2026-05-21 Good News

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." — Psalm 23:1–3 After dodging it for more than six years, last Thursday (May 14), I tested positive for COVID-19 (or is it COVID-26 now?). For three days, I barely left my bed. The fever, the exhaustion, the chills, the heaviness settled into every part of my bo...

Rev. John walked with the San Jose Japantown community leaders in the SJ Taiko Stroll. Nikkei Matsuri Foundation Board members including Kelli Martines (right) and Kellie Nunokawa (second from left)......

The Wesley Ukulele Band performed on the Aloha Stage.Hula dancers from left: Lani, Betsy Crandall, Natalie,  May Serrano, and Margaret Hironaka The Keiki also performed! Hula Dancers Mika Yamatake and Natalie......

The Wesley Jazz Ensemble performed to a full house in spite of the sprinkles with Dave Land servicing as emcee, with Peter Horikoshi and Ryan Miyahara seen and band members below thrilling the crowd with their unique sound and musical variety. Wesley members came out to eat and show their support of our jazz band with from left, Rod and Grace Wada, Joanne and Derek Miyahara, and Jim Tengan. The Bl...

Showing off our Wesley Church’s new vision statement and selling United Women of Faith cook books were, from left: Ann Cowels, Bobbie Ueunten and Cynthia Fukuda.......

The youth did an amazing job behind the scenes in making both the crowd-pleasing unique Asian favored hot dogs. Sato and Hideo, prep the hot dog buns at the Suno and Teri booth. Venessa Perry-Mar, staff Youth Director, was delighted at selling over 1,000 hot dogs in this fundraising effort. In fact they sold out. Thank you and Congratulations to our Nikkei Dogs Chairs, Hatty Lin and Helen Lee, and...

Walking the wok to the Teppan Taco booth is Wayne Kuwada and Byran Longmire. It’s Teppan Taco Time as Kenton Kuwada waits for his order to come up. On the right we have Keith Nakashima and Scott Haneta stir frying all that cut up and marinated pork. Misao Kusuda is intent on ensuring warm tortillas in the taco-making process. Taking orders were Ning Bao and Keith Nakashima with a hearty work crew ...

It takes a village for our church to prepare for Nikkei Matsuri and the evening’s work in the Fellowship Hall was just one tiny portion of all the work needed. In this instance, the work crew was doing the prep work for the Teppan Taco food booth. The work included slicing and dicing pounds and pounds of pork butt as seen here with Byran Longmire, Karen and Tom Maeda. I know for a fact, all three ...

5月16日のアンブレラミニストリーでは、お茶のモンストレーションをさせて頂きました。茶道と禅の関係はよく知られていますが、実はキリスト教も茶道に大きな影響を与えています。日本の茶道の父と言われる千利休は、1522年に堺で産まれました。日本にキリスト教が伝来したのが1549年、当時日本の中心であった京都に近く、貿易が盛んであった堺は、日本におけるキリスト教伝道の足場となっていました。利休もミサにあずかったことがあり、後に利休の妻も娘もキリスト教に改宗しています。そのミサでの神父の所作や教義が、茶の湯の形成に少なからず影響を与えました。例えば、棗や茶杓を清める際の袱紗のさばき方は、まるで十字架をきっているようです。またお濃茶で一つの茶碗から客が回し飲みするのは、聖餐式におけるぶどう酒の回し飲みからヒントを得たと言われていますし、その時の茶碗の清め方はミサにおける聖杯の清め方に酷似しています。茶...

Genesis 20:11. NIVThen God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. Think Green! Green! Think! By Mary Horio (Photos and captions by Barbara Hiura) On Sunday, 4/19/26, your United Women in Faith hosted Tea Time while also celebrating Earth Day with a Plant Give Away.This was ...

Saturday, May 9 marked the biggest Open Mic Nite so far with 29 people attending and a great group of performances. Ukulele, guitar, singers, game show, poetry, and more were featured. The next Open Mic Nite is scheduled for June 13 at 7:30 pm in the Chapel.......

Helping to make Sunday, May 10 a very special Mother's Day were the hostesses and kitchen crew from left: Brenda Gee, Bob Yasukawa, Luz Gonzales (host of the meal with Rev. John and lead Hostess), Jeffrey Oldham, Warren Hayashi and Wayne Kuwada (Dish washer king). Photo taken by Mr. Steve Tabuchi. Would’ya look at that spread!!! Wesley cooks did themselves proud with all these tasty sides and deli...

On May 2, Wesley Church was honored to host the Midori Kai Trailblazers Award event for the very first time. Founded in 1996, Midori Kai is a non-profit organization comprised of Japanese American professional women leaders committed to community involvement, mentoring young women, supporting local charities, and celebrating their Japanese American heritage.The afternoon brought together warm conv...

A Lesson Learned by Terri ThorntonGolden Hills School-Windhoek-Namibia-March-2026 The biggest lesson I learned from travel is that it is more than a checklist—it is a feeling, it is about people, it is food, it is communicating without words, it is about being uncomfortable, and it is about being open.So, as my husband Jeffery and I prepared to set off for yet another trip to the continent of Afri...

The Annual Bay Area CROP Walk to end world hunger held May 17 showed how a faithful group walking in solidarity that hunger is wrong. Rev. Mariellen of Growing Hope United Methodist (formerly Almaden Hills U.M.C.) kicked off the event asking for God's blessing for walkers and supporters whose efforts would save thousands of lives from hunger and suffering around the world.The preliminary results f...

CATS, Contemporary Asian Theater Scene, presented a staged reading of a new play by Min Kahng on May 2 in the Wesley Sanctuary. The play featured Kahng on keyboard and singing along with actor Will Dao. Lisa Marie Rollins directed. Kahng shared his spiritual journey of growing up in the church but struggling with his identity as a gay man in a conservative space. He used art to make sense of it al...

God’s Garden: Thank you! We are almost to the last class of Sunday School for this school year. Thank you to all the parents for getting your children to church on Sundays (I know it’s not always easy), being part of the Christmas pageant, practicing songs for Palm Sunday and Christmas, being a part of our Easter Egg Hunt and so much more! We appreciate all the effort and support of our God’s Gard...

Geronimo Desumala, Director of Christian Service at Bellarmine College Prep, gave the message, “Pop, I prayed for you” with warmth and heartfelt emotion. He has been attending Wesley with his husband, Neal Gutierrez and their two sons, Ezra and Daniel, and felt immediately a welcome they’ve not experienced elsewhere. Derek Miyahara "l, was called in late Saturday evening, and very last minute to l...