VOM Ministry at East Bay Fellowship, Danville CA

Tuesday morning, June 15th the VOM were invited to present a concert for the Vacation Bible School at East Bay Fellowship in Danville California. We did 5 short concerts, one for each age group, and then a final concert for the whole group. It was one of the largest groups we have done a concert for. The team members enjoyed interacting with the kids very much. It was fun watching them teach the kids to do the dances and blow the conch shell. I did get quite a few pictures of this presentation.

The kids loved learning the hula and other worship dances

The morning started out cold but the team adjusted well

As usual, the stick dancers were a big hit with the kids - I heard a lot of "That was so cool!" as the kids left the area.

A lot of the VBS workers used their free time to watch us perform. 

Jayleen gave her personal greetings to the kids

We appreciated the pastor and VBS kids praying for us and the success of the tour.

The kids enjoyed learning to blow the shell. Some of them were pretty good at it. 

Jake and Justin help Joyce pack up the stuff to get ready to head to the next venue. 

VOM Ministry at Hessel Church in Sebastopol CA

Immediately after concluding our program in Foster City last Sunday we loaded up the vans and headed up to Hessel Church in Sebastopol California. Normally the students sleep all the way during a van trip but this one took us across the Golden Gate Bridge and they stayed awake for that. We arrived at Hessel just in time to set up for the concert and enjoyed some good fellowship with the people there. I was a little busy at this concert and didn't take any pictures of it. If I get some I'll post them later. The pastor of Hessel is Joyce's cousin Rich, but he was performing a wedding and was not there. Nevertheless many of the staff at the church are friends of ours (and more of Joyce's relatives too) from our Biola student days. The picture is of Joyce with her cousin Linda and Linda's daughter Lindsey with whom Joyce and I stayed after the Sunday night performance. Thanks Stan and Linda for the hospitality and letting us (all the VOM guys) watch game 6 of the playoffs with you.

VOM Ministry at Central Peninsula Church, Foster City CA

Last weekend (June 12-13) we were in Foster City to do ministry at Central Peninsula Church. On Friday night we enjoyed the evening with the college group and then on Sunday we ministered in their two morning services and then did a full one hour presentation at a lunch event. We had met the pastoral team at CPC when they came out to Guam a few months ago and so it was great to renew our friendship with them and meet so many other good people. We are looking forward to further partnership with CPC in the future. Several people there told us that they wanted to be part of a CPC ministry team to Guam in the future.

Joyce and the girls arrive at the church early Sunday morning

Justin prepares himself for the morning

Would you buy a T-Shirt from these people? 

Joyce and Justin take care of the PIU table while Jaynee and Leeman pose in front of the PIU poster

VOM greets the audience at the lunch event

Keiny plays the blind man in the crucifixion skit

The stick dance is always one of the big highlights of the presentation. This was a particularly energetic performance.

The hula worship dance is nice calm balance to the stick dance

The people at CPC were enjoying the performance.

VOM Ministry in the Tenderloin in San Francisco

A week ago Saturday the VOM team had an opportunity to work with the City Impact ministry in San Francisco and with the Central Peninsula Church volunteers to do some ministry in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The VOM performed as the kickoff concert for City Impact's summer concert series. They were enthusiastically enjoyed by the people there, and prayed and talked with many people. Seeing the inner city homeless was a new experience for all the students and they handled it very well. 

The volunteers pray together before the concert

Karyn, Joyce and the guys work on getting things set up

It was a cold morning and the island outfits don't provide much warmth. It actually turned out to be a pleasant warm day, especially for San Francisco

We started singing before the people came in to invite them in to the concert

The concert was in Boedekker Park and there were probably about 150 people there

Kita's testimony brought a few people to tears

The quartet had people dancing in the aisles

After the meals were distributed to the homeless, our guys joined the other volunteers for a game of basketball

VOM Ministry at Foothills Covenant Church, Los Altos

Last Saturday night we drove over to Los Altos for a performance at Foothills Covenant Church. We enjoyed a fellowship dinner and getting to know the people there a little better. Here are a few pictures from that night...

The team did a full one hour performance

The hula worship dance is always a popular part of the program

Students from the college group joined us for a dance

It was a good day with great people at a beautiful church.

VOM Schedule for June 20-27

Here is the VOM schedule for the upcoming week.
June 20    Hillside Covenant Church, Walnut Creek, CA 9 and 11 AM Services
June 21-22 Travel and Rest Days
June 23    Crossroads Covenant Church, Concord CA 6pm
June 24    First Christian Church, Pleasant Hill, CA  Dinner at 6pm, Performance from 7 – 8pm
June 25    Sky High performance and dinner
June 27    Central Peninsula Church, Milbrae, CA, 11am Service; full performance at lunch hosted by the church at 12:45.
           Biola Congregational Church and Kerman Covenant Church, Fresno, CA  7pm

We have been enjoying traveling around Northern California the past few days. Here are a few pictures from our travels

We have a lot of fun in the vans as we travel.

Sometimes it gets a little warm in the vans...

We enjoy it when friends have us over for dinner.

Sometimes we even hunt for our own dinner.

We also managed to see most of the NBA playoff games.

VOM Ministry at the Neighborhood Church in Castro Valley CA

On Tuesday the VOM team moved on to Castro Valley where we ministered at the Ladies' Luncheon for the Neighborhood Church. For you Bay Area residents this is the church that has the three giant crosses that can be seem the 580 Freeway. I remember as a high school basketball player and coach at Baymonte coming up to this church and playing in the gym where the lunch was held. The luncheon was an island theme, of course, with VOM program director Karyn Sorenson as the main speaker and the VOM as the main attraction. It has been fun to see our students connect with audiences ranging from kindergarten to senior citizens, men and women, rich and poor, urban and rural. They are doing a good job of being flexible - as long as we can keep them warm!

 The view from above.

We all enjoyed the lunch that was provided

The strawberry shortcake was especially good

Kita gave her testimony about how she found both her earthly and heavenly Fathers

Jayleen, Charles and Justin prepare to eat an unfamiliar type of chicken salad sandwich. 

Grace is in good form during the hula worship dance.