Yabuki Breeze Blog

(check out pictures from this semester) This has been a very blessed but emotionally draining week. Honestly, this last semester has been one of the best of our career. We had some wonderful students that were very responsive to God and to their relationship with us. Just this week one student led Bible study the day after he made a definite decision to follow Christ. Another student shared his appreciation for us as his “family” in America. We have also been exposed to some new ways of doing ministry and have really made progress in applying those principles throughout the things that we do. It has been a year of much movement.

Still, this week was very hard… Several dear friends are going home long term this weekend. In addition, several of our staff have had some huge family crises and we are transitioning one of our kids through teenhood and another through being a Webelo… I can’t remember when we have had more “stuff” to do in my life. No I take that back, back in High School, the weeks before I left for New Jersey for the first time, I had just about every hour scheduled with packing, having dinner with someone, etc. It was just as non-stop but the idea that that sort of life style not ending any more can be daunting… Still the exciting thing is that God is showing me through daily time in His word and in prayer that it can be done. We are being forced to depend on Him for every second of every day and it actually works!

One of the things we end each Bible study with every week is “if this passage is true, (which I believe it is) how does it change the way that you live…” I’ve been really challenged this year to make this question a part of every Bible truth that I know and imagine this… THE BIBLE ACTUALLY IS TRUE AND LIVING AS IF IT IS ACTUALLY WORKS! Imagine that…

Tags: Bible, Friends, stress, Summer, truth

(See Pictures) As Lisa and I walked off the airplane in Colorado Springs, the first thing we saw was the sign of the driver that said, “Modano, Morrow & Turco.” For those of you who don’t know Dallas sports too well, those are the names of the superstar players on the Dallas Stars hockey team and apparently they were on our plane. Thus began a remarkable week of remarkable occurrences in Colorado Springs last week.

Every year, as ISI staff, we are required to go to our annual staff conference. Often it is in Colorado Springs, but sometimes it is at some other exotic location, like Seattle, Niagara Falls, Amsterdam, etc. (2011, a family conference will be in Hong Kong, pray for how we can do that) Sometimes it is a family conference, other times it is not and we cannot bring our kids. This year, it was not but for the first time, through the generous offer by Lisa’s mom of watching the kids during the conference Lisa and I were able to go together, just the two of us. On reflection, it was the longest we were together without any kids since Jonathan was born, a full 8 days.

Actually the conference itself was 5 days but there was a chance I would have to lead ministry technology related seminars before or after the conference so we put some buffer days before and after AND this is the 15th year that we have been married and we had not celebrated our anniversary in much of a special way, we decided to make this trip special.

The first couple of nights we stayed at the Navigators’  Glen Eyrie Conference Center. On arrival we were told that we would be in General Palmer’s room in “The Castle.” While walking around we learned that General Palmer was a Civil War General and railroad magnate who was the founder of Colorado Springs. “The Castle,”  a long time fixture in Colorado Springs, nestled between mountains and monolithic rocks much like Garden of the Gods, was build by General Palmer as the home for his family. It really looks like a Medieval castle complete with a great room with fireplace, stone walls, a “keep-like” tower, vaulted ceilings, and even a coat of armor. On arrival to the 19th century styled “General Palmer” room, we found out that the room was the good general’s actual bedroom and bathroom and that the bed we slept in was the actual bed he used. It was an incredible couple of nights. The ground were beautiful too. On one of the days, we took a hike the day before my Birthday that took us to varied places like Dawson Trotman’s grave, to the top of a mono-lithic rock formation, under a overhanging cave, through and English rose garden and through many other gardens kept up by volunteers on a daily basis. On the same day, Lisa treated me to a delightful dinner at the Flying W Ranch for my birthday. While there we were treated to an authentic outdoor Chuckwagon meal complete with a show presented by a bunch of believing singing cowboys (the second oldest western singing group in the world). I’m not much of a cowboy music devotee but it REALLY was FUN! All in all, the unique peacefulness of Glen Eyrie, made the time very special and a great way to decompress to focus on God before our conference. In fact during this week, Lisa and I read three books each (but with each other which was very rare indeed).

We then went on to the conference which was one of the best ISI has ever done. We heard from Singapore pastor Edmund Chan (excellent), Political Commentator Dinesh  D’souza(even better), Biola president Barry Corey(first rate), and a former muslim terrorist who is now a believer(inspirational). The talks were extremely relevant to what we do and timely and contemporary. The workshops were very good too. I was able to lead two of them and in one of them, we had all the tech savvy people personally help the less tech savvy ones and it was wonderful watching people working together to grow together. We came away energized and raring to go.

After the conference, Lisa and I spent some time in another part of Colorado Springs. After visiting the cliff dwelling in nearby Manitou Springs and the special internet related ministry All about God/Got Questions?, we checked in at the reasonably priced, Spur and Lace Bed and Breakfast in the Colorado City portion of Colorado Springs. When inn keepers Leo and Sharen Janzen greeted us as we arrived we had not idea what to expect. The intriguing name and theme (cowboy & lace) made for some mystery. Leo is an amiable man with a smile permanently etched into his weather worn face. He later shared that he was farm boy who became an educator. On hearing that we were campus ministers, he shared that he had a grandson who worked in some capacity in campus ministry. After he checked us in, we were touched by how he visited the guests just to chat an catch up.

After checking in, we went down the street to a coffee shop and bookstore, Agia Sophia. On going inside, we found that it was run by the local Orthodox Church, there were books all over about Jesus and the church as presented from the Orthodox perspective. For me it was like being a kid in a candystore. There were some theology books that you can’t just find anywhere, especially in the area of the Trinity. Good coffee too. A couple of nights later, we talked with Father George, who in addition to serving up Coffee Frappe’s was the pastor of the church. It turns out he became a believer through the ministry of Young Life, went to Fuller and turned to the Orthodox tradition because he was seeking the deeper life that he read about through people like John Michael Talbot, Henri Nouwen, etc. It was really fun talking.

After visiting the coffee shop, we walked along the Colorado City Streets and ran into a outdoor Jazz concert which just happened to be at the band stand in the center of town. While there we just happened to run into an ISI home office staff person with her family enjoying a time of rest after serving us so well at the conference. Having enjoyed the company and music our stomachs were ready to be filled with some great Greek food. Wow!

The next day, we took the 3 hour trip via the Cog Railway up to the rarefied heights of Pikes Peak. It was absolutely beautiful up top (though my legs felt like lead because of the altitude). We really could understand how Katherine Lee Bates would have been inspired to write America the Beautiful because of her time up there. You could see so much!

The next day, we boarded our plane for home. It was really nice seeing our family again… but the time together was very, very special for Lisa and I. It really felt like a second honeymoon in many ways and we learned so much about each other and SO many other things. Thanks all so much for your prayers and support during this time. It was a blessing in so many ways and I believe God will be able to use us more effectively because of this time.

Tags: anniversary, Birthday, Colorado, Conference, Glen Eyrie, ISI, Pikes Peak, Summer, travel, trip

(pictures) Lisa and C-4 had a wonderful week in Oregon. Lisa was able to visit both of her parents, two of her brothers and one of her sisters, plus several of C-4’s cousins. They even got to meet one cousin for the first time, baby Graham (8 months). C-4 really enjoyed picking swiss chard from the garden at her Uncle Mark and Aunt Brandy’s house, but wouldn’t touch the stuff at dinner time! C-4’s cousin E (age 11) was a real blessing to C-4, taking her under her wing all day and making her feel very special. The highlight was a “sleepover” in E’s room. During the week, Lisa also was able to connect with a couple of old friends from her high school days. Unfortunately, she did get lost once in downtown Portland but was able to find her way eventually (note if traveling in another state: Mapquest directions are not always accurate!)

Roy, J-11 & T-7 survived the week living on microwave dinners and pizza eaten in front of the TV, watching movies, etc. having a guys week out… We were able to keep that a secret by making sure we cleaned up the house before our Friday night meeting and especially before the girls came home. During this time, T-7 attended Camp Thurman and really had a great time with his counselor AMAZON and other 2nd grade boys. His friend R came all the way from Japan to attend the same camp. That was a great reunion.

Other family news… J-11 had his 11′th birthday at a local pool and got his Tenderfoot badge in scouts. T-7 is starting up Soccer in a couple of weeks.

Tags: 2007, Camp Thurman, Family, Oregon, Summer

“We want to go to the zoo,” said several of the UTA international students toward the end of the last Friday Night meeting of the summer at the Yabukis’ house. Ron said, “Lets go” and so began a wonderfully fun journey with six international students from Taiwan, Korea, Ivory Coast, etc. We gathered during the break between their summer and spring semester. This is a time when many of the students are stuck on campus and looking for stuff to do. We piled into our two mini-vans and we all drove to the Fort Worth Zoo. We saw all sorts of animals… Monkeys, lions, tigers up close. C-4 liked the tigers the most. It was a great time of fellowship and relationship building. We then had dinner afterwards and were joined by another student from Vietnam.

Tags: 2007, ELI, Summer, UTA, zoo

“You are like like a father to me since I came to America…” a young Taiwanese student shared to Roy at the Summer Party the UTA ISI team hosted in Colleyville in cooperation with Mid Cities Bible church (pictures). We really connected with several students. The food was great and so was the swimming/yard play time. The Taiwanese student also showed some progress in his interest in spiritual things, attending a Bible study this Friday. Wow!

One girl never swam before and Ron and several of the volunteers worked to teach her the basics of swimming. She was very greatful and God was able to use that to iron a relationship of trust which has lead to opportunities to encourage her to grow towards Christ.

Tags: Party, Summer, swimming, trust, UTA

Luke’s Speeder, Obi Wan’s Light Saber, R2D2′s suit, these were just some of the things Roy, J-10 and two TCU students experienced at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s Star War’s exhibition. Purple Cow milk shakes were also on tap for this trip. Also, just a week later, on July 4, Roy, these same two students from Italy & Korea and at least 25 others from many other countries enjoyed fireworks while sitting in volunteer Bab’s yard after a delicious Hot Dog barbeque. (Pictures)

Texas Christian University (TCU) is one of the campuses we are trying to develop a new ministry on in the DFW area. This summer, we are working hard to develop relationships with new summer students as they start their journey here in the States. Hopefully these kids will form the foundation for the next school year. Babs and volunteer leaders Bennie & Patti Moore and other students leaders have done a wonderful job of building the ministry at TCU.

Tags: 2007, July 4, Summer, TCU

Arlington Park Baptist Church had people who had a heart for international students. Many of them had much experience but they wanted to partner with ISI to more strategically reach students. Thus came the partnership that resulted in a special July 4 party for UTA ELI students.

Ron Bunyard coordinated ISI’s involvment with APBC Missions Pastor Robert Smith, long time international student lay minster Pot Samermit and Roy’s mentor Al Kawamoto and around 20 student and many more church family members interacted, played games, etc. It was a great opportunity to break the ice with several new students. The whole Yabuki family was able to be at this party of students and families.

ISI is always open to partnering with other churches and organization to reach international students because it is our goal to touch EVERY international student and we can’t do it alone.

Tags: 2007, Arlington Park, July 4, Ron, Summer

The glamor of a photo shoot… there is nothing like it… Last month Esther a Chinese American student volunteer who just graduated gave us a special gift. She  did a photoshoot of the family (photos). It was not the easiest thing in the world to do to get the kids to cooperate but She did a wonderful job. Praise God for this thoughtful student and her special gift to us. Please pray for her today as she is leading a missions team to Hong Kong this summer. Pray also for direction as she seeks God’s will for the next chapter of her life.

Tags: 2007, gift, model, photoshoot, Summer

It has rained, and rained… and rained much of this summer. It has been very unusual in that way. In others ways its been fairly typical… Here are some of the exciting things the family has been doing this summer.

• The kids are out of school and enjoying time with mom… playing games… going outside, etc.
• J-10 went on his first weeklong Boy Scout Summer Camp. They slept in two man tents (in the rain) with his troop, hiked long distances to get around Sid Richardson Scout Ranch (SR2), and took a whole bunch of fun classes. In general he had a wonderful time. It was a proud moment when on family night, when we came up to visit, one of the scoutmasters told us how much J-10 blossomed as a person and as a leader. I can see that. During that same time, T-7 was the “Big Brother” in charge… and even the “man of the house” when Roy was at the ISI conference. He did a wonderful job learning how to do that. It was good seeing him helping with buckling his sister in and other things.
• Lisa ‘s Sister Becky and her family came out for the week of July 4. We tooks a much needed one week vacation Lisa planned outings every day including trips to Six Flags (it rained), a trip Athens and its fishery (T-7, C-4 and their cousins C and P caught their first of many fish there), etc.
• T-7 and Lisa were in the 152 entry strong Arlington July 4 parade representing Cub Scout Pack 323. It was awesome seeing them as such celebrity’s in the city.

Tags: 2007, Boy Scout, Family, Parade, Summer

We were going to Colorado to learn how to be better leaders! In June Roy attended ISI’s Advanced Leadership Conference (see video) with most of the local staff. This is a very important conference as we work this year to work on tuning up our strategic plan for the DFW area and as we invest in our already gifted team. We learned about the importance of mentoring and how intensive it has to be to be effective. We learned about the nuts and bolts of strategic planning. We learned about technology and how important in or type of ministry to stay on top of technology that makes the world flat. Finally, we learned about how to do networking from the new president of Biola. It was excellent training that was truly mindbending for most of us. Very well done by our national traning team. I roomed with Ron Bunyard and we were up almost every night thinking about how all this applied to our personal ministries. Wow!!!

Tags: 2007, Conference, Leadership, Summer