Aloha Family & Friends,
Every year around this time, I
begin to hear the muffled rumblings
of 5th Graders getting ready to “go to
CLUB” for the very first time.
One of our rituals at the
basketball courts and on the Frisbee
fields is to protect the older Middle
Schoolers’ from the encroachment
of 5th Graders joining their ranks
without having gone through the
proper gauntlet of “waiting.” To the
casual observer, it looks mean:
(Jesus would never turn 5th Graders
away, right?). But we do turn them
away from CLUB-stuffs, and we ask
them to wait until they reach 6th
Grade. We do it in an Inviting sort
of way, so to speak: they are invited
to wait, to watch, to get ready, to
practice their guitar chords for their
eventual Band Practice, to convince
their parents that next year they
should be allowed to go to CLUB, to
practice their dodgeball skills
(which is the way every CLUB night
accidentally ends), to look up to
current CLUB-kid participants, to see
the whole eventual thing from the
outside looking in, and to talk to us
about it. Waiting has its merits, and
when it doesn’t, it’s as my cousin
would say: “It’ll be alright.”
But it is also helpful for me
personally, to suddenly become
aware of all the outsiders-lookingin—wanting to be a part of CLUB’s
doings, wishing that they had been
born just a little bit earlier so that
their kingdom-come was happening
now and not later, and measuring us
all to see if we are worth having
them. It is good for me to see them
look at CLUB like that. It makes me
want to make a good ending of the
year, to effect measurable program
impact, and to survey the pulse of
our collective Welcomability.
Right now we are winding down
our weekly studying of the Book of
Matthew. We have been taking a
deep look at “Jesus’ 5 Major
Speeches,” and quite a number of
students have been fulfilling our
weekly “Silver-&-Gold Challenges”
of reading, on their own, the other
Gospels as well, parallel to our
studies in Matthew. Additionally, in
the last few weeks, a handful of
students have stood in front of the
others and recited the Beatitudes.
Some of these kids are gearing up to
be baptized, some to be Confirmed
in their tradition, and quite a
number of them to go on a
weekend-long Retreat with us
during Spring Break. All of this is
occurring right in the middle of
several volunteer Team-members
leaving, several families being restationed, and several others
arriving here for the first time.
Kevin & Casey
Schmidt
1638 Nakula Street
Wahiawa, HI 96786
808 . 372 . 1567
808 . 561 . 8636
[email protected]
MARCH – 2017
As we continue to grow, we have
moved our business address from
Kaneohe’s windward side of Oahu,
to central Oahu. In addition to a
new office, we have moved our
mailing address to:
Pacific House of Mission
P.O. Box 860969
Wahiawa, Hawaii 96786
Please help us make this move by
editing the address of your
correspondence to PHM, to include
donation checks, general letters to
PHM and the Board, etc. Mahalo!
Such is the mixture of our Mission’s constant operation, and Springtime always
showcases how brittle (think peanut brittle!) the construction of a military
community can be.
“Are you
ready?" Klaus
asked finally.
"No," Sunny
answered.
"Me neither,"
Violet said,
"but if we
wait until
we're ready
we'll be
waiting for
the rest of
our lives,
Let's go.”
-Lemony Snicket,
The Ersatz
Elevator
What a great treat this is to be a part of (think peanut brittle!). This morning, we
began the work of bringing 4 full-time Summer Interns here to be a part of it as
well. At this time every year, we Video-Conference with our prospective interns—
training them weekly to raise a financial support team, and preparing them for the
culture, the work-ethic, and the philosophy of PACIFIC HOUSE OF MISSION to “go to
where people are.” We share with them the brittle and thrilling reality of the lives of
our nation’s warfighting families—that their physical geography is very tentative,
just as their program-attendance with us is as well. We will do what we can while
we are together, and in our many different ways and timelines, enjoy whatever
kingdom-come we can get.
A Hawai’ian “Mahalo” to all of you who are active support-ers, active pray-ers,
active advocate-ers, and active communicate-ers with us in this Mission. In the
months ahead, please continue to pray for our Mission and our ever-transforming
Staff persons serving youths on this Island from the Services of 2 Army
communities, and from Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard (yes, we have
them all!). This is a critical time each year as we broaden our support, receive
vehicle donations from departing families, consider our Board membership, and
seek funding for the year to come. Spread the word! Aloha!
PEACE—
Kevin & Casey & David & Jacob & Jordan & Hannah & Rachel & Elijah & Malia & Micah & Delilah… Schmidt