In Community:

March 2020 Newsletter

The Power of Love

By Pastor Craig Swanson

When we arrived at FBC in 2002, one of my first goals was to quickly learn everyone’s names.  One of the first face/name associations I made was that of Rita Milligan.  I quickly learned that she had served as a missionary in Japan for over 30 years and had come back to the US for health reasons and that FBC had been instrumental in her recovery.  She told me that because of FBC’s role in her restoration to health, she wanted to serve the church as long as she was able.

I remember my first impression being that she might be involved with seniors at FBC or at the Keiro nursing facility.  But at the Sunday morning prayer time, she would share requests for students she was attempting to minister to.  I had my doubts but then I began to see her effectiveness.  Rita was involved in Talk Time and the young people genuinely seemed to enjoy being with her despite the significant age difference.  It seemed like each week, new students were sitting with her in church.

The longer I observed her, worshipped with her and served alongside her, the more I saw that her effectiveness was a result of her love for those she ministered to.  That love overcame language differences, age differences and culture differences.  Everyone that knew Rita, knew that she loved them.  That’s why 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that without love, we gain nothing and that we are nothing and also that the greatest thing is love.  Rita showed us all, that with love, God can use each and every one of us to touch lives for eternity.  Even when the Lord relocated her to the Senior Center at Warm Beach, her love for God was translated into love for those around her and her ministry continued to be effective, simply because she loved.

Rita Milligan went to be with the Lord on February 18th.
The Graveside Service will be on March 13th, 11am at Evergreen Washelli.
The Memorial Service will be on March 14th, 3pm at Warm Beach at Beachwood Lounge. The reception is from 2pm before the service.

Valentine’s Day Fellowship

By Pastor Mike Kurtz

Chivalry is an old word that we don’t hear often, but it is something we have grown accustom to at FBC around Valentine’s Day. For more than a decade, the men have been hosting a Valentine’s Day Fellowship Hour by cooking lunch and desserts for the women of FBC – an act of chivalry’s love. This year the variety of food was impressive, from shrimp scampi to beef stew to pecan pie and so much more. Thank you to the men of FBC who contributed to this loving event – a small token of our appreciation for all that the women do at home, in our communities, workplaces, and at FBC

The Lord’s Table (Homeless Feeding Ministry)

By Jo Valberg

Below is a statement by Norm & Mike Abe on behalf of The Lord’s Table’s last serving February 19^th, 2020. Accepting the closure decision is difficult as volunteers include over 200+ people and 25+ groups whose calling and heart is to minister in Jesus’ Name.  We are praying for His future leading and in the meanwhile, let’s contribute in ways led by His Spirit, rejoicing and sharing His great salvation and love.
Grateful for The Lord’s Table,
Jo Valberg on behalf of FBC’s ministry

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February 10, 2020

Dear Lord’s Table Volunteers,

Thank you for your compassion to serve our most vulnerable sisters and brothers in our community. Your giving of your valuable time and resources are the embodiment of God’s call throughout the Bible to serve the poor and needy. We have seen lives changed by the meals, clothing, blankets, supplies, and most importantly your love and prayers for these people. Our mom devoted her life to this mission and was grateful for the loving relationships that she had with all of you.

In the coming weeks the outdoor meal site will be transitioning to the Millionaire’s Club building at 2515 Western Avenue. As for reference points, this location is between the Pike Place Market and the Sculpture Park. There will be other changes both positive and negative that will impact the meal program going forward. Given these changes and with much thought, we feel that we will no longer be able to continue The Lord’s Table. Therefore, we plan to serve our last dinner at the I-5 Freeway location on February 19th.

We have been blessed so much by your generosity and support for the past 29 years. We also look forward to what God has in store for us, and want to close with our mom’s favorite and often spoken verses, Matthew 25:35-40, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

May the Lord continue to bless you all,
Norman and Mike Abe

Sacred Road Update

By Rieko Kato

Words from the front.

We asked for comments from the Sacred Road staff to give us a feel of what is happening and what is on their hearts.

From Joshua Tsavatewa, assistant pastor at Hope Fellowship.

Looking back:  “Thank you for all your donations toward the Yakama Christmas this past year. Sacred Road visited 136 homes and gave out over 400 shoeboxes.  A big highlight was how many teenagers we had leading the house visits and how they threw Christmas parties for the children. Seven teenagers took the lead in doing a puppet show for kids here on the Rez and in two off Reservation communities.”

From Trey Belisario, Children’s Ministry Coordinator.

He writes:  “A big praise that you could share would be about one of the little guys we have here. He’s six years old and has had quite the hard life. He lived out of a van for most his life and has been routinely neglected. Because of this he is a particularly angry kid. Regularly, he gives us a hard time on Sundays at Children’s Church. After a particularly hard day I pulled him aside to talk to him. He was extremely hungry and hadn’t eaten in a while, so I gave him a snack. He ended up opening up to me. He told me how he didn’t believe in Jesus because he had been attacked by a pack of dogs and Jesus didn’t save him. He didn’t believe the Bible because he hadn’t seen the stories we talked about. But he said he did believe in “this” and pointed to the roof of the Hope Fellowship  building. “I believe in the church because you guys built it and I get food here.” This is certainly a great starting point for such a young troubled soul. As I said he’s had a hard, young life but he is here every Sunday and has already grown so much in his trust of the church. Thank you for your church’s partnership with our ministry.”

Fishii Tillequots was the first member of Hope Fellowship to receive an AA degree from Indian Bible College and is hoping to complete her bachelor’s degree and return to serve with Sacred Road in youth ministry.

She shares through Facebook messenger: “I will be going home this summer but am still debating on the whole summer. I want to travel a bit. I’ll be starting the process to join staff this summer. Hopefully I will be getting my bachelors next spring.” For prayer requests, she goes on to write: “Hmm…that I’ll get a job soon. I have no funds and have surprisingly been getting by with God’s grace. For my family…a cousin just announced she is pregnant so for a good pregnancy.” She writes she needs a job: “So I can eat. Haha. I have a small scholarship from my church which helps for tuition.”  She sends her  “Atomishamush!” which means I love you all  in the Yakama language.

Emily Ann Bachand came to FBC and shared during the Mission Focus in February. She works in the Hospitality and Mercy Ministries. She helps prepare meals for 300 people on a weekly basis. She leads a girls Discipleship group, helps with the basic needs of the teen girls and coordinates special events. This year, the girls in the FBC Rock group are helping Emily Ann for one of these special events called “Get Ready for the Prom” at Hope Fellowship.

Emily writes:  “Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Prior to the formal dresses being donated, most of the High School girls in our youth group weren’t thinking about attending Prom. Since a majority of the kids who attend our church come from unstable families, they don’t have the resources available to purchase formal clothing. Most of the kids don’t have a fun, safe space to get ready for the dance as well. So it became apparent that the Church could support the girls in White Swan in a whole new way – stalking up on the resources girls need to get ready for prom (clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc.) and opening up the doors of our church, to help each girl get ready for the special dance. This year, I’m excited to plan another “Get Ready for the Prom” event!  I need your help to make this year’s event better than last years!

The biggest change to this year’s, “Get Ready for the Prom”, is that it will also be a day devoted to helping the teenage girls in our church get ready for the dance. In order to make this happen, I need gently used, or new formal clothing
donated for teenage girls and boys.  God bless you.”

In the Foyer there are receiving boxes for the items needed which include: Formal dresses (size L and up), dress shoes, sweaters and shawls, men’s dress shirts and pants and accessories.

Coming up.  Sacred Road Summer Mission’s Trip, July 11th to 18th, 2020.

Missionary of the Month: Mako

From this year’s newsletter, we would like to highlight one or a few missionary each month.
This month, we would like to include Mako’s update, including the big news!

This week should have been a busy week. And it has been quite full in a different sort of way (will wait to talk about that on the next page), but the semester should have been back up and going and I should be out there with my teammates meeting up with students.

But if you follow the news at all, you have seen that a new coronavirus now called COVID-19, has basically shut down a large region for a period of time.

Some have left the country, but I have felt the freedom to stay and wait out this disease along with the others here. My church is here and my team is ready to get back going whenever we are able to.

In the last couple weeks companies have begun going back to work in this city (albeit many employees are still working from home). In spite of many things beginning back, we know that universities will be among the last to be back up and running. This makes sense as germs could spread quickly in a university set-ting, but it also means that my normal work-week for the semester is still on hold.

If you have been praying for my safety during this time I also want to say a big thank you. There have been many questions about COVID-19 that have left many of us here not knowing what to expect next. At least where I am, we may not feel like we are in immediate danger, but are taking recommended precautions, for instance, wearing a mask whenever we leave the house.

In the meantime, I and those on my team are keeping one another accountable in reading good books related to theology and ministry. This past Sunday I also had the privilege of preaching at my church, RCBC, on Psalm 16. (What rich reminders of God’s goodness are found in that Psalm!)

Our church and many churches in the city and around the country are being affected in deciding when and how to meet during this time. Since RCBC is still very small, we still for the time being are able to gather together on Sundays as an entire group.

The students that we have reached out to are also waiting. Many are still in their hometowns. Please pray that many would pick up their Bibles and read as they will still have some free time before school begins.

There are still unanswered questions for me as far as what this coming semester will look like. Please pray for my own wisdom and discernment and pray for me and the other team members that we would still be able to go on campus.

I would also encourage focused prayer on the area hit the hardest by this virus. If you do a search on The Gospel Coalition website for “coronavirus” there are a few helpful articles that you will find there including a couple articles written by a brother who I know and respect on this side of the world. One is titled “King Jehoshaphat and the Coronavirus” and another “5 Prayer Requests from Behind the Coronavirus Curtain.”

Please do pray for the churches in the hardest hit areas and for the churches in this country during this time to be bold in pro-claiming the gospel. Pray for Christians as well to love our neighbors well during this time.

Guess What?!
I popped the question earlier this week…
She said yes..
We are engaged.
We are beginning to plan the wedding…
Thankful.

I try to focus on the ministry side of things in these prayer letters, but I am also so thankful to have praying friends who not only are praying for the work here but also for all the other aspects of my life.

And I realize, that outside of my relationship with God, my relationship with my spouse will be the most influential relationship in my life. For those of you who prayed that God would provide a godly spouse for me, even if I hadn’t specifically asked you to pray in this way, thank you very much for your prayers.

I have mentioned “Rachel” a few times before. I am thankful for her heart to serve the Lord, her love for her church and her heart for students. I am thankful for ways I see her discipling other women in her church. I am thankful for ways that I see her care for her friends and care for me.

God is good in every stage of our lives. And we can trust that He is continuing to seek our good and His glory.

So I would like to ask for prayer:

• Would you pray for our wedding that it would be a sweet time of fellowship for believers and that our non-Christian friends who at-tend would hear the gospel proclaimed clearly and boldly. Would be a joy to see God use the wedding in the lives of some of the non-Christian students we know.
• Would you pray Ephesians 5:22-33 for us, in our future married life, that our marriage would reflect Christ and the Church. What a beautiful re-minder of the gospel!
• Would you pray for us that in life and ministry we would partner together to honor God above all else
• And would you take the time to thank God with us!

A Look Inside the School of Promise, Chiang Mai

For several years, FBC has supported the School of Promise (SOP) prayerfully, financially, through child sponsorships, and by sending teams to Thailand. The work that is being done there is nothing short of miraculous and truly evidence of God’s presence there. Recently, we received a newsletter giving us an inside look:

This from Marvel Vander Kooi who shows us how the school is impacting the hearts of students:

An Unexpected Apology

Mother-daughter relationships in Thailand are no different than anywhere else in the world. These relationships are intense, and the likelihood of heated arguments is high. Sometimes, apologies come, but not always. Often, both parties try to ignore any hurt feelings and just move on. This is a story of how a 5th grade daughter chose to face the feelings and gave her mother an unexpected apology.

One morning, Mrs. Bee noticed Neely, a student in her Thai class, seemed upset. She took Neely aside and asked her what the matter was. Neely said she had a fight with her mother before school. Neely proceeded to explain the situation and argument. Mrs. Bee empathized with Neely but explained that arguing in the manner she had done is not what God wants. We are to treat each other with love, and God specifically commands honor to be shown to parents. Mrs. Bee asked Neely if her behavior had been loving and honoring. Neely admitted that it had not.

Neely asked Mrs. Bee if she could call her mother. Using Mrs. Bee’s phone, Neely called her mother right then to apologize for her behavior and disrespectful attitude that morning. Imagine her mother’s feelings when she received an unexpected apology during the school day.

Neely’s determination to apologize as soon as she understood her error not only showed love and honor for her mother but also for the Lord.

In other news:

On December 6, 2019, the ministry celebrated the grand opening of the Hope International Schools (HIS) branch office for a new Christian school in the province of Tak, a four-hour drive south of Chiang Mai. Their vision is to open the school in May of 2021.

On January 25, the School of Promise held its third annual mini marathon.  They had around 300 participants racing 5K and 10K courses. Praise God that they were able to reach out to the community and promote athletics and healthy lifestyles, while raising funds for the school.

Construction Update: The School is building a new cafeteria – larger, enclosed, and air conditioned. It will have a music room and will enable them to host large events. They would like the facility to be finished in time for their 10^th anniversary in March.

There is much to be in prayer for the School of Promise/Hope International Schools and much to be excited about!

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FBC would like to send a team to run a Vacation Bible School Camp at the School of Promise in Thailand this October. The VBS camp will be 10/26 -10/30/20. If you are interested in learning more about the trip, please attend the meeting on March 22, 12:30pm in the Skybridge Room . To RSVP, email Reiko Aramaki or sign-up in the foyer.