That changes in less than a week. Six days, actually. In six days, I move to Honolulu, Hawaii to be a missionary there with Cru.
When I decided to become a full-time staff member with Cru, the goal was to ideally be back in Japan as soon as possible; however, as anyone knows who has read my blog, or read about Japan in general, the country is an extremely difficult ministry location. People call it a "missionary graveyard." While my goal is to change that, I know that I am not yet fully equipped to do such a thing. I need training and experience as a new staff person before I just jump into ministry in a "hard soil" location. Cru asked me to consider spending my first two years on staff in the States first to prepare me for Japan ministry. And where better to equip me for Japanese ministry than the place with the highest Japanese population in the States? Hawaii.
Now I'm sure you are thinking, "Wow you're really going to be suffering for the Gospel in Hawaii." Or you're just confused and are wondering "Why would you go to Hawaii to do missions in the first place?"
First of all, Hawaii actually is only about 10-15% Christian, even though it's a part of America. It is still very much it's own culture and identity. And while it's known as one of the most beautiful places in the world, sometimes the places that look the most like paradise on the outside are in reality the darkest on the inside. Hawaii is saturated with drugs, alcohol, prostitution and suicide. Hawaii is in desperate need of the Gospel and the love of Christ.
While it may not be the most obvious place for missions, Hawaii is an extremely strategic ministry location. It is such a conglomeration of different people groups and ethnicities- almost 80% of the Hawaiian population is Asian or Asian-American. That is why we call Hawaii the Gateway to the Pacific, because we believe that if we can reach Hawaii, we can reach the rest of the Pacific and Asia.
I will be helping lead the CRU movement at the University of Hawaii, a campus of over 20,000 students. The CRU movement in Hawaii has tripled from 30 students to 90 just this past year, and so they desperately need more staff to meet the needs of the ministry. CRU's founder, Dr. Bill Bright, had a saying- "Win the campus today, win the world tomorrow." I believe if we can reach the University of Hawaii, we can truly reach the rest of the Pacific Islands and all of Asia. At the University of Hawaii, I will not only be sharing the Gospel with students, but training and equipping them to share their faith with their friends, communities, and the rest of the world.
Now i know that when we think living missionally, we usually think helping people in poorer places. But while doing humanitarian aid in third world countries definitely shows people God's love, we also need to be teaching this generation where that love comes from. In an age where drugs, alcohol, sex and everything else under the sun is a daily part of life, we need to be sharing with students the one thing that truly satisfies- the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And after we've shared it with them, we need to teach them how to share it with others. Because the Gospel is not meant to be kept for ourselves.
Jesus commands us to GO and make disciples of all nations - and I know that God is going to use Hawaii to do just that.
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