KANI KANI PELE The Monthly Newsletter of Kailua United Methodist Church Volume XVIV No. 7 July , 2016

1110 Kailua Road, Kailua , HI 96734 “Making Disciples of Christ from All Generations”

Crazy Love Years ago when I was in

South Africa, I visited a

squatter settlement of over a

million people called

Khayelitsha. This was a

sprawling slum of shacks as

far as the eye could see. My

host was a pastor named

Graham Cyster.

There was a group of Stanford students in South

Africa at the same time I was there, and these

students told Graham that they wanted to do

evangelism in Khayelitsha. Graham said, “Are you

sure?” They said, “Yes” and off they went. As they

walked along they came across a group of young

black men who said to them, “You’re Americans

aren’t you, what are you doing here?” The Stanford

students replied, “We’re here talking to people about

Jesus.” “Oh really, what about him?” the young men

asked. “That Jesus loves them,” one student said.

Hearing this one of the young men blurted out,

“Bull….! Bloody bull….! You’re telling me Jesus

loves me. I live right over there (pointing to a shack

with a tarp covering). Jesus doesn’t live in

Khayelitsha. And Jesus doesn’t love me or he

wouldn’t allow me to live here.” As Graham

watched this unfold, he thought, “Don’t say

anything.” But the students tried to defend their

position. Eventually, they gave up, went home and

cried.

Graham and Dorkus Cyster lived in the Broken Wall

Community, a multi-racial Christian community that

bordered this slum area. They decided to start a

church in Khayelitsha. When they did, the residents

were highly skeptical – “Give them two months, six

months, or a year, and they’ll be out of here.”

But Graham and Dorkus stuck around. They spent

time getting to know families in the area. They

became familiar faces. There was a high, corrupt

police presence in this area, and at times Graham

confronted the police, defending the residents he had

gotten to know. When needed, he would stay in their

home, or they would stay in his.

Unlike the Stanford students, Graham didn’t just

show up as an outsider. He became a member of this

community, and in doing so, he earned their trust. By

the time of my visit, the church they started had

grown to 60 members and was serving the

community in vital ways.

Graham didn’t relate to Khayelitsha from a safe

distance. He got dangerously close. That’s exactly

what God did in Jesus Christ. John puts it this way,

“God (the Word) became flesh and dwelled among

us.” God became a person and moved into the

neighborhood. That’s what we celebrate as

Christians.

There is something so beautiful, so powerful about

God becoming a person: God stubbing his toe; God

getting laughed at in school; God getting yelled at by

his parents; God wanting nothing more than a bite to

eat; God feeling lonely on a Friday night; God

getting so anxious that his sweat is bloody; God

facing the death penalty. God living in Khayelitsha.

God living in Kailua. God living in Waimanalo. God

reaching out to us by becoming one of us.

I can understand a person wanting to become God,

but God wanting to become a person. Why would

God do that?

Crazy love. Blessings, Pastor Tim

The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 2

6TH ANNUAL KUMC SUMMER FEST 2016

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Please join us for our Sixth Annual Summerfest, a celebration of summer featuring local handmade crafts, jewelry, plants, produce, food, shave ice, thrift shop, specialty items. We are still accepting vendor applications. If you would like to help or have any questions or would like a vendor application, please call the church office at 261-6238 or visit our website at www.kailuaumc.org. Hope to see you at Summerfest. Invite all your friends!

Volunteer opportunities. Questions? Please contact Deborah Tom at 808-728-9993. As part of our church goal of being a serving Ohana, Summer Fest proceeds will benefit Outreach programs; primarily Beacon of Hope House (www/beaconofhopekumc.org), Girls on the Run of Hawaii (www.girlsontherunhawaii.org), and India Missions.

The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 3

July Birthdays

If you are interested in the July birthdays,

please call the church office at 261-6238

PLANTS NEEDED FOR SUMMER FEST

Once again, Summer Fest will have a booth where

you can get unbelievable bargains in wonderful plants

for your yard.

We need all types of plants from your yard to

enhance the beauty of other KUMC member’s yards.

ALL proceeds go toward KUMC Outreach Projects.

For further informa0on, call Jane or Larry Marcum

at 261-8752. Mahalo!

DID YOU KNOW? YOUR KUMC FOUNDATION

Lee Mitchell was a nice guy. Friendly and quiet

on approach yet very keen about

KUMC’s care and upkeep. Lee’s

widow, Dee Mitchell and his

family set up the Lee Mitchell

Trust to con0nue the church

upkeep and repair and specifically

acknowledge the care of our

Medita0on Rock Garden.

It’s easy to fund an exis0ng

trust or start a new trust. To make a tax deduc0ble

dona0on please speak to or email Doug Borton at

hichristyborton@gmail.com or Jerry Allen at

Jerry-Allen@hawaii.rr.com.

Our 2016 highschool graduates, Rashawn Scales and Aliya Petranik.

2016 KUMC Foundation Scholarship awardees are: Aliya Petranik and Griffin Lockette (pictured); and MeiLan Sim and Austin Tom (not pictured).

The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 4

It’s 0me to Relay! Relay for Life Windward Oahu is on Saturday July 9th from 2-10pm at Kailua High School.

Please join our church team and come out and support American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event for

cancer research and educa0on but more importantly, to show support for survivors, caregivers and families. Call

Deborah if you have ques0ons, 808 728 9993. It’s free and it’s easy to join or donate, see below for details:

Copy and paste this into your search bar:

hEp://relay.acsevents.org/site/PageServer/?pagename=relay_ge0nvolved_events

Click on purple: “search for a team” Click on purple: “search for a team”

Type in: Kailua United Methodist Church OR Type in: Kailua United Methodist Church

Click: Join Click: Donate

Create an account

The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 5

Join us for a weekend of renewal as we connect to God through teaching, worship, prayer and fellowship. We will learn about the Holy Spirit and gain firsthand experience in “listening prayer.”

♦ Friday, Aug. 5 - 6:45 pm to 8:30 pm (an evening session of worship, teaching, and ministry) ♦ Saturday, Aug. 6 - 8:30 am to 2:30 pm (three sessions of worship, teaching and ministry -

breakfast refreshments and lunch included)

Our teaching and ministry times will be led by Rev. Larry Eddings, a retired United Methodist pastor from Seattle and founder of Wind of the Spirit Ministries, and by Jeremy and Joy Ellington, church planters in Kerala, India.

Kailua United Methodist Church 1110 Kailua Road, Kailua, HI 96734

Childcare will be provided. Questions? Call us at (808) 261-6238

KAILUA FOURTH OF JULY PARADE

Come down and join us at the Annual Kailua Fourth

of July Parade and support our Shave Ice tent! We

will be selling shave ice at our annual shave ice sale

located at the Allen’s house at 78

South Kainalu Drive across from

the Kailua Recrea0on Center from

9:00 a.m. 0ll the end of the

parade. All proceeds go to the

American Cancer Society Relay

for Life.

FAMILY BOWLING EVENT

Join us for our second

annual KUMC Family

Bowling event at K-Bay

Lanes on Marine Corps

Base-Hawaii on Sunday,

July 31 from 3:00 to 6:00

p.m. Two games and shoe

rental for only $8.00/

person. We’ll also have supper catered by Sam

Adams grill. Roll into the new school year with a

fun aKernoon of bowling with friends. Please sign

up today aKer worship at the bowling table (look

for the giant bowling pins), or let Kim Matyskiela

know at krsquaredm@gmail.com. If you need base

access, be sure to see Kim as soon as possible.

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THE LAST WORD “The world can make you think that love can be picked up at a garage sale or enveloped in a Hallmark card. But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence.” ~ Bob Goff