Scholarship, Campus Ministry, and Higher Education Committee
Most United Methodist churches
place an emphasis on the importance of an education including higher education.
This is because John Wesley, whose principles would later become the foundation
for the Methodist Church, started his religious movement while he was in college.
In addition, he was the founder of the first Methodist school in England in
the 18th century. In the United States, the first Methodist School was Cokesbury
College, founded in 1784. Now, there are 128 Methodist schools and universities
in this country. Most, if not all of the colleges and universities have a United
Methodist Campus Ministry. In California, there is a Wesley Foundation (United
Methodist Campus Ministry) with a full-time pastor at all of the University
of California campuses, USC, CSUN, CSULB, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo.
At WLAUMC, our Scholarship,
Campus Ministry, and Higher Education Committee is committed to being of assistance
to students, faculty, administrators, campus ministry pastors. Last fall, on
October 26th, we welcomed Reverend Frank Wulf as the guest preacher at our church.
The service was designated as "Campus Ministry Sunday." The members
of our church were moved by Rev. Wulf's message. We have found that the local
church has an important place in assisting local Campus Ministry groups.
Of course, the maintenance and dissemination
of the J K Sasaki Memorial Scholarship is one of the main components of the
Scholarship, Campus Ministry, and Higher Education Committee. The scholarship
is truly a collaborative effort, as most of the money comes from individual
donations from our church members and the local community. The scholarship recipients
are very deserving individuals, and they greatly appreciate all of the support.
Ethnic Ministerial Scholarship
Renamed to JK Sasaki Memorial Scholarship Fund
Starting in 2006, we are renaming our scholarship in honor of Rev. J.K. Sasaki, a former pastor of WLAUMC. He was tremendously loved and appreciated for all of his hard work. The scholarship will be organized and distributed in exactly the same fashion.
2006 JK Sasaki Memorial Scholarship Fund Recipient
Tezenlo Thong was selected as the 2006 recipient of our annual
scholarship. Each year, our scholarship committee reviews applicants from throughout
the country. The selection process is highly competitive and all applicants
should be congratulated for their achievements. However, this year, Tezenlo
stood out from the rest and was awarded the lone scholarship.
Tezenlo currently attends Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He is
married and has three children. In addition, Tezenlo is active in a local Asian-American
United Methodist Church. He enjoys working with youth and believes it is important
for Asian Americans to maintain their identity in the modern church.
Recipient photo and letter of acknowledgement may be viewed at the bottom of
this page. .
WLAUMC J K Sasaki Memorial Scholarship On-line
Brochure
HISTORY
The scholarship began in the spring of 1972 and continues to
this day, with a generous donation from the late Frank Yasuda family. The United
Methodist Men prepared and served the breakfast Easter morning and used the
proceeds to establish the scholarship. This tradition continued through 1991.
The group, the Friends of the Church, now continues the tradition.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Scholarship Fund is to encourage and enable qualified Japanese
American and Asian American students to pursue a degree in the ordained ministry
in the United Methodist Church.
THE AWARD
Scholarship(s) awarded each year range from $250 to $1000. In all cases, the
Scholarship and Higher Education and Campus Ministries Committee administers
the Fund.
QUALIFICATIONS
APPLICATION FORM (click here for
FORM)
Applications may be obtained by writing to the Scholarship Committee at
the address listed below or by calling the church and leaving your full name,
address and phone number. The annual deadline for applications is February
15th. Students may apply annually. The recipient(s) will be notified by
March 31st of the same year. The award is presented in the spring on a Sunday
designated as Scholarship Sunday.
SUPPORTING THE FUND
Since its inception, we have awarded over $33,000 in scholarships to deserving
seminarians, many of whom are now serving the local community and at higher
levels throughout the district, conference and nationally. All persons wishing
to continue to support this effort are encouraged to make a personal contribution
to the Scholarship Fund.
Please make your check payable to WLAUMC (in MEMO section write: JK Sasaki
Memorial Scholarship Fund)
and send your tax-deductible gift to:
Scholarship Committee
West Los Angeles United Methodist Church
1913 Purdue Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 479-1379
FAX (310) 478-7756
email: wlaumc@aol.com
Website: www.wlaumc.org
PAST RECIPIENTS
John Fujimori 1978
Alpha Goto 1978
Ron Hirata 1978
Yoshie Kawakita 1979
Nobuko Miyake 1979
Gary Oba 1979
Nancy Yamasaki 1981
Tom Choi 1982, 1983, 1984
Linda Suzuki 1982, 1983, 1984
Mark Nakagawa 1983, 1984
Keith Inouye 1984
Roger Morimoto 1984
Alan Hamada 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989
Jeffrey Hirota 1985
Michael Yoshii 1985
Lily Villamin 1986
David Nieda 1987, 1989, 1990
Bob Isip 1988
Derek Nakano 1988
Keith Igarashi 1990, 1991
Taehyun John Niu 1994
David Lautaimi 1994
Lilia Lopez-Karu 1994
Kevin Shigio 1995
Hao Hong Nguyen 1996
Amy Wake 1996
Edgar de Jesus 1997
Yuri Kurosawa 1997, 1998
John Kwan 1998, 2000, 2001
Esther Thaonhon Dang 1999
Ina Brooks 1999
Yong Hui V. McDonald 2000
Shinya Goto 2001, 2002
Motoe Yamada 2003
Ingrid Wang 2003, 2004
Eun Young Park 2004
Chong-Goo Chang 2004
Luan-Vu Tran 2004
Seung Ho Bang 2005
Hanna Rhee 2005
Tezenlo Thong 2006