Tsugaru Gospel Church

EBC Team

The journey began 19 days ago, but the preparation was much longer. Our hearts, minds, and feet were not entirely ready for the trials that they would be put through. Stretched beyond our limits we all have learned so much. Joe has learned that relying on God is a necessity for everyday living. Mandie has been challenged to witness and has found that reaching out is not as frightening as she previously thought. Luke has developed patience for the language barrier that he will carry on through life. He also is now more willing to reach out to people and befriend them. Melody has found a new meaning to reading the bible and now is able to see how exciting and fulfilling the word can be. All of these lessons have touched our lives deeply and it has been an awesome experience. We are really glad to have been given the chance to meet all of the wonderful people that we have. We hope we have been as much of a blessing to all of you as you have been to us. Thank you for sharing a few weeks of your lives with us. We will miss you all greatly. We love you and God Bless.

Kevin Ueta

My name is Kevin Ueta. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada and I have spent most of my life, thus far, in Toronto. I have also spent a few years living abroad in Argentina as well. I'm currently twenty-six years of age and my birthday is September 17th, 1979. I have a mixed ethnic background. My father is Japanese (Okinawan) and my mother is Korean. I have one younger sister, Charlotte, who is twenty-four years old. I am currently a student at Tyndale University College here in Toronto and I am in a Youth Ministry degree program. I have been to Japan four previous times and I also had the opportunity to be involved in the Lord's work in Japan during the summer of 2004 with OMF. My interests include music (performance and production), dance, reading, photography, and various sports.

Tim & Miho Walker

Zabrina Mok

To make a long story short, God has really blessed me through this journey – from the initial application to financing to team matching …there are way too many items to count. Theres once a person suggested to expect the unexpected ~ I cant agree more. Without holding any prior expectations has allowed me to accept different challenges. Through this journey, God has given me the opportunity to stretch my flexibility by working alongside people from different age group. More importantly, God has also taught me that language isnt the utmost important channel in communication. Being friendly and willingness to carry a conversation is often suffice to get our love across. Afterall, its all Gods work and were simply His tool. It is phsycially, emotionally and spritually demanding at times, but His grace and mercy never run dry.

Sara Clark

This is my story of how I came to Japan and what God taught me while there! I decided around March that I wanted to go to Japan and got accepted in April. It was a nerve wracking time trying to figure out what God wanted me to do but especially now after it has happened I can see it was the right choice. During the process of organizing everything and trying to get support I really had to trust God that He would provide. Thankfully God has blessed me with supportive family and friends! So on July 1st I was in Japan with Zabrina and after a few days of orientation headed out to the Ghents! After getting off at the wrong stop we finally got there! My time in Japan was amazing and so eye opening! I could go on forever about the things I have learned and been challenged with. Everything from the language barrier to the food, to the constant changes in schedules and days can be so challenging. However I am thankful for these challenges that God put in my way as it has taught me to rely on Him for my source of strength and especially grace and oatience! He has also blessed me through the Japanese Christians I have met and thier stories just encourage me so much to live for God. Being in Japan has given me a desire to be more open with people about salvation and faith! I have also learned that I need to live for God and His approval and in His ways and that no other way works. I thank all those who helped me go to Japan and who supported me through prayers and emails. I thank God for blessing me with this oppurtunity and providing the Ghents and the other team to work with and learn from. Thank you for reading and maybe someday I will write more about Japan as I would love to come back!