Imagine One World 
PAAM Sunday, Fifth Sunday of Easter
Acts 11:1-18, Psalm 148, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35
April 24, 2016

Passing of the Peace [Greet one another with “Peace be with you” in the language of your choice.]

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 148)
[Invite readers to begin Call to Worship with “Praise God!” in various languages.] 
E halelū aku i ke Akua!
Vi‘ia le Atua!
Purihin ang Panginoon! [or Purihin ang Diyos!]
Hananim chan-yang!   (하나님 찬양)  
Kami o agamemasu! (神を崇めます)
Praise God from the heavens:
sun and moon, stars and angels.
Praise God from the earth: 
islands and oceans, birds and beasts.
Praise God, all peoples:  
old and young, and in-between,
men and women, and beyond. 
Let us worship God!
Hallelujah! Amen. 

Family Time (Children’s Sermon): “The Strange Buffet” 
  or “You Aren’t What You Eat” (based on Acts 11:1-18) 

Ahead of time, get a few food items at a local Asian or other ethnic supermarket. Prepare toothpick-sized samples of several different kinds of “gourmet” food that many people in your culture might find disgusting. You may consider having a large bowl of steamed rice available so participants may eat samples of very salty or spicy foods with a spoon of rice. (If you do not have access to these foods, find pictures online to share.) 
Hawaii comedian Frank De Lima once observed that every culture has a stink food: Koreans have kimchi, Japanese have natto, Filipinos have bagoong, etc. Challenge teams to sample each different food. Be encouraging, but not demanding. 

Fish eggs (kazunoko)
  
chicken feet
  
frogs legs
   
snails
  
jellyfish
 
Identify which of the foods children would or would not eat.  Talk honestly about how difficult it can be to eat foods that look or smell very different from what you are used to eating.

A long time ago, Jewish people had rules about what kinds of foods God said you may eat and what kinds you may not eat. For example, Peter had never eaten pork or ham since a pig was considered an unclean animal. Then Peter had a vision where he saw all kinds of animals in a big cloth, coming down from the sky. Then a voice from heaven said, “Eat!” Peter thought it was disgusting. Peter thought that it was against the rules. Then the voice from heaven said, “What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.”  

Later, Peter realized that God was telling Peter to eat whatever his Gentile (non-Jewish) host Cornelius offered to him. Imagine Peter tasting ham or bacon for the first time knowing that God said it was okay. Do you think he liked it? 

Sometimes we like new foods and other times we do not. Have you ever tried to eat new food with refugee families or people from other countries? Being willing to eat someone else’s new food is a good way to make new friends. 

After Peter’s experience, many Christians believed that God can accept anyone. What is acceptable before God? Who will God accept? No matter how gross, disgusting, or unclean you might seem (or smell) God accepts everyone.  

Pastoral Prayer (Revelation 21:1-2; Acts 11:2-5,9)
Kamisama, Great God, as we imagine the new heaven and new earth, we give thanks for your promises to make all things new. Even as our ancestors found new homes in new lands, in New England or New Mexico, New York or New Jersey, New Orleans or New Brighton, we look forward to the new day when you make your home among us in new Jerusalem. 

On this PAAM Sunday, we give you thanks and pray for the Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries of our United Church of Christ: for 42 years tearing down walls and building bridges and strengthening the voices of the Pacific Islander and Asian American churches. Soften the hearts of all our churches to hear these voices and their stories, to make new connections, so that we may feast at one another’s tables in your holy presence, O God.

O le Atua, in the earliest days of Christ’s Church, you gave voice to the Apostle Peter’s vision of the unclean becoming clean. Challenge us to embody your divine impartiality: no longer shall we judge each other as Jew or Gentile, Black lives or All lives, Samoan or Palagi, Hawaiian or haole, kanaka maoli or kanaka ʻē, Pinoy or dayuhan, Korean or oegug-in, Japanese or hakujin. Remind us that what you have made clean, we must not call profane.

God of hope and healing, indeed, you make all things new. As we pray for all who suffer in body and spirit, we envision your heavenly realm where you live among us, where you wipe every tear from our eyes, where death and pain will be no more. 

O Hananim, we offer all our prayers to you in the name of Jesus Christ, that we may be one. Amen.

Prayer of Confession (Acts 11:1-3,8-9,12; John 13:34) 
Holy God, how often we have sought to avoid others because we have seen them as being outside your embrace. We have seen what they do, what they eat, what they say, and what they believe and we have declared that they are not Christian enough, not kosher enough, not halal enough, not vegetarian or vegan enough. We have labeled their Samaritan religion as mixed and impure. Forgive us, God. You command us to love one another even when we find some people to be unlovable. Grant us courage to see beyond differences so that we may celebrate your diverse, divine image in which you have created us all.  

Assurance of Forgiveness (Acts 11:18; Revelation 21:3-4)
God grants us the opportunity to repent as a gift leading to life. Hear God’s voice from heaven as God promises to dwell with us, to ease our pain and wipe tears from our eyes. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, God accepts us and offers us new life in Christ.  

Call to Offering (Revelation 21:6; John 13:34)
God’s revelation to John imagines waiola, water of life as Jesus’ gift to the thirsty. We participate in this vision of comfort and healing when we share from our hearts. When we offer our time, talent and treasure, we are living out Jesus’ commandment to love one another, just as Jesus has loved us. 

Prayer of Dedication (Revelation 21:3,6)
O Diyos, our beginning and our end, thank you for claiming us as your own people and making your home among us. We present our gifts and ourselves toward the new world where you quench all thirst, satisfy all hunger, and reign in peace forever. Amen.

Benediction (John 13:34-35)
How will the world know you are disciples of Christ?
E aloha kekahi i kekahi. Love one another.
[Additional benedictions may be added in the language of your choice.] 
Alofa le tasi i le tasi.  
Magmahalan kayo sa isa't isa. 
Tagai ni aishiaimashō. (互いに愛し合いましょう)
Seolo salang. (서로 사랑) 

Possible/Suggested music selections
Praise to God   TNCH 5
Let Heaven Your Wonders Proclaim   TNCH 29
Sekai no Tomo (Here, O God, Your Servants Gather)   TNCH 72
I’ll Shout the Name of Christ Who Lives   TNCH 234
Iesu no ke Kahuhipa   TNCH 252
De colores   TNCH 402
Help Us Accept Each Other   TNCH 388
Enter the Realm of God   TNCH 615

Come to the Banquet   Sing! 8
When I Was Baptized   Sing! 53
Lei Mekia   Sing! 64
More Than We Can Ask   Sing! 81
Taste and See   Sing! 86
Alpha and Omega    Sing! 102
We Are All God’s Chosen People   Sing! 115
Children of God   Sing! 195

Imagine (John Lennon)
Imagine (Ruth Sandberg) 
You Hold Me Now (Hillsong United)
Soon and Very Soon (Andrae Crouch) 

You may include this brief description of PAAM in your worship materials space providing:
Pacific Islander & Asian American Ministries (PAAM) was organized in 1974 at a gathering in San Francisco, California, of representatives from different regions throughout the United States.  The vision was to unite and move forward at the national, regional, and local levels as Pacific Islanders & Asian Americans in the United Church of Christ, sharing our unique gifts with one another.

PAAM was voted into existence at the 10th General Synod, in 1975, as a recognized Special Interest Group within the UCC.  The 17th General Synod adopted the pronouncement, “A United Church of Christ ministry with Pacific Islanders & Asian Americans” calling to establish an implementation committee to make requests about the ministries of the PAAM churches.  The 18th General Synod passed a resolution designating the last Sunday of April as PAAM Sunday when all UCC churches recognize and celebrate the gifts and contribution of Pacific Islanders & Asian Americans in the life of the UCC.
PAAM has initiated, sponsored, supported and participated in many activities at all levels of the conference, worked for greater PAAM representation on all levels of the conference boards, committees, and staff.

PAAM continues to address institutional racism within the church and society, is concerned with issues of human rights and justice, and helps to support and strengthen clergy and lay leadership at the local level. 

Where to find items for your “Strange Buffet” children’s sermon
Chinese or Thai/Vietnamese market
Grocery: Pidan aka Thousand Year old egg; Jellyfish (semi-dried, salted and sealed in plastic bags for your convenience)
Produce section: Durian, the giant spiky fruit said to “taste like heaven, smell like hell”, Rambutan (aka hairy lychee), Dragonfruit, pinkish red outside, light gray with black specks inside. 
In the deli: Stewed chicken feet or duck feet, fried chicken or duck heads. 
Canned beverage section (if you have limited budget or want a vegetarian option): grass jelly drink, tofu milk, basil seed drink, chrysanthemum tea, aloe vera drink, white gourd drink, winter melon tea, bird’s nest drink, passion fruit drink, soursop juice, tamarind juice, mangosteen drink… For fun you may even find UCC Coffee drink (from Japan based Ueshima Coffee Company)
Japanese market: natto (fermented soybean), tobiko (flying fish eggs) or masago (capelin eggs), unagi (river eel) 
Filipino Supermarket/deli: balut (chicken or duck embryo in shell), dinuguan (pork blood stew), seasonings: bagoong (fermented fish or shrimp) patis (anchovy sauce), banana ketchup
Korean market: Kimchi (spicy fermented vegetable)
Mexican/Hispanic market: nopales (cactus), tripe

Also, the meat/seafood section of your own supermarket may have parts of animals your children may have never eaten: liver, kidney, heart, gizzard, fish head, fish eggs, raw tuna or salmon (sashimi)

Mini Glossary for Imagine One World
(ke) Akua. Hawaiian. God.
Alofa le tasi i le tasi.  Samoan. “Love one another.” 
(le) Atua. Samoan. God.
Diyos. Tagalog from Spanish. God. Panginoon (“Lord”) is a more common way to address God. 
E halelū aku i ke Akua. Hawaiian. “Praise God.” Psalm 150.1 Baibala Hemolele, 
halal. Arabic ( حلال) permissible by Islamic law.
Hananim (하나님). Korean. God.
Hananim(-eul) chan-yang  (하나님(을) 찬양) “Praise God.”
haole. Hawaiian. White person/people (lit. “without breath”) 
Kami.  (神) Japanese. God .
Kamisama (神様) Japanese. God (honorific form).
Kami (w)o agamemas(u). (神を崇めます) Japanese. “Praise God.”
kosher. from Hebrew. satisfying the requirements of Jewish law, especially dietary law.
Magmahalan kayo sa isa't isa. Tagalog. “Love one another.”
oegug-in (외국인) Pronunciation: wae-gook-in. Korean. Foreigner. 
palagi. Samoan. White person/people (lit. “heaven burst”). The “g” is pronounced with /ng/ sound.  
Purihin ang Panginoon. Tagalog. “Praise the Lord.”  
Seolo salang. (서로 사랑) Pronunciation: sah-ro sa-rang. Korean. “Love each other.” 
Tagai ni aishiaimashō. (互いに愛し合いましょう) Japanese.  “Let us love one another.”
Vi‘ia le Atua. Samoan. “Praise God.”
waiola. Hawaiian. (also as ka wai o ke ola) Water of life. (Compare to Samoan vai o le ola and Japanese inochi no mizu (命の水). )

Need help with pronunciation? Ask a native speaker of those languages or try cut and paste phrases into Google Translate. 

Imagine One World: Liturgical Resources for PAAM Sunday, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C, was written by the Rev. Mitchell Young, pastor of Montebello Plymouth Congregational Church, UCC in Montebello, CA with acknowledgements to Federico Alimboyao, Junko Ashida, Tomoko Hino, Lori Katayama, Rev. Hyo-Jung Kim, Lutie Lee, Kahu Kenneth Makuakane, Rev. Dr. Ernie Reyes, Foai Tanuvasa, Rev. Sepulona Tanuvasa, Rev. Young Jun Yang.  Explore how God is still speaking in Montebello at www.montebelloucc.org 

Copyright 2016 Local Church Ministries, Faith Formation Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH  44115-1100.  Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.  All publishing rights reserved.