Famous Family Member?

This afternoon I got to chat with my dad on skype, and he informed me that I have a rather famous second-cousin. Heenal Raichura became the youngest doctor in the UK at age 22 just last year. Here's the video of it being reported on the news.



お父さんによると、僕のおじいさんの弟の孫（つまり、僕のまたいとこ）はイギリスで最も若い医師になった。２２歳で医学部から卒業して今就職しているらしい。すごくない？

Make a Cute Face!

Joel and Eder had a little fun after service last night. Eder pinned him down and drew a face on his chin. Unfortunately, Joel didn't say a whole lot, but it was still pretty hilarious to watch. The guys are thinking of doing a Bible study all upside-down face style. THAT would be TOO FUNNY!



昨日、夜礼拝の後、エデール君はジョエル君のあごに顔を描いた。残念ながら、ジョエルはあんまり喋らなかったけど、それでも面白かった。いつかこの連中は逆さまの顔でバイブルスタディーをすると言ってたので、楽しみにしてる！

Not GROWING a beard...

I HAVE a beard now! It seems to have filled in as much as it will... but you'd be surprised. It'll get longer and thicker!!! Mind you, I am getting mixed reactions from people. Especially the ladies. Guys all like it! Anyways, in time it will get longer and thicker, and you'll see a different me. But please... do NOT call me a terrorist!テロリストじゃねぇよ！差別だよ、そういう呼び方！

Good Food - Physical & Spiritual

土曜日の朝は久しぶりに男性の朝食会が行われた。
On Saturday morning, for the first time in ages, we had a men's breakfast.
８時集合して、おいしいホットケーキをガツガツ食べた。
We met at 8am, and gorged on delicious pancakes.
その後、２－３曲賛美をして、ダビデ兄弟が聖書（ピリピ２章１２－１８節）から教えてくれた。
After that, we sang a few worship songs, and Brother David taught out of the Word (Philippians 2:12-18).
なんと、アンドリュー兄弟が日本語に訳してくれた！
And get this - Brother Andrew translated into Japanese!
最後にグループを組んでお互い（そして、みんな）のために祈りました。
Finally, we formed small groups and prayed for each other (and everyone).
土曜日を最高に始めることができて主に感謝します！
Thank the Lord for giving us an awesome start to our Saturday!
トム牧師のビジョンも感謝します！
And thanks to Pastor Tom for the vision God has given him!
ここで、トム先生の得意技を見せます。ビデオを見てください。

Here, Tom shows us his pancake skills. Check out the video. It's just a few seconds long.

Move over, Movember!

The beard is now 2 weeks old. For some reason the sides come in slower (and thinner) than the goatee portion, but give it a few more weeks and it'll be like a dense rainforest!

ヒゲを生やし始めたのは２週間前。勤務先が許される限りまで伸ばしたいと思うので、３ヵ月後はすごいヒゲになる！これからは時々ブログ更新で、ヒゲの様子を見せてあげるね！

Use those gifts...

Well, I took the kanji test for level 4 on Sunday, and by Wednesday I was back in ministry again! Thanks to Josh Dean, I was able to have a Sunday off from teaching in order to prepare for the test, but my buddy Tom Cotton asked me to translate his Wednesday night message for him.

I'll be honest with you - of all the things God has called me to do at Calvary (teaching, translating - English to Japanese and Japanese to English, worship team, kids ministry), I have to say that translating into Japanese is my least favorite. But perhaps that's because it humbles me the most. It's the one that comes the least naturally to me, and the one that opens me up to being "less-than-perfect" (my grammar isn't always right). So in that respect, it's good for me to have to translate from time to time!

Well, Tom taught out of 2 Chronicles 24, which is a passage I remember thinking was rather confusing when I read through it for W2 teachings. But Tom taught it very clearly and the translating wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Praise the Lord! Here's a brief video clip of us, two of the few non-American, non-Japanese people at church at any given time. (If you couldn't tell from the video, Tom is Australian. And if you don't know that I'm Canadian, you probably have never met me.)

CHUBS

Oh man, I think I am going to explode. I ate SO much today. I can't do this anymore... "you are what you eat," they say. Well, I might become a brown-spotted udder-endowed milk-giving delicious animal, if that is literally true!

Keisho (he of the big beard) treated Tom Cotton and Keli'i to lunch, and we were joined by Takuya and Go, in eating a whole lot of food. I didn't even come close to eating the most of anyone there, though! Keli'i's a MACHINE. Go didn't eat much less than him. I think I beat Cotton and Keisho, but Takuya also put down a fair amount. It was SOOO good. But I won't be doing yakiniku for awhile now - one's body can only take that every so often!

Movember?

My cool brother Ash introduced me to this 'special' month, in which awareness of men's health is promoted. Men are encouraged to sign up at the website, and raise money to help research of prostate cancer, one of the lead causes of death among men.

Well, I'm not signed up, and in fact, it's just a coincidence that I am growing out my beard and started doing so on November 1. But guys who register on the site are in competition for the sweetest 'stache by the end of the month. Check it out for yourselves, and if you are moved to do so, please give to research on the leading causes of death among men.

Guys, let's be healthy! But let's also be beardy!

Happy... Hallow**n?

On Friday, we had a special Harvest Carnival at Calvary Chapel Okinawa. It's like an alternative to Halloween for kids, so they do not have to take part in what is, in fact, a dark holiday tradition. Well at school, we English teachers in the humanities department decided to dress up a little, to show the kids some fun. I didn't mean to 'promote' Halloween, but rather just to give the students something to talk about, and bring a little happiness into their day. Last year, I dressed as an Arab. This year, we decided to go with a sports theme, so I donned my hockey gear and sweat all day long - did you know that hockey gear is not conducive to being worn for 14 hours in 28C weather? Now you know! A good time was had by all, though.

先週の金曜日はハロウィーンだった。学校では文系の英語科の先生方はみんなスポーツをテーマにして仮装して出勤した。ケニーは野球少年で、ユッキーは沖尚女子バレー部の一員として来た。僕はカナダ人代表ということでアイスホッケー選手として学校に行った。生徒はみんな喜んでいたので、大成功したと思います！来年も楽しみにしてね！

Poor kitty...

Last weekend when I was at Comprehensive Park, I saw a poor little homeless cat. He (she?) was so beautiful - a white body with a brown tail, and the most beautiful blue eyes you've ever seen. Unfortunately it was really sick, and did not look like it would survive much more than a few more days. I wish I could have done something for it... but I was on rollerblades with no money and no place to bring it. Even when I reached out and petted it, it really didn't show any reaction at all. No obvious signs of enjoying it or disliking it. No defending itself, but no endearing itself, either. Still, since I love cats so much I wanted to take it home with me - but alas, the landlords do not allow pets in the building...

この前、沖縄県総合運動公園にローラーブレードしました。人からちょっと離れた場所に行ったら、かわいそうなネコを見た。しばらくの間、そのネコと関わったけど、ほとんど反応しなかった。おそらく病気だったかもしれない。僕が触ったときに嫌がってもなく、好んでなかった。やっぱり僕はネコ派だね。家に連れて養いたかったけど僕のアパートではペットは禁じられている。あのネコはまだ生きているかな？今日は晴れていたらまた県総に行こうと思っています。