August 2011

PASTOR'S PEN

Outreach Sunday!

"Jesus said to them, 'Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to every creature.' - Mark 16:15

Going in to the world - outreach - it's a word that tends to get used and tossed around in the church world a lot. But being a part of the Christian church for as long as I can remember, I can attest to the fact that this word means different things to different people and different church communities. There are differing understandings (and theologies) of 'what' the good news is, and 'how' to go about doing that.

I am hoping that discussion about the various understandings and how they get implemented will take place in the near future - whether it via another newsletter article or Sunday worship. But no matter what, as Jesus tells us in the above Bible verse, the bottom line is for us to go out - out of our church walls and out into the communities and the places around us. (I can safely state that all would be in agreement regarding this.) Our own church mission statement, too, clearly states for us to "Go Ye Therefere...into the larger community reaching out and sharing God's Good News."

And so, for us to be faithful to Jesus' call and our own mission statement on which it is based - we will be holding our first OUTREACH SUNDAY! It will be held on September 18, 2011 from 10am with worship. We'll gather for our regular worship with Mission and Outreach Committee chair speaking briefly about outreach. Then, as a response to hearing God's word and call for us, we will all participate in an OUTREACH ACTIVITY together in the sanctuary, which will be to make care packages for the residents of Kokoro Assisted Living, Kimochi Home and the Sequoias Health Center. To finish off our activity, we will form groups to visit each of the facilities and bring the care packages to them to give.

When we think of outreach, we sometimes think it has to take place in a grand scale, and/or in a place far away. But outreach includes the people right outside our doors - in fact, I believe that it's the place we need to start! And it doesn't have to be something monumental - it can 'merely' be a small act of kindness, like care packages. This small act of kindness could be just the kind of 'Good News' that someone is in need of and is longing for.

So, I invite you to not just join us to worship with us on September 18, I invite you to participate with us in the all-church OUTREACH effort at CUPC. It may not be the 'biggest' of all outreach efforts, but I believe that it is a good, solid effort for us. I believe we are headed in the right direction - I believe we are truly trying to be faithful to Jesus' call to us!

And for those of you who cannot join us due to physical proximity, health and otherwise - I invite you to think about how you can do outreach in the context of wherever you are. Could it be to find ways to go out into the community that you are placed in? Could it be to write letters and/or pray? Please remember that reaching out, no matter how small, could be Good News that God can use!

Prayerfully, I invite you to join us - and together, may we respond faithfully to Jesus' call to us to 'go into the whole world!'

Peace and blessings,
Pastor Grace Kaori

CLERK'S REPORT

There is no Clerk of Session's report for this issue - the next session meeting will be held on September 25, 2011. 

Note: Everyone is invited to attend our regular session meetings. If you are interested in how the session, our governing body, discusses ministry at CUPC, please come and join us!

DEACONS' REPORT

Hello Everyone:

I hope that every one had a wonderful summer. The summer is coming to an end and school is starting soon. This year time is flying very quickly for me. Throughout the summer I have been keeping myself busy with summer camp and other things. Every time I write something for the VP it seems it is getting shorter.

The Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of July.

The Deacons are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank you all!

COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:

The Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of July. The Deacons are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank you all.

Ralph Tanaka, Co-moderator

SUMMER CAMP MOMENTS

Each Sunday during worship in the summer, leaders from our Summer Camp program share with the congregation what has been going on at camp, along with their reflections. You will see what they shared below:

Edward Wong
July 10, 2011

Good morning and hello. This is my 2nd year volunteering at CUPC. Anyways, this past week was a relatively short week because July 4th was a holiday. We started on Tuesday and we took the campers to Julius Kahn. The play structure there was nice and it seems like everybody had a good time at the play structure.

One of the more memorable parts of the week came as we were leaving Julius Kahn to head back to camp. I think some people were going to paint something and they left a box of paint at the corner of the street as we were about to cross that part of the street and you guys could probably already guess what happened next. Anyways, we told the campers to be aware of the box and most of them were able to get by the box successfully, however, one camper tried stepping over the box and he tripped on the box and the paint splattered all over his clothes. It's a good thing his parents didn't get too mad and most of the paint did wash off.

On Wednesday, we went to the zoo. It was awfully crowded that day and I think we all saw some people we knew there. One of my campers actually got upset because she saw her brothers classmates and it made her miss her brother. On Thursday, we stayed at church and watched movies. It was actually really nice to relax a bit because we were all extremely tired from taking the campers out to the parks and zoo. During Friday, we went ice skating. So, we skated for quite a while and the ice because rough with shavings of ice everywhere. Then, one leader decided to make a snow ball out of the shavings of ice on the rink. She had it for a while and I wasn't sure who she was going to throw it at. After a minute, she launched it at me and it hit. It was nice to see that she fell and hit the ice immediately after she threw the snowball at me. It was a perfect example of karma.

Anyways, that pretty much sums up my week at CUPC. Thanks for listening.

Cameron Kurozawa-Chow
July 17, 2011

It's already week 6 of camp and things seem to move by a little too quick. The beginning of this week was like any other camp day, going to the park and playing with the kids, except for the fact that it was really cold and wet outside. Thursday was song contest and the oldest boys dominated the competition. Due to their leader who makes us sing 100 songs a day.

Friday we spent the day at Great America. I remember passing all the 4th grade boys leaders sitting on a bench with no campers and I asked where they were and their head leader, points to my right and all of 4b is laying on the pavement in the sun because they are soaking wet from running through the water park area of Great America.

This week's devotion theme was loving and respecting the environment. And the kids really took part in picking up trash and trying to understand why we need to respect our environment. But it wasn't just the campers that made an effort to clean up, on our way back from the park on Thursday, the 8th grade dept. director saw someone writing inappropriate comments on stickers and posting them on the bus. After he sat down she really wanted to take them down but she didn't want to be seen by the guy so some of us kind of surrounded her so that she wouldn't be seen and peeled them off. We had a good laugh over it, but she was able to embody this week's devotion theme more than anyone.

Being able to work at a camp where you grew up in is really rewarding. CUPC will always be like a second family. Thank you, congregation.

Calvin Ma and Quincy Ouellette
July 31, 2011

Calvin: Good morning. My name is Calvin Ma, I was the Oldest Boys leader.

Quincy: Hi guys! I'm Quincy Ouellette. If you can't tell I really love it here. So this week was Extended I week. It's a little different from the rest of the weeks because most of the days are field trips and are more relaxed yet still very busy for the leaders.

Calvin: But anyways, this week we did a number of things. On Monday the campers watched a movie in the sanctuary. But on Monday, the leaders had to clean out the supply room. Lucky us, right?

Quincy: Tuesday we went bowling at Yerba Buena. We first spent the day at the play structure at Yerba Buena than later on in the afternoon we actually went in to bowl. Us leaders and directors are quite the trash talkers so we ended up team bowling with the losers having to wash cars and cook the other team dinner. Lets just say some of us leaders have next weekend already planned out for us. Its always nice to see the kids go bowling granted they used the bumpers I did see a few 4th graders bowl over a 100 which is far above my average.

Calvin: Wednesday we went to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Having first and second graders, group ABC, was very tiring. It's not that the campers don't listen - they listen very well. It's just that they get distracted very easily which prompts me to repeat myself, all the time. But then again, the campers are too cute to get mad at.

Quincy: Thursday we went to Six Flags Marine World. Lets just say last year I had the 1st and 2nd graders and boy was that hectic having to watch tiny kids amongst a thousand other people. Luckily this year I had 5th graders. The day went pretty well seeing that they would actually ride rides unlike last year where I spent most my day at the Looney Toon Starport Waterpark. It was eventful, I even got stuck on a ride whoop tie doo.

The kids enjoyed going on the water raft where you can pay a measly 25 cents to shoot a water hose at your campers as they go by just to hear them say YOUR MEAN! FOR GETTING US WET! right when they get off. They also got to spend their parent's precious money at the arcade trying to win ginormous prizes in what seems to be impossible games. Overall it was a great HOT day at Six Flags.

Calvin: Friday, we went to Heather Farms in Walnut Creek to go swimming. Swimming is always one of my favorite things to do because all I end up doing is throwing them around at their request.

My most memorable moment of all of my 8 years at CUPC would be when I was in Oldest Boys, along with Quincy, and our group won the song contest. I have never felt so accomplished, since our leaders back then always told us that Oldest Boys haven't won in centuries. After that year, I felt like my life was complete. Which brings me to my highlight of this summer - Song contest. In the beginning of the summer, I gave up teaching the Oldest Boys songs because they never wanted to learn them. But I really wanted them to win the song contest, so in order to get them to sing, I just told them to sing 40 different songs in one sitting, yes, the Oldest Boys are hardcore. On the day of the song contest, my group was anxious and excited. So was I. but I decided that I would refrain from helping my group, hoping that they would all work together to win. My campers were very shocked and mad at me for not helping them, but I realized I did the right thing when I saw a lot of teamwork and bonding throughout the contest. In the end, my campers prevailed and we were all extremely happy. I was very proud of them, and I told them that they won this contest by themselves, without any help. After hearing that, all my campers smiled and we had a huge group hug. It was an amazing experience, and I will never forget it.

Quincy: CUPC really means so much to me. It is honestly my second home. I have friends vie made here that I will always remember and even gained some family members who I know will always be there for me and keep me in line and check up on me in college. CUPC really isn't just a camp to send your kids to keep them busy while you're at work during the day. It's a lifestyle that I wouldn't ever give up or regret having. Its really one of my favorite places on earth and I can't even try and express in words how much these people mean to me. I'm so thankful for all of them. I'll miss you all, but while we're still here lets live things up! GO CUPC!

July 2011

PASTOR'S PEN  

God's Faithfulness

"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!" - Psalm 118:1

As some of you may already know, I wanted to inform you that, through your support and prayers, I was able to obtain my religious visa recently. I am so grateful for all the ways in which you have supported me throughout this process this past year. Thank you so much! In addition to expressing my thanks, I wanted to share with you a little bit about the process in which my religious visa was granted, and how God led the way, all the way.

First, in early 2010, we were introduced to the oldest legal agency that deals with immigration law in San Francisco, through an attorney in Japantown. The attorney that took our case was very friendly, accessible, and gave us just the right advice for every issue that came up. With her help, we were able to send in all the documents needed to apply for the religious worker visa last June.

After some delays from the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), we were finally informed that my religious worker visa was tentatively approved this past April. In order to officially receive the visa, I needed to first exit the U.S., get the visa outside the country, and re-enter. Normally, you would return to your home country to process the visa at the U.S. Consulate there. I was originally planning to return to Japan, too, but after the earthquake and tsunami incident on March 11, the U.S. consulate in Tokyo was immobilized and I was told that my process would take at least eight weeks. I didn't want to leave the church for that long of a period, and was wondering if there would be any other options. That was when our attorney suggested that we go to Canada instead.

I was told that the visas were usually processed between three to five days in Canada. However, the process is normally for Canadian nationals and permanent residents - so there was a possibility that my visa would not be given to me in Canada. If they didn't take my case, I would need to return to Japan directly from Canada. After giving much thought and prayer, I felt that God was leading me to go to Canada. So I made an interview appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver for May 4. Pastor Grace offered to accompany me to Vancouver, and used her vacation time to come with me. I am grateful for all her help and support throughout this visa process!

At the interview at the U.S. Consulate in Canada, I found out that my interviewer had attended the same seminary - Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. What a surprise! Perhaps because of this, I was asked nothing besides my seminary experience, and before I knew it, my visa was officially approved. He even expedited the process for me to get back my stamped passport the next morning, rather than waiting for several days. (He mentioned it could take longer than a week at times!) However, since I was planning to leave for Edmonton that morning, I was a bit worried if things would work out. That next morning, my passport wasn't ready yet when I arrived at the U.S. Consulate. But, just as I was about to complain to God, my name was called, and my passport was ready to go. I was astonished at my own faithlessness when God has been consistently leading me until now!

After receiving the visa successfully at the U.S Consulate, I came back to San Francisco without any problems. Actually, the immigration agent at the point of entry (customs) was very kind and even explained to me about getting my green card if I wanted to stay permanently in the U.S. And lo and behold, this agent's name was Angel! It's hard not to sense that God had placed people like him, and the interviewer at the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver, for such a time as this.

Reflecting upon this entire experience, I was struck once again how God always leads us and gives us the help we need when we need it. I am so thankful for this. And I am also ever grateful for those of you who have prayed and supported me, and showed God's love in many different tangible ways. As mentioned in the Bible verse above, I truly experienced that God really is filled with grace, and God's faithfulness lasts forever. I pray and hope that I will be able to show that love of God to as many people around me as possible. I would appreciate your continued prayers!

Peace,
Hiroko

CLERK'S REPORT 

The session, acted on the following items on June 26, 2011:

 Approve Personnel Committee Role and Responsibilities and Personnel Committee Procedures.

Approve part-time Church Secretary job description

A note from the session moderator: The minutes from our session meetings are public documents and are readily available. If you would like to read more about what our session and its committees are doing, please request a copy from the church office, or ask any of our session members. Thank you!

  

DEACONS' REPORT

Do you ever have this sense of urgency? The need to do things now and not put it off until the last minute? I rarely do. But Jesus tells us in Mark 1:15, "The time is now. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel." Have that sense of urgency to "Plan your life as if you're going to live to be a ripe old age, but live each day spiritually as if this is going to be your last day".

COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:

The Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of June.

The Deacons are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank you all.

God is good... All the time! All the time... God is Good!

Ralph Tanaka, Co-Moderator

SUMMER CAMP MOMENTS 

Each Sunday during worship in the summer, leaders from our Summer Camp program share with the congregation what has been going on at camp, along with their reflections. You will see what they shared below:

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Hello, my name is Scott Wong. This is my 13th year at CUPC Summer Camp, 5th as a leader. Every year, I ask myself, "Do I want to come back to CUPC for another year?" And to this point, the answer has always been "yes". Then I ask myself, "Why do I want to come back to camp again?" And there are so many answers to this question that I can go on and on.

This year I have the 4th grade boys. But since there were only three campers in the group this week, we combined with the 5th grade boys. Monday was the first day all the campers came. There were many familiar faces that came back to camp as well as many new faces that were trying to adapt to a new setting. On Wednesday, the Alpha Department had cookout while the Omega Department made ice cream. My group made guava strawberry and in my opinion, it was very good. Then on Thursday, the Alpha Department made ice cream while the Omega Department had cookout. My group made chicken tenders and garlic fries which was also very good if I do say so myself. On Friday we had our annual track and Field Day, one of my favorite days of camp. In the morning, the campers did various relays like izzy dizzy, 3-legged race, and wheelbarrow. Then in the afternoon the campers played jug baseball, broom hockey, and Mario Kart. Then to finish off the day, all the campers played tug-o-war. Everyone had their share of bumps and bruises, but it was a fun day overall. It was a great way to finish the first week of camp.

CUPC will always be my home away from home and the people will always be my 2nd family. Coming to camp will always be better than sitting at a desk all day doing boring desk job. As long as CUPC Summer Camp is around, I know that there will always be something enjoyable for me to do to keep my summers busy. I will always remember certain moments I had at camp both good, like winning song contest, and bad, like when I packed salt instead of sugar for ice cream. Hopefully there will be many more memories to come the rest of the summer. Thank you.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Hi everyone. For a couple of summers I was a camper at CUPC. I was brought back by a friend of a friend, they asked if I wanted to volunteer and since I did not have anything to do in the summer I said yes! This will be my 3rd year being a leader and my 1st year as a paid leader. I have to say every summer so far that I spent with CUPC has been loads of fun and very memorable.

So this week at camp we had the bubble gum contest which was on Tuesday and we also flew kits at Marina Greens. I found it very funny seeing the campers trying to chew their gum in under a minute and then try and blow bubbles. Long story short there was a winner from alpha and omega, and also a winner from the leaders. Before the bubble gum contest group A and C got to go on a surprise adventure to the police horse stables in golden gate park. An officer at the stables was kind enough to give both groups a tour, after the tour we got to see and pet the horses. On Thursday the alpha department made ice cream. My group made grasshopper pie, all of the campers loved it; they all asked for seconds and thirds. Group C won best ice cream two weeks in a row! On Friday both the alpha and omega department went to Marina Greens to fly kites. But I did not get to fly kites because I went to the tactile dome with oldest boys. We had the opportunity to go through the dome more than once but another leader from oldest boys only went in once because he was too scared! When I went in my second time and some other leaders went before me and for a second I could have sworn that they were right in front of me but they weren't. While I was about to get out of the maze, a leader popped out of no where and scared the begeezes out of me!

I have to say this week's devotion was very good. It was about how God made every part of the body equal, no one part of the body is more important than the other. And at HGSF we say that the church is the body so no one person or part of the church is more important than the other. By the way, HGSF (House of God, SF) is the church I grew up at. HGSF does not have a summer camp and I'm glad that it doesn't because if it did I wouldn't be able to come to CUPC to work For the rest of the summer I hope to build better relationships with the leaders and also the campers.

Sunday, June 26, 2001

Hello, my name is Kevin Lew.

This was the 3rd week of camp. This week, we had "yummy" stone soup on the hottest day of the week. It was all right I guess, it kind of burned as you swallowed, so I couldn't finish my cup. Garlic bread was also served, but it was literally, garlic with bread. Harrison and I rubbed our bread together in an attempt to knock off all the garlic, but it did nothing. But I heard a camper say it was better than last years, so it was okay.

On Wednesday, my group had cookout, so we made bacon and cheese quesadillas. I know it may not sound like the healthiest foods, but we had tea to go along with it. So it balanced out. While cooking the bacon, my pan pretty much blew up as the bacon caught fire. I managed to turn 3 strips of bacon into a tiny clump of blackness.

Then on Thursday, we visited the Janet Pomeroy Center to watch the greatest play in the world. It was about two wizards then something happened but I wouldn't know, because I sort of fell asleep. But the kids kept talking about it afterwards, so I assume it was pretty good. Afterwards we went back to church and ice cream. It definitely was not my day, since my ice cream maker was stolen, we ran out of sugar, so I had to go buy some down the street at Super M. I searched in the creepy scary basement for parts to put together an ice cream maker.

Unfortunately, I grew a new fear of the janitor's closet. I had to put away the mop after aleader cleaned the bathrooms, so I walked in there and set the mop stuff in the corner. But the room got super dark. I called the executive director and asked, "Can you open the door?" she replies, "what" And I explain, "Open the janitor door." She walks over as I'm trying to find the door knob and the light switch. She opens the door to find my looking on the wrong side of the door for the switch and knob. I hate that room. But my ice cream turned out to be a pineapple-coconut milkshake. My campers finished the super sweet sensation in only a few minutes

To end the week, the campers and their parents enjoyed hot dogs, salads, desserts, and ice cream at the Family Picnic. We played many camp games, made craft, made the ice cream, and played with the giant Earth Ball and Parachute. It was a great way to end the fun week.

CUPC has been in my life as long as I can remember. I've made so many great friends here. CUPC really taught me what a community is, and how to appreciate everyone in it. I hope many other kids will find the joy I have in CUPC.

Sunday, July 3, 2001

Good morning. My name is Katarina Lum and I'm one of the leaders from Oldest Girls of the Omega department. We just finished our fourth week of camp!

This week we had carnival day and usually it doesn't rain, but unfortunately it did. We had planned to have a really cool bounce house outside but since it was raining, the directors thought that if they made a huge cover made out of 10 tarps connected, it would shield the bounce house from the rain, but it didn't work, because it was pouring rain. So 8 leaders started to deflate the bounce house and since it was soaking wet with water we dragged it into the Social Hall and about 15 leaders were using old camp t-shirts to wipe down as much of the water on the outside of the bounce house as possible while some other leaders and I crawled inside to dry as much as we could because the guy who brought it was coming to pick it up soon and we needed to roll it back up. It was crazy and a mess but we dried almost all of it and the leaders who helped got candy afterwards, so it was cool.

This week I only had two campers and one of them went on the overnight trip and the other one didn't come back for the rest of the week because she didn't want to be the only Oldest Girl, so I joined group B. One of our trip days was to the Exploratorium and one of my favorite moments was when my group went into this room that had a juke box that played a bunch of weird music and one of my campers started bouncing up and down and started swaying his hips and I guess he was dancing, it was really cute. Then another group came into the room and one of their campers started to dance with that camper, shaking his butt, and it was really funny. I wish I had recorded it.

When we went to Baker Beach on Thursday, it was funny watching all the little kids standing near the water and when the water started coming towards them, they all started screaming and running away and one time when a little camper was running away from the water, she tripped and fell forward, getting her whole front wet and she was just laying there in the water until a leader or someone picked her up, but luckily she brought a change of clothes. Another moment at the beach was when Jana told us she was going to take a picture of the leaders playing with the campers near the water and that she needed to get the photo of our shirts so all of the leaders started running after kids, trying to get them to take a picture and started posing in front of the camera, but it was supposed to be one group picture, not individuals. So we tried a second time and got closer together but that still didn't work, so we ended up just taking a simple group picture standing together with campers by the water.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Sushi/Manju Sale Report

Japanese-speaking ministries held a Chrashi-sushi/Manju sale on June 12, 2011. The net profit was $1,409. Additional monies from Chirashi-sushi sale account yielded a total of $5,000 which will be donated to CRASH (Christian Relief Assistance Support and Hope) for disaster relief in Japan.

Thank you to all the church members and friends who helped make our Chirashi- sushi/Manju sale a success!

Cents-Ability (Two-Cents-A-Meal)

Thank you to all who continue to support the ongoing program of Cents-Ability to provide support and caring for all people who hunger not only physically but also socially.

A total of $232.50 was collected during the worship service on June 12, 2011. Your continued gift and caring is truly a response to Jesus' command to love one another.

Jackie Kwan, chair
Mission and Outreach Committee

Remembering Karen Hirokawa

It is with heartfelt sadness to learn of the passing of Karen Hirokawa. Karen, a longtime member since her baptismal in 1953, was a devoted Christian who served as a Deacon in 1956. Karen and Kenji, her husband who passed away last year, have two sons, who were part of our church family.

We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the two sons and will warmly remember Karen and Kenji for their devotion to CUPC.

As the years go by, there are fewer Nisei worshipers present on Sundays, but they should be remembered as the true pioneers of our congregation.

Kathy Reyes

June 2011

SUMMER CAMP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

35 years and counting...

As we enter into CUPC Summer Camp's 35th year of outreach to the community, serving families from all over San Francisco Bay Area, I am extremely excited. It is with pleasure that I serve another year as Executive Director for this program that I truly love for my fifth year.

For those of you who may not know me, my name is Jill and this is my 13th year overall involved with this great ministry here at CUPC. Once again, I am blessed with a great team of Directors that I know I can rely on this summer. All four of them have several years of experience here at CUPC Summer Camp and I am very lucky to have them on my staff this summer.

Along with my four directors, I have a staff of 41 leaders, with the majority of them being volunteers. Summer Camp is truly blessed to have so many youth willing to devote their summer breaks to serve the children and the church, year after year.

Please mark your calendars with these important dates:

      Friday, June 24, 2011 is the annual Summer Camp Family Picnic at Speedway Meadow, beginning at 5:00pm. Everyone connected to CUPC is invited to meet some of the summer camp children, leaders and their families.

      Wednesday, July 20, 2011 is Parents Night at St. Mary's Cathedral, beginning at 7:00pm. Come and watch each group perform their own skit or song as we near the end of the summer. We will also be celebrating CUPC Summer Camp's 35th Anniversary.

Thank you for your support. We hope to see you at some of our events. Please keep Summer Camp in your prayers and if you'd like to help in any way, feel free to contact me.

Peace and Love,

Jillian Hom

CUPC Summer Camp Executive Director

CLERK'S REPORT

The session, acted on the following items on May 1, 2011:

1. Approved the 2011 Summer Camp Devotions Coordinator position(s) job description.

DEACONS' REPORT

Hello Everyone, It is hard to believe that we are halfway thru 2011. School is out. Summer has started. Time flies when you are having fun or too busy with work or friends or family. When I became a Co-Moderator, it opened a few doors in my life. It is helping me to listen, to understand and to be aware in certain areas. Please continue to pray for those in our community and in our world. Coffee Fellowship The Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of April & May. The Deacons are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank you all.

Ralph Tanaka, Co-Moderator

ANNOUNCEMENT

Japan Disaster Relief Fund

A big thank you to members and friends of Christ United Presbyterian Church (CUPC) who have donated so generously to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. A total of $2,800 was received and has been sent to the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. designated for the Japan Disaster Relief Account: DR 000117.

In addition CUPC's Mission and Outreach Committee assembled twenty hygiene kits. Each kit consists of a hand towel, washcloth, wide tooth comb, a nail clipper, a bar of soap, a toothbrush and six Band-Aids. The kits were shipped to Church World Service who then sent the hygiene kits to Japan. Again monetary donations from church members and friends made it possible to assemble and send the Hygiene Kits to Japan. "In the face of natural disasters, violence, or grinding poverty, Hygiene Kits can mean the difference between sickness and health for struggling families." (Church World Service).

Through your support, members and friends of CUPC, "You" are actively loving God and loving Neighbor.

Peace and Blessings, 
Jackie Kwan