Japan Pictures (Part 3)

Japan Pictures (Part 2)

Japan Pictures (Part 1)

Trip to Japan

(From left to right - top row: Pastor Carl, Marcus, Jesse, Pastor Ralph)
(Middle: Blair)
(From left to right - bottom row: Dei, Jessica, Jenny)


Our trip to Japan was amazing. It was such a great opportunity to see the beautiful land we have heard so much about for ourselves. The leaves were changing to a beautiful red while we were there - what timing! We went with a great team of 8 people from Hope Chapel (including ourselves) - it was a great opportunity to get to know them better!

Our agenda included traveling to several church plants out of Hope Chapel (Tokyo, Tokorozawa, Osaka, Kobe, Okinawa.) While we were there, Pastor Ralph gave seminars on relationships & parenting. The team focused on building relationships with our fellow family. We were able to meet several people for the first time that we have had contact with via e-mail. The 3 slide shows give a bit of detail of what we did while we are there - drag the arrow on the picture to read the caption.

What we came back with:

1. A renewed heart for Japan & her people
2. Broader understanding of the people and culture
3. Greater direction of what our time in Hawaii involves

• Learning the language and culture
• Greater growth in evangelism, discipleship, and intercession
• Jesse to earn degree for visa purposes

Thank you so much for your prayers and support you all are such a gift from God to us!

Island Update

Here is a quick update on what's happening here in the islands:

• We are planning on taking a trip this fall to Japan with a team from Hope Chapel....we are so excited about this trip! We will be in Japan November 27 - December 6 and will be traveling to Tokyo, Osaka, Nishinomiya, Kobe, and Okinawa with Pastor Ralph and the rest of the team. He will be teaching his series on "Making Love Last a Lifetime" so our evenings will be busy, but we will have the day to see Japan. For more details go to: http://www.hopechapel.com/japan07/index.htm

• We have been blessed to meet up with several friends and family from the mainland over the summer. Jessica's parents came at the end of May (see pictures in the slide show). We were able to visit with Scott and Nancy Weaver and their family while they were here in July. Jessica Mack and her brother Ryan came in August (more pictures to follow).

• Both of our jobs continue to go good. Jessica passed her RD exam in July - praise God

• Jessica's brother Josh is currently in Kuwait and waiting to come back to the States in the beginning of October. This will complete his time in the army. Thank you all for keeping him in your prayers!

• We were blessed to go to Kauai over Labor Day weekend~see the pictures in the slide show. This was a great time to get some R&R and just get away to focus on the Lord. We felt encouraged and challenged about this time we have for preparation for what God has in store.

• We have finished the 15 week Alpha course last Wednesday. We were blessed to have a wonderful group and were amazed to see amazing growth in such a short amount of time, and celebrated the completion with pot-luck dinner. We felt led to transition this group into mini-church. It will be exciting the continued growth and grow closer to these amazing people!
  

Hawaii Adventures

Gotta Job

Yippee!!! I have a new job! It has been amazing to see how the Lord has created an opening for a job that didn't seem to be there before. This week is orientation and training will soon follow. I will work as a resource dietitian for Sodexho. The job will consist of going to different hospitals in Honolulu to fill in for other dietitians when they are on vacation. Also, there will be a bit of food service management involved. This will give me a greater idea of what responsibilities of the dietitan are all about. God has been so good to provide this job!
~Jessica

Another update

This past weekend was our Hope Chapel Women's Retreat at beautiful Camp Homelani.....what an amazing time! The theme was "Saddle Up Your Horses" and yes, they played the song ....and trotted around too! (see the picture of our women's ministry leader?!? She is so great!) Seriously though, it was a word from the Lord to "Get Ready!" Our speaker was Pastor Helena Corcoran, she brought the word strong "setting captives free". She took the time to prophecy and speak words to almost every woman that attended. For the women that did not receive a word because of time, she is coming Tuesday night to finish. Wow! Everyone was so blessed and encouraged by her. She spoke an encouraging word to me that confirmed the missionary calling on my life.

It was wonderful to build upon friendships and make new ones. This is a picture of some friends as we were hanging out on the beach after a couple of ladies were baptized. Many of the women have left with lives changed forever.

Also, Hope Chapel is introducing the Alpha course for people interested in knowing more about Christianity, newcomers to the church, and new Christians. The Alpha course is a relaxed setting for people to ask questions and discuss key issues in the Christian faith. Jesse and I had been introduced to the Alpha course in Tennessee and were strongly considering leading it at Potter's House, but it never worked out. Now we have been feeling like the Lord may be leading us to lead an Alpha course here in our home. We just found out yesterday that we are doing it, so we're excited about it. Apparently the Lord has redeemed the opportunity for us. Next Wednesday everyone interested in getting involved will meet at the church for a Spaghetti dinner and then divide into smaller groups. We will find out that night who will be in our group. Please pray for much fruit to be produced in this. We are also hoping some people from our apartment building will come too. For more info about Alpha click: http://alpha.org/default.asp

Japan Update

We've had a lot going on since the last time we blogged. Sorry it's taken us so long to get back on here.

Here is an update regarding our path to ministry:

We had the opportunity about a month ago to meet with Jeff MacKay (a foursquare missionary in Osaka, Japan) during his visit to Hawaii to get an idea of what is going on in Japan and gain some perspective on how to prepare for Japan. It sounds like a lot of good things are happening right now. (You can go to this link to see a recent article published by Foursquare about what is going on with Jeff MacKay's church: http://www.foursquarechurch.org/missions_advance/articles.sd?iid=305&catid=6&isid=16&sec=5%20Questions )

(Here is a link to some of the church plants in Japan (Jeff MacKay's church is Hope Osaka): http://www.hccoalition.com/japanlinks/ )

Hope Chapel is taking several short term outreaches to Japan this summer. Even though we would LOVE to go, we haven't felt that the timing is right to go quite so soon. One reason is because Jesse will not have built up enough vacation days yet. We kind of felt like if we had the opportunity to take a trip closer to the end of the year, it would be more right. After we have considered all of this, Pastor Ralph Moore has asked us to join him on a trip to Japan the week following Thanksgiving for about 8-10 days. He will be teaching in local churches at several cities around the country. He said this would be a good opportunity for us to meet key leaders and to see what the country looks like first hand. One interesting aspect of the Japanese culture is that it takes a very long time to "get in" with Japanese people; but when someone of good standing introduces you to Japanese people, the door opens instantly. Pastor Ralph is a man of excellent standing and high honor in Japanese churches. This may be an opportunity to get a quick welcome by the Japanese leaders which could potentially save us several years. So we are praying about this opportunity to make sure the timing would be right for us to go that soon.

There is something else happening too. A few years ago, Jesse had stumbled upon a website of a ministry based out of Seattle that is geared to train people through their conferences to minister to Japanese people . He wondered whether it would be something he should look into, but it had never led to anything more, especially since it's in Washington. Well, last month we were invited to a meeting with a ministry called Reaching Japan for Christ (RJC). It was the same ministry and now it is coming to Hawaii! The vision of RJC is to connect with churches, ministries, and individuals who have a heart to reach the Japanese and to network them together, and to eventually hold conferences here as well. The leader of RJC, Don Wright, has come to Hawaii to develop this network of ministries/people who are already serving here and to help build a bridge (or a stronger bridge) with churches and ministries who are in Japan. This division is called RJC-Hawaii, and is being led by our friend, Greg Garner. (Greg and his wife are actually moving to Japan this summer to begin their ministry. It is a good friendship developing that we trust will grow even more when we get to Japan.) We have come in on the front end of this new development and are excited to see what God is going to do with it. You can read more about RJC at: http://www.rjcnetwork.org/.


RJC is also supporting the Hawaii Revival Mission crusade being held this October. This is a one-time evangelistic event to reach the Japanese on Oahu. Please pray that many Japanese will receive the truth of Jesus Christ, get saved, and become discipled into mature believers. To learn more about what the Hawaii Revival Mission, please click: http://www.hawaii-mission.com/

We have been taught well by previous leaders that God calls us to have bi-focal vision. What this means is we need to have vision for what God has in store for us ahead of us on the journey, but we also need to have a vision of the up-close part of the pathway. As we know God has brought us to Hawaii to prepare for Japan in the long-run, we are also seeking where the Lord would lead us be active in serving right now while preparing for Japan. It's obvious that the things above are upon us. But we are also feeling that there is more for us to serve in now. We are praying about several different options we see before us, and we want to make sure we step into the most appropriate one. We have good friends who are planting a new church called Christ Fellowship Hawaii. (The church Jesse grew up in is called Christ Fellowship Knightstown. How funny that the Lord is planting a Christ Fellowship here. I think Pastor Bill missed his chance and God sent Brent and Vikki instead. haha.) We also have friends who have planted a youth church full of teens who have come out of rough lifestyles including gang activity. Most don't even know what typical church looks like. (They meet in a garage.) We are inspired by both ministries and visit them sometimes to show support. We are also praying about leading a Mini-Church (small home group). But we just want to make sure we are walking in step with God and not getting ahead of Him. Please pray for us for clarity on God's guidance in this season, as well as God's will about whether or not to go to Japan with Pastor Ralph in November.

Thanks! God bless you all.

Keep on Keeping on

Here's an update on whats been going on in our lives:

Jessica finished her internship...praise God! She has applied for jobs, some temporary until something full-time opens up. We know that God has a perfect job lined up and are awaiting to see what He unfolds.

Jessica's parents (Bill and Vicki) will be coming for a visit at the end of May. This is a pleasant surprise for us to be able to spend time with them and show them the island. Unfortunately for them, this trip is possible because the peach orchard crop for this year was destroyed due to the cold weather conditions in April.

We got our first surfing lesson. It was a lot of fun and a lot of soreness the next day :) There is definitely a LOT of room to grow in this new endeavor.

Jesse's job continues to go well and has adjusted to work from home. Thank you for your prayers for favor with his job and his supervisors. The Lord has continued to bless him in that arena.

The Lord has opened the door for Jesse to minister to a couple of guys in our apartment building. We believe God has appointed these divine appointments. Their names are Ray and Dave. We have been trying to build good friendly rapport with them so we can get into their hearts as the Lord leads. They seem to be curious about God and are open to good discussion. Jesse spent a good 2 hours with Ray last Friday night discussing God, theology, cultural relativism and such things. And Dave came in on the end. He seems to be a deep thinker. He says he got saved when he was younger, but since then has continued on his quest for truth, looking at anything and everything. We are praying earnestly that God will enlighten them to truth and will break through the secular strongholds on them so they can be saved. It seems that if they would come to Christ and have a full-blown born-again experience, it would be a door to many more in the building. We trust the Lord with this.

Well, that's the gist of our lives in a nutshell. We miss you all very much. It's different living so far away from our families and friends. We hope the Lord will provide many opportunities to see you all. (Plus, everyone should check out Hawaii at least once. Just let it be before we move to Japan.) God has been good to us though and is building a family for us here as well. (And No, Jessica is not pregnant. By "family", I mean Church and friends.)

God bless you! We love ya.

Video Tour

Home Sweet Home

Click on the video link above to see a quick tour of our home...sorry there is no sound. (It was recorded with our digital camera). We feel like Hawaii is gradually feeling more like home...we finally feel more settled and some what able to get around without getting lost. Some interesting facts about our new home: our upstairs neighbor LOVES karaoke. You name the song, they are probably singing it. Up til today, we had another mysterious neighbor; we didn't know who it was, but they play "Taps" every night at either 10:00 or 11:00pm sharp. We thought this was the oddest thing. We thought it was our Chinese neighbors, and wondered if they were mourning a lost relative or something. Well, tonight our military friend told us that the military bases play taps every night at either 10 or 11 pm; so our mystery has been solved. (We really liked our original theory better. We may stick to it.) Then our next door neighbors are from Hong Kong and can make some good smelling food! Smelling it makes us so hungry! Jessica keeps begging Jesse to go over there and offer them money for dinner.

We have determined that Hope Chapel is the family we are to partner with...we are really excited about this! Jesse has been meeting with Pastor Ralph and several other men who are called to plant churches every Saturday morning. This is a wonderful opportunity for wisdom, insight, and experience to be poured into Jesse. (To learn more about Hope Chapel click: http://www.hopechapel.com/.) We have gradually been meeting more people and are starting to see how this is going to be a family to us.

The Lord is also being good to us in allowing us to meet people who have involvement with ministry to the Japanese. We aren't seeing any specific organized connection yet, but it seems better that the Lord is allowing us to make connections with different people in different ways. We have met a pastor of a house church planted by Hope Chapel who is Japanese. He has a vision to multiply many house churches in the U.S. and Japan, and is already seeing great fruit. We have been getting to know another couple who is getting ready to move to Japan this summer, and they have been a great resource to us. We are meeting more as time progresses. And Hope Chapel sends out several short-term trips to Japan every year, so we believe we will have plenty of opportunity to learn and grow out here. We feel good that we are in the right place at the right time with the right people doing the right things.

Thank you so much for your prayers during this time. We ask you to continue to lift us up in prayer as the Lord lays it on your heart.

Day with Troy and Bow

Last weekend we had the privilege to get together with a couple of friends, Troy & Bow. Troy is from Hawaii and Bow is from Thailand. We met Troy and Bow at a Hope Chapel Minichurch (life group/cell group). Jessica and Bow went to Chinatown in Honolulu to pick up some ingredients to make some yummy Thai dishes for dinner. Later that afternoon Troy & Jesse met the girls at their home, on Kaneohe Bay and took the ladies for a kayak ride. They paddled them all around the bay for a beautiful scenic view. It has been a blessing to make new friends.

Internship Update

Tomorrow marks the close of my first two rotations here in Hawaii. The past three weeks have been a great experience working with the Dietitians, patients, and staff at Hawaii Medical Center East & West. In the picture from right to left: Tara (a Sodexho intern), HeeBong (Director of Nutrition and Food Service), Kareece (Dietitian at Hawaii Medical Center West), me. Next Monday I will begin Long Term Care and Long Term Care foodservice.

Polynesian Cultural Center

The Polynesian Cultural Center was a great place to learn about Hawaii and the surrounding island culture. The day started with a demonstration of "how to open a coconut". Followed by a man climbing up a coconut tree and is about to jump to the next tree (see the picture???) Well, he chickened out and didn't do it. :) The day was spent going from island to island learning about the cultures of Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Fiji, Thaiti, Tonga, and Marquesas. We did not have time to experience everything that was offered to be learned but hope to go back to see and experience what we did not have time for.

We met up that day with a couple that we met at Hope Chapel, Brent & Vikki, that moved to Honolulu from Texas to plant a church (Christ Fellowship) to reach Asia for Christ. We couldn't believe that there is going to be a Christ Fellowship Honolulu. They have been a blessing to us in so many ways. We took time to pray over the cultural center (it is Mormon owned & operated) that the students and all that come would have a true revelation of who Jesus Christ is.

We had the opportunity to talk to one of the students that worked there (the warrior laying on the ground on the far right). He was able to receive a scholarship to the Brigham Young University that would pay for his schooling. He works at the Cultural Center on the weekends to pay for extra expenses. We prayed for him that He would have a true relationship with Jesus Christ.

That evening was a traditional Hawaiian luau, pig and all (as you can see). Eat your heart out Marty Sparks!!! No, we did not actually eat that poor pig. We were introduced to several Hawaiian foods such as taro bread, Hawaiian Poi, and other interesting foods. The close of the evening brought a show that brought all of the island music, dance, and culture together. It was a wonderful day to learn and experience more of the people that God uniquely made.

First Hike in HI

This past weekend we went on our first hike in Hawaii. Our original plan was to go over a year ago but we finally made it. We were told about a hiking trail near the end of our road, so we checked it out. The trail was an old road that isn't used any more, called a carriage trail. The distance of the trail is 11 miles there and back. We did not hike the whole distance. We got a late start and didn't have enough sunlight to complete the whole trail. On our way back, Jesse found a side path off the trail and decided to go explore. I decided to stay back because there are poisonous traps to catch rodents...didn't sound too pleasant. So, I saw Jesse disappear for a few minutes and then out of nowhere he comes running back. I was thinking some wild boar were chasing him or something. When he reached me he said, "I want to tell you what I found after these people pass by." A family was passing by us as we were taking our "water break". Jesse was about to tell me about his discovery of ancient tribal ruins when a Hawaiian woman asked her little girl, "do you want to go up there to see the house?" Jesse's face showed deep disappointment that someone else's kids knew about the secret house he just discovered. It lost it's wonder instantly. We later researched the trail on the Internet and found out that the house was built in the 1900's by Douglas and May Damon who inherited the land. We also found out that you can purchase a self-guided tour book for $5 off the Internet. :) It turned out to be a fun adventurous day enjoying God's beautiful creation.

finding our feet

hey ya'll, this is my first blog (jesse), hence the length. thank you for all your prayers. God has been really good to us. we are thankful that He has made this thing happen thus far. it seems like God is advancing us into greater blessings so far.

i was out praying last night and just thinking about how absolutely nuts it is that God has picked us up with His hands and placed us on this island out in the middle of the Pacific. who am i but a redneck who likes deer jerky and John Deere tractors, and brags about how i wish i were a hunter. but He has given us everything to just show us that it wasn't we who have done this, but God alone.

i can't say "the journey of the unknown's" is over yet. i feel like we are at one of the more critical parts of the way right now: finding the church-family to sink our roots into. this is no small responsibility. we have been getting fairly acquainted with Hope Chapel and New Hope since we've been here. both churches have some serious strengths that are very attractive to us in our pre-Japan-missions-equipping-and-vision-honing-days. (literature etiquette flows.) when we go to one church, we see things we want to tap into. we go the other church and we see how we could fit in real well with their vision.

we have some friends at New Hope we met last year who work with the Japanese ministry. they are awesome and have been very generous and hospitable to us. we went to a bbq at the beach in waikiki with them on saturday. good ribs. had the chance to learn to surf, and chose to hang out by the grill instead. (maybe next time!) we witnessed our first Japanese baptism! that was awesome. i have never seen someone pray that long before they dunked the baptizee. i waited patiently for the Holy Spirit to descent upon me like a dove and give me interpretation so i could understand what the heck he was saying. and we also got to meet a pastor from Tokyo named Talo who is over several New Hope Japan churches; he had a lot of encouraging words for us and good insight to share.

at Hope Chapel, we met Pastor Ralph Moore and his wife our first sunday. he was very excited about why we are in Hawaii. he has a strong vision for Japan. he introduced us to some people and told them God brought us to Hawaii to be a part of Hope Chapel. i about fell out of my seat and nearly jumped for the correction, but i restrained. haha. that was unexpected. he invited me to come to a small group he is mentoring on saturday mornings for prospective church planters. i was hugely honored that this apostle invited me into his small group of mentorees. after all, his ministry has given birth and multiplied to tons of church plants (literally tons). i went this past saturday and it was really cool to be so welcomed.

as you can probably tell, we feel tugged in 2 directions. i guess it's better than being here for a year without having a clue where a good church is. we trust God will lead us in the right way. we are looking forward to finding a church home. please keep us in your prayers for guidance and clear understanding of His will and prophetic assignment for us.

thank you all. we love you very much and already miss you. please forgive my extensive sermon. (you know i don't know how to do otherwise.) but i did have a lot to catch up on.

Jesse and Jessica Cupp

Setting up

We have hit the ground running and it seems like we haven't stopped since. God has been so faithful to prepare everything quickly. On Monday, we moved into our 2 bedroom apartment in Salt Lake, located on the west side of Honolulu. It is on the 15th floor - check out the view from the living room! We have spent the week furnishing our new home and hope to finish soon! Also, we were able to purchase a car on Wednesday that has low mileage for a good price. Praise God! Today we were able to get our Internet connected in our home so we should be able to be in better contact now. Jesse will begin work this Wednesday, it is hard to beleive the time is almost here. Last Sunday we were able to visit Hope Chapel and New Hope. They are both very dinamic foursquare churches. Please continue to pray for clarity for which body we are to partner with in preparing for Japan.


January 31-February 2 we will be attending the "Doing Church as a Team" conference. We are very excited to see what is in store for this. Please pray that God will give us great insight on how to conitnue to prepare to reach Japan.

Hawaii Arrival

After leaving Tennessee, we arrived in Santa Barbara, CA to spend a couple of days with Chris Skaggs...one of Jesse's comrades. This was a wonderful time to catch up with Chris and see what the Lord is doing in His life...it is good stuff! We arrived in Honolulu at 8:30pm Hawaii time. After grabbing our luggage, getting our car rental, we were greeted by Sean and Mihoko. We spent our first day working on logistical tasks like finding a bank, home, etc... We found several good potential places to rent and hope to choose one within the next couple of days. God has been so good to us and provided us with a safe trip with no complications. We are excited to see what He continues to unfold.