The Agape Herald
A Newsletter of Wahiawa United Methodist Church
1445 California Avenue
Wahiawa, Hawaii 96786
Reverend Dr. David Choi
March 2015
Greetings from the Precious Name of Jesus Our Savior
Greeting in the name of our Savior Jesus
As we look back on the month of February, we can see that everything was part of God's grace. New
members have joined our church. They have settled down and participated in worship services and
various church activities. Also some members have joined our choir and praise team band. I would like to
give my thanks to God for allowing our worship service to be more abundant each day. I would also like
to thank our congregation for working to bring about the church revival.
February was a month of experiencing God's grace. Our Youth Group started to meet at our church last
month. Especially, Damein Wood dedicated for the Youth Group meetings. He majored in Philosophy
and Religion at an UMC college named Bethune-Cookman University, and finished one semester at the
Wesley Theological Seminary then joined the military. He is currently taking online lectures on theology.
He hopes to become a Chaplain and is making a progress. I want to thank God for sending Damein to our
church. The Youth Group will go on a retreat from 7/31-8/02, and they will have fundraising events. I
hope that everyone will actively support their meetings and activities.
One of the big events in the year is on March 21st - the Spring Fair. Everyone has been meeting and
preparing for this event. I want to thank all of our elderly members' sacrifice and dedication for this
preparation. Most certainly, this event will bear abundant fruits because of God's grace.
We will upgrade the church's Internet website. Photographs taken during church events will be posted on
the church's website. According to our plan, we will be able to finish this project within March. Mr. Bob
Lormand will be in charge of this upgrade. He has been maintaining the church's website since long ago.
Please include him in your prayers for this project.
We are in the season of Lent. We had the Ash Wednesday worship service on 2/18. It was a time of
meditating on Jesus' sufferings and death. Lent is the 40-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and
ends on Easter Sunday. We must meditate on Jesus' suffering and death on the cross, and we must train to
be holy in our lives. Regularly reading the Bible or fasting is a good idea. Also volunteering a community
service is another good way to carry out Jesus' love. From 2/13-2/16, we had the Britt Lectures. Rev.
Lorenza Andrade-Smith served as the lecturer. She is serving the Homeless Ministry where she visits the
homeless people and provides Holy Communion, baptisms, and lives among them to spread the Gospel.
We can find Jesus' life in her humble life. Her life was all about the Gospel. During this Lent season, we
must act out Jesus love in our lives. This is one of the ways to spend the Lent in a meaningful way.
We will have Confirmation and Baptism on 4/5 Sunday. Please make your requests either in-person to me
or you may send them to the church office. I pray that God's abundant grace and blessings will overflow
from our church and your homes.
Rev. Dr. David Choi.
RUMMAGE SALE ITEMS:
Please bring your rummage to rooms 2 and 3. Signs will direct you to where you can place your things
according to items or place them on the intake table. We will be sorting and pricing in the middle and putting
items where they belong. If you have very big items, check with Bob Lee about where to put them. As
announced by Bob in the Sunday Service, If you see something that you really, really like, pay Doris or Ken
and take the item home. This reminds me of a true story. My friend was helping at the Gresham Rummage
Sale and was attracted to a large vase. She looked at the bottom and recognized the potter. It was priced at
$75. She hemmed and hawed, but didn’t buy it. We had a 4-day Rummage Sale. The second day, she was
drawn to that same vase. The price was changed to $100. Now she felt she shouldn’t buy it (too rich for
her). The third day, she went to look at the vase again. It was sold for $125. She wished she had bought it
on the first day. Sometimes, God moves us to get something and we don’t. I find me hitting myself on the
head and saying, wish I listened. Anyway, we (hoarders) are getting our things sorted and bringing them to our
rummage sale. My sister is a great one for simplifying and getting rid of things that hasn’t been used for over a
year. Wish I had her will power. I’m mailing my children’s things to them, if they want it. Otherwise, they
will be donated to the rummage sale. I have to pray about the items. Too much sentimental memories with
some. Some would not sell…videos and old CDs.
We need help to sort, price and clean the items too. There is a sign-up sheet, but come as you can. We
are doing the pre-sale work in two hour intervals.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday…rest on Saturday and Sunday. Hours: 10 to 12, 2 to 4
pm, and 6 to 8pm. Either Bob or Dina or Doris will be there and can direct you. We will supply the pens and
stickers to price things, gloves to wear, wipes and rags to make things look better than new. All we need is the
willing hands to do the work. God willing, many hands make light work for all.
Items that we will be selling at the rummage sale are as follows:
> Clothes…men, women, children, infant
> Baby things, Christmas things,
> Bedding, towels, materials, curtains
> Shoes and handbags, backpacks and luggage
> Kitchen appliances, dishes, pots and pans, utensils for cooking and eating
> Books and school supplies
> Some furniture (cash and carry)
> Children’s games, toys, stuffed animals
> Outdoor equipment, garden tools, craft items
> Boutique with rare and unusual jewelry
*For you plant lovers, now is the time to plant and nurture your flowers, etc. for the plant sale, which is part of
our country store.
Thank you,
Doris Lee
COUNTRY STORE
Our Spring Fair at our church has always had a variety of homemade foods for the Country Store. Thank You
to all who have signed up to donate your specialties. The Committee would appreciate it if you would package,
label, and price (optional) your items. If you wish to have containers or need help with labeling, please ask the
committee members (Dina, Edna, and Chuck). We will be accepting all food items throughout the day on
Friday, Mar. 20 and before 8 am on Saturday. Please stop by and support the Country Store.
Plate Lunch
There is a change in the plate lunch items. It is now a combo Beef Stew/Shoyu Chicken plate. You will still
have a choice of either toss green or macaroni salad. Rice is included. Sorry, but there will be no substitutions.
Thank you for your understanding.
Outreach Committee
God Gives Us Role Models
Rev. Billy Graham once said, “when I became a Christian, I started seeing the world through rose-colored
glasses”. Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peal has tooted the “power of positive thinking”. E. Stanley Jones has us
praying to God in all circumstances. Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say,
rejoice! We have a freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the right to pursue happiness. We have
people we remember from our childhood, teen years, and adulthood that have God and Jesus in their
hearts. We have role models to follow who are tangible reminders of Jesus Christ.
The church mouse noticed people like Tom Arinaga and Annie Chang working on the weeds and
landscape. Also, Flo Maruyama and Carolyn Kojima cleaning and sorting our kitchen and supplies. Leo
Pascua has the daunting task of organizing our many, many sheet music that has been collected. David Ramelb
gets the written work done for our church activities. Mary Choi has been doing the video portion of our
Worship Service every Sunday, no easy task! Bob Lee constructed the red moving stand and Ellen
Wakabayashi created the quilt on which we post our name tags. Dina Cornwall with help from Doris Lee,
repapered our movable bulletin Boards with our most recent news. June Higa and Lily Maeda make sure we
have refreshments for our Aloha Receptions. Thank you, one and all. There are others that do things for the
church and we forget to let them know that they are appreciated. Please thank them!
Our committee met recently and Tom Arinaga came up with a shorter and easier mission statement for
our committee. It is, “We shall share God’s love with others so they may experience Amazing Grace!” It
makes me want to sing! Bob Lormand, our webmaster, will put this in our web site. He and Dina are
collecting pictures that will be on our website too. Please check it out! Besides getting ready for our Spring
Fair in March, we want to participate in the Pineapple Parade on May 9th. Things are really happening with
the youth. They are working on a Youth Camp. God Willing, it will be on June 21 to 23 or June 22 to
24. The problem is that we don’t have a campsite yet. Let’s all pray for a site, all in God’s good time.
Wahiawa United Methodist Women news
The women of this church were participating in “Helping the homeless”, with love gifts of toiletries to
the folks tenting along the Kapalama canal, people Rev. Loranza Andrade Smith was staying with. Our Mid
Winter Event was truly a “mountain top” experience for the 13 girl friends who attended. If you see them, ask
them what they liked about the meeting. Mary Choi, Benita George, Naria Getty, Teli Isaacson, Hanne La
Rue, Doris Lee, Florence Maruyama, Nicole Nonies, Atina Pascua, Edna Pascua, Carolyn Steuer, Ellen
Wakabayashi, and Maxine Wheeler, were there in force!
We enjoyed some wonderful singing from the Zion Choir of Christ UMC. I think our Praise Band
would be good candidates for our annual district meeting in September. Something to think about? March 21
is our church’s Spring Fair. March 29 is the WUMW’s turn to do the Aloha Reception after church. April
18 is our Spiritual Life Retreat at Kailua UMC, where we reveal our candidate for “Quiet Disciple”. Mark
those dates on the calendar and come to all the events!!! WE will see you all there!
Trustees’ Notes
1. Bought 38 lifetime folding chairs. 2. Sprayed round up over the church property. 3. Patched the floor in
room 7 for laying laminated planks. 4. Vacuum the loose gravel over part of the parking lot to prepare to patch
with concrete and asphalt-patch. 5. A small leak occurred over the door of room 16 during heavy rainfall. 6.
On workday the following tasks might be completed: planting crotons, trimming the hedges, cutting the
Norfolk and pan ax branches at the parsonage, weeding, painting, repairing the cracks in the parking lot,
changing some ceiling lights in the sanctuary with LED’s, rotor tilling the parsonage vegetable garden and in
front of building D and designated vegetable garden behind of building D, and sharing your dish at the potluck
luncheon.
Adios,
Bob Lee
Christian symbol
March
2015
1
John 6:25-35
2
Philippians 1:12-30
3
Romans 8:26-32
4
Matthew 6:1-6
5
John 13:1-8
6
Ephesians 2:11-22
7
Isaiah 55:6-9
8
John 9:1-17
9
Matthew 22:34-40
10
Jeremiah 17:7-8
11
Isaiah 53:1-5
12
Psalm 138:1-3
13
Deuteronomy 6:4-12
14
Isaiah 54:9-12
15
John 10:11-18
16
Luke 15:25-32
17
Matthew 7:1-5
18
Romans 11:16-24
19
John 14:15-27
20
Matthew 3:13-17
21
Colossians 3:12-17
22
John 15:1-9
23
Matthew 7:7-11
24
2 Timothy 1:3-14
25
Psalm 142:1-7
26
Job 42:1-6
27
John 15:10-21
28
Matthew 21:1-11
29
John 13:36 to 14:6
30
Psalm 139:13-16 & Romans 12:3-8
31
Galatians 5:22-25
Ladder
A ladder is sometimes pictured with a
sponge at the end of a long stick,
reminiscent of the soldier offering
Jesus vinegar to drink on the cross
(Matthew 27:48). Thus, a ladder may
symbolize Christ’s Passion. In the Old
Testament, Jacob dreamed of angels
ascending and descending a ladder (or
staircase, depending on the Bible
version) set up between earth and
heaven (Genesis 28:12). Both accounts
show that through Jesus, our Savior,
we — like the angels — have ready
access to God, now and for eternity!
OUR SPRING FAIR WILL SOON BE HERE MARCH 21ST
This exciting annual event is our major fundraiser in support
of the church and local and global missions. We are seeking
your gently used but unwanted items; they may become
someone else’s treasure. Please visit the rummage room. Are
you ono for pickled vegetables, baked goods or fruit
preserves? The Country Store awaits your visit. How about a
real local style beef stew meal for your lunch or dinner? This
meal consists of beef stew, shoyu chicken, rice, and either
macaroni salad or tossed greens, all for $10. This is always a
fun event so make it a point to (1) bring your rummage items
and (2) come for the sale.
*
*
*
ALOHA RECEPTION
The Aloha reception is an important part of our Sunday
service.
It is a time for fellowship and friendship while enjoying light
refreshments.
Here are ways in which you can participate:
1. Sign up on the Aloha Reception Chart that is located in the
narthex
2. Do you have extra goodies at home - donate them for our
refreshment table
3. Be on the on-call list for refreshments and fill in when
help is needed
Contact June Higa to be placed on the on-call list.
MAHALO
Sunday
1
Beef Stew &
Shoyu Chicken
Plate Lunch -
Monday
2
March
Tuesday
3
Wednesday
9
10
7pm
SPRC
Meeting
Thursday
Friday
4
5
6
3:30 – 7pm
9am
GriefShare
3:30 – 7pm
Music Lessons
8
Saturda
y
Saturday
7
Music Lessons
7pm
Visioning
Team
Meeting
3:30 – 7pm
11
12
13
14
3:30 – 7pm
9am
GriefShare
3:30 – 7pm
Music Lessons
10am
UMW
Meeting
Music Lessons
Music Lessons
3:30 – 7pm
Music Lessons
15
16
17
One Great
Hour of
Sharing
(Special
offering)
22
18
19
20
21
3:30 – 7pm
9am
GriefShare
3:30 – 7pm
8am to Noon
Rummage
and plate
lunch sale
Music Lessons
Music Lessons
3:30 – 7pm
Music Lessons
23
24
7pm
Finance
Committee
Meeting
25
26
27
3:30 – 7pm
Mission Tour
to Susannah
Wesley
Community
Center
9am
GriefShare
3:30 – 7pm
Music Lessons
7pm
Administrative
Council
Meeting
28
Music Lessons
3:30 – 7pm
Music
Lessons
29
30
31
Please note:
Change in
plate lunch
items. Plate
will consist
of beef stew
and 1 piece
shoyu
chicken, rice
(next box…)
and your
choice of toss
greens or
macaroni
salad. Sorry,
but there will
be no
substitutions
of items.
Rummage
Sale drop off
of items.
Call office at
622-4361 to
ensure
someone will
be here to
receive it.
All
events
and
times
are subject
to change
Birthdays for March
Birthdays
4 Ann Harada
11 Robert Lee
15 Misty Wheeler
16 Hidemi Ito
30 Jeff Higa, Myra Shimabukuro
Anniversaries
16 Helen and Kenneth Yanamura
19 Nina and Ed Edra
24 Shsoko and Hidemi Ito
1
8
15
22 Annie Chang and Shirley Hayashi
29 Wahiawa UMWomen
Church Office
Phone: (808) 622-4361
E-mail Address
[email protected]
Web Page
www.wahiawaumc.org
Food Bank Sunday
April 5, 2015
1 In memory of Janet Kanja by
Clarence Kanja
8 In memory of Tak Yoshida by
Violet Yoshida
15
22 Annie Chang
29 Wahiawa UMWomen
Wahiawa United Methodist Church
1445 California Avenue
Wahiawa, HI 96786
March Agape Deadline
March 27, 2015