In Community:

July 2019 Newsletter

Managing your Momentum

by Pastor Dave Bauson

“Look at what I found!” I exclaimed as I dug through my things. Packing up and leaving home is one of the heaviest tasks I know. My hands feel shackled with the momentum of years of memories, discarding old treasures with tears and trauma. But my “DTS Cover Boy” catalog gave us all a good laugh for a while. I guess I fit the bill for the picture: nerdy smile, mustache, a full head of hair, a fitted suit. I still sport the nerdy smile. And that maroon tie is still my favorite — I wore it just a couple of weeks ago.

We wrung every laugh that we could out of the picture. Then I returned upstairs to continue separating the real treasures from the good and bad memories. The catalog is so hard to put down that I scan it into the computer against the inevitability of its joining the discards. Oh boy, but that catalog cover makes me think about why we’re sifting through our things! Look at its title: “Making the Right Choices.”

Someone recently asked me “Have you wondered if you’re doing the right thing?” Trimming down all your stuff and packing up the family bound for Thailand is a Really Big Decision. Other questions push themselves to the fore from a part of me I try to ignore. “Will God really keep providing for you and your family?” “You could crash and burn out over there!” “The kids might end up hating life overseas, worse yet, hating you!” “What if you end up accomplishing nothing?”

Life isn’t often filled with decisions of such gravity. Quick small decisions pepper our days. Some take more judgment and energy out of us. Nights of sleepless agonizing over a difficult decision are rare. I hope you’re learning to call on the Lord for each and every decision!

Consequences follow the same pattern. Many have good outcomes, and most often we don’t have to deal with our trail of bad results. But some of those consequences are doozies! They leave deep wounds and regrets that we rub salt into when left alone with our thoughts. Don’t believe the lie that you’re alone: never yield to hopelessness! Are you actively remembering and calling on Christ’s blood which washes you clean of your sins? I hope you’re learning to savor and crave the taste of refuge in Him and His forgiveness!

Experiences both good and bad fade through time. The real treasures, though, last forever. Those are the goals that our Lord wants us to pick and pursue out of a plethora of possibilities.

Shakespeare said, “apparel oft proclaims the man.” God says “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Not a single one of us is the visage that you see. But God is in the process of shaping the person to be like His Son. Your daily choices, big and small, move you forward as you strive to cooperate with His gentle but firm hand.

Keep your momentum aiming forward in God’s will. Never fear the consequences of following His lead. His business is about causing all things to work together for — just read Romans 8:28-30! He IS calling you to a place you’ve never been before. It’s probably not overseas; most likely He’s calling you to “send!” instead of to “go!” He’s surely calling you to reach out to your neighbor. He’s already there and waiting for you wherever it might be. Grab hold of that treasure with a will to keep it!

Back to the catalog picture. The passage of thirty-one years has laid waste to the mustache, hair, and suit. But I’ve held on to the nerdy smile and the highly favored maroon tie! Maybe my tie will survive Thailand, but that doesn’t really matter. The real treasure is the tie that binds us to our Creator, isn’t it?

You and I are going to shed the trappings of this earth. Our good works will be finished. God will finish His work of changing us to be like His own Son. And we’ll meet again in heaven. And then I’m going to challenge you to a nerdy smile contest!

WASABI (Middle School) Chopped Iron

By Pastor Mike Kurtz

What a great crop of chefs sprouting up from the WASABI group! With one hour and 6 mystery ingredients, three teams competed for the coveted prize of Chopped Iron Chef. As I write, the kids are madly at work trying to complete the challenge. I see Naomi cooking up some pasta; Hailey is cooking down maraschino cherries (yes, you read that correctly); Hijiri is (safely) slivering a chocolate bar; Ayaka is whipping up some cream, and it looks like Greek yogurt added; Ella is measuring out some powdered sugar. Such creativity! And now I see another miracle – the Mariners are up 12-2 in the bottom of the 4^th. (But will that lead hold?)

So, what is all this excitement about?

Each team is given the task of making a main dish and a dessert incorporating three secret ingredients, a $15 budget, and one hour. This wouldn’t be so hard if not for the fact that the secret ingredients are actually difficult to incorporate together. What are those secret ingredients? (look to the left) After the secret ingredients were revealed, the teams were given 30 minutes to come up with a recipe. We then all climbed into our cars and headed for the nearby Safeway and ran through the aisles collecting our goods. After returning to church, the timer was started and the race began. (There are now a mere 10 minutes remaining, and this group of students is further ahead than any past year.)

10 minutes later… the results are amazing! But who will win?? 

The Judges:

Let’s take a look at the judges first:  Aaron Nishimura, Chris Jo, Linda Takano

Dish by dish the judges are now evaluating the creations for creativity, presentation, and flavor. Each dish (main and dessert) is being judged individually. Here’s what they are judging:

The Dishes:

(L-R)

Team #1: Yukimi, Ella, and Naomi

Team #2:  Sydney, Hailey

Team #3: Ayaka, Hannah, Hijiri

And the winner is: 

Main Dish: Team #2 with a mixed vegetable pasta with waffle “bread” sticks

Dessert:  Team #1 with a stacked strawberry “tallcake”

Overall Winner:  Team #3

All this goes to show that consistency pays off. The ultimate winner was not the team who did the best in any one category, but the team that did consistently good in all categories.

Congratulations to Ayaka, Hijiri, and Hannah!

And thanks to all the parents who helped clean up afterward! Until next year, be adventurous and eat something different.

Aisankai

by Ichiro Otsu

We had an Aisankai (JLM lunch fellowship) on Father’s Day afternoon (June 16th) at the fellowship hall following the Sunday service.

As usual, the main dish was curry rice of different spicy levels. Sides were salad, fruits and dessert. There was also a half sheet of cake prepared by Taeko.

JLM members and their families, the Keiro ministry team, and many guests including first-comers to FBC, all enjoyed the lunch and fellowship.

We had a special speaker, Goichiro Takahara, for this gathering. He is an evangelist from Japan, well known for his ministry through You-tube. He was the speaker for this year’s Nihon Fujin (Japanese Women) Christian Luncheon on Friday, June 14th.

He came to our Aisankai to share the Gospel message. A summary is shown below.

“A butterfly known as fukuro-cho (butterfly looking like an owl when its wings are open) can protect itself from bird attacks, because birds are afraid of owls.  However, this butterfly is active in the daytime, whereas owls are nighttime birds. There must be a Designer. We do not see the Creator but see His creation.
Babies and bed-ridden elderly people; both need help. The difference is that babies can rely on parents, but the elderly have no parents to rely on. God is our spiritual parent. People rely on money or rely on relationships with friends. But nothing or nobody can be a substitute for our God.
Our heavenly Father never forsakes us. He is almighty God. Everyone can get close to God through Jesus.
You came to church on Father’s Day. Please go to church/FBC to learn more about the Good News, the Gospel. Or watch my YouTube videos if you cannot wait until next Sunday.”

JxJ Cooking

Every 4th Saturday 2-4pm

Do you enjoy cooking? Interested in learning how to cook Japanese dishes?  JxJ cooking ministry is always looking for helpers. Would like to help but cannot commit to help every month? No problem! It is a big help even if it’s one time!  The cooking team meets at FBC kitchen every 4th Saturdays, 2-4pm.

Keiro/Nikkei Manor Ministry Update

by Tom Gerety

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was… sick and you looked after me… and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you… sick… and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:34-40

A team from Faith Bible Church leads worship services at the Keiro nursing home near the church, and the Nikkei Manor assisted living facility near Uwajimaya in the International District, on Sunday afternoons three times a month.

The Keiro and Nikkei Manor facilities were established to meet the needs of the Japanese-American community starting in the 1970s as many residents were aging and in need of care. This focus has broadened since then, so many residents are no longer just of Japanese descent. However, the majority of the residents continue to be from Japanese, Chinese, and Korean heritage.

The Keiro nursing home residents are mostly not Christian, are more diverse in language, culture, and religious background, and are often in need of significant physical care. Our service focuses on helping them to have a basic understanding of who God is, how He loves us, how He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and how we need to respond to God’s grace by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We include prayer, hymns and songs, and a message from the Bible in our service. However, sometimes the most important thing that we do is go and see the residents, greeting them in the name of the Lord and spending time with them, just as Jesus talked about in Matthew 25.

The Nikkei Manor residents who attend our service there are mostly Christian, and mostly Japanese or Japanese-American (at the moment). The service and message we bring to them focuses on clarifying their knowledge and edifying their growth in the Lord. Again, though, spending time with the residents, bringing a smile, a shake of the hand, and an open ear, is nearly as important as bringing the Word.

The ministry at Keiro will be ending later this year. We learned a few weeks ago that the facility will be closing due to financial difficulties. The residents will move to different facilities, and the staff will do so as well. Due to privacy laws, we are unable to ask where each of the residents will be going. We have already noticed that some residents who had been joining in our services have left. We are not sure exactly when we will no longer be able to come to Keiro to lead services, but it will probably be in the next few months.

We are not sure where our ministry will go after Keiro closes. There may be an option to increase the number of services we have at Nikkei Manor from one to two a month (we only just started there in mid-2018). There may also be other facilities in which we may be able to lead services. We hope to figure this out later this year.

Our team over the last several months has included Nancy Mayeno, Phyllis Solem, Ichiro and Lynne Otsu, Richard, Keri, Kayla and Nathan Nakamura, Yasuko Aoyagi, Kerry Watanabe, Andres, Laci, and Leah St. John, Betty Inouye, Steve, Miku, Amana, and Emma Inouye, Shigeko Williamson, John and Joy F., and Tom and Hiromi Gerety. Mihoko Cheung and Dave Bauson have also stepped in to help out with music and bringing the message when some of our team members were unable to come.

We meet at Keiro every 1st and 3rd Sunday after church at 2pm, and at Nikkei Manor on the 4th Sunday of each month at 1:30pm. A small group also ministers on the 3rd Tuesday at 10:30am at Keiro. Shigeko serves us wonderful lunches before we go, energizing us through sustenance and fellowship.

We arrive in time to greet each resident, sharing a smile, a warm hand, and a word of encouragement, before we begin the service with prayer. After singing hymns, giving the message, and closing in prayer, we again reach out to talk with and touch each resident and the staff, and to pray with them.

Please continue to pray for the Keiro and Nikkei Manor ministry. Specifically, please pray for the Gospel to be proclaimed to and received by the residents and staff at Keiro, both in the short time we have left in seeing them there before the facility closes, and also after they have moved to new facilities. Please pray for the Lord to ease their physical, emotional, and spiritual anxiety with the change in their lives, and grant them His peace. And please pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to use His people to deliver the saving Good News of Jesus Christ to all those who are shut-in and in need of His grace.

Is God calling you to be a part of this team in expanding His Kingdom? Come join us and see if this is where you might be used of God. Thank you for all your prayers.

Sacred Road Summer Mission Trip

by Brian Watanabe and the Mission Team

As the Yakama trip approaches (Saturday, July 27th to Saturday, August 3rd), please join us in prayer for our team and the Yakama people. We are looking forward to the trip but also know that there will be challenges as we step out of our comfort zones. Included here are prayer requests from some of our team members, but be praying as the Spirit leads 🙂 Thank you for your support and we look forward to reporting back on God’s work in Yakama (around us, through us, and in us!).

Mike Kurtz:

This will be my first year serving with the team in White Swan. The nature of the work and the adverse conditions will be a challenge for this “older” person among the many younger ones. Please pray for physical endurance! I would appreciate prayers for perspective, to understand close up the struggles that Sacred Road faces daily and the people they minister to and with. Pray that God would give me His heart for these people.

Amy Li:

My prayer request is that God would increase my empathy, love and understanding for the people we will meet and serve on the trip!

Kenji Kumai:

My prayer request is that we can serve together and not only get work done to bless the people we are serving, but also to grow together.  To grow closer to Him and to each other.  To connect with the kids and share Christ’s love with them.  To build relationships and that I can be used to be an encouragement.  And to encourage the staff at Sacred Road. Also, for health and safety in the heat and long days.  Thank you so much for your prayers.

Natsuki Tamagawa:

I would like to go to Yakima because I enjoy working with children for God’s Kingdom. Please pray for me that I will be faithful spending time in His word and remember to pray even when I am tired.

Brian Watanabe:

Please pray that God would be our source of strength to face the challenges of the trip. Pray that our hearts and minds would be opened to God and to the Yakama people.

FBC Yakama Team 2019: Andrew Friberg, Jonathan Kumai, Julia Kumai, Justin Kumai, Kenji Kumai, Mike Kurtz, Amy Li, Hanna Nakamura, Natsuki Tamagawa, Brian Watanabe

(Please see the articles in May and June Grapevines to know more about the Sacred Road ministries and this mission trip.)