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Tenrikyo Mission Headquarters of Hawaii

Origins No. 333 May 2019

All Tenrikyo Hinokishin Day at Honolulu Zoo (4/28)

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Appearing before You, God the Parent, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, I, Shugo Yamanaka, Bishop of the Mission Headquarters of Hawaii, speak with reverence on behalf of the Hawaii congregation.

God the Parent, out of Your single-hearted parental love for all humankind, You have been nurturing us with adequate and timely instructions, thus guiding us toward the Joyous Life. For this, we are truly grateful. Living in the embrace of Your deep parental love and always wanting to make repayments for Your blessings, we are striving for our work of single-hearted salvation. Since this is the month in which Oyasama was born into this world 221 years ago, we the service performers, together with our brothers and sisters of the Path in Hawaii, shall now conduct, with joyful and rejoicing hearts, the April Monthly Service at this mission headquarters. We will be singing the Songs for the Service with sincerity and performing the Seated Service and the Dance with Hand Movements joyously in high spirits while earnestly praying for world salvation. As You watch us, we hope You will be spirited as well.

On the 2nd of this month, about 70 members of Hawaii Women’s Association united their hearts and dedicated a performance of women’s instruments in celebration of the everliving Oyasama’s birthday. And from the end of this month through May, All Tenrikyo Hinokishin Day will be held at various venues in Hawaii. As we engage in hinokishin, we also hope to sprinkle the fragrance of the teachings to the local community by expressing our joy of faith as well as our gratitude for the blessings of “a thing lent, a thing borrowed.”

Taking God the Parent’s desire to save all people in the world as our own, all of us, church head ministers and Yoboku, vow to implement a way of life of mutually respecting, helping & supporting, inspiring, and delighting one another, starting with our own family and people right around us, thus moving forward step by step toward the Joyous Life World with our minds in unison. Also as we all continue to pray for the Shinbashira to fully recover and reassume his duties, every one of us is determined to continue to devote ourselves for the tasks of the Path in Hawaii so as to bring relief to the Parent. May You, God the Parent, accept our sincerity, and we ask that You guide us further toward the advancement of the Path in Hawaii and the reconstruction of the world into a Joyous Life World, even a day sooner, where everyone will come to know of the Parent of Origin thus awakening to the truth of universal brotherhood & sisterhood and live together in harmony helping and caring for one another. Together with all present, I sincerely pray that You bless us so.

April Monthly Service Prayer

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Mission HQ April Monthly Service SermonRev. Yuk Mei Inouye Head Minister of Hawaii Kai Mission Station

Good morning everyone! And thank you very much for being here! Because of all of your presence, we were able to complete the April Monthly Service with such joy and high spirits! I am sure that God the Parent and Oyasama are very pleased and happy that we all were able to gather here today for the Service.

Today I would like to use this wonderful opportunity to reflect on the journey of my life. Mostly, I would like to speak about how I came into this faith of Tenrikyo, or I should say, why I chose Tenrikyo.

Now, would you please raise your hands if you were born into a Tenrikyo family. Thank you! As you can see, there are a lot of you. I personally think that all of you are very lucky and are also very special. You might ask why. I felt that I was not as fortunate as all of you simply because I wasn’t born into a Tenrikyo family. I had to search and search and search all my life in order to come to this point, the point where I can proudly stand before you as a Tenrikyo YOBUKU, the point where I can proudly tell any stranger on the street or whom I strike up a conversation with that I am a Tenrikyo follower! But before all this transpired into what it is today, it took a very long time.

By the age of 19, Tenrikyo was already the third religion that I had come into contact with and also had the opportunity to study about. My first religion was Buddhism. While I was growing up in Hong Kong, I went to a Buddhist elementary school for six years since when I was five years old. In 1968, at the age of 13, my whole family (parents and seven kids) moved to Hawaii. I remember that I missed all of my neighborhood friends I grew up with so much at that time. I missed them very, very much and I was very, very sad. Basically in my young mind, I actually thought that I would never be able to see them again for the rest my life, just like life and death. I cried myself to sleep every night for about two months. Luckily, before long, I began to make new friends at school and I stopped crying. While I was in my intermediate school years, most of my new friends were Christians. And for

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some unexplained reason, I was drawn to the Bible.

Christianity was my second religion that I had come across. So, I began to study the Bible with my Christian friends every Sunday for about four to five years. Finally at the age of 19, I met my boyfriend, John Inouye, (to be my husband). And that was the beginning of my chance to encounter this wonderful religion.

My Tenrikyo journey actually began at the age of 23. Amazingly, an opportunity came on my way. I was granted a Tenrikyo scholarship to study Japanese in Japan. At that time, it was called “Bekka.” I had studied Japanese while I was in University of Hawaii. So as you can imagine, I was absolutely elated to have this God-given opportunity to be able to step out into the world, to experience a totally different country and also to come face to face with its beautiful culture, which I could read in books only in the past. And there was also another important goal to go to Japan in my mind. It was to learn to be able to speak, read and write in Japanese. And guess what, somehow I think I did! During Shuyoka, some Japanese Shuyoka friends actually thought I was a local, not a foreigner. Pretty good, right! But then again, that was over 40 years ago! Today I have returned most of what I learned in Japanese back to my teacher. It’s so sad! But that is life! It is just like the old wise saying, “If you don’t use

it, you’ll lose it!”Anyway, upon finishing Bekka, I entered

Shuyoka. I did so for two reasons: to show my appreciation for this wonderful learning experience that Tenrikyo Church Headquarter had granted me; and to appease my Kaicho-san (to be my father-in-law, Rev. Gordon Kakuji Inouye). I knew in my heart that it would make him so happy if I entered Shuyoka. So without hesitation, I did.

In Shuyoka, I was assigned to a special hinokishin. I used the word “SPECIAL” now, but at that time, I totally did not think it was anything special. In fact, I complained a lot about this special hinokishin. Most of my Shuyoka friends could use the washing machine to clean their fukins (the cloths the headquarters provided in the Shinden). But I had to use my bare hands. No gloves, no hot water and it was at the beginning of April in Japan and it was still pretty cold! So for the first week, every day when I returned to my Tsumesho, I complained and complained: “Why do they do things so foolishly and so unintelligently! Why can’t I use the washing machine too?”

Finally my Tsumesho sensei (instructor) said this to me: “Mei-san, if you do not want to do this hinokishin, there will be lots of people lining up wanting to do it. Are you sure you want to give it up?” By now, you might be wondering what kind of hinokishin I was assigned to. I believe

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it was called “Kanrodai Ofukin Arai.” It was our job to wash the cloths that they used to wipe and clean the Kanrodai with. Now you see why it cannot be washed by the washing machine! On top of that, we were also taught to wash it respectfully and with a clean state of mind, no funny and bad thoughts. In other words, it’s serious business!

At that time, I was very young, very shallow in my understanding of this religion. And not just about this religion, I was probably very shallow and naive in just about everything in life! So after hearing what the sensei said to me, I was thinking in my shallow head, “OK, if everybody wants it, then I will not give it up! I will keep it for myself! Then nobody can have it!” As you can see, I was the one who was foolish and unintelligent! As the Japanese people would say, “wagamama (selfish)!”

So selfishly, I kept this “Special” hinokishin for myself. Here’s the definite proof that my mindset at that time was so shallow and so immature! Later on, I realized how lucky I was that I could enter the Kanrodai office (which was located below the Shinden). For almost every day, my Hinokishin group of 10 people would carry the clean fukins and deliver it to the reverends for their daily cleansing of the Kanrodai.

Another shallow thing that I did in Shuyoka was that I hung a very big calendar

of three months in my room. And every day, I crossed out each day as if I was in jail. I couldn’t wait until it’s finished. Silly…right! By the way, last year while I was teaching the English class of Shuyoka in Tenri, I utilized this silly example of mine to encourage all my Shuyoka students not to do the same as me and not to waste their valuable time while they were in Jiba. I emphasized to them that this was truly a very special time in their life. To make use of these precious moments to concentrate and focus on their spiritual growth right here, I told them not to waste their time. Because time flies and does not wait for anyone. Before they know it, the three months would be over. And I truly did not want any of them to have any regrets later on in their life.

So far, I told you some of not so good things that I did. But believe it or not, there is one thing during Shuyoka that I am very proud of myself about. Somehow I had this very passionate desire and sincere urge that I really wanted to understand the meanings of all the Mikagura-uta. I really wanted to know what Oyasama’s message meant for us through all the songs, all the footworks and all the hand gestures. You see, I always love singing and dancing. Not that I am any good at it. But for the Mikagura-uta, I just simply wanted to know what I was doing while I was singing and dancing! I wanted to put some feelings into what I

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was doing! Therefore during Shuyoka, you would always find me with two dictionaries in my hands, one in English and another in Chinese, as I read through the songs’ lyrics. (And yes, for all you young generation, there was something called dictionary!)

I would look up the definition of the words that I did not understand. If the English explanation was not good enough for me, I would then look up the Chinese dictionary to see how it’s written in kanji (the Chinese character). For those who understand kanji, you would know that when just by looking at the character, the meaning will go straight to your mind and heart. You would know in an instance what the character means. And by doing that, I believe that I somehow grasped and held on, or you might say, I came to understand some of the feelings of what Oyasama had.

Out of all the songs, there were two parts that touched me the most. I do not know why but these two parts often bring tears to my eyes when I sing it. It is the first verse of Yorozuyo, and also the ninth verse of Song Nine. It reads: “Looking all over the world and through all ages, I find no one who has understood my heart” and “Though people are performing the service here, no one understands my heart.”

I do not know why, but somehow I think I sympathize with God the Parent and Oyasama that no one really understands the parental heart of our creator. I can

only imagine the disappointment of God the Parent and Oyasama. And for that, I thought that was really, really sad! And that really boils down to a lot of us are literally somehow foolish and unintelligent! (Not just only me!)

But of course in Shuyoka, like many others before and after me, it was so sad to leave after three months. Of course, in hindsight, I wish my mindset were different. But somehow in life, who knows? Maybe, or just maybe, that’s how it was supposed to happen for me to grow spiritually.

On the day I returned home from Shuyoka, my boyfriend, John Inouye, picked me up at the airport, and he proposed to me on the very same day with the engagement ring and flowers. Of course I said “Yes!” He was the love of my life! We got married later in the very same year and would be blessed with three wonderful children, David, Michael, and Michelle. Subsequently, it was really through these three children and my marriage to my husband that ultimately connected me to Tenrikyo.

Oyasama taught us that the “Service” and the “Sazuke” are the very important assets for our path of single-hearted salvation. Yet at the beginning of my marriage, I did not administer the Sazuke at all. When I was young, I couldn’t believe or even imagine that I could just pray for someone and somehow they got better. However in

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spite of that disbelief, I still attended the monthly service faithfully every month at Hawaii Central Church located in Kaimuki. My reasons to attend the Service were very simple. There were just only two reasons.

The first reason was simply because of my desire wanting to bring joy and happiness to my husband’s parents (Kaicho-san & Okusan) by utilizing what I had learned in Shuyoka. At the Monthly Service, I would always love to dance the Otefuri and sometimes by playing the Koto too. The second reason was that I wanted all my children to have something that I did not have while I was growing up. And that was grandparents’ love! Three of my grandparents passed away before my parents even got a chance to meet each other. I have only 1 maternal grandmother (we call her po-po). But we hardly get to see her too. She was always living in China with her son while we were in Hong Kong. So when I started having my children, I realized that going to church every month was really a great opportunity for all my children to see their grandma and grandpa. It was really great chance for them to have interaction with them, to get to know them, and of course to bond with them, more than I could ever have with my own grandparents. And it worked! Because they all ended up loving and remembering their grandparents so much!

My first attempt of the Sazuke was in

1988. When we were playing baseball in the park, I accidentally hit my son David’s head right at his temple area. At that time, he was short and was standing right behind me while I was swinging my baseball bat. I felt I hit something. I was so worried because I swung really hard as I wanted to win. I knew my own strength as I used to play a lot of sports and also practice kung-fung too. Right away, I turned to see what happened to him and by then, David was already crying and seemed to be in shock from the blow to his head.

Out of nowhere, I placed him right in front of me, right in the middle of park and knelt down and started administering the Sazuke on him. At that time, I didn’t even know if I was doing it correctly or not. I just did it! The funny thing was that I had never thought about the Sazuke, and didn’t actually think of doing it! I did not know what came over me at that instance! Maybe I should be glad that I did it because he was good as normal after crying. No bruise, no lump, no bump, nothing! Even next day, there was still nothing. He was all ok! Human mind is a funny thing. You see, I chuck it up as I was or we were super lucky…nothing happened, he didn’t get hurt and he was fine!

The following year, I administered my second Sazuke. Looking back at it, it really seems like a miracle. In 1989, we were running a restaurant on Kapahulu Avenue

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called “Local Express.” One fine day, one of my main chefs was looking really down. So I asked him what’s wrong. He replied, “My two-month-old daughter is sick. We were instructed by the baby doctor to go to see a specialist. This morning we visited him and he said she might need to have an operation done to her.”

At the time, because the baby was so small (only two months old), even the specialist wasn’t sure which part of the body needed to be operated on ‘yet’. To be sure about that, he gave the couple instruction to write down the baby’s daily symptoms and to report back to him in one week. After listening to his story, I felt so sorry for him and the baby. I kept on thinking, “Is there anything, anything that I can do for him?” By the end of the day, my answer was the Sazuke. I told him there was a healing service called the “Sazuke” from my religion. I received it almost 10 years ago but never really done it. I actually told him that I didn’t know how it worked but I was just going to pray for his daughter and touched her a little bit and no surgery done by me. And if you agreed to it, then I would be glad to do the Sazuke for your daughter. However, it seemed like he was so lost, so worried and didn’t really know what to do. But somehow, before he left work for the day, he came up to me and accepted my offer to do the Sazuke.

Did I say it was a miracle? Even I myself

cannot believe it until today! When he accepted my offer, I began my second attempt of the Sazuke on the same night. After I put all my children to sleep, I drove to their home late at night around 10:30 pm or 11:00 pm to administer the Sazuke for their daughter. I continuously visited their home every night until next doctor visit which was a week later. According to my chef friend, at their doctor visit, the specialist was very surprised and somewhat baffled. And by the end of all the examinations, he surprisingly told my chef friend that his daughter somehow was fine now and didn’t have to come back anymore unless the symptom came back again. Today, this little baby girl has grown up to be a very beautiful 30-year-old woman. Every time when I recalled this incident, I cannot help but thinking, “What a miracle! Thank you, Kami-sama! Thank you, Oyasama!”

Now, I want to switch gear to the Grant of Safe Childbirth (Obiya-yurushi). To be honest, in spite of the completion of Shuyoka and helping my parents-in-law at my church’s monthly service, I still did not regard myself as a Tenrikyo follower. After learning three different types of religion, I came to believe that all religions are basically good. Fundamentally, they all basically want to help or to teach human beings to do well in their life.

I often think that I am a very lucky person

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as I was blessed with the very good husband and three very healthy and lovely children. I felt I was even more blessed whenever I was pregnant. My father-in-law always brought back the Obiya-yurushi from Jiba for me without even asking me. The fact that he remembered my pregnancy was very touching and heartwarming to me. So on my end, to show my appreciation toward his consideration, I was very obedient in taking the sacred rice according to the instruction that was given to me.

My first pregnancy was with David. One morning at about seven months into the pregnancy, I had pain whenever I moved around but there was no pain when I sat down to rest. I thought that’s kind of funny. Maybe God wanted me to just sit and not to do anything for the next two months until I gave birth. I thought that because of my first pregnancy, I was not sure what labor pain supposed to feel like. So next day I went to the doctor to find out what’s wrong with this pain. After the examination, he seemed to be very surprised and then said, “Mei, you have SPD.” I was diagnosed with Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. He was very shocked as I was only the second patient in all his years of practice. According to him, it was quite rare. I then asked both of my mother and my mother-in-law about this condition, but they have never even heard of such a thing. And they both had given birth to eight children!

So what is Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction? It is basically during the woman’s pregnancy, the ligaments or the tissues around the pelvic bone eventually become soft and relax as a baby grows closer to the due date. But in my case, the tissues didn’t just get soft and relax but actually the pelvic bones were separated. Because of that, the new tissues began to form around the separated area. So until it was settled, there have been pain as I moved or walked around. So for two months before David was born, all I had to do was to slide both of my feet as I walked and everything was fine. Now because my pelvic bones were separated according to the doctor, I am assuming that there must be more space for the baby to come out in the future. So I actually thought it was not a bad thing after all.

Finally, David was born, and he was quite a chubby and hefty baby at 8 and a half pounds. Pretty good size, right? I guess that little extra space was good for him because when it’s time to push, it was so easy!

When Michael was born, he was not only just chubby and hefty. He was the biggest baby in the hospital for two whole days at 9 pounds 3 oz. I remember most of the time when the nurse brought the baby to me, they always checked to make sure that this was my baby as I was quite skinny at the time (most of us were when

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we were young!) And as you all can see, I am quite short too. So, it was really kind of inconceivable that I could give birth to such a big baby. Oh well, by the third day of our hospital stay, as we were leaving the hospital, there was a Samoan baby came in at 10 pounds. Michael has been beaten out by a Samoan! Oh, by the way, did I mention that they both were natural birth? No epidural and no C-section! Because of that, after Michael was born and for a split second I was thinking…was it really because I have received the Obiya-yurushi that made everything seem so smooth?

Remember I just said “split second.” Yes, in “split second,” I forgot Kamisama. I continued on with my much busier life with two children and a new business to run and to care for from early morning to late at night. Life was so crazy! But it was good and we carried on.

In about two years or so, I found out I was with a baby again! I was very excited to welcome another baby. In fact, I’ve always wanted to have many children just like my parents did. Unfortunately this time around, something was wrong with this baby. On one regular doctor visit during the six months, my OB doctor gave me this news, “Mrs. Inouye, you have a breech baby!”

My Michelle was a breech baby. She was upside down, or should I say, “right side up.” The normal position for the baby is for the head to be facing downward, but

in breech baby, the baby’s head somehow is facing upward. At first, I thought that breech baby was a common occurrence. But in fact, it’s just the opposite. It only happens to about 3-5% of the pregnant women. So one might think how lucky I and Michelle were…right?

Upon the discovery of my baby’s condition, my OB doctor explained to me that it would be very dangerous to deliver the baby with the normal way. He then gave me the advice to schedule a C-section very close to my due date. And right away, I said this to him, “Oh, NO! No C-section! I don’t even like a small cut on my finger. But you meant to say you will cut open my stomach and cut through all my skin, layer of fat and muscle, and maybe even some nerves too. No thank you!” I exclaimed!

You see, I think I heard of something called “Patient’s Right To Refuse Treatment.” It’s when after the doctor has sufficiently informed the patient of his/her problem, the patient has the right to accept or refuse treatment recommended by the doctor. Upon knowing that, I told my doctor that I did not want to have C-section. I told him I wish to continue the natural way of giving birth. And because my last delivery was so easy (even with a 9 pounder), I wanted to chance it! At the end, we also created a “Plan B.” And that was, if we ever ran into difficulties during childbirth, then we would go into C-SECTION!

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I had a very good OB doctor. Bless him for he is retired now. He really respected my decision (although it was a dangerous one in itself), he wanted to work with me. I often joked with him during my visits. “Dr. Fujimoto, please remember now, all I need you to do is to catch my baby really good…ok?!” So we laughed plenty!

Finally, it was my last month’s doctor’s visit. As usual, I waited in the room for the doctor to come in. He walked in with a huge smile on his face. Seeing that, I said “What’s up, doctor?” His eyes were gleaming as he told me the good news: “Mei, there will be a team of specialists passing through Honolulu in about two weeks from now. And their expertise is in turning the breech baby around without surgery!” You see, during the 80’s, we didn’t have any doctor like this on the island. In fact, there were many women that actually chose to have C-section to escape from the pain of childbirth. And also since some women were so busy with works or whatever, they wanted to schedule when their babies come into this world. And on top of that, a lot of doctors were sued by patients whom their children suffered or had some unfortunate situation happened to them during their regular childbirth. Therefore, at that time in the 80’s, C-section was very popular. I always have this concept that when in C-section, the doctor is in total control, not the patients. But with

natural birth, women have to do everything.As you remember what I told earlier,

I asked my doctor to just catch my baby for me! I have to do everything, pushing and all! Anyhow, I do not know where my confidence of childbirth came from, was it because from receiving the Obiya-yurushi? I really don’t know, but all I know is that I had my mind set on not having C-section.

My doctor is a very caring doctor. At the moment of letting me know of this wonderful news, I felt like he was more happy and even more released than I was when this wonderful chance or option that was presented before us. So I replied, “Doctor, if it makes you happy, let’s contact them and just do it!” So we did. We scheduled the procedure two weeks before my due date. In the hospital, I was assigned to a room that was quite big in size and got me thinking why is that? Soon, I found out why. It was because they needed space for a lot of doctors and interns to stand around to observe how the procedure of turning a breech baby is done!

Moving forward, okagesamade! Thank God, it was a success! Baby’s head was turned around and into the correct position. After that, I was instructed not to walk around or even move around for fear that the baby might move back to the previous position where she was comfortable in. So right away, they did something called “Labor Induction.” They induced my labor

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so that I had to give birth right away on the same day. So finally, Michelle was born safely and naturally! No Plan-B! No C-section! She was also quite heavy in size too, in spite of being scheduled two weeks earlier than the due date, she came into this world at 8 pounds exactly.

After the delivery, I was wheeled into the recovering room. I remember I closed my eyes and enjoyed the peace and the quietness surrounding the room after all the hustle and bustle of giving birth. In that quiet moment, I recalled I was thinking, “Am I, Yuk Mei Inouye really lucky, or was there truly God that has been watching over me and blessing me all along?” As you see, I am sure you agree with me too. The specialists really seem like “God sent.” Don’t you think so? They showed up at the right time and at the right moment, perfectly just for me, for my doctor and my baby. Is the Grant of Safe Childbirth that powerful? Is Tenrikyo really an awesome religion that is somehow kind of different from other religion? This is the first time that I found myself really examine and contemplate about Tenrikyo.

Through my experience of receiving the

blessings of Obiya-yurushi and witnessing the miracle of the Sazuke with my own two eyes, Tenrikyo has finally stuck a cord deeply within my soul. Here, I feel that Kami-sama wants us to learn from our own experiences and not from the reviews of others. Life is a big journey and you’re a traveler. It’s better to live and travel well than thinking about the future and losing your peace of mind. Living the fullest in the present is the best way to enjoy life. Some of the few ways to enjoy life are very simple, “Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth and your heart for love.” As for me, I continue to walk through the path of my life, every moment, every day, every year, I find myself continue to gather the fragrance of this wonderful religion a little by little. I am 64 years old now. How many more years do I still have for me to be able to continue to gather the fragrance of Oyasama’s Teachings, I do not know. But I will surely treasure each day, like there is no tomorrow and I hope you will do the same too! Thank you very much for your attention and patience to listen to my story today!

Church AffairAsakusa Hawaii Church: Shinden Re-roofingDedication Service: April 6, 2019

Hawaii Spiritual Development CourseJune 16 to July 11, 2019Qualification: 17 or older Application due: Sunday, May 12

Classes in The Doctrine of Tenrikyo, The Life of Oyasama, the Mikagura-uta, the dance and

musical instruments practices for the service, and hinokishin activities.

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Tid BitsAssociations’ Reports

WOMEN’SASSOCIATION

Bazaar Sewing Hinokishin @West HouseEvery Wednesday 9:00am-12:00pm Nuuanu Hale VisitationMay 11th (Sat) 9:30 a.m. Monthly MeetingMay 13th (Mon) 9:00 a.m. Musical Instruments PracticeMay 14th (Tue) 9:00 a.m. WA General MeetingMay 18th (Sat) 9:30 a.m. *May Monthly Service luncheon hinokishin is assigned to Shuto group.

YOUNG MEN’SASSOCIATION

Aloha Young Men and Women of Tenrikyo Hawaii! It’s that time of the year again! General Meeting time! Brush off your Otsutomegi and start practicing! This year I am excited to announce, we will be having some special guests joining us for our Service Performance!

YMA HQ Representative Yuzo Yaoi, Mr. Tomohiro Fujimoto from Hofu GC, Mr. Munekazu Chiba from Shimagahara GC, Mr. Yusuke Okada from Kochi GC, Mr. Masayuki Takeda from Nan'a GC and Mr. Norimichi Obata from Shuto GC. After rejoicing in the Jiba during the YMA 100th Anniversary, our members wanted to bring the YMA to you all here in Hawaii and try to recreate that feeling. In Daisuke-sama's message during that time, he encouraged us to play to our strengths and what we are good at. What better way than to have our brothers in Japan experience our Aloha here at home!?

I encourage you all to please participate in our activities and spend time with our guests. We want them to know that Oyasama lives here in Hawaii and not to forget about the wonderful resource you all are to the Path! Let us build bridges that will last another 100 years and take our children far into the future without change! Let us show them we are the vanguard of world salvation in Hawaii! Thank you all for your help and support! See you on May 18th!

Last month we celebrated Oyasama’s Birthday by performing the musical instruments from Yorozuyo to Song XII. Thank you for your sincere and joyous performance of the service. Please join us on May 18th for the Joint General Meeting with the YMA. Please practice at your respective churches, mission stations or at Dendocho.

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YOUNGWOMEN’S CLUB

YWC Convention in Tenri November 3rd (Sun)

“With You” Discussion & Nuuanu Hale VisitDecember 14th (Sat)

YWC Mini Bazaar Every 3rd Sunday, after the monthly serviceBaked goods & old item donations welcomed.

BOYS & GIRLSASSOCIATION

Oyasama’s Birthday Celebration ActivityThank you to all who helped us celebrate

Oyasama’s 221st birthday on April 21st. We heard a short story about Oyasama, enjoyed many games, and ate delicious pizza, birthday cake and ice cream. Thank you for all who contributed and joined us.

Thank you everyone for attending Oyasama’s birthday gathering! It was such a spiritual performance and I’m sure Oyasama

Tuesday, May 14th7pm Narimono Practice with Women’s Association at Dendocho Hall

Wednesday, May 15th1pm Honolulu Ch Visit with Mr. Yuzo Yaoi3pm Shopping at Ala Moana730pm Monthly Meeting at Rainbow Hale

Thursday, May 16th8am All Visitors Gather at Dendocho for Introductions and Ice Breakers9am N. Honolulu Ch Visit and Hinokishin1pm Kaminagashi and Street Speech in Waikiki Near Ghandi Statue7pm Narimono Practice with Women’s Association

Friday, May 17th6am Sunrise Service and Fishing at Sand Island Beach Park9am Beach Clean Up Hinokishin at Sand Island Beach Park3pm Nioigake and Narimono Practice at Magic Island7pm Dinner with Guests at Rainbow Hale

Saturday, May 18th8am Put up offerings for General Meeting930am General Meeting2pm Kaminagashi to Nuuanu Valley Park230pm Sports Day - Kickball and Volleyball730pm BBQ Dinner and Campfire at TCC

YMA Pre-activities for General Meeting

2019 Children Pilgrimage to JibaThe summer Children’s Pilgrimage to

Jiba will be held from July 24th to the 30th. Applications are available at the Mission Headquarter’s office and are due by May 19th. There will be a meeting for all participants on Sunday June 23rd from 7 pm at Mission Headquarters.

was very happy! Just a friendly reminder for the Joint General Meeting on May 18th, Saturday at 9:30am at Dendocho.

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thaw in refrigerator overnight. Microwave, covered, on high in a microwave-safe dish until heated through, stirring gently and adding a little stock or water if necessary.

Paella is a very popular Spanish dish. I can consider this the best comfort food ever. This recipe feeds 8 servings and can be frozen for future use. A crowd pleaser at family parties and informal gatherings. This recipe recommends using long grain brown rice, but if you prefer, you can use long grain white rice as well. It was simple to make. Hope you enjoy this.

Ingredients:• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil• 1 medium Onion, chopped• 1 medium Sweet Red Pepper, chopped• 1 Cup sliced Fresh Mushrooms• 2 Cups uncooked Long Grain Brown Rice• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced• 2 tsp Paprika

Directions:1. In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, red pepper and mushrooms; cook and stir 6-8 minutes or until tender. Stir in rice, garlic and seasonings; cook 1-2 minutes longer.

2. Stir in stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 40-45 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Add shrimp and broccoli; cook 8-10 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink. Stir in peas; heat through.

• Freeze option: Place cooled paella in freezer containers. To use, partially

• 1/2 tsp Salt• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper• 1/4 tsp Saffron Threads• 6 Cups Chicken Stock• 2 lbs uncooked large Shrimp, peeled and deveined• 1-1/2 Cups Fresh Broccoli Florets• 1 Cup Frozen Peas

The Hungry Reporter

Shrimp & Broccoli Brown Rice Paella

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Tenrikyo Hawaii Dendocho2920 Pali HighwayHonolulu, Hawaii 96817Phone: (808) 595-6523, fax: (808) 595-7748e-mail: origins@tenrikyo-hawaii.comTenrikyo International Website: http://www.tenrikyo.or.jpTenrikyo Online: http://online.tenrikyo.or.jpMission HQ of Hawaii: http://www.tenrikyo-hawaii.com

1st Wed BishoptoreturntoHawaii6th Mon MonthlyNioigakeDay Meet@MHQ 9:00a.m. WACommitteeMeeting MissionHQ 7:00p.m.7th Tue TenriCulturalCenterMonthlyService TCC 9:30a.m.8th Wed CommunityHinokishinDay Meet@MHQ 9:00a.m.10th Fri AdoptAHwyCleanupHinokishin Meet@MHQ 9:00a.m.11th Sat WANuuanuHaleVisitation Meet@MHQ 9:30a.m.13th Mon WAMonthlyMeeting MissionHQ 9:00a.m.14th Tue WAMusicalInstrumentsPractice MissionHQ 9:00a.m. TCC&BunkoJointComm.Meeting TCC 7:30p.m. WAYMAJointNrimonoPractice MissionHQ 7:00p.m.15th Wed Mr.YuzoYaoi,YMAHQRep.tocometoHawaii(untilMay20) YMAMeeting RainbowHale 7:30p.m.16th Thu BGAMeeting RainbowHale 7:30p.m. WAYMAJointNrimonoPractice MissionHQ 7:00p.m.18th Sat WAYMAJointGeneralMeeting MissionHQ 9:30a.m. BoardofDirectorsMeeting MissionHQ 2:00p.m. TSAHinokishin&Sleepover MissionHQ 6:30p.m.19th Sun MissionHQMonthlyService MissionHQ 9:00a.m. SundaySchool/AlohaBandPractice MissionHQ OyasatoSeminarOrientation MissionHQ 1:00p.m.20th Mon Kamina-nagashiinWaikiki Waikiki 10:00a.m.23rd Thu Mrs.YamanakatoreturntoJiba(untilJune4)26th Sun Yohaishiki/BazaarMeeting MissionHQ 9:00a.m. BazaarComm.Meeting MissionHQ 10am/7pm BishoptoreturntoJiba(untilJune1)29th Wed YMAOfudesakiStudySession MissionHQ 7:00p.m.30th Thu SakagamiFamilytoreturntoJiba(untilJune12)

May Calendar 2019