THREE Months in...

     We are entering into our third month on the island.. WHAT?! So crazy to think about, time is moving so quickly for us and we feel like we have so much to share with you!! From personal updates to ministry updates, it seems like we have a lot going on! So here it goes…

     

Matthew at the start of his desk

     We have a second car, whoot whoo! It’s called a fun cargo and we love it! It is fairly spacious for the size and has AC, which is a must on the island. Our apartment is still coming together. Matthew has been taking one of our days off to focus on building things for our apartment. He has made a shelving unit that fits in our closet for the clothes that aren't hung and he's made a desk for the each of us. It is so relieving to have all of my clothes out of suitcases/off the floor and in a home! Our office is starting to feel and look more like an office now that we have desks, but it is far from finished! Next, Matthew will be working on an entry table and more counter space for the kitchen, I will do all the painting and detailing when he is finished.  We are also on a hunt for a guest bed. We will be having our first guest this week and it would be nice if he had a place to sleep! ;)

                

Enjoying a visit to the seawall

We have become more intentional about setting aside one day a week where we rest and enjoy our new life in Okinawa. It has been very easy for me to justify not resting because we still have so much to do in our apartment and because there is a lot of ministry planning to accomplish. But the truth is that no matter how much we get done in a day, there will still be more to accomplish on the following day. There is always work to be done and I don’t think that will change. Remembering that, as well as, remembering that we need time to rest so that we don’t burn out has helped encourage the time away from all that needs to be done.

                

     We have some exciting news to share regarding Camp Foster… We now have 4 children coming on Saturday evenings! Whoot Whoooo! We have grown from 1 to 4 and we know we will continue to grow! For the month of December, we taught on what and what not to get wrapped up in during the Christmas season and how that can carry throughout the entire year. Each week, we spent the first few moments together wrapping the kids in various Christmas themed décor, it was pretty great! This month we will be teaching on Commitment-making a plan and putting it into practice! I am excited for this month's Life Application because we will be giving the kids practical ways to live out their lives for Christ!

                

     We will also be kicking off the New Year with Commitment on Camp Kinser! We are excited to have the same program on both bases because it will lessen our work load a bit. By the end of the month, we are planning to have our weekly bible studies up and running on both bases, which we are hoping to stream line as well.

Some of the picture frames the kids made. 

     We also had a lot of fun directing the Christmas Play for the kids on Camp Kinser. They performed it on the Sunday before Christmas and they did an excellent job! This past Sunday, we had a Christmas party. There were three stations for the kids to rotate between; snack, games and crafts. Matthew led the kids in some games and from what I hear it was pretty great! The kids had a donut eating contest… where they weren't allowed to use their hands and the donuts were swinging on a string! I led the kids in a little picture frame craft. Of course, I enjoy anything crafty so it was a lot of fun! We used our finger prints to make a string of Christmas lights and wrote the beginning of Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine..." We had a total of 34 kids cycle through, it was a great turn out!

     As always, we are so incredibly thankful for each one of you!! God is using your prayers and support to impact His kingdom!! Thank you, thank you for choosing to walk alongside this journey with us!

*We did not add any photos of the kids because we haven't asked permission from their parents.. But don't you worry, we will post ministry in action once we get the O.K.! =)

Adjusting and Adapting

Our apartment building!!

   Matthew and I have been living on the island for a little over one month!! Whoot whoo!! We now have our own apartment, it’s awesome! We were able to purchase and have our refrigerator, washer and dryer the day we moved in!! The furniture store was out of ovens, so we had a lot of crock meals.  We did, however, get an oven this week!! We had internet installed and picked up a router, so we now have Wifi! As far as furniture, we have the three main things: a bed, couch and dining room table! We are planning on making everything else in due time. For now, we are glad to have a place we call home!
   We have enjoyed walking the streets where we live and checking everything out. The sea wall is very close to our apartment, so we like to go down and watch the sunset while looking for seashells.

Our FREE car

The first Sunday we visited the Kinser Chapel, a family GAVE us a car!! It was super encouraging for us. We didn’t know the family which makes it even cooler. I don’t really believe there is any other reason for someone giving us a car other than God providing for us. We are still adjusting to driving on the opposite side of the road and car. It feels like we are teaching ourselves how to drive all over again! There are some very tiny streets in Japan, so that always makes driving more fun. The roads that look like one ways really aren’t… they are just super small.

Driving on the left side!!

Ministry wise, Matthew and I will be focusing on two Marine Bases for the next few months, Camp Foster and Camp Kinser. Early next year, another Cadence missionary will join us on the field and take over children’s ministry on Camp Kinser, allowing Matthew and I to focus solely on Camper Foster.
   As of right now, the Chapel on Camp Foster has one kindergartener. Yup, only one kid attending. There is clearly A LOT of potential for ministry and we are excited for this challenge! We have started strategizing how to bring more families to the chapel, we have decided hosting Back Yard Bible Clubs is a great way to interact with kids. There are some logistical things we need to work out with the military, but we are super excited to get things rolling!!
   Camp Kinser has been extremely blessed to have a CRE (Coordinator of Religious Education) who has structured a children’s ministry for the Chapel. There are a handful of kids attending Sunday School on a weekly basis and we have enjoyed getting to know them the last couple weeks. Matthew and I have starting working on a Christmas Play with them, which has been lots of fun. We are excited for this opportunity because it has given us an extra day in our week to get to know the kids more.

Our Cadence Team and volunteers!

We also had an awesome Thanksgiving yesterday!! We were able to serve Marines and Sailors on Kinser and Foster. Over 400 servicemen and women came for a home cooked meal! It was awesome getting to talk with some of them, play games and EAT! My heart was overjoyed. We ended our evening sharing a meal with our fellow Cadence team members and youth volunteers. It was good to be together with our Cadence family and build stronger relationships!
  We are incredibly thankful for each and every one of you that has followed us on this journey so far! We could not be here without you, so thank you for sacrificing your time and money to support us!! =) We love you all and have so many reasons to be thankful!! =D

The Start of Something New!

 
 When something changes in your world, whether it’s a new job, new car, new house or new relationship; the ones who love you want to know ALL the details! They want to know everything, the effects that will come from this new change, your excitement (or non-excitement), if you are truly happy. As for us, our big change happened a little over a month ago, when we were officially appointed as Missionaries by Cadence International!! (whoooo hooo!) This non-profit organization is dedicated to reaching United States military communities and those of the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. (to learn more about Cadence, check out their website at www.Cadence.org) We are very honored and extremely excited to join Cadence! We plan on sharing our hearts, emotions and what God is teaching us in our new journey through our blog. As for now, we know there are many questions to answer and we hope sharing the following information will answer some of those questions! =)

WHO: Cadence has four main ministries: Adult Ministry, Student Ministry, Children’s Ministry and Foreign Ministry. Our main focus and ministry will be with the children and families of our United States Military.  There are 1.2 million children whose parents serve in our military. These children will move about every three years and most of them will have a parent deployed for a year at a time.

WHAT: We are going to be sharing the Gospel as well as our lives with the U.S. Military. Our hope is to be an influence of God’s love in the lives of our military, so that they too, will share their lives with others and become ambassadors for Jesus Christ!

WHEN: There are a few things that will take place before getting onto the mission field. First, Matthew is required to complete 30 credit hours of Bible (he’s ½ way there whooo!!) Second, we were given a "Growth Plan", this has been designed to better equip us for the field. Finally, we need to raise funds for the ministry, taking anywhere between 6 months to 2 years for this to happen.  

WHERE: As of right now, we do not have a absolute location. When we are closer to getting on the field, we will know for certain. The decision is based upon the greatest need. We do know, however, that Japan has a great need for children's ministry, making Japan a possible location.

WHY: It is heavy on our hearts to share the gospel and our lives with the military.  They sacrifice so much for our freedom, not only the soldiers but their families as well!  It’s incredible what they do and go through. Our desire is to show them God’s love and how that will never leave them if they are deployed, get re-stationed, lose a family member, or say Good-bye to their friends time and time again. The military is a unique group to minister to; they are constantly on the move, which gives them the opportunity to share the Gospel all over the world!! How awesome is that!?

How can you help? PRAY PRAY PRAY and please PRAY! We will be doing what the enemy hates, spreading the Good News. The enemy will try everything he can to keep us from accomplishing this. Pray against it! Pray for God to continue giving us dreams for our ministry as He prepares the way. Pray for others to invest in our ministry, investing their prayers, words of encouragement, finances, and/or time. We believe our ministry doesn’t belong to “Matthew and Sarah,” but our ministry belongs to God. Our ministry consists of every believer who invests in whichever way(s) God calls them to!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us...Matthew.Annanie@cadence.org or 443-472-2242 or leave us a comment =)