All I Wanna Do-o-o-o-o-o

There’s this song by Sugarland called “All I Wanna Do.” The music video is shot in Hawai’i.  It is 21degrees outside and it snowed today.  I just wanted the music video and it made me miss Hawai’i oh so much.  I decided to post some pictures just to remind myself why it is amazing.  Between the landscape, the scenery, the flora, the views, the volcanoes, and espcially, the people.  It is the people I miss the most

ALOOOOHA!

 

Mahalo, Lord, for making Hawai’i

Alright, I know that I said I was going to write this a while back, but I really wanted to process before I started writing, so here’s what I’ve come up with thus far.

Hawai’i is the most beautiful state in the union.  I don’t mean that just literally.  I mean, yes, the landscape was amazingly beautiful, but this includes the people.  For one, with the mixture of Filipino, Polynesian, native Hawaiian, and Asian genes, their feautures were beautiful, but it wasn’t just that. From the first moment I was on the Big Island, I felt more welcome and loved than I have ever felt in my life.  There is a spirit of love, of Aloha, in the Hawaiian people that just makes them beautiful.  I was in love with Hawai’i from my first moment there. 

Now, the Big Island Youth Camp (http://2008.bigislandyouthcamp.org/).  Oh wow, can I just say that God is AWESOME! He did so many amazing things through this camp.  We had 122 campers, about 20 leaders, 10 in my team, and many other amazing adult leaders and helpers, whom we could not have run the camp without.  My team was in charge of food and recreation, so the only time we interacted with the kids was during meals, games, and the worship services.  But during these times, I saw kids who so desperatly need love and so desperatly need Christ.  The spiritual state of this island is in such a dire need of revival, and this is the generation is the one that can do it, as long as they have the right direction!  There hasn’t been a youth camp of any kind in many many years on the island, so these kids had never seen anything quite like this before, but by the end of the week, I knew that they had been filled with the fire and passion of the Holy Spirit, and I can only pray that they don’t let that fire die within them.  The speaker this week, Brent Gambrell, was so upfront and honest with these kids, and I believe that God spoke through him and changed lives of not only the kids but the leaders as well.  I pray that they will let their lives remained changed, that they’ll be able to worship without inhibitions in everything they do, that they will remember that God has called each of them to a purpose and that they won’t stray from that, and most importantly, I pray that they’ll remember that this life is not about them but about God and they are to serve Him!  I pray that next year, this camp will be able to happen again, and that they kids will be able to return, bringing their friends, that the camp will double – if not more! These kids can do some much for this island if given the chance and willingness to listen to the call of the Lord.  I love those kids and miss them everyday, and I pray that I’ll be able to find the means to see them again one day soon. 

After the camp, I went to O’ahu with my family and stayed another week.  This island too touched me.  It was beautiful! I loved the ocean (which was surprisingly very cold), the trees, the weather, the people (once again, they were fantastic!), and most of all…the pineapples.   A friend of mine remarked after seeing some of the floral pictures I took, “What were you trying to get artsy with these?”  I replied, “No, the flowers were God’s art, I just recorded it.” And that is so true. I have never seen more beautiful floral in my life.  I could so honestly see myself living in Hawai’i one day and I pray I’ll be able to return soon.  All I can keep thinking is, “Mahalo, Lord for creating Hawai’i!” and now I know what Heaven is going to look like – crystal sea…um dude, John was so seeing a Hawaiian beach.

Aloha!

 

Stay Tuned

I need time to mull over my recent mission trip/vacation to Hawai’i, but I want to post about it, so keep a look out over the next couple days for a new post.  In the mean time, watch this video which is a brief montage of part of the trip.  A special thanks to Tim for putting this together.

Aloha & Mahalo