About 20 Adventist young adults from Waianae on Oahu visited the Hilo Adventist church on the Big Island for a weekend ministry/mission trip from April 28 to May 2. For some of these young adults, it was the first ministry/mission trip that they’ve ever taken to help a sister church. During this trip, the group helped in repairing the playground fence of the Mauna Loa School at Hilo church. The young adults had a great time bonding while digging up and destroying the old cement, mixing new cement, and pouring it in the ground to hold the poles of the fence.
Pastor Andre Weston, the pastor of Hilo church, arranged all the lodging and meals for the guests at the school gymnasium. He also gave them the opportunity to lead out in the weekend worship services. So, from Friday night vespers to Sabbath morning worship services, the Waianae young adults led out and fellowshipped with the Hilo members. Pastor Puia Fanai of Waianae church preached on Sabbath morning and thanked the Hilo church members for their hospitality. He commented on how wonderful it is to be a part of the worldwide family of Seventh-day Adventists, where you can feel right at home even if you didn’t know anyone there ahead of time.
“We came to Hilo to serve and bless the church family, but we were actually the ones that received blessings in return” said Ivori Toluta’u, a young adult from Waianae church. The Hilo church young adults hosted their guests on Sunday afternoon with a wonderful meal and fun time at the beach. In seeing how effective a mission trip is for building relationships among the young adults, Pastor Puia has plans to organize at least one inter-island mission trip per year within the Hawaii Conference.
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By Erik VanDenburgh
