In Community:

Summer 2025 Newsletter

“He must increase, and I must decrease”

by Pastor Kohei Takeda

As we begin a season of rest, now I am sitting on a couch and sipping coffee, counting God’s blessings what He has done in our church in the past few months. Baptisms, missionary testimonies, ministries, and prayers. I am overjoyed to see so many people being blessed. Actually, I am thankful not only that they are blessed, but that they are blessed enough to bless others, as you read the following articles.

On the other hand, I also realize that everything is from and about God. Every article is our unique story, and yet it is also God’s story. It is a testimony of God. Think about the recent blessings again – baptisms, missionary testimonies, ministries, and prayers. Indeed, all are God’s work. As I am so grateful for all those who served faithfully, I am also deeply humbled by God’s goodness and faithfulness.

I think that is the purpose of this newsletter. The goal is not just to report what happened recently. Actually, it is twofold – to share God’s blessings and remember God’s goodness. The former is for the sake of others’ encouragement, the latter God’s glory. By sharing God’s blessings, we can encourage others by pointing them to God. When we become truly humble, we realize that God blessed us even when we are not perfect. By sharing this kind of blessing, we are sharing with people grace and hope of the Gospel, which would encourage them to love God and his community, the body of Christ.

But, by remembering God’s goodness and attributing everything to Him, we can glorify God and stay humble. It is God who first blessed us with grace so that we could bless others. Truly, it is God who made everything possible. The blessings are only because of God’s goodness since we cannot earn them by our goodness.

This humble attitude is also indispensable in ministry and church, not only in the newsletter. The mission of the church is to make Jesus’ disciples. But, ultimately it is God who works and transforms people’s lives. We are invited by God to be part of His work, which is really a privilege. He blesses us and uses us for His purpose if we faithfully follow Him (Rome 8:28).

In a recent conversation with my mentor Leighton Ford, I was reminded that the church is first to pursue faithfulness and humility over success. Leighton, who is an influential Christian leader, also known as Billy Graham’s son-in-law, pointed out that Jesus’ ministry was accomplished when his focus shifted from “action” to “passion.” In fact, Jesus’ ministry focused on actions as he gathered the crowds, preached the Word, and healed the sick, using God’s authority. Obviously, it was successful. But, after Jesus’ transfiguration, his ministry focus shifted to “passion” by surrendering success and also himself for God’s glory– by losing popularity, power, friends, disciples, and his life. All this was to bless those who believe in Him and glorify God through his death and resurrection.

As the Body of Christ, Jesus’ humility and faithfulness are the attitudes we, as a church, want to keep pursing when we do ministry. As we rejoice and share God’s blessings, we want to keep glorifying God by remembering His work and attributing everything to God. The more we experience God’s blessings, the more we want to highlight God. Whenever we engage in God’s work, we want to say “He must increase but we must decrease,” which the successful evangelist, John the Baptist articulated (Jn. 3:30) when he was “preparing the way for the Lord (Matt. 3:3 etc).” To us, this would be to make much of Jesus and make him know in whatever we do. That is called glorifying God.

As I reflect on God’s work among our congregation even for the past few months, I am filled with gratitude to God and all those who shared the blessings out of love and joy. Also, I am just honored and humbled to see God’s goodness. We should never take this for granted. Thank you to all who sacrificially loved and served the Body of Christ, and glory be to God!

Pastor Kohei

Baptism – June 29, 2025

Testimony – Kotoko Kudo

Good morning. I’m Kotoko, and I came to Seattle from Japan through the au pair program.

My journey of faith began when I was six years old. I attended a Christian kindergarten affiliated with a church, and since then, I’ve been involved with the church. Sunday school was always fun for me. As an elementary student, I asked my parents to take me to the church every week, and I often received perfect attendance awards. When I became a junior high student, my close friends stopped coming to church due to after-school club activities. I still continued attending, sometimes riding my bicycle close to 3 miles each way. Around that time, I saw a friend from both school and church being teased — someone said, “He believes in Jesus!” I realized that in Japan, where less than one percent of the population is Christian, faith can make you stand out. I started hiding the fact that I went to church. In high school, I rarely went to church. Then in nursing school, my weekends were filled with part-time jobs and hanging out with friends. I only attended Christmas or New Year’s services. Still, I vaguely thought, “Someday, I’ll get baptized and become a Christian,” but I kept hiding my faith from my friends.

After working for 5 years as a nurse, I was in charge of patients who didn’t speak Japanese. That experience sparked my desire to study English seriously. To do that, I decided to become an au pair. One of the program’s requirements was to have childcare experience. Fortunately, I got a chance to work part-time at a preschool run by Pastor Eriya, who is the son of my pastor in Japan. I worked during my days off from the hospital, sometimes for 15 days straight without a break.

In spring 2024, I was matched with an au pair host family: a Japanese mother (who is a doctor), an American dad, and three children. From our very first video call, I knew that I wanted to be their au pair. We agreed that my departure from Japan to their home was set for late August. Just a few days before leaving, I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s disease. My agency wouldn’t allow me to leave Japan since I needed regular treatment. I only had two and a half months left before aging out of the au pair program, and I was so devastated. But my host family said they would support me and help find a doctor in Seattle. During this difficult time, my host family offered to help by finding a doctor in Seattle. Strangely, I felt peace — like God was with me. If I weren’t matched with this specific host family, coming to the United States may not have been possible. Truly, God rescued me. Right after that, amazingly, my treatment went well, and within six weeks, my test results improved drastically. My doctor gave me clearance to travel.

On October 10th, I arrived safely in Seattle. Before this, I had always known in my head what the Bible says—that all people are sinners—but honestly, it never really felt personal to me. But when I was diagnosed with the illness and placed in a situation that I couldn’t control on my own, for the first time, I clearly realized that this truth applied to me. I came to see that my sin was living my life relying on myself instead of God. That’s when I started to pray to God, and through His answers to my prayers, I felt His forgiveness in a very real way. This experience made my faith in God unshakable, and I decided to regularly go to church and study more about Christianity before getting baptized when I return to Japan.

In December, I reached out to JxJ. Ayako Kasai invited me to Faith Bible Church, and went there for the first time on December 8th. I was very nervous, but everyone welcomed me so warmly. That day, I talked with the Kuge couple and found out that they used to attend Pastor Eriya’s church in Osaka. I felt God led me to FBC, and I decided to continue going to this church! I was homesick at first, but church life brought me joy. The following January, I started joining JxJ Bible study and a house church. Slowly, I became able to tell even my non-Christian friends that I was going to church. I also realized that God had been helping me again and again throughout my life, removing my fears each time I entered a new chapter.

In April, one thought suddenly came to my mind: “What if I get baptized while I’m still in the U.S.?” I was hesitant at first, because I was unsure if it was the right time. One Sunday, Pastor Takeda said in a sermon, “The power of the Holy Spirit is the power to testify. It’s when you notice God’s work and are moved by it.” That’s exactly how I felt. And that’s when I knew I was ready to be baptized.

I’ve not been a serious Christian throughout my life. I rarely went to church, kept my faith hidden, and didn’t read the Bible or pray. From now on, I don’t want to rely only on my own efforts or plans. I want to make God my first priority as I walk through my life. Even on difficult days, as well as on good days, I want to hold on to faith that says, “It’s okay because the Lord is with me.” Now I also hope to live a life of sharing with others the grace which I’ve experienced in Christ. It took me a long time to see growth in my faith as a believer, but God never gave up on me. I am truly grateful for God’s love and I believe that He will continue to be with me.

(Japanese Translation/日本語訳）

おはようございます。工藤琴子です。オペアプログラムのためにシアトルに来ました。

わたしは、教会付属の幼稚園に通ったことをきっかけに6歳のころから教会に通い始めました。教会学校はとても楽しく、小学生の頃は両親に送迎を依頼し、毎年のように皆勤賞をもらっていました。中学生になり、仲の良かった友人たちは部活で教会学校に来なくなりました。わたしはそれでも頑張って通いましたが、教会まで片道4キロの道のりを自転車で通う日もあり、少し大変になりました。そんな頃、教会も学校も同じ友人が学校で「あいつキリストなんだって！」と茶化されているところを見かけました。日本のクリスチャン人口は１パーセントほどで、クリスチャンであるというだけで奇異な目で見られることが多々あり、わたしは教会に通っていることを人に言わないようにし始めました。高校生になると教会に行くことのほうが珍しくなり、看護学校に入学してからは、土日の休みは遊びとバイトに明け暮れ、クリスマスか元旦に礼拝に顔を出すくらいになりました。漠然と「いつか洗礼を受けてクリスチャンになる」と感じていたものの、友人にはクリスチャンであることをひた隠しにし続けていました。

看護師として5年ほど働いた頃、日本語の通じない外国人患者を受け持ったことをきっかけに、改めて英語の学習がしたいと思い、オペアプログラムへの参加を決意しました。オペアになるためには、保育経験をつむ必要がありました。わたしの牧師の息子さんの恵理也牧師が勤める教会の保育園でアルバイトをさせていただけることになりました。本業の休みにバイトをし、15日間休みなく働くこともざらでした。2024年の春にホストファミリーとマッチしました。日本人ドクターのママとアメリカ人のパパ、三人の子どもたちの家族で、初めてテレビ電話をした時から、このファミリーのもとでオペアをしたいと思いました。ホストファミリーと相談し、8月末に渡米が決定しました。渡米を数日後に控えた日、甲状腺疾患のバセドウ病と橋本病が見つかりました。エージェントからは、通院が必要な状態での渡米は許可されておらず、年齢制限までも残り2ヶ月半しかなかったので、絶望に駆られました。しかし、私のホストファミリーは、シアトルで診てくれるドクターを探してサポートすると言ってくれました。不思議と私は「神様がついてる」と思いました。今のホストファミリーとマッチしていなければ、確実に渡米することができなかった私のことを神様は救ってくださいました。薬物治療も順調で、検査データは1か月半のうちにみるみる改善しました。主治医の先生からも、渡米許可が下り、10月10日無事にシアトルへ来ることができました。

これまで私は、「すべての人が罪人である」という聖書の言葉を、頭では知っていても、正直ピンときていませんでした。でも、病気が見つかって、自分の力ではどうにもできない状況に置かれたことで、初めてそれが「自分のこと」だとはっきり分かりました。私の罪とは、「神様ではなく自分に頼って生きてきたこと」だったと気づきました。その頃から、私は神様にお祈りをするようになり、神様がその祈りに答えてくださったことを通して、神様の赦しを実感しました。この経験から、私の神様を信じるという思いは揺るがないものになりました。そのため、「帰国したら洗礼を受けるために、シアトルにいる間たくさん教会に通って勉強しよう」と決心し、12月JxJの連絡先にメールを送りました。あやこさんが返信をくれて、12月8日、Faith Bible Churchを初めて訪れました。緊張していた私を皆さん歓迎してくださり、本当に嬉しかったのを覚えています。そして、皆さんとお話ししているうちに、久下さんご夫婦が昔大阪に住んでいた際に恵理也牧師の教会に通われていたと知り、神様の導きを感じたので、この教会に通い続けようと決めました。ホームシックだった私は、教会に通い始めてから毎日が楽しくなりました。1月からJxJにも参加し、バイブルスタディーやハウスチャーチにも通い始めました。日本にいる間、仲のいい友達にすらキリスト教徒であると言えなかった私が、ノンクリスチャンの友人にも教会に通っていることを話せるようになりました。また、神様がこれまでの生活で、何度も私を助けてくださっていたこと、新しい環境になるたびに不安がないようにしてくださっていたということに気付けるようになりました。

4月になり、突然アメリカにいるうちに洗礼を受けたいと考えるようになりました。最初はただのひらめきのようなもので、いろんな悩みがあり、すぐに決意ができませんでした。そんな時、礼拝で武田牧師が説教の中で「聖霊の力とは証をする力である。証をする力とは、神様に気付き、その業に感動することだ」と話されました。それを聞いた時、今の私はまさに聖霊に満たされていると感じました。こうして、洗礼を受けることが確実なものとなりました。これまでの人生を通し、私は優等生なクリスチャンではありませんでした。教会に通うことを面倒くさがり、周りの人たちにはキリスト教徒であることを隠し、お祈りをすることも聖書を読むこともありませんでした。しかし、これからは、自分の努力や計画だけに頼って生きるのではなく、いつも神様を一番にして歩んでいきたいと思っています。順調な日も、そうでない日も、「主が共におられるから大丈夫」と信じる心を持ち続けたいです。また、これからは自分が体験した神様の恵みを、周りの人にもシェアできるような歩みをしていきたいと願っています。長年、自分の信仰と向き合わずにいた私ですが、神様が私を見捨てずにいてくださったこと、そしてこれからも私と共にいてくださることに感謝しています。

Missionary Lunch

Global missions is Faith Bible’s DNA. For many decades, God has been blessing the church to advance God’s kingdom around the world through our missionaries. But, what does it exactly look like? God gave us an idea to help communicate the heart of missions with the church and strengthen our unity and identity in missions. On June 29, we were blessed to hold the first “Missionary Lunch” to hear from our missionaries in depth and pray for them as we share a meal together.

As you can read below, Dave & Akiko Bauson and Kyle & Machenzie Scott shared a powerful testimony of God how He is working in the world as well as in their life. Praise God for His love for the world through our missionaries who bring the Good News to the end of the earth. We hope to keep having an opportunity to hear from our missionaries as missions is our DNA. Stay tuned!

– Pastor Kohei

Dave & Akiko Bauson

We have been serving at the School of Promise in Chiang Mai, Thailand since August of 2019. Our daughter Hikari was with us for the first three years. She is now in Hawaii, attending college there. Our son Takumi just finished his first year in high school.

Akiko has been serving as the Communications Coordinator. Of our 167 students, about half are “fully paying” students. And some of their tuition goes to help the other half, who are considered “at risk” of child abuse, neglect or trafficking. Those kids are also supported by donors from the US or elsewhere in the world, through child sponsorship. Akiko’s job is to reach out to those donors. She produces monthly school newsletters. She also sends out student reports to donors who are sponsoring students. And she’s a member of the communications team where we market the School locally.

On top of these things, Akiko taught English to the secondary students for the last two years. Teaching was very challenging for her but rewarding at the same time. She got to know those students really well, and had the opportunity to share the Gospel. She’ll return to teaching students once we get back to Thailand.

Dave originally went to Thailand to train teachers; he’s the Coordinator of Formal Christian Training. After our first year, Dave began his teaching career at the School with a class in computer programming. Then he taught a class in English writing and speaking. After that, he switched to a class in mobile phone photography – the kids really liked that one!

Now, Dave’s job at the school has changed from teaching the kids directly, to training the teachers to do the work of ministry. Each week, we have one day of discipleship for the primary teachers, and one day for discipleship for the secondary teachers. We’re teaching them creative ways to teach God’s world view in class. We are also coordinating a monthly “Spiritual Theme” for the whole student body, where our focus is on building student’s character to be more like God.

One of the great joys that we have at the School is the chance to work with teams that come from the US and other countries. We were blessed to host the team from Faith Bible Church in July last year. The team had a great time with our students. They held a Vacation Bible School and got to meet our whole student body.

We really appreciate your prayers and financial support in getting the job done in Chiang Mai! Our staff is so happy to be your partners in bringing the gospel into the lives of our students!

Prayer Requests:

• effectiveness in our ministries
• our preparation to hand off our ministries to those who will follow
• the health (spiritual, mental, and physical) of our family
• our son Takumi’s spiritual growth, education, and preparation for his future after high school

Kyle & Mackenzie Sasaki

Hello FBC Ohana! For those of you who don’t know us, Kyle is the son of Scott and Terri Sasaki, who are serving as FBC missionaries with Ethnos360. He grew up attending Faith on and off whenever his parents were on home assignment. He met his wife Mackenzie shortly after completing his education at the Ethnos360 Bible Institute. Mackenzie grew up in Michigan where she completed her education as a nurse.

From the beginning of our relationship, we both knew that we wanted to be involved in missions, and after we were married, we began to pursue joining Ethnos360. Our plans were temporarily put on hold to come support Kyle’s parents as they went through their cancer treatments. While at the time, this seemed to be a major setback to our goals of becoming missionaries, God showed his benevolent hand in so many ways. Chief among them was the chance for us to connect with FBC, where we made so many new friends.

With Kyle’s parents improving, we resumed our application process with Ethnos360 and were incredibly blessed to have FBC agree to become our sending church. We are now officially Ethnos360 members and working on the fundraising process to begin serving as missionaries. We are incredibly excited to begin serving, though we will deeply miss the FBC family that has helped us to reach this point and made our time in Seattle a very blessed time indeed. So, what exactly are we going to be doing as missionaries?

When we began the application process with Ethnos360, we had originally planned to serve overseas; though we held this loosely and sought the Lord’s direction as we looked at the various needs of the organization. Our Ethnos contacts asked us to prayerfully consider a position state-side at The Homes of Ethnos360 in Sanford, FL. While this was not what we originally had in mind, they are in desperate need of medical personnel, specifically nurses, and were hopeful that Mackenzie’s medical training and experience would be a good fit for the needs there. They asked Kyle to also prayerfully consider a place at The Homes on the administrative staff. After much prayerful consideration, it became clear that this was indeed where the Lord was directing us.

Most missionaries sacrifice financial stability for retirement through their years of service and familial relationships are also lost or weakened due to long periods away from family while serving overseas. These missionaries have truly given their all for the kingdom, and upon retirement have very little to fall back on. This is where The Homes of Ethnos360 comes in. They provide a wonderful service that is offered in the form of affordable housing to these individuals who have sacrificed so much. Missionaries who have served for a minimum of 30 years are eligible for placement at The Homes where they have both independent living and an assisted living center for residents.

Those who are able to care for their daily needs such as dressing, bathing, cooking, and medication management live in independent housing with support from The Homes’ office for other needs such as cleaning and yardwork. This community of retired missionaries is always buzzing, with many activities organized by staff and residents alike. The assisted living center helps those who are no longer capable of taking care of some of these basic needs by providing personnel who see to the completion and management of these necessary tasks, as well as providing limited medical assistance and serving as a go between for residents and their providers. Currently, the assisted living center, named the Latham Center, is licensed for 16 residents who live in private rooms with 24/7 assistance and care available.

As we are preparing to step into our new ministry serving these individuals, we would appreciate your continued prayerful support. We know many of you have been praying for us through all these transitions, and we cannot begin to thank you enough. It makes a huge difference to have so many faithful brothers and sisters in Christ behind us as we take these next steps! For those of you who may be interested in helping us reach our funding goals, the link below will take you to our support page. Again, thank you so much for all the love and support FBC Ohana!

https://ethnos360.org/missionaries/kyle-and-mackenzie-sasaki

Sacred Road Summer Mission Trip

by Lauren Mayeda and Michael Pu

Lauren Mayeda

As we pulled into the parking lot of Hope Fellowship Church and were greeted warmly by the Sacred Road staff and interns, I felt both excitement for the week ahead as well as a sense of familiarity. Out of our team of 12 people, about half of us had been to Sacred Road in past years; the other half were “first-timers”. Although I technically fell into the group of returners, the last time I had been to Sacred Road was 2014 – over 10 years ago! Though many things have changed since then, some remained the same: the Granberry family is still faithfully serving, our schedule for the week consisted of worksite and Kids Club, and the desire to grow and expand the ministry is as healthy as ever!

A large portion of our week was Kids Club, which was simply a safe place for kids to come and be kids, because the sad reality is that many are forced to grow up quickly and take on responsibilities that are meant for those twice their age. I saw a beautiful example of this exact scenario over the course of the week at Kids Club: on the first day, I noticed a young boy, who couldn’t have been much more than 2 years old, and close behind him was a girl that I presumed was his big sister, roughly 10 years old. He would happily but hesitantly play with the cars, marbles, or other toys, but if his big sister strayed too far, he’d immediately get up and run to her. Later, one of the staff members told us that this same big sister had mentioned that she really wanted to jump rope and play with her friends, but her little brother would stick to her like glue. However, by the end of the week, I noticed that this little boy was content playing with us adults, while his sister was playing freely elsewhere in the park. But the most heartwarming scene of all was later seeing this little boy asleep in the lap of one of the Sacred Road interns, finally feeling comfortable and safe enough to trust someone other than his big sister. It’s moments like these that remind us just how important and meaningful Sacred Road is to the community. In fact, we found out that the following week, a couple of staff members were traveling to the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho to start up a Kids Club in that community as well (keep them in your prayers!) Seeing this ministry expanding beyond White Swan is nothing short of amazing (shoutout to our very own Amy Li who’s faithfully serving Sacred Road in Warm Springs, Oregon!)

Being able to leave worries and work behind for a week was refreshing. You might think that being woken up at 6am every day by the bright morning sun would be annoying, but on the contrary, I truly appreciated it. Enjoying a slow and quiet morning on the back deck with a cup of coffee and a book/devotional was just what my soul needed. As I reflect on my time there, I’m reminded of the intentionality in everything that this ministry does –from pouring into relationships with the smallest of children, to helping elders in the community that need help with simple yardwork. Sacred Road is a staple in the community, and I admire the hard work and sacrifices that the staff and interns make every day. I encourage you all to keep them in your prayers – and who knows, maybe one day you’ll feel called to experience a week on the rez for yourself!

– Lauren Mayeda

Michael Pu

Hi FBC ohana! My name is Michael, I’ve been attending FBC for almost 2 years and serve in the CYC ministry. This was my first year going to Sacred Road and it was amazing to see all of God’s people working to build His kingdom on the reservation. While I was there, I could see God’s glory and majesty shine through in everything around me. The valley was beautiful, especially in the mornings and evenings. But most of all, I found myself encouraged by the love God has for the people of the Yakama Nation (and for us), and how God’s glory shines even brighter amidst our brokenness.

God’s love was abundant and clear at Sacred Road. There are plenty of full-time staff and interns whose hearts yearn so much for the people on the reservation to get to know Christ. Everyone who came to Sacred Road that week was excited to be serving and building God’s kingdom and we also met people that had come on short-term missions in years prior and came back to visit and serve with us. During one of the devotional times that week, I read that the best way to love others is to share the gospel with them. Nowhere have I seen that truer than at Sacred Road. The ministry responds to the physical needs of the community, but the greatest act of love they did was to share the gospel, and by extension God’s love and grace, with them. This touched my heart and made me reflect on my (and the world’s) perception of being loving. I may do things to help my non-believing friends, but how often have I shared the gospel with them? God challenges me to display love that is greater than worldly love by sharing about Jesus, by which their souls will be saved forever.

Despite the dark history of the Yakama Nation (and other Native American tribes) and the difficult circumstances the residents on the reservation face today, God’s glory shines bright for all to see. While we were there, we learned about the discrimination and oppression that the Yakama Nation has experienced. Their culture and way of life had been greatly disrupted, and this has had negative consequences on the people that live there today. A lot of households live in poverty, and alcohol and gambling addiction are prevalent. Amidst all the brokenness of the community, God’s love is greater. Sacred Road invests a lot into the community: organizing Kids Club during the summer and youth group throughout the year, doing construction projects for the community, and providing employment opportunities for those that have been in the church for a while. They shared a statistic that since Sacred Road started, they had not lost a kid to suicide, which showed me how powerful God’s love is. The brokenness on the reservation is not so unlike our local Seattle community, where homelessness and drug abuse are rampant. This was another challenge from God: how am I being a light for Christ in my community? It is also a good reminder that despite how broken our community (and me) may be, God’s glory is so much greater.

Overall, going to Sacred Road was an encouraging experience. It was amazing to get to talk to other believers there and hear about how God has been working in their lives and communities. It was also lots of fun to get to know everyone on the team better that week, shoutout to the two vets (Lauren and Tyler) and two youth (Micah and Jodi). I would encourage everyone to go and see how God is working there for themselves next year.

– Michael Pu

Sacred Road Mission Trip Recap video by Sacred Road Ministries

Second Annual Seniors x CYC Spring Social

by Kevin Chan

Looks like we may have started a new tradition here at FBC! The CYC Ministry has once again teamed up with the Seniors Ministry to host this special luncheon. It’s FBC’s 75^th anniversary this year and what a great way it is to celebrate it! FBC’s rich history has always been that of a multigenerational church and thrives on it! When the younger members of our church get involved, it makes it even more special!

Lulu Kao (for the CYC team) had expressed their desire to be more involved in serving and we were delighted to hear it. We asked Lulu and her team to take more leadership in the program during the luncheon, so that the Seniors team can concentrate on what we do best and that’s putting together a bountiful and delicious luncheon, from inside the kitchen! With that being said, the Spring Social was set for Saturday, May 17^th.

The food preparations really started the day before with Sue and Laurie Machida baking for many hours in the FBC kitchen, and then they seasoned and rubbed down the many racks of prime rib before letting them sit overnight! Now, that’s a true labor of love! At 9am the next morning, the whole Seniors team met up in the FBC kitchen and simply followed the general’s lead (that being Sue Machida, who’s meticulous in every way)!

The fellowship hall was all set up with tables and seating readied for 100+ guests. Lisa Tsuji and her many helpers once again decorated all the tables and throughout the room beautifully. The aromas from the racks of prime rib slow cooking and the roasting vegetables in the ovens snuck out into serving room and beyond, which certainly got people salivating and feeling hungry already! Eddie Sandico made fresh coffee as usual (which many people needed) and our young helpers started making the tasty punch.

As our guests arrived, they were greeted at the door by many CYC members, who also assisted with their name tags, seating and refreshments. Our seniors, again were so excited and grateful to see our many young members serve in this way! The room was quickly filled with conversations and laughter, as everyone went around the room catching up with each other as it’s been a whole year since the last social. So, everyone was ready to have fun today! And if one were to ask around, he/she might just run into some seniors here today that were here from FBC’s very beginning!

As usual, we opened with greetings and an ice breaker game led by Watson Louie. The game today was called “Match Game”, and everyone had a sheet with 10 words on it and was asked to fill in the blank after each word. Watson strategically chose three people in the audience of varying age groups [Erik Lee (1 pt.), John Tsuji (2 pts.), and John Nakamura (3 pts.)] that everyone had to try to match their answers with, in order to get the most points. And it is possible to match multiple people if they came up with the same answers. For example (actual answers): Grape fruit (1), juice (2), fruit (3); Super Sayin (1), Bowl (2), Sonics (3); Johnny Rockets (1), Cash (2), Nakamura (3). As one can see, different ages will come up with different answers!

Pastor Marty prayed for us and asked the Lord’s blessing upon our food and time together. As we’ve done before, it was simply most appropriate and honoring to let all our guests who are 80 years old and up go first to the buffet line. Our luncheon menu included: prime rib, rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, roasted vegetables, sushi, cabbage salad, fruit platter, strawberry chiffon cake with whipped cream, punch, coffee and tea.

By their smiles and with their plates filled as they went through the buffet line, our guests really loved the luncheon spread! There was plenty of food as usual and all of our guests were encouraged to go for seconds. The CYC team once again helped bus the tables, as people finished eating and then helped pass out dessert. It does take a village with the many helpful hands to keep everything rolling!

After lunch, Dr. Gary Kato had more health tips and advice to share with everyone. This time, it’s on ‘dementia prevention.’ He distributed handout sheets to everyone, as he’s very passionate about getting the correct information out to people, as there’s a lot of misinformation floating around. For example, plaque in your bloodstream is not the cause of dementia. Jokingly, he started by telling everyone to choose their ancestors wisely and simply, don’t get old!

From his research, the following is Dr. Gary’s advice: Keep your body and mind active. Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol down. Keep social contacts and stay active in your community. Exercise to maintain cognition. Rest and sleep lots. Keep a stress-free life. Maintain low sugar consumption and zero alcohol intake. The handout on the Klotho antiaging protein is very informative and can prolong your life, as well as prevent Alzheimer. Stress lowers this protein and good diets will boost it up. Main take aways: social gatherings are great, get good rest, exercise, lower alcohol intake, live a stress-free life!

Jim Spray has been in the Seniors Ministry from the very beginning and he has led the fun aerobics time over the decades. Well, he’s back at it and with his jokes too! *Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible? Samson, because he brought the house down. *Boaz in the Old Testament, what was he like before he got married? He was Ruth-less. *Did you know that Honda’s were mentioned in the New Testament? In Acts Chapter 2, it stated that the apostles were in one Accord. *What do you call a chorus line of rabbits dancing backward? A receding hare line. Enough of the jokes, let’s do some fun aerobics! Aerobic routines are in the moves of 8: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. Jim’s two step punching booth really got everyone laughing (young and old)!

Our seniors were delighted to have group singing again in the program, as they especially love singing hymns! Edwin Ew Jong (on guitar) led us in singing: “My Jesus I Love Thee” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”

We were delighted to have two speakers share today, Louise Wright (for the Seniors) and Lulu Kao (for the CYC group). Louise Wright is Nancy Fujimoto’s sister and she spoke on the miracles of prayer. One year ago, George and Nancy Fujimoto saw Ren Narita at this social luncheon. Nancy told Ren that David (Louise’s husband) was experiencing chest pressure. And David has a family history of heart conditions. Nancy and her prayer warrior friends started praying right away. Ren calls Gordy Sako (another mutual friend), as Gordy had heart surgery recently. Gordy then calls David up to tell him to go to the Seattle Swedish Hospital ER right away. At the hospital, they looked at David and admitted him immediately. David had multiple stents put in, as he was a major heart attack ready to happen! These chain of events saved David’s life and Louise is so grateful! God lines up people and they network and pray for each other!

Lulu Kao has been in Seattle for three years now (since 2022). She moved out here, as she works as a traveling nurse. Lulu is from Chicago and was originally a bit apprehensive about her move and didn’t know if she’d like it here in Seattle. But once she got here, she realized that it really doesn’t rain all that much in Seattle and Washington isn’t all flat! She got plugged in right away with people in CYC and got involve with small groups. She loves the beautiful outdoors here in Washington and realizes that skiing and snowboarding is just a short drive away. Lulu met a senior couple at the Kurtz’s house that has truly encouraged her, as she came from a non-Christian home. She feels like she really belongs here, especially with the CYC group. She loves her CYC small group for filling her spiritually!

Pastor Mike came up and shared some closing remarks and prayer. He emphasized the importance of all the relationships and friendships that we’ve made over the years! That’s especially true for our seniors, who have been at FBC for decades! Everyone has a story, but above all…we all need Jesus!

And lastly, of those present on this day, John and Gloria Nakamura and Paul Nishimura were all here at FBC since its very beginning. Wow!!!

CYC (College & Young Career)

by Michael Pu

CYC Core Team Meeting

Hi FBC family!

We are in the full swing of summer now (yay sunshine)! With things winding down towards the end of the school year, here’s what CYC has been up to since summer started:

• Sunday School: We finished up our series on the Exile! Huge shoutout to the teachers (Tony, Steven, Danny, and Ryan) for doing an excellent job guiding us through some challenging parts of the Old Testament.

• Seniors X CYC Social: We had our 2nd annual Seniors X CYC social on May 17th! Huge shoutout to Lulu, Watson, Kevin, and all the others that served! It was special to be able to hang out with the seniors and build new bonds within our church family!

• Church Workday: CYC was well-represented at the church workday! It’s an honor and blessing to be able to serve alongside the rest of the church body.
• Park Day: We had a park day on June 23rd after service! There were lots of sports and snacks, and a very happy birthday to Elsa! It was a blessing to be outside and enjoy God’s majesty with our CYC family.

I’m continually amazed at the ways God has been moving within CYC and the rest of FBC. Thank you everyone for your prayers and for making FBC feel like family to all of us!

– Michael

WOK (WASABI & ROCK Ministries)

by Will Tong

Can you believe that summer is already here?? The end of the school year always feels like a blur, but it’s always filled with such fun and good memories with the WOK group.

WOK has had an eventful past few months, including finishing our Sunday School study on Acts (a long but rewarding journey), having some great fellowship events, and watching some of our dear friends graduate from high school!

I’ll do my best to share some of the many highlights from the end of this school year.

CYC x WOK worship night

CYC helped organize an awesome night for young adults, college students, and the youth to worship and pray together. This was truly a special event and we got an awesome turnout from our WOK group—even more amazing is that a large part of the worship set was comprised of some our high school students! Praise God for such a blessed time to Worship Our King across age groups.

WOK lock-in

One of the most anticipated events of the year was our WOK lock-in, where we slept overnight at church. Personally, I was a little tired coming into it, and scared that I wouldn’t be able to make it through the night (I’m getting kind old), but I had so much fun!

We started the night off with make your own pizza, played hide-and-seek, sang worship songs together, watched some movies, and even got some sleep (ptl).

I’m so thankful to the Lord for this joyful, goofy, and loving group of kids, and see them in an environment where they can really just have fun and be themselves. Also big shoutout to my fellow WOK leaders for being awesome and holding it down for the night, and that God provided us with the endurance to match their energy and spend such quality time with the youth.

End of year grad event

Every year, the Kumai’s graciously open their home for us to celebrate our graduates over food and fellowship time. The end of the year is always bittersweet, and we’re both excited to see our WOK kids grow up and also sad to see some of them go.

This year we celebrated the graduations of our high school seniors Aoi, Hamin, and Ryan, who are going off on their paths for further studies and work. It’s amazing to see the growth (physically, mentally, and spiritually) in these young men over the past few years, and I’m so proud of each of them. We are excited to have Ryan and Aoi join the CYC group next year, and we’re excited for Hamin as he moves to New York to study at Fordham University—we’ll miss his joyful presence at FBC!

We also have a few others transitioning away from FBC: Minori and the Masumoto family as they move to Guam, Derihn and Loveah as they return back home to Michigan, and Rowan as he spends a year studying abroad in Japan. We will miss them dearly and will be praying for them, and we know that the Lord is with them wherever they go!

Bill’s Book Blurb

by Bill Hamasaki

WORKDAY

Thank you, FBC Ohana, for your wonderful work of worship and community building at the workday on June 14th!

FBC Calendar (link)