This is pretty hillarious:
Click HERE for the full image.
Aug 25
Unlike any of my past mission trips to Japan, this year I had the privilege of serving along side a few families in Shizuoka, Japan. My heart and my plans have always been set on serving The LORD by ministering to the college aged and young adult community in Tokyo which is where our trip began. This year however, God allowed me to serve in a different capacity with different opportunities in Shizuoka serving with families and ministering to their children.
The Kobata five, Pagaragan seven and Hayashi three were the glue that held this trip together. It’s amazing how well the kids were able to communicate with each other even through their natural language barrier. The Monday after I arrived in Shizuoka, I had the opportunity to perform a few songs while some of the kids danced hula at one of the town’s Matsuri festivals. We even got some of the locals to come up on stage and dance the “Hukilau” with us. And some of our performance even somehow made the local Japanese news!
Following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, most of the world has had a deep desire to reach out to the people most affected by the tragedy and I was one of those passionate people. Hoping to connect with a pastor or church with plans of visiting the Tohoku region, I inquired with my Japanese contacts, but the timing of our trip just didn’t seem to coincide with their plans. A few days before we left for Japan I had an amazing gift dropped in my lap. A former co-worker offered me the opportunity to shoot and edit a news story in Fukushima, Japan. CBI Polymers (A Hawaii based bio-tech company) had recently developed a product called “DECONGEL” which removes from 60-90% of radiation from contaminated surfaces. CBI adopted a school in Fukushima and donated their DECONGEL product and resources to decontaminate the walkways and playground of a small Baptist Kindergarten in Fukushima. My company Berad Studio was contracted to shoot and edit a video news release for CBI Polymer’s parent company SKAI Ventures. The footage was used a few days later on the local Hawaii news casts on Hawaii News Now and KITV. It was definitely a great opportunity for me personally and professionally.
After Wednesday’s hectic 6 hours of train rides, 6 hours on location and shooting and 4 hours of editing, rendering and uploading, Thursday was the start of our VBS (Vacation Bible School) camp. We jumped around and waved our arms to the music of Go Fish, we had some great lessons for the kids prepared by Sheri, Kelly and Daryl and even watched a Japanese translation of the “Jesus” movie adapted for children. I strummed my guitar and sang some songs, Ryan and Jeff built a coffee counter / storage unit for our host church (Hope International Fellowship) and the time just whizzed right on by. Before long we were packing up to head back to Hawaii. After months of praying, planning and preparing, 15 days just seems so short.
But I guess we have to save some things for our next mission trip…
Here are some pictures from Shizuoka:
Aug 01
Aloha everyone,
As many of you may have heard, there was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Shizuoka, Japan early this morning. Yes, that’s where we are currently staying and yes, many of us did feel it. We were a little shaken up, but we are all fine.
On a more positive note, yesterday we participated in the town’s Matsuri festival; selling Hawaiian food (kalua pig, chicken long rice, spam musubi and haupia. We also sang some Hawaiian and Christian songs and performed a few hula dances. The night was capped off with a hanabi (fireworks) show which lasted about one hour.
I will posted more pics later, but for now I’ll sign off so I can get a few other things done.
Don’t forget to check out our team site.
Jul 30
It’s an exciting time to be back in Japan. Our FCF Japan team landed in Narita on Tuesday, July 26 and have been going non-stop since we got here. We decided it would be a great idea to get to Tokyo a little early to get acquainted with the time zone shift and get acclimated to the culture and pace here. Our team was in and around Tokyo until Thursday July 28 when everyone left for Shizuoka. Well everyone but me… I stayed back in Tokyo to make some new contacts with a fellow ECFA church located in Mitaka, Japan.
Before the team left for Shizuoka, everyone headed over to Kichijoji with me to meet Howard Plucar, pastor of Tokyo Musashino Chapel Center (MCC). We had lunch at Ootoya before walking over to visit the church. The team leaders and I decided that it would be a good idea for me to stay in Tokyo until Sunday so I could attend MCC’s morning service and meet some of their members.
MCC is located in Mitaka which is directly adjacent to Kichijoji and very near to ICU (International Christian University) where one of our FCF members (Jaycee Uchida) attends college. In fact it is because of Jaycee that this whole relationship with MCC started! So when the FCF team left for Shizuoka, I thought it a good idea to look for lodging near the church & school. I mentioned to Pastor Howard that we currently had a team of 16 and so I wanted to find a place that could house a such a large team (for future mission trips) and he directed me to the T.E.A.M Center Guest House located a 7 minute walk away from the Mitaka train station. I contacted Dan and Carolyn Brannen who manage the facility and booked a room for a few nights for $35/night! T.E.A.M. is a ministry organization that facilitates missions work around the world and have a headquarters and a church right in Mitaka below the guest house. I was blessed to have the opportunity to meet with and interview a few of the T.E.A.M staff for a short video project I’m working on.
Tomorrow after church I will be packing my things up and heading down to Hope International Fellowship in Shizuoka, Japan to meet up with the rest of the team to prep for the town’s Matsuri festival. We will be manning an informational/prayer/craft booth, performing some songs + hula on stage and selling some Hawaiian foods at the event. We would definitely appreciate your prayer support as we start chowing down the meat and potatoes of this mission.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @FCFJapan and check out our team site for updates.
Check out some of our pics from Tokyo:
Jul 18
Apple’s newest cat may soon be on the prowl. Mac OS X 10.7 (aka Lion) is an update that is surely going to be great… Well, maybe… I think… We’ll see. I for one think it will be a change in work flow for many, but for new Mac users and possibly Windows switchers, this could be a very inviting platform to begin a new Apple infatuation with. Hoping to borrow some of the widget style apps from Apple’s iOS combined with Apple’s pre-existing “Spaces” technology, it likely will be a love it or hate it relationship with the new OS (Operating System) application switcher.
Some are speculating that the new OS will start shipping as early as Wednesday along side of some hardware refreshes. Namely the MacPro, MacBook Air and possibly the Mac Mini and new Cinema Display. These were the same predictions that were supposed to take place last week so it’s really anyone’s guess as to the actual date and time of Apple’s release.
Whenever and whatever the case, I’m sure we will have many early adopters that will share their experiences with Lion and any new hardware very soon. Who knows, I may pick up a MacBook Air myself…
Click here for the full MacRumors write-up.
Jun 20
Please be aware that Mac Malware is in fact a threat. Today I had to uninstall my first Mac Malware on a users machine. Luckily it wasn’t as wickedly embedded as the numerous Windows Viruses I have encountered. This new Malware is called Mac Shield and like many Windows Malwares, it masks itself as an anti-virus protection agent. If you do encounter Mac Shield, disinfecting seems pretty straight forward. Simply open Activity Monitor, Quit the process called “Mac Shield,” remove it from your users startup apps and delete the application installed in your Applications folder.
This wasn’t maliciously spamming the users address book, but it was corrupting files and attachments. Be careful out there.
Click here for more detailed instructions with screen shots.
Jun 15
I started watching America’s Got Talent when it first starting airing a few years back, but really haven’t paid much attention to it since. Sure I heard about Susan Boyle and some of the other singers, but The Silhouettes are very special act. Check em out:
May 19
Far be it from me to criticize a woman in heels, but I think this model should’ve practiced walking a little more before the big day!
Model Struggles Walking In High Heels – Watch more Funny Videos
Mar 03
Basketball is one of my favorite sports to play and watch. It’s high scoring, fast paced and team oriented but the day that robots take over the NBA, I’m done. Don’t get me wrong, I like robots, but it wouldn’t be too fun watching teams make 99% of their shots.
Heres the post from Engadget
