This page was last updated: March 14, 2010

July Newsletter 2009

Summer is speeding by and we are enjoying every fast minute! Our church has skipped its monthly bento for June, but hopefully we can gather up enough time to make it happen in July.

We are meeting weekly for Bible study at 1:30 pm at the UCCC Church in the Plymouth room. We also meet weekly for women’s Bible study on Wednesday nights at Pastor Ellen’s home. And during the day we meet at least weekly with the kids, learning Japanese and scripture verses. We are still preparing to launch our Rites of Passage for our kids, but our start has been delayed due to scheduling issues. We will hopefully gather this month to begin this project that will allow us adults to share our faith with our children in settings outside of church, in fun and enjoyable activities (of our choice). Look for our next steps in God’s Church ministry to be described in the next newsletter. We are taking the smallest of steps forward, and the Lord is leading our way. We are joyful and expectant of His lead as we go forward in faith. His blessings are awesome!

May 2009 Newsletter

God’s Church


It is already May, and the gathering of God’s people at God’s Church is shifting and changing! We are now meeting at Pastor Ellen’s place on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:45 pm, with the kids hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. Women are coming to study His Word, and it is good to pray for each other and be nourished by His message for us. We are studying the book of James, where we are learning to tame our tongues!


We meet weekly on Sunday afternoons at 1:30 pm in the Plymouth Room at the UCCC Church for Bible study for men and women. We are studying the gospel of John, and it is filled with His teachings and applications for our daily lives. What sweet fellowship we have! The kids again hang out together, and we are going to begin our youth nurturing ministry, Rites of Passage, when school ends in May. We will have a gathering meeting of youth, parents, and mentors, and we will celebrate the opportunity to walk in our faith journeys with each other. Our goal is to help our youth transition from childhood faith to independent, personal faith in Jesus. 


The shaping and direction of our worship services is coming! We will be shaped by His spirit to form a new and different kind of worship, forthcoming next month! What surprises the Lord has in store for us will be revealed soon!


The monthly bentos will continue to gather us to prepare meals for our older adults in the community. It is a way to touch hearts and lives through sharing and giving of cultural foods. It is a way for the youth to learn about preparation and presentation of ethnic cuisine. The scripture verse with each bento box reminds us why we deliver these gifts of love, and it helps the recipients know that we do it out of Jesus’ love as well.


Field trips for youth and Japanese lessons will be forthcoming! Watch for the announcements in the next newsletter! Please pray for the Lord’s hand to guide and direct our next steps. We are on the move at God’s Church!

March Newsletter 2009

God’s Church is veering in a new direction! It is Lent, and the season for personal reflection and spiritual discipline. It is a time for listening for God’s voice and hearing His wisdom. We are now going to be taking a new turn in our gatherings!

From March, we will be gathering in the mornings on Sundays at other churches to worship. We will join the larger body of Christ, praise God and worship Him, and we will observe how other established churches worship God together. After worship, we will gather as a group to share our experiences of worship and evaluate how God touched our hearts in that worship service. We will study His Word and prepare ourselves to equip our hearts and mind for the ministries He has called us to do.

We will still continue studying the Word of God on Sunday afternoons at the UCCC church. We will still continue offering our homework sessions on Wednesday afternoons and learn Japanese. And we will still continue to prepare bento meals for those in the community who might enjoy a Japanese meal!

One exciting new passion that we have is to form our group around the rite of passage from childhood to young adulthood. We will work with our youth to affirm their faith and mentor them into a loving relationship with our adults. By pairs or by groups, we will covenant to do activities with each of them so that they can hear our stories of faith and see us in action as role models of faith. We may take them to see a movie or invite them to go to the zoo or an art museum. We may invite them to a ballgame or go on a hike with them. However God leads us, we will intentionally provide our hearts and faith as examples for our youth to see and experience. We will accompany them on a journey of faith to the rite of passage to independence. Then we will celebrate their rite of passage by blessings and laying hands on with prayer. We will celebrate with food and fellowship. And we will speak words of blessing as mentors and parents. The children will be blessed,
and we as mentors and parents will be blessed. Come and join us in our journey of faith together with these special youth! It will be an experience you will never forget, and it will transform you from the inside out!

MARCH 16-20COOKING CAMP!

We will have a fun, delicious, and Christ-filled week of learning about cooking and eating what we cook! Children and adults alike will gather from 9 to 12 in the kitchen of the UCCC social hall to cook entrees from various countries! We will rotate among cooking stations and kitchen safety ones. We will prepare one entrée for a throw-down contest at the end of the day to see which group wins! And we will have Bible stories and scripture verses to nurture our souls each day, too! What a way to spend the first week of spring break, March 16-20th  for students and adults alike!

February Newsletter 2009


Again and again, God’s mercies flow abundantly amongst our church believers. It is amazing just how wonderful His presence is during worship, during Bible study, Sunday School, and as we prepare our monthly bentos. And yes, even during our homework sessions where we do homework and learn Japanese when we finish our work!


We are preparing to host a cooking camp during the first week of spring break, March 16-20th, so all hearts and minds are focusing on that outreach ministry with prayers and plans and more prayers. We are hoping to have many kids and adults cooking up a storm for Jesus from 9 am to 3 pm! Many willing hands and hearts will be touched by His grace and love.


This month is filled with thoughts and scriptures about God’s grace. It is a basic foundation upon which our faith is based, and it is a person who is Jesus our Lord and Savior no less! Just as our grace has a beginning, middle, and end before we eat our meals, so our learning about grace has different components to it. The first week is about the freedom of grace and the impact of that freedom in our hearts and choices. The second is about this person, Jesus, who embodies grace and truth. Later we will look at the visible qualities of grace and how to share that with others. 


We continue to fill our hearts with joy as prayers are lifted up for ourselves and others, and they are answered! We lay hands on and pray for healing. We bless each other by the sign of the cross and pray together. We share in communion as Jesus’ body and blood are given in worship. And we are nourished by His Word, daily and in worship, as He gives us His truth in scripture.

January Newsletter 2009


Oh my goodness! It is a new year! God’s Church is still a new ministry. We are still forming our worship, our studies, and our activities in ways that He is shaping our hearts to do. All we do centers around Jesus, our guide and our hope. Each Sunday we gather around His Word, to experience His presence and His grace. Each Sunday the children and the adults learn about His purpose for us in our lives, as we study His Word. And each Sunday we have a time of fellowship and snacks, where we hang out together and share His love and grace.


The New Year is upon us, and Jesus has huge things for us to do for His glory! We will continue to serve the community by feeding the homeless on alternate Saturdays (we get the fun part of doing desserts!). 


We will continue having homework sessions on Wednesday afternoons and learn more Japanese! Our lessons might be including some Japanese hip-hop music! We will continue our monthly bento project, where we make Japanese cuisine and serve the community by delivering meals to those who don’t make it and would appreciate it. Many hearts have been touched through this outreach project, and Jesus is urging us to continue serving Him in this way. 


For those of us who like to play tennis, we have an hour of rallying at the Kofu courts from 5:15 to 6:15 pm. Lights are free, so we can play as long as it isn’t raining!


As we serve God in the world, He gathers us to give us His spirit and His encouragement. Thank goodness it is His purpose and His plan we are following! 

God's Church