July 24th

Dear Friends – It’s 10PM Thursday (6AM Thursday Pacific time) and we’ve finally settled into our hotel rooms.  Both the Sendai and Chino teams are staying in the same hotel but we will be leaving at different times tomorrow morning to head off to our destinations. 

The most exciting part of a plane ride for me is the take-off.  I love the feel of power and acceleration as the plane leaves the ground.  This afternoon as that was happening at LAX, I looked out the window and saw Air Force 1.  The president’s plane, was sitting by itself at the end of the terminal, surrounded by many law enforcement vehicles.  And I believe I saw an African-American man waving to the plane as we passed by.  I flashed him the peace sign and waved back to him.  President Obama came from Washington D.C. just to see us off to Japan.  Well…it could have happened like that.  But you know what is better than having Obama send us off to Japan?  It’s having the Crossway Church members sending off the mission team members from Crossway with their well wishes and prayers.  Before carpooling down to the airport, the mission team members gathered in a small circle and the church family surrounded them, laid their hands upon them, and Pastor Brett and Pastor Roland prayed for them.  It is such an incredible and humbling experience.  The team members are so fortunate to have the support of family, friends, and the church family.  You have all had an enormous impact on our lives.  Your love, encouragement and support have helped in making us who we are.  So when we go out on a mission trip, we carry a part of you within our hearts.  Tomorrow will begin our interactions with the people of Chino.  Your prayer support is vital to all we do – we covet your prayers.  God bless you all.  Don