Sunday, October 20th

Our morning will begin with Adult Sunday School in the Sacks living room, on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, beginning at 9:30am.  The coffee is amazing!  During our Worship Hour we are excited that Covenant Players will bring a drama from Luke 18:1-8, the Persistent Widow, as well as leading us in worship.  A yummy Fellowship Hour will follow the service with a time for all of us to reconnect and refresh!  The HS will meet at Amy Harbaugh`s home from 1 p.m.  As part of our support of the Covenant Players, we will be taking them to lunch.  Join us for continued fellowship in the ethereal ICU cafeteria.  We will take a lovely walk together over after the Fellowship snacks.

More about this vital faith ministry: http://www.covenantplayers.org/

The Pacific Gate Unit of Covenant Players, whom is sharing with you today, serves all the islands of Hawaii, as well as Japan, Okinawa and Guam. The unit consists of Kurt and Cathy Purucker, and Maddison Grayson.

Kurt has been actively involved with Covenant Players since August of 1984. While attending high school in New Mexico, an interest in the performing arts came to fruition through involvement with his high school drama program. After a couple of years at a state university, Kurt felt a tugging to be more active with his faith, so when the opportunity to join Covenant Players was mentioned by a friend, he didn’t hesitate to make that move. He recently celebrated 28 years of ministry service.

Cathy has been active in drama since pre-teen days, though she, too, decided to leave it behind for a season. Growing up in South Africa, she never heard about any sacred performing groups. When invited by a friend to attend a performance by a Christian drama company, her eyes were opened to a new possibility – Christian drama. After a couple of years of soul searching, she felt God’s good pleasure in pursuing ministry with Covenant Players. She celebrated 27 years in the ministry the beginning of April.

Maddison has been involved in drama and service since she became a Christian at the age of 12. She saw Covenant Players shortly after becoming a Christian, and even interviewed while still in high school. After graduation, she was called to other ministries around the world until January of 2013. Being part of a military family half of her life, she is used to foreign lands, languages, cultures, moving, and dare she say, drama? She lived in Okinawa, Japan for several years until she felt called to join the Covenant Players and flew to the U.S. to join CP in December of 2012. She has just celebrated 7 months in the ministry and is very excited for what God has in store for her, as He brings her back to what she considers to be her home area for a season.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CORNER (we value your prayers & involvement in this vital ministry)  Contact Carrie Bennett for ES, Julie Rogers for MS, Amy Harbaugh for HS or Pastor Teresa at wtucrev@gmail.com with any questions.

Little Kids (1-5) Sunday School October 20th during church
Topic: The Red Sea, The Ten Commandments   Teacher: Sammie

NEXT ES Youth Grades 2-5 Wednesday October 23rd, at the Bennett`s home from 5-6:30 p.m. Topic: The Parable of the Prodigal Son   Teacher: Carrie   Dinner Responsibility: Loveman

NEXT MS Youth Wednesday, October 30th at the Rogers` home from 5:30 p.m.  Service project, bible study and pizza.

NEXT HS Sunday October 20th, at Amy Harbaugh`s home from 1 p.m.
After Sunday the 20th, NEXT Adult Sunday School Sunday November 3rd at the Sacks from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Topic: Parable series facilitated by Pastor Teresa – Parable of the Lost Sheep

Operation Christmas Child is a project the MS and HS students have adopted and they’d like your help.  The students have prepared shoe boxes for families or individuals to fill.  Each box will be given to a needy child.  The boxes can be filled with toys, hygiene products, clothes, school supplies, etc. and then sealed with a rubber band.  The outside of the box is marked with the appropriate age and gender for the child receiving the gift.  All the boxes will be sent to the OCC Collection Center in Sendai to be distributed to under-privileged children.  If you’d like to help, but aren’t able to fill a box, a monetary donation is valuable as well.  It takes approximately 700 yen in shipping to get each box to its destination.  Contributions to the postal fund can be given to either Mark Hisamatsu or Julie Rogers.  Please mark your offering with “Operation Christmas Child Shipping.” Boxes must be brought back to church or given to Julie Rogers by November 13th in order for us to get them to Sendai in time.  Please email Julie at jrogers@asij.ac.jp with any questions or call 080-3014-4487. Each box comes pre-wrapped in Christmas paper and a rubber band to seal, a sticker for the outside of the box indicating age and gender, and a brochure with gift suggestions are all provided. Thank you for helping!

SNACK SIGNUP
Sign up for snacks for fellowship time with Ann or on the list on the white board.  We greatly appreciate your contributions to our community life!

WTUC  Announcements
*Any questions or concerns?  Feel free to email wtucrev@gmail.com anytime.
*Please enjoy and refer our website and FB page (West Tokyo Union Church) to others.  Please make any suggestions for additions to the Pastor Teresa and/or Steering Committee.  https://wtuc.net/
*If you’d like to be added to the WTUC church email list, please contact Gene Witt ewitt@asij.ac.jp
*If interested in joining the WTUC Prayer Chain, let Pastor Teresa or Prayer Chain Coordinator, Kayo Ozawa, know of your interest. Please submit prayers to wtucrev@gmail.com or Kayo Ozawa.

Interested in becoming a member at WTUC – please talk to Pastor Teresa about upcoming membership classes.

Upcoming Preaching Ministry
October 20        Covenant Players bringing sermon and song, Communion http://www.covenantplayers.org/
October 27        Pastor Teresa
November 3      Joint Service with Mitaka Lutheran Church
November 10     Rev. Dr. Ron Man
November 17     Rev. Jim Sack, Communion
November 24     Pastor Teresa, Thanksgiving Feast
December  1      Pastor Teresa, Communion
December 8       Youth Christmas Pageant

The Story of the Persistent Widow
18 1-3 Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, “There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: ‘My rights are being violated. Protect me!’
4-5 “He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, ‘I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won’t quit badgering me, I’d better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I’m going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.’”
6-8 Then the Master said, “Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?”

GREATLY LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN WORSHIP