Worth It
This week Pastor Ray and I flew over to the island of Oahu with 10 of our teenagers (yes...10!!!) to worship with our district and several other churches at teen camp. It's certainly a different dynamic packing for camp when you have to keep TSA, carry-on luggage, and supplies for tent camping all in mind. Still, everyone made it through security just fine and we managed to board our flight from Hilo to Honolulu.
Inter-island flights are quick, basically consisting of: taking off, getting to cruising altitude, the flight attendants throwing out water and juice to everyone, and then descending. Though these flights are quick, they add anywhere from $175-200 per person onto our cost each year to go to camp. We keep hoping Southwest Airlines will start flying out of Hilo so our cost will go down like Kona Nazarene Church's cost did this year. Thankfully, 4 of our students have a parent that works for Hawaiian Airlines so they were able to fly standby for free saving us from raising an additional $800 for camp!
While we waited at the curb at Honolulu Airport for our district family to come and pick us all up, we met up with the group coming over from Maui. This year our outer-island (all islands but Oahu) crew was practically the same size as the Oahu group. We are praising God for this! The Kona group was somewhere at the other terminal after flying in on Southwest. The Kauai group had flown in the day before with the camp director, their youth pastor. Eventually, the cars arrived and we loaded up for about a 45-minute drive to Our Lady of Kea'au campground that we rent out on the Waianae side of Oahu.
The entire camp theme this year was Worth It: Why is following Jesus worth it - based around Philippians 3:7-9 - check out these verses:
Camp each year is an incredible time to step away from the normal rhythms of life - yes, even in Hawai'i you need to do that - to spend time with the Lord and His people. We worshipped through music, sermons, eating together, playing games together, and little sleep much like any other camp around the world. It was all for one purpose: to know Jesus Christ as our Lord, allowing Him to grow our faith in Him.
As the cockroaches and centipedes dance across your sleeping bag at night or as the hot Waianae sun beats down on you, you easily wonder: is spending a week out here worth it? Each year, Jesus reminds me how this time is always worth it. Our teenagers walk away each year desiring more and more of Jesus. So...it's worth it.
It's worth it to wade through the ups and down of teenage hormones and emotions running high as they run on little sleep.
It's worth it to stick out as the white kids and pastors because God has brought so many different beautiful people to these islands and is calling ALL people to Himself. Our church is a mixture of mainland families that have transplanted to Hawaii alongside of many local families of different ethnicities. The history of how different people groups ended up in Hawai'i isn't pretty, yet God is uniting us as the people of God despite our differences. The church is becoming a witness to a better way in the midst of Hawai'i's racial tensions. Our group just applied a bit more sunscreen than others...
It's worth it to roll with Hawai'i time schedule of camp. Everything will get done, though it may not be what the clock time was planned to be. Time is spent lingering in the activity at hand, and when it's done we move on. This one is sometimes hard for me and our kids that moved from the mainland...but it's still worth it! It teaches you to appreciate the present moment and not to think ahead in the day too much.
It's worth it to worship in the breeze blowing through the lanai gazing out upon the ocean and the mountains. You are reminded of the grandness of our God simply by where camp is located.
It's worth it to spend time fundraising throughout the year praying and depending on the Lord to make a way for our teens to get to camp. We'd all like to forget attempting to sell fresh Krispy Kreme donuts flown over from Maui on a random monsoon-day of rain. Yet God provided for us! We are so thankful!
It's worth it to fly over oceans to have united time together as Nazarenes throughout the Hawaiian Islands and to begin joining together with the other churches. God is moving not just in the Church of the Nazarene in Hawai'i but in MANY churches.
It's worth it to come home sweaty, tired, and also jump right into youth group the next day because your teens are craving more of Jesus and more time together.
Jesus is worth it all. He's worth giving everything, everyday. May you never forget this wherever you may find yourself reading this today.
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| Our teens from Connection Point ready to fly to Oahu |
Inter-island flights are quick, basically consisting of: taking off, getting to cruising altitude, the flight attendants throwing out water and juice to everyone, and then descending. Though these flights are quick, they add anywhere from $175-200 per person onto our cost each year to go to camp. We keep hoping Southwest Airlines will start flying out of Hilo so our cost will go down like Kona Nazarene Church's cost did this year. Thankfully, 4 of our students have a parent that works for Hawaiian Airlines so they were able to fly standby for free saving us from raising an additional $800 for camp!
While we waited at the curb at Honolulu Airport for our district family to come and pick us all up, we met up with the group coming over from Maui. This year our outer-island (all islands but Oahu) crew was practically the same size as the Oahu group. We are praising God for this! The Kona group was somewhere at the other terminal after flying in on Southwest. The Kauai group had flown in the day before with the camp director, their youth pastor. Eventually, the cars arrived and we loaded up for about a 45-minute drive to Our Lady of Kea'au campground that we rent out on the Waianae side of Oahu.
The entire camp theme this year was Worth It: Why is following Jesus worth it - based around Philippians 3:7-9 - check out these verses:
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
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| The entire camp group representing Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island |
As the cockroaches and centipedes dance across your sleeping bag at night or as the hot Waianae sun beats down on you, you easily wonder: is spending a week out here worth it? Each year, Jesus reminds me how this time is always worth it. Our teenagers walk away each year desiring more and more of Jesus. So...it's worth it.
It's worth it to wade through the ups and down of teenage hormones and emotions running high as they run on little sleep.
It's worth it to stick out as the white kids and pastors because God has brought so many different beautiful people to these islands and is calling ALL people to Himself. Our church is a mixture of mainland families that have transplanted to Hawaii alongside of many local families of different ethnicities. The history of how different people groups ended up in Hawai'i isn't pretty, yet God is uniting us as the people of God despite our differences. The church is becoming a witness to a better way in the midst of Hawai'i's racial tensions. Our group just applied a bit more sunscreen than others...
It's worth it to roll with Hawai'i time schedule of camp. Everything will get done, though it may not be what the clock time was planned to be. Time is spent lingering in the activity at hand, and when it's done we move on. This one is sometimes hard for me and our kids that moved from the mainland...but it's still worth it! It teaches you to appreciate the present moment and not to think ahead in the day too much.
It's worth it to worship in the breeze blowing through the lanai gazing out upon the ocean and the mountains. You are reminded of the grandness of our God simply by where camp is located.
It's worth it to spend time fundraising throughout the year praying and depending on the Lord to make a way for our teens to get to camp. We'd all like to forget attempting to sell fresh Krispy Kreme donuts flown over from Maui on a random monsoon-day of rain. Yet God provided for us! We are so thankful!
It's worth it to fly over oceans to have united time together as Nazarenes throughout the Hawaiian Islands and to begin joining together with the other churches. God is moving not just in the Church of the Nazarene in Hawai'i but in MANY churches.
It's worth it to come home sweaty, tired, and also jump right into youth group the next day because your teens are craving more of Jesus and more time together.
Jesus is worth it all. He's worth giving everything, everyday. May you never forget this wherever you may find yourself reading this today.
- Pastor Malorri
If you are ever interested in donating towards camp or in supporting the regular ministries such as youth ministry of Connection Point Church of the Nazarene - visit us online at http://cpnaz.net/online-giving. You can give general tithes and offerings or designate your gift to a specific area of ministry. Mahalo for your support and prayers!
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