Hume International Ministries

Some pictures of our travels from Seoul to Okinawa. Once we landed, Buddy from Malachi Ministries picked us up. We first went to exchange some of our Money, then we grabbed lunch, then we went to Kadena Air Base and settled in to our hotel.
We are all pretty tired trying to adjust to the time. Last night we had dinner on Base.

It is 6am Saturday and we are going to take the ferry over this morning at 7:30am. We will be back at Kadena Air Base on Saturday afternoon. I will try and post once we get to Tokashiki but still am unsure if we will be able to.

Pray for us as we prepare spiritually, emotionally, and physically for these kids to come. We talked with Buddy last night and he saide probably 35%-45% are unsaved/unchurched kids.

The Okinawa team spread out after landing from our 14.5 hour flight. A 3 hour layover and we are on to Okinawa. Once we find some internet in Okinawa, we will post some updates. Talk to you soon. Jeremy

The Japan team left Hume this afternoon. They will meet the remaining members tonight @ LAX and fly to Seoul for the first leg of their flight. They will land in Okinawa @ 11:30 am Thursday – which is Friday – in Japan. Time travel is so confusing.
In any event, their start was delayed just a bit by faulty turn signals. Our ever vigilant maitenance department solved the problem quickly and the team is now headed down the hill.

Our next team will leave for Okinawa, Japan on Tuesday, April 02.
The purpose of their trip is to run a spring break camp for American high school students whose parents are stationed there as US military personnel. This is an exciting opportunity to partner with Buddy Rathmall and Malachi Ministries as many of these students have never been to a church related activity before. others are solid believers who are looking for a spiritual boost before their families are posted to other bases across the world.

Today was an interesting day. Dave dropped us at the airport about an hour and 15 minutes before we were to board. The ever present and ever “helpful” Japanese directed us to this super long line checking in for Tokyo. After standing in line for a bit, it occurred to me that our kind helper assumed we were headed for the States and directed us to the International check-in.
Having guessed this to be the case, I moved to a domestic line and stepped right up to the counter. After receiving the OK, I signaled Derek to come as well. He bypassed the security screening with our bags and stood at the counter. After much bungling and questions and joking, we realized our bags were checked in without having been screened. Oopsie!! The attendant asked if we had a preference for seating and of course we did… Business class. We are so funny. As long as we were near each other it didn’t matter. As we enter the plane we double check our seat assignments – 1A and 1B. That’s right! Front row in Business Class. We were floored. It was only a two hour flight and they didn’t serve a meal, but it was Business Class and we were comfy.

Our purpose for stopping in Tokyo was to promote Shorebreak at the Yokosuka Naval Base. Our Malachi rep James has been on the job for three weeks. Tonight was his first event since taking over for Nate Johnson. He had twenty show up for Karaoke night. Truely a once in a lifetime experience (which I hope to never repeat). High school students, unlimited cotton candy, tacky sing-a-longs, unlimited ice cream and forty degree temperatures are a near lethal combination for anyone just stepping off a plane followed by a two hour bus ride.
Students had a great time, however. We sponsored a robot dance off for champ shirts. Due to a lack of video projection Derek was spared a command performance of “Broom Hockey Baby”. He made memories anyway. Several are extremely excited for Spring and can’t wait for the new broom hockey video.

So this morning we get a wake up call saying we need to be ready to go in 10 minutes. The winds are calm and the seas are only @ 2.5 meters. We’re on for Tokashiki. We had an interesting chat with a security guard who spent 35 years in the Japanese Air Force. Great conversation ending with, “Who do I` chose, Buddha or Jesus?”.

Once we left the harbor the roller coaster started. Sitting inside was not an option. There was too much fun to be had out in the spray. The East China Sea is a sweet shade of blue… so much so that even a color blind guy like myself noticed.
As for the resort, I’m pretty jealous. I think we should consider having staff retreat here.

Highlights of the day… #1. Watching a veteran missionary try to convince people to set aside their lives and take us wherever we want to go. He relies on cold hard cash because a three year old speaks better Japanese than he does. #2 Power napping on a deserted beach for 90 minutes before waking up to the deafening roar of a low flying fighter jet.

Inside advice: if you ever make it to Japan, stay away from ANYTHING with Goya (goi ya). Flat out nastiest taste I’ve ever experienced.

As for promo, we went to Camp Foster (USMC) tonight with Dave and Andrea’s new work. The youth group is only four weeks old. They had about fifteen students including three first timers. Parents are so grateful to have a young couple take such an interest in the lives of their children. We were sobered by the knowledge that one of the volunteers won’t be able to attend Shorebreak in April. She heads to Iraq in January for a six month tour of duty.

Tomorrow we head to Yokoda Naval Base and a Karaoke night. We can hardly wait…

Derek and PK here in Okinawa. We are so disappointed today. We were to go to the island of Tokashiki and tour the resort we’ll be using in April. We arrived at the ferry only to find the docks empty. The trip was cancelled due to rough seas. Something about 14 foot waves and a 25 foot boat. I don’t understand the problem. The math seems to work for me. The boat is still bigger than the wave.
Apparently Buddy Rathmall (the Malachi director) thought the same. We spent the next 30 minutes driving around the docks trying to convince local fishermen to take us out to the island. They just laughed at the crazy American. Don’t they ever watch ‘Deadliest Catch”? Sissies…
In any event, there has been some talk about going to a castle or rock climbing. I know what you’re thinking and you are wrong. This is work and we are trying to be diligent. But when God sends rough seas and the kiddies are in school, what else can we do?
Did I mention how comforting it is to hear all these fighter jets flying back and forth in the background? Proud to be American, that’s for sure.