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Our Mission: Empowered by the Holy Spirit Kailua Christian Church strives to be a loving and nurturing family of faith committed to a growing relationship with God, one another, and the world through teaching, service and witness as embodied by Jesus Christ.
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” ~ Isaiah 6:3
Missions Meetings will be held on the first Sunday of each month beginning March at 11:30 a.m. in the library.
—Mission’s Chairperson U
KCC Missions Committee is coordinating an evening event with a ministry service and dinner at the River of Life Mission Outreach in downtown Honolulu at 101 N. Pauahi Street, Thursday, March 5, 2009. We are looking for volunteers to help with this event and the sign up sheet will be placed at the rear of the sanctuary. Donations of towels and clothes are always welcome.
This event is not only a chance to serve the Lord but is a great fellowship for all those involved. If you wish to learn more about it, please ask anyone on the Mission Committee how you can participate.
— Missions ROL Coordinator U
The Missions Committee would like to thank KCC for hosting the five families on January 11-18. We would like to thank Pastor Tim, Roy Yamauchi, Pua Todd, the Hagmanns and Gomes families for helping with each and every phase of the hosting. We especially want to thank everyone from WUC and the four girls from Boston, MA for all their support, which included preparing, and serving the evening and breakfast meals and serving as overnight host.
All the families voiced that they really appreciated the church’s hospitality and were very grateful for everything it offered. It was also noticeable the kids adored the playgroup/nursery room so thank you April Jessee and all those who helped make the room so special and fun.
For those wishing to support the church’s next host week, please contact anyone from the Mission’s Committee.
— Missions Coordinator U
During our last Council Core Values meeting we looked at the top reasons why people come to church and stay at a church. Each time I serve in this Family Promise ministry I am reminded of why Dan, Roy, the Turners and many of us want KCC to continue with this ministry. Here are a few that come to mind:
Ministry Involvement was #1 in the Ranier Study and Helping the Poor was #6 in the Barna Group research. Every time we host these homeless children and their parents, the families always comment on how wonderful KCC’s facilities are, and how grateful they are to have the privacy of their own rooms. As Pastor Tim mentioned, we don’t even own our own bodies, much less our worldly possessions, these all belong to God.
This morning as I awoke to a gorgeous Kailua sunrise, I asked myself, as good Stewards of God’s bountiful blessings, is not opening God’s church to serve the poor exactly what Jesus wants us to do? Is this not what Jesus did, when he cared for the downtrodden - did Jesus choose to minister to the powerful and the rich?
I sat in God’s sanctuary praying for guidance and I was overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude, gratitude to God for his love, gratitude to Jesus for his lessons, gratitude to KCC’s founders who built KCC brick by brick in the spirit of ministering directly to lost and troubled souls. I was overwhelmed in gratitude for Dan Jessee who has stepped up as a leader of Family Promise and continues to show by example how Jesus wants us to live. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for these families and the Family Promise program which gives us an opportunity to “hands-on” minister and grow and serve as Jesus served. Please pray for all the families and all of those supporting this ministry.
––Chris NakamatsuU
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS MINISTRIES
“Honolulu ‘09 - Many Yet One”
March 12-14 2009
So in Christ we who are many form one body. Romans 12:5
Let’s all try to attend and together with other Christians learn more about our Christian faith. Be inspired and equipped to grow in your faith. www.himonline.org
See Kammy in the office for more details on your options and to register. Take a peek coupons are available, if you are not able to attend the entire conference.
––June Tom, ModeratorU
“Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
Meet the new missionaries our church is helping to support!
Because of our commitment, and the commitment of other churches in the United Church of Christ, to support a new missionary, Kimberly and Patrick Bentrott have been appointed by the Common Global Ministries Board of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ to serve a four-year term with the National Spiritual Council of Churches in Haiti (CONASPEH), beginning September 1, 2008. Patrick will serve as advisor for theological education and diaconal projects and programs. Kim will serve as an advisor for health care and diaconal projects and programs.
Patrick is anticipating graduating from Iliff School of Theology this spring with a Master of Divinity degree. Kimberly graduated from Kansas University School of Medicine in 2005 with a medical degree and has been working as a doctor since.
In addition to our direct pledge to support Patrick’s ministry, we will also indirectly be supporting Kimberly’s ministry as funding for her position will come directly from gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS), one of the five special missional offerings of which our church participates. Our 2008 OGHS offering was collected in March.
Feel free to contact Kimberly and Patrick through the emails below and offer your prayers, support, and encouragement as they prepare to move to Haiti in October, 2008.
Kimberly: kimdunback@yahoo.com
Patrick: pmandc3@yahoo.com.
“…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. Acts 1:8
The following is the report of the Missions Committee activities during 2007. Emphasizing as much as possible that Missions was a ministry of the whole church and not just the committee and its members, all the work of the Missions committee is something that could not have happened without the efforts of everyone in the congregation.
Wider Missions-
Missionaries supported for Wider Missions ministries were:
Searles of Global Ministries/Wider Church Ministries
Ken and Eva Needham of Believers’ Chapel.
Mary McVicker of YWAM.
Ray and Judy Uehara of Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Ted and Lauren Kawabata of Every Nation Ministries.
Local Missions –
We continued to support Bible Institute of Hawaii, and Windward Coalition of Churches.
Family Promise
KCC hosted families from Family Promise four weeks in 2007. Meals, room setup, overnight support, and all the details were coordinated by the Family Promise committee that worked so hard throughout the year. The entire church worked together to support this important new ministry in the life of our church.
River of Life
Under the leadership of Dan Jessee, we also served dinner and conducted worship services on four evenings (up from three in 2006) during the year for River of Life Missions.
Community Outreach
Financial contributions were made to the following groups:
UCC Disaster Ministries to support recovery from Bangladesh Tsunami
Thanksgiving offering to Kahalu’u Key Project, Heifer International and Disaster Ministries to support Recovery from the California Wildfires.
UCC Transition House
Habitat For Humanity – Coordinated by Barb Gomes. Deacon’s Undershepherd groups, Missions Committee and Youth Group, as well as individual families with young children participated in making and serving lunches to volunteer workers. Several members of the church, including our youth, also wrapped gifts at Windward Mall during the Christmas season to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
Transitional Housing – Chaired by Ruth Uyechi, a committee consisting of Pastor Tim Weible, Kammy Grable, Carl Nemoto, Lowell Terada, and Jean Sakata met with representatives of IHS to select homeless tenants and help guide them to a successful transition to a more permanent rental. In 2007 we helped two houseless families.
Playgroup Ministry – Lia Lau resigned her position as Playgroup Leader in March and April Jessee became the interim playgroup leader in April. In August, with the start of the new year, the Missions Committee, after interviewing candidates, called April to be the permanent Playgroup Leader. The Playgroup Leader also now serves as a member of Missions Committee and, as a staff member, attends weekly meetings with the pastor and other staff to insure Playgroup is integrated into the church life. Funding for this ministry has been provided by the Fennel family for years and we are so grateful for their incredible support. However, upon learning that support will no longer be possible, the Missions Committee is looking for ways to make sure this important mission can continue. In December, Missions Committee was awarded a $1000 grant from the Hawai’i Conference to help with the 2008 program.
State Hospital Ministry – Once a month participation each time by two members enlisted by Irene Kano to serve refreshment at its worship service.
Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive – A collection of canned goods was made and presented to the St. Anthony Church’s food pantry to feed the homeless, poor, and hungry, as part of the annual Windward Coalition of Church’s Thanksgiving Eve service.
Ohana Ola O Kahumana Transitional Housing for the Homeless – With information from Rev. Dick Walenta, the youth of our church went shopping one evening to buy gifts for a new early childhood education center being built for this community. We have been yearly participants in this ministry for several years. This year, because there was not a request to help a specific family, UCC Transition House was contacted and the youth also purchased presents for two families residing there.
Mission Moments Speakers/Stewardship Education –
In addition to Mission Moments, the Missions Committee worked to begin a Stewardship Education program within the church, as per the new bylaws. During four weeks in October-November, we read from a stewardship devotional that was given to each church member and asked members to read the other days during their personal devotion time or as family. On two Sundays we made special presentations. One included a beautiful Powerpoint Presentation and Music by Gary and Carmen Scott. On the two Sundays, we showed two short DVD messages from a Stewardship Education series and plan to continue this throughout the year in 2008.
Mission Moments included Committee members speaking on the four special Mission Offerings of the UCC, received throughout the year (One Great Hour of Sharing, Neighbors in Need, Strengthen the Church and the Christmas Fund)
Mission Survey: Recognizing that the Missions of KCC is so broad and includes so many different areas of outreach, the Missions Committee surveyed the Missionaries and organizations we support, asking for evaluations. We then invited church members to participate in a survey to better understand the Missions that are most important to our church family. At the conclusion of both of these exercises, we recognize how important it is that everyone in the congregation understand the work of all of the Mission organizations we support. We therefore are working on plans for a 2008 Mission Fair to insure the entire church family understands and appreciates the wonderful work of the Missions we support.
The Missions Committee would like to thank all of the friends and members of Kailua Christian Church for their faithfulness in answering God’s call to be the Body of Christ – giving comfort to our brothers and sisters. While we seek to bless others, we are in turn blessed by those whom we seek to serve. Come join us in the wonderful work of Missions, and be inspired by the short devotionals we share before each meeting. In our small group, we grow closer to each other and closer to God. Come and be God’s Witnesses.
Respectfully submitted, Missions Committee
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Chris Nakamatsu Diane Weible Carl M. Nemoto |
Diane Lee Barb Gomes Dan Jessee |
April Jessee Nick Shiroma Kirsten Turner |
Pualani Todd
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