Yabuki Breeze Blog

Happy New Year everyone! We had a great holiday. We got much needed rest and family time. We appreciate your prayers and many of you helped out with our year end shortfall. Thank you so much! It really helped.

Big week coming up. We have a big meeting with our Texas staff – planning our Tejas spring break retreat. This is an important meeting because many of us will be very busy right before the retreat and so much of the planning has to be done early. This is the retreat where God often leads many to start the journey with Himself and many discover God through the Bible and learn how to help other discovery God through the Bible. We are anticipating a very busy semester coming up. We will need your prayers as Roy will be traveling a lot to train people in ministry stuff and doing other things. We have busy regular schedules too with Friday night groups, PTO discipleship groups, lots of sports, scouts, etc. Here are some recent pictures including some from the holidays, etc. http://www.flickr.com/photos/yabukibreeze/.

Some Quick hits form the last few weeks:

• Roy and Charis got sick during the holiday. This is a blessings because it forced Roy to rest a lot which he needed. We got really close.
• Roy just finished yesterday the next major version of the PTO discipleship curriculum for our offering the ISI M28 initiative that he has been working on the last month. It is curriculum designed to help disciple groups to disciple other groups.
• The kids are excited about all the special gifts they received for Christmas. So are their parents.
• We met with our UTA ISI Team at the Phillips for a fun get together. Wow! I can’t believe how big and tight our team has become. Good job Ron as our UTA team leader.
• A fair number of students were exposed for the first time to the story of Christmas at churches during the holiday. Two student were even involved in Christmas plays at churches.

Pray for

Tags: Bible, ELI, Friday Night, Pictures, PTO, scouts, Spring break, Spring Break Retreat, Staff, Tejas, UTA

One of the more interesting parts of my job in the international students ministry is the meetings that I have the privilege of being a part of. The last two weeks I took part in several very important meetings. Among the things we met about were:

• Charting the course of a new ministry initiative for ISI in developing a new discipleship and outreach ministry strategy
• Meeting to help look at sites for our ISI national conference in June of 2012 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
• taking students furniture
• Sharing at a national conference of South Asian (Indians, Pakistanis, etc.) Christians about the possibilities for them doing ministry with international students
• Picnic meeting with our family and our friendship partner students and their friends and families from China
• Meeting with students to share the Bridge illustration.
• Meeting to share at a seminary class about helping with ministry with international students
• Meeting with our friends from Central Asia to discover what the Bible says
• Meeting with a staff friend in New York over the phone to encourage each other in ministry
• Meeting with a church friend about the possibility of working together on a special project
• Meeting with some seminary students who have decided to focus on serving Indians at UTA and doing some pioneer work there
• Meeting to prayer walk with a couple of people
• Meeting with a man who wants to volunteer and share about our ministry for a mobilization effort called Perspectives
• Meeting to talk and plan for Friday nights with several individuals
• Meeting with another couple to talk about how to help with international students
• Meeting with a national speaker, who wrote the book Death of a Guru on Hindu ministry

Okay, I think you get the message. Honestly, each of these things were energizing and invigorating… It reminds me that God is at work right now. Continue to pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up more people for the harvest. Also pray that he will take these that He has risen up already that He will empower them to share with the 18,000he 18,000
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin international students in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area the love and message of Christ.

The original purpose of the Friday group going to two different locations was to alleviate pressure in the homes that we meet in. There were just too many people for our homes. We are praising the Lord because while the late group is growing and developing a regular following and a level of stability, the early group is still bursting at the seams with as many as 50 people still coming. God is working in different ways in each group and he is able to touch different types of people in different ways because of the different natures of the groups. Praise the Lord. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will raise up more workers (and maybe more and bigger houses to host) Pray also that the students will still feel like while we meet at different locations, we are still “one group” following one Lord.

Tags: Bible, China, church, Conference, Dallas, Family, Fort Worth, Friday Night, Friendship Partner, Hindu, India, Ministry, Mobilization, pray, Seminary, Strategy, UTA

Today was an interesting Friday night ISI . The question as we went around the room as we were introducing oursevles was “What is your name? Where are you from? and Where were you and what affect has 9/11 had for you in your life?” I was touched by how many of the students remember the day so well. Many were as young a 8 years old and yet feelings of shock and sadness were all over. Probably one huge sentiment was that the worlds became a different place after 9/11. The USA, a place that all people felt was a safe haven was no longer safe. What does that mean for the rest of us. Wow. One student said that he just happened to be on lower Manhattan on the 4 days surrounding 9/11 and saw the burning of the buildings and the collapse of the towers with his own eyes. A Chinese student said that his best friend happened to be flying to the US around that time and they were concerned for their safety. A Taiwanese students felt like something had to be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening. A Saudi student was upset because she felt the world was blaming Islam and she didn’t feel that what happened accurately characterized the Islam that she new. The sharing was raw and real and almost all came away thankful that we talked about all this. 9/11 was truly an international affair. It really hit me when the first person that I talked to that lost someone close at the WTC was a Chinese UTA Student (who we happened to visit this last trip) whose friend was working for a Chinese company with offices in the towers. I know there were people from almost every continent if not country of the world that was killed that day.

On three other notes, this was a special day for Friday nights. Last week, I asked the students in the Discovery Bible study group if one of them might be willing to “facilitate” discovery bible study. A student from east Asia who isn’t a follower yet agreed. Wow! Of course facilitating Discovery study is not “teaching” the Bible. Rather it is asking the same questions every week to build community and to facilitate deep thinking and personal discovery by the students themselves. Anyone could do it because the questions are always the same but it is an honor and I was proud of him. He did a great job today on Genesis 2. Some really good statements came out of the group including great observations that he made about God’s sovereignty and about His care for us.

Second, Anish and Joanna, two young volunteers (Anish is originally from Nepal but grew up here and Joanna is Chinese American from Southern California) helped in leadership in leading music and discussion group respectively. It was really fun watching them and it reminded me of when Lisa and I (no they aren’t a couple) worked with some others our age to help in the leadership team back in CA.

Third and probably most joyful, while the “early group” we were a part of had its normal of late 40+ people, the “late group,” the new home group, which only had 7-8 students last week, its first week, had 28 people with 14 in discussion group and 14 in discovery Bible study. Wow! I do believe that starting a new group is getting people to step up in leadership over there and in our group. Also two “super volunteers” who are significant parts of other ministries were also a part of our Friday group and both have offered their homes to help. Praise the Lord for what he is doing!

So far, in our work with the new group, we have felt so blessed with the team God has given us. The Phillips, whose house we were at this week, have been a joy to work with on so many levels. The Baslers, Joanna, the Rittenhouses, the Johnson’s the Hensons and visitor team members (for this week) the Hodson’s and Neusses are an incredible team and we feel so blessed working together!

It is also cool that Cha* has a bunch of 6-9 year old international girls who she plays with every week, daugthers of students and volunteers and she sees that as her ministry.

Tags: 9/11, Friday Night, Kids, Student Leadership, UTA

When you are looking for people of peace(POP’s), you find them. Or at least it seemed that way this week. the Big Howdy party was remarkable on many levels. We had our usual 500-600 people. We had our usual 200 volunteers. (all amazing blessings from God) But it seemed like more Americans (students and volunteers) were mingling and really connecting with more international students than any other year. Then Friday night was huge as we expanded to two groups. We still had any very open kids again many POP experiences.

The UTA Big Howdy was a huge success on many levels (see videos and pictures) the namesake party was a huge blessings to so many students (they said so themselves) and we had so many Spiritually geared conversations. A student asked about why the American kids were so kind and open and how was it that we were able to organize such a special events. I was able to share the story of the feeding of the 5000 and how the food and everything is almost every year something similar, an exercise in faith. Huge kudos to Ron and the team to putting it all together.

We recently heard a story from a volunteer who shared that they have been able to take their friendship partner  student to church with them and recently that student brought 13 friends and several kids along from the same program. On coming there, ten signed up for a Bible study in preparation for the movieCourageous, (by the people who did Facing the Giants) about being a better father. Further a discussion on ESL programs for the students’ wives came up and the ladies of the church offered to look into starting a special one for them and inquired to us about that.

The Friday night groups at our house continued to be huge with 50+ people even after we expanded to two groups. The fruit though came in the second group which was considerably smaller but the intimacy encouraged some that usually go into discussion group to be a part of Bible discovery instead. Praise the Lord! No doubt they are learning and finding truth in God’s word.  Also next week one of the students offered to facilitate Bible discovery group. Wow! (our discovery facilitator always asks the same questions and so is not a “teacher”). Can you all say POP…  One new Korean student said that after the group he finally, for the first time in America felt comfortable like he was at home. Continue to pray for Friday night(www.utaisi.org) as we continue to transition to two groups. Pray that enough student go to each group for critical mass and that both thrive in the new environment and yet we remain as one community. Pray that students will flow from the overly packed one to the less full one. Pray for workers for the harvest being intentional about harvesting and moving students towards harvest. Pray that we can recognize pop’s.

At the TCU welcome party we saw many new faces as over 70 were present. they came from all over the world including Russia, Armenia, China, Vietnam, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, etc. All enjoyed the time thoroughtly and felt love and appreciated. We also met many new potential volunteer students.

The talk at Southfield Community Fellowship was just like coming home as we felt loved and we were amazed by how many people we knew from different part of our lives there. Roy was able to share from Luke 11 about doing ministry on purpose looking for people of peace with many, many student examples of POP’s going home and being different makers.

Tags: Big Howdy, Friday Night

The last two weeks have been very fruitful in making new contact. Your prayers have really mattered as God has blessed us with a few new and important friendships in just the last two weeks. This Saturday and Sunday are very important prayer days.

Roy was a part of the Big Howdy Rides to Walmart, the Used Item (Garage) Sale and the Airport rides the last two weeks. God really blessed with some people of peace like relationships with several people. Roy connected well with a student from Bangladesh and Korea through airport pickup and a couple of Indian students through the rides to Walmart. That is just a microcosm of what is going on all over. This year it seems like the volunteers and Americans are being much more focused on the task and there seems to be more POP’s being found. In addition, one HUGE addition was a concert of prayer related to all this. We’ve also had more students than ever volunteering and helping. It’s almost every day that people like Mark from China or Bethany from Columbia are helping with something. Praise that Lord for all he is doing.

We connected with one of the first students we worked with, Jane from Taiwan who became a follower of Jesus while here through her helping us out with music. She is now married and she visited with her husband and young son from Indiana. We also saw Joyce (also from Taiwan and a Jesus follower from her time at UTA) and her husband Culley who were great friends with Jane. It was good to reconnect with both families and encourage one another in the Lord.

Pray hard all day today (on Saturday, August 27) as we have the Big Howdy Party at UTA. This has been an unusual Big Howdy in that there has been some push back by some students from certain communities which is spread easily on facebook. The plus side of that is that POP’s are much more obvious as they are the one who are coming. Pray for our volunteers, students and staff teams of the different groups and ministries there that they can identify POP’s and route them where they can build on what God is already doing in their lives. Pray also for enough food, safety, and a good aroma among those who go. Pray as our students also go out and pass out cards about Friday night as the party is the main place we allow people to share about their ministries, etc. (www.utabighowdy.com)

Tags: Big Howdy, Friday Night

The Big Howdy begins (www.utabighowdy.com) as we students are getting picked up from the airport by the Big Howdy team of volunteers, churches and ministries, others have been shuttled to Walmart. Some will be given a warm welcome at orientation, others will receive furniture and other things from the student Garage sale, most will enjoy as big Texas welcome at the Big Howdy Party and finally some will receive a custom tour of the DFW area by local volunteers. The Big Howdy is a month of welcoming goodness for the new international students, where Jesus following volunteers can make a lot of noise for Him and hopefully some people of peace will reveal themselves. Even if not, God will use it to start working to touch their hearts. Here are some quick things to pray for.

Lisa started her new job at DBU. After around 10 years at the same school this is quite the change. She is excited that she can overtly make a lot of noise for Jesus and share her heart as she teached English to her new students.

Our family continues to meet for Discovery Bible study with another family, our dear friends from Tajikistan. Wednesday was the husband, Alex’s birthday but the Alex and Maria  insisted that we did Bible Discovery group before we celebrated with Alex for dinner. Praise the Lord for their excitement over studying together. Pray that as Wednesday church and other things start up again, we can find a day of the week that works for everyone to meet.

Continue to pray for UTA Friday night group(www.utaisi.org) as we transition to two separate locations at around the same time. This is not easy, to see our awesome and close team work in two groups but it seems necessary. Pray for discernment as we decide who goes with who in the two groups both with volunteers but also student leaders. And pray that the students take to one or other of the groups and don’t get lost in the wash.

Many students are going home after the summer long term. One student shared on Friday that she was “concerned” when she came here and was worried about not having anyone here. She shared she never would have thought that she would have found a place that felt like family like the Friday night group was to her.

Tags: Big Howdy, Friday Night, Prayer

It’s hard to believe it… (I know I say that a lot) but we are near the end of the summer. The kids are getting ready for school and so are we. Let’s look over the summer as we haven’t posted in about a month…

• When we look back on the summer, the obvious HUGE thing was the trip. I was asked the other day about post processing the trip with my kids and we have done that in a way. Jonathan’s interest in Anime and doing art has been re-kindled by the trip. He used a lot of his birthday money to buy a digitizing tablet that allows him to sketch and draw on the computer and he spends much of the day perfecting his skill.  I asked Tim the other day if he would like to eventually do an exchange program, even to Europe. He said no… while he is our most adaptable traveler, he is also our staunchest Texan and loves it at home. Charis seems more “secure” in terms of thinking of her Chinese family and stuff since she returned. She has also become a huge part of our ministry of late as she acts as a great host to a fairly large group of kids who have been coming to Friday night group.
• One of the blessings this summer has been the team who did the UTA Friday night groups while we have been gone. The Friday night groups are healthier than ever and we are so blessed by this wonderful team. In fact it has been so healthy, the group has outgrown any single home and we are looking at expanding to two homes. God has been very very good and we praise Him for this.
• As few weeks ago, our good friends the Speed’s hosted a gathering with the 35 UTA East Asian EMBA students. Their Host families were also there. Many of the students this year will be  bringing their own families over. This was a wonderful time of swimming, talking, connecting, showing God’s love… It was a huge blessing for all who were there and it had a real sense of family together. Also with this group we have the honor of being the host family to two of these students. One of the students has told us that he has been baptized and he has such a sweet spirit about him, always wanting to serve people and he also has a keen interest in studying the Bible. A different students who has been regularly coming to our Friday night and has been a regular part of our Bible study has been going to church with us the last couple of weeks. In fact last week he brought three friends with him. We also have some really good friendships with several of these students. It has been amazing how close we have become in such a short time.
• Lisa changed jobs and will be working at DBU this fall teaching ESL in their Intensive English Program. She begins teaching there on Monday of this week. While she is sad to leave her previous post at El Centro college after so many years, this new challenge as brought a real jump to her step and a real sense of purpose in he eyes. Needless to say, there will be adjustments that we will have to make as anything new always does but working at a ministry oriented university where one of the President’s goals is to be a beacon to and reach out to unbelieving international students is truly refreshing for her.
• One huge blessing this summer has been our relationship with Alex & Marianna from Tajikistan. Marianna came about a year ago to begin graduate studies at UTA and her family soon followed. They’ve got two of the sweetest girls who are around Charis’ age. These three girls, and the daughter of the Phillips, key volunteers, enjoy every Friday night playing together. This precious family stayed at our house when we were gone to Asia. They just got a taste of what it is like to live in an American home for a while. We also are meeting together doing family church on a weekday night together using the discovery Bible study format. It has been a real blessing seeing their eyes light up as they study God’s word and learn the joy of studying it. We are really blessed by their friendship.
• In late July our ISI staff meet met together for some sweet prayer and planning for our annual vision/planning retreat. We learned how to be more effective prayers in ministry. We also evaluated where God took us last year in light of the goals he gave us last year and we established new strategic goals that we felt we needed to set for this next year. Among the things we felt we needed to do was continue developing and improving  the new model of ministry that we have been developing already, strengthening our leadership in prayer, developing creative ways for young people could serve as staff, and looking for special staff with unique gifts for unique large projects. For example we need someone who is good with the internet and facebook who could be a “internet minister” for students… to make initial contacts before they come, to keep up with students so that when we hear of their needs on social networks we can serve them with Christ’s love more effectively, and to help with the follow up with students from a distance. We also felt the need for an entrepreneurial business savvy and networked  staff person who could be a point person in developing a new way of doing international student ministry where we help develop them and get started in the work place. (more to come on both of these things in the future)
• The kids have been recovering nicely to the trip though the summer has gone by very quickly. Jonathan is working on his digital art skills with a new graphics pad that he got for his birthday. He is getting really good. Timothy is working on his cello and his game playing skills. Charis has been visiting with her neighbor friend Olivia a lot and enjoys doing many art projects.

Tags: Asia Trip, DBU, Discovery study, EMBA, Family, Family discovery study, Friday Night, Kids, Ministry, OPT, vision retreat

(Pictures and videos) “What about Karaoke?” long time student leader Miguel shared almost as a joke at our most recent UTA ministry planning meeting. I had just heard that our TCU team members, the Moores, just bought a Karaoke machine. We put two and two together and it became a reality this last Friday as we kicked off our summer schedule with our new summer students. The students had a great time as we sang songs from the 70′s, 80′s and 90′s (Roy put together the song list). They loved watching each of us making fools of ourselves… though the most special performance was by Miguel when he changed the words of one of the raps giving his testimony and his experience in his time at UTA. Below is a video of one of the performances and here are some other pictures and videos from the special night.

Tags: Friday Night, Fun, Karaoke, UTA, Video

Tags: Friday Night, Video

It is always a joy when students share their culture with us. Recently Giacomo from Italy assembled a cooking team from Taiwan and Korea and worked hard for hours preparing gnocci (NYOH-kee) for one of our Friday night meetings. I believe they used about 10 lbs. of potatoes!

Tags: Food, Friday Night, Italy