by admin | Jul 24, 2019 | Message from Kahu
Blessed by Strangers
On Sunday, I talked about James and Melicent Smith, who arrived in Koloa in 1842. They had sailed from Boston to Honolulu. The journey took 142 days. For over 4 1/2 months, they lived on a small boat and slept in a tiny cabin. They had married in April of that year. After a couple of weeks in Honolulu, they boarded another boat and sailed for Koloa, where they would spend the rest of their lives. James was to be the only Western-trained medical doctor on Kauai and Niihau. He also had church duties and 12 years after his arrival was the first minister to be ordained on Kauai; his church assignment consisted of 3 regions: Koloa (the largest), Lihue and Wailua. Besides visiting these 3 places on horseback for years—almost weekly—he also frequently visited Waimea and Hanalei. Melicent taught school and took care of their 9 children—7 of whom lived to be adults. Fortunately, they were welcomed with open arms. This doesn’t mean that the relationship between their family and the Hawaiian people was always easy and without friction. Far from it! However, when the Hawaiians first showed their usual hospitality to the Smiths, little did the locals know how much they would be blessed by these strangers from a faraway place. When the infamous smallpox epidemic of 1853 spread like wildfire throughout the entire island chain, thousands of people died on the other islands. Thanks to Dr. Smith’s commitment to vaccinate everyone on Kauai and Niihau and quarantine the early victims of smallpox, there was only one death here. He made it his personal mission to keep as many Hawaiians alive here as possible—and to keep them healthy as well. There were also thousands of Hawaiians who became Christians and church members during his life of service here.
In our Old Testament reading (Genesis 18), we came across another couple who journeyed many, many miles in order to arrive at their new home. Abraham and Sarah went on at least four long journeys during their marriage. They knew what it was like to travel for days on end. They knew what it was like to be immigrants in need of a new home. They knew what it was like to be tired, hungry, thirsty and sore. Because they had personally experienced these things, they welcomed other travelers with open arms. When three strangers arrived at Abraham and Sarah’s tent at the oaks of Mamre one day, Abraham and Sarah went overboard in showing them hospitality and kindness. They knew that God had blessed them in order that they might be a blessing to others. And in return for the blessing of hospitality, the three visitors blessed Abraham and Sarah with a son in their old age. Whether people literally show up at our doors, on our island or on our nation’s borders, I trust that we will have the same attitude as Abraham and Sarah. I trust that we too will welcome strangers with open arms, especially those who travel great distances to be with us.
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Click HERE to see a video of a message from a recent Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
by admin | Jul 11, 2019 | News
Summer Book Group
Our summer book group begins on July 17. The group will meet on Wednesday evenings at the Smith Memorial Parsonage (3281 Waikomo Road) at 6 o’clock for dinner (provided by Kahu on the first night) and then for a discussion which will begin between 6:45 & 7:00. If you are able, please read the Foreword, Preface, Introduction for the first gathering. While supplies last, books are available for $14 at church on Sundays and at the church office during office hours. Please sign up at church for which evenings you plan to attend.
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GET READY FOR PLANTATION DAYS!
“Year of the Paniolo”
KOLOA PLANTATION DAYS RECEPTION
Monday, July 22, 4-6 p.m. at the Smith Memorial Parsonage
Koloa Union Church will once again host the community as part of Kōloa Plantation Days at a reception called “Plantation-Style Living: An Afternoon of Art, Stories & Refreshment.” Dr. Douglas Duvauchelle will provide live music! Kahu will give a talk at 4:30 on the history of the Smith-Waterhouse Family, the parsonage and neighborhood. Every year he finds something new to share!
Click HERE to see promotion of this event on the official Kōloa Plantation Days website.
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KOLOA PLANTATION DAYS PARADE
Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m. (Meet at church at 8:30!)*
Koloa Union Church celebrates the Year of the Paniolo by becoming an official “Open & Affirming” congregation of the United Church of Christ: where every cowboy and every cowgirl is welcome—and every city dweller too!
We will have dancers this year! Kahu will ride in a red convertible, decorated with our “Open & Affirming” logos, waving at the crowds as we pass by. We will also have walkers who will participate right behind the car and wave rainbow flags and hand out wristbands with “Koloa Union Church” and “Open & Affirming” on them.
*Koloa and Poipu Roads along the parade route will be closed by 9 a.m. on the day of the parade, and we want to make sure everyone and everything is in place before the parade starts. Unless you are walking, you won’t be able to get to the church by 9 a.m.
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Capital Campaign News
We repaired and stained the cement walkway last week! We also have a new sanctuary floor and contemporary light fixtures on Moore Hall! During the upcoming weeks, you can expect to see new work done on Moore Hall (removal of accordion doors, new door knobs and door stops, etc.), new signage, and a new capital campaign plaque to honor all that we have accomplished over the last 4 years. Thank you to everyone who participated in the campaign Maika`i Hana Hou (Creating Goodness & Beauty Once Again!).
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“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by Koloa Union Church, an Open and Affirming (ONA) Congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Please contact the church office if you would like to have our weekly news sent directly to your inbox. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
by admin | Jul 11, 2019 | Message from Kahu
Simple Solutions
On Sunday, I shared a story told by Bryan Stevenson when two police officers pointed guns at him and threatened to “blow off your head.” They threw him up against his car and searched it without a warrant for illegal drugs and weapons. His crime: sitting in his car listening to music for ten or fifteen minutes in front of his home after a long day of work…and being Black. He had just moved into the Atlanta neighborhood and, apparently, a White neighbor saw a Black man sitting in a car and called the police. As the police officers were leaving—after all the neighbors got a chance to watch him in police custody for about fifteen minutes—they said to Bryan, “Consider yourself lucky.” His response: “They were right: I was lucky. I survived.”
This story was told by Bryan in the foreword of the book America’s Original Sin by Jim Wallis. Bryan is a Harvard-trained attorney and endured the above-mentioned injustice after a long day of practicing law. In the book, Jim Wallis shares his discover that virtually all African-American parents have what they call “the talk” with their children as they are entering their adolescent years. “The talk” involves telling their kids how to survive an encounter with a police officer—how to live through it. He asked parents if they have this talk with their kids and discovered that 100% of the African-American parents whom he asked did indeed have “the talk” with their children…and 0% of White parents whom he asked have ever had the talk with their kids.
These statistics alone should tell us that there is a huge racial injustice in our nation. In Jim Wallis’ book, there are many other statistics that shed light on how large and extensive the issues really are. Wallis gives insights into how some police departments operate according to racial biases and some politicians create laws and policies that are clearly unfair to people of color. He also gives solutions—things that have proven to work. Some of these are very simple solutions that we can begin enacting right away if we only have the will to do so.
I invite you to join me over the summer on Wednesday evenings at the Smith Memorial Parsonage for a group discussion on America’s Original Sin, beginning July 17, as we discuss racism in our nation and what we might do to overcome it. Please sign up at the church for a book ($14) and to let me know what evenings you plan to attend. We will begin with dinner at 6 p.m. (I’ll cook the first night.)
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Click HERE to see a video of the message from Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
by admin | Jul 7, 2019 | Newsletter
July Newsletter
by admin | Jul 2, 2019 | News
Walkway Repairs
Tuesday & Wednesday
We are repairing and staining the cement walkway this week! This is the area by the main entryway of the church and the church office. Please note that there will be no access to the church office, sanctuary, or janitor closet on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, while the work is being done and the walkway completely dries. There will also be no access to Moore Hall from the north side, so if you need to enter Moore Hall or the kitchen, please use the south side entrances. This is the final large-scale project of our successful capital campaign, “Maikai Hana Hou” (Creating Goodness & Beauty Once Again). Thanks to everyone who helped and financially supported the campaign!
***Please do NOT walk on the walkway until Thursday morning!***
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Happy
Independence
Day!
The church office will be closed on the 4th of July.
We wish you a festive holiday!
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This is an Email Scam:
How are you..Have you got a minute ?
I need you to complete a task for me discreetly.
P.S. I am in a meeting now and can’t talk ,
so just reply here.
I will be expecting a read from you soon.
Thanks
Rev. Dr. Alan Akana
Although you should never let your guard down for email scams, summer is a particularly vulnerable time for church members, since church funds are often short and churches are asking members to catch up on pledges and even make additional gifts to help pay the bills. This is actually the case for us and you will be hearing more about it in our July newsletter next week. The scam above was sent to one of our members this week. For those of you who were around a few years ago, you may remember that someone created a fake Go Fund Me account with my name and photograph in order to receive money pretending to go to a family on O`ahu who had recently experienced the tragic loss of their teenage son. Unfortunately, there are people out there who will deceptively use the names of pastors and other leaders in order to illegally receive financial gain for themselves.
Here are some things to watch out for:
- When someone claims to be the pastor or church official but uses a different email address. (I will always use [email protected] or [email protected].)
- When someone asks you to deposit funds electronically into an account. (I will always ask you to send a check to “Koloa Union Church,” unless we have a conversation about another way of giving.)
- When there are a lot of typos (especially in punctuation and grammar) or awkward language just doesn’t sound like the person who is sending it. (I might make a mistake or two, but a request with consistent errors is definitely a red flag!)
Unless you are certain of the sender, do NOT send money and do not click on any links! If there is ever any doubt as to the legitimacy of a request, don’t hesitate to contact me or Penny Osuga via phone or email. If you do receive a scam, we would like to know about it in order to warn others.
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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COMING UP. . . .
DEACONS MEETING Sunday, July 7, at 9 a.m. in Kahu’s office
COCONUT WIRELESS Click HERE to see the latest issue of the CW (the weekly e-news from the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ).
LECTIONARY READINGS (Old & New Testament Readings for the Week) Each week, Christians throughout the world read biblical passages from the Revised Common Lectionary, including the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament, and Gospels. After three years, a good portion of the Bible is included and the cycle begins again. RCL passages are often read in church worship services, and Kahu Akana usually includes at least one of them on the following Sunday. This week’s readings are 2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians 6:1-16; Luke 10:1-20.
SUMMER BOOK CLUB This summer’s group will meet from July 17 to August 28. Join us as we read America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America, written by Jim Wallis. Kahu will once again host the group on Wednesday evenings, 6-8:30 p.m. at the Smith Memorial Parsonage, beginning with dinner. Please sign up at church so that Kahu knows how many to expect. Copies of the book will be available at church for $14 or Kindle versions are available on Amazon for $7.87.
KŌLOA PLANTATION DAYS RECEPTION Monday, July 22, 4-6 p.m. at the Smith Memorial Parsonage
KŌLOA PLANTATION DAYS PARADE Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m. (Meet at church at 8:30)
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“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by Koloa Union Church, an Open and Affirming (ONA) Congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Please contact the church office if you would like to have our weekly news sent directly to your inbox. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
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