you all enjoy this. We had a wonderful service today. With the Spirit of God in the house, it was an awesome day for a baby dedication. Thank God for that.

We love and appreciate the Apedo family, as well as all of the other families in the church, here and all over Japan.

Love and miss all y’all!!

Good evening everyone!! I have many pictures for you today. I hope you have time to see them all!

First, of all, we had a very good Sunday school class. My dad taught on “The Purpose of Worship”.

I really didn’t get any picture during the Sunday School time, but I did get pictures during the Worship Service. So here is Sister Victoria first.

And here is my dad.

And my dad had asked Brother Kwasi to speak this morning for the Worship Service. Brother Kwasi spoke on “Should We Wait On the Lord, or Quit?” The first picture is while we were singing “In the Name of Jesus”. The second picture is while Brother Kwasi was actually speaking.

And here is my dad after Brother Kwasi spoke.

And, we also able to attend the Japanese service.

Here is Brother Yokoyama.

And my dad.

And here is Brother Yokoyama and my dad together.

And here is Brother Sato during the altar call.

Here you can see Yoshiki Arai on the left and Sister Yokoyama’s dad on the right.

And here is Sister Yokoyama’s mom. I’m sorry, I forgot their last name.

And here you can see Sister Ofori and her daughter, Grace.

And here you can see Sister Victoria on the left, and my dad praying for Sister Ishibashi on the right.

And here you can see Sister Sato and her two daughters in front of her. The youngest girls’ name is Ribeka (pronounced like my sister Rebekah’s name) and, if I remember right, the oldest girls’ name is Hana (like Hannah). The Sato’s also have a son, but I don’t know his name yet. But all of their kids are adorable!

And here is my dad praying for Sister Victoria.

Here, my dad is praying for one of the sister’s. I’m sorry. I don’t know her name either. I’m still learning!!

And here is the same sister, but by herself.

And here is Sister Yokoyama’s mom again. She’s so cute!!

And this is just looking out over the congregation during altar call.

And this is when Brother Yokoyama called Brother Perry up for prayer for the work that God is doing in Yokosuka.

And this was after church, during the fellowship. Some of the girls were wanting to know how I did my hair, so I took my hair down to show them how I put it up.

And this, I think, is way cool! So, last week, we see these flyers type things on the table in the foyer, and my mom picks one up and says, “Hey, that’s for the 20th when dad is speaking.” So when my dad comes out of the sanctuary, we show him and he says, “I wonder what it says?” First, I want to show you what the flyer looks like.

And do you want to know what these words say (the blue kanji)?

The words, or kanji, in blue say “This is the time” or “It is the time”. And do you want to know what my dad preached about this afternoon? “The Appointed Time”. Yeah!! And Brother Arai, who did the flyers, did not have any idea of what my dad was going to speak about today. Just shows that God worked it all out!!

And on more thing before I finish. You know how that in the entry before last, I wrote about the modern-day Rachel Pounders’ version of Jonah. Well, today Brother Yokoyama was up speaking after my dad got done and he was talking about how that because Jonah obeyed God (finally, I might add), that Ninevah was saved. So, I start thinking, “Wow. Because Jonah obeyed, people were saved. If we don’t stay here, we will miss the chance to reach people that we wouldn’t be able to reach if we left…wow”.  Then I walk back to my seat which is about five feet from where my mom is. My mom walks over and says, “Did you hear Brother Yokoyama talking about Jonah?” I said, “Yeah I caught that.” She then said, “Because Jonah obeyed, people were saved.” I said, “Yeah, I caught that, too.”   So, I like Jonah FINALLY decided that it’d probably be best to obey God.  I mean, God is God.  I can’t run away from Him. I’d be…pretty stupid to try. And also, I don’t know if any of you have heard of the music group, FFH, which stands for Far From Home. My dad says that also fits us well. Anyways, they have a song that I really like and there is probably a good reason why. It is called “Big Fish”.  And you can probably guess what it is about. Jonah and it asks “Are you in the big fish?  Are you sitting in the belly of a whale gone mad? Cause you turned your life on his wish, His will for your life?   Have you made Him sad? Do you want to get out of the big fish? Listen to God and follow His plan and you won’t be part of the main dish. He’ll (speaking of the fish) spit you out on the dry land.” If you have the chance, look it up online. I think it is more geared toward younger kids, but it was directed to me at this particular time. I don’t want to be in a fish (literally, spiritually, or emotionally), so, that’s that. Also, there is a song by Chris Tomlin called “I Will Follow”. It says, “Were you go, I’ll go. Where you stay, I’ll stay. Where you move, I’ll move. I will follow you” and I really like that song. One day, while I was singing it and my mom was like, “Do you really mean those words, Rachel.” Yeah, that made me think.

Okay, that’s all I have for this entry! I have been trying my best to do the blog entries on Sunday evening after church and trying to get the pictures from the previous week done before I get too behind. So far, God has been helping me.

Love and miss all y’all. Have a great rest of the weekend and have a great week at work!!

Good afternoon!!

Actually, it is only 11:18 am our time, so it is not yet afternoon, but oh well!!

So, I have several things to tell everyone. First of all, on Tuesday, my parents went to Fuchu to take their driving test to get their Japanese drivers license. The good news: my mom passed her test. And on Friday, my dad went back to Fuchu to take his driving test…again. Then the good new from Friday: my dad passed his test as well!!  They had already taken the written test on…I think Tuesday, and they were telling me, for future reference (since I will be taking this same test later year), that the written test is very commen-sense questions. Like one was basically if you get in a lane that has a left arrow and a straight arrow on the road, what directions can you go. So, thank God my parents both passed their test and are now Japanese-licensed drivers.

Now, for the other news. We found out this morning from Brother Burris that my dad’s truck has finally sold!! Brother Burris has the money in hand and the othe guy has the truck!! Thank you Jesus!!!

This has been a week of good news. Thank God for that. And I accidentally mis-calculated when my grandma and aunt are coming. I put 50 days, but actually is it more like 38 or 39 days. I was WAY off!! Oh well!! That just makes me more excited because I know it is even closer. So, that is the other good news I discovered this week!

Sorry I don’t have any pictures for this entry, but I just wanted to share  all of out good news with you all. Thank you all for your prayers. It was truly a miracle that our house sold in only six weeks, especially with how bad the housing market is in Dayton. And with my dad’s truck, I think that was a miracle as well. As soon as Brother Burris put it on Craig’s List, there were several people calling, and a few of them were wondering what all was wrong with the truck, since the price was so low. But thank God for selling the truck. And thank you, Brother Burris, for helping get everything ready!!

Okay, that’s all I have for now. Love and miss all y’all!!

Konban wa!!

How is everyone doing? I hope everyone is doing very well

First off, I want to say Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!!

Second, I have some picture from Sunday, but not many. For the Sunday School time, my dad spoke for just a couple minutes on “Things We Learn Along the Way”, then he had several people get up and testify, so I got pictures of those people up there testifying.

First we have Brother Yamamoto standing beside his drawing of Japan. He was telling us that the Japanese are actually made up of people from the Philippines, Mongolia, Thailand, China, Korea and…. for some reason, I feel like there should be one more, but I can’t think of it.

This is when Sister Felicia Lotsu translated for Brother Yamamoto.

And then my dad had Sister Felicia Lotsu get up and testify.

After Sister Felicia testified, Brother Gaze went up there to testify.

And Sunday after church, Brother Paul called us and asked if we would all come over for a while. Sister Blessing had been home from the hospital for about 5 or 6 hourse by that point, so we went over for a while. And while we were there, baby Elizabeth woke up and we got to see her with her eyes open.

This is while I was holding Elizabeth. It was funny because I was sitting on my knees right in front of Sister Blessing as she was sitting her the chair holding Elizabeth, and I was just looking and watching Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Sister Felicia Lotsu, Sister Blessing Omorefe, and Sister Felicia Dorgbadzi. were cooking fufu, light soup, and fish. Sister Blessing Apedo looked at me and said, “Sister Rachel, I need to go in there and check the fufu. Would you mind to hold Elizabeth?” I looked at her and said, “Really?!?” She said, “Yeah!” So as I took Elizabeth and sat down, Sister Felicia Lotsu looked into the living room from the kitchen and said, “Oh look at Sister Rachel!. She is so happy!” I know I was just cheesing. I looked at my mom and said, “I’ve never held a baby the day they came home from the hospital. She’s so light and feels so fragile.” But she is SO cute!! And seriously, the whole time I was holding Elizabeth, I had this huge grin on my face as I was looking at Elizabeth.

Here is Vivy with Elizabeth.

And here is the baby again.

And here you can see some of the people in the kitchen.

And Elizabeth again.

And here you can see Vivy, my mom, and me all watching Elizabeth.

And Vivy and Elizabeth.

Oh! Look at that yawn!! Elizabeth was probably tired with all the company.

Here you can see Brother Paul talking to my mom and dad.

And some of the rest of the group in the house.

“Oh, stick that tongue out as far as possible!”

Vivi and Elizabeth as Elizabeth is watching her mobile.

And here Elizabeth is looking up at Brother Daniel.

I don’t remember exactly who Elizabeth was looking at here. Isn’t she such a cutie?

And this was as we were looking at the Apedo’s wedding pictures.

Here is Vivy playing with Elizabeth.

And here is Alice dancing with Brother Ephraim to some Ghanaiam music.

Then Alice watching Elizabeth sleeping.

And Makafui.

And here is Peter. I think he might have been getting a little jealous of Elizabeth getting all the attention.

Here is a group picture. Makafui, Vivy, Peter, and me.

And here is Vivy and Makafui.

And that’s all I have from Sunday from church and from Sunday afternoon at the Apedo’s house.

Now, as I type, it is snowing outside. And the majority of the flakes are huge!! Some of it is even sticking on the street! Here are several pictures I took from out of a couple of our windows.

This is from off of mine and Rebekah’s bedroom.

And this is standing with my head outside my parents window. It migh look a bit better if there wasn’t electrical wires, but uh…that’s kind of hard to get in Japan!! To find a place with no wires in Japan is almost impossible. I won’t say that it is impossible, but it is close to that.

Earlier, after I started writing this, I went back out and got some more pictures of the snow outside. Now we have about 2 inches of snow now, and it might be getting close to 3 inches. We have already shut all of our metal doors so I haven’t looked outside. But I wanted to get some more pictures of the snow because there is only one time that I remember getting this much snow and that was when we were stationed at Yokota somewhere around 10 years ago. I will always remember this Valentine’s Day by all the snow we have gotten today.

So, here are all the other snow pictures.

Sorry you can see our kerosene containers, but that is the way we stay warm.

And I have no idea how this little tree can hold up all this weight from the snow. Hmm.

And last, our other two trees in the back (you can see these two in the previous pictures).

Real quick, before I get off, I would like to clear something up. We heard that there was something going around at our church in Dayton and I wanted to get that cleared up. Someone mentioned that they had heard from someone that we were moving to a church in Singapore. Although we do have many friends there in Singapore and we love them bunches, we are not moving to a church there. We will be staying in Japan, and although it is taking a lot of strength/courage to say this, until God brings us back, whenever that is. I know I wasn’t too…excited at first about the fact of staying, but after talking with my mom and dad several times, I’m pretty sure I’m ready now. And as my mom said, if we do go back home, and God doesn’t want us there, we will be miserable. And we’d rather be where God wants us rather than be where God doesn’t want us. We do not want to be as Jonah was, running from where God wanted him to go. And my thinking on it, if God made a fish eat Jonah for three days, what would be the modern day version of that? “Rachel was in the airplane and the plane started going down in the midst of a storm. After much discussion and consideration, Rachel told the captain to throw her out of the airplane, preferably with a parachute, into the churning waters below. As soon as she was in the water, the storm stopped.” Would there be a fish waiting for me as well? Okay, so I am sort of being funny about that, but after thinking about that for several months, I have decided (yes mom and dad) that I’m ready for the future and whatever God has planned for me!! Thank God for helping me get over that!!

Okay, well, that is really all I have for now. Other than being glad that it is actually snowing, and other than being SUPER excited that my grandma and aunt will be here in, if I counted right, 50 days, we are not doing very much! I hope everyone has a great day, and had an awesome Valentine’s Day!

Love and miss all y’all!!

Hello everyone!

I just had some pictures I wanted to show all of you from church tonight (Thursday, February 10th, 2011) from our fellowship that we had.

So first, we see Brother Yokoyama and my dad talking to each other, eating such wonderful international food.

And here you can see some of the congregation just eating and chatting and just having a good time.

And here is Rebekah.

And here is Sister Charity and Priscilla with Priscilla chewing on her chicken leg.

Here Priscilla was licking the chicken off her lips. Sister Charity said, “It must be very good. Oishi!!”

And here are our younger boys. Steven is eating the banana, Zion is eating the Doritos, and Paul is drinking the pop.

And here is my mom and Sister Yokoyama looking deep in discussion.

Here is Priscilla again.

And Makofi.

And here is Kofi.

And here is Lisa, Christine, and Jesse. Christine is trying to hide from the camera.

Here is Priscilla again. Isn’t she so cute!!

And here is Makofi and Kofi. And I have something to say about this. Yesterday was the first time EVER that Makofi and Kofi spoke to me. I also got a high-five and a hug from both of them. Brother Ephriam said, “You are lucky today. Sunday, that may not happen.”

Here you can see more of the congregation just fellow-shipping with each other.

And here you can see Amma and Sister Pauline.

And here you cand see Dixon and Priscilla. I think they were just jumping around.

In this picture, Dixon looks lost as everyone around him is jumping.

And that is all I have for this entry. Sorry I don’t have more pictures. Oh, and by the way, as I am writing this, it is snowing outside. This is our first snow this year. Well, actually it did snow one day….for like 5 seconds then it stopped.  But when I opened our door this morning, it was snowing hard outside. That was at 9 something. Now it is 1:30 and it is still snowing. And my dad spoke to Brother Paul Apedo this morning and Brother Paul said it is supposed to snow till in the morning. Yay!!! Also, this is for my grandma and my aunt, I CANNOT wait till March 30. My grandma and my Aunt Joy will be coming to visit in 48 days. We are so excited!

Okay, now that is really all that I have for this entry. I hope you all enjoy it.

Love and miss all y’all.

Good evening everyone!!

I just have a few pictures from the past few church services.

Starting off from last Thursday, February 3rd.

First, we have my dad and mom praying with Sister Omorefe.

And here is Marta and Rebekah praying together.

And here is Amma.

And here is Sister Lourdis.

And here you can see my dad and Brother Yokoyama praying for Sister Charity. Please remember her as well as the Gyamfi family. Brother Barima Gyamfi lost his mother, who is Sister Charity’s grandmother. I know it is hard for everyone.

So, that is all I have from last Thursday. We had a real powerful move of God in there.

Now we will fast-forward to Sunday.

This is of Sister Felicia Lotsu with Vivi, Kofi, and Makofi with their blankets that were sent to us from a church in the States.

And here is my dad.

And here is Sister Victoria during the worship service.

Here is Brother Perry, also during the worship service.

And here is Sister Pauline.

And here is Sister Yokoyama and Sister Victoria.

And Sister Pauline again.

Here you can see Sister Felicia and Sister Pauline.

And then just Sister Felicia.

And here is my dad as Brother Wisdom was singing.

And here is Brother Wisdom singing.

And Sister Vastina during alter call.

And my dad again.

And my dad praying for Sister Vastina.

And here are just some of the sisters praying during alter call.

And here is Sister Ofori with Sister Blessing Omorefe in the background.

And my dad praying with Sister Blessing Omorefe.

Now, for the newest member of our church. I would like to congratulate Brother Paul and Sister Blessing Apedo. Sister Blessing delivered a heathy baby girl named Elizabeth on Tuesday evening around 8 pm or so. She’s such a cutie!! Here’s her picture which was Wednesday afternoon. Such a cute baby!!!

And while Sister Blessing is in the hospital (she went in Tuesday afternoon and won’t get out till Sunday) we have been watching Peter because Brother Paul still has to work. So, we’ve had a little baby boy around the house since Tuesday afternoon. It has been fun. Tiring, but fun. It’s been funny to watch Peter. When he starts crying, we all act like we’re crying and when he starts doing those loud baby noises that babies do, Rebekah and I both start doing it do. Peter gets louder and starts laughing as Rebekah and I get louder. It’s hilarious!

So here is Peter the first day he was at our house.

And this was Wednesday morning.

And before I go, I have to say want to say Happy Birthday to my mom and one of my best friends, Rachel Nelson, who I met when we were here in Japan before. We have stayed in contact over the past almost 10 years, which is kind of awesome! Love y’all! Also, if I remember correctly, Drew Smith has a birthday this month. Happy Birthday to you as well, Drew! If I forgot someone, Gomen nasai!! Sorry!! Also, Sunday is my brother and sister-in-law’s anniversary!! Happy early Anniversary Justin and Rachel!! Love y’all!!

Ok, well, that’s all I have for this entry. I hope you all enjoy it!!