Community Support

Well, in a few short months, Joy and I will have everything sold, packed, and shipped- including ourselves.  We've been in Nashville for five years, having moved here for graduate school without work.  Between then and now, we have experienced a lot of growth.  Joy, after completing her Masters in Teaching (Trevecca Nazarene University), spent two years teaching a 3^rd grade English Learner’s class, and recently moved to an after school reading program for at-risk youth in the Preston Taylor public housing area.  Her passion revolves around teaching reading in a hope filled context for those in otherwise oppressive and broken relationships.  After completing my MDiv., I took a position as the Development and Volunteer Manager at East Nashville Cooperative Ministry, a non-profit that strives toward healthy relationships in the East Nashville community with a focus on food relief and food development.  I also moved to a staff position at First Church of the Nazarene as the Emmaus Fellowship Pastor.  I currently work with, for, and among our homeless neighbors in Nashville and lead a fellowship meal and worship service for the community.  And now, we're beginning to end our work here and turn our face toward the Big Island.

We never imagined living in Hawaii.  It's too far away from friends and family, leaves unfulfilled our propensity toward sweater weather, and is the most isolated grouping of islands in the world.  For many, a vacation is just enough to experience Hawaii, but moving is an entirely different commitment.  And yet, God has called us to leave Nashville and join another community.  We are confident in God's guidance during this process and eagerly await our new home.

And we couldn’t be more excited!  We truly believe God has been working through our experiences in Nashville, preparing us for the work that lies ahead in Hawaii.  Through Joy’s work with English Learner Students, Eric’s work in ministry and community development, and both of our experience working with low-income neighbors, we believe we will fit well into our new ministry context.  While we will never be fully prepared, we are confident in God’s call and eager to follow.  But even more, we anticipate God's work for the transformation of individuals and whole communities in restorative and and redemptive ways in the days to come on the Kona Coast.

As missionary-pastors, we are responsible for raising the funds to support 1/3 of our expenses.  Kona Coast Nazarene has committed to covering our housing expenses while living in Hawaii, and as part of the missionary endeavor, we will begin to assimilate into the local neighborhood through part-time work.  However, because of the high cost of living, we still need to raise support.  This part of the letter is a bit awkward for us both, as fundraising has never come easily.  As we’ve struggled through this part of our transition we have found peace in knowing we are following God’s call faithfully and obediently.  Today, we are praying for God to lay this vision on the hearts of others.  We know we cannot do this alone.  We need a community of support, both financially and in prayer.  Would you prayerfully consider being a part of our team?

If you are able to give and are led to do so, there are number of ways.  Because we need to raise support on an annual basis over the next 5 years, we accept one-time donations or reoccurring monthly donations.  The best way to give is online through the Kona Coast Nazarene giving portal: easytithe.com/kcn.  Just follow the link for easy giving.  Be sure to mark the North and Central Mission Zone to support our work.  A link to this page, as well as the Kona Coast Nazarene website, can be found through the tabs on this blog.  Checks may also be made out to Kona Coast Nazarene with North and Central Mission Zone written on the memo line.  All donations are tax deductible.  We appreciate your support.

And of course, we will continue to keep everyone up to date with both personal stories, ministry news, and theological inquiries right here on the blog.  So please continue to interact with us, read our updates, write a comment, share a story, say a prayer.  

How to Move to Hawaii

If you plan to take your belongings, more than what fits in a suitcase, a move across the ocean can be costly.  And tricky.  For example, 95% of freight cost is based on dimensions.  So when we try to get a quote on shipping our belongings, a moving company needs to know how many cubic feet of stuff you have.  If you have large items (bed, furniture, etc), they need dimensions on every piece.

This has been a little awkward because we're not packed, have no idea how many boxes we'll need, yet need to make a decision about which moving company we plan to use.  We kicked off the process this weekend with our first yard sale.

 

It went well.  We started small, more of a decluttering of our home, and only set up shop for 5 hours. We sold several lamps, end tables, and one chair from our living room.  The rest of what you see is clothes, baby accessories, toys, games, DVDs, our Christmas tree... all the typical yard sale stuff!

We plan to post some of our bigger items on craiglist (washer/dryer, kitchen table, couch, etc) and also have another yard sale in June with more furniture (bookshelves, closet organizers, microwave stand, etc) and the rest of our belongings that don't make the list!  Because of the high cost of shipping anything across the country and the Pacific Ocean, we plan to take only the bare necessities. So far, our list of things we're taking to Hawaii includes clothes, books, kitchen stuff, and our bed.  I'm hoping that list grows a little, and I think Eric is hoping it shrinks!

Next up, shipping time.  Most companies average 4-5 weeks shipping time from our home in Tennessee to our home in Kailua-Kona.  I know this sounds odd, but we actually need longer, so we will likely pay a company to hold our belongings for another 3 weeks until we arrive.

Several have asked what our timeline looks like, so I'll leave you with a brief outline of our summer.  Our crate will leave our home in Tennessee (in route to Kailua-Kona) on July 1.  We will then vacation with the Paul family in North Carolina.  We will return to Nashville for 2 weeks to finish up work and will live with a hospitable and generous family from our church.  The month of August we will spend in Michigan and Illinois visiting friends and family, and will depart for Hawaii the first few days of September.  

In some regards, it sounds simple.  In others, it's a complicated mess in which we need to pack up (or sell) everything in our home, live out of suitcases for 2 months and sell our cars in a timely fashion.  In addition to getting ourselves physically ready, we are also in the midst of the fundraising processes.  As missionary-pastors, we are responsible for raising funds to support 1/3 of our salary.  I'm certainly grateful I have Eric as a partner to do this with!

Our Context: North and Central Kona

Kailua-Kona (Kona) is the center of tourism, commerce, government agencies, and living on the West Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Replete with a rich history, Kona remains the hub of Big Island, Kona Coast culture. Its current population is over 12,000, which by most measurements is very small, but in the late 1990’s Kona experienced a real estate and investment “boom”.  Prior to then, it resembled a slow-paced fishing village with few “urban” amenities serving the broader coast.

Kailua-Kona was established by King Kamehameha I (the original chief of Kona) to be his “seat” of government.  When the Capital moved, Kona became a favorite retreat location of the Hawaiian royal family.  Kona’s prominence in the making of Hawaii and the identity of the Hawaiian people is paramount, which is why a mere walk through downtown is a walk through history.  For example, Makuaikaua Church on Ali’i Drive is the oldest Christian church on the Hawaiian islands.  And right across the street is Huile’e Palace, a retreat home for Hawaiian royalty.

But the rich, native history of Kona is a sharp contrast to the international tourists, gated communities, massive cruise liners, and 5-star hotels that have become standard fixtures.  Kona is full of contrast—cultural, racial, religious, economic—and what was once a harbinger of Hawaiian heritage and culture is becoming a fully diversified community. 

Hula Daddy Coffee Farm over Kailua-Kona

Only a few miles up the slopes of Hualalai, the volcanic mountain that stands 8,000 feet above Kona, is the beginning of the world-famous Kona Coffee District. Just down the mountain are newly added “big-box” retail stores. And In between are an elementary, middle, and high school (Big Island’s largest HS, serving 1,600 students).  A quick glance would suggest that Kona is akin to the homogenous, suburban expansion seen elsewhere in the United States.  But within the reaches of the city are no fewer than four subsidized housing communities, the largest “blue-collar” community on the Kona Coast (Kealakehe and surrounding) , an influx of Micronesian and South-East Asian immigrants, and a continued struggle for sufficient employment.  Kailua-Kona is a melting pot of socio-cultural and socio-economic diversity, not at all like suburban America.

The North Kona Mission Zone at large is experiencing drastic change and collision of cultures—Kailua-Kona is a clear representation.  

Mother's Day (Picture Post)

Playing in the back yard. 

 Smelling the neighbor's flowers.

 Family walk in the park. 

Mission Kona Coast

So those who have been following this story may be asking, "To what exactly have Joy and Eric committed?" We've detailed the process of our longing for community and sensing transition, but we haven't shared much about our future in Hawaii.  We have always gravitated more toward who we are called to rather than toward a particular job.  A few months ago, a close family with many of the same aspirations for their life called to discuss the possibility of doing ministry with them on the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.  Through many conversations, emotions, and prayer, we accepted a position as Missionary-Pastors with Kona Coast Nazarene.

In September, Joy and I will move to an island that has beaches, deserts, snow-capped mountains, rainforests, and active volcanoes.  And the people are more diverse than the land: native Hawaiian, Polynesian, Micronesian, Japanese, Chinese, Caucasian, and more blend in a unique cultural setting.  Even more, less than 10% of the population attends church on a Sunday morning.  Hawaii presents an exciting religious milieu in which Buddhism, Confucianism, Mormon, Christian, New Age, and Native Hawaiian Religions intersect on a daily basis.  Economically, the tourism industry and resort settings merely mask the high rates of poverty that plague the islands.  High cost of living and low wages contribute to the daily struggle of life.  

Kona Church of the Nazarene has a vision and mission to link the various and distinct communities on the west coast of the Big Island in a unified missional presence that uniquely reaches the lost, disciples the found, and models the kingdom of God in contextually relevant ways. Over the next 7 years, KCN will call and send eight missionary families to live in particular neighborhoods and communities on the Kona Coast.  Our particular role is a hybrid position that blends the essence of missionary with the essence of pastor.  In other words, we will specialize in translating the good news of the Gospel into unique contexts and develop relationships-of-discipleship in the process. 

Each of the 8 mission zones is a unique community with its own set of challenges.  Joy and I will be placed in the North and Central Kona Mission zone.  Though each community is unique, we will share one mission to reach the lost, disciple the found, and model the kingdom.  The local Kona church will act as a training, encouraging, organizing, and sending community.  In our efforts to develop local leadership, we will disciple, educate, and inspire our mission zones through discipleship clutches, missional communities, worship celebrations, training schools, apprenticeship programs, community development efforts, and various other creative avenues for transformation.

In short, our family will be an extension of Kona Coast Nazarene into the neighborhood, sent to inhabit a particular place where God's love can be made visible.  

Sensing Transition

Joy and I have felt for some time that Nashville would be a transition place for our family.  In many respects, the past five years were marked by both training and transition.  When I was in grad school, I spent three years preparing for what would come next.  Grad school wasn't the end in itself- it merely prepared me for a life of ministry, grounded me in theological language and practice, taught me how to both critique and energize the church, and sent me out to share God's promise of a new creation.  After graduation, I had no job and no job prospects.  I started valeting to pay the bills and became a volunteer staff member at a local non-profit.  I had studied hard and learned much, and it was time to gain experience and practice.  While I contemplated further school, a PhD in Theology and Peace Studies, we decided to stay in Nashville and continue our work with and among low-income neighbors and homeless friends.  First Church of the Nazarene afforded me this opportunity as the Emmaus Fellowship Pastor.  And while we felt called to work in the East Nashville community, we both felt that it was a transitional moment.  Though admittedly, that moment could be months or even years. 

Last summer, while spending some time walking and praying, I wrote this,

We have felt a type of release from Nashville over the past year. Even more, we have long sensed transitioning to a new place/life/community. What we have not known is where that leads us. We have talked about valuing community, a more 'natural' lifestyle, simplicity, deep meaningful relationships, small church, and where our passions meet the world's need. Any 'call' from God on our lives will meet these values simply because God has given them to us.

I should mention that these values stem from a deeper awareness of the kind of life that God has for those who choose to follow Christ.  In other words, our longing for community is another way of talking about discipleship.  We have felt the world's insatiable pull toward economic efficiency and individualism.  We have felt the tug of consumerism and personal freedoms.  We have witnessed the isolation and discontinuity that the world offers.  In a world of facebook and twitter, we have never been so devoid or disconnected from actual relationships with people.  And our churches have been lulled to sleep in the sea of comfort, security, and safety.  While the church used to tell stories of martyrs  and monks, we now tell stories of soldiers and bankers.  The modern evangelical church is in danger of becoming a hollow shell of an institution instead of the radical social alternative envisioned by Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God.  As Alan Hirsch writes, "A complete paradigm shift is essential for the Western Church to avoid becoming an anemic shell of its former self. If we have any realistic hope of recovering the Christian witness in the West, the church must abandon the diluted role and shortsighted vision as a static institution and dive headlong into its original calling as a missionary movement" (Right Here, Right Now, 64).

When I reflect upon the values written above, each one seems to point toward an alternative vision and away from the dominant culture.  There is a subtle recognition that the kind of life that God has for us can't be lived alone.  Indeed, the Sermon on the Mount must be practiced as a community; it just doesn’t make sense as an individual mandate.  As evangelicals, we have preached a gospel devoid of social distinction, privatizing religion to the realm of the heart.  But the Gospel encompasses so much more.  The Gospel is change, a revolutionary personal, social, and political change that doesn’t separate God’s work for me from God’s work for and in the world. 

For Joy and I, we seek a community who can discuss, challenge, encourage, and share with one another in a holistic way.  We recognize that our individualism inhibits our ability to be full disciples of Jesus.  We need a community that is committed to one another and to God to work out our salvation in every aspect of our lives: from the foods we eat to our posture toward personal and social violence, from child rearing to how we interact with the poor and marginalized, and from sharing our resources to praying with/for one another.  Our lives in Christ depend on others to discern with us the work of God.  It is from this posture that we are sent out to join God’s mission.

Over the next few posts, we will continue to write how this mission connects us to the community in Kona and the West Coast of Hawai’i.  We’re looking forward to sharing with you an ambitious vision encapsulated in Mission Kona Coast, grounding our particular call in the North and Central Kona mission zone.