Follow the music and neon colors on Halloween Eve night and you might have stumbled across a raging party. And by party I mean a group of really, really cool people hanging out. And by raging I mean bumping music and lots of dancing.
Our high school ministry, Ignite, hosted our first outreach event on Friday night. An art show with music and plenty of neon colors. Kids followed the music and came in off the streets. Where one might only find drugs, drinking, and strip clubs on a Friday night, Surfing the Nations was a positive environment for these kids.
Eukarezt was there. A local christian artist, displayed his talents and inspired the kids with his graffiti-art.
I love event planning. Putting on art shows or music shows is a passion I have. I love organizing things like this. Especially when the event is catered to kids as cool as them. Being able to have fun in a alcohol/drug free environment. Having fun without caring what others think of you. Showing others that you can be cool and have fun without alcohol or drugs. What a way to live. What a way to reach out to the younger generations.
Keep your eyes and ears peeled for future events. I have a feeling that this won't be the last and our Wahiawa bar will be the place to be on a Friday night or Saturday night on this side of the island. Just a thought.
Haleiwa Beach Park played host to a very unique church this past Sunday. Once a Month Church is held on the last Sunday of every month and caters to the house-less of Hawaii. Buses were rolling in full of families from the Waianae coast and North Shore of Oahu. As a part of Surfing the Nations, I took part as a volunteer for the church service, probably one of the most humbling experiences of my life.
Once a Month Church provides a church service for people who are not always accepted in other conventional churches. There are free raffle prizes including food, bags of rice, toiletries and other necessities. And of course lunch is provided.
One of the most unique parts of Once a Month Church is the offering/tithe portion of the service. At most churches when the offering is passed around, people place money inside. As Once a Month Church caters to the house-less of Hawaii, instead of asking them to place money in the offering everyone receives an offering from the church.
As I finish up my second month here at Surfing the Nations, I am truly grateful for everything that God has done in my life. To be able to see His work in action here at Haleiwa was amazing.
With the Maui/Lanai team and Bangladesh team back home, we are all resting and planning for the next outreach. Surfing Middle East. The next international outreach is planned for Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. I am really excited for what is being planned for the trip. We will be holding the 2nd annual Aloha Surf Classic in Alexandria, Egypt, our biggest outreach of the trip. There will also be sandboarding lessons in the Jordanian desert and more surfing on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. As we near the trip dates we are continuing to fund-raise and plan more outreaches.
Meanwhile on the North Shore, we took part in the Menehune Surf Contest. We helped put on the event as the clean-up crew and beach clean-up coordinators. The entire event was successful, even though the waves were small. All of the kids had a blast. There were kids as young as 5 years old surfing the waves. It was awesome to help out with a surf contest, as it was my first time attending a surf contest. What also made my day was meeting and talking with Jack Johnson. Great day.
This trip has been one of God's work. I have been busy from day one. Now wrapping up Lanai, I see how much God has moved on these islands. It is amazing to be apart of everything. When we arrived to Lanai, it was full of projects and work. We were responsible for construction that would hopefully bring a church closer to completion. King's Chapel Lanai is a new church that holds its services out of the Lanai high school cafeteria. During construction, I felt like Jesus as a carpenter. It was hard work, but completely worth it. It was so fulfilling to see the fruits of our labor.
We also helped out with their beach ministry during their monthly movie night. The movie was awesome, Ratatouille. It was awesome watching a movie under a full moon. Seeing how much a church with a heart for God can accomplish. As simple as it was, and as meager as it may have seemed, God was present and even the visitors enjoyed the entire night.
Seeing how much happened was amazing. Seeing the works in people's lives. The children here were awesome. They had that child-like faith and spiritual maturity people often strive for. They all were an inspiration to me. The love they had in their hearts. It was refreshing to see this love in people, families, children, churches, and an entire island.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12:34
Follow the music and neon colors on Halloween Eve night and you might have stumbled across a raging party. And by party I mean a group of really, really cool people hanging out. And by raging I mean bumping music and lots of dancing.
