Out of Decay

Wednesday when I was gathering food supplies, Carla Miller, the pastor’s wife took me to the neighborhood egg farm.  The entrance sign says that the farm started early in the last century.  As we drove through the farm, decay was everywhere.  Collapsed buildings, trash piles, and fallen trees littered the landscape.  Swarms of flies and the smell of excrement filled the air.  The hand-written sign on the side of the safest looking building said, “Farm Fresh Eggs for Sale.”  The question in my mind was, how can there be anything fresh surrounded by this rubble?  as we stepped through the doorway beside the sign a small woman smiled and ask how she could help us.  I found myself unprepared buy.  But, true to Carla’s word, I was invested in the adventure and had not considered how many eggs I needed.  Other customers were waiting.  Finally, I ran four breakfasts times 12 people and guessed five dozen eggs.  Then the clerk made me make another decision.  Did I want flats or cartons?  Carla came to my rescue.  We took flats.  I wanted to look around and enjoy the adventure.  I have to go back again because I did not I did not buy enough eggs.  I am delighted.

That day Carla and I drove through the farm twice once to buy and once for the escapade.

A three foot high toilet?  That is what the sign says.

 

More of the Wahiawa Church of the Nazarene Story

Wednesday night when The Crossing Church team arrived, the Wahiawa Church of the Nazarene had a welcoming potluck.  We provided barbecued chicken and watermelon, and they carried in the rest of the food.  Everything was delicious and colorful.  They had a worship service after the potluck, so it was around 2:00 AM Denver time before we went to bed. Thursday morning, breakfast was ready at 6:30 AM Hawaii time.  We had a short night.

Wednesday evening meal

Working with the children

Women’s sleeping accommodations

God gave a rainbow at the end of the first day.

Breakfast on the patio

Hole in the Roof

Our faith in God blesses others.  God chose to use The Crossing Church to move on the belief that He had a plan for us to minister by putting a hole in the roof.  We do not have a physically paralyzed man to lower through the roof, but we are all spiritually born unable to take action on our own.  Only through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, can we spiritually get up and walk.

 

Mark 2:4-5   Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

 

Our true mission is to minister to the spiritual needs of people born in sin (all people).

 

Restored and Renewed

Tuesday we met with Pastor John, Carla, and their three precious children.  After he gave us a tour of their home and the church, Pastor John suggested we take a trip to Costco so I would know what foods were available.  To be prepared for the teams’ arrival, we made the decision to buy part of the needed food supplies immediately.  Initially, we started through the store with one cart.  We quickly filled it and another.  As we walked through the store people, stared curiously at our loaded carts.

Pastor John told one woman, “This is how we feed a work and witness team.”

Cooking 10 meals for 20 people require an enormous amount of food.  This trip to Costco we bought $710.00 worth of food and supplies.

When we returned from the store Eddie, one of the church members shared his testimony with us.

He confided that God, “Restored and renewed his broken life.”  He is a remarkable example of God’s work.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

 

 

How Long, Oh LORD?

 

I always thought of Hawaii as a green lush garden somewhat like the Garden of Eden.  But, when we arrived and drove about the Island the mountainsides appeared as dry parched rocks jutting into the sky and the roadside grasses as browned patches among the bare dry ground.  We saw workers harvesting watercress, as they would have done in Bible times.  People with set jaws of despair, rushing traffic, filthy boarded up apartment building with stooped men and women wandering in the streets. Later we drove through a security gate to a resort.  Instantly everything changed.  Green grass, pretty people, beautiful beaches, and luxury abounded.  Man endeavors to camouflage our fallen world but God sees us as we are.

In Revelation 6 when the seals are opened, conquest, anger, poverty, death, martyrdom, and disaster are released upon the earth.  Hawaii like the rest of the earth needs our Savior.  We are here to tell these hurting people of the LAMB of God.

Revelation 7:15-17…He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence.   ‘Never again will they hunger;-never again will they thirst.  The sun will not beat down on them nor any scorching heat.   For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

 

 

Aloha!

Thanks, as always, for following the team and lifting us up in prayer. Please know how extremely important it is that you are there with us in this way. We could not do what we do without your prayer support! Two of our team members left yesterday to make sure all the prep work is going according to plan. The rest of the team departs tomorrow morning (Wed, July 17).

The roofing materials have been delivered and our rooms have been prepped. We have such a short time there, we need to hit the ground running on Thursday morning. Every Wednesday evening the church has a potluck and worship. The plan is to get unpacked and set up in our lovingly-prepared accommodations (see picture below), then join in this time of fellowship and worship with the people of Wahiawa Community Church.

During this Work & Witness trip we will be replacing a metal roof on the church, conducting a Vacation Bible School and serving lunch in the nearby park, reaching out to those in need in a community where homelessness and poverty are prevalent.

One of our team members, Bonnie Young, will actually be the person posting to this site for the duration of this trip blog. I deeply appreciate her willingness to be our "journalist," which allows my time and attention to be focused elsewhere.

I know God has great plans for this team and our time together serving on the Wahiawa mission field!
 Pastor Janette
 

Picture of our accommodations, posted by Pastor John Miller on his Facebook page.

Heading Home

The team is at the Phoenix airport and on our way home. Please pray for Elijah, the youngest member of our team who became ill in the van on our way to Phoenix, and for Sal who came down with a bad cold, sinus, sore throat thing - likely due to all the dust and dirt of our worksite. All things considered, our team health is much better than this time last year, so your prayers have been effective. Now let's pray for a full and speedy recovery for Elijah and Sal! As always, our team was hand-picked by God and I saw some truly amazing servants hearts among our members. Thank you, Mexico Work & Witness Team and thank you, dear friends, for covering us in prayer. See you this weekend as we celebrate together our Risen Lord and Savior!