July 2023 Conchshell Chronicles
Lamb Bleatings - Dance Party!
It has been 9 months since my father, Ronald Nobuo Uyeda passed on to heaven and suffers no more.
I miss him and also my mom, Jean Hatsuko Uyeda who also went to be with Jesus 7 years ago. She left on my oldest brother, Jason’s birthday on April 19th 2016. My dad and mom both no longer deal with any earthly trauma and difficulty, but rather soar freely unencumbered and liberated in the presence of the Lord. Therein lies comfort and peace in my loss.
Every day since the passing of my mom and then my dad, I have not ceased to think about them and remember things they would do or say. Mostly I contemplate their essence and who they were and how much their character taught me how to live a generous and thoughtful life. They taught me how to serve and be compassionate to those who had less. They taught me to always say please, thank you, Hi, bye, honor and respect of God and my elders and to love and cherish those around me. “Life is short” my mom would say and then add “Time waits for no one.” Daddy would always chide us ,”Don’t waste your time and why not kill two birds with one stone?” He once said after a very bad movie we watched together, “THAT was a waste of ELECTRICITY!!!”
They inspired me to invest my time, life and my resources and to have the right priorities and make wise investments to help others.
“Did you pray about it?”, Mom was famous for saying. It kind of irritated me at times, but now I see the wisdom in getting direction from a Supernatural Source who did Design it all in the first place and knows everything from start to finish and all that is in between. I am inspired to invite each one of you to participate with us in this event in any way you can. One of the last things I got to do with my dad was watch a bunch of HULA with him and we both remarked how much we loved watching this graceful art in action.
My last gift to him on a personal level was making leis, dressing up and performing my last dance to him to The Peter Moon Band, “FLYING”. Just me and my dad. It was a moment. Some of my most celebrated moments in my life have been dancing. All of life is a dance and we have to find our rhythm to THAT BEAT FROM ABOVE AND WITHIN.
My dad passed away on October 31st. That is “All Hallows Eve” on the ancient Christian Calendar, the night before “All Saints Day” when the Church remembered all those saints who had dedicated their lives to serving the Lord and their communities. “All Hallows Eve” has been hijacked by the other side to be a celebration of the dark arts, of witchcraft, and general partying. In our times it has turned into a fun costume event, and the ‘Trick or Treat’ collection of candy.
With Ron passing on October 31, and being the ‘saint’ that he was with his involvement with the school project on the Rio Coco, we have been inspired to ‘take back All Hallows Eve’ and have a celebration that will honor not only Ron and Jean, but many who have given back to their community and served the Lord in special ways.
So, in honor of and remembering those special inspirational people with their magnificent beat in our lives and community, we are hosting a :
DANCE PARTY FUNDRAISER ON
October 28, 2023, SATURDAY 6:30-10 pm
at VERO FITNESS 1060 6th Ave, Vero Beach FL
It will be a night of dancing, food, and remembrance of our departed saints. It will also be a fundraising event for our 9 schools and 1600 students on the Coco River in Nicaragua.
We are looking for donations for this event of $1000 to Seek the Lamb which will include:
-10 tickets to the event
-your person of honor to
be recognized and/or
-table at the event for
your business
-business recognition in
both cafes and night of on
the big screen
-$100 worth of gift cards
to Rio Coco Café
This $1000 donation to Seek the Lamb for the Dance party will allow people in our local Vero community to be aided in a variety of ways: ie helping orphans, widows & education etc.
We welcome with gratitude all financial donations directly to our schools on the Coco River. We currently have 1600 students and have been educating for the last miraculous 37 years. Michael’s first trip was in 1984 and we have watched and been a part of thousands of lives being altered forever because of our joint efforts for them. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We truly appreciate it . There are always so many needs to be fulfilled and we are hard pressed to send down $8000- 12,000 monthly for current expenses.
We would truly appreciate your praying about and helping meet some of these needs of our school project in Nicaragua.
GENERAL MONTHLY EXPENSE $8000-12,000
SCHOOL SUPPLIES $50 per year per child
TEACHER’S SALARY $400 per month
TRANSPORTATION DOWNRIVER $500 per trip
BOAT MOTOR $8500
LANDCRUISER $40,000
HEALTHCARE $1000-$5000
MAHOGANY CANOE $9000
Please use this link below to send a gift.
I hope many of you can be a part of the Dance Party! Laura
Photo: Forrest, Mabel, Jean, Ron, Michael & Laura with Baby Mikaela. 1991
What is Wrong with our World?
The Rationalist movement and the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th century proclaimed the ‘goodness of mankind,’ - that men and women were basically good, but had been oppressed by government, religion and society in general. Philosophers like Rousseau, Locke, and Voltaire proposed changes to government, education, economic systems, and social order to give mankind the opportunities to demonstrate their inherent goodness.
One of these champions of mankind’s goodness was Beatrice Webb, who was a member of the Fabian Society, a British socialist society that advocated intervention in economics, education, and government to promote social democracy. She and her husband Sidney, founded and funded the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1895. She worked hard all her life to see mankind walk in the fullness of goodness.
But then there was World War I, where 25% of all British males between ages 20 and 30 were either killed or wounded in that bloody war- over one million casualties. That was followed by a bloody revolution in Russia, where millions were slaughtered by the socialist-communist government.
Beatrice kept a diary, and in 1925 she wrote: “In my dairy in 1890 I wrote: ‘I have staked everything on the essential goodness of human nature,’ but now, 35 years later, I have realized how permanent are the evil impulses and instincts in us and how little they seem to change- like greed for wealth and power and how mere social machinery will never change that. We must ask better things from human nature but will we get a response? No amount of science or knowledge has been of any avail and unless we curb the bad impulse how will we get better social institutions?”
A remarkable statement from someone who should know!
What is wrong with mankind? First few chapters of Genesis explain it- it’s the “S” word that we don’t like to talk about- SIN.
The Bible describes how God placed mankind in a garden and gave them all they needed, with an intimate relationship with Him. When He told them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it was an opportunity to trust God and obey. But the serpent sneered at God’s command- “Did He really say THAT?” and then caused them to doubt God’s goodness. The fruit looked good and why not become like God and take control over our own lives? They ate the fruit, and SIN entered into their lives, and became part of their DNA. We have been acting that way ever since.
Photo: On a visit to the Sistine Chapel, I pointed my camera up and got Michelangelo's panel of the Temptation and the Expulsion from the Garden.
God told Cain that “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Gen 4:7).
Sin is a living force, that is looking for the opportunity to control us. Peter describes it with the same image: Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
What is wrong with our world? In a single word, Sin. Simply put, it is thinking that we are the god of our lives and our that we are more important that the people around us.
Have you had either of those thoughts recently? In traffic? At the buffet line? In a parking lot? When and where you spend your money or make decisions on how you spend your time? What you look at? How you speak to others?
I have. If we are honest, we all have.
God offers a radical solution- His Grace. It’s not us trying to improve ourselves and be better. Beatrice Webb realized the futility of that. It is accepting that Jesus paid the price for our sins, and restored our relationship with God. We are declared “Not Guilty” before Him, because of what Jesus did on the Cross.
This Gospel doesn’t really make sense to us hard working men and women. There must be something we must do to earn this salvation and continue to do to stay in good favor with God.
Historically, a ‘gospel’ was an official proclamation. When Octavian became the first Emperor of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, he issued the ‘Gospel of Augustus’. It was an official Roman document that announced that Augustus was now the Emperor of Rome, that he would care for its citizens and provide peace and prosperity. All the citizens had to do was accept this fact, and nothing more.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is also a historical proclamation. It is Good News! Jesus has paid the price for our sins and rescued us, as Paul wrote to his friends in Galatia,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. Galatians 1:3-4
We see the effects of sin more and more in our culture. Who would ever think we would be dealing with these issues so quickly in our lifetime? What is the solution? More social, economic and educational machinery designed to bring out the goodness of mankind? Some still think so.
One of Beatrice’s colleagues in the Fabian Society was C.E.M. Joad, a well-known and sometimes controversial philosopher. Joad was brought up in a Christian home, but left the faith and became a socialist/atheist who blamed much of England’s woes on the oppressive capitalist economic system. Late in life, Joad returned to his Christian faith and wrote a book a few years before he died in 1953 titled “Recovery of Belief.”
In it he makes a remarkable statement.
“It was because we rejected the doctrine of original sin that we on the left were always being disillusioned by the behavior of both the people and the nations and politicians and by the recurrent fact of war.”
Sin is crouching at the door, but we must, through the power of the Cross, master it. Experiencing the Grace of God is the motivator in this battle.
Stay tuned for more. Michael
Laura & Michael at Tel Dan, Israel, where Jeraboam set up the altar to the golden calf- marked by the metal frame.
Special Bonus: Things They Thought You Knew - a virtual tour of Biblical sites
We have begun a series of visual lessons from our recent trip to Israel. We want to show many images, and relate the culture, geography and history to our study of God's Word.
Part 1 A Visit to a Traditional Judean Vineyard
Grapes have a special place in Hebrew culture. They are a source of nutrition, and according to Psalm 104, gladness. Jews considered grapes and wine to be a gift from God Himself, as it is the dew that falls from Heaven on the vines that cause growth and flavor.
13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You cause grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth—
15 wine to make them glad,
olive oil to soothe their skin,
and bread to give them strength. Psalms 104:13-15
Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding in Cana, turning water into wine, and not just any ordinary wine!
Read Part 1: A Visit to a Traditional Judean Vineyard.
Rio Coco Beans Coffee
We roasted over 300 lbs of coffee this past week. Its fresh, tasty, and delivered right to your door.
Order yours here:
Thanks for your time!
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