ALA LANI— Path to Heaven 52020A Monthly Newsletter of Ala Lani UMC

Please join us online for Sunday Service at WWW.ALALANIUMC.ORG

“Confront the brutal facts, but never lose hope.” This is what we must do amid the COVID-19 crisis, especially as it relates to our churches. A group of us faith leaders recently met online with Governor Newsom and he was just as articulate and compassionate with us as he has been on his state briefings. He compassionately cares about us, the people, and prioritizes our safety and well-being over the economic downturn that has also devastated our society.

Because of this, I don’t think that we are going to be able to open our churches right away. We have an older demographic as members and each person is beloved by God. I will be pushing for our own list of protocols before we can safely return to public worship, but that is realistically at least another month away. I know that this is difficult to hear, and there could be some dramatic intervention. But, it is more likely that, for the safety of our members and friends, we will probably be using electronic means to worship and meet all of the month of May.

However, remember we are a people of faith who never lose hope. That hope is expressed in returning to live worship, Holy Communion, Bible study, visitations, weddings, funerals and Baptisms. We await in exile like our fore-bearers, but we wait in hope and anticipation that our day will dawn and we will return to that which has given us comfort and joy.

Will it be the same as before? I am doubtful. We will have to adapt to new circumstances, and continue to innovate even when we are allowed to meet in person. This pandemic has changed everything, and will continue to force us to change. I believe that is good news, as our complacency and hubris of the past has paralyzed us with a nostalgia that is life threatening. Dealing with the sheer mortality of COVID-19 has shocked us into “Confronting our brutal facts, but never losing hope.”

We will continue to monitor our situation daily and report to you when we think it is safe to return to public worship and gatherings, but never lose hope!

Be the Hope!Bishop Grant J. Hagiya, Los Angeles Area Resident Bishop

Bishop Hagiya’s Update on Public Health (April 20, 2020) Happy Mother’s Day May 10, 2020

Thank God for mothers for their sacrificial love and care. God bless mothers who dedicate and devote their lives to others.

Here is a poem by Joyce Little.

Mother

I can only recall, the gentleness of her smile,The tenderness that brushed me, kept me close.A tear wiped away with apron print, the smell of bread,of goodies unforeseen, my childish heart upliftedto the gleam of Mother’s love. Why is it now in later years, the love suffused like a candle’s light still shines upon my heart?

And I recall all that I knew of Mother’s love.

The Chinese use the same word character to describe the concepts of crisis and opportunity. What they mean to say is that in every crisis lies an opportunity, depending on how it is looked at. Everyone has had difficult days. People

have struggled mightily. We all are going through an unprecedented crisis. We didn’t get to choose where we find ourselves right now, but we do get to choose how we respond. The crisis that we are experiencing can be a great opportunity where others might see obstacles, I see stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks.

Rodney Stark, the author of the Rise of Christianity, tracked the conversion rate and argues in his book that the spread of Christianity in the early centuries was largely due to the care and compassion that Christians showed for the poor and the sick during different plagues and epidemics. Eusebius, the early church historian, wrote that because of the church’s compassion for those in need during times of crisis, “the deeds of Christians were on everyone’s lips.

Candida Moss, a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Notre Dame noted that an “epidemic that seemed like the end of the world actually promoted the spread of Christianity.” Because of their hope of heaven and the love of Christ that was shown, Christians showed the world that “Christianity is worth dying for.”

All throughout the centuries the reports are the same. In England during the 1800s, when many

were dying of cholera, Charles Spurgeon and his church visited hundreds of homes to care for people. And even now, the reports are already coming in that churches in China and Italy are on the streets giving out free masks, sharing their food, and helping the sick.

A church in Orlando gave away 100,000 meals to families in need during this COVID-19 pandemic making a difference in their community. City Road Chapel UMC in Nashville raised a fund to buy grocery store gift cards to help those who got laid off due to COVID-19. Such charity, happily, is not uncommon. Across America, people of faith and religious organizations are finding innovative ways to meet the medical, financial, and spiritual needs of their neighbors. Religious organizations are playing a vital role in combating COVID-19.

Our church raised the Ohana Fund, and is helping people who are in need. We disbursed the funds for their rent or utility payment. We also gave out grocery store gift cards. The recipients were church members as well as non-church members. This is a wonderful opportunity to show the love of Jesus Christ. Thanks to those who made donations to Ohana Fund.

People need hope right now. In the ongoing battle against the coronavirus, we are to give strength and spread hope to people around us as they face the days ahead. Let us lift up our heads and put our hands to the plow and watch God work mightily in and through us! Let’s make this crisis into stepping stones to show the hope and love in Christ.

In His Love, Pastor Sonhye

APRIL SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWSEven though we cannot teach students face to face we are still teaching them. The elementary class has the lessons mailed to them each week. There is also a link on the Ala Lani Facebook page to the Cokesbury curriculum we use. We studied the stories of Jesus’ final days on Earth

and then the Easter story. We also studied the story from Luke 24 of the two friends walking the road to Emmaus. The last Sunday in April is about Doubting Thomas. I pray that these stories and lessons will give our children hope and encouragement.

2 | Ala Lani—Path to Heaven

Pastor’s Note

Susan Buxton and Lynn Bowersox

Buildings and Grounds Reports Tina Draper, Property Manager

March and April continued to be full of activity as we progressed with repairs and maintenance around the property.

1. Our backflow test area was overgrown, and in serious need of maintenance. We cut away all the brush and straightened the protective pipes and repainted them yellow.

2. We assembled the scaffold that had been purchased two years ago.

3. We cleaned the AC vents and speaker box covers in the Sanctuary.

4. With the scaffold we were now able to reach the upper parts of the Sanctuary. We cleaned, washed and vacuumed the area along the windows containing the recessed lights and changed all burned out light bulbs.

5. We cleaned and washed the doors to the AC closets in the mezzanine, we painted the vents in the doors as they were rusty and pitted. We also cleaned the interior of both closets.

6. We changed the curtains, cushions and painted a wall in the cry room.

7. The vent in the door to the woman’s washroom has been repainted as it was badly deteriorated with rust.

8. In both washrooms we changed the bulbs for brighter lighting and worked on the stall doors so they no longer squeak and/or grind.

May 2020 | 3

Ala Lani Kupuna Lenora ShrewsburyYears ago after much thought I devel-oped my Values for Living day to day.

The Strong Base is Spiritual. The four sides of the diamond on the base are Physical, Mental, Aesthetics, and Relationships.

I remember going to the Methodist Church before I began school! I can still smell the paste in Vacation Bible School! As time moved on I found I liked much about the Methodist Church. Its strong central structure, its worldwide stretch, its ever present use of the Bible, its music, its emphasis on Education, its interest in Ecumenical Efforts, and its always pursuing Social Justice near and far. When the Methodist Church began using “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors” in 2001 I was happy to promote it.

Lastly, community has always been a part of my daily living and when it comes to the Church as part of it, it’s important to remember that it, too, needs many constant “volunteers” to survive. Many Methodist Churches have only one or a few “paid employees”. The church cannot survive without the rest of us helping too.

AM I A POET?by Joyce Little

The sculptor molds of lifeless claya thing of beauty to behold.

The artist, clandestine of will,sets forth on canvas many stills

of faces unbeknown to us,of landscapes myriad of colors.

And to the composer of our songslong gone by and present day,

of music swelling like happy wavesthat catch for us part of life’s so varied moods.

And I, the poet, not with clay,or even picture canvas cold,

or music written by the score,compelled to feel, to say, to write

all the secret thoughts so long, so dormant laid.

Poetryfest Convention, Reno, Nevada 20132nd place winner of $2,000 prize

ALA LANI Path to Heaven

52020

A monthly Newsletter of Ala Lani UMC50 S. Papa Avnue, Kahului, HI 96732

CHERYL LAYUGAN MAY 7LOULI MACCLUER MAY 7JOYCE LITTLE MAY 13RICHARD LAYUGAN MAY 15RICHARD SLOAN MAY 15JOYCE AFALLA MAY 30

CelebrateMay

Birthdays!

ALA LANI UMCPlease join us online for Sunday Service.WWW.ALALANIUMC.ORG

50 S. Papa Avenue, Kahului, Hawaii 96732 (808) 877-0388 | alalaniumc@gmail.com

Property & Office Manager/ Finance Secretary: Tina Draperalalaniumc@gmail.com | (808) 877-0388

In-Charge Pastor: Rev. Sonhye Kim(808) 421-8439 | pastorsonhye@gmail.com

Associate Pastor:Pastor Petueli Ta’ufo’ou(808) 747-7539

WWW.ALALANIUMC.ORG