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Today was our JCC team’s 2nd opportunity to volunteer as a team over at the Food Bank @ St. Mary’s. This is now happening on the 3rd Saturday of every month, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

In truth, while we call it the JCC team, there were actually volunteers from the Japanese Baptist Church as well as from the Japanese Buddhist Church that joined in with us. In addition, there were student volunteers from Seattle U there as well as more “regular” volunteers. In all, perhaps 20 volunteers worked side by side with regular staff of the food bank to provide food stuffs for people who are served by this Food Bank.

From around 8:30 a.m. people begin to line up and the line continues to move and form all the way until 1:30 p.m. Today was a bit rainy and chilly for those waiting.

Folks unload trucks and vans deliver food stuffs from various vendors, stores, and retail outlets. Trucks deliver items daily as well as Food Bank vehicles going out to collect food items. It is tons of food…

A warehouse across the alley holds items as they get organized and prepared for distribution.

Counters, cargo baskets, and food items are all set up inside in preparation for the distribution.

All the volunteers gather in a circle prior to starting and pray together this lovely prayer which is posted on walls all around the building.

Here are 3 veteran “sorters” who organize the items into baskets and bags in order to distribute them.

Folks coming through the line…volunteers offering assistance…

Our very own Howard and Gene, manning potatoes and pears, among other items.

Thanks to Howard, Pastor Tim, Sharon & Rhys, Sue & Gene, and our coordinator Bi-Lan for a great day of work. Maybe you can come out and join us next month on November 18th as we again “serve in love” and seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community.

It was getting dark with a beautiful moon shining over the church at around 7:30 p.m. as 12 of us gathered in the parking lot in preparation to serve. Hamakubo-san and Larry Lee had spent a few hours in the kitchen preparing the hot meal of rice and stew topping. Salad, fruit, bread, cookies, and a warm beverage accented and  completed the meal. Peter took charge of loading all the items into our cars.

We caravanned in 3 cars down to the regular site under highway 5 near Yesler and began setting up, making sure there were table cloths on the tables and putting out the food so that we would be ready for the 8:00 serving. Folks that are regularly part of this program and were waiting for a good meal began lining up. Kay Abe, who has been the leader of this meal program – called “The Lord’s Table” – since its inception over 20 years ago was there to give us hints, provide various necessary items, and just generally be an encouragement to our JCC team. We are just one of many churches involved in this food for the homeless program. Some churches participate weekly, some monthly, and some like JCC – once every 2 months. Food is served in this location every night at 8:00 p.m., from Monday through Thursday, every week of the year. It was amazing to consider just how many thousands have been nourished physically and spiritually through this program.

Gene (not seen) begins the line with plates, while Howard and Peter serve the rice and topping.

Folks who have gotten their food find a spot at a bench or table to sit and enjoy the meal.

Although you cannot tell from our photos (we tried to be careful when taking pictures) about 75-80 were served a hot meal on this night.

It was my first time as pastor here at JCC to participate in this ongoing ministry and I was struck by how timely our ministry was that evening – in light of the Bible text and sermon which we had just shared in worship the day before. Our theme had been “serving with love” and it had been composed of 3 main ideas: 1 – serving those close to us, 2 – serving them with sensitivity and dignity, and 3 – believing that our service involved not just our efforts, but the very POWER of God.

As I drove home to Mount Vernon I praised God for the opportunity we had experienced as a JCC team to serve many homeless people right in our town of Seattle, to serve them with love and dignity, and to know that God and his power was working through us. We may not always see or recognize the results of that power, but we trust in it. Let’s continue to share and encourage each other through our stories of “serving in love”. Good job church!

Several individuals from JCC have volunteered in the past with this important Seattle food bank. However, we at JCC are in the midst of jumping in more officially to support their ministry. Below are the comments from Sue Hanson that she shared in our bulletin today:

To further our efforts to fulfill our mission statement…. To glorify God through worship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism and service — focusing on Christ…”, JCC has signed up to volunteer with the Walk-In Program at St. Mary’s Food Bank on a monthly basis. This will require a team of 10 to help distribute food to customers from 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM on the 3^rd Saturday of each month. We are hoping to create a larger group of volunteers by teaming with other local churches as well as inviting our friends, neighbors and family members. Our first outing is Saturday, 9/16. Will you consider being part of this opportunity to serve?

This photo is of the beautiful staff at St. Mary’s Food Bank!

On August 24th, Gene Hanson installed the new sign for the SABF (Seattle Alliance Bible Fellowship) congregation, our brothers and sisters who have been sharing our building and space for close to 20 years. Just a note: Gene didn’t just install it – he created the sign! It looks great, fits right in with our original JCC sign, and will hopefully bring much better exposure and attention to SABF than the old sign. Next up – work on our enclosed sign on the corner of Main and 17th!

In our first week, we’ve already collected a total of 1,036 diapers for St. Mary’s Food Bank! Thank you for your wonderful generosity. We’re planning to keep our diaper drive going through August so there is still time to make a donation. The Food Bank’s Baby & Toddler Bag Program that serves our local community is in dire need of baby diapers (size 4,5, 6). Due to rising demand and limited funds, the Food Bank hasn’t been able to fulfill these needs lately. A collection box is provided in the back. If you’d prefer making a cash donation for the purchase of diapers, please let Sue Hanson know.

What a great turn out for our JCC retreat out at the Tsai home on Hood Canal last Saturday (July 22nd)! As the tide reached its lowest point (9:42 a.m.?) the early birds were already there digging clams out of the sand (Larry, Bisim, and friends). Folks kept joining the gathering until almost 11:00 when it felt like there was a group of almost 50 on hand. The Suzuki grandkids and family – just rolling in from Japan the day before, Ivan’s brother Arturo and Deborah – driving all the way down from Vancouver, and LOTS of JCC connections and friends from near and far. Peter and Joyce did a great job hosting all of us, cooking burgers and hot dogs on the BBQ grill, and others brought all sorts of goodies in order to put on a potluck spread. Good conversations, laughter, delicious food, and excellent weather all added up to a wonderful time of relaxation and play. Our time together drew to a close with “suika-wari”, a Japanese summer tradition for eating watermelon together by first playing a game of “whack the watermelon while blindfolded” – and a short devotional by Pastor Tim. Thanks to all of Peter and Joyce’s hard work and hospitality in hosting this event!

Here are a few pictures…. but you can go to a gallery HERE to see more. Feel free to download any photos you want.

Thanks Peter and Joyce!!

The JCC church board decided a few weeks ago to make some changes in our signage. Some of the original and historic signs on the old building are being moved and “re-purposed” in order to better highlight our newer church structure along the more public sidewalks and approach.

Several weeks ago Gene Hanson took on the job of removing the long horizontal sign from above the entrance to the original building. He took it home, refinished it, and now has mounted it for us on the concrete wall near the front of the sanctuary. It looks great and adds some clear identity to our entrance.

Gene, working on the signage….

How it has looked for the past 65 years….. and how it appears now.

The content of the large sign on the ground was also outdated so Gene took out that portion…. only to find ANOTHER, MORE outdated portion underneath.

Other changes still to come: we’re wondering about moving this sign to the other side of the church… by the parking lot, and putting new content inside. It, too, has great historic value and we would love to keep it in use. Finally, we’re putting new content into the aluminum sign on the front corner of the church. Hopefully, both JCC and SABF will be able to get a bit more accurate exposure through these changes. Stay tuned!

Twenty individuals gathered at JCC this morning to take part in our work-day – 10 from JCC and 10 from SABF (Seattle Alliance Bible Fellowship).  The JCC team worked outside on the north side of the sanctuary, pulling weeds, mowing the grass, trimming trees and generally cleaning up. The SABF team worked mostly inside the sanctuary while part of their team pulled weeds and did yard work on the east end of the sanctuary. The weather was perfect, spirits were good, and I think most would agree that it was actually pretty fun to work hard together and see a real improvement on all fronts. Thanks to all who came… and we look forward to more work days together in the weeks ahead!

Some serious weeding, mowing,  and cutting back branches produced a neater and cleaner garden and sidewalk!

Staying Connected…