Aloha!!! Here’s the long awaited for, super long UPDATE ONE!!
I would like to start out with a huge mahalo to all of you who partnered with me for this ministry! Support-raising has been such a faith-stretching experience; each check and assurance of prayer brought renewing waves of encouragement that a summer in Hawaii would be a reality! I pray God will bless your investment of time/money put toward this trip; that He will bless it into fruitfulness through established friendships within the team and the relationships that develop through spiritual conversations! I am so stoked for God’s unfolding plans! The 4 days I’ve been on Oahu God has pushed me further into relying on Him, this is a pretty fantastic state to be in even if it means discomfort at times.
Here’s the day-to-day breakdown:
Monday: Arrived in Honolulu and lunched with part of staff, Robbyn Klein (my small group leader, she’s amazing!!), TJ Poon and Wendy Chen. First lunch: Inari. How completely submersed in culture was that first meal? :) Yummy Japanese food is everywhere! I got to meet the rest of the team (there’s 16 of us in all) gradually throughout the day. Each one is so intentional and inviting! I love my team! We stay at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the dormitories - my dorm view is beautiful! I’d like to share it with you all but pictures will have to wait ‘til I come back, because like an idiot I decided to not bring my computer. Dumb. I know. I had that mistake slapped in my face when I realized everyone else had brought theirs! But it’s ok, my friends here have been completely generous, allowing me to borrow their laptops from time to time J
Tuesday: Went out sharing for the first time with a friend using Solarium. Solarium is comprised of postcard-like images; it’s a sharing technique in which we (the sharers) ask questions, and they (the receivers) choose images that represent their responses. The Solarium is basically a tool that helps transition into spiritual conversations. We talked to a good 10 people on campus that day! Each conversation opened my eyes to different perspectives! It helped to not only meet and get to know new people but helped me bond with my sharing partner.
Wednesday, our “Free” day: Hiked Diamond Head with the team in BOILING hot weather then cooled down at Waikiki Beach! It was my first time to work the bus system, and to do something independent from the staff! Fun day! In the night, some people from the team went to a Bible Study with some locals, which was super cool, and definitely something I want to do next week!
Thursday: Today we went out sharing on a beach called “Magic Island.” Met the most adorable old couple there! Literally. They were like the film-type old couple, picnicking their lunches while watching the birds and just spending time with each other. My partner and I brought out the Solarium and had a good 40 minute conversation with them! I’d like to pretend they’re my Hawaiian grandparents, Turns out grandma is a Christian but still questioning, and grandpa is a believer in God but uncertain on some levels of where He stands in relation to God. Such a cool conversation! We also had our first collective event as the Hawaii team. We invited most of the people we shared with on Tuesday and number of them showed up! Praise God! And I bumped into a friend from Santa Barbara at the event! Dannah Christensen, some of you probably know her from Paradox. A coinkydink? Turns out one from my team had approached my friend from SB not knowing that Danah had been searching for a fellowship, let alone the one that I was helping establish! :) Isn’t God quite the grand orchestrator?
Later on in the night we hung out with some locals and I spectatorted an intense game of dodgeball. It ended a little abruptly since we had issues with the location of the game (we weren’t allowed to play dodgeball in a tennis court, so we were scolded by the law and told to relocate).
Today was discouraging at times, but the good experiences helped outbalance and outvalue the bad ones. We had our first student-only meeting tonight and reminded ourselves that it’s easy to slip into establishing our individual identities based off of how others perceive us. It helped us reflect on the fact that it’s an issue we all have to face and that we need to know that it is not ourselves we are trying to present to others, but God. His love. His redeeming grace. His promise: salvation.
Alright, it’s creeping late into the night and tomorrow we have a busy day! So good night and aloha for now family! I love you all!
Love,
Nina
Favorites of the Week: Sunscreen, Pineapples, Pineapple water, Sunglasses, Air Condition, Shade :)
More next week, and hopefully I can write updates more often so they won’t be so heavily loaded as this one! Thanks for sticking through to the end of this letter. If you’re still reading this, I’m very impressed.
