Some of the gang: back row left to right: Moani (staff leader), Makaiwa, Titilua, Sabrina, Christa, Sabrina, Uanoa, Ginger, Brenda (spiritual formation staff), Trish, Micah (UH Hilo staff)
Front row left to right: Rachel (UH International Staff), Ashley, Naomi, Angel, Imani, and RJ.
InterVarsity Twenty One Hundred Productions made a video about this annual event several years ago:
Most of the group camped out at Waimanalo Beach Park. (Ginger came home to sleep each night- just a 20 minute drive to Kailua.) The group varied every day: aunties and uncles (honorific terms for older guides) included neighbors, InterVarsity staff, houseless aunties living in the park, and activists in the local community. Children, babies, and high school students were also welcome, making it the most age-diverse InterVarsity event Ginger has ever participated in. Native Hawaiians are called kanaka. (Hawaiian vocab list here)
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| Worship jam time with Ukeleles |
Our first day out was to visit the agriculture center at Waimanalo Research Station, part of the University of Hawaii. We learned about the Keiki (children) program for the summer.
The keiki are learning how to care for the aina (land) through gardening and aeroponics. We helped with the weeding, and one girl showed us how to use a plant for healing cuts by grinding it in a mortar and pestle with water. Ginger chatted with Moani, (above) the group leader for this event. Moani is originally from Kailua, and Ginger was interested in the changes and gentrification happening there. We'd noticed a new condo development, which Stephen had said replaced low-income housing. It reminded us about an area near campus at Texas Tech, where many houses had been bulldozed to be replaced with expensive/cheaply made apartments for college students.
Ginger loved the architecture of the traditional hale (house). Notice how the pitch of the roof echoes the slope of the mountain. This is a new building built in a traditional way.
Inside the hale, keiki playing before their next activity.
Jesus an da guys he teach wen go down one road, an dey come to one small town. One wahine [woman] name Marta stay dea. She wen tell um fo come inside her house. She get one sista name Mary, an Mary wen sit down by Jesus feet an listen to wat he say. But wen bodda Marta cuz ony her was doing all da work, an she come an tell, “Boss, you no care dat my sista wen leave me all by myself fo do everyting? Tell her fo come help me!”
Da Boss wen tell Marta, “Marta! You bum out, an you worry bout plenny stuff, but you ony need one ting. Mary wen pick da mo betta ting, an nobody can take dat away from her.” -Luke 10:38-42
Our next event was laulima- everybody working together to make laulau: pork wrapped in taro leaves. This is wrapped in ti leaves for cooking. The taro leaves are edible.
In the evenings, we listened to speakers and activists to learn more about the history and current issues facing Hawaiians. Ginger knew some info thanks to the Hope Proxe InterVarsity created several years ago. She made a handout about Queen Lilioukalani. We also watched Princess Kaiulani with the Washington students, a movie about her niece during the time of America's overthrow and annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Uncle Leon shared about the worldwide research into indigenuous cultures where the one true God is revealed throughout native histories. I'o (and similar names) was an ancient name for the one God, further back than polytheism. In 1995, natives around the world gathered in Canada for a conference, learning about God calling indigenous leaders everywhere to find God in their cultures. A good book summary of this is Perpetuated in Righteousness (from Hawaii's motto)
Ua mau ke ea o ka `aina i ka pono.
The life of the land is preserved in righteousness.
Two other amazing friends for the week came all the way from Florida to Ho'olohe pono. Trish (above) is a student. Imani (below) recently graduated. She met Moani at Urbana several years ago and has been longing to make the trip. They were both fully funded by their communities to come on this trip, and were amazed by God's provision. Trish said, "I asked God to wreck me, because I'm stubborn. Not I want to take this aloha love back home!"
Food was another topic during the week. A college student named Titi is doing her senior project on "Decolonizing diet and exercise" as part of her Public Health degree. She helped plan healthy meals for the group, and is looking back to traditional balance in work and consumption.
Ginger got a veggie version of laulau: taro root and stems wrapped in taro leaves! Very efficient. We served the rest of the laulau to the kupuna (elders) at a retirement home in Waimanalo.
This is Tutu Cat (Grandmother Catherine). Her family is Portuguese Hawaiian. She has four great grandchildren, and shares stories from her grandparents from when Hawaii was sovereign. Tutu Cat is a natural evangelist and shares Jesus with everyone.
We provided music with conversation and lunch, and soon the kupuna joined us.
Ginger was delighted when one lady brought out a washtub bass.
The favorite night was mid-week when we hosted an event on the lawn of the Iolani Palace. Dr. Ron Williams from UH gave a talk on how Hawaiian Christian churches reacted during the overthrow. He found the opposite of what he expected while he was researching the subject (he is not a Christian). Rather than missionaries deceiving natives into docility, he saw natives making their faith their own and supporting their country.
A common problem with historical missionary work is the reluctance to give over power to the natives. It's important for locals to determine what cultural practices will honor God in their own context. But politics and greed can motivate church leaders to cling to power. In fact, after the Bayonet constitution, the distant churches pressured locals to chose: "you can be Hawaiian, or you can be Christian." But as one kupuna explained, years later: "This was OUR church, not theirs." They claimed their churches and wouldn't leave due to outside pressure, saying we can be Hawaiian and Christian. There was much prayer and fasting to support the Queen's restoration. Women worked to get a petition signed from Hawaiians of many backgrounds to oppose annexation.
Queen Lili'uokalani used writing and music to plead the cause of justice for her people.
“Oh, honest Americans, as Christians hear me for my down-trodden people! Their form of government is as dear to them as yours is precious to you. Quite as warmly as you love your country, so they love theirs. With all your goodly possessions, covering a territory so immense that there yet remain parts unexplored, possessing islands that, although near at hand, had to be neutral ground in time of war, do not covet the little vineyard of Naboth’s, so far from your shores, lest the punishment of Ahab fall upon you, if not in your day, in that of your children, for ‘be not deceived, God is not mocked.’ The people to whom your fathers told of the living God, and taught to call ‘Father,’ and whom the sons now seek to despoil and destroy, are crying aloud to Him in their time of trouble; and He will keep His promise, and will listen to the voices of His Hawaiian children lamenting for their homes.”
from Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, Queen Lili‘uokalani, 1898
After the talk, several in our group acted out the script to "The Queen's Women" about the women who started and circulated the petition against annexation.
The next day, we took the tour at Iolani Palace. It was home to the Kings Kamehameha III, IV, and V, then King David Kalākaua, and finally his sister Queen Lilioukalani until she was deposed in 1893. The Palace was very modern, utilizing western architecture and art, and was up to date with the latest technology. It was the first royal residence to have electricity. It also had flush toilets.
Ginger and Stephen have been on many mansion and home tours- two things stood out differently here. There was only one grand staircase, used by royalty and servants alike. Also, the King sat centered at the dining table, rather than at the head. This allowed him to have better conversation. The palace was decorated with gifts and art from other leaders and monarchs around the world. It seemed strange that this did not sufficiently impress the American government to respect Hawaii as its own nation. Instead, America chose greed.
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| Moani leads reflection time after our palace tour. Giving everyone a chance to speak is an important part of the culture- we sat on the lawn for hours. |
The Queen's Prayer
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| Angel is joyful at the beauty of God's creation and the love of her ohana |
We rode out on the wa'a (canoe) from Kainoa Beach Park with extended ohana (family) from the community. Sea travel is an important part of Polynesian culture. In 1973, a group used traditional wayfinding techniques (no navigational instruments) to travel around the world and prove that their ancient peoples knew how to find the different islands. They didn't drift from one island to another by accident. A second group recently completed the same feat. The Disney movie Moana tells some of the story.
Mahalo new friends for your amazing aloha love!
