June 2015 Newsletter
Bookends
In 1968, singers Simon and Garfunkel were popular and dominated the music airwaves. For some reason while I was still very young having just started my college studies, the song, Old Friends became one of my favorites. While still at the youth of my life, I identified with “Old friends, two men sat on a park bench like bookends.” I have always pondered on what it may be like to have lived a full life and arrive at that point when the passage of time has happened and memories of loved ones are now captured in old photographs.
Today I am nearing the end of my fulltime ministry with you as your senior pastor. Who knew that in 1998 when you called me that I would have the blessing of serving with you for the past 17 years. Who knew that when I served as your Assistant Pastor from 1975-78, that you would call me back again to serve this second time. Perhaps we are left wondering but God knew!
Today I can identify with Simon and Garfunkel’s songs like Old Friends that was followed by a reprise called, Bookends. My parents brought me to First Baptist of Boston when I was only a baby and on June 6-7, I’ll be participating in my home church’s 350th Anniversary. Later this year on October 24-25, FCBC will be celebrating its 135th Anniversary! Who would have imagined that within a few months, the two churches that have mostly defined and shaped the person that I am today are celebrating milestone anniversaries. Perhaps we are left wondering but God knew! These anniversaries are like bookends!
Thank you for your faith in the Lord for calling me from the east coast twice to serve with you. Thank you for your patience and willingness to listen to my unpolished sermons when I first came and I pray that they have gotten better. Thank you for my mother’s native Toisanese tongue that allowed me to speak and the audacity to even used to preach only a couple of times! Thank you for surrounding me with a gifted and talented church staff to lead and enable you to lead as Christ’s disciples in the world. Thank you all for being a faithful and Jesus-loving people who continue to trust God to remain active witnesses in Chinatown and beyond to the ends of the earth. The Psalmist said, “I have been young, and now am old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken” (37:25a). Remain faithful in the Lord always!
As I retire on June 30th, we have become old friends and I will look forward to times when we may sit on a park bench like bookends. But unlike the songs where we see life at the end, let us see life as just another beginning. I look forward to that time when God will once again call us to faithful ministries. Perhaps we are left wondering when and where that may be but God knows!
Pastor Don
Pastor’s Retirement Celebration Luncheon
Please join the FCBC family in honoring Pastor Don at his Retirement Celebration Luncheon on Sunday, June 21, 11:30 AM at the Far East Cafe. See attached announcement for details. You may deposit your RSVP and payment in the offering plate or submit it to the Church Office. To accommodate the luncheon, there will be All-Church Worship service at 10:00 AM at the Chinatown YMCA. Come hear Pastor Don preach his last sermon as Senior Pastor. (Nelson Wong, Church Moderator)
One Great Hour of Sharing
In the month of June, we offer you an opportunity to give to the OGHS Offering which is used to respond to disaster relief both at home as well as in places around the world. Last month in response to the Nepal Earthquakes, our church received over $4000 to help with the relief efforts. 100% of all contributions to OGHS are sent to assist. Please give on Sundays at worship or send in your check made out to “FCBC” and marked for “OGHS.” Thank you.
2015 Camps & Conferences
FCBC offers annually many camps and conferences for you and your family to participate in. Consider the following:
+Day Camp (6 weeks), June 8-July 17, FCBC
+Chinese Summer Retreat, July 24-26 (add location)
+Youth Camp, August 2-8, Redwood Glen
+Family Camp, September 5-7, Happy Valley
+Seniors Retreat, October 6-8, Redwood Glen
Contact the church office for more information and registration materials.
ABC President Update
The 2013 Biennial Mission Summit when I’ll be presiding as president will gather in Overland Park, Kansas on June 26-28. At the center of the country, we are looking forward to about 2500 people from our various regions and churches gathering for our Baptist family’s biennial party. There will be speakers, meal events, preaching pavilions, and many opportunities for old friends to meet and greet. Once again, there will be two sessions of “Table Conversations” when participants choose to network and share ideas and models of effective ministries with each other. One of the highlights will be the celebration of our General Secretary Roy Medley’s ministry of 14 years on Saturday evening. On Friday, the Alliance of Asian American Baptist Churches will meet for fellowship and learning. Our delegates to the Mission Summit are: Wes and Sheryl Chan, Pastor Peter Lee and Lydia Yeung, Pastor Don and Joy Shih Ng, Dick and Anna Quan Wong, and Nelson and Lea Wong. Look forward to times to hear your delegates’ reports when they return.
Family News
Congratulations to Christine Louie and Josh Arnaldo on the birth of Lucas Zhiming Arnaldo on May 3rd! May God bless the little children everywhere!
Our deepest sympathy to Jennie Hu whose father __ returned to the Lord on __.
June
1 FCBC Golf Tournament, Oakland
6 OYYAs
7 10-V
10-P
11-V
Teachers Appreciation Luncheon, 12:30
10 Staff Day
12 Senior Fellowship
Lanna Coffee, 6:00
13 EFG, 11:00
14 Finance, 8:30
10—V
10—P
11—D
Deacons, 1:00
CE, 1:00
20 Sojourners
21 All-Church Worship, 10:00, YMCA, Pastor Don preaching
Retirement Luncheon, 11:30, Far East
26-28 ABC Biennial Mission Summit, Overland Park, KS
28 10—V
10—
11—V