At the beginning of August 2024, seven people from First Christian Church in Kennett, MO and three other mission participants set off for a mission trip to Oahu. We were a multigenerational group spanning ages from teens to 80's!

We partnered with Pastor Nan who serves both First Christian Church in Honolulu and Wahiawa Christian Church. Each of these congregations has after school programs which serve the children in their communities. Many of the children in Honolulu are Chuukese. I do not want to do a disservice to the history of the people from the Chuuk island; however, it is complicated and the children are not always treated well in Hawaii. Besides our work with these often underserved children, we also helped to prepare space for future use at the Honolulu church and painted a mural there. In Wahiawa we also moved a piano, did a lot of deep cleaning and painted a retaining wall. As all good mission trips go, we (all 10 of us working together) did huge amounts of work in a short amount of time that would have taken a small congregation months (if not years) to complete. We worked hard and we learned a lot about the people with whom we worked (which is always the best part.)

I am certain that we will all continue to learn about ourselves as we process this trip in the months and years ahead. Most importantly however, is that all of the people made a decision to say "yes" to this trip, and lives were changed. A teen had to face her tennis coach and tell her that she'd miss a couple of practices at the beginning of the school year, and a person in her 70's committed to taking off a chunk of time from work. God really can use all of us, regardless of our age!

With God as the guide, mission work is always good. And there are always bumps along the way. I suppose what we choose to focus on during and after the experience is what makes all the difference.

Thank you to Rev. Susan Barton, pastor of FCC in Kennett,
for this story and photos.