This is Neighborhood Church in Okinawa, Japan. Tony will begin in July as the new Associate Pastor. As a family we will be going to Japan as Missionary Associates.
The DelaCruz Bunch
About Us
We're the DelaCruz family. Tony, Sue, Josh, Sarah, Sam, and Alyssa. We attended First Assembly of God in Ft. Myers, Florida for 11 years before Tony and Sue went on their first mission’s trip. Their world was radically changed after participating on this trip to Bucharest, Romania. On this trip, they had an opportunity to minister to “Street Kids.” These children had no family, home, food, or love. Worst of all they had no hope. Tony and Sue witnessed first hand the impact that two individuals made. Angie Thompson and Cristian Soimaru changed the lives and futures of hundreds of children by giving of themselves to the work of the Lord.
This impacted Tony and Sue so much that they began to seek God for His Will in their lives. They wanted to be used by God to make a difference in people’s lives. A verse in Isaiah 58 says “and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry…,” really jumped out at them. Were they willing to be spent by God? During the next 2 years, God confirmed to them through their daily devotions and numerous sermons from Pastor Betzer their call to ministry.
Trusting God and taking a huge leap of faith, they sold their home in sunny Florida, quit their jobs and moved to Springfield, Missouri with their 3 children. Their children, Joshua age 15 was a sophomore in high school, Sarah age 14 was in middle school, and Samuel was age 12 and just starting middle school. This was an immense adjustment for all of them. Tony began attending Central Bible College at the age of 48, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Missions. While attending Central Bible College, they obtained custody of a little girl named, Alyssa who was 2. They are in the process of adopting her.
They have a passion for reaching the lost, focusing on the Asia/Pacific area. Through God’s great leading they will be joining the staff as Missionary Associates, at Neighborhood Assembly, in Okinawa, Japan in July 2007. While in Okinawa, they will be ministering to both military and Japanese families. Many of these military families are faced with separation due to the war in Iraq. As a result this leaves the wife and the children alone in a foreign country with no family or support system.
The vision of Neighborhood Assembly is to be that support system. The church body has become their family. Another part of this military life is the constant change. Many of these families are only in Okinawa for 2 or 3 years, which makes discipleship extremely important. Tony and Sue will be responsible for the ministry to children ages birth through young adulthood.
The DelaCruz family has begun the process of raising their support as Missionary Associates. They are excited about joining this team and assisting Pastor Wes and Carol Mathis as they minister to these families.
Blog Archive
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2007
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March
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- The cars are real different and very small.
- We will have to get use to driving on the left sid...
- We are so excited to be working with Pastor Wes an...
- Our new home in Okinawa. The bars on the windows a...
- This is Neighborhood Church in Okinawa, Japan. To...
- We are sitting at an outside table at a little re...
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March
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1 comment:
Congratulations Pastor Tony, Sue and kids. We're so excited for you all. God is going to do incredible things with you guys at Neighborhood Church! Maybe we'll be able to visit some time in Okinawa. We'll be praying for you always.
Love,
The Miller Family
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