Dear friends,

Greetings from Tokyo, what a beautiful and hectic city! Special thanks to Tanzania embassy Japan for their warm reception.

September is ending and I hope that you are all doing well. I don't know about you, but to me this was a month of STORMS! Storms everywhere….storms in life, storms in the USA, storms in Japan, storms on TV, storms on the radio, storms in newspapers, storms…even in my computer!

As a writer, I need creativity to flow in my mind and I do focus on positive themes. This month though it was only storms that I could see, so I kept on postponing writing my newsletter, waiting for that one positive adventure to write about. Just last week I told myself, "I am planning to travel to Tokyo before the month is over". I had hoped that by going there, I could report to my readers something different than the storms I had been seeing and hearing everywhere... but the result was still the same to the last Sunday of the month, the same message..."STORMS".

I normally write this monthly column by the 18th of each month, and then I send it to my mom, Rita Chapman to help proof read it. Depending on the theme: if is health, political or other things, the e-mail might then come back to me to be forwarded to my friend, Denise Appenzeler for further editing or to someone in a particular field. By the twentieth something of each month, I receive the edited newsletter to read again. From there I might send it on to my readers, or, send it to my web designer, Maranda Miller for special features to be added, or for her to send out as the completed newsletter. Before the 28th of the month, the newsletter has to be out to the readers.

So everyday, I go around with my mind very busy prating and observing for my writing both of the two books that I am now working on, and for the monthly newsletter.. This month, the days were going by quickly as I'd sit with my laptop on, only to switch it off again. I felt you all were hearing enough about storms, and it would be better to write on something different. Yet, I now know for sure this is what I am supposed to write about. For in every situation, no matter how ugly it might look, there’ always a lesson to learn.

At the age of nineteen or so, I made a covenant with God that no matter where I would be I would find a church to attend every Sunday. It is a covenant, and at times a sacrifice. I have never been ashamed of it, only happy that I made it. It was a challenge when I intensively traveled in the fashion world. I remember one time in particular in Finland having difficulty keeping with my covenant. One Sunday I found a church…however; there were only about 5 older people inside! I prayed though I didn't understand their language, and they didn’t understand mine, I knew that God did understand... Once I drove from Brussels Belgium to Germany on Sunday where I went to church. Yves who is a caring friend who was sometimes responsible for my security in Germany, once sharply warned me after I flew a brand new Mercedes from Cologne where I had a morning breakfast appointment to another city Heidelberg to attend church. This one commitment kept my life on track, and lifted me when I thought I was loosing my mind or my life in this falling world!

This past Sunday in Okinawa Japan, I attend church and the message spoken by Chaplain Ken Bellinger was again... on what I have been hearing and experiencing the whole month... Storms! So I then decided to write about life storms.

Storms are currently attacking different states in the USA (Katrina and Rita), washing away everything people spent their life time building. It was a storm that swept away the lives of more than 100,000 folks with Tsunami, and it was storms that attacked different Islands in Japan, including the one where I am now staying (typhoon). Storms are challenges that come in different ways not only by Mother Nature, but also in our daily life; this can be in our finances, relationships, work, health etc.

Are all these storms telling us something? The answer is yes! They are wake-up calls in the different areas in our lives where we may need more preparation and/or a stronger foundation. I mentioned the typhoon in Japan, because the place where I stay is only 5 minutes from the beach. My eyes where wide opened when the storm hit the island recently. It was my second experience with hurricanes. I watched as the glass that surrounded the house shook, and I found myself waiting for the rain and wind which was bending the trees, to break the windows and enter the house! The storm passed, and we were safe. The Japanese face these kinds of storms every year and therefore they are building their houses to withhold the wind... they are prepared. We all need to be prepared in different areas in life to withhold different storms. America, the most powerful nation was caught somehow unprepared when Katrina hit and we saw the damages. Preparation isn’t a 100% guarantee yet it minimizes the negative results and sometimes saves in the long run.

Dear friend, look at your life and check on the areas that need better preparation to withstand storms. Then build a strong and a better foundation around you. If that area is spiritual, then see the signs and stand in good faith, if that area is financial then work it out, live within your limits and make sure you save for emergencies. If that area is in relationship, then seek counseling or read books that will help you…For Mother Nature, make sure you save your most important life documents in a diskette, CD or in a place you can quickly grab and if possible have good insurances and necessary information on Institutions that help in state of emergencies. In any area... be ready for a state of emergency. Remember life today might look completely different tomorrow, so invest for your future and invest for eternity.

I'd advice you to read the book "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren (www.purposedrivenlife.com). I know in the 5 continents this newsletter is received, 60% of my readers are not Christians, yet, this book will help you. The book is an on time word in today’s world. Scott Peterson, who killed his wife and unborn child in CA, USA wrote from prison that he wished he had read this book previously. My God mother, and friend Naomi Mhamba often write to me from Tanzania about this book, and I am currently studying it with a group along with the Rick Warren's video teaching. Life has more meaning if we answer the question..."what on earth are we here for?"...

For my Germany friends, I know the economical and social challenges facing the country and I hope the new leadership there will work for the best for all people. To Angela Merkel I hope you'll make the difference as the first woman in the Chancellor's Office, either with or without Chancellor Schröder. I will leave you all with what William Shakespeare said about a woman;

"From women's eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire;
They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain, and nourish the entire world."

I used a lot of personal names in this newsletter (women 98% of the names), as a way of my appreciation to these people for their work and support.