Yabuki Breeze Blog

Huge guys, breaking things… does that sound like fun to you. To many who came to our church from last Thursday to Sunday, it really was. Team Impact came to Arlington this week. They visited many schools sharing a positive message about life and strength. But the best part of their time here was at our Church where hundreds and hundreds of kids and their parents were exposed to their brand of muscular Christianity as they shared their physical power and their faith. I don’t know how many hot water bottles they blew up, bats they broke, diet 7-ups cans they burst or telephone books they tore but it was incredible. They also tore through walls of ice, busted countless boards and… you can imagine to kids T-8′s age… honestly even at my age. It was really fun to watch.

I had the special honor of being a decision counselor as the Team challenged people to get themselves right with God. I was really touched by the stories of the kids that I talked with. They really understood what was going on. It was very much energizing for me and reminded me about how fun it is to do the sort of stuff that we do. It was a real change of pace… but what a blessing from God.

Tags: church

(See All Pictures & Videos) Saturday, there was shift in dominant hormones in our house. Generally, in the Yabuki household, the men have the majority and while two ladies generally equal three guys, on Saturday, the guys were overwhelmed. C-5 celebrated her sixth birthday and our house was filled with kindergarten girls.

It started innocently enough, our new sister in Christ from Korea, Cookie came early to help Lisa out with the party. She loves cooking and Lisa decided to give this birthday a cooking theme and so Cookie was the perfect person to help out. She was a real blessing in many ways. We couldn’t have done it without her.

The girls began the day decorating aprons to help out with their work. Modern art seemed to be the style of the day.  Then the girls practiced some homemaking skills, making some delightful (and tasty) pretzel/kisses/m&m snacks. It seemed like a lot of fun. All this seemed innocent enough… but then they turned to the outside… and next thing we guys knew, we were caught in their trap. (Maybe it was the snacks)

J-12 & T-8 were seen “helping” with the outdoor activities (no way!). T-8 was hoisting the pinata and jumping on the trampoline and J-12 was seen DJing the nasty game of musical chairs. I even had to set up the pinata. It actually was a lot of fun. The girls really took to our trampoline.

As the day wore on, there was more screaming, running around, screaming some more, eating cake, opening presents, screaming and then jumping on the trampoline. In all, it was a wonderful way for C-5 to celebrate her passage to C-6.

Tags: Birthday, Family, Kids, Video

“awesome trip!!!!!” - Student

“I just want to thank you for the perfect weekend. We had a lot of fun this weekend and I am sure that none of us will ever forget this trip” – Another Space Weekend Student

(see pictures & video) This last weekend was a very special weekend for me. Over 100 international student from both the DFW area and the Houston area had the privilege of going to visit the NASA Space center and also meet an astronaut at this special event sponsored by ISI in both Houston and the DFW area. We left early Saturday morning for houston from campuses around the metroplex and after much traffic arrived at the Space center around 2 PM. We toured the Johnson Space Center, and enjoyed the museum. We then stopped for dinner at various restaurants in the area. Some of us ate pizza, other ate Vietnamese food, some hamburgers… I personally ate mediterranean food with some Persian, Indian/Kuwaiti, and American friends and had a great time learning about this new cuisine.

“The student went to meet the astronaut but returned with a new deep friendship with their host families that they will never forget.”- A staff colleague…

We then went to University Baptist Church where we met Astronaut Steve Nagel (he is married to Astronaut Linda Godwin who also was there and they were host families too). It was really cool when we arrived, the student got their first taste of the loving hospitality of their host famlies as the host famlies stood in a row a the door, expectantly holding up signs with their students’ names. It was an amazing gesture of love and care. For many of the students, this was first time in a Christian church and there were a bit of nerves. One of my Persian friends asked a lot of questions about churches… it seems the most prevelant question was, “what is the difference between the different types of Christian churches.”

After pictures with Nagel (see pics), the students hear a talk about his experience as an astronaut and about the space program and then the Pastor of the church gave a very well done presentation of the story of the Bible leading to talking about Jesus and who He is. It was genuine, gentle and yet all truth. The students were presented with the opportunity to receive a video about Jesus and we were touched by how many of the students took them. It was very encouraging. You could also see how the host families were already bonding with the students as they sat together and the “parents” really made sure the students know what was going on. This translated to some wonderful contact time between he students and their host families and they all went home after the presentation. I wish we all could have heard some of the conversations. The next day, when we all met together again, it was clear really bonding was happening.

The next day, after visiting the host families’ the students visited the churches of their host families and were exposed to “regular church” and we all went to the beautiful bay boardwalk city of Kemah to enjoy more time together and for lunch. As I walked with friends, it was fun watching the students and American hosts almost operating like one family. Finally, we met, took a picture and boarded our buses and cars to go home. One of the cool things that happened at Kemah… I was waiting with the host families coordinator and some of our team to be seated for lunch. The coordinator got a call from her daughter as we were talking. She took it and we found out one of the Korean students who was a regular part of fellowships had prayed to accept Christ with her host families. WOW! It really reminded us about what this is all about!

Another interesting story… The trip started in an interesting way. Before we even left, we weren’t sure we would have enough housing or rides for all the students. As late as Tuesday, I have seen God work in miraculous ways in this regard in the past but it is always nerve racking until the very last minute. This was no exception. The Tuesday before the trip itself, we had only enough beds for 80 people with 120 people signed up. We were prepared to have our staff and volunteers sleep on floors of people’s homes and in church gyms but we were still short on housing for the students. I even reserved a motel room for a few of our staff. By the time we arrived, we had enough room for all the students AND volunteers with some space to spare. I even HAD TO cancel the motel room…:-) It was amazing. The transportation issues were just as amazingly taken care of. As many of our partnering ministries, including BSM, Salvation Army, Church ministries, Campuses without even a student, student volunteers etc. came together and provided the needed transportation to bring these 100+ students down. It was truly amazing to see the Body of Christ working together to be the Body of Christ.

For follow-up, we have set up a facebook group where student, hosts, volunteers and staff alike can share pictures, videos, swap stories,  and there is already some traffic including pictures, videos etc. The friendships made on this trip will likely last for a long time. What an amazing trip! God is Good!

Tags: Astronaut, Houston, Praise, Space Weekend