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Professor Noda and a number of students from the Ocean Ministry class went to a class fishing trip with Ocean Church (Captains Takahashi and Mitsuru) off the New Jersey coast in May 2010. Originally, they had planned to go bottom fishing at Rockaway Reef. However, they could not get there because the weather was bad and the water was too rough. While they were wandering the seas they spotted two fishing boats anchored a short distance away. The crew changed their plans, anchored nearby, and started fishing for striped bass.
In ten minutes, Captain Takahashi hooked up the first fish, a 30" striper. Ten minutes later, Dr. Noda hooked up another 30" striper. One after another the students hooked up and brought in fish ranging from 30" to 40". Everyone but one student (who had been seasick the entire time) caught a keeper-size striper. In the afternoon once the weather had improved, the crew moved on to Rockaway Reef. To their surprise, they did not have a single bite there.
If it were not for the rough weather, they might have gone home empty-handed. Instead, what appeared to be an obstacle opened up an unexpected opportunity of a lifetime. To top off their good fortune, Mr. Matsuda, a professional cameraman, happened to be on the boat to document the trip. God leads us in mysterious ways and uses obstacles and difficulties to guide us to the right place.
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