BASIC Action Ohana Group

My preschooler son, Tyson, and I have been attending Kaimuki Christian Church since August 2006, and we just love it here! I started attending church as a preschooler myself, but strayed during my later teenage years to fulfill my worldly desires of being rich, living a fashionable life and just plainly having fun. After watching my son grow, my perspective on life changed. I wanted Tyson to get to know God’s awesome power and his love for us. I also wanted Tyson to have the same fun, rich experience in a church like I did while growing up. I strongly believe that my participation in the youth church activities kept me out of trouble…trouble which didn’t take me long to get to know once I stopped going to church.

So together we visited several churches. We immediately felt at home at Kaimuki Christian Church; and Tyson kept asking to return here. The fellowship with other Christians here is like no other I’ve experienced. Worship service felt like one big “ohana” (Hawaiian for “family”) gathering. The people are truly of genuine hearts and are so “down-to-earth”. I believe that by God’s grace and his love for me, I have a second chance at life and am able to enjoy it better than before — for as a born-again Christian, there’s an indescribable inner peace. Praise God! And Praise Him for also allowing me to share this spiritual experience with my son.

If Tyson chooses to accept Jesus as his savior, “WOW! That would be so awesome!” But until then, I know Tyson will have an enriching, fun time here at Kaimuki Christian Church learning about Jesus and that Jesus will always be there for him. I guess one could say, that I initially returned to church to lay a spiritual foundation for my son. But in turn, my little preschooler really saved me.

I would like to hear any available updates from anyone regarding the recent outreach activity in which we donated household goods to a young lady with a kid. Did she move in and just has not kept in contact or has she gone somewhere else? I guess the donations can be used for someone else but it would be nice to know what is going on… I myself only gave a cash donation…

The new BASIC Action Ohana Group site is finally unveiled. The main change is turning this site from static pages to a blog site. Why? Because blogging allows us to give a part of ourselves to others, where we share our thoughts, insights, concerns, issues, feelings, and stories to you, the reader. And as you read, you have a chance to comment, a chance to communicate, and in turn, you give a part of yourselves to not only the original poster, but to others who have also commented.

This is what our Ohana group is all about, being able to be in an authentic community, which is the only way to know God and the gospel. Our hope is that as a community, we can gain inspiration, encouragement, motivation, and insight into ourselves, God, and the gospel.

So welcome and Komo Mai to the BASIC Action Ohana Group…..

A few days before the conference, Cal sent a letter suggesting that I take time after the conference to reflect and write down some goals that I have gleaned from the teachings. As I filter through 3 days of wonderful music and inspiring thoughts from great musicians and speakers, I keep drifting off towards the people that spent time with me at the conference, those that were famous, those that were not so famous, and those, perhaps much like myself, a bit infamous.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the conference and I have so much respect for the speakers, but two of my most favorite conference moments were outside of the conference itself.

The first was a surprise birthday dinner for Neda. I have memories of Rae forgetting the lei for Neda, driving back to work to pick it up, but yet, still have the presence of mind to call and put in her order. Richard telling us his story of not knowing if we are all there, ready to greet them, stumbling around the mall, pretending not to know where the restaurant just in case we needed more time. Sharon, whose feet were in so much pain that she could barely walk, humbles me as she pushes herself for that one more walk, just to make it to the dinner because it was special for someone else.

The second was struggling, with Neda and Sharon, to make sense of a session. It was fun because they were opinionated, articulate, and, as I was finding out, have very little trouble communicating exactly what their likes and dislikes of the session were. On the other hand, my contribution tended to be intellectual pretension and abstract thinking that seem to have no relevance to the real world. They spent time trying to focus me, which I found very challenging , but, mostly, I had fun being with them.