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NOTICE, my diary / blog is updated more frequently at:
www.great-controversy-movie.com/blog/

This diary was written with my Japanese and American friends in mind.
SDA = Seventh-Day Adventist

11/28 A warm sun and blue skies beckoned as i squeezed in my shoes (shoes come off whenever entering houses, so the laces are loose enough to allow slipping on and off easily). A neighborhood lady sells bread out of her house on Sundays, and every week i order a big round loaf of “inaka pan” (country bread). The mom is in a mandolin orchestra, and she gave me a free ticket to come today, so i did.

Over the hill, across the second longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Japan Hoshi no Buranko. There is a cool rock-climbing (manmade) wall too. While walking i hear a kid say: “Danny Sensei!” (danny teacher), and then see her sister in front of me, so i give a high five and say: “see you", and continue on with a little lighter step :)

Lunch was bread with some black sesame butter on it (yummy), half an avocado, some peanuts i got on Malaysian airlines from my flight to Borneo in October, some carrot babies (half price because they are a bit old), and a natto cracker somebody gave me last week. Natto is fermented soybeans, and while trying it 6 times in my life, prefer to stay away from that smelly, slimy, nasty stuff as much as possible. But hey, it’s food, so i enjoy it all by the stream, and make it into the concert hall on time.

The concert is broken into 3 parts, and i only stay for the first: “The Sound of Music". There were around 50 in the orchestra, with maybe half mandolins, and rest guitars and other mostly string instruments. It is nice, but not WHHHOOAA! like the feeling that happens once in a while when a bunch of mandolins really belt it out. Maybe my sitting to the far left side on the 4th row had something to do with the sound not reaching my bones?

Then the walk back. I hadn’t gotten 20 meters before i hear: “Danny Sensei!” It’s two sisters - cute! One says: “see you next week", as that’s what i say every Monday when i leave their house, so i reply: “see you tomorrow", she looks lost, so her mom explains to her and when i get about 10m on down the path she yells out in a cute voice: “see you dmororow”

Then a few more steps and see a brother/sister pair i teach. They are walking around with their dog. It is my first time to see the father, and i’ve taught those two for ……3 years? 55 minutes back to the house - only 47 going to the concert hall. Guess i took it a bit easy knowing nothing was on a time schedule. My home-stay mama was surprised i even tried, as she thot it would take her around 1 1/2 hours - ha!

Still working on proof-reading William Miller’s biography. Seems my eyes are going bad because of staring at each letter on the screen - but God gives strength and wisdom (^-^)

8/9 This weekend i took a day-trip to Okayama. It was my first time to the beautiful, new church there, and i was pleasantly surprised by the number of young people. What was most surprising tho, is that there was a man from Papua New Guinea there who knows the man i met in Tokyo last week! He was interesting, but the most on-fire person there was a man from Kenya. It's interesting to see how foreigners here in Japan are on average very much more on-fire than native Japanese people. At least the pastor wasn't hostile to the original Great Controversy. He didn't seem very happy either tho. A couple of the young people even accepted the books. What was strange, was that the two young people who had spent time with the main independent publishing/health ministry in Japan - Sunrise Ministries - both refused this book. hmmmmm, wonder what that means?

Glad to see that some boxes of clothes sent to India 4 months ago finally arrived. That's a new record for length of time. My landlord was very happy to see a young girl there beaming over her old vinyl backpack :)

8/4 Today i was very fortunate. After my English lesson with adults - two new students who replaced two old students - my bicycle tire was flat. So i ran pushing it around 1.5km to the bicycle shop where he fixed it for 800yen. Why fortunate? Because usually after this lesson i have a kids lesson, but now that it is summer vacation, they have rescheduled to a different time. If it had been regular time, i never would've made it in time. God is good!!

8/2 I wound up leaving the smoke of the cafe around 1am, walked around the city for around half an hour, then found a flat spot on the roof of some apt. building - great view of the city with the huge full moon illuminating it :) It was actually too cold, even with my long sleeves and pants, so i crawled down into the stairwell and curled up for a couple of hours of sleep. After the sun rose, i went back up to the roof for an hour or so - quite a nice feeling, but my head nodded a lot on the way back to Osaka - ha!

I took the cheap slow trains (2,300yen/day pass), so it took 9 hours to get back from Tokyo (less than 3hours by bullet train!), but the time wasn't wasted. I even gulped down hot soba at a stand during a 7 minute transfer. Good thing i can still take 2 stairs at a time when i have to - ha!

A man from Papua New Guinea at the international SDA church in Tokyo wrote me after coming back, saying how he was really serious about the 3rd Angel's Message too, and wants to get a 1858GC. He also said my visit to Tokyo wasn't just a chance event. He was energized by my visit (as i was by talking to him!) I pointed him to the web page, and plan to keep in contact. Perhaps he will be interested in getting this book into his country some day :) It's great to see that all the money and pleasures of Japan hasn't ruined all of us SDAs
(^-^)

7/31 I'm in a internet cafe in Hachioji, a town 35km from Tokyo. This is my first time to do this, but i've paid 980yen for 7 hours in a booth with a computer and all the comics and magazines i want to read. Actually, i don't want to read or do computers, just sleep - ha. But maybe it's age or something, i don't really feel like sleeping outside. Probably i won't be able to sleep in here either, as there are quite a few guys talking and laughing and smoking....Oh well, it's something to try once. Hopefully i'll be awake in time for check out at 5:57am.

I was quite blessed in the trip to Tokyo this weekend. I brought up 11 of the Japanese GCs, and gave away 10 of them. The pastor's wife at the big SDA hospital church was quite cold to me Friday evening, but the international church in Harajuku was very friendly to me. I met an old friend i used to work with at Country Life Restaurant after that, and she let me sleep in the restaurant last nite. Then today the greeter at the Central SDA church was very nice and i gave him a few books, and then i went downstairs to the international church which was quite lively with people sharing and listening and learning, it was good. Several people even asked me for the books :) I found a Brazilian who maaaaaaaaaaay help get this book into Portuguese. I sure hope so.

Then i came to this Hachioji town to go to the SDA church in the afternoon. I heard this church is on fire, but the pastor was out today, so i walked around the city. I was lucky that there was a big fireworks show this evening, so that was a nice way to pass the time.

I'm trying to find out a way to send funds overseas thru a non-profit 501(c) organization, but not having much luck. Maybe i'll have to start my own somehow. I did find one place that looked promising, and even called the lady who runs that organization. The lady sounded like she would let me send funds thru her organization, but sent a very regretful type of email later, saying that she really wants to help, and believes she should, but her board directors say not to get involved with others' funds. She said she knew she'd be restricted a bit when incorporating, and is now realizing some of that. She is very sorry. It is sad tho that she follows her non-christian lawyer's advice over helping out, but that's the way it is...

4/27 Sunday my English student invited me to come over to get her Yahoo BB service hooked up, and fixed me lunch while her husband and i fiddled with the modem stuff until after 6. Finally we got everything up and working tho, what relief! what happiness!      what's this?! :)

This couple's daughter is in Knoxville, TN right now where her husband is working for some Japanese company. She's been there over 2 years, and i heard last Fall that she has become Christian!!!! So now her mom (my student) is very interested in Bible study too :) I'd really like to have it with 2 or 3 people, but the other lady who has joined a few times seems to have lost interest. But this lady today said she wants to study more and more, so that made me extremely happy. Was it worth spending half a day helping someone get their computer set up for internet (ADSL 45MB!)? It sounds doubtful, but if we do everything to God's glory, and in a proper manner, who knows what the results will be? I bet Jesus made the best furniture he could until he turned 30 too. (I turned 43 yesterday yea!)
(^-^)

A man in California ordered 10 Japanese GCs! He has Japanese kids do home-stays at his home in Loma Linda, and wants something to share with them :)

The girl who was shot in the Philippines is in much better condition now, out of a coma, but still in the hospital. The father sent me a email saying how touched he was that some of the people living way up in the mountain jungles sold goats and chickens to help him out in his time of need. He said also the hospital staff was impressed with the sincerity of these Christians, so he is joyous that God seems to be using this incident to spread his message even in a hospital. What faith! He says the hospital is kind of keeping his kid hostage it seems, as they know he doesn't have funds for full payment of the bill. He hocked everything he owns, and even with the cash from the goats etc. he only has around 350usd, but the hospital bill is around 1,250.

April 25 Last Friday i went digging bamboo shoots with some of my English students, and then climbed a small mountain 交野山　with them. It was windy but you could see forever!

4/15 Did i ever mention about a man in the Philippines who i sent some funds to in January, and then never received any reply? Well, he sent me a reply today. My worst fears were realised - the Devil is attacking him very hard. After reading this, please breathe a prayer for him.

He had agreed to translate the original Great Controversy into Cebuano, so i sent him some funds in January. There has been no reply, so i thot maybe he was an imposter who had cheated me out of the funds. But today i got a long email from him. He said he took his family to a village to do worship with believers and do evangelistic work, when unrest in the area forced the government troops to close off that area. Surely it will be an easy thing when the Sunday laws come to shut down all movement. He was stuck for 2 months in the town with no computer, but that gave him time to start translating and strengthening the Brothers and Sisters there:)

Recently there was Good Friday and Easter as you know. Well, in the Philippines, there is a pagan/catholic influence that is VERY strong, so strong that 16 people this year agreed to be put on a cross and have nails driven thru their hands and feet. There were long processions everywhere, so the event was used as a evangelistic opportunity to spread the 3rd Angel's Message among the crowds. Their little 3 and 4 year old children helped, and many people smiled and took the offered literature. Some others in the group were not so fortunate, and one was beaten up a little until he "somehow" melted into the crowd. This incident sure reminds me of what happened to Jesus when the enraged mob was going to push him over the cliff.

The family was praising God on the way back to the rented quarters they had been staying in for the last 2 months. The govt. troops had started allowing the people to move a little more freely than before, but still wanted IDs. As they went home.....well, i'll let him tell it in his words:

"It was afternoon and we decided to rest and take a ride home to prepare for the approaching Sabbath Sundown service. We were near our rented place when suddenly we heard a single gunshot that seemed very near that made our hearts stop beating. We thought it was some firecracker at first. My three year old Jacinth gave out a shriek, we thought she was just startled by the sound. Then my wife who had held her in her lap gave out a shocked cry when she noticed our precious little baby girl was bloody in her hands and belly! We were shot. Whether it was intentional or accidental, we did not know as we were unable to see anyone..."

"We were informed, her intestine had to be cut short by about 10 cm, as it was pierced six times by the bullet. The bullet had lodged in her hip bone, but by our God's protection, miraculously, no other major organ was damaged!"

If you would, lift up this little child - Jacinth - in your prayers for a speedy recovery, and that God will receive the glory from this.

4/04

Danny's excellent trip to America!

The next day my Japanese students came in. There were supposed to be four 12 year olds with two moms, but one kid's grandpa died the day before they were scheduled to go, so they had to cancel their trip. That made it a bit lonely for the one girl in the group with her mom, but gave us a bit of extra room in the van.

The high school basketball championships were in Murfreesboro that weekend, so we wound up going to the Shoney's Inn in Lebanon, TN. That was a stupendous deal - 37USD for a nice room with coffee maker, refrigerator, TV, & microwave. It even had a small indoor heated pool which proved to be a great hit with the 2 boys. The front desk man seemed to be a young middle-eastern man who forgot to give me back my driver's license, then called me later to say i had forgotten it - a little creepy.

That nite we foolishly tried to WALK across the road from our motel to the Taco Bell. It struck me again how nobody walks in America. We had to cross a 4-lane road, and as drivers are not used to looking for pedestrians, and the roads are not walk-friendly, it was a bit harrowing to make it to the other side. Amazingly everyone enjoyed Taco Bell. Usually Japanese have a thing against beans, but they all took it in, and that on a serious case of jet-lag!

The 20th the kids were pretty alive in the morning, so we left a bit early and swang a bit at Cedars of Lebanon State Park before making our way to church. It was the first time ever i believe any in the group had ever been to a Christian service. I was a bit anxious about them getting a proper impression of real Christianity, and my fears turned out to be well founded. A group of high-school age girls started singing "Amazing Grace". I was very happy as this song is quite well known even in Japan. However, one girl flubbed her part which was no problem, but then she laughed and laughed all the way thru to the end of the song. The laughing disease is thoroughly embedded in our SDA church today, as even the sermon seems to have to have a few guffaws to give the listeners a feel-good atmosphere i guess. So sad. I wonder how much laughing Jesus did standing in the synagogue in his day?

It was amazing to see all 4 of them kneel for prayer. I followed the sermon along in the Japanese Bible, and the girl read it all quite carefully it seemed. Probably it was the first time in her life to even open a Bible. The mom sang along with the hymn too, and it all really amazed me and made me think that angels and Jesus were smiling down on us too. (^-^)

One of my former school-mates very kindly invited us all over to her parents for lunch, so we drove way out in the country for a nice, typical southern meal, deep-boiled greens and spaghetti. Tasted pretty like what i had at home too when young. The boys crashed on the couch, but we all went for a walk around the place after lunch. It was neat to see all the fossils they had found on their property.

That evening we ate at Pizza Hut and went shopping at Wal-Mart - exquisite American icons. Even i was shocked at the quantity and size of the junk food section - basically half the store! Actually, the potato chip section took up a whole half an aisle, and the size of the Super bag made us all gasp. Now i know why there are entire fleets of Frito-Lay trucks carrying bags of mostly air all over the North American continent. After shopping the boys and i enjoyed splashing about in the pool. Fortunately there was no instances of extreme shouting like the nite before in the pool, so we stayed until closing time.

The 21st is our day to Atlanta. After another complimentary breakfast which i see is pretty much standardised in America - little tubs of cream cheese, margarine, peanut butter, jam, with apples and bananas, some kind of bread - usually a bagel or muffin, perhaps with some sugar-coated cold cereal, and a juice fountain and coffee maker,,,we were all running high on sugars. No wonder so many Americans are hyperactive. It really does provide a yummy fix early in the morning tho! The 2 boys were not eating any live food, so i forced them to eat some of a apple, with 'oh the horrors!' - the peeling still on. On nibbled a little strip all around the middle and said he 'ate the whole thing'. His ingenuity seemed to be worth something, so i let him go.

I thot everyone would be really excited to cross a time zone on the ground, something that cannot be done in Japan, but all i got was a yawn and "how much longer?" A bit later tho when they checked their watches and i told them they were wrong it seemed to hit them - haha. We stopped for gas and they pumped gas and dragged dirty streaks over the windshield. Then we went to my sister's house and played ping-pong, and foosball and ate a yummy lunch with fake meat sandwiches. After throwing the football around a bit and admiring all the greenery in America, we headed to Stone Mountain Georgia where we climbed a chilly, windy mountain. It was a funny feeling to be in the same spot i was 20 years ago, being a very different person in different circumstances. I used to go there after church many times when i lived in Atlanta. The boys had a blast running and sliding on the nice grassy slope in front of the mountain. It was cool just to see their frolicking like lambs.

We went to my cousins' home and met a dear couple from church i hadn't seen in a long time. After a Chinese buffet where the people next to us we eating bright red crayfish (yucky), we went home and after a nice talk about spiritual things with my cousin and her husband, the boys and i played ping pong in the basement. I could even beat them - yea!

On Monday the 22nd we got up very early and drank some decaf tea graciously prepared, and then went thru downtown Atlanta. The lady in the party said she was beginning to think there were no buildings in America - haha. So much empty space with a little something here and there, but yes, there are big concentrations of buildings too. Waffle House breakfast was probably the highlight of my eating for the whole trip - pecan waffles and grits!!! YUMMY. Then the long road to Florida. We played ABC, finding all the letters in order on signs by the road. The lady and her daughter probably took around 1 1/2 hours to finally finish :) The Subway place gave us our only taste of racism(linguacism?) on our whole trip as we got smirked at for not being able to understand their English. Hey, the world is a much bigger place than your little bump in the road. I get the reverse discrimination here in Japan, as some people see my face and refuse to speak Japanese to me. The long straight stretches of road in rural Florida, along with the Spanish Moss on the trees was a relaxer for me - whoops, i'm the driver!

Homosassa Springs State Park was perhaps the best part of the whole Florida section of the trip for me. The elderly greeter spoke a bit of Japanese to us, saying he had been in Japan from 1949 to 1961. He probably only knows a poor Japan, whereas i only know a rich Japan - ha! After we got in we went to the manatee show, and saw 2-ton mammoths! Funny that the guide talked about how they had 'evolved' that way. Right lady. And your great-great-great ancestor was a manatee? There were lots of fat Americans noticeable on this trip. The kids learned my classifications of "whale" and "hippo" pretty quickly. The coolest things at the park were the flamingos - amazing! And HOW did they "evolve" necks made of silly putty? Or is it rubber? It would be kind of neat when my neck evolves to where i can nip a flea with my teeth no matter where it is on my body (^-^)

We found a nice Econo-Lodge for the nite thanks to a free discount coupon book you can pick up at every rest area or see at: www.roomsaver.com. After seeing the beach with sliver of a moon shining down on it, and eating at the Olive Garden, the boys got into the pool which seemed to be the end of their hopes for life as they struggled madly in the water which was just a few inches over their heads - a hilarious sight.:)

Tuesday the 23rd The day starts off very peacefully with a nice walk on a boardwalk among the trees along the beach. There are lots of birds early in the morning chirping happily to their maker. The peacefulness helps get me ready for the 2 hour drive to NASA that because of traffic turns into a 4 hour nightmare. At a stop the kids get happy buying souvenirs - Japanese animation-character T-shirts and alligator teeth pendants - haha.

Finally we arrive at NASA and we go thru security just like at a airport. My 88cent brand new pocket knife gets confiscated. This is totally ridiculous. We catch a quick lunch at a high-priced, dirty cafeteria, and my mood is approaching bottom. There is a bus ride out to where they work on the space shuttle and launch them - boring. The actual display of an Apollo rocket is pretty neat, and there is a Imax movie and a souvenir-making machine where you put in your penny and smash it out, imprinting some selected drawing of the space shuttle etc.

You need at minimum an entire day to see NASA. Tickets are 35USD (expensive), but you can use them 2 days, and it sounds like going to the astronaut hall of fame which is a couple of miles away and experiencing space flight would be neat.

Driving in the twilite to Orlando suddenly a large, light brown animal darted under my wheels - thump. What a terrible feeling - life crushed in an instant. What was it? I don't know. Probably a dog, but what was it doing way out in the middle of nowhere? I maybe should've stopped, but there was no shoulder on the road, and i would've endangered everyone in the van....noone else noticed it as it happened so fast, so it was only me who had a knot in his stomach as we drove to our hotel in Disney World.

We arrived at the Grosvenor resort, just inside the Disney entrance which greatly disappointed everyone. I told them that was not the official entrance, just the entrance for the hotel area. They gave us a room for around 70USD which was about 30 dollars cheaper than what our confirmation said - nice. The rooms tho were just about the same as what we had been staying in for 37-54 dollars. We played tennis awhile, and then air-hockey in the arcade.

Wednesday 24th Everyday starts with a short Bible talk, a prayer, and then asking everyone about some event the previous day that impressed them, and some problem or something they wanted to give thanks for. It was interesting because Japanese are not taught how to express themselves. One kid could only talk about something he saw on TV, or some food, only very minor things. I wondered why he had even come to America. Maybe it was to sleep. He slept, slept, and slept some more. It was neat to see everyone in the van sleeping soundly while i was driving down I-75 into Florida. It made me a bit sleepy too tho! haha.

After breakfast at McDonald's, we went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to check-in. Here was the biggest problem of the whole trip (except for Northwest Airlines). The reservation was made over the internet by the lady who couldn't come. So they couldn't give us the room she reserved as our name was different. However, they did find us a different room (maybe the same room for all i know, maybe they just changed the name in their computer). However, the key cards (why do the cards everywhere have Pizza Hut ads on them?!) wouldn't work for one room. After a long hassle, we finally got it straightened out, but for a 322 dollar room, the service was pretty poor. My Japanese friends were surprised at the poor service too. The room amenities were not even as good as the 37 dollar Shoney's Inn, but everything did look very nice.

We piled onto a bus for the 3 minute ride to Disney's new Animal Kingdom Park. Very nice. The most interesting thing to me was the centerpiece of the park. Just as Magic Kingdom has a castle, and EPCOT has a big ball, Animal Kingdom has a symbol too - The Tree of Life. Yes, that is what they call it - a big artificial tree. For a thoroughly evolutionistic place, it is amusing. A train ride to a veterinary and petting zoo, a safari ride (hilite of the whole trip for the Japanese lady), a super-wet Kali river ride, an amazing bird show, hitting all the restrooms for the dryer to get our clothes dry, the rollicking 3D bug movie, the parade, the tigers and bats, the scary Dinosaur ride, arcade area where both boys won a large stuffed-animal (and one boy lost his soon after), quite a full day. After getting back to the hotel and looking for the advertised animals in the 'savannah' (not worth your time), we tried to eat. Even with reservations and everything, we had to wait, and wait, and wait. The buffet was very nice, with some African foods on the menu, but our waiter's attitude etc. sure made the 25USD per person price had to swallow. The evening was finished off with yet another round at the arcade.

Thursday the 25th started off with a loooong line at the cafeteria at the lodge. With very few animals to view, high prices, and terrible service, the Animal Kingdom Lodge is one place i definitely cannot recommend. We checked out and drove over to Magic Kingdom with it's grand Disney entrance which satisfied everyone. We went over on the ferry, and got rained on as our bags were checked. The rain soon stopped, and we went over to Frontierland where we foolishly went on splash mountain. Haha, actually it was a great ride, and we didn't really get very wet anyway. Thunder mountain train didn't seem near as fun as i remember it when i was little. Probably they have taken out some of the scary things because of complaints/incidents.

Everybody except me got a hotdog for lunch at a little stand, and it poured down on our little parasol shelter. Nobody was brave enough to try pickles on their dogs, but they did do the mustard and ketchup and mayonnaise thing. None of them really like ketchup on their fries either. Nearby was a large souvenir shop where we waited out the rain, and then spent another hour or so browsing around. The girl who was always very quite, and only showed much interest when there were animals around, got quite excited about the potato-head. There was a huge display with lots of potato-head parts, and you cram as many as you can into a box for 16 dollars. She was just going to get a few in her box when i told her she could get in more, and then we found a clerk whose job seemed to be putting the potato-head parts back in their proper bins where people got them out of (sorry man, but my potato-head figure was pretty cool), and he helped us cram about twice the amount in the box than the girl originally had. She was quite happy.

I left everyone after that and found a Days Inn motel room near Orlando airport - 40 dollars. I love everybody in the group, but it was nice for 3 hours to have time to myself:) After getting back to Disney World we did a couple of things, ate, and then lined up to watch the fantasy light parade and then the beautiful fireworks.

Friday the 26th we left without lunch for the airport as the lady and her daughter were going back to Japan. Thus started the biggest hassle of the whole trip. Due to maintenance problems, the Northwest flight to Detroit was cancelled. Finally after waiting in line 4! hours we finally got rerouted on UsAirways to Frankfurt (nobody told us about having to go to Philadelphia first!!) and then Lufthansa to Osaka. The 12 year old girl got to go all the way around the world on her very first trip outside of Japan! I've travelled a lot in my life, but still never over the Atlantic. The boys looked funny while we were waiting, looking like they had died behind the plants in the waiting area. So we finally say our goodbyes ready to go, and what? yes, the one boy who never thinks more than about 1 second ahead, decides it is time to go souvenir shopping. Here we've been waiting 4 hours, he's been sleeping or waiting around, and now suddenly he wants to go souvenir shopping. We do for around 10 minutes, but i'm amazed at his misuse of time (and money). We can't find the car easily in the parking lot as the elevators do not agree with what the floor markings are. Pressing the panic button helped tremendously, and after climbing up one more floor we found our chariot waiting in a not too panicked state it seemed.

We drove down to Vero Beach and quickly found Dodgertown. We got there around the bottom of the 1st inning, and lucky us - Nomo was the Dodger's pitcher! We sat down, and within 5 minutes it was pouring down. Fortunately the food stand was right behind us, so we filled up on pizza, hotdogs, and peanuts while waiting for the squall to end which it soon did. It did that on us 3 times during the game, but the beautiful sun between spits was nice:) We were 10 rows straight back of the catcher, and scouts (even a Japanese reporter) were around checking the speed of the pitches. The highest we saw was 96, translating into 154km. It was cool. The last inning many people had already left, so we went 6 rows behind the Dodgers' bench and watched - excellent! The entire experience was worth the 15 dollars. It made me wonder what the other 4,200 people usually do on Fridays from 1-4.

We stopped at a McDonalds and ordered, then added something to the order at the drive-thru window which caused one employee to curse at us. The manager came over to the window and i explained what happened. There was a Taco Bell nearby too which i gladly went to for my 7-layer and bean burritos. Then a long straight desolate stretch of Florida inland highway to Sebring where we stayed at Kenilworth Lodge, a historical hotel. Thank you www.roomsaver.com for the coupons! They had a nice billiard table and ping pong table. I wanted to shave a couple of hours off my sleep deficit, so i let the kids play while i went to bed around 11pm. There was a middle-aged dance party which lasted until around 1 o'clock, when the kids burst into the room laughing. I woke up in a fuzz laughing at their antics:) They had a great time playing to the middle-aged spectators who gathered around them.

Sabbath 27th After the usual struggle to get the kids to eat something live like a banana or apple, we get our pic taken by a nice man on the front porch of the hotel. My friends were not in town, but we went to the Avon Park Seventh-day Adventist church anyway. They had a special academy musical program instead of a sermon, which made my kids happy. The building was super cold, which produced a cold in me later. The offering appeal was typical - the higher the figures presented, the happier the man seemed to get. And he was quite excited about mentioning the main donor's name for the current structure. I wish he would spend a year in India or Africa, then he would see that the money God has lent to us is not to be used just to make ourselves comfortable, but to help all of God's children - even those worshipping under a big tree or on cement floors. After the service there was potluck in the gym with a bunch of countries flags, and i met a man i knew at Highland Academy. He was the hospital administrator then, and his kids were the wildest around. I tried to get the conversation into spiritual themes, but it didn't go anywhere, so i just listened to him talk about various people. It was nice to hear a bit, but it sure seemed he didn't have much of a walk with Jesus.

Clearwater beach (Sand Key Park) was lovely. Maybe 100m wide pure white sand, plenty of room for frisbee throwing, running, and making and destroying sand castles. This spot was perhaps the hilite of my whole trip. When planning in my head what to do on the trip, this was the thing i wanted to do the most - and did it! What a beautiful sunset! What a wonderful way to finish God's day! We drive quite a ways up the middle of Florida on I-75 to a Taco Bell. Coming out of the drive-thru we almost witness a big crash, then the rear kids' drink goes all over the floor as i make a sharp turn. The boys fight over who has to pump the gas, and who gets to wipe the windows. Sometimes the windows are harder to see out of when they are done than before! One boy's "i'm not interested in anything except sleep" attitude really rubs me raw. We find a Travelodge motel which is the worst dump on the whole trip. Unsurprisingly it is run by unsmilingly Indian people. Come on, you don't have to be happy, but at least ACT a bit happy. And maybe clean the towels once in a while, and don't advertise complimentary breakfast if all you are going to put out is coffee and tiny sugar donuts. They don't even have the Cartoon Network so we can't see Samurai Jack which so entertained us last week.

Sunday March 28th It's been a loooong time since i've seen the Indian head shaking back and forth to express happiness (the uncle in the morning), and i leave with a happy wag to my head too. After a banana and apple stop we get up to I-10 and then head forever over the panhandle.

We find a hotel, Destin Inn Resort or something like that, and eat our amazing 10cent ramen noodles for lunch in the supplied kitchenette - nice:) The kids, who are charged up after sleeping 4 hours in the car, go swimming while i get a cat nap. We all go to the beach and make sand castles and smash them again today. Just about back to the van they notice the water is black. I don't pay much attention, but they wade out and the black moves! It is a huge group of baby fish. They happily chase them and put around 12 of them in a big Pepsi cup. We go to Wal-Mart and buy lots of stuff for supper, and go back to the room and proceed to cook it. Everyone does pretty well, with the lazy boy even spending 15 minutes peeling a huge potato down to a small potato, then boiling it and putting some cheese on it. The other one makes fried egg, lettuce (fried too) and cheese sandwiches. After eating we putt around with plastic balls on the putting green in the hotel, and then play a game of shuffleboard. Getting ready for bed, we notice the little fishes aren't doing too well, with quite a few sunk down at the bottom of the cup. So we get in the van and brave the fog to find a place to dump them back in. When we actually throw them back in, there is only one that looks genki, but it was neat to see the water at nite with the fog spread thickly like a lacy curtain over it.

Monday 29th We head down to Moody's deep sea fishing shop pretty early i thot, but find out the explanation of the fishing trip has already begun. I decide not to fish, just watch, as they tell me that some fish cannot be thrown back in. This turns out to be a very wise decision, as one boy gets a bit sea-sick. It's a one hour trip out to the fishing spot, and when the signal was given to start, one boy suddenly said: "I've got to go to the bathroom". He is the one who cannot think more than a second ahead, so i just shook my head. Later i learn he is a bit wheezy. So the day turns out that i bait his hook with the cut up squid while he lays down, get it all ready, he comes over and lets the hook down, the bait gets taken, he brings it up, then lays down again while i put more bait on the hook. He does get around 3 fish, and the other boy 5. I fish like the captain says, (and i told the boys to), to let it down to the bottom, crank up 2-10 times, then quickly jerk up on the pull even if you don't feel a bite. Doing that one time made me catch a fish not in the mouth, but just under the eye - sorry about that:( We caught ruby red lips and trigger fish. Somebody caught a moray eel! and someone else caught a 14kilo big fish with a tongue that looked like a rolling pin.

We stop at Arby's for lunch. 5 sandwiches for 4.99. The kids ask if the sandwiches are small. I say yes, as they are a touch on the small side for America, but the kids have a bit of problem downing just one. Of course they pigged out on chips just before lunch, even when i tell them that we are going to eat soon... Then it's up a country road to the Alabama border and onto I-65. I'm fighting a serious case of sleepy-eye, and finally cure it by pulling out a USAToday we got at the Grosvenor hotel a few days earlier. No, i don't recommend it for drivers as i caught myself drifting into the fast lane a couple of times, but it sure cleared up my sleepy-eye syndrome. Alabama seems to stretch forever, and we finally stop for gas near Birmingham where i call a friend storing Great Controversy books in Kentucky, and also my brother. There is a wreck on the interstate so we are in heavy traffic for quite a ways after Birmingham, and then to the scariest part of the trip - rainy roads at nite. Several times i just can't see over about 10m in front of me it seems, and i get the shakes now even just typing this. Definitely not a good thing to do. The lazy boy plays a game of baseball with me where you guess some hit, and he has to guess what hit you are thinking of. If he's right, he gets the hit, if not, it's an out. I beat him, then he beats the other boy, who beat me the other day:) Back into Tennessee, and soon reach my brother's apt. where he soon fixes the kids macaroni and cheese. He very kindly takes off the mattress from his bed and puts it on the living room floor for the kids, and gives me his sleeping bag which i put on a blanket on the floor. It sleeps very well, but as with the whole trip, sleep time is a couple hours short of optimum.

30th Tuesday Our last full day in America. So many things i'd like to still do and show them! But i am getting a bit tired of all this, especially the "don't care" attitude of one of them. We go to Walmart where i buy vitamins my friend requested, and vegetable funny chalk for my English students' presents back in Japan, and 2 frisbees, one of which has a big crease we don't notice. Even here we get to experience something new - a self checkout. You scan in your items yourself, and then stick the money in yourself. It would've gone smoother with a cashier, but after you get the hang of it it will probably be a big time saver.

We headed up to Cedars of Lebanon to play their frisbee golf course. The rain from the nite before has made it all a muddy mess, but we still have a great time dinging trees and tramping thru the woods. We get back a few minutes late for our lunch appointment with my brother and sister, but they are busy, and we wait around for them. I've never seen anyone so busy as these two. Sure hope they can make the clinic help lots of people, and they can profit from it too. it is such a nice place, and quite an opportunity to witness to the community. The chinese buffet is great, and the even have a sushi section with wasabi! The cheese sushi is 2 thumbs down, but everything else was fresh and much tastier than the one in Atlanta. The boys brought over some instant ramen noodles from Japan, but ate all of them in the first 2 days here - ha! They were happy to eat the rice at this restaurant. My brother spared his time with us, and we all went golfing at the Veterans golf course. 32USD for 4 players, 2 pull carts, and borrowing 3 sets of clubs. If only the store clerk had been a nice person, it would have all been great. You know, i was surprised at the courteousness and friendliness of most everyone i met back in America this time. Other than the Indian lady and this one man, and the waiter at Animal Kingdom Lodge "Bomba", everyone was very polite and eager to help. Refreshing. I'll have to think better of my fellow Americans:) The course is super green, and the birds twitting make it all very relaxing. A sudden squall puts a spur in our steps, and then we turn around and --- a beautiful double rainbow coming out of the huge trash mountain!!! Awesome. It's the first time for the boys to play golf, and while the lazy one gets a few good swings in, the other one has a hard time, seeming to get sick of it by about the 5th hole. Just 4 more to go! We even see a rabbit on the course. I think we lost a few more than we found, but it all came out about even.

We head down to Nashville to see a huge shopping mall (Opryland Mills), and have supper at the Rain Forest Cafe. We walk, and walk, and walk some more as the mall seems to go on forever. It is cavernous, empty. Is this place going to fold next week? you should see it on the weekends. Oh. Unbelievable coming from Japan where you usually have to elbow your way past other shoppers. The life-like animals at the cafe are really interesting, and it is great to see my oldest brother, his wife, and his oldest son's family there too:) Their one year old boy is all eyes and gets a little scared when staring intently at a baby elephant - it suddenly moves! haha. The volcano ice cream is a photo opportunity:)

On to the final event of our stay in America - Bowling! The lazy boy has been bugging me about this for 2 days now, and how is the chance. But it is 10:30, and the place closes at 11, so we have to be on the ball. Somehow i get 5 strikes and wind up with 164! The kids think my over reactions are hilarious. The house bringer-downer tho is when the kids who are only 1 point apart going into the 8th frame get serious at the end. The lazy boy says to the other one at the line: "no way" "no way" (in Japanese of course). This gets the other boy to laughing so hard that instead of throwing the ball down the lane, he throws his whole body down the lane! We laugh and laugh at his foul. Going home we get stuff together to go back tomorrow, and i have a hard time concentrating - is this it?

Wednesday March 31st My brother gets up early and we all leave the house around 6:30. Every morning i ask the kids about the previous day, but today i ask about the greatest thing they remembered about the whole trip. The one boy says "Disney World, especially the ride that got us soaked". The other boy says "H. falling down on the bowling lane last nite". Go 1/3 of the way around the world and experience lots of new things, and this event has the biggest impact on your memory banks? not a very bright future for this lad i'm afraid.

At the airport we look for a Mets T-shirt we were asked to get, but nothing, so finally i settle on a airplane that has a propeller and goes around and around. One boy buys some Nashville Predator hockey pucks, and the other one batteries. He doesn't realize until after getting on the airplane that his Game-boy is in his checked-in baggage. No seeing that until Osaka! We are the next to last people on the 1/2 filled plane, and go to Detroit where the kids eat there last meal in America at McDonald's. Japanese are famous for delicate cuisine, but these boys seemed happiest with greasy potatoes and hamburgers - sigh. Guess it's pretty much the same all over the world.

The airplane to Osaka is jam-packed, and we all sit separate. One man moves tho so the two boys can sit together. I have an intelligent conversation with the man next to me, until he says that America's unilateralism is what is ruining the UN, and that Sharon is the reason for the problem with the Palestinians. How well-educated people can believe such a lie is beyond me. Anyway, he, and the mouse-quiet university student making his first trip abroad on my right both accept a Japanese Great Controversy i have with me. The lady on the flight over, and these two men on the flight back. I always ask God for someone to witness to, and he always supplies me with some:) How i wish i could get the word out in much bigger venues. I know that i must be faithful in little things, and God will be faithful to supply bigger opportunities in the future. Who knows? Perhaps this man will read it, be convicted, and be the means to get the 3rd Angel's Message to millions one day. The seed is sown:) Supper and Breakfast feature the exact same entree. It is nice once, not twice. I will probably never order vegetarian again on Northwest - terrible. I can stand no hot towels, but come on, heat up the rolls please!

The kids' parents meet us at the airport. It is the first time in my 15 years of coming to Japan where anyone has ever met me at the airport. It's actually quite a nice feeling. First impressions of Japan? Where is the green? There is no grass to be seen anywhere, just building, building, road, building, and maybe a tree here and there:( My faithful bicycle is waiting for me, and i get back into the foot-thumping rhythm quickly. Is this what it was like? Ummmm, that's my knee there telling me something again isn't it?.....haha. Glad to be back!!!!!

So what was my biggest impression of the trip? America is BIG, and GREEN. But no doubt having responsibility of someone for the longest time every in my life - 12 days, this is what will stay with me for a long time. I love kids, and they taught me a lot. They also showed me tho, that it is more difficult to follow the Lord 100%, or at least to devote so much time to religious activities, when you have to be concerned about how to care for them. Of course the Holy Spirit gave that instruction to Paul around 2,000 years ago, so nothing new learned there, it's just that i verified it by actual experience. One interesting side-effect of this trip, after coming back, i had a vague sense of loss. I wanted very much to be around people, and the desire to have a wife and family was very strong for a few days. Must be some God-implanted instinct. I'm pretty much back to being happy by myself again now tho (^-^) Thank you God for the great experience!

3/14 Last Thursday i met H-san and we went to D-san's place. She drove us up to the side of a mountain where a friend bot some property recently. The view was nice, but the steep slope seemed impossible to work with. The 80 or so crows rising up at once off the mikan (orange) trees was impressive.

Then we went to I-san's place. She has had lung problems since 16 years old, and lives alone now. She is a Sunday-keeping Christian, and we were able to have a very good discussion about spiritual things. She said she didn't think it mattered what day a person kept, but i noted that God wrote it with his finger in stone, so there must be some meaning for the 7th day. She said she'd check it with her pastor. May God lead and direct her and the pastor too :)

Yesterday i met H-san and K-san also came to her house for Bible study. We studied Matthew 10. K-san has had a very hard time in the SDA church, and has rejected the church structure, but she still loves the Spirit of Prophecy books. To get out of debt she has started a job that requires her to work on sabbaths, but she rationalizes it. While not coming down hard on her, i showed how in verse 37 Jesus says that anyone who loves a relative more than him is not worthy of him. She seems to really want to follow the Lord, and i pray she will give her heart 100% to him. That is the only way the evil spirit afflicting her (she says she is controlled by one at times) will be forced to leave.

3/7 I've had a strong impression that the Lord is opening up the Middle East now in ways reminiscent of the opening of the Iron Curtain 15 years ago. I've started studying Arabic, and reading the Qur'an. Meeting Global Mission Pioneers (the only GMOs in Japan i do believe) over New Years, and having them rant on me for saying the Qur'an was from the Devil (after they asked me if i thot it was from God or the Devil), i inquiried the Adventist Muslim Global Center for Adventist Muslim Relations Director - Jerald Whitehouse. He is firm in his belief that the Muslim God and the Christian God are the same. I put up our email exchange on the internet, along with a few choice Qur'an quotes showing that the Qur'an's God and the Bible's God are DEFINITELY NOT the same. Here are some choice quotes, and just from Sura #4!:

Sura 4:3 And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four;

4:56 Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment.

4:89 They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them,

http://storm.prohosting.com/dannywin/muslim-adventist-email.html

2/29 昨日楽しかったね！　梅林はきれいかったし、Ｗさんと話ができたし、鳥にパンをあげたし：）

Ｂｌｏｇの事はね：
一番有名。　この人は大学の法学部の教授でも視野が広い。　ページの左側にたくさんおＢｌｏｇのリンクがある→
http://www.instapundit.com/

パレスチナ・イスラエル問題のブログと言えば、これが一番。　普通報道されてない事や、新聞やテレビ局の報道のでっちあげとか紹介してる。　僕も時々Ｃｏｍｍｅｎｔを残す：）→
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

これはテロとの戦い、アメリカの選挙、世界の情勢、イラクの様子などの All in One　ＨＰ　（今日はハイチが大変みたい→
http://www.command-post.org/

言ってたイラク人の歯医者さんのブログ。　写真も時々出る。　ページの右側に他のイルク人のブログのリンクがある。　特に Soldier's Blogs　が僕にとって面白い。　実際現地に居る人の視線は報道されてる事と全然違う時多々ある→
http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/

おまけ。　この間あるオランダ人がイラクに行って、いろな写真とか撮ってきた→
http://www.littlefish.nl/

面白いＨＰ→
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/stu/eye.htm
http://libertyyes.homestead.com/files/Earthlights_From_Space.jpg
http://www.jacksonpollock.org/
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.html
この最後のやつのページの真中の写真２４枚が次々に出てくる。

僕は４人の英語の生徒（１２才）とお母さん二人をアメリカに連れて行くんだ！　ちょっと大変かも知れないけど、すごい楽しみ　（＾−＾）

2/22 I went to a English student's house today, and she made lots of good things to eat, and then i helped her husband take apart his old Apple computer. He had used it for work, and was afraid to put it out for the garbage collector with sensitive data possibly still on the hard drive. So we got the destructive tools out and went at it for around and hour - quite interesting to mess around with the insides of the computer not worrying about ruining something - ha! I will go back Friday to have a Bible study with her this Friday. Their daughter became a Christian last year, and is living in Knoxville now, so the the mother is quite receptive to the message right now. We've studied Creation, The Cause of Evil, and next will be The Saviour - Jesus Christ. If you can, please give us a prayer this Friday (Thursday nite your time).

A. T. sent a letter saying that the box of GCs she wanted had arrived. Now she is going to send some of her natural treatment books to my pastor friend in India to get translated into Nepali. The pastor and i started a little school "Himalayan Medical Missionary Centre" last August, and the 6 students are progressing nicely i understand. They are all adults who have come into the SDA faith from other churches, but were never really grounded in the truth. The pastor sent me some pics of him distributing a box of old clothes i sent (6 to him!) along with a note about the students growing in power of the truth, and determindness in spreading the gospel. Surely the fields are ripe, but the workers are few.

Did you ever receive the box of GCs you asked for? I have a pretty hard time with the man in KY who is storing the books for me. I appreciate his service, but he is very slow, and always complains that he really doesn't want to do this anymore. It's not a money issue, as i've sent him over and above what he has paid in mailings, but i do understand that it is a bit of a hassle to lug those boxes down to the post office. If you know of anyone who would store around 70 boxes and send them to places i designate when needed, please let me know :)

Last Tuesday i bot tickets to come back to the States on March 18th. 4 of my 12 year olds, with 2 moms, are coming the next day - the 19th. We will stay in Nashville/Murfreesboro area one or two days, and then head down to Disney World. The 4 females will be heading back from Orlando on the 26th, and the 2 males and i will head back from Nashville on the 31st. It should be a fun trip, and i pray i can be a good witness for Jesus Christ to them, especially as this will probably be the longest period in their lives that they are around a Christian.

Things are a bit slow in the GC category right now. One trial book of the Vietnamese version was sent to me, but around 7 chapters are totally missing, and i can tell that chapters 19-32 are taken from a different book - really sad. The Mongolian version could be translated for 730USD, but that is quite a bit more than what i usually pay, so am looking for other sources. The Hindi version has been translated, and supposedly proofread, but my pastor friend said he found lots of mistakes in it, so it is being re-proofread. I want to give people a good impression that the 3rd Angel's Message is not rejected because of shoddy work....

Remember to give all the glory to our loving Saviour - Jesus Christ!

1 Peter 5:7 �Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Here is his original email:
Be a Volunteer
Be a leader in the grassroots effort to re-elect President Bush!
Donate
Support President Bush with a $25, $100, or $500 donation today.
Take Action
Use our action center to call talk radio or write news editors.

Dennis has sent you a message encouraging you to register to vote.

I urge you to exercise your right as an American citizen to register to vote and support our President. You can register to vote right now by visiting http://www.GeorgeWBush.com/Vote.

The upcoming presidential election could be very close -- every bit as close as 2000 -- and your vote will matter. With the challenge we face of keeping this nation prosperous and secure, the stakes of this election couldn't be higher. Make your voice heard by registering to vote at http://www.GeorgeWBush.com/Vote.

Sincerely,
Dennis

And my reply which was not answered:
Hello Dennis,
I was quite shocked that you went directly against Spirit of Prophecy counsel in sending this email urging me to vote for a certain candidate:
"The decision to vote for candidates is a personal decision. If you vote, "keep your voting to yourself. Do not feel it your duty to urge everyone to do as you do." Selected Messages, book 2, p. 337."

Yes, we should vote for people of principle to turn back the tide of evil, but to urge others to vote a certain way, especially for a man who said: "The best way to honor Pope John Paul II, truly one of the great men, is to take his teaching seriously; is to listen to his words and put his words and teachings into action here in America. This is a challenge we must accept. Reference: President Bush's speech, 2001"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/03/20010322.html
is high treason against God.

Please repent, our God is a loving, forgiving God :)
Daniel Winters

2/18 I got my ticket to come to America yesterday - yea!!!!!!

Here's the schedule:
発）3月18日/13:50/大阪（関西）/ノ-スウェスト航空70便
着）3月18日/11:55/デトロイト/ＯＫ
発）3月18日/15:27/デトロイト/ノ-スウェスト航空1735便
着）3月18日/16:02/ナッシュビル/ＯＫ

oops.
That's March 18: NWA flight 70 to Detroit, Then NWA 1735 to Nashville, landing in Nashville at 16:02 (unnn...4:02pm) on March 18.

The rest in our group - 4 kids and 2 moms - will be coming in the next day. I hope to take them to a church that will treat them in a Christian way on Sabbath, do something around the Nashville area Sunday maybe, and then we can head down to Florida on Monday. I'll probably be with the kids most all of the time after the first day. The girls and their moms will be going back from Orlando on the 26th, and i plan to make a lazy trip back to Nashville, and then we 3 are leaving together on the 31st from Nashville. Hopefully there will be a day or two at the end (29th, 30th) where we can do something together - like GOLF, or helping somebody in someway!

Things are going quite well class-wise. A new lady joined my adult class today. She took the place of the lady who dropped out at the end of last year. 2 other classes are quitting, but one of them is going to start over with their little sister's friends (generation change), and the other said they wanted to continue, but at a different time, after their kids come back from Kindergarten. One other lady wants a new class for her little boy, so instead of losing 2 or 3 as i feared, it looks like i will stay even, or perhaps even gain 1 class :)

I need to find a way of storing those 70-80 boxes of GCs we took up to Kentucky. The guy there wants to be rid of them, and doesn't respond much when i ask him to send them out. Do you know anyone at all with any interest in that? Like maybe W. would be interested??? I sent her a card last week, but didn't think to mention it in that card. Just a thot. Let me know if you have an idea. I know you are overburdened with your work as it is, but i hate to see that pot of gold not being wanted, and i want to take it off that guy's hands if possible.

Bedtime for bonzo. Tomorrow is scary day - 28 little pairs of eyes. It's only once a month, and last time went very well, so i think our ABC song etc. will keep them happy for 30 minutes (each class - the other class has 19 pairs of eyes :)

Jesus loves you!

This pic shows how news shows manipulate you:
http://rogerlsimon.com/archives/00000679.htm
本当は何もしてないのに、お金なんかを貰って、カメラの前で泣く。　聖書に書いてあるように、人間は真理より嘘を好む。　でも最終的に真理は勝つようね：）

残念ながら、日本のニュース番組のほとんどはアメリカやイスラエル大嫌いなので、こういうでっちあげを報道する。　昨日もザ・ブロードカスターに出たし（毎週やけど）。

1/12 I'm back from a nice time in Kyushu. I spent the first 2 days with a friend i used to work with at Country Life Restaurant in Osaka. The macrobiotic restaurant she opened has tasty food, but is way out in the country with few clientele. She reads the Bible, but interprets it thru Buddhist-New Age eyes; even saying: "Sure i believe in Jesus,,,,and in Buddha, and......" sigh. We went to a nice hot springs on new years day, and then walked down from a small mountain thru the orange groves picking up fallen oranges, ones that hadn't started rotting yet. It was sad to see SO MANY rotting oranges! I really thing someone could make a living, even in expensive Japan, just by picking up the fallen ones before they rot. Probably the owner died, and there is no son to take over the care of the orchards. But yummy for me :)

Then i went way back in the mountains, to a place that didn't even get mail service until recently, to spend 2 days with another person who used to work at Country Life, and the other people in their facility. It is kind of like a little Seventh-day Adventist world there, with 3 families planting gardens, translating books, and doing evangelism work whenever they can make it down the mountain. Actually, the best thing is that they are a magnet for people who are serious about their SDA faith. It was beautiful to spend 2 days with them - to get my spiritual batteries recharged. It's important to have that fellowship with like-minded believers!!!

There was one family tho, a Global Mission Pioneer family from America, who had some strange ideas. They said that after 3 1/2 years ministering in Japan, they were planning to go to the Middle East. They asked if i thot Islam was of God or of Satan, and i unhesitatingly said "Satan". They were not happy with that answer. They said that Allah is just another name for God, so us SDAs can also say we serve Allah. But really, whoever does not believe in Jesus, does not believe the Father who sent him do they??? I understand trying to be peaceful with the Muslims, as saying "I'm a Christian" means that you drink alcohol and eat pork to them, so it's best maybe to say that "I follow the Messiah" or something like that. But they were saying that we should just say: "I'm a seeker of truth". They also advocate going with Muslims into their mosques and praying. I do not think that is a good witness for Jesus Christ. What do you think?

I was able to witness to the girl next to me on the train ride back from Kyushu, and also the woman who works at my friend's restaurant. In fact, she seemed thankful that i was willing to give her the Japanese Great Controversy. She seems very sincere, and i was able (thru God's power) to make a very good impression on her and her 6 year old boy. May she be able to understand what she reads, without my friend getting her to interpret it by traditional Japanese thinking.

It was good to give my knee a rest for a few days too. Now i sleep with it on, and it seems to help a bit. Even the pressure of the blankets on the knee-cap hurts.

There is good news about the translation of the Tamil book! It is 60% translated already. Also a Brother in the Philippines is expressing an interest to translate it into 2 languages there. I had the pleasure in Kyushu to see the dedicated Adventists there show interest in this original Great Controversy. They had ordered 100 books before, and have slowly been passing them out to people (2 books to guests when i was there), but they have not read this book deeply for themselves. I admit i did not see the true value of this precious book for quite a while myself. They expressed an interest in translating the original Steps to Christ into Japanese, so i pray that project can be started soon.

Hope everyone had a great holiday.
Love in 2004!
(^-^)

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2004 sounds like a trip, go back to slow home page:)
Go to EarlySDA site

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