In Community:

November 2021 Newsletter

Unity in Diversity – in Christ and for Christ

By Pastor Kohei Takeda

When we traveled to Japan this summer, I noticed an advertising slogan that was spread across the country, which drew my attention. It says, “Unity in Diversity.” We saw this phrase everywhere, whether on the train, on the street, or on TV commercials. As believers, we often hear this phrase in a church. But, this had nothing to do with Christianity. Actually, it was the motto of the Tokyo Olympic Games 2021. In other places, we also saw a different version of the motto, which says “United by Emotion.”

In a sense, I understand that in this world-wide event people wanted to have a united spirit to celebrate sports and see good sportsmanship regardless of culture, age, or race. This motto might be relevant and meaningful all the more because of the postmodern world we still live in, where the people believe that truth is subjective and relative. Of course, we know that the Christian view of unity is different from what the motto of the Tokyo Olympics connotes and pursues. But, this also made me wonder how the unity of the Church is different from that of the world, and how we as a church are actually making an impact on such a world.

In the time of COVID-19, God led us to rethink what we as a church should be. For eight weeks starting in September, we’ve learned from the Scriptures in a sermon series, “What is the Church?” Here is the summary of what God taught us about the essential foundations of FBC as a church.

• The mission of the Church: Making Jesus’ disciples (Matt. 28:19, 20)
• The power of the Church: Only from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; Luke 24:44-49)
• 4 things that the Church should be devoted to (Acts 2:42-47):
  1)  Word of God (the apostles’ teachings)
  2)  Fellowship
  3)  Communion (the breaking of bread)
  4)  Prayer
• God gave the Church various spiritual gifts to love and serve others (1 Cor. 12:1-11)
• God called the Church to seek unity in diversity, in Christ and for Christ (Eph. 4:1-16)

We cannot emphasize enough of the importance of all these callings for the church. But, in light of this difficult time, what stuck in my mind is the most recent verse we learned, that’s, Ephesians 4:1-16, which is about the unity of the Church.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:3)

Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Eph. 4:11-13)

As part of the body of Christ, each of us is totally different from others, but still, we are called, individually and collectively, to make every effort to unite in the faith and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. This all became possible because of the work of Christ, not ours, that Jesus loved us so much that He gave up His life and was raised from the dead for us. We are indeed united in Christ, and by Christ.

As followers of Christ, pursuing unity doesn’t mean ignoring differences, like age, generation, life stage, character, value, opinion, culture, or language. God calls us to embrace such differences. Pursuing unity doesn’t mean that we just passively acknowledge differences and do whatever we want. God calls us to actively, sacrificially love and serve those who are different from us. Pursuing unity doesn’t mean that we call “others” those who are different, and call “us” those who are similar. God called us to always call them “our” family, including those believers outside of FBC. Pursuing unity doesn’t mean to avoid disagreement or fall into superficial solutions. God calls us to create a safe space in the church, listening to others attentively, sharing in love and respect, and seeking God and His kingdom together in every relationship.

All these seem way too impossible to accomplish, if the Church is built by worldly powers, such as money, experience, or techniques. But, the unity of Christ is only possible when it is built in Christ, and by Christ.

Another aspect that we shouldn’t miss is the purpose of the unity. God taught us in Ephesians 4:13 to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. As a church, we are called to build up the whole body of Christ so that we can love and serve the world, as Jesus did and still does. The body of Christ is mobile, and has a purpose. This goes back to the mission of the Church in Matthew 28, that is, to make his disciples. As a church, we are called not to just stay with fellow believers, but in unity, to go out of our comfort zone (Matt 28:19) to reach out to the people and the world which God loved so much that he gave up his life (John 3:16). The purpose of the unity of the Church is not the unity itself, but to love God and our neighbors (Matt 22:37-40).

Even during the pandemic, we praise God by seeing Him building up the body of Christ at Faith Bible. I was so encouraged to see people loving and serving in Christ, and for Christ. At the Men’s Steak Out, we saw diverse people united in Christ to serve together for the same purpose, regardless of age, social status, language, or culture. People actively reached out and invited those who are seemingly the most vulnerable. They also reached out to their unbeliever friends and colleagues, and God actually brought them over to the fellowship, responding to our prayers.

Another example of the unity at FBC was seen at the pumpkin party organized by CYC. Not only did they invite their young friends, but they also invited our family to share with them, who are totally in a different life stage. I was impressed by their clear intention to bridge between generations in the church regardless of differences. Also, we have seen that so many people are connected with FBC and are sharing life deeply through house churches and small groups. We recently counted that over 70 people are connected through Japanese/English speaking house churches and small groups. I know there are a lot more examples, but this is what “making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” looks like at FBC. And this is what I am most proud of about this church that is reflecting Christ as His body.

Covid has always been such a challenge for us. But, what God has been giving us is not a curse but grace and blessings, even in the midst of suffering. He is giving us His Word, teaching us what we as a church should be, and transforming us by His grace to be more like Jesus. All this is accomplished in Christ, and for Christ. Now, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” Friends, let us enjoy walking closely with Jesus during this difficult time, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.

Men’s Steak Out – Covid Style

By Kenji Kumai

On October 16^th, 2021, between 1-3pm over 60 men got together outside in the parking lot of Faith Bible Church to enjoy a time of fellowship together.  The weather forecast was not looking good a few weeks prior to the event and a few days before the event it was looking even worse!   Because we wanted to be as safe as possible, we decided to do this event outside, even in October!  So, Pastor Kohei ordered three large heavy duty event type tents and one of them arrived without a canopy!  So, then we gathered six pop up tents and with the two large event tents we were ready.  Amazingly, the weather actually turned out nice!  It was not cold; it did not rain at all, and it was actually sunny when we closed the time in prayer!  Praise the Lord!

The menu was prime rib, rice, asparagus, Caesar salad, fruit salad and apple pie.  All from Costco! (except for the kimchee!)  What would we do without Costco?  We had ice breaker type games planned so the men could mingle and get to know each other and start off the time of connecting with one another.  But we decided not to even have the games since as soon as the men arrived, they were connecting right away.

There were young men, older men, senior men and men who were new at FBC and men who had been coming for decades.  What a wonderful mix of all ages and generations!  What a great time we had together!

I want to thank those who worked hard to make this happen.  We had two teams who split up to prepare for the event.
Team 1:  Brian Watanabe, Kohei Takeda, Ichiro Otsu, Anthony Cheung and Ben Fisher.  These guys worked outside setting up the tents, tables, and chairs.
Team 2:  Marty Dong, Daniel Mar, Edwin Sandico and Kenji Kumai.  We cooked in the kitchen.  And then we all worked together to serve and clean.
We appreciate each of you who helped. Thank you all so much!  We started at 10am with a time of prayer and got right into setting up. And we finished cleaning around 4:30pm.  We appreciate your sacrifice in order to make this happen!

We believe that God truly worked in so many ways.  From the weather, to having such a great turn out, for providing all that we needed and a wonderful time of connecting and building relationships amongst brothers in Christ.  We pray that those who were able to attend, would take the next steps to connect deeper to the Ohana at FBC.

We want to thank each one of you who came out to support this event and effort to connect deeper as brothers in Christ and ultimately to grow closer to our Lord Jesus.

In His service,
Kenji (for the committee: Brian Watanabe and Pastor Kohei Takeda)

CYC (College/Young Career) Ministry Update

By Jennifer Tsuji

CYC IS BACK! After a long 15 months apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with us taking a break over the summer to rest and recharge, CYC is officially back and meeting in-person again (w/masks of course!). It was a surreal experience to be back in the fellowship hall for Sunday School at 9:30am again during that first week back in September, but also odd how completely normal it felt considering it had been over a year since we had done this. We are so thankful to be able to spend time together in-person and reconnect with members we hadn’t seen since before the pandemic, as well as welcome in some new friends that moved to Seattle this summer! There was definitely some uncertainty about what this ministry would look like as we transition to a ‘post-pandemic’ world, but God has been faithful in sustaining all of us and continuing to work in this group.

Having Sunday School again in-person is one exciting thing we were able to restart, and currently we are doing a scripture study through the book of Jonah. It’s been insightful re-reading this book from an adult perspective, and we’ve learned that there is definitely much more to the book than what we learned from Veggietales 🙂 Most recently we were also able to have our first in-person indoor fellowship since Feb 2020! The church graciously allowed us to use the Fellowship Hall one Friday and we had our kickoff CYC ‘Pumpkin Party’ event. We were able to play some games, carve some pumpkins, roast the yummy pumpkin seeds (created 4 different flavors!), eat yummy dessert, and most excitingly, got to hear testimonies from Pastor Kohei and Akiko (while also getting to play with their cute kids). It was great to be able to have our group meet and get to know the Takeda family on a deeper level. One thing that we are striving to do in CYC is to continue to integrate our group more within the church body as a whole. We figured that since the Takedas came right before COVID hit, and since we have lots of new members in our group, it would be a nice way for everyone to get to know each other better. God really provided and blessed our first in-person fellowship, as personally speaking, it was easy to get overwhelmed with all the details and planning since we were a bit rusty and out of practice 🙂 But God is good and helped everything go smoothly and brought wonderful community to the event. We look forward to what He has in store for this ministry as the year continues!

ROCK (High School Ministry) Update

by Chris Jo

ROCK 2021-2022

Have you ever lived with someone, whether a family member or roommate that had the olfactory senses of a hound dog? Whenever you were about to eat something, you heard a rush of footsteps approaching followed by the words “What are you eating? Can I have some?” and you saw the snack you were about to eat torn apart by others leaving behind only the crumbs or the end piece no one wants. I have three such “roommates”- my children. I’m not ashamed to admit that on occasion I’ve hid in the pantry, pulled out a savory treat to enjoy, paused for a minute to see if the children picked up on the scent and when all seemed clear, breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed a snack break.

I had such a pantry moment this past spring. After a year of online Rock ministry, I was ready to resume in person Sunday School and fellowship events. As the vaccines rolled out, state regulations eased, I breathed a sigh of relief and then just as I was about to take a bite of my ham and cheese croissant, I mean as I began to plan for in-person meetings, I heard the rush of footsteps and here we are today. Not quite where we hoped we’d be but probably not as bad as it was 18 months ago.

ROCK has officially kicked off and there is a lot to update you on so let’s get started.

ROCK Sunday School

We have been and plan to meet live for Sunday School for the 2021-2022 year. It’s been such a joy to see all the students in 3D! Almost everyone who attended during our online year has been attending in person which has been such an encouragement. We picked up right where we left off having fun and enjoying conversations about our relationship with God. This year we kicked things off by asking the following questions:  1.  What is the Church? 2.  Is it important to meet in person (biblically speaking)? 3. Is preaching and teaching important and is it important to do this together (again, biblically speaking). In the future we will move onto the purpose of the Church community including loving those that are different within the community and then loving those outside the church community. By God’s grace and perfect plan, what we are studying in Sunday School seems to be in sync with sermons during church service. How cool! The only downside is that normally when a joke fails (most of them) I’ll get a pity smile which I gladly accept and delude myself to thinking, “they thought it was hilarious”. But with masks covering their mouths I’ll often get a vacant stares and I’ll think “they must be smiling so big underneath the mask, they thought it was hilarious”…I guess it’s not a downside.

ROCK Fellowship

Like Sunday School we also have and plan on meeting in person for fellowships. However due to the uncertainty with what will happen in the future, we are trying to not plan too far into the future and be open to making changes as they become necessary. So far, we’ve had two events! The first was a ROCK kickoff at the Dong residence where we hung out, ate pizza, played games and talked about the upcoming year. The students were so excited for in person fellowships which was such an encourage for the ROCK leaders.

The second event was the event I dread each and every year. Know by many names (The Maze of Misery, The Muddy Maze of Wet Despondence, Corn Maze of Sorrow) this year due to the stormy weather we weren’t sure if we were going to cancel or attend.  After waffling on the decision, we decided to give it a go. As we arrived at the Corn Maze of Why Are We Doing This Again, it turned out the power had gone out, so it was cancelled! We pivoted and turned it into a fellowship game night. We enjoyed fried chicken and ended the night playing a game where the students and Amy Li ate spicy jellybeans. As they progressed through each round the jellybeans got spicier and spicier, and most students had tapped out by the time we got to the final round. Hailey “It’s Never Too Hot to Handle or Too Cold to Hold” Crawford and Amy “Spice is Life” Li were the final two standing. Amy Li was the tapped out first I the final challenge crowning Hailey as the spicy champion.

Other events we are planning include Secret Santa and Game and Fellowship Nights. For 2022 we will see how things are in the world and leaving it up to God to open up opportunities and give us guidance and wisdom for Rock events.

Leadership Changes

In addition to myself (Chris Jo) we were blessed with the Rock Leadership group of Kenji and Jeanne Kumai, Amy Li, Ellison Iseri and Drew Fukuda this past year. Two exciting events took place for the leaders, Ellison had a baby and Drew got married! With the exciting news however came the sad news that both of them would step down. However, we rejoice with them for the exciting changes in their lives.

Student Changes

We said good bye to three seniors last year, Nathan Crawford, Kulani Chan and Kieran Vu. It’s not sad news for me though as I pretend, they are still part of ROCK.  Some people would call this denial while I call it a well-developed imagination.    We have one new addition to our class, Ryan Ishimitsu who somehow grew from a little boy to someone who I now have to look at eye level and could easily break me if he tackled me.

WASABI (Middle School Ministry) Update

By Pastor Mike Kurtz

It’s a New Year!

Wow, a new school year that looks and feels entirely different from the last two years of virtual ministry. We started meeting in-person Sunday mornings in the fall, and it has been such a refreshment to see and teach students in the classroom. Despite the fact that some of the students are still joining us online, it feels great to have some semblance of normalcy.

As mentioned, this year we have created a hybrid version of our Sunday school class with half the students meeting in-person and the other half meeting online. We have been able to successfully hold classes through technology, but admit that there are some limitations to this approach. We are just happy, though, to have our community of students back together regardless of how it’s done.

This year we are learning that God has gifted each student uniquely and that those gifts are given to us by our Creator who wants us to display His creativity through us. As we learned last week, the created is an expression of its creator. As creations of God, we are God’s canvas – a work in progress that is becoming more beautiful as the Painter’s strokes are applied to the canvas. Our “canvases” aren’t to be put in a closet to be forgotten, but we should use them to exhibit to others and share with others. My goal this fall is to help our middle school students to not shy away from developing the gifts and abilities God has blessed them with. Strategically, I want our students to develop their relationships with God and one another by sharing themselves in class (who they are, what they like to do, etc.) so the Bible doesn’t just become a book of stories. Its truths contain value for every day life.

Last week the students came together for a pumpkin party. We had lunch, chose our pumpkin designs, and went to work. Many ambitious students picked really difficult designs, so the picture you see here is incomplete. In the end, it was about coming together for fun and building relationships. We hope to continue these types of activities in the months ahead.

We know it’s been hard for the students and the parents during this Covid time. We are thankful for their patience and determination to figure things out as we go. Please continue to pray that the students will grow in their love for the Lord and that relationships can be developed in this group that will keep them close to God.

Senior Ministry Update

By Kevin Chan

[Ephesians 4:4-6]  There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

Pastor Craig’s message on Sunday, October 24th spoke of the body, the greater body in Christ that we all belong to, where we are altogether as one. When there’s a part of us missing, we simply feel incomplete. 

During this pandemic (going on 20 months now), many of us have been separated from FBC for quite some time. Some of us have returned to in-person worship while others have not yet returned for different reasons. Naturally, many of us simply cannot help but to miss, wonder and worry about those from the FBC body that we haven’t seen in a long time. 

Here’s a quick update on our seniors. This writing was only possible because of the close network of loving and caring FBC members who continue to reach out to our seniors. As you may recall, a small group of people (from middle age to seniors) were called into the Seniors Encouragement Team (SET for short) back in April/May of 2020 and have since stayed in regular contact with our seniors. The SET would like to recognize Nancy Mayeno (who is also a senior) for faithfully and quietly serving alongside the team, which in turn encourages the team. 

FBC has always been a multi-generational church. It may be hard to believe without seeing everyone present, but we do have senior members in their 60’s up to 100+ (and that’s quite a range). Some seniors have felt comfortable enough to return to in-person worship on Sundays and we’re very encouraged to see them! 

Just as there’s quite an age range for our seniors, there’s also quite a range for: their living situation, their health situation, and their outgoing/social situation. 

Many of our seniors still live very independently in their own homes, as that’s where they’re most comfortable. Some may need a little assistance while remaining in their homes of many years, so their faithful children who live close by check in on them and give assistance regularly. Others have decided to downsize, sold their homes, and moved into apartments or smaller independent/assisted living to be closer to their children or relatives. And some seniors have moved from assisted living to skilled nursing facilities, as they’ve developed a greater need because of health issues. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a few of our seniors (and siblings of our seniors) with health issues have graduated and went home to be with the Lord. Other seniors, who are in better health and mentally sharp are doing well and doing whatever they can to encourage and minister to others. 

Some of our seniors are very healthy and well, so they are simply looked in on regularly by their children who live nearby. Some seniors have had successful elective surgery and are doing fine again, while others are waiting in the queue for their turn for their elective surgery needs. And some seniors still snowbird away during the colder months of the year here in the Pacific Northwest. 

We have some seniors who still enjoy their careers, as they go in to work daily. And we have seniors who have slowly sunset their careers, as they’ve transitioned and taught their children how to manage/run their successful family businesses. Along the way, they’ve also used their God-given gifts as they help others in the community by awarding grants and contributing to local business advancements. 

Seniors who have been gathering with their “lunch bunch” friends for years are once again able to do that in their small groups. Seniors that are tech savvy are regularly exchanging texts on their cell phones. Some have taken retreats together where they play cards, eat, pray together, and share in good news and updates of what’s going on with each other. We were extremely delighted to see some of our seniors come out to the FBC summer picnic and to the Men’s Steak Out. Some seniors still drive everywhere while others have gladly given up driving.  

Some seniors are so energized that they tirelessly share the love of Jesus with anyone who will listen.  So, they visit and minister to other seniors whenever possible as some of the restrictions have eased up as more people are vaccinated. Some seniors are so on top of it all that they call you before you call them, as they’re such social butterflies. 

Remember, there are some seniors that are not socially connected on the internet, because they simply do not have the internet. But where there’s a will there’s a way! People have connected on the telephone on Sunday mornings to play the FBC Sunday service over the telephone! Talk about a blast from the past, as that’s literally like a party line call from the old days! And then they’d share prayer time together afterwards! 

As the SET people have often noted:  The seniors who we try to encourage actually turn around and encourage us in the process. That’s how God uses us as a true blessing to each other. He turns an action of blessing into a gift of blessing right back to us. The SET people have also stated that as they reach out to the seniors, it often becomes the highlight of the day or the week for them. The seniors would turn things around and make them laugh and cheer them up, literally turning the frustration of a very difficult week into a blessing of laughter. Wow, that is truly a two-way blessing! 

Well, that’s it for now in a nutshell. Please continue to pray for all our dear seniors and for all those on the Seniors Encouragement Team, as everyone may have different and difficult challenges and situations on a daily basis. Please pray for God’s protection on everyone’s mental and physical health through this pandemic and until we can all be together once again. God Bless Everyone! 

FBC Calendar (link)

11/4: All Church Prayer Meeting (zoom)
11/7: Daylight Saving Time Ends
11/9: Elder’s Meeting
11/18: Shepherds’ Meeting

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1st and 3rd Sundays:
11:00am Joint Service

2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays:
9:30am Japanese Service/11:00am English Service