God’s House Sparkles by Barbara Hiura
Did you notice? God’s house got cleaned this past Aug. 30? Didn’t you suddenly feel refreshed and somehow renewed when you came for worship the very next day? Just the smell of wax and oil or being able to really see the world through squeaky clean windows just gives you a sense of God’s almighty presence surrounding you.
It takes a lot of hands to clean our church, finding the dirt and grime in every nook and cranny, to help the work crews, there are lots of "how to" signage, thanks to DeeDee Azuma.
We had crews of Wesley people and friends (I mean really good friends) vacuuming and taking wax and oil to all the furniture and pews in the Sanctuary, so it was thoroughly clean and smelled really good. Nichigo members did the same to the chapel and library.
One crew mopped and buffed our grimy Fellowship Hall floors, while another cleaned the kitchen—organizing cupboards and removing baked-on grease from the stoves and ovens. And, of course, they cleaned out the refrigerator. Yuck! Another team tackled all the church bathrooms, scrubbing the areas that need more attention than the usual weekly wipe-down.
We need to really do a shout out to our Scout Troop 201 which included some 20 Scouts and parents, who tasked themselves with cleaning all the classrooms. They removed all the chairs, scrubbed the floors, sanitized the toys on both floors. It’s a huge job. And when it was all done, and after the church was clean, they set up the tables and chairs for the very well-attended Ron Ogi Memorial service happening the next day.
The carrot on the stick for everyone who worked in the morning was a tasty lunch and yes we had a crew taking care of setting up the grill and prepping the hamburgers and cheeseburgers with all the fixings. Hats off to all our food prep team.
Wesley is a busy church. Wesley is an active church. Wesley is a church with energy. So when it comes to both small and large tasks, our Wesley members rise to the task needed. And because we’re a J-town neighborhood church, community folk lend a helping hand. We are also not shy about informing the schools around us about large jobs and we get High School students coming to help and receive community service credit. We had Community Youth Service parents come out and lend a hand. Our village is large especially combined with our community outreach. And we are grateful.
A final shout-out goes to our Board of Trustees, a dedicated group of leaders who care for the maintenance and rebuilding needs of our church. They are experienced and knowledgeable about our buildings and grounds. On this day, they provided leadership by forming teams to clean the entire church. A huge thank-you goes to DeeDee, who has led this annual effort for decades. If you need anything—from the leads on down—she is the person to ask. She is there days beforehand to set up and stays until the cleanup is complete, down to the last rag being picked up. It’s perfect and God nods in approval.
It takes a lot of hands to clean our church, finding the dirt and grime in every nook and cranny, to help the work crews, there are lots of "how to" signage, thanks to DeeDee Azuma.
We had crews of Wesley people and friends (I mean really good friends) vacuuming and taking wax and oil to all the furniture and pews in the Sanctuary, so it was thoroughly clean and smelled really good. Nichigo members did the same to the chapel and library.
One crew mopped and buffed our grimy Fellowship Hall floors, while another cleaned the kitchen—organizing cupboards and removing baked-on grease from the stoves and ovens. And, of course, they cleaned out the refrigerator. Yuck! Another team tackled all the church bathrooms, scrubbing the areas that need more attention than the usual weekly wipe-down.
We need to really do a shout out to our Scout Troop 201 which included some 20 Scouts and parents, who tasked themselves with cleaning all the classrooms. They removed all the chairs, scrubbed the floors, sanitized the toys on both floors. It’s a huge job. And when it was all done, and after the church was clean, they set up the tables and chairs for the very well-attended Ron Ogi Memorial service happening the next day.
The carrot on the stick for everyone who worked in the morning was a tasty lunch and yes we had a crew taking care of setting up the grill and prepping the hamburgers and cheeseburgers with all the fixings. Hats off to all our food prep team.
Wesley is a busy church. Wesley is an active church. Wesley is a church with energy. So when it comes to both small and large tasks, our Wesley members rise to the task needed. And because we’re a J-town neighborhood church, community folk lend a helping hand. We are also not shy about informing the schools around us about large jobs and we get High School students coming to help and receive community service credit. We had Community Youth Service parents come out and lend a hand. Our village is large especially combined with our community outreach. And we are grateful.
A final shout-out goes to our Board of Trustees, a dedicated group of leaders who care for the maintenance and rebuilding needs of our church. They are experienced and knowledgeable about our buildings and grounds. On this day, they provided leadership by forming teams to clean the entire church. A huge thank-you goes to DeeDee, who has led this annual effort for decades. If you need anything—from the leads on down—she is the person to ask. She is there days beforehand to set up and stays until the cleanup is complete, down to the last rag being picked up. It’s perfect and God nods in approval.
Posted in Newsletter 2026-09-24