I returned to the office yesterday morning after a wonderful trip to California and New York City. My trip began with meeting my son Palani in the Bay Area and helping him organize his belongings, getting it all packed up for his move to New York, and dropping off quite a bit of clothing and other items at a thrift store. We also spent time with all of my siblings and their spouses, including a “bon voyage” party for Palani. While there, I learned that my brother-in-law Adrian was in need of heart surgery, which happened yesterday and so far everything looks good; I appreciate your prayers.

Palani and I then flew to NYC where we saw many of the sites, including Times Square, the World Trade Center Memorial, Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Grant’s Tomb and the historic Riverside Church. We also connected with friends, did some furniture shopping, got Palani moved into his apartment across the street from Columbia University and took a tour of the campus where he’ll be spending the next five years working on his Ph.D. in ecology. We also got to see some pretty amazing shows on Broadway, which I will be sharing about in my sermons in the upcoming weeks.

For the next four weeks, I will be focusing on the theme “Changing Lives, Transforming the World” in our worship services. Making changes in our lives is sometimes a difficult thing; transforming the world seems virtually impossible. However, the Scriptures tell stories and give guidance about change and transformation, and they compel us to believe that they are possible. As you come to church over the next month, I invite you to bring two particular questions with you:

We will likely come up with more than one answer. However, the answers we have will help form who we are as a congregation and guide us in our decisions for mission and ministry in the future. May we be open to the God of peace and compassion as we search for answers together.

Before I close, I have a special prayer request for the family of Mylo Korn. Mylo is the 4-year-old boy who was run over by a truck on Sunday and died in the hospital in Honolulu yesterday. His mother Miana works with me on the Kaua`i Association Youth and Young Adult Committee and is a member of the Kaua`i Marshallese Church in Hanapepe. I ask that you keep Miana, her family and church in your prayers during this devastating time of loss. May we also remember to pray for all of those on our prayer list, as well as the people affected by hurricanes, flooding and other natural disasters.

Aloha nui!

Kahu Alan Akana

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Due to technical difficulties, videos of Kahu’s Sunday’s sermon have not been uploaded onto YouTube during the past two months. The situation should be resolved very soon. In the meantime, past sermons can be viewed and shared. You can also subscribe to Kahu’s sermon page on YouTube; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.