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Home Away From Home….

Blessed to be servicing Kamehameha Schools-Hawai’i this school year. I fly out early every Thursday morning, stay overnight, and fly back early Friday evening. Hawai’i Campus has been a 2nd home.

And the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel has been my “home away from home.”

The rooms are pretty nice. Not quite up to 909 standards, but nice.

I keep my carry-on prepacked. I use a Nike Skateboard backpack. It holds my laptop and one set of clothes.

Auntie at Budget usually hooks me up with a ‘Stang. Sweet….

I’ve been sampling many different eateries in Hilo. Lots of good places. My fave has been the Hilo Bay Café. (My per diem can’t cover Takenoko.)

Great food, great ambiance, and great location!

Oh, and ridiculous desserts. Noms….

This is the Liliʻuokalani Gardens. The views here are spectacular.

So blessed to have this opportunity. Mahalo e Ke Ali’i Pauahi….

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My Testimony

“My grandfather was a Buddhist priest. A hundred years ago, he came from Okinawa to Hawai’i to open a Buddhist temple. A hundred years later, his grandson (me) traveled from Hawai’i to Okinawa to help plant a Hope Chapel church.

My father fought in WWII. He was part of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry. Growing up, he was an alcoholic. We never got along. I used to ask God, “Why did You pick him to be my father?” It wasn’t until later in life that I realized that “Maybe God picked me to be his son.”

I went to McKinley High School. There was an amazing student who impacted my life. Her name was Vicki. She lit up the room. She could make friends with the “mokes under the tree” or with the “immigrants on the Math Team.” I couldn’t believe that she was sick. I heard the gospel for the first time at her funeral. The person who impacted my life the most was not a pastor, but a teenager (or a young person much like yourself.)

I used to think, “I wish I could be a Christian. Too bad I’m a Buddhist.” A year later, I was listening to a transistor radio (the thingy with a dial, an antenna, and a square battery.) It was Greg Laurie. He said, “You need to believe in Jesus. It doesn’t matter what religion you are.” I received Christ over the radio.

My mom received the Lord in the hospital. Her last request was for me to leave home and to live my own life. I decided to stay and take care of my dad. He slowly became one of the sweetest persons that I’ve ever known, and we truly became the very best of friends. After years of prayer, he received the Lord in the hospital.

My sister is the most important person in my life. She’s the only family that I have. She faithfully serves the Lord. Her son leads worship at Inspire Church. (You probably know Grayson.)

 I am blessed.

My grandfather was a Buddhist priest. He made his home in Chinatown and raised a family. A hundred years later, his grandson has made his home in Chinatown at Inspire City Church. And he has found a family.”

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Got Aloha….

….shirts?

Here in Hawai’i, we wear aloha shirts. They’re not only for casual wear, but for business attire as well. And we have our own spin on the “Casual Fridays” theme. We call it Aloha Friday. Because I work at the Kamehameha Schools, it’s also an important part of our workplace culture.

I like to wear Sig Zane shirts. Really cool! They’re based out of Hilo on the Big Island. Fortunately, I bought my collection about 10 years ago when I first started at KS. At the time, they were still under the radar and inexpensive. Now, the Sig Zane brand has blown up.

Got aloha? Glad I got mine….

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Revive

Revive is our Chinatown outreach ministry at Inspire Church (city location.) We launched back in February on Chinese New Year’s Day.

“Revive is a community outreach ministry of Inspire City. Revive exists to rejuvenate Chinatown Honolulu one-block-at-a-time and one-heart-at-a-time through the authority of Jesus Christ. Join us as we partner with the community to inspire a city.”

Every Sunday at 4pm, we bring food & drinks to our friends who live at the Smith-Beretania Park next door. In the beginning, Shane would bring pizzas or cheeseburgers. He truly inspired me to do the same.

On rainy days, we cross the street to the sheltered areas. I have been inspired by the good hearts of our team members. I’ll share two accounts here.

Josh is awesome. He’ll usually sit down on one of the park benches and develop a one-to-one relationship with someone in the park. He befriended a young guy in the park and asked around for an extra pair of shoes. When nothing panned out, he went out and purchased a new pair of shoes for him.

Christian & Brittany live in the Chinatown area. They offered the use of their washer and dryer to a homeless individual. So cool.

I feel that we have all grown through this experience. God has been stirring something in all of us. Here are two stories….

Glow is a ministry for the young women in our church. They decided to sort of “adopt” us and do outreach. This was my prayer. I asked God, on top of transforming Chinatown (if that weren’t enough,) to give us a small miracle to encourage the servants from Glow (so that they would come back again.) I know, this was a selfish prayer. Anyway, they brought 12 servants and 160 hot dogs. We had more than enough food for the park, so we ventured onto River Street. We met up with these three local guys living on a street corner. They were very appreciative and friendly. After praying for them, they each wanted to say a prayer over us. So cool! They didn’t speak “Christian-ese,” but it was sincere and heartfelt. I said, “Thank you Lord.”

But that wasn’t it. At the 5:30pm service, one of the guys (Vern) walks into the sanctuary. We were surprised! I called out to Isabelle, “Look. The guy you invited to church is here!” She was happy and went up to greet him. I said, “Thank you Lord.”

But that wasn’t it. At the end of service, Pastor Frank said, “With eyes wide open, if you would like to receive Christ, raise your hand.” To our amazement, Vern walked up with tears in his eyes, and bowed down at the stage. We were blown away. Instead of saying “Thank you Lord,” I said, “Wow God. I guess everybody in Glow is gonna come back now….”

Vince is an amazing person. He lives on Beretania Street in the doorway of the Hanabusa Headquarters. We became friends with him because of his kind and gentle spirit. One Sunday, we went to visit him. We asked him what we could pray for. He said that it had rained hard last night (Saturday.) Someone wanted his sheltered space and beat him with a stick. His chest was sore. We were broken hearted. We invited him to church. To our delight, he came with his rolling suitcase. After service, we rushed over to say hello. To our surprise, he was standing in line to receive his new believer’s Bible. Omigosh. And he hasn’t missed a service ever since.

Later that evening, I tried to process what had happened. On Saturday night, he was beaten with a stick in the rain. On Sunday night, he received Jesus and the promise of Heaven.

Takeaways: I’ve learned so much. I now understand that this is not just “outreach.” This is CHURCH.
I always thought that this was way “beyond my comfort zone.” Not sure what I was afraid of. Someone is hungry. You want to give him a cheeseburger. Your chances of success hovers around 100%. Someone has no hope. You have the hope of Christ. I always thought ministry was about your “gifting & passion.” Now I know that you only need a heart.

“Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.” Jeremiah 33:6

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Too Cool….

Two cool new places recently opened nearby. Lucy’s Lab is one block down from 909 on Kamake’e Street.

This shop has really cool flavors! I’ve tried the Sea Salt Caramel one. So ono! This is the Bacon & Whiskey flavor that I had at tonight’s grand opening. It was amazing as well. Only problem is  that it’s a little too convenient for me. Hehe.

Here’s part of the line that went outside the door at tonight’s grand opening. Mean….

The other new place is Mr. Tea Café. Talk about convenient, this café is in my building! Extremely happy! It’s also one of the better bubble tea shops around. I really like the milk teas here. The owner painstakingly prepares the boba in small batches, so it’s always fresh.

They have macarons! They get them from La Tour Café.

Very happy and content. Two cool places. Too cool….