The Greatness of Marvin and Kylie

I was asked to write a new blog telling the world how wonderful Marvin and Kylie are.

Truth be told, camp is completely stripped of cherries and cookies.

Meanwhile we have a wonderful Music Faculty for our 2009 Homelani Music School -- they are dedicated and loving.

We have been blessed with Band Master Neil Smith (Territorial Music Secretary) and his intern Daniel Summers. It has been fun to learn from them and laugh at Daniel's many insightful toasts at meals.

It is always a pleasure to have past staff members join us for a short time; Craig Rodriguera who worked on the summer staff many years ago and Tersy Mato who served for many summer's on Homelani's team -- in her most recent gig, Tersy served as the female Program Team Unit Leader on the 2008 Access Holywood team!

From the island of Maui we have A/Captain Kathy (who celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary at Music School minus her hubby) and from the Big Island - Hilo Liane Newcomb! From right here on O`ahu we have Captain Debbie Lum (go Leeward!) Then there is Freddy, who put together an awesome gospel choir!

Finally, our Music School Director, Crystal Nakamaejo! First year -- awesome job!

So there you have it -- Music School 2009!

Heat, Hype, & Hawai`i

by Matt Moran-Ellis, Program Assistant & Starbucks Liaison

The 2009 Expedition Crew performed their opening night of Jesus Walk to rave reviews
despite it coming down to the last few moments of the day trying to get everything in place.
If you step back a little bit and place the night in the context of the rest of the first community
service camp of 2009 then it is clear that the hand of the LORD has been firmly on camp
this summer. Community Service Camp #1 brought an unusual amount of sick campers and staff in addition to record temperatures with no trade winds.

The week had started with 80+ kids showing up with the vast majority of them being boys.
With a few quick cabin reshuffles the kids where settled and ready for the camp. At the
same time so was the heart, as over the week we saw recorded breaking temperatures
and alongside an outbreak of heat exhaustion and seasonal flue. This was taken in the
counselors stride as camp adapted to coping with such unusual situations. Kealoha Irvine
was stretched to meet the need and Lifeguard Tamber (who luckily happened to be a
Registered Nurse) jumped in to help with the strain.

Alongside this with a scaled down rehearsal schedule the pressure was on get Jesus Walk ready in time. With a reminder from God that this was his show and he would use it to bless his kids, the show went on and ended up receiving comments that this was the best opening night of any Jesus Walk in living memory. The energy from this night gave the staff a fresh wind and allowed them to carry through the rest of the camp no matter what got thrown at them.

This week has been a testimony on how Godʼs provision is always enough. Time and time
again this week it seemed that things would not work out, or that sickness or issues would
get the better of us, but as the staff found out at the end of their trying was Godʼs
provision. As the week wound down their were praise reports left, right and center at the
goodness of God and a desire to rest and see what the LORD would bring next week in
the form of Music Camp.

Lobsters Save Lives & Other Orientation Trail Stories

by Matt Moran-Ellis, Program Assistant & Starbucks Liaison

It amazing how good one can look while suspended 30 feet from the ground being held by nothing more then rope and some sort of "crustacean". This was the starting point that Camp Homelaniʼs Councelor's found themselves in as they took part in their first day of orientation.

Prior to that, the day before the Program Team (PT) met to learn the principles of leadership through hiking, injuries and virgin daiquiris (the essentials as you can tell). The PT emerged in the early hours of the morning to be told that one of their members was unable to make it and so to make sure they were fully bonded a cardboard cut out of Tamber was erected and the team was challenged to take her wherever they went. This just so happened to be up the side of a mountain, and so with a cut of Tamber they lead the way. Progress was good and at various points the team collected together to have Joe Harvey Hall's wisdom bestowed upon them. This was going great until one of the team members slipped and re injured her knee which had been damaged at the start of the week. The team determined that no member should suffer made the decision to all come down the mountain. It was at this moment that the seeds of unity started to bloom.

The message of "A Higher Standard" was shared at the trailhead (rather than at the mountain top as planned) over a nice picnic lunch. Captains Neil and Rubina Navarro blessed the leadership team with a challenge and insight on leadership, setting, and living up to a higher standard.

After some much needed rest the PT came together again to be challenged to cook dinner in an hour together with only $2 per person. The team jumped into the vans with Tamber in toe and headed to the grocery store to see what culinary delights they could make. Two hours later, and with a 31 cent surplus, a sumptuous meal was presented and they all sat around talking story and sharing in the days events. The leadership team was in place and so all that was needed was some councelors.

Like fresh mourning dew, the counselors appeared the next morning and the day's adventures unfolded. All where challenged to complete the high ropes courses and over the next four hours that is exactly what took place. With many tears, screams and panic faces, each team overcame many fears and achieved their goals with a selection of bruises to display like medals. Every person challenged themselves, and stepped out beyond their comfort zone, it was this fact that brought them together and gave them a common hope. It Will be interesting to see how these relationships develop over the rest of orientation, but they are certainly based on trust and determination if not just a little bit of mockery in some of quality accents we were presented with today through our instructors.

The Expedition Begins - Summer 2009

By Matt Moran-Ellis, 2009 Program Assistant & Starbucks Liaison

Its All About Camp . . .(Sunburn, Sandwiches & Spiritual Direction)

When you think of Camp, what comes to your mind? Sweaty cabins, screaming kids, days in the sun. Well for Camp Homelaniʼs Leadership Team, the first day of camp orientation looked a little different. As they gathered around the breakfast table the news was broken to them that the first order of the day would be a hike to Kaena Point. The backpacks were collected, lunches packed, and ice cubes were given out as a cheesy ice breaker and they were off.

The short drive provided much amusement as van seats came undone, seat belt failed to work and banter was a plenty. As they got out of the van the feat that laid before them started to become apparent, a six mile hike along scourged earth and over rocky ground. As they started off with the heat beating down upon them their faithful Camp Director provided some spiritual insight into the fact that this hike wasnʼt just about walking but about looking over the journey that laid ahead of them. At various points through out the hike they would stop, and ponder different elements of camp and consider what it meant to be on an expedition for Christ.

After many detours, hiding in a caves, a knee scrape and enjoying the local seafood, they made it to the tip of the point. There they sat and enjoyed the stunning view, contemplating that even though times can get tough, their is always beauty to be seen. The crashing waves, a seal and a warm sandwich or two later they headed back. Managing to avoid further injuries they got back to camp only to realize that all of them, in one form or another, seemed to be very sunburned.

The hike gave the team a chance to look at the journey ahead, and to contemplate the path they had been on before and how God has been faithful to them. The hike was a great success and helped to show them what lays ahead for them. But as they all know, this is only the beginning and over the next nine days of orientation they will carry on with their expedition for Christ as they prep for the summer and try and heal some of that sunburn.

Summer 2009 - Expedition!

Summer is just around the corner and Camp Homelani is getting ready to go!

This summer we hope to keep the blog updated with current Homelani Happenings from a host of summer staff members and leaders.

The summer staff will begin arriving soon and we will spend just over a week in Staff Development. We begin on Monday, June 1, 2009 with our leadership team and the rest of the staff will join us later in the week.

Please keep Camp Homelani, the summer staff, programs, and the campers in your prayers.

God bless you!
JHH

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2009!

At the recent Christian Camp and Conference Association (3CA) National Conference held in Orlando, Florida, we were encouraged to keep a blog for our camps and conference centers. I have always thought that I should be better about keeping some sort of journal about camp experiences, what God is doing in the camp and the lives of our staff, what we learn from ministry, and so on. My intentions have always been there, but the actions have never followed... until now.

I have to be honest and say that I cannot promise that I will keep this as current as it should be, but I will try. So, with the new year comes our new Camp Homelani blog, "From the Camp Director's Desk". I hope to share many things here and I would encourage input from anyone who has something beneficial to add to the content.

In the next day (or days) I hope to post some insight from some of the presenters at the recent 3CA Conference. The speakers had some great information and I hope I can do them justice in my summary of what they had to say. Their messages were so right on. This conference is an an annual fuel stop for Barbie and I; we get so much from the material, fellowship, and Worship with others who do and experience the same things we do.

God bless you!
JHH