A Look Back

Get to hear some of the member's thoughts and plans.

Video

United we Begin

On our penultimate evening in New Orleans an enormous rainbow was displayed in the sky.  

After two weeks of rain in Kentucky, Louisiana, and even at the Ark Encounter the rainbow served as a reminder to me of God's sovereignty and love.  

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;" Psalm 24:1

  God is good and the promises He makes He keeps. One that we can all attest to is that of - Koinonia.  Earlier this year, a sub-group of our KYNOLA Team dove deep into St. Paul's epistles and we began to grasp the theme of koinonia in a new light.

Beyond relationship and even beyond fellowship we see that koinonia is a byproduct of the body of Christ at work.  A bond.  A glue.  A gift.  It is exclusively inclusive in a way that through the Holy Spirit's indwelling, God is readying His Son's Bride - the church - creating a new way to live together, unified, one, while still here on earth.  We don't strive for koinonia instead we seek and serve God with sincerity together and He grants us the grace to work and love together.  That's what I've come to understand about it.  

Over the years we've tied our mission trips to books or passages of the Bible to steer us and help us to keep a Biblical perspective.  This year, as many of you know, we chose the entire chapter of Romans 12 to study and memorize.  It gave us reminders to be living sacrifices, to by renewed by the word of God, to view each other as vital members of the Christ's body and how we should conduct ourselves as such.  Many a time while serving or being served I rejoiced over God's truth made tangible through His universal church.

As mentioned before we have connected with fellow believers from Brazil, Chile, Jordan, Pennsylvania, and other states.  We got to experience koinonia from day 1, right after stepping off the plane they put us to work, together. Though very few words were said (or understood) there was a joy and purpose even amidst our exhaustion.  Rod, Kealoha, and Justin were thrust into situations at the conference to serve in Love Moves side by side with Brazilians who only knew a broken English.  At the work site we were given tasks with interns or each other and had to figure things out together.  

A highlight for me, out of many, were lunch breaks during our second week.  We grabbed our sack lunches, sat in a circle and shared our stories.  3 or 4 people from any group would share their lives and experiences.  We celebrated God's guidance and provision as the family of God.  Pastor Darrel shared about the church building (where we worked) and it's transformation after the hurricane.  All three of the Ryans shared.  We heard about reconciliation, salvation, transformation, hope, and the Father's love. Then after the stories each person was asked to share a nugget of wisdom that they wanted to pass on.  Some that I remember were:

"Listen to your Mom - the first time."

"Don't wait till you're older to commit your time to Christ."

"Don't mix syrup and ketchup."

After saying by to Anna and Tyler, we departed from New Orleans Saturday afternoon and arrived back in Honolulu Sunday morning after an 11 hour overnight layover at LAX (where Sean stayed back to attend a work thing).  As a veteran of several trips I can surely say that this return was different.  Often times I am saddened that a trip is over and the good times are over - but not this year.  We parted at the airport and said our goodbyes but it isn't over.  As Gary said during our debrief at 5 in the morning @ LAX.  "This is just the beginning..."

Just Pictures for now...

Surfing in NOLA

This is Hannah.  I asked if anyone else wanted to share however they all declined.  Instead I shall tell you what everyone else is up to.  

Nathan, Ryan, Andy, Minami, Shad, Abby and Rod (also folding his laundry) are playing their 3-day continuous game of Monopoly. 

Sean is working on our finances.

Gary (who is also helping Sean at times) and Thea are writing notes to team members in their encouragement books.

James is sitting near by zoning out/observing others. (Oh wait Ryan Kling just came in and James gave him a running hug). Ryan Kling was our 20 year old boss this week at the work site. I think it's safe to say that our group is fond of him.

Kekoa and Justin are on their phones. 

I am told that Kealoha is awake but out of sight for the moment. 

Anna and Tyler are keeping the laundry going and probably cleaning something outside.

Is that everyone... 1, 2, 3,  ... 16 plus me yup!  

Today was Friday.  Our last full day in the NOLA part of our adventure. We woke up for breakfast around 6:30 and ate with the ReachGlobal interns. Had our daily devotions and had our end of the week debrief.  Then we packed up the cars and set out for the hour long ride toward the lower ninth ward. Well, most of us did. Except Anna, Thea and myself we stayed back to prepare food for the Luau at VBS. 

Speaking of VBS, wow, just wow!  Pastor Darryl went all out.  He went and got palm branches, banana leaves, tiki torches, pineapple decor, and a 30lb pig which he began seasoning yesterday.  He even constructed his own smoking station. Decoration, food, music, and PEOPLE.  The ReachGlobal team joined us for the VBS and even though it was a long day and a long week we gave it our all with the Holy Spirit strengthening us.  Kealoha was our energetic MC. We had music with Justin and Abby and then Bible which I think Sean gave a marvelous message and even washed a kid's feet as he shared a story about Jesus' last supper. We had over forty people come and kick off the first event with this building for this church - the LUAU. Pastor Darryl said we "set the bar real high" for other teams that may follow us.  But we all owe a huge thanks and hug to him for keeping our spirits up, constantly encouraging us and coming along side to build all week long.  Our girls did a hula dance, we had a limbo tournament (championed by yours truly) great food and we danced, danced, danced.  We drove back on the causeway in darkness the whole way. 

We kicked off this week with the challenge to release all our expectations and I'm eternally grateful that we did.  This was the most causal and spontaneous VBS ever. With kids aging from 4 to 18 and their parents and grandparent participated.   We were sweaty and tired and grew more sore as the days went on but our bond with each other has grown more.   Many of us have stains, bruises, cuts, rashes, and strange substances stuck to our skin but each coming with stories and smiles.   And..... and..... and there's is much more to share but for now I just want to say, 

God's story is grand.

Bro...God is Great

Here I (James) am! The kid on my lap asked a lot of questions...but it's all good. Anyway, we all worked hard today; I am EXHAUSTED. The thing that made the work and the heat bearable was being with my friends, the ones I've known and the ones I've made on this trip. Shout out to the whole Reach Global team! We all had fun working together and fixing up Pastor Darryl's church. I don't think any of us would have been able to do anything without each other. God has definitely shown me what it's like to work for something that doesn't fulfill my selfish desires; I'm not getting paid or anything. My reward is seeing the smiles of the children at VBS, being around Pastor Darryl's positive energy, and most of all, allowing God to show the people of NOLA that there is still hope. I want to thank my beautiful mother and my amazing father for sending me on this unforgettable trip. I initially had doubts, but all of those disappeared once I got to the Challenge youth conference and even more so now that I know I will never regret serving in NOLA. We've done so much and experienced a lot with each other over these two weeks. These have definitely been some pretty epic times. I got to learn a little bit working at the church, including painting and cutting tile. No one is more lucky than I was to work with a team that never complained and always worked together. 

Aloha! 

This is Kealoha here, and today was yet another jam-packed day. Our morning started at 6:30am with breakfast and devotions, the latter of which was spearheaded by MCC's very own, Kekoa Keopuhiwa! After that we dispersed back to the warehouse to complete the chores that we had each been assigned. These chores include cleaning the bathrooms, hallways, sleeping areas, and hangout areas that we all use. We then prepped for our work day and ended up arriving at the job site at 9:30am. This is when our day really gets started. The jobs we participate in include sanding, mudding, drywalling, painting, and even tool organizing. The construction day ends after about 7 hours of grueling, arduous, and meticulous, yet satisfying work. By this point we are exhausted but we still have a VBS to do! As the MC I have to be super enthusiastic and energetic, which is often times kind of difficult after working the long day but it helps seeing the whole team pull through with me. I absolutely love working with the kids! They are an absolute blast to hang out with after they warm up to you. Working in New Orleans has opened up tons of opportunities for our team to cultivate relationships and grow ourselves. We really get that radical koinonia going, ya know? While the day may be exhausting, it is gratifying knowing that we are doing it for the glory of God; we're not working for ourselves. It has truly been a pleasure, thus far, to grow as a team with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I plan on approaching the rest of the week with enough enthusiasm and energy to bring me home!  

New Orleans Day Three

Hi guys this is Shad with tonight's blog. It's day three of our New Orleans VBS and I am really enjoying this trip. The conference was very powerful for me and life changing in an awesome way. I'm really experiencing what true unity feels like working with my incredibly great teammates. We have met people from three different countries (Brazil, Canada, and Chile) and have had the chance to get to know them. Today alone we painted a quarter of the church, drywalled another huge section and finished off another chunk of the church. Even though the heat is horrible, we have all been growing closer together as a team and I'm really enjoying this missions trip.

hey guys, kekoa here on todays blog on Wednesday July 13, 2016. i think its time for me to confess something. last week i had a problem with me about a certain someone and it totally lead in depression, i just wanted to be by myself and i didn't wanna talk to anyone. one day, Sean noticed that i was being depressed about that one person, so he told me to look up psalms 42 and 43, after i read it, i was confused, then he told me to read it again, then soon i realized what he was telling me, and it helped me open my eyes. i started to learn to atleast to forget about it and still worship god. and ever since then i tried to be more happy around people. i hope the rest of this trip, will be an awesome time. and with the amount of time i have left, i will never forget these guys. love you guys, ill miss you guys.

Not a Day in Paradise

Hey guys, it's Ryan Foreman and I just wanna tell you all a little bit about my day in New Orleans. This morning I was right about the last person to wake up for breakfast, (again), but it's all cool since I still got food. Man, did I ever tell you how much I value an awesome meal?! I mean food is so interesting, so yum - yums, so disgusting, so tantalizing, so everything crazily imaginable. Anyway, I still got my food which gave me a healthy boost to rock my day right. After eating, I assisted in some brief unloading of cargo stuff. I dunno what it was exactly. The next highlight of the day for me personally had to be working at the church again. I felt pumped just being with my awesome wicked-crazy dragon sauce KYNOLA family along with the other people from the surrounding community. I experienced my first prayer walk later in the afternoon which turned out to be so much better than I expected. Besides finding the power of prayer today, I managed to find other things as well; I found an "un-alived" rat and twenty smackers. Pretty great, yea? Yea. It is.

Being on this mission trip has totally revealed to me how blessed I am and honestly to the unfortunate realization that I complain too much. I mean, seriously, just walking around among all of the washed up debris from Katrina and witnessing the devastation of this force of nature. However, instead of just  standing idle in a state of shock, I am doing something about this challenging situation by proactively assisting the broken area one house at a time, one job at a time, one person at a time. I am a servant for others, a city on a hill, and an ambassador for Christ. Please pray that this Light within us, this Power stirring our strength, the Force behind our Fight will never be diminished, not even for a second. Pray that we will dauntlessly charge ahead and meet whatever is on the horizon with the love and compassion of the Lord. Our time is short, we are only passing through, mere vapors in the wind. With love, hope, and a blaze burning for God, let us strive forward because our lives are not our own.
Sincerely,
Ryan Foreman.

So the Adventure Begins...

Hi this is Andy and Minami, today was the first real day of work in New Orleans; we accomplished a great deal of work which included, unloading a giant Penske truck, painting, drywalling, and doing our first VBS on this trip. We have begun creating and forming relationships with those in the community and some of the ways we have done this is by going on Prayer Walks around the area and simply starting conversations with those who are willing.  Some things that have surprised us and are some challenges that we have faced is the extreme hotness and humidity that has caused us all to have to be constantly drinking water and remaining hydrated, a big obstacle the girls especially had to overcome was the bathroom issue, there were not working toilets for the majority of the day at the job site, so they had to persevere and hold their urine until they could all go as a group and drive down to the community center and relieve themselves.  Overall though, we have been thoroughly enjoying the experience so far and we look forward to what God has in store for us in the upcoming days.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support throughout the entire process.
Love,
Andy and Minami and the rest of the Team