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Servefest 2010 – One More Need Met · 14 August 2010
There are millions of needs in the world. After Servefest 2010, there is at least one less.
On Sunday August 8, 2010 at about 11:30, a scene similar to the one described below was unfolding at several locations throughout the Skykomish valley. Servefest 2010 was beginning.
“My name is John and I am from Cascade Community Church. Let’s introduce ourselves and pray before we get to work.” Introductions were made, a prayer for blessing on the work being done and the workers was delivered, then people either ate their lunches or set about to do their service projects.
People from New Horizon, Monroe Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Monroe Faith Center, Monroe Covenant, Monroe Community Chapel, Christ Church Monroe, Crosswater Community Church, and Cascade Community Church, as well as other people throughout the community introduced themselves to each other at this year’s Servefest sites. They were at locations throughout the valley doing service projects to show the world, or at least the local communities, that Jesus loves them.
All these churches closed their doors for the day (or at least for the afternoon) and the people went to work to meet a few needs in the community. They pulled weeds, painted, cleaned, and did all sorts of necessary work for the diverse organizations, including Take the Next Step, the City of Monroe, and the Monroe School District. This year, individuals were also aided in the upkeep of their homes.
When the day was over, people celebrated at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. The mood was festive and people talked about the different projects they worked on. They caught up with friends and acquaintances, enjoyed worship music together, watched a video highlighting the day, and kids bounced and slid on blow up equipment. Some people still had paint-stained faces and sore bodies, but everybody was happy that they could do important work for God and the community. While everybody came from different local churches, in the end, they all proved that God’s one true church can make a difference in the world. Even if it is just meeting one need at a time. Then again, meeting one need at a time is the only way any of the millions of needs in the world get met.
I, for one, am glad that I was part of Servefest 2010. I am glad that I met a few more people who are part of God’s church. And I am glad that I helped meet one more need.
© 2010 Michael T. Miyoshi
Keeping the Cyber Universe Safe · 7 August 2010
At night I go to sleep secure in the fact that young men and women around the globe are keeping vigilant watch over the universe. While I have the utmost respect and admiration for our service men and women, I am not giving tribute to them this time. I am talking about those youngsters who stay up all night digitally roaming for aliens and rogues keeping the universe or at least cyberspace free.
Our oldest son, Thing 1, happens to be one of those youngsters keeping vigilance. He ventures into cyberspace with nothing but his game console, controller, and headset. He joins with his fellow cyber patrollers and shoots at aliens or other groups of patrollers.
I have heard students in my class talk about playing multiplayer games and shooting it out with rivals using cyber weapons. I have watched my son participate in urban warfare and old west shootouts. (I cannot watch long because I get motion sickness when I am not the one working the controller.) With the lifelike renderings and motion, it is as close to defending the universe as I would really like any of them to get. And with such closeness to reality, I wonder if such violence is too real. Then again, most of the kids shooting it out in cyberspace are rarely the ones shooting it out in real life.
The realism and perspective of first person shooter games like the ones teenagers often play are really the cyberspace equivalent to Cops and Robbers or Cowboys and Indians that we played as kids. We would run around with toy guns or bows and arrows or at the very least sticks that were equivalent to either and shoot at each other yelling, “Bang! You’re dead!” If it was an especially hot and heavy campaign and the shot person did not fall, the arguments would ensue.
“I got you!”
“Did not!”
“Did so!”
“Did not!”
“Did so!” Accompanied by a sock to the arm or other body part, retaliation, and a scuffle.
Then, the voice of reason would come from inside the house, “You boys play nice,” or “It’s only fun until somebody loses an eye.” We usually played nicely and nobody ever lost an eye back then. Now however, the bad guys and aliens seem to lose any number of body parts and all the kids seem to think it is great when blood and gore spatter across the screen.
One good thing about electronic game is that with the great arbiter called the computer, there are no arguments about who got who. Everybody gets hit based on the signals going out over cyberspace and the judgments of the computer. It is a good thing too, because hearing just one side of an argument about who got who would be more annoying than hearing both sides. (Got you. Did so. Did so. Did so.)
Some nights, I cannot always fall right to sleep because I hear the chatter from Thing 1’s room. But I cannot just yell to him, “Play nice,” or “It’s only fun until somebody loses an eye,” like my mom used to do. Especially since no bodily harm is impending and everybody else in the house is asleep. I just plod or shuffle to his room and tell him to be quiet so I can sleep. Or I ignore it the best I can knowing that soon enough he will be with lots of others who are burning the midnight oil either studying for exams or keeping the cyber universe safe.
© 2010 Michael T. Miyoshi
Servefest 2010 · 31 July 2010
There are millions of needs in the world. After today, there will be one less.
The sign at church promoting Servefest 2010 and the promotional video on the official website (www.servefest.org), say those encouraging words. Servefest is Sunday August 8, 2010. It is a day set aside by many churches in the area as a day to reach out and show their local communities that they care. That Jesus cares. “In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) At least seven churches in the Monroe and Sultan areas are taking part in this year’s day to show the world that one group and indeed, one person, can make a difference.
This will be the 4th year of churches reaching out to their communities through Servefest. And still, nobody wants to take credit for what is happening. Everybody wants to give the glory to God. Everybody involved wants the communities to know that God loves them and so do the people in the churches.
The business community wants to get in on the action too. The Monroe chamber of commerce and stores in the involved towns are displaying Servefest posters to spur others into joining in serving and attending the celebration afterward. Some may even attend the local churches after helping meet community needs and joining the celebration at the Fairgrounds.
One of the leaders involved with organizing the projects said that it has become more difficult to find projects this year because many of the needs are capital as well as labor intensive. But this limiting factor will not prevent folks from being out of the pews and in the community joining in labors of love around the area.
One of the new aspects of Servefest 2010 is that some projects will be centered around helping individuals such as the elderly and widowed in the community. God makes it clear through His word that we are to take care of those who have a difficult time taking care of themselves. And that is what Servefest is all about. People in the community working with others in the community who need a little extra help.
Yes, there are millions of needs in the world. But if each individual could meet one, if each church could meet one, if each community could meet one, there would be one less. Servefest may just be one day of the year when local churches close their doors and go into the community to publicly serve God, but each day is a chance to serve God and the community. Join us in Servefest 2010 and throughout the year to help meet the millions of needs in the world. Help us meet one more need.
© 2010 Michael T. Miyoshi
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