SUMMER CAMP DIRECTOR
Hello everyone! I’m sure most of you know
who I am, but for those of you who don’t, my name is Kimby Satow and I have had
the privilege of being Executive Director for this year’s summer camp program
here at CUPC. Honestly, I had no intentions on working this summer.
As a matter of fact, I turned down this job offer the first time around.
In the beginning of the year I started school again at Sacramento State
University to get another degree in Speech Pathology/Audiology and I had my
mind set on taking summer school. As the school year went on I received a
call asking again if I would come back to be the Executive Director. I
took the time to really think and pray about it and realized that although my
mind was set on taking summer school my heart was really with camp.
School is important to me and I wanted to try to finish as early as possible
because I didn’t want to be 30 and still be in school. But camp is just
as important to me. It has been a part of my life for about 17 years now
and even though camp will always be here, I know that without it I will be
missing out on opportunity to build on friendships and memories that wouldn’t
be the same any other summer.
With the summer coming to an end, I must say that
this was a challenging experience. From having to plan before camp
even started to having to work into the wee hours of the night during camp, you
can bet that when I got home I fell right to sleep. As an Executive
Director the reservations needed to be made, the calling, the parent issues,
the leader complaints, the campers whining, the supplies needed and all the
planning come at you non stop throughout the summer. I was kept so busy I
never really had the chance to soak up and enjoy the moment of camp and before
I knew it, it was almost over. With this, I knew I needed to slow my life
down and have my heart and mind be there for both the campers and
leaders. This summer, like every summer, has been full of laughter and
cries, new friendships forming and old ones getting stronger and of course -
God’s love appearing and growing in the hearts of many. It has been
amazing to see God’s hand at work as he continues to mold and shape not only
the leaders but the campers as well.
I don’t want to take all the glory for having a
successful summer because I didn’t do it all myself. Throughout the
summer there have been so many people who have stepped up and have gone out of
there way to help me out and I would like to thank everyone. Thank
you to the directors and leaders for always staying later than you had
to. Thank you to everyone who has helped us during the Friday night
fellowships, whether it was cooking or helping us with the games or the
message. But most importantly I would like to thank the church members
for all the support, prayers and help you have given us in any shape or
form. Thank you for giving me this opportunity and trusting me to be the
Executive Director. I’m sad that the summer has come to an end, but I know
I can count on the friendships and the memories I have made this summer to get
me through the school year.
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40:30-31
Kimby Satow
DEACONS' REPORT
The Deacons met this past month for our quarterly
meeting. We continue with our card ministries by sending cards to
members/friends that we haven’t seen lately. We also are continuing with
the Pastoral Partnership Program. If anyone is interested, please contact
the office.
The Deacons are also planning our 2nd annual
Deacons led worship service. The tentative date is Dec. 9th, so look
forward to a fun and meaningful service.
During our meetings, we have been spending a few
minutes sharing one’s faith journey. This month, I shared my faith
journey beginning in childhood all the way to my life here at CUPC.
If you have any prayer request or needs, please
contact the office.
COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:
The Deacons would like to thank the individuals
who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of July. We
are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We
would like to thank you all. Also, if you haven’t signed up recently, I
encourage you to sign up on the bulletin board downstairs next to the social
hall.
Thanks in advance, Irene Woo, Vice Moderator
SUMMER CAMP MOMENTS
Good morning, my name is Trevor Jung. I’m
16 years old and a current junior at Sacred Heart Cathedral. I
have been coming to CUPC since the 4th grade which makes this year my 7th year
here at CUPC. I’m very excited for this summer as it is the first summer
that I am a paid leader. This past week was week 2 of summer camp and
seemed to go much faster than last week. Maybe it was actually knowing
all of the campers names that helped the time to pass by, but that’s just my
opinion. Still, how ever short this week may have appeared it was not
without total exhaustion by the time Friday came. However, even as the
week ended camp was still not over and continued on with overnight planning and
preparation.
Week 2 was very interesting and busy as many
events happened. Monday and Tuesday consisted of attending a play at the
center for the handicap followed by a well needed rest on the 4th of
July. Thursday was stone soup in the park and Friday was kite flying at Marina
Greens and the tactile dome for the oldest girls and oldest boys.
Honestly, I did not see myself working at CUPC
this summer at all. I decided well before the school year ended that I
was going to get a real job and earn lots of money. In addition to
working I also planned on improving my basketball game. However, things
do not always work out the way you plan. Sometimes God works in
mysterious ways and somehow I ended up back at CUPC. Now that I look back
on how my summer would have been different without CUPC I regret that I ever
thought about not coming back. There may be summer jobs that you can make
a lot more money in one week, but where can you have as much
fun.
I feel
that it is my obligation to work and volunteer my time at CUPC. I cannot
really explain why I feel an outstanding requirement to be a part of CUPC
summer camp I just do. Maybe it is for several reasons. I want to
teach children about the God as a Catholic or I want to teach them life lessons
to prevent them from making the same detrimental mistakes I once did at their
age. I honestly cannot tell you. I wish I knew myself. The
one and only thing that I can say for sure is that during my time here at CUPC
I will hopefully grow in my faith with the Lord, create valuable friendships
that I will remember forever, and of course have fun. Thank you.
Hi my name is Amy Gee and I am sixteen years old,
currently a sophomore going to be a junior at Lowell High School. I’ve
attended CUPC, four years as a camper and three years as a loader.
Being a camper at CUPC was a very fun and
enjoyable experience. Playing games, singing songs, making cookout and
ice cream, giving my leaders a hard time, and many other activities have made
my camper years at CUPC worth while. It was also a great way to learn
about God, especially since I didn’t know much about Him and all that he has
done for us. We would have time every day allotted for devotion and
worshiping God. I have also made many great new friends along the way,
whether they were the same age as I was or several years apart. I don’t
think I could’ve had a better time anywhere else then at CUPC summer camp.
Now that I am a leader I want the campers to be
able to have as good of a time as I had when I was their age. The leaders
spend countless hours planning, leading the kids, and packing supplies.
Not only do we have to sing songs and play games with our groups, we have to
plan the songs we’re going to sing and plan the games we are going to play for
our groups. We also are role models and need to set good examples for the
campers. Taking the leadership role is very challenging and requires a
lot of patience, but it’s all worth it when I see the campers smiling and
having a good time.
This past week was the week that the overnight
took place. I have never been on the overnight as a leader, so it was a
new and exciting learning experience for me. There were many games
planned for the campers, most of them centered on team building. This
overnight has really strengthened my friendships with both the campers and the
leaders, and it also made me realize the importance of teamwork.
My most memorable moment from the overnight was
the night hike. It was around midnight when OB, OG, the 8th graders, the
leaders, and the directors walked along a small dirt path trying to find
Arman. Darkness surrounded us and our only light was from our flashlights
and the stars overhead. There were misleading and disturbing messages on
the ground which frightened the group and brought some to tears. As we
drew close to our destination, some of the messages read “to commit, to lead,
and to respect.” Although many of us were frightened, we gained courage
from the comfort of our friends and persisted.
I have learned so much from the three weeks
working at CUPC, and I look forward to working the next four. CUPC has
taught me a lot over the last several years. I learn something new almost
everyday; skills that are necessary for life and for the future. CUPC
summer camp truly does promote and thrive on the three F’s, which are fun,
friendship, and faith.
My name is Alex Kawano and here is my highly
anticipated speech. The reason being is because I was
supposed to do the summer camp moment for week one. But due to my busy
schedule and an array of events it was moved to today.
Well I‘m 14 years old and I’m entering my
sophomore year at Washington High School. I’m going to be honest, this
summer I wanted to get a job or play baseball. I wanted a little spending
money or the freedom to just to play baseball. I really thought about the
decision I would be making if I didn’t come to camp. I’ve been coming
since the lst grade and this is my 2nd year as a leader, which will make it my
9th year at camp. CUPC summer camp has provided great memories, helped my
leadership skills, and made strong friendships. I’ve received too much
from camp for me not to give back to it.
This year has been pretty interesting. When
I signed up this year, there was no way I would’ve thought that I’d be in the
head leader position (I guess they had no one else). This is my 2nd year
as a leader and I was given the role as head leader of the 3rd grade
boys. It’s really different then being a regular leader because it was
just last year when I was able to mess around and not take complete
responsibility; it was always on my head leader if anything happened.
It’s also very different giving orders than taking orders, especially when one
of my leaders is older than I am, and not to mention we’re pretty good
friends. It also feels like there are just as many leaders as
campers. This past Wednesday and Thursday my group had 5 leaders for 5
campers.
This week was ….. well I’m glad it’s over.
Our cookout was a “cook in,” I forgot the rice for our cookout which was fried
rice, but it sure was good. One of my campers was stung by a wasp
multiple times, another threw up after eating too much ice cream and cried
uncontrollably because his little string was thrown away by a fellow camper,
and to top it off we thought one camper might have suffered a tiny concussion,
but luckily he’s alive and well. But since the campers are in 3rd grade
they got right back up. Daniel the boy who was stung hasn’t said a word
about the wasp and probably forgot about it by now. Jace is fine, he
found himself a new string and Ryan was completely fine during the afternoon
part of the day after he fell on his head in the morning.
Some cool events did occur though. Monday
we found out there were coyotes in the park, which was kind of scary.
Tuesday they were shot, but supposedly there were still more out there.
So I showed the kids what to do if they saw one. It was so funny watching
Daniel show me what to do in the event that he encountered a coyote. You
have to get really big. Wednesday was actually the first day it had ever
rained on July 18 since San Francisco started recording the weather in 1845.
The leader talent show was also this week. My talent was baking a
chocolate cake. The leader talent show was short but sweet. The
reason why it was so short was because 12 leaders participating in eating
activities, such as the eating contest and the making and eating of a snowman
made with lots of rice. So by the time the talent show was over my cake
still had 45 minutes left in the oven. Lastly I’d like to say that I used
one of the cakes that was baked to cake Traci.
Good morning everyone. My name is Erica Sequeira and I am 14 years
old. I am an incoming sophomore at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep.
This is my sixth year at CUPC summer camp, and my second year as a
leader. I started coming to CUPC in 3rd grade and came every summer until
6th grade, my oldest girls year. I took a two year break from camp, but
last year I realized that I really missed my friends and the bonds that I made,
so I decided to come back as a leader.
The summer has gone by very quickly, and as you
know this was the fifth week of camp and believe me it was busy. At the
beginning of the week we had our annual bubble gum contest where the campers
competed to see who could blow the biggest bubble. After the campers had their
fun, it was the leaders turn to participate in the contest. During this,
one of the omega leaders somehow got their bubble gum stuck in their
braces. As the week moved on we searched for dinosaur eggs in the park on
Tuesday. We found most of the eggs including a half eaten one that
someone else got to before we did. Even though the weather wasn’t great,
we still made ice cream on Wednesday. My group got creative and made
purple pineapple ice cream with red and blue food coloring and pineapples.
It tasted better then it sounds. On Thursday we had cookout where my
group made chicken katsu followed by our famous song contest. Every group
tried their best, singing as many songs as they could. My group, oldest
girls, won for the 2nd summer in a row. 5G came in second, while group B
took third. It was a fun experience for the whole camp. To end the
week off, the camp went to Paramount’s Great America on Friday. It was
fun to see all of the kids either getting wet on the water rides, screaming on
the roller coasters, or winning prizes at the arcades. It’s been a fun
week and I guess we’ll see how it goes this week.
While group B took third. It was a fun
experience for the whole camp. To end the week off, the camp went to
Paramount’s Great America on Friday. It was fun to see all of the kids
either getting wet on the water rides, screaming on the roller coasters, or
winning prizes at the arcades. It’s been a fun week and I guess we’ll see
how it goes this week.
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
2 CENTS A-MEAL UPDATE
The Women’s Group has been collecting for 2 Cents
A-Meal since 2006. Money has been donated to St. Martin De Porres House.
St. Martin De Porres House is an organization in
San Francisco that helps to feed people who are hungry and who may be homeless.
Past volunteers from CUPC have helped with preparing and serving meals to the
guest that came to St. Martin’s.
In addition to donating monies to local
organizations, monies will also be donated to the Presbyterian Church USA’s
Hunger Program. CUPC will continue along with other local Presbyterian
churches to help feed the hungry wherever hunger exist. Your 2¢, 5¢, 25¢ are
greatly appreciated.
Jackie Kwan
A WELCOMING CHURCH
“Come Ye Therefore” into a welcoming,
intergenerational, diverse faith community that nurtures and fosters spiritual
growth through worship and meaningful relationships. Then, “Go Ye
Therefore”. . . into the larger community reaching out and sharing God’s Good
News.
The above is CUPC’s mission statements approved in 2002. We are
reminded of the statements every Sunday when we see it in our Sunday worship
bulletin below the Church’s heading.
I would like to draw attention to the word
“Welcoming,” and reflect whether we are living the word as we receive visitors
and newcomers into our midst.
The Worship Committee has in the past discussed
and adopted ways to welcome visitors to our Sunday service. Remember when
volunteer members sat next to visitors during the service and introduced them
to the congregations. They also invited them to the coffee social
downstairs and introduced them to the members.
I am bringing this matter up to remind us that
each of us has a responsibility to be a part of the welcoming church. The
church is open to all who wish to worship with us.
Last Sunday, a visitor from Brazil was a
worshipper and a visitor. I sat next to him before service. I
welcomed him and asked his name and where he was from. He didn't have a
name tag on him and he came alone. I found out he was visiting from
Brazil, and through the downtown hotel concierge was given the name of our
church to worship. Most likely he was surprised to find out that the
worshippers were mostly Asian, and Japanese in particular. He indicated
that San Paulo had a large Japanese population. Although I invited him to
coffee after the service, he said he had to leave because his wife was waiting
for him at the hotel. Here was a visitor from Brazil who sought a place
to worship on Sunday, and God chose us as that place. How did we welcome
him? What do you think was his impression of us?
It is important to know that any visitor who
steps inside our doors is our guest. It is our mission to welcome all who
enter the House of God. Let’s be the welcoming, faith community as
written in our Mission Statement!
Kathy Reyes
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
KELLY DER’S MISSION WORK UPDATE
It’s been
a while since I’ve last updated everyone in the VP, my apologies. But,
since I’m back in the states now for the summer, I thought I should fill in the
gaps for those of you who have been keeping up with me…
I’ve been home for about a month now. Time sure
flies! Speaking of “time flies,” today I was talking to my parents about
how we (Americans) unconsciously use American “slang” that Japanese people
probably don’t understand, and might possibly take literally, like “piece of
cake,” “break a leg,” “knock yourself out,” “hole in the wall,” etc. (If
you know of any more of these phrases, let me know because I was trying to make
a list to teach some of my friends). Anyways, that was just a side note…
so bringing it backà the Lord has definitely used this past year in Tokyo to
challenge me, encourage me, lead me, and change me for His glory!
In September 2006, I set out on a journey with a
team of acquaintances at the time, who would then become my family, co-workers,
and friends for the next year. We had a tough start at the beginning of
the year as we tried to pioneer a ministry at Waseda University and tried
different ways to connect with the students, but the Lord led us to partner
with the Japanese national staff and ICS (international campus staff), and from
then we gained momentum and encouragement to reach lost students with the
Gospel.
Since April, we were able to split up into 4 mixed teams and
were at 12 different universities in Tokyo, including Waseda, Rikkyo, ICU,
Gaidai, Sophia, Gakushuin, Gakugei, Hitotsubashi, Todai, Hosei, Toyo.
Although we didn’t see a lot of students accept Christ this year, we have a
sweet movement of student leaders who are stepping up and growing in their
relationship with God. At the same time they are serving in the different
ministries such as the Gospel choir, dance team, hospitality team, prayer team,
and worship team. We are hopeful that God is using us on College campuses
to plant seeds in the hearts of Japanese students as we invite them into
genuine Christian community and share our lives and the Gospel with them!
I am praying that in God’s timing, He will reap a harvest in Japan. You
too can also pray that the millions of people in Japan that don’t know Jesus
might know and experience what it means to have a personal relationship with
God.
I have been really blessed to serve with amazing
Japanese staff and STINT team this past year. Most of you know that I
have decided to go back to serve in Tokyo with Campus Crusade for Christ for
one more year. I am looking forward to deepening the relationships
with those who I have connected with and continue to lead lost students one
step closer to Jesus.
In order for me to do go back to Japan, I am
trusting God that will provide my support once again through concerned
individuals who have a heart for missions! I know the Lord has called me
to GO, and I want to follow this calling by stepping out in faith and
obedience. I am praying that God will raise up both financial and prayer
support this summer.
If you would like to know more about how you can
be a part of what God is doing in Japan (or continue to) either by committing
to pray for the ministry in Tokyo or by giving financially, please feel free to
contact me by e-mail or we can set up a personal appointment!
May the Lord bless you this summer. Thank
you!
Kelly Der
