Turning to the Invisible Communities

"You want to understand power, start finding places where disunity abounds in the world and that's where God wants you to create reconciliation." Pastor Ryan Fasani, July 13, 2014

I want to give a quick look into some of the work I (Eric) have been doing this past year. As Missionary-Pastors, we are committed to reaching the lost with the Good News and discipling those interested in the transforming work of God. But we must first ask, especially as ones who are new to this place, how to identify the lost in the context of their "lostness"; which is to say we must learn the components and layers of culture and communities that are broken and lost. So this first year, I've been spending a lot of time doing research/relational/experienced based learning.

1). Meeting with Angie

I set up meetings throughout the week/month to talk and listen with anyone in the community willing to share and teach me about Kona. Most have never sat with a pastor who is interested in the social/relational/personal health of those outside their own congregation. But all have been kind and mention the lack of support from the christian faith community. Ironically, the Micronesian and Hispanic community carry high percentages of Christians to begin with and organize around church activity. The church gives minority groups a sense of worth and belonging and an instant connection in a time of uncertain transition. This is one of the reasons the church must take its minority communities seriously; because there is a general 'browning' of Christianity in the West.

I heard about Angie from another friend (Jasmine) at the West Hawaii Community Health Center. I've met with Jasmine several times on various groups working toward outreach and education within the Marshallese community. Usually this is how it works: I meet with a person who hears my interests and points me to another person within that community (one gatekeeper leads me to another). Jasmine introduced me to Angie, a woman who put together a Hispanic community health assessment over the past year. We met this past week to talk story. 

She is a 5th generation Puerto Rican on the Big Island. Her family had immigrated to Honoka'a back when the sugar plantations were still operable. But she didn't learn Spanish until much later in school. As she put it, "The language barrier made us stick out too much, so we dropped Spanish but kept the food and music."  She is the go-to person in the Hispanic community for any social need, health need, or immigration need. She spends her off time filling out INS paperwork for those trying to navigate the muddled immigration system. The closest Consulate is actually in California; there are no immigration lawyers on the island, and the travel to Oahu for any serious medical conditions works against undocumented people. 

If you were to look around Kona, you would recognize signs mostly in English, some in Hawaiian. But at the health clinic they are in English, Spanish, and Hawaiian. Angie says 75% of the 2500 Hispanics on the West Coast work on either the coffee farms, macnut farms, or papaya farms. The clinic sees many Hispanic patients during the off picking season with skin rashes, respiratory issues, and eye problems from the pesticides used on the farm. They don't come when the symptoms first arise because they work (and live) on the farm. When asked about any worker's advocacy group, she simply chuckled and shook her head. The Hispanic community is dispersed from Waimea all the way down past South Kona. There is no advocacy group, ethnic organization, union, or social support. They remain present, but socially invisible.

A recent study highlighting the challenges and prospects for Mexicans in Hawaii shows the relative feeling of being unjustly targeted. Angie spoke of frequent deportations, the police acting as a type psuedo-ICE agent, giving bogus traffic tickets in order to check identification and paperwork. Ironically, in Hawaii as a whole the face of undocumented immigrants isn't Hispanic, but Filipino who comprise about 40% of the undocumented peoples. Only 10% of residing Mexicans (or 4,000 of 38,700) are undocumented. But when looking at those deported between 2007-2008, 50% were Mexican. This gives the community a particular feeling of being targeted, the perception of inferiority, and a general sense of exclusion. ("Newcomers to the Aloha State: Challenges and Prospects for Mexicans in Hawai'i," Batalova, Das Gupta, & Haglund, Migration Policy Institute, 2013).

2a). Theological Reflection

I believe that if a community is to be healthy, it must account for the full health of all its participants; rich and poor, brown and white, citizen and non-citizen, soil and vegetation, etc. Furthermore, I believe that God longs for justice and righteousness, a restoration of right relationships between people and communities so that the abundant life of the Kingdom of God can be experienced. Throughout scripture, God continues to call a particular people (Israel and the Church) to be the type of community that remembers the poor, marginalized, and oppressed who are often described as widows, orphans, and foreigners. On a personal note, I have long felt a call to give myself to the work of peace and reconciliation between divided communities, a call that fit in my work alongside the homeless community in Nashville and is now finding its legs here in Kona.

Since arriving, I've spent a fair amount of my time getting to know the invisible people and places, the spaces that aren't covered in West Hawaii Today, finding the gatekeepers to communities that struggle affording rent, food, or housing and who aren't paid a decent wage or afforded the same access to health care and social services. In short, I've been intentionally seeking and learning about the communities that don't benefit from full inclusion in society at large. It comes as no surprise, but these communities are recent immigrant groups to the Big Island (Filipino, Micronesian, Hispanic) and have historically struggled with cultural assimilation, social belonging, and economic growth.

2b). A Word on Immigration and Scripture

With the recent influx of child migration at the Southern border of the US, a situation the UN suggests should be treated like a refugee population, I realize the heated nature of immigrant discussions country-wide. I've read news reports and articles on both sides of the aisle that talk of immigration from socioeconomic perspectives, political perspectives, cultural views, and flat-out racist views. We have a tendency to forget the complicated history of immigration within the United States, our own histories of our own migrant families who are not native to this place, the economic and political factors that force migration, and the milieu of cultural identities represented in the moniker 'Hispanic.' But beyond all of this, as Christians, we can't allow political, cultural, ethnic, economic, or national security factors determine how we interact with and respond to the influx of immigrants (documented or undocumented) into our communities. Our allegiance is to Christ Jesus as Lord, who has brought near those who are far away and has destroyed the dividing wall of hostility between 'us' and 'them' (Ephesians 2). The Image of God marked on each person ought to be the resounding tone uttered from our words and posture. We are to become a church without borders.

3). Moving Forward

As a missionary, I recognize the important role the church plays in the social makeup of a place. For many immigrants, the church is the first place to find a common bond, to belong with others, find meaningful relationships, and through those relationships figure out where specific needs can be met. As far as evangelism, church planting is recognized as one of the most effective ways of reaching unchurched people groups. But when I listen to the needs of these groups, the lack of organization, the stereotypes and animosity flung at and between groups, and the immediacy of food and shelter, I want to plug the gap. I want to throw my individual ability and work ethic to find solutions to these problems- to become an advocate in solidarity with these marginalized peoples.

But I've done that alone and found myself isolated, drowning, and exhausted. Furthermore, 'plugging the gaps' didn't change the culture or system that created the problems. When I think about the particular stories of the various immigrant communities, I know that any reconciliation must be communal reconciliation. My question moving forward relates to how a community gathered around the Crucified and Risen Lord can begin the work of transformational development in this place. In other words, how can we take 'us' and 'them' and become one people with one Lord, one faith, one baptism without covering over particular cultural identities? 

I firmly believe that the church can be the kind of faithful community that builds spiritual, social, and economic health in a way that transforms our neighborhoods. In Kona, it just might be a turning toward our newest members to see the change that God desires in this place.

Kids and Worship

My first 7 years out of college, I was involved in Children's ministry. Five of those years were spent on a church staff in a pastoral role. Generally speaking this meant children's programming, family events, and pastoral care (hospital visits, home visits, calls/letters, etc.)

Today, we are part of a small Nazarene church of about 100. We don't have a children's pastor, or a family pastor, or a director, or any other position that ultimately means "disciple our children." But our church is heading towards dynamic discipleship of whole families.

A lot could be said about this church in regards to how we spend our money, the staff (positions) we choose to employ, the philosophy behind less/no programming and the push toward intergenerational worship. But let me just say one thing. Our pastor cares deeply about discipleship of all people, and that certainly includes our children.

One aspect we are becoming more aware of is inviting our children to participate in corporate worship. For you logistic-types out there - we do have a nursery (6m-4years) and we have Keiki Focus (5y-11y). The nursery is open for the duration of the worship service and keiki focus takes place during the sermon portion of our worship service. Kids are invited forward, prayed over, and exit the building for the 25 minutes of sermon time. During this time, they participate in a teaching of the exact same scripture as the rest of the body. When the preaching pastor finishes the sermon, the children are welcomed back.

As a staff, we take seriously the role kids (should) have as part of the body of Christ. Over the past few months I have had the privilege of beginning to invite kids to participate in more explicit ways. I am once again retraining my eyes and my heart. Instead of asking, Where can our kids go? or What should our youth be doing during this time? or Do we have anyone else that can teach our kids? or How can we make our children's programming better? I have found myself thinking our kids add indescribable value to our worshiping body. How can we involve them more? 

I think we're off to a good (read: slow and steady) start. We have a child start every service with the blowing of the pu, kids reading scripture, kids dancing out of their seats in praise, youth sharing personal testimonies about camp, family-led prayer... We have an even longer list of additional ways our kids will be incorporated in the coming weeks and months. To be honest, I'm totally excited about having more kids involved, watching parents/aunties/uncles be proud of their kids, and marveling at how worship can be a little more right when it's intergenerational.

Are children welcomed in your worshipping body? What are some ways you include children and whole families? What are the positive results and challenges you have experienced?

2014 Funding Update

Many of you who follow this blog know us personally, pray for us, and support us in various ways.  We are grateful for the relationships we have with friends and family, in our home of Kona and across the country. You also know that our family lives partially off the raised support generously given by you. We feel it appropriate to not only share our ministry with you, the stories of what God is beginning to do (the point of this blog), but also share our ongoing need. We don't do this too often, but at certain times during the year, it is appropriate to share our financial status going forward. Below are three areas from which Joy and I are receiving funds followed by our current need:

The Church: Kona Coast Nazarene provides a housing stipend of $1000. When we moved to Kona last Sept., we did so intending to live in the one bedroom ohana adjacent to the church offices for no more than 3 months. We anticipated finding a place by December to get ready for Micah's arrival. As we continued to look for rentals in Kona, we quickly realized that $1000 wouldn't cover the full cost of living. We found that a two-bedroom rental (whether a downstairs unit in a house or a condo) would cost between $1300-1500 per month. If we wanted to turn on lights, we would need another $300. Then, when October arrived, housing dried up with the influx of 'snowbirds' (those who visit for several months during winter). The church has allowed us to rent the ohana until we can find a more suitable place.

Community Employment: Eric found work as a barista at a new coffee shop/restaurant downtown. He's also began doing some of the sample roasting for the company, but it is a low-wage hourly job that brings in about $700 a month, a couple hundred less than we had anticipated. Joy, after several months of trying to get into the education system, is still trying to transfer her TN teaching license. Things move a little slower here. We are currently discussing the possibility of Joy working two days a week teaching to help boost this area of income.

Fundraising: Joy and I have always kept a very low/tight budget. Once we were on the ground in Hawaii, the truth of how high the cost of living is hit us pretty hard. The $15,000 we raised for our first year was, quite honestly, woefully low and completely necessary. We are incredibly grateful for everyone that supported us during this first year. But without your support, the first three months of transitional housing, and the initial resettlement stipend from the church, we would not have made it. Groceries and rent are twice as high. Our only car has broken down twice, and we can't afford to pay on our student loans- using several low-income government assistance programs to ease student loan burdens. In order to cover these costs, our fundraising goal has increased for our second year.

Additional Ministry Costs: As with any missionary, the work we do has to be a creative way to spread the Good News effectively with minimal costs. The N. Kona Mission Zone budget does not come from the KCN (church) operating budget. As such, we anticipate using an additional $7500 to aid in the following ministries: receiving a Missionary-Farmer and start-up costs, implementing missional communities, and planting two ethnic church plants within the next year.

Total need for 2014-2015 year currently sits at $41,100.

As you can tell, the need is a little more than double what we had projected for our first year. We feel this amount better addresses our current state and ministry need. We ask that you prayerfully consider participating through a one-time or monthly donation. Simply follow the tab on this blog called "Support the Mission" and follow the steps on www.easytithe.com/kcn.  Or, simply click on the previous link. (Please choose the "North/Central Kona Mission" on the drop down menu). If you are currently unable to give, please add us to your prayer list; send us words of encouragement; ask if your church might host us for our 2015 furlough; and simply continue to read our story on this blog. Thank you.