Island Hopping

after our emotional Ignite meeting, we couldn't stick around to be there for the students. we rushed home, grabbed our bags and headed to the airport to fly to Oahu for Hawaii Cru's first annual fundraiser dinner. we arrived around 9:45 pm, and immediately felt the difference- it was definitely much warmer and drier on Oahu. we were picked up by Shawn, the Cru campus director at UH Manoa (the main University of Hawaii). he had borrowed his church's 8 person van for us to use for the few days we were there- of course, there are 9 of us STINTers, so it was a bit squished, but we managed. we dropped him off at his house, then stopped at the grocery store for some groceries and essentials, then checked into our hostel in Waikiki. the boys had one room and all 7 of us girls had another. but it actually wasn't too bad- we had a kitchen, bathroom, small balcony and 4 sets of bunk beds. we unpacked and fell right to sleep.

thursday morning we went to UH Manoa and prayer walked around the campus. not gonna lie, as much as i love UH Hilo, Manoa's campus is SO much bigger. which is not necessarily good, but their cafeteria is a lot better...(but our lunch ladies at UH Hilo are way nicer). that afternoon was their weekly Cru meeting. as i walked toward the room, a familiar face yelled my name and ran over - Steven, a student i'd met in Tokyo last summer when he came on Tokyo Summer Project. we had a happy reunion- it was so fun seeing him again. then i had another happy reunion- with my friend Gen, one of the first people i ever met at USC Cru my freshman year, my summer project director in 2009 and is now on staff at UH Manoa. i also got to see Jamie, a staff who led last year's Tokyo project with Gen. at their Cru meeting, Sarah gave a message about missions, then Nikki shared about STINT and interning logistics, then Albert shared a couple stories from STINTing in Hawaii, then i shared about Japan. it was fun to share how God has changed my heart toward missions and how God's plans may be completely different than ours, but they are always better. after the meeting we all went and got dinner together- it was fun getting to meet some of the students and catch up with Gen and Jamie. we also met a couple students who wanted to take us surfing the next morning. so the next morning at 7 am, we headed to the beach to meet Matt and Jack. we practiced our pop-ups on the beach, then waded into the water with Albert, Matt and Jack helping us. i never realized how much of surfing is comprised of paddling. there were several times i felt that i was paddling so hard and not moving at all. it was still fun though, and i caught a few waves on my knee and actually stood up for about a second a couple times.

 after surfing we had a team meeting, then got ready for the Cru fundraiser dinner. the dinner was at a fancy country club, and several of the students were helping out. i had two more reunions with two other students i'd met in Japan, Dylan and Abi. then the supporters began to arrive. i think one of the most exciting things for me to see was Dylan, Abi and Steven sharing with supporters about how Summer Project changed them and gave them hearts for missions. we spent the first part of the evening talking with supporters as they went around to different tables that described what Cru does, then we went in to the dining room for dinner (steak, veggies, rolls...it was AMAZING). during dinner, Gen, Kent and Shawn all talked about what Cru does and how they have been changed by Cru. then they showed a video of staff talking about how Cru specifically worked in their lives, and then 3 students came up and shared about how God using Cru has changed their lives. lastly they had a speaker, who was so powerful that i was like "wow i want to give to Cru!" and then was like "wait...i work for Cru...right."obviously other people were moved as well, because by the end of the night God had raised over $30,000 through the people who attended! it was so amazing to see God's provision so immediate!

the next day we spent sightseeing at Pearl Harbor. then that night we went to dinner as a team, and got ice cream afterward with a few of the UH Manoa students and Gen. Sunday was a great day- i went to the beach in the morning for a bit, then Gen picked me up and we went to a church called One Love. it was a great message and so refreshing after church-hopping in Hilo and not really finding a good church. after that we went to lunch at "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and caught up. it was so much fun- it almost felt like being in LA again. afterward we met up with Amy and Kylan and had coffee as a Tokyo Summer Project '09 reunion, then he took all of us to the airport to meet up with our team and head back home.

while i really enjoyed Oahu, after being on the Big Island for so long, i felt like Oahu was really touristy, and i appreciated being back on the Big Island surrounded by the more local kine.

pictures from Oahu:

the fundraiser dinner

Hilo STINT team & UH Manoa students after the dinner

The Trojan family in Hawaii

surfing for the first time at Waikiki!