Saturday, November 4, 2006, 6:00 PM
Call to Worship
In Isaiah, we read, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. Do not fear, for I am with you. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters. Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, so that my people might declare my praise.” (Isaiah 43)
On behalf of the family of Mrs. Nuey Doo Joan Chew, Dr. James Chuck and I from the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco welcome you here tonight to remember the long life of Mrs. Chew, born on April 16, 1912 and returned to the Lord on October 16, 2006 for a total of over 94 years. Your presence and your support for Mrs. Chew’s children, Anita Chan, June Chew and Jimmy Chew and their families and friends are deeply appreciated during this time of grief and loss. In Psalm 90, God tells us to learn how to count our days so that we may gain a wise heart. When we realize that every day that God gives to us is another opportunity to rejoice and be glad because God has had his hand on our lives, we thank God for the life of Mrs. Chew. Surely, God has been by her side in all the days of her life as we pray that God is also with us.
Let us pray.
O God, you have created us—you who have formed us—speak to us your word of peace. Through your Son, you have redeemed us. By the power of your Spirit, you lead us through the deep waters of grief and despair, promising not to let it sweep us away. We cling to these promises; and if we should lose our grip, may the arms of your mercy catch us and pull us in to safety. Grant us the comfort of your still waters; calm us and restore our souls. Help us to commend Mrs. Nuey Doo Joan Chew to your everlasting care, confident that she rests peacefully in your loving arms. We pray this in the name of the One who saves, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Biography in English
Life Traveling
Before a baby is even born, the little human being is already squirming and moving her arms and legs. We record the moment when the baby rows over for the first time and from that point on, we can’t leave the baby alone on her own anymore. And once the toddler is able to stand on her own two feet, her parents are coaxing her to stumble across the room. People are created to not stand still but to move about in the world. When we live up to our potential, we make a difference in the lives of people near us and in theory we affect how the world turns around.
Mrs. Nuey Doo Joan Chew lived up to her potential of a creation of God placed on this earth to move about. After her husband served in the US Army during World War II, she as a typical post war Chinese sojourner came to America on a US Army transport ship. In tow was her daughter, Anita. Mrs. Chew traveled the expansive Pacific, bidding farewell to the home she only knew and sailing in faith that better days are ahead when she sails under the Golden Gate Bridge. She was processed to enter her new country at the Immigration Office on Sansome Street.
Unlike her husband who didn’t much care about traveling, Mrs. Chew loved it. She liked vacationing in Canada, Las Vegas, New York, returned to China in 1983 for the first time back after leaving China in 1947, and particularly loved Disneyland spending it with her children and grandchildren. It was the happiest place on earth for Mrs. Chew! But in some ways, Disneyland is a place where one can travel all around the world and to points beyond: to Africa in Jungleland or to the South Pacific in the Tiki Room or to outer space in Futureland or even to the deepest reaches of our imagination in Fantasyland.
In the Bible, we see that Jesus traveled to many places to teach about God, heal the sick and the diseased, and to model how we must love one another. He recruited twelve disciples to travel with him and gave them authority to act on his behalf. In Mark 6:6-13, we read,
Then Jesus went among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and
began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean
spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread,
no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
He said to them, ‘Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.
If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave,
shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went
out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and
anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Only when the disciples went out into the homes of the villages were they able to perform the miraculous work of Jesus Christ. When Mrs. Chew traveled from China to San Francisco, she was then able to live up to her potential of performing acts of kindness, care and love for her family and friends.
When God created us, he created us to always be traveling. For some of us, we may travel aimlessly for awhile and not know where we are going. We may travel down some of the darkest valleys or we may become lost in a maze. But when we trust that God first made us to travel through our life years with the faith that our lives are here for a purpose and that we can make a real difference in the lives of others and perhaps even affecting the world in some positive way, we have then arrived.
As Christians, we know this when we can affirm that Jesus Christ, our Savior saved us from our sins. Once we were lost, but now we are found. We know who we are because of the grace of God. In Christ, we arrive at home by God’s grace. Mrs. Chew lived out her 94 years of life traveling in faith that life is good and that it’s worth living to the fullest. We who are still traveling on this earth can pray that our lives may also be seen in such favorable light in God’s sight as Mrs. Chew’s.
The Prophet Isaiah once said,
“Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.”
We have the faith in God that Mrs. Chew knew the Lord who created her to travel on this earth bringing love and care to her family, hard work to support them, and for the joy of traveling to new and different places. Mrs. Chew waited for the Lord and he renewed her with strength. She flew like eagles. She ran and walked and did not tired for in faith, we believe that the Lord was always with her—at the beginning when she was just a little baby, during her many years on earth, and finally at the end, when she traveled back to be with her creator.
Let us pray.
God, our Maker, you made our sister Nuey Doo Joan Chew in your own image, you set her feet on a sojourner’s adventure, you watched over her along the way. As you lovingly traveled with Mrs. Chew in her life, we pray that you will continue to guide our sojourner’s steps so that we too may live lives of faithfulness and an enduring trust in you to show us the way to eternal life in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Closing Prayer & Benediction
I challenge you now, beloved in the Lord, to face bravely the journey which our friend, Nuey Doo Joan Chew has completed, having arrived safely in God’s kingdom.
Travel on, without the fear of falling, without any pretense about your true state as a sinner in need of God’s saving grace.
Travel on, with tender memories of Nuey Doo Joan Chew and so many others who have gone before you, secure in the hope that, when our time comes, the love of God will be sufficient for you, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand without the blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Funeral Service for Mrs. Nuey Doo Joan Chew
Sunday, November 5, 2006, 2:00 PM
Welcome & Opening Prayer
God is gracious. He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
On behalf of Mrs. Nuey Doo Joan Chew’s family, Dr. James Chuck and I from the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco welcome you here today to remember, celebrate and to share as a caring community of family, friends, and loved ones the life of Mrs. Chew. Born on April 16, 1912 in China, she returned to be with the Lord on October 16, 2006 in San Francisco. Your presence and expressions of sympathy are deeply cherished by Mrs. Chew’s children, Anita Chan, June Chew, and Jim Chew and their families and they wish that your kindness and support of them during this time of grief will also be a blessing for you and your households. We see that in the Gospel of John, chapter 25, Jesus taught us that when we give food to the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger in, give clothing to the naked, visit the sick and those in prison, who are all members of God’s family, we are actually caring for Christ himself. When you come to share your sympathy and offer your encouragement today, you are doing God’s work.
Let us pray.
O God, your care is like that of a father who has compassion for his children and a mother who comforts her child. We cast our heavy burdens of grief on you. Deal graciously with us in our anguish. Grant us the comfort of your rest. Assure us with the confidence that your faithful servant, Nuey Doo Joan Chew has been received into the arms of your mercy, in the blessed rest of your eternal care. May our lives hereafter bear witness to the hope that is ours in the crucified and risen Christ, who defeated death for our sake and now reigns victorious in your glory. Through his name we pray. Amen.
Capable Woman
Most of us here dream about our next vacation to some exotic destination or a few days off to just rest because we feel that we are working too hard. But when we begin to reflect on how hard the older generation worked and labored with rarely any days off and the word, “vacation” was not even in their vocabulary, we come to appreciate what Jesus was saying to the people he met:
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
Jesus knew that under the Roman occupation when repressive controls were in place, the people were seeking liberation from such hardship. Jesus taught them that when they follow him, there will be rest from their burdens and peace in their souls.
Mrs. Nuey Doo Joan Chew like many in her generation was a mother of her three children, a homemaker in her home, as well as a hard worker in the sewing factory. As a seamstress, she like so many in her generation worked in a factory with rows and rows of Singer machines all lined up end to end whirling and zipping away to make literally pennies for each piece sewn. This was not easy work. In order to come close to making ends meet, she would take piecework home to sew at night. After school was over, her two younger children, June and Jimmy would go to the sewing factory to play and do their homework and wait for their mother to sew together as many more pieces as possible. At the end of the day, the only proof of work completed would be these small slips of paper with how much money she would receive. These were in the amounts of pennies.
When daughter Anita and her son-in-law Gordon’s flower nursery required help, Mrs. Chew would come down to the South Bay to baby sit their daughters and cook their meals. At times, she would help at the nursery by bunching roses. I can just imagine how painful that might have been, knowing that roses have thorns! Mrs. Chew taught her children how to cook and one time even showed Anita how to start a fire to cook the meal. I was told she always made the best Chinese treats.
In the book of Proverbs, chapter 31, we see a description of a capable woman. It describes the life of Mrs. Chew:
She rise while it is still night and provides food for her household.
She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes.
Strength and dignity are her clothing.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Her children rise up and call her happy;
Her husband too, and he praises her.
Mrs. Chew’s children and granddaughters remember that she made beautiful dresses for them. Throughout her life, Mrs. Chew showed her love for her family in the work and deeds she did for them.
When we think about the meaning of life, we think about “love.” To love and be loved is the meaning of life. The Bible tells us: “Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).
Mrs. Chew understood the meaning of life—she worked hard to show her family the meaning of love. She knew and practiced the importance of love. Although she was not a member of a church, she knew God through love—through the concern and help and kindness she offered other people, and through the goodness she received from others. In the end, this is not a bad way to know God, for as the Bible tells us, “God is love.” We can give thanks that the God who created her and put her in this world to live in love, has now received her into his eternal kingdom out of God’s generous love.
When we encounter death, it jogs our minds about what’s most important. It separates the wheat from the chaff or the beautiful roses from the wilted ones. Life isn’t about money and big houses or fancy cars and titles. It’s about family and friends and our relationship with God and whether we have loved. We can’t fit all that on a tombstone, so we carve our names and our dates of birth and death and hope that, somewhere between those two dates, life was well lived. For over 94 long years, Mrs. Nuey Doo Joan Chew lived well because she worked hard to show her love for her family and through that unselfish love, she knew God for God is love.
Let us pray.
Creator and Provider God, at this time of all times, we need to thank you for the precious gift of life. We thank you for health—and for the skill and compassion of those who care for us when our health falters and fails. We thank you for home—for the roof over our heads and the bed where we stretch out to renew our strength in sleep; and for the loved ones who make that roof and that bed and all the rest into a true home. We thank you for a life time of work—for the many ways that we used our gifts and talents to put food on the table and to share our abundance with those in need. And we thank you for hope—hope for the pursuit of the next goal when one goal has been reached; hope for recovery and a fresh start when a goal has eluded us; hope at the last, when all hope seems lost, except for the one shining hope set before us in your raising our Lord Jesus from death. Amen.
Closing Prayer & Benediction
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14:27)
I challenge you to believe that Nuey Doo Joan Chew is enjoying that peace right now and that, if you keep the faith, this peace shall await you, too. So keep the faith!
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Amen.
Committal Service, Nov. 5, 2006
Nuey Doo Joan Chew
Opening Words
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, we commend to God’s merciful care our sister, Nuey Doo Joan Chew; and we commit her body to this resting place, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
“Blessed are the dead who…die in the Lord…they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)
Let us pray.
O God, you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to bring life and immortality to light. We entrust Nuey Doo Joan Chew to your everlasting care. Grant us the awareness that each of our days is a true gift from you, to be lived preciously and joyously in hopeful expectation of eternal life in divine presence with those whom we love. In the name of Jesus, the Lord of Life, we pray. Amen.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.