[{"content":"Hi family and friends!\nIt’s been a few months since our vision trip to Japan and we wanted to show you how the trip went and talk about some things the Lord spoke to us while we were there. In this first newsletter, we want to give more of a general recap of our time and some experiences. But in our next newsletter, we want to go a bit deeper and share some things the Lord put on our hearts while we were there, and explain why we feel called to be missionaries in Japan.\nBut first, we were able to film some of our experiences so you can get a better glimpse of what we did and the church we partnered with. We created 2 videos below, one “through Lydia’s eyes” and one “through Geoff’s eyes.” They each capture different aspects of our trip so we hope you enjoy watching!\nhttps://youtu.be/Uoc45-3OW7k?si=77IjYS6jJTreoVty\nhttps://youtu.be/ZemW_EcW4tg\nStumbling Over Ourselves in Japan\nThe first few weeks of our trip were definitely spent settling in, figuring out our train route, and trying to adapt to the new systems of everyday life in Japan. At first it was a little overwhelming, having to learn many basic things that everyone else already knows and that you feel you should already know too (like how to order at a restaurant, how to use all the toilet buttons, and even how to simply walk down a sidewalk!) And when you do something even slightly wrong or different than everyone else there, suddenly every Japanese head swivels around in your direction in silent judgement. We felt like 2 incompetent people stumbling over themselves several times. However, we knew it was all part of the process of learning a new culture, and we were eventually able to find weekly routines, which helped us feel a little less off balance.\nOur Time with Calvary Chapel Abide Osaka\nWe truly fell in love with Abide Osaka, a body of joyful Christian believers of all nationalities. We really enjoyed jumping into ministry where we could, and getting to know the believers’ unique stories. With our limited knowledge of Japanese, we also tried our best to converse in their language, though we are still at the beginning stages of our comprehension! They were always very gracious and happy to help teach us new phrases here and there.\nWe were able to attend the different bible studies they had every week and got to serve in childcare every Sunday. What a learning experience that was! Japanese children are raised to be very independent from a young age and so we encountered a few things that we weren’t used to in our American culture. One little kid who was hanging out in the children’s room suddenly got up mid-service, took his backpack, and walked out to take himself to a test he was scheduled for that day! We didn’t know what was happening at first so we thought we had lost a kid under our watch on our very first Sunday haha.\nGoodbye for Now\nIt was such a blessing to be able to go to Osaka, Japan for an extended time and learn more about the culture, make new friends, experience the beautiful church body of CC Abide Osaka, and learn under Pastor Joseph Totsis and his wife Amy. We also enjoyed being with our dear friends Jeff and Alishia Root again who moved to Osaka as missionaries last year during our first trip!\nBy the time we had to leave Japan, we finally felt like we had gotten used to where we were and were sad to leave Abide. But where we came with many questions, we ended up leaving with such assuring clarity from the Lord. We are excited to move forward in preparing to move to Japan as SGWM missionaries. More on that in the next newsletter!\nWe hope you enjoyed watching our 2 videos and through them were able to feel a little bit more a part of what’s going on in Osaka. Thank you so much for reading this update from us, we are really blessed to share with you what the Lord is doing in our lives! We are so grateful for your love and support.\nSincerely,\nGeoff \u0026amp; Lydia\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2025/07/16/3-months-in-japan/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHi family and friends!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s been a few months since our vision trip to Japan and we wanted to show you how the trip went and talk about some things the Lord spoke to us while we were there. In this first newsletter, we want to give more of a general recap of our time and some experiences. But in our next newsletter, we want to go a bit deeper and share some things the Lord put on our hearts while we were there, and explain why we feel called to be missionaries in Japan.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"3 Months in Japan"},{"content":"Dear friends and family,\nA roller coaster of events have happened in the past few months and we are learning to trust God through it all. James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” As Christians, when unfortunate circumstances come our way we can still thank God through them as they can be used to grow us in endurance and our trust in God. There is so much hope for the believer because they know God is sovereign over everything, so no matter what happens He still holds them in His Hands! These truths have brought us great peace in the few past months leading up to our vision trip to Japan.\nCar Trouble \u0026amp; A Halloween Outreach\nIt was October 31st when I (Lydia) woke up to take Geoff to work as I usually did most mornings. Just like any day, I returned home to park our car on the street, went inside, and finished getting ready for the day. Less than 2 hours later I went back outside to drive myself to work, but to my surprise the car was gone! Nothing but a few shards of glass lay in its place.\nI couldn’t believe this was happening! I called the police immediately and then Geoff to tell him what happened. They both came about 45 minutes later and the policewoman took a report. Geoff and I went back inside to pray after she notified us they were searching for the car.\nSoon, the shock of the event transitioned into acceptance and we decided it was time to move on with our day as we waited to hear back from the police. That evening we had a Halloween outreach we had to prepare for so I went to work and then later we showed up to the outreach to help set up. Our church puts on “front yard parties” where some of our church members open up their front yards to host a night of games, candy prizes, hot dogs, popcorn, and most importantly it’s a time to evangelize! We hand out tracks, church invites, and have gospel conversations with the families that come through. Geoff and I encountered some bold tween girls who asked the tough questions! We praise God for their curiosity about Christianity and for the wisdom He gave us as we spent time dialoguing with them about the Bible.\nIt was amazing because in the middle of that evening, Geoff got a call from the police and they notified him that they had retrieved the car! Praise God that within 12 hours our car was found!\nOur Trip to CBI Kauai\nAs we mentioned in our last update, we got an opportunity to go to the CBI (Calvary Bible Institute) in Hawaii. Well, only a few days after the car incident we found ourselves on a plane headed to the island of Kauai! It was there that we spent a few days filming our pastor’s block class, “The Purpose of the Church.” Thankfully, we experienced little to no technical difficulties during the filming process! Praise God!\nAside from the filming, it was super fun meeting some of the CBI students, some of the staff, and of course getting to see a few sights of Kauai! We are so grateful for that experience and to everyone who welcomed and hosted us.\nTheft \u0026amp; Thanksgiving!\nWell, apparently we weren’t out of the woods yet because a week after we returned from Hawaii, Geoff’s driver’s license and passport got stolen! The enemy was definitely trying to throw many darts of hindrances at us as we entered the busy holiday season! But despite the inconveniences, we kept moving forward and the Lord brought us so much support through our church family as well. We are so grateful for them all!\nSpeaking of gratitude, we were able to serve at our church’s “Thanksgiving Feast” that they put on every year. As you can imagine, it was a wonderful time of fellowship, great food, and thanksgiving as we entered the holiday season. Geoff was in charge of setting up the soundboard and stage at the venue for the worship team. It was a great night and we were grateful for a time to thank the Lord together as a church.\n1 Year Married!\nChristmas was also a wonderful time and we were able to see both our families that week! It was also a very restful time for us which we were grateful for. Then New Year’s came around the corner and we celebrated our 1-Year anniversary on January 6th! What a first year it’s been! We are so grateful for the life God has given us and even more grateful to be able to go through it all together.\nThank you so much to everyone who has come behind us in prayer and support, we have felt your love so much this past year. As we wrap up this overdue update, we wanted to share with you a little highlight video of some of the events we shared with you in this written portion. We hope you enjoy and look forward to sharing more in the near future!\nhttps://youtu.be/TSot6rrfjPY?si=RW_W8ilQx-JIuatg\nAgain, we are so grateful to you all for your care and support as we seek to be used in God’s call to reach those who have never heard the gospel.\nSincerely,\nGeoff \u0026amp; Lydia\nPraise Reports:\nThe “Purpose of the Church” class recording in Hawaii went very well! Our car was found and returned to us within 12 hours of it being stolen! We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving \u0026amp; Christmas with both our families! We celebrated 1 year of marriage! We were able to get Geoff’s driver’s license and passport replaced in about a month and a half Prayer Requests:\nPray that Geoff would be able to finish editing the POTC videos well (it’s an 80-hour project). Pray that we would grow in our relationship with God and in our relationship with each other. Pray for our 3-month vision trip to Japan; that the Lord would show us clearly whether He would have us planted there as missionaries. Also that we would be good learners and servants as we get plugged into ministry at Calvary Abide Osaka. ","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2025/01/14/someone-stole-our-car-and-we-went-to-hawaii/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDear friends and family,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA roller coaster of events have happened in the past few months and we are learning to trust God through it all. James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” As Christians, when unfortunate circumstances come our way we can still thank God through them as they can be used to grow us in endurance and our trust in God. There is so much hope for the believer because they know God is sovereign over everything, so no matter what happens He still holds them in His Hands! These truths have brought us great peace in the few past months leading up to our vision trip to Japan.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Someone Stole Our Car and We Went to Hawaii"},{"content":"Dear friends \u0026amp; family,\nDo you ever fall into a rough cycle of trying to do the right things but end up falling short each time? So often as humans, we naturally want to take it upon our own strength and ability to go through life and accomplish what we need to. But the truth is so much less burdensome than this way of life. Jesus beckons us to come to Him like little children, understanding our need for utter dependency on Him. This teaching is what I always come back to (Matthew 11:25-30). The truth is that the more we depend on our own strength and “wisdom,” the further we go from God. But when we approach God eagerly with a child-like heart, understanding our great need for Him, it is to that kind of person the Lord reveals Himself.\nThese truths have been particularly speaking to mine and Geoff’s heart lately. Because as we have each grown out of childhood, have gotten married, and have begun a new life together with all kinds of new responsibilities, it is more natural to learn how to become “self-sufficient” rather than become dependent on God like a child. Afterall, aren’t all those typical steps of growing up moving you towards being an independent unit?\nYet as we put in the work for our new independent family, there must be a constant recognition of our utter need for God, otherwise we will find ourselves drifting further away from the One we were created for. Everything we have is ultimately from Him, even down to our functioning hands which allow us to work. Praise God He is our Provider and He has never let us down! When we look to our own frail capabilities or circumstances, there is anxiety. When we look to Him as a child trusts their providing father, there is peace.\nSo we write this newsletter full of gratitude in our hearts to our good Father, His gracious ways, and to all of you who He has brought into our lives. We have felt so loved by you and are grateful for your partnership in our lives thus far. May you be reminded and encouraged by these grace-filled truths of God as we have been.\nLife Updates:\nAs we enter a new year of SGWM’s Missions Training School in late October, we will resume our biblical studies and cross-cultural training. Geoff has been progressing in his videography course as well, and has begun a few exciting video projects with more to come. It is amazing to see the Lord bringing different opportunities to Geoff and I’m excited to see how the Lord uses this gift for His kingdom.\nSpeaking of which, we were recently asked to go to Hawaii to film a class at the bible college in Kauai (CBI Kauai)! Our pastor here at CC Saving Grace, Trent Douglass, will be teaching his “Purpose of the Church” block class there in November and he asked Geoff to film and edit the teaching into video classes. Please pray for a smooth recording process and for Geoff to have a peaceful and clear mind as he takes this project on. We are so excited to meet the students there who are interested in missions and to see a bit of Hawaii too of course! We will be there November 3-7.\nFinally, an update on our Japan vision tour. We are excited to spend about 3 months in Japan in the upcoming year! This will be an extended time of seeking the Lord for confirmation of our calling, a time of prayer over the country, a time of fellowship with the Japanese believers, and a time to get a better understanding of what living there would truly be like. We will get more connected with Abide Osaka church and see more of what ministry looks like there. We have hearts ready to serve however we can, but also desire to get to know the church, missionaries, and way of life first so we don’t overstep as newcomers. We will be in Osaka, Japan from January 16th to April 4th, 2025.\nWe praise God for this opportunity! Pray that He would speak to us clearly while we’re there and that the Holy Spirit would guide us and provide divine appointments in Japan. We’re also so excited to see our friends Jeff \u0026amp; Alishia Root again, who we went with to Japan earlier this year when they were planted in Osaka as SGWM missionaries! Pray the Lord reveals His will for more of us to join their team in Japan.\nThank you so much for reading another one of our updates! We really appreciate your prayers, encouragement, financial support, and email responses! We feel so loved by your care! May God bless you abundantly for your kingdom partnership. Until next time!\nSincerely,\nGeoff \u0026amp; Lydia\nA few moments from the last month📸:\nPraise Reports:\nGod is so good and gracious, the only One we can fully depend on! We get to visit CBI Kauai and film Trent’s “Purpose of the Church” block class. God provided the temporary housing we needed for the 2 months leading up to our Japan vision tour (thank you Gerry \u0026amp; Becca!\u0026lt;3) We’re going back to Osaka, Japan for an extended vision trip! God is providing more opportunities for Geoff to grow his skill and passion for videography! Lydia is growing more in her understanding of the Japanese language through both her 1-on-1 training with Mirei and independent study. Prayer Requests:\nPray for a smooth filming process of Trent’s class at CBI Kauai and that God would continue to speak to the students through those teachings. Pray the Lord would raise up and send more laborers to Japan, a very spiritually dry country in need of the hope of the gospel! Pray that we would keep depending on the Lord for strength and endurance as we enter another rigorous year of MTS. Pray for our personal times with the Lord, that our love for God would grow and He would teach us more about Himself. ","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2024/10/16/theres-peace-in-dependency/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDear friends \u0026amp; family,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDo you ever fall into a rough cycle of trying to do the right things but end up falling short each time?  So often as humans, we naturally want to take it upon our own strength and ability to go through life and accomplish what we need to. But the truth is so much less burdensome than this way of life. Jesus beckons us to come to Him like little children, understanding our need for utter dependency on Him. This teaching is what I always come back to (Matthew 11:25-30). The truth is that the more we depend on our own strength and “wisdom,” the further we go from God. But when we approach God eagerly with a child-like heart, understanding our great need for Him, it is to that kind of person the Lord reveals Himself.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"There's Peace in Dependency"},{"content":"Dear friends and family,\nWe hope each of you have been having a good summer so far! Geoff and I have been so grateful for this past month because it gave us a chance to step back, rest, reset, and set out new goals to run after together.\nStepping Back In the second week of July we were blessed to go on our postponed honeymoon and went up to the beautiful coast of central California. After a 6-hour road trip we arrived at the charming little town of Carmel-by-the-sea. It was full of good food, art galleries, tea shops, bookstores, and little gardens tucked away behind ivy and cobblestone.\nWe had a wonderful time there and even drove up to the Santa Cruz forests to do a fun zipline and rope course in the sequoias. The scenery was absolutely stunning and we really enjoyed getting to have both a beach and forest vacation in one trip!\nA few weeks following our honeymoon we drove down south to visit my (Lydia’s) family in Mexico for a week. We loved being back in Rosarito and had a restful time there as well as we hung out with family, ate tacos, and enjoyed the beautiful weather!\nWhile in Mexico we were also able to attend Calvary Rosarito’s annual church planting conference. It was amazing to witness the work God is doing in Mexico and beyond, and we got to see several new church planters sent out at the conference this year! God is raising up leaders young and old who are willing to be used by Him to reach the world with the gospel. One of the couples who was sent out to plant a church this year was almost in their 70’s! What an encouraging reminder that it\u0026rsquo;s never too late to be called and used by God in His Great Commission!\nPressing Forward As the summer is coming to an end, we have been praying through next steps the Lord is leading us to take. We believe it\u0026rsquo;s time to prepare to go back to Japan for an extended trip of 3 months. During the trip, our heart is to seek the Lord for confirmation of our long-term calling there, to get a better glimpse of what it would be like to live and serve there, to learn under the missionaries there, and to come alongside Abide Osaka church anyway that we can. We don\u0026rsquo;t know exactly what the Lord has in store, but we are excited and open to however the Lord would lead and use us for His kingdom. We will update you all on the travel dates in our next newsletter.\nUntil the trip, we will continue to be equipped through SGWM\u0026rsquo;s Missions Training School (MTS) here in Yorba Linda, California. Lydia will be carrying on with her job at SGWM as an administrative assistant, as well as continue on in her weekly Japanese lessons.\nAs I (Geoff) go on in my studies through the Bible and MTS, I have enrolled into a videography course looking to learn how to potentially build my own business. My heart for the possible business venture is to create videos that allow viewers to see mission work and life as a missionary (while also taking clients for event photography). While I am still new to learning the skill as a videographer, there is something about being able to take a moment the Lord has moved and capture it for others to be blessed by it. I hope to bring a new way of updates to you guys very soon as we progress into the next steps of our journey.\nThank you once again for reading another one of our updates and for partnering with us. Your love and care mean truly so much to us. Let us know how we can be praying for you as well!\nUntil next time,\nGeoff \u0026amp; Lydia\nPrayer Requests:\nPlease pray we would have renewed strength and a fresh fire within us as we continue serving and being equipped here at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace Please pray for God\u0026rsquo;s guidance \u0026amp; provision as we prepare for the Japan trip Please pray with us as we are in need of short-term housing for November \u0026amp; December Please pray that our hearts would be open and surrendered before the Lord each day ","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2024/08/21/stepping-back-and-pressing-forward/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDear friends and family,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe hope each of you have been having a good summer so far! Geoff and I have been so grateful for this past month because it gave us a chance to step back, rest, reset, and set out new goals to run after together.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"stepping-back\"\u003eStepping Back\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the second week of July we were blessed to go on our postponed honeymoon and went up to the beautiful coast of central California. After a 6-hour road trip we arrived at the charming little town of Carmel-by-the-sea. It was full of good food, art galleries, tea shops, bookstores, and little gardens tucked away behind ivy and cobblestone.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Stepping Back and Pressing Forward"},{"content":"Hello again friends \u0026amp; family!\nThe Summer is upon us bringing lots of great fellowship through many celebrations \u0026amp; ministry opportunities! Let us share with you a few of the things we’ve been up to this past month.\nCCA West Coast Pastors’ \u0026amp; Leaders’ Conference\nThe first week of June brought us right into a 3-day pastors’ and leaders’ conference held at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs. This was a refreshing conference where we were able to hear great messages and meet great people! Something I (Lydia) love about these conferences is how they really bring the Body of Christ together, whether you know the person sitting next to you or not! There is a beautiful unity within the global church, knitting our hearts together. It was a blessing to meet a few people at the conference and get to encourage one another in our ministries and spiritual walks.\nMissionary Dessert Gathering\nThe following Sunday our church held a “dessert gathering” for one of our missionary families who serve in North Africa. At a dessert gathering, we get to enjoy fellowship and dessert while the missionaries share about their past year of ministry. It is always so encouraging to hear their stories about how the Lord has been so faithful.\nOne thing that the missionary shared that spoke to our hearts was on the topic of dependency on God. Being in such an isolated part of the world as far Christian community, the missionary said that it has forced him to learn how to depend on the Lord even more. But what has really helped grow him in his dependency on God has been reading the Scriptures. He said, “The more I read about who God is in His Word, the more I realize how utterly needy I am of Him.” This is so true, and his words really spurred in our hearts a greater desire to maintain that awe of God and dependency upon Him by reading the Word.\nVBS 2024!\nA big highlight of the month was definitely VBS (Vacation Bible School)! All the volunteers who helped make it happen were so talented and we loved seeing how much the kids enjoyed everything. Geoff and I got to run sound and media for the week; it’s always a blessing to get to serve together at these events. VBS takes a ton of work to put on but is always equally a ton of fun! Geoff made a VBS 2024 recap video if you want to check it out here.\nA Quick Trip to Mexico!\nWell, we finished off the month with a fun weekend trip to Rosarito, Mexico! We went down to visit Lydia’s family, attend her brother’s high school graduation, and celebrate her sister’s 20th birthday! It was a packed weekend but we were so grateful to be able to go and celebrate with everyone.\nLydia’s family is going to be coming up to Yorba Linda soon to have a big BBQ and share with everyone about their past year of ministry in Mexico as missionaries. You are all invited! It will be July 13th at 2:00-6:00 P.M. If you are interested in joining, feel free to reply to this email and we can send you the address of the gathering!\nOther New Things!\nFor the past 2 months I (Lydia) have been able to be tutored in Japanese by one of the friends we met during our trip to Japan. I have gotten to meet weekly with Mirei and learn many new phrases that will be helpful to know in everyday life. It’s been a blessing for me to learn under Mirei as well as grow in friendship!\nI have also been leading a 1-on-1 weekly bible study with a friend at church for the past 2 months, which has been such a joy! We’ve been slowly going through the book of John together, with a focus on learning more of who God is. This has been so wonderful, to reason through the Scriptures together and grow more in love with who God is.\nMeanwhile, I (Geoff) have been continuing to grow the booth ministry (lyrics, livestream, and soundboard) at our church. We are creating training videos for both livestream and the soundboard which will be helpful as we bring new people on to the team. I have also been able to continue using my passion for photography and take a lot of photos for church events.\nThank You for Reading\nWe are so grateful to you for taking the time to read another one of our updates. Thank you to all who have been supporting us in prayer as well as finances. Your support and partnership truly means so to us! We are excited to update you on how the Lord leads next. We would greatly appreciate your prayers in the following:\nFor a possible upcoming 3-month vision trip to Japan: That God would keep opening the doors and confirm this next step if it\u0026rsquo;s His will. For our marriage: That we keep learning how to better encourage and support one another, and that we would grow in our love for the Lord together. For Lydia’s discipleship with her friend: That the Lord would continue to give her wisdom in answering her friend’s questions about God. For Geoff: That he would grow in the Lord and in leadership over the booth ministry and that he would grow ever closer in relationship in the Lord. Sincerely,\nGeoff \u0026amp; Lydia Hamano\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2024/07/06/the-joy-of-fellowship/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHello again friends \u0026amp; family!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Summer is upon us bringing lots of great fellowship through many celebrations \u0026amp; ministry opportunities! Let us share with you a few of the things we’ve been up to this past month.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCCA West Coast Pastors’ \u0026amp; Leaders’ Conference\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first week of June brought us right into a 3-day pastors’ and leaders’ conference held at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs. This was a refreshing conference where we were able to hear great messages and meet great people! Something I (Lydia) love about these conferences is how they really bring the Body of Christ together, whether you know the person sitting next to you or not! There is a beautiful unity within the global church, knitting our hearts together. It was a blessing to meet a few people at the conference and get to encourage one another in our ministries and spiritual walks.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Joy of Fellowship"},{"content":"Dear friends and family,\nIt’s been a whirlwind of events as usual and we’re sorry we couldn’t get this update out to you sooner, but we’re excited to finally share about our trip to Japan! We were there for about 8 full days and were thrilled to finally be able to see and experience the country we have been praying over. As I (Lydia) write this, it doesn’t even feel real that we were actually there on the other side of the world! But now we will share some of our main moments with you. :)\nLanding in Tokyo As we stepped off our 15 ½ hour flight, we stretched out our legs and eagerly hurried to meet our friends Jeff and Alishia Root. The Roots had arrived a few days earlier with some of our other team members attending this trip. I (Lydia) had met Jeff and Alishia when we attended the Calvary School of Missions program together back in 2020. They were the ones who first stirred my heart for the spiritual needs in Japan and they have been preparing to move to Japan as long-term missionaries for the past 6 years. And as of January 2024, the Lord has officially planted them there!\nWe were so happy to greet them in their new home of Japan and once we got our train passes we went straight to dinner with them at a yakitori restaurant in Tokyo. We were immediately immersed in the smells of the winter air, sizzling meat, and cigarette smoke permeating the restaurant. Sitting around the table we shared stories of our trip and went over the agenda for the next few days.\nAfterwards we met up with the rest of our team and headed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo. We went up to the top floor to see the beautiful city night life. Here, the Lord spoke to me (Geoff) of the needs of all the people through the lit-up city lights. There were what seemed to be thousands of red lights on top of all the skyscrapers. My heart felt burdened as each red dot symbolized to me a spiritual need blaring from the countless tall structures. As we continued into our next few days, we had the opportunity to speak with a few of the missionaries there who had great insight on how ministry is and how the people react to the gospel.\nMinistry in Japan There were some hard truths we had to listen to, such as Japan is a very hard place to do ministry. The Japanese people are very engraved with their family heritage and that also means religion. If I could sum it up in one sentence I would say, Japan\u0026rsquo;s soil is very spiritually dry. But as we continued with our journey to Osaka, we began to see that the Lord is on the move in Japan. Meeting up with our main contacts Joseph and Amy who run Abide Osaka church, we were able to meet a lot of people and Lydia was able to even attend a women’s study. It was amazing to see how the gospel can truly change anyone, to the point where it felt like night and day with the Japanese people who have been converted to Christ.\nIt was such a blessing for me (Lydia) to join Abide’s women\u0026rsquo;s bible study for a day! Amy is such a wonderful bible teacher and it was such a joy to fellowship with the other women afterwards. One lady I met was named Keiko. She was very kind and told me of her experience studying English abroad in her younger days and she shared a bit about her family too. We are both praying over unsaved relatives and the Lord gave me a Scripture passage to share with her. Luke 18:1-8 has always been an encouragement to me to keep praying for my unsaved relatives and to not give up.\n“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”\nLuke 18:1\nBefore parting ways, Keiko wanted to give me one of the evangelism bracelets she carries around in her purse wherever she goes. It has a Japanese explanation of the symbolism behind each color bead telling the message of the gospel. It would be so amazing to take part in sharing the gospel in Japanese. I am currently taking Japanese lessons now but I have a long way to go!\nPrayer Walk in Tokyo A final experience in Japan we want to share with you is one of the prayer walks our team went on during the trip. This was very impactful to us as we walked around a park in Tokyo where they had various shrines that people would go up to, bow, pray, and some offer money. Most Japanese don’t really believe in the religion of Buddhism/Shintoism but they continue to do its religious practices for the sake of family tradition. Their loyalty is very strong and it would be extremely shameful if an individual left their family religion. They typically view Christianity as a “western ideology” rather than a possibility of truth. So despite the religious freedom in Japan, most Japanese are very closed off to the gospel. Please join us in praying for the people of Japan as there is a great spiritual stronghold over this country.\nSo, Are We Called to Japan? As we have had a lot of time to process our trip and pray through it, we don’t believe God has confirmed to us a “yes” or “no” to serving in Japan. Rather we both felt the Lord telling us, “wait.” Though we both have a burdened heart for the Japanese, we believe God hasn’t called us to go yet, or make serious moves towards going. Instead He has called us to be faithful where we are at. Though it is difficult sometimes to not know for sure where or when we are going to serve long-term, we trust God with the process.\nWe will be staying in Yorba Linda for the time being, continuing our missionary training with SGWM and serving with CC Saving Grace. Geoff has taken on a leadership role this year in the sound/media ministry and has been blessed to train up more servants for that ministry. I (Lydia) continue to work in the SGWM office as an admin assistant as well as continue to grow in discipling other women at church. I love this amazing life God has given us and am so excited for what God is doing in this season!\nGeoff and I are so grateful for all of your support as we pursue what God has called us to. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this newsletter and keeping us in your prayers. We look forward to sharing with you what God does next!\nSincerely,\nGeoff \u0026amp; Lydia\nMore photos! :) ","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2024/05/30/darkness-in-the-land-of-the-rising-sun/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDear friends and family,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s been a whirlwind of events as usual and we’re sorry we couldn’t get this update out to you sooner, but we’re excited to finally share about our trip to Japan! We were there for about 8 full days and were thrilled to finally be able to see and experience the country we have been praying over. As I (Lydia) write this, it doesn’t even feel real that we were actually there on the other side of the world! But now we will share some of our main moments with you. :)\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Darkness in the Land of the Rising Sun"},{"content":"Hello dear family and friends,\nWhat an incredible month it has been! As many of you know, our 2024 started off with our wedding on January 6th. Praise the Lord! We write this letter to you with hearts full and immensely blessed by God’s goodness. Thank you to all who were able to come celebrate our wedding with us, we felt so loved and supported by each one of you. And to all the people who helped set up, serve, and manage our wedding, we can’t thank you enough!!\nThe wedding day turned out better than either of us could have imagined and the Lord even answered our prayers for good weather! As we’ve entered a bit of a cold, rainy season here, the sun, the warmer temperature, and the stunning sunset that came on our wedding day were all such sweet gifts from the Lord.\nGeoff and I (Lydia) have been enjoying our new life as a married couple and have already been growing together so much, thank you to all who have lifted us up in prayer. The month of January was spent resting, serving at church, working, and moving into our new place in Yorba Linda. We are so grateful and in awe of how the Lord has provided for all of our needs and more.\nAt the end of January, Geoff and I were able to help serve in a women’s conference at our church by running the media/sound booth. It was such a blessing to serve together and the conference was so powerful and ministered to each woman.\nAnother very exciting thing we can share is that as we closed out the first month of 2024, we went on our vision tour to Japan! We were there from January 30th-February 9th with a team from our church. A vision tour is a trip where you go to a country you feel the Lord may be calling to serve in as a missionary for the purpose of seeking the Lord in confirming that calling.\nAs many of you know, we have a heart for the country of Japan where suicide rates are extremely high and less than 2% of the entire population are Christian. We were grateful to be able to pray for Japan, visit a few churches, and meet with different missionaries while we were there.\nThank you to all who financially supported our trip to Japan, we are so blessed by your generosity and love. Stay tuned for our next update all about our trip! Thank you for your prayers and support.\nSincerely,\nGeoff \u0026amp; Lydia\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2024/02/16/newly-weds/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHello dear family and friends,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat an incredible month it has been! As many of you know, our 2024 started off with our wedding on January 6th. Praise the Lord! We write this letter to you with hearts full and immensely blessed by God’s goodness. Thank you to all who were able to come celebrate our wedding with us, we felt so loved and supported by each one of you. And to all the people who helped set up, serve, and manage our wedding, we can’t thank you enough!!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Newly Weds!"},{"content":" Geoff and Lydia Hamano are a young couple with a heart to serve the Lord and bring others into relationship with Him. They are called to serve longterm as cross-cultural missionaries and are being trained up through Saving Grace World Missions (SGWM), a missionary sending agency based in Southern California. Geoff and Lydia have a heart for Japan where less than 2% of the entire population are Christian. As they prepare to be sent out, they continue in Japanese learning and train in SGWM’s Missions Training School.\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/about/","summary":"\u003cfigure\u003e\n    \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/hamano/wp-content/uploads/sites/147/2025/09/DSC3328.jpg\"/\u003e \n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGeoff and Lydia Hamano are a young couple with a heart to serve the Lord and bring others into relationship with Him. They are called to serve longterm as cross-cultural missionaries and are being trained up through Saving Grace World Missions (SGWM), a missionary sending agency based in Southern California. Geoff and Lydia have a heart for Japan where less than 2% of the entire population are Christian. As they prepare to be sent out, they continue in Japanese learning and train in SGWM’s Missions Training School.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"About"},{"content":"","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/gallery/","summary":"","title":"Gallery"},{"content":"","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/blogupdates/","summary":"","title":"Our SGWM Updates"},{"content":"Ministry: https://youtu.be/qtJPJx9sSbs\nPersonal Life: https://youtu.be/TSot6rrfjPY\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/videos/","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"ministry\"\u003eMinistry:\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/qtJPJx9sSbs\"\u003ehttps://youtu.be/qtJPJx9sSbs\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"personal-life\"\u003ePersonal Life:\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/TSot6rrfjPY\"\u003ehttps://youtu.be/TSot6rrfjPY\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Videos"},{"content":"Dear friends and family,\nI often question myself wondering, will I ever go on the field? Will I be able to complete the call the Lord has placed on my life? Well, we are getting one step closer to that goal of going to Japan. First let me start with some life updates: Lydia and I finally have a date for our wedding, I got a new job at St. Jude Hospital, and we are going on a vision tour!\nI’M GETTING MARRIED!\nWe are getting married on January 6th of next year, only a month away! It’s been stressful getting prepared for the big day. To balance our school at our church, plus job, and preparing for a vision tour has been a lot to handle. Through it all we have amazing friends and family helping us every step of the way. I am so blessed by each and every one of you who helped us get to the place we are right now.\nNEW JOB!\nI am still working at Starbucks for two days, but I have begun working as an administrator for the radiology department at St Jude. I’ve learned so much already and the doctors have taken me under their wings and helped me to understand all the medical terms to succeed at my job. Typically, my job consists of sending out results to other doctors’ offices and taking calls. I find that the job has allowed me to connect to others in a way I couldn’t before at Starbucks due to the fast-paced environment there.\nNEW YEAR NEW CHAPTERS\nThe internship is now progressing into missions training School. When I say school from here on, I mean the missions training I am doing in the church. For this new year I am overseeing the booth ministry. I will be looking to work myself out of the job if you will. My prayer is that I can take the things I’ve been given and give them to other people. The pastors have given me so much opportunity to grow in leadership. I am so thankful for the leadership’s heart wanting to see me grow in Christ.\nNext, I am beginning the hard road of learning language and continuing my studies in the Scriptures. Lydia and I are going to be using an online program called “Japanese Pod 101,” it’s a program that works you through modules of Japanese. I have to be honest I am quite intimidated by learning Japanese, I barely learned English, and I am taking on another language. It’s quite daunting to say the least.\nNew Things Same Calling\nAnd finally, the Japan trip. We will be going for a week at the end of January. It isn’t a very long time but the prayer is that it is only the start. Our goal there is to go and see the land that the Lord has called us to and get solid confirmation. We are looking to also grow relationships there as well. We have a few connections in Osaka. We hope to partner with them as well a possible connection in Okinawa. We hope to get a taste of the culture and learn how we can be planted there.\nIn conclusion, there is so much opportunity the Lord has given to be trained up and to prepare to be sent out. Please be praying for Lydia and me as we prepare for a new chapter in our lives and continue in the school that the Lord would allow us to grow in His ways and be sent out.\nThank you for all your support and prayers, we couldn’t do it without each of you. You guys are such a blessing.\nGeoff Hamano\nPrayer requests:\nTo grow in relationship with the Lord To be fully funded for the Japan trip To learn the Japanese language well ","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2023/11/22/a-day-weve-all-been-waiting-for/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDear friends and family,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI often question myself wondering, will I ever go on the field? Will I be able to complete the call the Lord has placed on my life? Well, we are getting one step closer to that goal of going to Japan. First let me start with some life updates: Lydia and I finally have a date for our wedding, I got a new job at St. Jude Hospital, and we are going on a vision tour!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"A Day We've All Been Waiting For"},{"content":"","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/give/","summary":"","title":"Give"},{"content":"Dear friends and family,\nFrom finding a place to live to become an intern at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace, the past couple of months have been such a whirlwind. The process of finding a place to stay has been a challenge to trust and have faith. For the past 12 years, I’ve lived in Santa Ana with my parents. Like an eaglet preparing to leave the nest, a young child must find the time to go discover the Lord’s calling in their life, and this was mine.\nGod\u0026rsquo;s Calling:\nMy parents moved an hour away from Saving Grace. Coming back from the School of Missions, I moved in with them and began a job at Starbucks near the church. It was just the beginning of how God started to work out the plan He had in store. The commute was challenging and frustrating initially, as I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to work on time. But the Lord is so sovereign. He has shown me grace through the challenge to \u0026ldquo;come and follow me.\u0026rdquo; A couple of weeks passed, and the internship was right around the corner. Yet, I still had no place to stay. I was beginning to lose hope that the Lord would provide, and maybe He was asking me to lay down my right of comfort. Then God came through. At the start of the second week of September, Pastor Tim (the Internship Pastor) gave me a call saying there was an affordable place to stay that was five minutes away from the church. I couldn\u0026rsquo;t believe it! We met up with a very suitable lady who was a God-fearing woman and hospitable. Our meeting went very well. I ended up moving in that Thursday. What a blessing she is. I am now ten minutes away from my work, and five minutes away from the church I intern from. God is such a provider! It reminds me of the verse, Romans 8:28, \u0026ldquo;And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.\u0026rdquo; What a great way to see God\u0026rsquo;s provision when we walk with Him.\nA continued call:\nThe Calvary School of Missions was so moving and had lit a fire within my heart, prompting me towards the call of becoming a missionary. But at this moment, I feel ill-equipped to teach the gospel, and that\u0026rsquo;s exactly what the internship offers to remedy. I’m going through the internship as a student-leader; a student coming first, for I must learn to teach and apply the Bible first in my own life, then lead others in the knowledge. As an intern, we are given many tasks. One of the assignments we are required to perform is to read through a book. The latest book we\u0026rsquo;ve read was about the life of John Calvin. He talked about learning and applying one’s very own message to their own life before a single word is uttered to the congregation. As I leaped into scholar’s shoes, I learned more of the true weight of being a pioneer pastor in reaching the nations within the 10/40 window. Another part of the internship that has been challenging has been the outreaches and evangelizing. I often wonder to myself, “am I doing it correctly?\u0026quot; But the Lord has been reminding me that we are saved by grace and grace alone. We cannot do anything that will even come close to paying the cost for our sin. Why fear? Praise be to the Lord for bringing others to Him on His timing.\nWhat is next?\nWhat is next for my journey in this incredible calling as a missionary? I have been praying recently for direction in where I should go, and initially, I thought it should be Ukraine. However, as much as I’ve loved Ukraine, I don’t see the need to plant yet another church there. In Ukraine, 71% of the population is Christian, however, in Japan, only about 1.5% is. As it says in Acts, we are to go into the world and make disciples, for this is the great commission. I aim to become a pastor as a missionary and plant a church within Japan. Dear reader, I would love to ask you to pray alongside me as I want to do the will of God more than my own. In 2 Timothy 2:8-9, Paul talks about remembering Christ Jesus being raised from the dead, and this is the gospel we preach as missionaries. He goes on to say for which I (Paul) suffer many tribulations even to the point of chains. But the gospel is not chained. This means the gospel is the truth that will set the oppressed free. As I begin to learn the culture, I ask again for prayer to gain wisdom that will allow me to endure and steward this calling well.\nThank you for all your support and prayers.\nGeoff\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2022/01/06/and-we-are-back/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDear friends and family,\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom finding a place to live to become an intern at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace, the past couple of months have been such a whirlwind. The process of finding a place to stay has been a challenge to trust and have faith. For the past 12 years, I’ve lived in Santa Ana with my parents. Like an eaglet preparing to leave the nest, a young child must find the time to go discover the Lord’s calling in their life, and this was mine.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"And we are back"},{"content":"The final week is here, and the call is real. Looking back at the last few years, I realize that they\u0026rsquo;ve been pretty tough. I have been struggling with the question: \u0026ldquo;what is my calling?\u0026rdquo; Trying to figure out if going to school was the right choice or not. While trying college out, I had to take the placement test three times, resulting in low scores. Coming from a place where I was used to getting higher grades, that was a hard pill to swallow. The experience just felt so out of place; depression soon after. I ended up completing only one semester of school. Then, feeling there was a different calling in my life, I searched for other opportunities. Upon discovering YWAM (Youth with a Mission), I saw it as a calling from the Lord. I applied immediately and got in; the Lord directed me to Louisville, Kentucky. I didn\u0026rsquo;t know what the Lord had in store for me initially, but He showed me there is such rich soil for those ready to be sent out.\nThat leads us to where I am now, here in Mexico. The Father has shown me that I have a long road ahead of me before becoming a missionary. Through this trip, the Lord has placed and started developing a love for the Bible in me like never before. Coming here and seeing all the church plants that have come out of one church has been breathtaking. Calvary Chapel Rosarito now has thirty churches sent out from their hub. Isn\u0026rsquo;t that crazy?? What work the Lord is doing down here!\nThe teachings we have been receiving have been excellent. One of my favorites was a couple from South Africa. They work with Muslims, reaching them through apologetics and sports. Day-to-day conversations are such a great opportunity to show God\u0026rsquo;s love and share the gospel in a way that anyone can understand. The way they use the gospel to challenge and speak truth into one\u0026rsquo;s life is a concept I am excited to learn more about moving forward. And their testimony of sports showed how being dedicated and persevering is vital traits you need to be a missionary—being able to say no to your flesh while working out to get stronger. We can do that with our spiritual walk; the enemy is constantly looking to destroy us. We must say no to our old self in total surrender.\nI thank God that I have had this experience in what I feel is a jump start into my training to go into the mission field. The Lord has been working in so many ways over the last few years. The incredible journey is just getting started! I would love for you to partner with me financially as I move toward this unbelievable call. If you feel led to support me financially, please click the link below as I still need to pay my tuition. Thank you all for your prayers and tremendous support!!!\nBlessings,\nGeoff\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2021/08/18/a-calling-to-faraway-places/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe final week is here, and the call is real. Looking back at the last few years, I realize that they\u0026rsquo;ve been pretty tough. I have been struggling with the question: \u0026ldquo;what is my calling?\u0026rdquo; Trying to figure out if going to school was the right choice or not. While trying college out, I had to take the placement test three times, resulting in low scores. Coming from a place where I was used to getting higher grades, that was a hard pill to swallow. The experience just felt so out of place; depression soon after. I ended up completing only one semester of school. Then, feeling there was a different calling in my life, I searched for other opportunities. Upon discovering YWAM (Youth with a Mission), I saw it as a calling from the Lord. I applied immediately and got in; the Lord directed me to Louisville, Kentucky. I didn\u0026rsquo;t know what the Lord had in store for me initially, but He showed me there is such rich soil for those ready to be sent out.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"A Calling to faraway places"},{"content":"But if the watchman sees the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword comes, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman\u0026rsquo;s hand. Ezekiel 33:6\nChallenging in maniging\nThis week we focused on cultural differences. In this eye-opening class, we were presented with accounts, scriptures, and personal testimonial evidence of how culture can affect long-term ministries overseas. Feeling the weight of the great commission, I began to realize how true the meaning of Matthew 16:24, \u0026ldquo;deny himself and follow me.\u0026rdquo; is. Over 7,400 people groups have not heard the good news of the gospel. I can not fathom living in a culture without the gospel. The amount of freedom we have living in the states is such a blessing to behold. Our teacher Rob Douglass continued pointing out the comparisons of saving souls to comforts we take for granted in our day-to-day lives. He proposed the question What is truly more important, Others salvations or Starbucks? This class has truly changed my outlook on what missions are as a whole lifestyle, not just a choice to go out for a couple of years.\nHalf or all to the Lord\nWe have reached the halfway point in the school. More and more, I find going to outreaches here in Mexico of missions complex. The challenge of placing the Bible first for evangelizing is a new concept. Yet, the evidence of the Lord moving through others is undeniable. I had the opportunity to preach the word this week. This would be my second time teaching the word. teaching through the story of Joseph; God showed faithfulness through his trials, while from the naked eye, he was having a string of bad luck. The Lord used the message to touch three people there. I am excited to announce they confessed Jesus as their Lord and savor!\nI would take a moment to you all who have been praying for our team to say thank you. The Lord has been so faithful as we continue to sail through these uncharted waters. This past week, we had the opportunity to go to a church plant. The church hasn\u0026rsquo;t been there for about a year, and we had the chance to go out into the neighborhood to invite people. While out, we had many opportunities to evangelize, for most of the natives were catholic. While we were out, one of the translators named Jenny and I went into this items shop to find this older woman selling random nick-nack. We began to invite her to the event we were having later that day. With great excitement, Jenny spotted a bible behind the desk the old lady was sitting behind and began asking her if she knew Jesus. She responded by saying, \u0026ldquo;yes, I do\u0026rdquo; in her native tongue. With delight, we both started to ask what church went to. She said she didn\u0026rsquo;t have a church and was looking for one. We shared the true gospel with her and invited her to the church.\nThis week has been filled with trials and error, Being willing to be placed where the team needs me to be, not where \u0026ldquo;I want to be.\u0026rdquo; It repeatedly seems that the Lord is putting it on my heart to be flexible where I am. Hearing and seeing the Father move has reconfirmed my calling to be a missionary. If you would like to partner with me, please click the link below as we move forward to see what the Lord has for the school and me.\nPraise report!\nI have been able to gain more opportunities to learn the language and speak it to others during our outreaches. We were handing out fliers, and someone taught me a phrase to politely invite them to our event at the church.\nPrayers:\nFor our team to fight against sickness\nfor our team unity\nOne of our team\u0026rsquo;s family members passed away suddenly. Prayer for her walk and strength\nPlease, if you have any prayer requests, I can be praying for you all comment below.\nBlessings,\nGeoff\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2021/08/03/sound-the-trumpet/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBut if the watchman sees the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword comes, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman\u0026rsquo;s hand. Ezekiel 33:6\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\n    \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/hamano/wp-content/uploads/sites/147/2021/08/DSC7417.jpg\"/\u003e \n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eChallenging in maniging\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis week we focused on cultural differences. In this eye-opening class, we were presented with accounts, scriptures, and personal testimonial evidence of how culture can affect long-term ministries overseas. Feeling the weight of the great commission, I began to realize how true the meaning of Matthew 16:24, \u0026ldquo;deny himself and follow me.\u0026rdquo; is. Over 7,400 people groups have not heard the good news of the gospel. I can not fathom living in a culture without the gospel. The amount of freedom we have living in the states is such a blessing to behold. Our teacher Rob Douglass continued pointing out the comparisons of saving souls to comforts we take for granted in our day-to-day lives. He proposed the question What is truly more important, Others salvations or Starbucks? This class has truly changed my outlook on what missions are as a whole lifestyle, not just a choice to go out for a couple of years.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Sound the trumpet"},{"content":" Week three, we have had over 11 people confess faith in Christ. The Lord has blessed our team immensely. While we were evangelizing, the group had an opportunity to talk to a young couple who had an intriguing view of where they were going when they died. They claimed to believe a self-truth where everyone could proclaim their truth. I had the opportunity to discuss their belief, and it was an excellent lesson to teach how to have an open conversation.\nBefore school, I read the book called \u0026ldquo;Tactics\u0026rdquo; by Gregory Kokl. Within the book, it gives the insight to tackle the discussion at hand. Kokl calls it the \u0026ldquo;Colombo tactic.\u0026rdquo; A series of questions you can ask a person to find more information on their beliefs and worldview. Upon knowing this information, I began asking one of the couples what his truth is. He started saying; He didn\u0026rsquo;t care about what he believed. Hearing this reminded me of how many young people today are influenced by outside sources. The couple continued to say they didn\u0026rsquo;t care about what anyone thought as long as they stuck to their beliefs about being a good person. As we continued our conversation, they began to be closed off. However, as Kokl writes, \u0026ldquo;our goal is not to convert them but to place a stone in their shoe.\u0026rdquo;\nAs it was fantastic having the opportunity to evangelize and share the gospel, I couldn\u0026rsquo;t help but feel I was ill-equipped to spread the good news. The enemy can play such mind games in the field as our team goes out and preaches the good news. Through all the struggles in this past week, the Lord has challenged us to put into practice 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 saying, \u0026ldquo;3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.\u0026rdquo;\nIt was such a good reminder always to put my faith in God.\nOn one of our outreaches this last week, we had the opportunity to come alongside Calvary Church Homex to build a playground for the community. We started with a flatbed of land and a dream in the outskirts of Beirut. Upon creating the play equipment, we had a program for the kids and adults. Our theme was \u0026lsquo;Jonah and the whale.\u0026rsquo; I can\u0026rsquo;t describe the feeling I had to have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people in this community! While the week was filled with ups and downs, I am so blessed to be a part of this team. I am so thankful for all of you who take the time to read this very newsletter and interceding for our team. If you haven\u0026rsquo;t already or would like to become a donor towards my tuition, click the link below. If you have any prayer requests, I could join you in prayer. Please comment below as well.\nPrayer requests\nTo find peace in the Lord as I navigate the enemies attacks\ncontinued unity with the team\nlearning the language to be able to communicate with the locals\nBlessings\nGeoff\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2021/07/31/placing-stones-in-peoples-shoes/","summary":"\u003cfigure\u003e\n    \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/hamano/wp-content/uploads/sites/147/2021/07/PHOTO-2021-07-25-11-57-31.jpg\"/\u003e \n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWeek three, we have had over 11 people confess faith in Christ. The Lord has blessed our team immensely. While we were evangelizing, the group had an opportunity to talk to a young couple who had an intriguing view of where they were going when they died. They claimed to believe a self-truth where everyone could proclaim their truth. I had the opportunity to discuss their belief, and it was an excellent lesson to teach how to have an open conversation.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Placing stones in people's shoes"},{"content":"One week down of class, outreaches, and leaving room for Jesus. The Lord has moved in even the last few days. During one of our outreaches, we came alongside Calvary Chapel Vista Del Valle to help in an event for the residence. While we were there, we had an excellent array of kid programs, Games, adult teaching, worship, and evangelizing. In the scorching sun, swiftly, the Lord moved through our team. Once we got to the park, we hit the ground running, playing games and expressing the little knowledge we had of Spanish.\nThe kids were so joyful and energized. We played soccer with the kids while the moms got their nails done. A few of our team got a chance to share the gospel with a group of teens. Unfortunately, they didn\u0026rsquo;t confess to Christ as their Lord. It reminded me about the 10/40 window, where so many people groups have not been reached with the gospel. As the day continued, I had an opportunity to hear a testimony from one of the girls who interns at the Connections House we stayed at. She brought me to tears as she poured out her life story laying out the hard family life she endured. She was abused from a young age. Anger grew as she wondered why a loving God would allow such pain in the world. The Lord soon gave her a chance to leave this life that she was living as she met one of the members of Calvary Chaple and allowed her to accept Jesus as her Lord and savor. She is now serving our team with a beautifully changed heart. Hearing her story reminded me of why I am out here to learn how to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.\nAs this week ended, I was in awe of how the Lord answers prayers and moves in a powerful way. So many times, I tend to see a miracle and think that it was pure coincidence. Yet, over and over again, God comes through in a new way. I have been dealing with a lot of self-isolation during my quiet times. But the Lord is sovereign, and He has me in his hands. over and over again, I see the Lord say through situations and even nature saying, \u0026ldquo;trust in me.\u0026rdquo; I have never felt closer to the Lord as I learn more about missions and my team. I can\u0026rsquo;t explain it further from the moment I\u0026rsquo;ve gotten here, but to say The Lord has indeed called me here. He has blessed me such much with a leadership that wants to get to know you and teach the bible to you. Thank you to all who have taken the time to pray for the team and me. I am so blessed by you all. I have yet to reach my goal for my tuition. If you would like to partner with me on my journey to spread the gospel, please click the link below.\nFinancial Partner\nprayer requests\nTo stand against the enemies attacks For the people here to hear the gospel Our learning of the bible and principles of mission work ","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2021/07/25/where-the-glory-shines-through/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOne week down of class, outreaches, and leaving room for Jesus. The Lord has moved in even the last few days. During one of our outreaches, we came alongside Calvary Chapel Vista Del Valle to help in an event for the residence. While we were there, we had an excellent array of kid programs, Games, adult teaching, worship, and evangelizing. In the scorching sun, swiftly, the Lord moved through our team. Once we got to the park, we hit the ground running, playing games and expressing the little knowledge we had of Spanish.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Where the Glory shines through"},{"content":" We haven\u0026rsquo;t been at school a week, and the Lord is already challenging our team to see the world differently. Our first teacher, Pastor Trent, has taken us on a journey through the Bible, finding ministry foundations. He challenged us through the Scriptures to humble ourselves before all the nations as Jesus did. Setting the example, \u0026ldquo;to serve, not to be served,\u0026rdquo; is found in Matthew 20:28. Another main point that stood out was the progression of Jesus going out and calling disciples. Pastor Trent masterfully put a strong case pointing that many of the disciples knew Jesus before \u0026ldquo;dropping their nets and following Him\u0026rdquo; Matthew 4:18. Being at the School of Missions changed our outlook on the great commission.\nWhile the students are, hungry, passionate, and ecstatic to learn about the gospel, we will be going out and street evangelizing to the residences here. On our first outreach, we packed delicious sandwiches to give to the families living at a dumping ground. Yes, you read it right, a dump! This experience was eye-opening with heaps of waste everywhere. The people there were living in cardboard boxes, and it made me think of the sight of poverty in Haiti. But this is literally in our own backyard. Imagine the amount of discomfort. While we were there, our team had three opportunities to lead four of the locals to Christ. It made me realize the amount of hope that Christ can bring to others that have nothing.\nAs we excitedly prepare to go on more outreaches in other locations in Rosarito, would you partner with me, praying for our safety and relationships while serving the people? I as well need to raise my tuition towards the school of 1,300 dollars. If the Lord places it on your heart to partner, here\u0026rsquo;s a link below.\nPrayer requests:\nFor our team that we can focus and draw near to God while we are here\nTo reach the lost in a connecting way\nFor the health and wellness of our team\nhttps://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2?giftid=8D244815C5CE420\nBlessings,\nGeoff\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2021/07/16/we-made-it/","summary":"\u003cfigure\u003e\n    \u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/hamano/wp-content/uploads/sites/147/2021/07/IMG%5F1561-1.jpeg\"/\u003e \n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe haven\u0026rsquo;t been at school a week, and the Lord is already challenging our team to see the world differently. Our first teacher, Pastor Trent, has taken us on a journey through the Bible, finding ministry foundations. He challenged us through the Scriptures to humble ourselves before all the nations as Jesus did. Setting the example, \u0026ldquo;to serve, not to be served,\u0026rdquo; is found in Matthew 20:28. Another main point that stood out was the progression of Jesus going out and calling disciples. Pastor Trent masterfully put a strong case pointing that many of the disciples knew Jesus before \u0026ldquo;dropping their nets and following Him\u0026rdquo; Matthew 4:18. Being at the School of Missions changed our outlook on the great commission.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"We made it"},{"content":"Over the past few years, I have gotten to travel to 4 different countries for missions. To find many different cultures while experiencing God in a new way. The Lord has given many opportunities to preach the gospel and serve others. Let me pause and say thank you to all who have supported me and prayed for our team. The Lord has shown me there is so much to learn to be a missionary.\nGoing to YWAM (Youth With A Mission) this year has equipped me to learn practical things for missions and life in general. While there, I was a part of a basketball elective where we took the sport I love so dearly into biblical terms. The most challenging part of the elective was working against the competitive aspect placed in so many sports. I wanted to have a biblical view of both the team and competition aspects of basketball. I had to step back and think about why I was playing.\nDuring the last part of my training (the outreach phase), we traveled to Ukraine and assisted a YWAM base in the country\u0026rsquo;s capital, Kyiv. The Lord gave us opportunities to work with a middle school and pre-school, be involved with an English club, and minister on the streets. I worked with the preschoolers the majority of the time. Having the chance to teach Bible stories and sing songs with the kids was such a blast. This one boy named Levi, a ball of energy was so much fun to be around, and he always included everyone in his games. He reminded me of Matthew 19:14. In this verse, Jesus doesn\u0026rsquo;t turn away anyone, including the little ones. It truly is impressive to see how God can show us simple truths even in the smallest avenues.\nNow that I\u0026rsquo;ve graduated from the Discipleship Training School with YWAM, the Lord is leading me to another school. It is a missions training program that\u0026rsquo;s associated with a church named Calvary Chapel Saving Grace. We will be traveling down to Mexico to a planted church in Rosarito, where we will be learning what it takes to start a new church cross-culturally and taking a deep look into the book of Acts. The departure date is July 11th; I need $1,300 for the trip. The fundraising is a part of my six-week training. Would you please pray for my classmates and me to prepare to be sent off to the school? If the Lord lays it on your heart to partner with me to pursue missions. please click the link icon below.\nThank you for your prayers and support\nGeoff\nPrayer needs:\nFor the team and the church, we will be staying\nSpiritual warfare\nFinances\nTo learn all that God has for me on the trip\nPatience\n","permalink":"https://archive.sgwm.com/hamano/hamano/2021/07/08/the-journey/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOver the past few years, I have gotten to travel to 4 different countries for missions. To find many different cultures while experiencing God in a new way. The Lord has given many opportunities to preach the gospel and serve others. Let me pause and say thank you to all who have supported me and prayed for our team. The Lord has shown me there is so much to learn to be a missionary.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Journey"}]