Local Churches Make a Difference in Fremont, California

Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison, Resonate Church Pastor Ryan Kwon and Thornton Jr. High Students
Make a Difference Day 2014

Several local churches poured their hearts into Thornton Junior High on Make a Difference Day, October 25, 2014. Registration had to be closed because of the overwhelming interest in the project, as 450 volunteers signed up to do handyman chores, cleaning and landscaping. Despite pouring rain for most of the morning and a maxed out parking lot, people came in droves. The school, located at 4357 Thornton Avenue in Fremont, also heavily promoted the event, and many students were there to help.

Make a Difference Day in Fremont, California

The Junior High is well maintained, but needed some beautifying after years of normal wear and tear. Principal Stan Hicks asked for landscaping at the front of the school for curb appeal, something he'd always wanted but could never find room for in the budget. He was pleasantly surprised when he was asked for a longer To-Do list for the cadre of volunteers, and he provided his wish list.

Principal Stan Hicks, Vice Principal Harry Pabley, Pastor Scott Taylor and
Volunteers With a New Picnic Table

Hicks said, "I've been here eight years and this is the biggest community outpouring I've ever seen." The basketball court needed re-striping and new hoops and backboards, the stage and a boys' bathroom needed paint, classrooms needed cleaning and weeds had to be removed. Students have been eating their lunches sitting on the blacktop, so eight new picnic tables were purchased and installed outside. One extensive project was rebuilding the bleachers with new lumber.

Thornton Jr. High Students Thank Sponsors

Christine Szeto, Coordinator for the workday from Resonate Church, says that the only reason they were able to accomplish as much as they did was because students, parents, community members, and multiple churches came together for one cause-to make a difference at Thornton Jr High. Businesses and organizations also participated by donating food, supplies, and funds. Sponsors included Chipotle, Dale Hardware, Dino's, Francis Donuts, Friesen Painting, Prime Metropolis Properties, MM Landscape Services, Noah's Bagels, Peak Performance Physical Therapy, Starbucks, Sunstate Equipment Company, Thornton PTSA, Sayf-T-Bar and Kelly Moore Paints.

Repaired Basketball Hoops

Make a Difference Day is a yearly national event, and the City of Fremont always participates. 100 projects were in progress, and Resonate Church's effort was the largest. It attracted the attention of Mayor Bill Harrison, who came midday to see the volunteers in action. "I've seen so much energy here," he said. "Thanks for giving back; that's important." Superintendent Dr. Jim Morris and School Board Members Desiree Campbell and Larry Sweeney also came to express their appreciation.

Repairing the Bleachers

photos by Christine Szeto and Steve Davis

 

Resonate Church strives to be of benefit to the City of Fremont and the surrounding community. They meet on Sunday mornings at American High School, 36300 Fremont Blvd., Fremont, for services at 8:30, 10:30 and 12:30 a.m. Grace Church Fremont meets at 9:30 a.m. and Cedar Boulevard Neighborhood meets at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. Anyone is welcome to attend.

Saved By Jesus

photo by imagesbuddy.com

"Would you like to come to a revival service with us tonight?" my classmate asked. I was seventeen, searching for meaning and purpose, and overcome with shame and guilt over some things I'd done. My high school had a few students who curiously carried Bibles, and I wondered if they had any answers.

Salvation Testimony

Overcoming my pride and embarrassment, I ventured some questions. "How do you know God exists?" And then, "Would He really care about me?" I felt so insignificant in the cosmos. 

I agreed to go, but the service that night wasn't the Billy Graham experience I'd expected. It was in a small church attended by only a handful of people with a speaker from Tennessee. His dramatic sermon about Jesus' death on the cross hit me squarely, and I felt my spirit stirring. At the close, the congregation sang, "Just as I am without one plea, but that your blood was shed for me, and that you bid'st me come to you, O Lamb of God, I come, I come," An appeal was made to the audience: "If anyone wants to know how they can go to heaven someday, please come forward and there will be someone for you to talk to." 

I felt awkward but compelled to learn more, so I left my seat and walked down the aisle, where the preacher's wife took me aside to answer my questions. She showed me sentences in the Bible but had to decipher them because the ideas were so foreign. I wondered if God would truly accept me as I was or if He would require me to clean up my life first. I was resistant to change though I desperately needed it. "Do I have to quit drinking?" I asked.

That elegant woman, who I later learned had never touched a drop of liquor, assured me, "No, you come to Jesus as you are." Jesus has already done everything on the cross, so all I had to do was lay my sin at His feet and accept the salvation He freely offered. There was nothing I could do to make Him love me more, and nothing I could do to make Him love me less. I didn't know how to pray a non-repetitious prayer, so in my head I spoke my thoughts. "God, I want what this lady is talking about."

Immediately I felt as though someone had wiped my soul clean. The burdens I'd been carrying were lifted, and I could feel it in my heart. Then I remembered something a nun had taught me years earlier, that all the angels in heaven rejoiced when a baby was baptized.

It occurred to me that the kind, well-meaning sister probably had it wrong. It probably wasn't when a baby was baptized, but when someone was doing what I was doing right at that moment. Thus my first encounter with Jesus was followed with the realization that angels in heaven were rejoicing. Over me. Though in the universe I may have been smaller than an ant, the God of creation did notice me, and He did care for me.

My life has never been the same.

Read more: Remember The Cross