Arizona, Utah, Colorado

Well, we finished in Phoenix, rented a car, and made our way to the Grand Canyon, Utah and finally Colorado. Here's a picture by picture tour of our three wonderful days on the road!!!

On Monday we went from this...


to seeing lots of this...


then four hours later, 20 degrees colder and about 6,000 ft. higher we saw this...


and finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for...


Watching the sunset from the Grand Canyon was our night cap on Monday. Then on Tuesday we explored the Grand Canyon a little more, and then made our way up through Utah. Here is what we saw...



We saw lots of ROCKS!!! It was a beautiful drive. We spent the night near the I-70 in Utah and then made our way towards Colorado on Wednesday morning. Rocky got to see the mountains which are his name-sake... The Rocky Mountains!!!




God's creation is breath-taking. His glory shown in every change of the landscape. his power was evident in ever cliff and canyon. We were awe struck a hundred times or more! WOW!!!

Now we are in Colorado, and spent a couple nights at my long lost cousins' house. Tomorrow we will spend the evening and Saturday morning ministering to a Japanese fellowship. On Saturday night we begin our week with CMA!!!

Our time online has been limited, but this has been such an awesome trip already. We can't believe we've been here for only a week so far. Stay tuned for a WHOLE LOT MORE!!!

Newsletter April 20, 2008

I hope I have the date correct on this blog. it is late and the lights are out so Hana can sleep and I don't know what today's date is, and don't have the energy to find out! We just finished an awesome weekend packed with ministry! Friday evening concert for youth, Saturday evening fellowship with some members of the Japanese International Baptist Church of Tempe, leading morning worship at JIBC Tempe AND sharing this evening at Maricopa Baptist Church! AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME! What a priviledge it is to meet fellow believers, from all over the world, worship with them and share what the Lord is doing in ALL our lives!!!

We are off to see the Grand Canyon tomorrow, and make our way to Colorado the next. ROAD TRIP! It ought to be a blast!

Please keep praying, and thank you so much for blessing us!!!
The Ayatsukas and Shuhey

News from Arizona...

Above: Sunset from the airplane somewhere over Texas!

We made it to US soil!!!!!! I think for the first time EVER, we had a totally eventless, totally ON TIME, unbelievably pleasant flying experience. I was amazed. Your prayers certainly did the trick. Not only was the American Airlines flight schedule on time, but the service was actually GOOD. The food was good (as good as airplane food can be I guess), certainly an improvement on our previous experiences. AND (are you ready for this) the flight attendants were polite and helpful, sometimes even downright NICE! AA has slightly redeemed themselves in our eyes. It’s a long road back for them, with us after all we’ve been through, but this is a step in the right direction.

Since then, it has been a GREAT trip. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with our family and friends here in Arizona. Tonight, we just came home from an area wide youth event, and it was an incredible meeting! We thoroughly enjoyed the worship and fellowship. Praise God!!!

Tomorrow we are headed to a Japanese church in Tempe, AZ. We’ll spend Saturday evening in fellowship with them, and worship with them on Sunday! We are looking forward to meeting another new group of Japanese believers in America.

I’m off to bed, since we are still SLIGHTLY jet lagging. Hopefully I can sleep through the night tonight and not wake up so early tomorrow morning!

Love from Arizona!
The Ayatsuka’s

Newsletter April 12, 2008

We NEED NEED NEED NEED NEED your prayers desperately!

We leave for the states on Wednesday, and guess who our airline carrier is??? That's right, American Airlines. I can not begin to tell you all the problems we have had with this company over the years. This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

If you haven't heard, American Airlines is grounding hundreds of flights a day. We are scheduled to go from Tokyo to Dallas and then Dallas to Phoenix on AA. Probably the Tokyo to Dallas flight will be fine. It is the Dallas to Phoenix flight that has me worried. PLEASE pray that by some miracle, we get there on Wednesday!

You're prayers have done mighty and powerful things in our ministry over the years. Please lift this up before the Father with us!

For His Glory in Japan (and for His GLORY EVEN in D/FW airport if we end up camped out there for a couple weeks, LOL)

The Ayatsuka's (and Shuhey, also joining us for the first leg of the trip)