milo: Kauai Continued & The Story of Hamish

So after we peed off the side of the mountain, we headed the rest of the way to the camp to meet the other team. They'd stayed there the night before. The camp was called Hale Koa. It had around 10 little cabins and one big dining hall. It was cooler up there just because it was of the higher elevation. The rest of our people didn't get up there for another half hour, so I got some time to see the other team for a bit without everyone else around. I was glad to see them, but not through-the-roof excited. At one point I actually forgot we were still waiting for everyone else to get there and I found myself wondering why none of them were with us in the dining hall. I went outside to see where they were, remembered they were running behind and spent the next 15 minutes unexpectedly missing them. Being with the other team made me miss my own group in the hour or so I'd been away from them. Silly.

Once the rest of my folks arrived, we got ready for the hike. We drove up the road some and started in on the first 3 miles to our destination. It was lovely, walking along a winding, tree covered, root-riddled path with breaks through the woods and brush to gorgeous views of tropical mountain slopes and ocean horizon. It was hot and sunny, and we trekked along. We finally made it out to the point. This unbelievably beautiful view of the mountains and the ocean from side to side. It was unreal. Helicopters poked around the green slopes here and there, the sound of their propellers beating in the distance, joined by the bleating of mountain goats. Some of us ventured out onto a narrower rocky ledge and nearly gave Andy a heart attack.

We hung around a while more, taking pictures and soaking it in. One of my favorite things about landscape views like that is the way the air catches the light of the sun, making a golden haze. My heart delights with joy. We head back, another 3 miles, and set a pretty good, quick pace. I didn't mention it was mostly downhill the way there, making the 3 return miles UPhill. Until Kauai, I'd been running a couple miles 2 or 3 days a week, so I did alright. I think if it had been a few months before, I would have been dying. It's funny how just the fact that you're not dying, not passing out when normally you would be feels good enough to spur you on and keep you going. I walked the whole way with Dan, who would pretend to have a heart attack at times and throw the pace by making us laugh. It was so fun.

When we made it to the end, we all relaxed in the grass to wait for the stragglers. Then we headed over to a view point to watch the fog float lazily by while the golden-red sun ascended beyond the mountain tops. We then headed home to the camp to make dinner. We all got to hang out in this big dining room with a long picnic table in the middle and a fireplace with a couple couches in the corner. We shared, joked and laughed with each other until dinner was ready. After we ate and cleaned, it was time for testimony. It was my friend Sayler's turn. I admire her so much because she went for it. She was completely real with us and got down and dirty with the struggles in her life. It's not an easy thing to do in front of 30+ people, whether they're there to love you through it or not, but she did it and I've watched her grown in the freedom it's brought her since then. I think I said this before, but it's great to see that no, confessing your problems or your sins won't automatically set you free from ever having to face them again, but it gives you the ability to work towards it, accountability, light in the darkness of guilt and shame, intimacy with Christ. You'll never be free from what you won't confront. Still can't get over that.
After her testimony, it was late and the other team had to get home so they headed out pretty quick. Though I love everyone on that team, it was a relief. For whatever reason, seeing the rest of our STN ohana in unpredictable, intermittent visits was really stressful on all of us. It's like when I got to Hawaii, I didn't want to communicate with everyone back home. I still most of the time, I'm ashamed to say, because it takes effort and I have a hard time pulling my attention and focus from where I am. That's just the way it is, no matter how much I fight against it. Once we broke up in Hawaii, it was a little sad for a second, but then it was, "Alright, see ya in 10 days!" False. Every couple days. Good and bad. Anyway, once they left we had an Omega r&r session by the fire before he headed to the cabins for bed.

On our way up into the mountains, before John peed on himself, waiting for the rest of our group in the broken down van.

Kokee.

Hale Koa.

Beat.

The next day, we worked on the property around the camp. My group was deep in the Swedish-like forest down the hill, clearing away brush for a paintball course. They had barricades made out of big piles of branches and logs, it was pretty cool. Weird thing I've noticed about Hawaii, or at least Kauai: there's not nearly as many bugs or animals here as I thought there would be. There are cockroaches all over our kitchens and whatnot, but I've only seen a couple spiders so far, and wild hogs, rats and little muskrat critters are the only forest-dwelling animals I know of. The dead logs we would move would fall apart like they usually do, but there wouldn't be a single bug! No termites, worms or little insects. Can't say I mind their absence.
After a nice long hard day of work, we headed home to the church (KCF) for the night. Tony, KCF's youth leader had come up to Hale Koa that morning and been our work leader all day. He left a little after we did to come back for youth group. We were to attend and hang out with the kids that night, just like we had with the first youth group earlier that week - so we thought. This youth group was wild, and kind of disappointing. There were a TON of kids, way more than the other youth group, and they were wild. You could hear them playing around upstairs while we were eating dinner outside on the back patio. The pots and pans hanging in the kitchen were rattling like crazy. When it finally started, we sang some worship songs, then heard some announcements. Tony managed to slip us in those announcements for a split second. We thought we'd get a little introduction or a short shpeal on STN, just to give the kids a reason to talk to us and us to them. Not so. In fact, it was a little awkward. We were pretty much just sitting in on their night. We then had a short 10 minute message on righteous anger from a classic "cha bra" surfer dude. I'm being critical. Then dodge ball commenced. Holy crapola. The majority of the night was dodge ball and dubstep, which was fun, but still a little awkward just because we didn't know any of these kids! By the end of it we were relieved to have the place to ourselves again. Time for bed.
Now I have to make a correction. I've had a hard time keeping the events of Kauai straight in my head and accidentally switched days. What I wrote about Monday actually happened on Thursday and I left out the most hilarious part. After we'd gone to the schools and then hung out with some of the kids at the beach that afternoon, we headed to Sherry and Louis's for a wild time. This was a couple from KCF who had invited us to their home earlier that week for a bbq. It was supposed to happen Monday or Tuesday, but they kept having to reschedule. Tonight was the night. We headed over for dinner. Little did we know we were in for a treat. We got there and instantly marveled at the splendor of their huge house. It was lovely and their backyard was huge. The living room, dining room and kitchen area too, kind of, were all open to the back patio through huge doors. The backyard started with a grassy slope down to more yard with a tree house and a trampoline. It was glorious. Sherry was a real sweet lady, originally form California I think. She hung out in the kitchen finishing the pasta and salad, while Louis, a tall, bald man from Texas, played some loud music over the sound system and finished the barbecuing. This guy loved to dance, especially to oppa gangnam style. He was a pro. After hanging out, getting to know them and eating the most delicious dinner I've had since being in Hawaii, it was dancing time. We all went crazy running around the yard, jumping on the trampoline, star tripping and DANCING. My highlight of night, besides summer-salt (how do you spell that?) races and star tripping, was our Swedish dance session. In Sweden they have a Midsummer Festival. Everybody dresses up with flowers in their hair and they dance like frogs. It's true, and totally fun. They jump like frogs in a circle, singing a song that translates into, "Little frogs, little frogs, they're so funny to watch (hands behind their backs)! No ears, no ears (hands fanning behind their ears)! No tails, no tails (hands fanning above their butts)!" Sherry and Louis were right there with us! Next we danced to a song about a bear. Someone is the bear and they crouch face down in the middle while we dance around them in a circle, singing. I don't know the words to this one, but at some point they sing something that wakes up the bear and he jumps up and goes after you! Everyone scatters and screams. Once he gets someone, there's two bears, and it goes on. It was so fun. Next Aziz, from Bangladesh, put on some of his Bangla music and taught us some moves. All in a circles, Sherry and Louis still participating. WHAT THE HECK. We're all cracking up, having a blast in the middle of these folk's yard, in the middle of Kauai, in the middle of the ocean, dancing and singing in Swedish and Bangla. God continues to surprise me with His sense of humor and total randomness. The dance party continued with some more oppa gangnam style until it was time to go home. Hot, sweaty, exhausted, but revived, we said our good bye's and insane thanks, and headed home with leftover brownies and goodies. That night was exactly what we had needed.
Now for what really happened on Monday. This is a doozy. We started the morning with breakfast and quiet time like usual and then we had a little prophecy lab. Sound weird? It was at first. We sat in groups of 4 or 5 while Anna gave circle a piece of paper with a name on it. We couldn't look at the name and it could be for anything. The name of a place or person or thing. We then had a few minutes to pray and ask God for a word or picture about whatever was written on the paper. It sounds ridiculous and a lot of us were uncomfortable, but Acts says prophesying and getting dreams and visions and whatnot, so why not go for it? It was just kind of a practice to get you familiar and comfortable with it. We prayed that God would give us a word or show us something - speak to us, then we got started. We tried it the first time and it went alright. Nobody really got anything, but maybe a word or a picture that almost related to the subject, which ended up being Kauai. Then we tried again. I'm realizing that part of listening to God is really looking at your thoughts. I have the most random thoughts flowing through my head, as does most everyone, and I think that sometimes they're not truly so random as we assume. I think sometimes God can give us a word or thought for someone, or even ourselves, that may just seem like some bogus thought, but really means something or strikes a chord with someone else. It can be the simplest image you get, but make the most sense to someone because of their life experiences or whatever they happen to be going through at present. The second time I think Janelle was on our paper. She was the youth leader from the first youth group we went to. The smaller one with mostly local kids. I got a picture of coffee mug with a really, really strong handle. Gnarly strong handle. There's something totally great about a sturdy mug with a good shape and a well made handle. I thought about how she's such a strong leader, powerful leader to these kids and how they seem to be really getting it and really seeking God. Maybe Janelle's that handle. Maybe I'm full of crap. I'll practice some more and find out. The cool thing was that Mikaela also had kind of a vision that totally applied to Janelle. I forget exactly what it was, but it had something to do with connections between generations.
This was all to prepare us for the day. A few weeks before, a guy named Kawika had come to teach us about the Holy Spirit and he'd said when witnessing in life, ask God for words for people. Ask for a word of wisdom for someone that can open a door for conversation or connection with God. He made the example checking out at the grocery store. Ask God for a word for the cashier as you're walking up. Maybe he'll tell ya she's got a son with cancer. You start talking to her and get to know that she has a son. You ask how he's doing and she says not too well. Ask if he has cancer. "What the heck, how did you know that?" "I think God's tryin' to say something." Dive into that conversation and follow God's will in it. He's had that happen before. The reason he wanted us to know that and why we'd practiced it that morning was for what we'd be doing later that day. A SCAVENGER HUNT. It was a scavenger hunt centered around evangelism. Most of what we had to do presented lots of opportunity to outreach. This is what it looked like: we were given a place to be by a certain time - Bubba's Burgers by 4:30. We were then given a list of tasks to be completed by that time. We broke into our cooking groups again (4 in a group), and were dropped off somewhere random and out of the little town Bubba's was in. The tasks were these: put an STN sticker somewhere creative. Make a stranger laugh. Tell your story to someone who picks you up (we obviously had to hitchhike). Give someone a haircut - or a massage. Help somebody. Give someone food (they'd given us two bags of food from the Food Bank to give away). And last, but not least: catch a Kauai chicken. Chickens are EVERYWHERE on Kauai. Steve and Janet Gorseline warned me, but I can't say I imagined it would be THAT true. They're everywhere! There's heaps of 'm!
Off we went. Andy was stoked to drop us off in the middle of nowhere. I was excited too, mostly to see Aziz catch a chicken. He did it all the time in Bangladesh and he'd been eyeballing every one he'd seen since we'd landed. So they dropped us in front of a learning center, miles and miles down the highway. We put a sticker on a coconut in a tree, then went to hitch. After a while, we caught a right with a man named Tony, from Hungary. He was a real kind, older gentleman who agreed to take us to a beach we'd passed earlier, farther down the highway.
We chatted with him for a bit, never getting a chance to share our story, but we got to hear some of his and tell a little about STN. He loved what we're doing and let us know it. When we came to the beach we wanted to be dropped at, he stopped to let us out, and here's the good part: he asked us if we had enough money. WHAT! Not to say the people here are awful and stingy, but NO ONE had ever asked us that before. It felt so great.
So we got to the beach and started roaming, looking for someone who could help us knock something off our list. Walking up and down the sidewalk, no one was taking us up on my loud offers of massages or haircuts, so we took to the sand, where we found two ladies sunning themselves. Two strangers! Perfect. I asked Martin if he was prepared to do the Snoopy dance to get these ladies to laugh. He said yes. This is how it went: "Hi, ladies! Did you guys ever watch Peanuts? You know, Charlie Brown cartoons?" "Wha- Oh, yeah..." "Do you happen to remember the Snoopy dance?" "No..." "Ah, allow us to show you! ...Martin!" Martin enters the stage and starts leaping up and down with his head back, and his arms and legs flitting about. We all cracked up. Making a stranger laugh - crossed off the list! Yippee. We chatted with the ladies for a bit and learned that one of them new about STN, her daughter had been involved in YWAM in Honolulu, and apparently undergone double brain surgery a few days before. We prayed for her, chatted some more and then headed on our way. We found a couple of haole brothers, born and raised on Kauai, who we were able to "help" by giving them Aziz's PBJ sandwich. After that we decided to head to town to try and complete the rest of the list. I had noticed a man sitting in his car in the parking lot the whole time we'd been there. I walked up and asked if he was driving toward town anytime soon. "Ah, well I was just reading this book..." "Oh, okay. Never mind then, thanks! WAIT, what are you reading? Reflexology?! Perfect!" Indeed, he was reading a book on pressure points and whatnot, specifically a chapter on hands. So, Mikaela told him about STN and Aziz held the book open for me to see how to massage his hands, while Martin filmed. It was a beautiful picture of teamwork.
We said our good byes to Greg, and hit the road to hitch. Caught a ride with a nice family who took us all the way to Bubba's. As soon as we got out, we saw one of the other teams chasin' chickens in the park across the street. We headed over to join the fun. Martin and Aziz were set on chicken hunting. The four of us headed toward another team we saw trying to coax a chicken into a string trap. Or maybe they were hypnotizing it, I forget. Anyway, along the way Mikaela and I heard a voice hollering at us from the direction of the beach. I was ready for something and I immediately deviated toward the voice. It was the voice of a raggedy man in the sand, saying something about us being beautiful (sometimes the beach bums, even the gnarliest ones, were quite sweet, despite the catcall manner in which they conveyed said sweetness). Mikaela followed me and we walked right up to a group of bums sitting in a delightful little driftwood hut. The little path to it was even decorated like a little beach garden, with beach glass, shells and other weird stuff. Three men were sitting inside of the hut, and another, the one who had called at us, was sitting cross-legged in the sand. The three inside were a grungy bunch, but not too bad. The first was a spunky man named Stanley. Turns out he's from Issaquah! What the heck. The there was a grumpy diabetic named Demetri. His foot was huge, and he didn't want me around. Third was James, who was a bit younger than the others and didn't quite look like he belonged there. He was pretty clean, all there (maybe buzzed) and had all of his teeth. They were passing around a giant bottle of beer. Then there was Hamish. This is a story to tell. Hamish was sitting there in the sand shirtless, wearing a fanny-pack and drinking beer out of a coconut shell, eyes BLOOD red. There was no white in his eyes. It was a bit unnerving, but at the same time he looked like Santa Claus, all beardy, so I didn't worry too much. He was a bit drunk, but he told us his name was Hamish. He had a British accent, so I asked where he was from. Zimbabwe. Cool. How did he end up here, on the beaches of Kauai, in a ROUGH state? He used to be a helicopter pilot - that's how his eyes got wild. That and botched eye surgery. At one point I asked more about his eyes (I couldn't help it) and he got real defensive. It got tense and we got nervous, but profuse apologies warmed him back up. He continued about how he used to live in Wisconsin. He was wealthy and successful, had a wifey and two girls, Hannah and Natalie. I think he said they'd be about 9 and 11 now? At one point he had 5 or so properties and a lot, lot of money. That's when things went off the rails. He and his wife started fighting and she became angry and crazy toward him. They got a divorce and when she went after his money, he just threw it all to her and took off. Much more swearing in his version. He made it sound like he just said, "To hell with it!" and left without fighting for his girls, making it seem like he didn't care much about them. However, tears started to well up in his big red eyes and he asked if we wanted to see a picture of Hannah and Natalie. When we said yes, he pulled out two ratty, old photos of his daughters. They were beautiful, he was crying and my heart was breaking. He doesn't even know where they are in the world anymore, he has no relationship with them. So broken. I wish I could project the image of him I have burned in my mind, sitting in the sand shirtless, dirty, drinking beer out of a coconut, sunburned, eyes red, hopeless and crying for his daughters. Mikaela and I talked with him. I told him I believed he could come out of this. That one day he could be reunited with his daughters, that his life could be put back together. I got to tell him that I believe God loves him and has an amazing life for him. The fact is I believe that no matter how broken or screwed up you, no matter where you've been, what you've done or what's been done to you - God can restore you, heal you, love you, forgive you. The question's not if he can or not, but if you're willing to let him or not. One thing I love about God is that he's a firm parent. Not wishy-washy, afraid you won't like him so he goes easy on you. He doesn't bullshit you and he's not afraid to hold his ground, he won't cave because we whined enough or threw a guilt trip. It's completely on us whether or not we want to have anything to do with him, accept Christ's death on the cross as our freedom from sin. That's why I believe Hamish can have a healthy, fulfilling life. I was happy because Surfing the Nations motto is "surfers giving back by spreading the message of love and hope." I got to do exactly that, though I'm not much of a surfer. What am I doing in Hawaii? That. And I'm satisfied. Hamish didn't believe me when I told him all this, he didn't think he was good enough for anything. People were scared of him because of his eyes. They were quite scary, but getting to know him was sweet. We asked if we could pray for him, he said yes. We sat there in the sand with him, I think we were holding hands. We thanked God for him, and asked for healing and restoration in his life. We asked that he and his daughters be reunited someday and prayed for them. Right then, after not having heard a single good word about his ex-wife, he asked if we'd pray for her too. So we did. When we were done he was really grateful and really sweet toward us. Then he said while we were praying he saw a green light coming from us. I asked what that meant. "God!" Maybe that was the beer... We chatted a little while longer with Hamish and the other fellows, who had been snickering while we were praying. They were a jolly bunch, except for Demetri. I talked with Stanley, from Issaquah, for a while. He gave us each cool shells he'd found. Mine he said was insanely poisonous when the critter that lives inside those shells is alive. He made a reference to box jelly fish while explaining their extreme danger and I was instantly excited. "Box jelly fish?! You know about box jelly fish?! My favorite random fact is about box jelly fish, know what it is?" "What." "THEY SLEEP!" So excited, my FAVORITE random fact being shared with a kind beach bum who happens to be from Issaquah. I forgot to say - when I learned where he's from, I asked if he knew where Bainbridge was. He gave me the snootiest little chuckle as soon as I asked, he was definitely familiar with it.
We finished talking to the guys. I was happy to learn that Stanley wasn't homeless (I'm not sure if any of the three in the shack were) and that there was a gal from some other organization trying to help Hamish get into some sort of housing - off the beach. I've been praying since that God's been working in his life and that he's been moving forward and seeing God.
Early on while talking to Hamish, the boys had followed us over and were standing awkwardly behind Mikaela and I. They made him kind of nervous, so we sent them off to go find a chicken. Sure enough when we'd said good bye to our new friends and gone off to find Martin and Aziz, we found them in the soccer field with a chicken on a string. Aziz was holding fish wire tied around this birds foot, like a dog on a leash. It was hilarious. Apparently they'd tried making traps with the string - couldn't get it. Finally they saw one walking toward a soccer goal, so Aziz FLEW at it and scared it into getting caught in the next. So proud. We headed over to Bubba's to meet the other teams and our leaders to go home. We brought the chicken with us...
That night, a murder occurred. We killed that chicken in the backyard of the church we were staying at. Aziz did it, of course, with the help of Dan. Aziz put it's head on a stick and went in to cook it. I think we all had a bite. It was like eating a dirty old boot. We didn't expect much better.
The rest of the night was full of story telling from the day. One team had gone door to door asking people if they needed help. Everyone said no, so they got desperate and started begging people if they could help them. Long story short, they ended up with a man who had to make bakery deliveries, babysitting and tutoring his grandkids in the back of his van for a couple hours. They didn't get everything crossed off the list, but they had a crazy time that they were all pretty happy with. Another team helped an old couple by giving them a neck massage in the middle of a restaurant. Another team helped by carrying beer for them and one point one team ended up crashing a 50+ Zumba class I think. It was a wild day. So crazy and so ridiculous. In the song Lead Me to the Cross when they say "break my heart for what breaks yours" - I think that's what happened with Hamish. My heart's still broken for him, but at the same time I felt so good after my encounter with him. I crave more experiences like it.
There's more to come on Kauai and STN after. I'll start writing that novel tomorrow. Till then.