By Pastor Craig
Have you ever had the experience of discovering that your understanding of something turned out to be wrong? For years, whenever I heard the phrase having “skin in the game” I thought it referred to playing basketball and being so committed that a player would dive on the floor after the ball giving no thought to the amount of skin that would be transferred from the leg to the floor. Only recently did I learn that “skin” refers to money in this case and that the phrase actually means to have a financial stake in a venture. Either way, it pictures being very committed but now I’m no longer reminded of the parts of me left on gymnasium floors.
Sometimes church commitment can be misunderstood as well. We may think that by merely attending, we are demonstrating our commitment to a local Body of Christ. But as in virtually everything, the greater our commitment, the more we invest and the more we receive in return. There are many ways to invest in the local church. Praying for the needs of others, giving tithes and offerings, serving in ministries and helping newcomers feel welcome and fit in are ways to in-vest that result in ourselves feeling more of an integral part of the church family.
In a couple of weeks we will be holding a work day at the church facilities. There are many things that need to be done to get ready for the approaching winter. We have received bids from professionals to do some of these jobs and we could afford to hire them out. But if we had 30 people offer three hours of their time we could complete many of these jobs ourselves and free up the money saved to be invested in other, perhaps more significant, Kingdom work. October 17th is the day scheduled. Please consider joining us from 9 to noon. And if anyone leaves any skin in this game, we have plenty of first aid kits around the church to take care of those problems too. Hope to see you then.
Fall Conference
By Raj Velji
When I first came to FBC back in 2004, I distinctly remember how family-like the church felt. It is true that many in the church are part of multi-generational families, but I think that feeling comes because we really enjoy spending time together. Nothing embodies that enjoyment more than the Fall Conference. I was and continue to be amazed that such a great number of people from the church take a whole weekend together each year to fellowship and focus on God. I’ve rarely seen or heard of another church that does this and it’s really very special.
This year, just under 150 of us continued that tradition at Lake Retreat Camp in Ravensdale, WA from September 18-20. The theme of the week was “Discipleship Lifestyle” and Pastors Art Nakamura and Go Kaneda were our speakers. During the English sessions Pastor Art challenged all of us to evaluate whether or not we were focused on disciple making. He used a visual illustration (glass jar, sand, rocks, and golf balls) to challenge us to prioritize the things that will last eternally. That is to plant seeds, water, and harvest for God, depending on him to cause the growth. Pastor Art encouraged us to see many of the things we invest time in (his examples were sports and TV) for what they are, sand. He explained that sand can drown out the important things or even keep you from them. When it’s all said and done, only people count.
During several of the sessions, we broke into small groups and had a chance to discuss follow up questions. The small groups were mixed ages and I personally learned a lot from the older and wiser men who were in my group. The groups were so engaged in fact, that it often took 2-3 announcements to break them up. Hopefully, some of the conversations that weren’t completed at the conference can be carried on in the coming weeks.
The weather wasn’t quite as summery as last year, but the rain held off until late Saturday night and a few brave souls (mostly from the youth group) did make it into the lake to swim. Those less brave used the free time to play games, boat, zip line, talk, and even nap.
The final activity on Saturday was a return of the Worship Café. Kelly Aramaki, Norin Craw-ford, and Mike Kurtz led a subset of the conference attendees in a time of worship and sharing. One of the topics people shared about were the great ways that they had seen God work in the last year. There were several examples including a Church that never ran out of water during the worst of the Japanese Tsunami and a diehard atheist family member who is now leading worship and attending Bible College. It was incredibly encouraging to hear from so many during this time. We concluded on Sunday with a morning service that included communion and lunch together.
As with most conferences, a tremendous amount of effort goes into planning and running the weekend. This year’s Fall Conference committee includes Jed and Hannah Esposito, Sue and Gordon Staley, Myself and Annika Velji, Kris and Hiro Kraakmo, and Rene Munday. There were also several other individuals that contributed by serving roles at the conference in various ways from our on-call camp Doctor (Ichiro Otsu), to our fearless photographer (Dave Bauson) to our videographer (Daniel Mayeda), to the Youth Leaders (Kenji Kumai and Alisa William-son). Last, Lois Swanson and Mike Kurtz continued to fill in a ridiculous number of gaps from printing name tags to leading the worship sections of each session. And, I’m sure there are others that I missed, so forgive me if that’s you. Thank you from all of us!
Now that the conference is over, life is in full swing. School is going again, summer vacations have concluded, and our first fall Holiday is a month away. With the busyness that comes with this season, the discipleship lifestyle seems as important as ever. May we all take the opportunities to fulfill our part of the great commission this season.
FC: Japanese Language Ministry
By Ichiro Otsu
Pastor Go Kaneda from Lynnwood Japanese Family Church was the speaker for the JLM sessions. The theme was “church.” The outlines were 1) to know church, 2) to enjoy church, 3) to protect church and 4) to be church; “Church is a group of people saved by God’s grace. Each person needs to take part in the church to become a great community.”
The main scriptures for the sessions were Ephesians chapter 1 through 4. We had a blessed time in learning the Word, praying together and enjoying fellowship.
Below is some of the feedback from participants:
Q) What did you learn from the messages and small group discussions during the JLM sessions?
“Church is not a democracy. God is the ultimate authority. To be united in Spirit is important. Contribute to unite in Spirit. It is God’s will to respect church leadership i.e. elders’ decision. Think from church leadership and elders’ perspective. Speak to edify. Grow from receiving to giving. Control myself. Forgive one another. The role of pastor is speaking and teaching God’s Word and praying. The church members must pray for the pastors.”
“I never thought about church deeply. I used to think it is just a place to go, gather and worship on Sunday. However, through the messages, I learned about a balanced and good church and realized what we should do to become such a church. Through small group discussions, I heard many thoughts and challenges that people are facing, and we prayed for one another. I would like to apply what I learned to my life.”
“I want to live with church, not selfishly, but believing in God’s big plan, seeking first, unity in Spirit. I felt deepened relationships with people during this retreat, and was able to make personal conversations with many people.”
“I should speak words to edify and control my emotion. I would like to re-mind myself because I fail often.”
“The importance of praying for pastors and elders. Pray in order to know what I should do. I myself follow God faith-fully first. Be doer of the Word in daily life.”
“Glad that we had enough time for discussion.”
“The theme was timely. I learned what can be applied to church as well as personal relations.”
“I learned the role of pas-tors, elders and members, about church life.
Other Feedback:
“I was blessed very much by participating in the retreat. It was God’s guidance. Glad to spend time talking to people. It is an enjoyable memory.”
“It was precious to spend time with people with whom I am not able to fellowship usually.”
“Kid’s program was good. Appreciate the work of a family from CBC. I could concentrate during the sessions with-out thinking of my children.”
“I appreciate the retreat committee.”
“I’m glad a few from Eikou church could come to the retreat.”
FC: Youth
By Vernon & Melissa Yutuc
This year’s fall conference we had a smaller group of high schoolers which allowed for some great small group discussion and one on one time. During small group discussions after the main sessions, we covered a variety of topics that were relevant to the lessons and their personal lives. During free time, the youth braved the cold water and enjoyed some fun in the lake and also had some great fellowship and fun in the cabin. It was great to see the fellowship between these students. We’re very excited to be ministering with them this school year in both Sunday School and ROCK.
Many thanks to Kenji, Jeanne, and Alisa for their service over the weekend. A special thanks to Kenji and Jeanne for providing the abundance of snacks to share.
Beacon Hill Elementary School
By Mike Kurtz
For several years now we at FBC have been serving Beacon Hill Elementary School with uniform drives, service projects, BBQs, teacher appreciation dinners, etc. The thought occurred to me as I began thinking about the work we did last month, how many of us really know much about this school? Last year was a challenging year for the school that brought about many changes including many new teachers, a new Principal and Vice-Principal. While there have been numerous personnel changes, the heart and soul of the school hasn’t changed. Who is Beacon Hill International Elementary School? From their own words, we read:
From BHIS website:
When you visit Beacon Hill Elementary School, the term “a world of learning” takes on new meaning. The richness and diversity of the surrounding community is reflected in the faces of the students who fill the classrooms. Over 86% of our students are students of color and over 32% speak English as their second language. More than two thirds of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch programs. Many of our parents are new immigrants to the United States. They come from Vietnam, China, Laos, Mexico, Guatemala, Somalia and others and struggle to understand this new and complex culture.
To many, this level of diversity, poverty, and language and cultural barriers might seem overwhelming. Certainly, Beacon Hill Elementary faces unique challenges not present at most schools. But it is this richness of diversity that lies at the core of the Beacon Hill family. PTA meetings are simultaneously translated into Chinese and Spanish. Multiple generations live under the same roof. Grandfathers walk hand in hand with their grandchildren to school. Dragons dance through the halls on Chinese New Year bringing luck and prosperity. Newsletters and parent notices are translated by a hard working bilingual staff dedicated to reaching out to all members of our community. Beacon Hill’s diversity is not a hurdle; it is the heart of our global family.
This year a new Principal, Andra Maughan, and Assistant Principal, Karen Harris, continue this core belief that diversity is at the heart of this global family. I can’t help but think that this, too, should reflect a strength of the church with Christ at its core over-coming the so-called “hurdles” of diversity. In fact, one could argue that the Church should be leading in this area by example, for what greater power can bring people from all races and cultures together into one body but Christ’s?
As we consider continuing our efforts to help BHIS in the year ahead, let’s remember to pray that Christ’s power might be seen at work in the school, the students & their families, and the staff. And let’s pray that God would work in our own hearts to see as He sees, to love as He loves, to care as He cares.
Many thanks go out to those who volunteered to help with a late request by the Principal last month. Pulling staples (they have accumulated on walls for probably decades), painting signs, walls and playground stripes, refreshing bulletin boards, and helping teachers was no small effort. A special thanks goes out to Roney Rustia who took the day off work to serve and who also provided much of the know-how and supplies.
Prayer Gathering for Seattle Public Schools
By Reiko Aramaki
“When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” –Matthew 18:20
At the end of August, we had our multi-church prayer gathering at Faith Bible Church to pray for the Seattle Schools and the church/school partnerships in the community. It was an amazing time of prayer and sharing where approximately 25 brothers and sisters in Christ representing 12 churches came together to pray! We first shared our prayer re-quests and praises related to activities and relationships involving the students and families in the Seattle Schools. We then divided into three groups where a group prayed for the Seattle Schools staff (teachers, counselors, custodians, etc), another group prayed for the students and their families and a third group prayed for the church/school partner-ships in the Seattle area. Examples of prayers we lifted up to the Lord included praying for schools like Beacon Hill Elementary that are going through a transition with new staff/principals, praying for the school counselors/social workers who often come into contact with students and families that are facing issues pertaining to poverty and specifically praying for the African-American students to learn in an environment where they are truly valued and affirmed. Our next prayer gathering is scheduled for January 2016 –we hope many of you can attend to pray for our city where Faith Bible seeks to brightly shine God’s love and truth!
JEMS Nichigo Camp (JxJ)
By Shion Ogawa
I went to the Nichigo JxJ summer camp which is coordinated by JxJ Ministry. Since the JxJ Ministry is reaching out to Japanese students in Seattle, we were expecting to have a lot of young seekers in this camp, but we had only one seeker this time. However, it was a great opportunity to focus on the relationship between ourselves and God. Throughout the small group, message and fellowship, we could share the gospel with many other Christians from different churches. We got to know each other really well through many activities and built strong God-centered relationships. They motivated me to be closer to God and to preach the gospel to others. Especially, the small group really encouraged me to work on JxJ Ministry much harder so that as many people as possible get to know about God and his love.
Our theme in this camp was “LIFE JOURNEY ~God’s amazing plan.” The messengers from California, Mao and Setsu gave us such big realizations related to our way of living. What has remained in my heart most is the idea that what we seek is not necessarily equal to what we really need. God gives us the things we really need in good time. Even if we cannot get what we want, we don’t have to be upset, because they are not what we need in God’s eyes. Jesus says, “Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish? Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? Bad as to your Children. How much more, then, will the father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13) What we seek is sometimes something bad, and as the Bible says, God never gives these things to his children. We should be thankful about being given something and not being given something. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen in my life because God has an amazing plan for me.
Bill’s Book Blurbs
By Bill Hamasaki
Before Amen, by Max Lucado
If you are like many Christians, you probably struggle to have a meaningful prayer life. With life’s many demands, it is often difficult to find time to spend quality time in prayer. We know it is important to pray and it is one of the primary means we grow in our relationship with God but still we struggle and along with it often come feelings of guilt.
In this book, the author provides an encouraging and practical look at prayer. He writes, “Hello, my name is Max. I’m a recovering prayer wimp. I doze off when I pray. My thoughts zig, then zag, then zig again. Distractions swarm like gnats on a summer night. If attention deficit disorder applies to prayer, I am afflicted. When I pray, I think of a thousand things I need to do. I forget the one thing I set out to do: pray.”
“Some people excel in prayer. They inhale heaven and exhale God. They are the SEAL Team Six of intercession. They would rather pray than sleep. Why is it that I sleep when I pray? They belong to the PGA: Prayer Giants Association. I am a card-carrying member of the PWA: Prayer Wimps Anonymous.”
He continues, “We aren’t the first to struggle. The sign-up sheet for Prayer 101 contains some familiar names: the apostles John, James, Andrew, and Peter. When one of Jesus’s disciples requested, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ (Luke 11:1 NIV), none of the others objected. No one walked away saying, ‘Hey, I have prayer figured out.’ The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance. In fact, the only tutorial they ever requested was on prayer.”
He proposes a “simple, easy- to- remember, pocket-size prayer” that can be used as a template or guide as we go through each day. It can be used as we begin our day, then as we drive to work or go to school, while we wait for an appointment- any time during the day when our minds are freed up from the task at hand. He provides a simple means to help us pray throughout the day.
Recommended by many Christian leaders, this book will provide much needed encouragement and inspiration to make prayer a daily habit and draw you closer to our Heavenly Father.
