By Pastor Craig
As I write this, there are only 30 more shopping days until Christmas. And by the time you read this, there will be several fewer. But I was thinking about the ABCs of gift giving that will make things a little less stressful this Christmas season.
Appropriate – Does the gift suit the person’s age, interests and needs? Or we can work our way backwards and consider what a person is interested in or needs and then look for a gift that is a perfect fit or answer. We want to avoid candy for a person on a diet or Seahawk gear for a person with no interest in football.
Beneficial – Does the gift make the person’s life better? A beneficial gift is a gift that is often used and will remind the person of who gave the gift every time they use it.
Costly – This doesn’t mean the price must be high but simply that there was time spent thinking about, purchasing and preparing the gift to be given. Money is not the only determiner of cost.
Great gifts check off the ABCs. And that’s why Jesus is the greatest gift ever given. First, a Savior is appropriate for every one of us. The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. A Savior is something that each and every person needs. Jesus also provides us all with tremendous benefit. Not only do we receive eternal life through Him but the Holy Spirit is given to everyone who believes, and through the Spirit we have all we need for life and for godliness. Hope, joy, peace and abounding love are additional benefits that come along with the gift of the Lord. And finally, the cost could not have been greater. The Son of God left the glory and privileges of heaven to come to earth and give His life on the cross. He sacrificed everything to provide us with the gift of Himself.
This Christmas, may the gift of Jesus be a part of every other gift we give and every gift we receive. We give because He first gave to us.
Beacon Hill Elementary Staff Appreciation Dinner
By Reiko Aramaki & Nisha Daniel
On November 23rd, 40 teachers stayed late in the evening at Beacon Hill International (BHIS) to meet with parents for par-ent-teacher conferences. Annika Velji provided delicious homemade lasagna and salad for the entire staff, and various members of FBC provided mouth-watering, desserts. The teachers at the school work tirelessly every day for the children in the Beacon Hill community. Providing dinner and dessert every year for staff during conference week is one small way that we at FBC show our appreciation and thanks to the teachers. Thank you to Annika and those who made desserts–the teachers loved the food! Thank you to the BHIS teachers for all their hard work and dedication for children and their families.
To give us a glimpse into the life of a BHIS teacher, Nisha Daniel, a first grade teacher at BHIS, shared with us one of her memorable teaching stories. Let us continue to share the love of Christ with our friends at BHIS.
A Teaching Story at BHIS
By Nisha Daniel
When I first started teaching at BHIS, it started out as quite an adventure. I started in Novem-ber of 2011, I had 27 third graders in the morning and 30 second graders in the afternoon. At first I was thinking, “I can do anything! Bring on the children!” And then my first day came around, and my thoughts changed to, “What did I just get myself into?!” That year, my princi-pal told me, “Nisha, I think you were sent here for a reason.” Clearly I did not see the reason I was sent here to BHIS because all I could see was 30 second graders crammed into my class-room. I had no idea what kind of impact I would have as a teacher until I met this little boy in that second grade class. He was from a large family, his mother was a single mother, and he came to and from school in a taxi because of the family’s living situation. Every day he would come back from lunch with fruit from the lunchroom stuffed in his pockets and if he saw that my lunchbox had something left inside, he would ask me if he could have the rest. At first I was so annoyed by him – he rarely followed my directions, he wouldn’t stop moving and he was always looking through my stuff! One day in class, he brought in a packet of papers folded together. He told me that he wrote a story and he would like me to read it. This story was about him, his two brothers, and their mother, “Nisha Mary Daniel.” In the story, his mother took care of him, she fed him, and she loved him. I said to him, “Wow, the mom in your book has the same name as me!” He just smiled really big and hid under his table. I started to real-ize that this student no longer saw me as just his teacher. I was overcome by so many emotions after reading his little sto-ry. How could this student that I bossed around all day long love me so much? A year later his mom said she couldn’t han-dle him anymore and she made arrangements for him to live in Gambia with his sisters that he had never met. On his last day at BHIS, he came to my class, sat down and didn’t say a single word. I could feel his sadness and I didn’t know what to do. So I told him that when he comes back to America one day, he can find me here and I will remember him no matter how much he grew up. He showed me a map of Africa and told me that one day, I have to go there so we can tour the pyr-amids together. When I think back to that moment, I always have mixed emotions. Of course I am sad because I miss him so, but then I also feel inspired because I feel like I made such an impact on him. Fast forward 3 years, I am still here at Beacon Hill International School, I teach first grade, and I like to refer to myself as Princess Ms. Daniel. Whenever I feel the storms of teaching taking over and I want to quit, quite magically I hear a small voice saying “I think you were sent here for a reason” and the storm inside subsides.
REACH!!
By Kris & Hiro Kraakmo
“REACH!!” is a ministry that started with a desire to worship God in Japanese, even while living in the Northwest. Through God’s guidance, we have come to the point of having our seventh REACH worship night! There are many people who support and pray for Japanese related ministries and churches including JxJ, however we also recognize that not all of them speak Japanese. We decided to do our seventh REACH!! event as bilingual worship because we wanted to worship together and pray together to our God!
This time, our theme was “Find rest in Him, Unite with Him.” We are often busy. Students are overtime workers. (All you students, I feel for you! I’m a recent college graduate.) Work is probably getting busier and more stressful as we approach the end of year. There must be a lot of tired people in this busy, fast paced life. In the Bible, God tells us “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” During this REACH!!, our hope was to remember what the Lord is telling us and praise Him with that thought in mind.
Satoru Nakanishi was the guest speaker for the event. He gave a mini sermon that tied in perfectly with the evening’s theme. We were reminded that Jesus is the only one who can give true rest. He brings peace to our souls. Everyone gets tired at some point during the day or the week, but if we have Jesus, our tiredness or weakness is a little different. When we have Jesus, we are free from the burdens that weigh us down. God is always there for us; He wants us to come to Him. We are blessed to have the freedom to go to Him when we become tired or stressed out. Nakanishi sensei closed with the reminder to be slaves to our burdens. There is always space for us to rest on our Father’s lap.
The songs that were selected for REACH Vol. 7 led the night of worship to a place where we could find rest, recharge our hearts and souls through prayer and singing songs of praise. Worshiping in two languages was a good reminder that God calls ALL who are weary. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what your background is. His love is for everyone, His lap is open to everyone.
ROCK (High School) Ministry
By Alisa Williamson
On a crisp October evening the ROCK group converged on Bob’s Corn maze. The spicy aroma of cider and doughnuts drifted through the air and the boom of the nearby apple can-non could be heard.
We snacked on salty sweet kettle corn as we waited in line for our turn to enter the corn maze. Once at the entrance, speedy alliances were formed and the teams raced into the dark corridors of corn with flashlights and little maps to navigate the twists and turns. The little maps quickly became use-less after the first missed or wrong turn which was begrudgingly realized after coming full circle and encountering an all too familiar spot. The next best course of action was to turn down the least familiar passageway hoping it would lead to the halfway point. Eventually, some with the aid of the maze’s corn cops or by following someone who had managed to track the map throughout their progress, and still others through determination, all made it to the halfway point. A bonfire, hotdogs and s’mores awaited. Once the time of talking, laughing and eating at the bonfire was complete, half the group raced for the maze while the others took a shortcut around the outside of the maze deciding it was better to wait at the country store than brave the second half of the maze. In the second half as in the first, the little maps became useless after the first wrong turn. Yet as with the first half, eventually everyone reached the finish and was reunited.
Getting to Know the Lees
For years the Lees worked with ROCK until a couple years ago, so for a few it was a bit like a reunion.
After some time of catching up and devouring snacks it was time for Jim and Yae to share. When Yae pulled out a massive bag of Hi-chews it soon became clear that their testimonies would be shared in a more Lee like fashion… certainly a less traditional manner. The rules of the game were explained. A question would be posed to the group and the answer would be either Jim or Yae. Whoever answered correctly by a show of hands would receive a Hi-chew. The questions and answers were sometimes humorous and often surprising. “Who came to the States first?” “Who wanted to build a time machine for a stupid reason?” “Who was baptized in a swimming pool?” “Who worked at Uwajimaya?” “Whose parents owned their own restaurant?” “Who just celebrated their 10 year anniversary?” After answering the questions (sometimes revealed with Yae eagerly throwing the candy at the correct individuals with an enthusiasm to rival Oprah), the Lees would delve into greater detail sharing more about each life stage or the event and take questions from the group. The evening was undoubtedly full of laughter but also heartfelt and thoughtful.
Thank you to Jim and Yae for sharing themselves and their home.
JLM Fellowship & Aisankai
By Mai Roman
Christian fellowship at Faith Bible Church is defined as having the opportunity to gather together with brothers and sisters. Fellowship at times does not have to include the typical Biblical studies, sermons or religious services. This was the case when Brother Otsu on October 17th opened his home for a gathering of friends to eat delicious food and encourage each other. It was a great chance to talk to sisters and brothers in God, enjoy a beautiful view and partake of a delicious and wonderful potluck dinner.
Personally, I was able to talk to a lot of people who I don’t normally have a chance to talk to and get to know each other more. It is always wonderful to know other people’s journey of how they have become Christians. The food was delicious as always! We normally play games as an ice breaker, but this time it was more relaxed. Children were able to enjoy walking around the beach, watching movies and of course, playing with each other.
Also, the AISANKAI Japanese ministry group met on November 15th. The AISANKAI meeting is always highlighted with a traditional Japanese meal such as curry. We were blessed and enjoyed the variety of curry our sisters cooked. As we ate our meals, we also enjoyed talking with each other late into Sunday afternoon. I always appreciate those who work hard to prepare our meals. We talked about how important it is to prioritize God more than anything else. We tend to forget what the most important thing is in our life especially as we enter the hectic holiday season. It was a good reminder for me to slow down and hear the soft still voice of God speaking to me and encouraging me through the voices and spiritual journey of other brothers and sisters!
Faith Story
By Naoki & Sakurako Hayasaka
Naoki and Sakurako Hayasaka, TakahiroSonoda, and friends
Hello Faith Bible! We are Naoki and Sakurako Hayasaka. We moved to Seattle from Japan in April due to Naoki’s relocation. We were introduced to FBC by Takahiro Sonoda, who had been attending this church until he went back to Japan.
We would like to introduce and share about ourselves. We both grew up in a non-Christian family. God has provided many opportunities in our life for us to meet Jesus. We both accepted Jesus in our heart and got baptized when we were college students.
Naoki: My first encounter with God was when I was in kindergarten. The kindergarten I attended had missionaries who taught English as well as messages from the Bible. I first heard about the cross of Jesus and salvation. When I heard the mes-sage that if you believe in Jesus you will be saved, I simply wanted to be saved. When I look back now, this enthusiastic and sincere message from the missionaries has had significant influence on how I was led to my salvation. I’m very thankful and it is simply unsolicited grace.
After a while, in high school, I started attending a church that the father of my classmate was a pastor. It was vague but I had a desire to know more about the Bible. Having my classmate at church was one of the reasons I got connected to the church. I have a lasting impression about the people I met at church when I was in high school. Being in my 30s and looking back to that time, I was supported and prayed by spiritual ‘senpai’ (older people) in many areas that I may not have noticed. After that I got baptized when I was in college.
After I started working in Tokyo, I was relocated to Hamamatsu (Shizuoka Pref.), Maebashi (Gunma Pref.), Tokyo, and Kawaguchi (Saitama Pref.), but every time I was supported by a church family in each area. I’m very thankful that I was given the job opportunity in Seattle, and that I can attend Faith Bible Church.
Sakurako: My family problems had a big influence on how I was saved. My family has a big problem and we all knew we had a “problem” but we didn’t know what to do and were struggling. I knew I couldn’t do anything about it by myself and I was seeking help. I chose a college that was away from my family and no one from my hometown would be attending. This college was based on Christian belief, and the fact that I chose this school, I was somewhat seeking God and He had prepared me and led me to this college. Although this college was far from my hometown, I noticed later that there was one person who was a year older than me, who went to the same local elementary, middle school and high school. She was a Christian and invited me to a church. My impression of “religion” wasn’t good at that time and I couldn’t accept anything but as I listened to the pastor’s message and sharing about God from other believers, I gradually noticed that the One I was seeking help from might be this one true God that Christianity talks about. It took a while to step into believing but I felt that if I entrust my everything to God, I might be able to get out of the negative cycle and might be able to change, and I decided to accept Jesus into my heart. I got baptized when I was 19. There were many trials while I was working as a nurse after graduation. The nurses were supposed to do their best and care for the patients but the reality was that the nurses themselves needed care for their hearts. I was defeated by relationship problems and crushing labor, but the Lord’s light shine in the situation like that. However, many of my fellow coworkers and Christian friends fell away from church. I felt that living in Japanese society and keeping and growing one’s faith is very difficult, and that is the reality of Japan.
The Christian population in Japan is considered to be 1%, but it seems to be less than that. It is rare to become a Christian like us, if you grow up in a non-Christian family. In circumstance like that, God has chosen us. This fact hits us even more as we were led to Seattle, because it is not rare to be a Christian in the States. We have been experiencing the difference between the States and Japan. We believe that God led us here to give us opportunities to grow our faith. We appreciate that we are able to fellowship with senpai (older people) of faith. We want to be thankful for these encounters and grow together with them. We want to show God’s glory and serve the Lord for the souls to be saved in this area.
We plan to stay in Seattle for three years. We are looking forward to having more fellowship with you.
In Christ,
Naoki & Sakurako
Bill’s Book Blurbs
By Bill Hamasaki
The FBC Library: Missionary Stories
From the beginning, World Missions has always been a vital part of life at Faith Bible Church. Visiting missionaries were often encouraged to share about their work on the field and a large portion of the church budget was given to support missionaries. This section of our library is a reflection of that commitment (second largest section of our library).
We have the classic Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot. It is a story of five young men with a passion to share the gospel of Jesus Christ who sought to make contact with a savage tribe deep in the jungles of Ecuador. Their lives were tragically ended but that was only the beginning of the story of how many in the Auca Indian tribe later came to faith. We also have two classic books by Don Richardson entitled Peace Child and Eternity in Their Hearts. Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place is another great book.
Gracia Burnham’s In the Presence of My Enemies is a story of an American missionary couple who were kidnapped and held captive by terrorists for a year in the jungles of the Philippines. Bruce Olson’s Bruchko is another gripping story. James and Marti Hefley’s By Their Blood recounts the stories of many Christian missionaries and others around the world who were martyred for their faith in God.
Ken Johnston has written The Story of New Tribes Mission. We have three books by Eric Gosden (Pastor Ray Gosden’s father): Night Came to Japan, Upon This Rock, and The Other Ninety-Nine.
A recently added book entitled Return of the Raider by Donald M. Goldstein and Carol Aiko DeShazer Dixon is the story of Jacob DeShazer, a World War II bomber crewmember who was captured by Japanese soldiers in China and held captive as a prisoner of war for more than three years. During his confinement, he came back to the Christian faith and made a vow to God that if he survived, he would return to Japan as a missionary. After the war, he attended Seattle Pacific College where he met his wife, completed his degree, and returned to Japan as a missionary for many years.
These are just a few of the many great books that are available in this section of our library. Hope to see you in the library!
