Tour Journal 2007

Awoken by Annika or cell phone alarms at 6:10 am, we were greeted by the chirping of geckos in the chapel wall and heavy rain on the chapel roof. The rain, though, was temporary – it was another beautiful day in Hawaii. After creating some disturbance in the neighborhood warming up and running through songs at 6.30 am, we drove to Iolani School, where we sang for the middle school students in their morning chapel service. We met Father Leatherman, the chaplain who greeted us and provided us with iced bottles of water and Kleenexes for the sick (some of us are still pretty sick ?). It was a joy to sing at their chapel service – we sang And Can It Be, Just As I Am and TLBY.

Since we had a very early start to the day, we had a lot of time to rest in the afternoon, after morning sectionals and rehearsal chez Annika, where we hammered out High Countries and The Answer. Lunch was prepared by some Living Water members back at the Wesley Foundation chapel – Ramen, chicken, and vegetables. Good tasting, and passably healthy. Around 2 pm, we went to see some of Hawaii’s famous scenery. Driving past countless palm trees, we finally reached Cockroach Cove. We enjoyed the sapphire blue ocean, the cool wind, and the spiky volcanic rock cliffs. We joined other tourists in admiring the blow hole, where water was dispersed in a fine mist through a narrow opening in the rock whenever a wave hit the rock. It was like a surfacing whale! Some of us were able to climb down to a small beach, and climb up the cliff to get a better (and somewhat more painful) view of the ocean. An amazing moment: we sat together halfway up the cliff, facing the ocean, and sang God of Wonders. Seeing God’s creation Hawaii and having Christian brothers and sisters to enjoy it with you and praise God with you was certainly a priceless experience. On the way back from Cockroach Cove, we chilled out chez Annika once again, doing such things as playing with skipping ropes and pogo sticks. We even had the chance to meet the Lee family box turtle, T2, who demonstrated that turtles can eat apples with style.

In the evening, we joined the Wesley Foundation for dinner, where we met the organizer of the foundation, Charlene. We cooked a spaghetti dinner together. It was so fun to be able to meet other college students or graduates over dinner, and to learn about other people’s lives. One of the students shared her experience in South Africa in the annual United Methodist youth conference with a slideshow presentation. We learned about the Bugs Kill project, which aims to raise money to purchase and send nets as malaria prevention devices. In turn, Living Water sang for everyone present – High Countries, The Answer and Just As I Am.

Later that evening, Living Water had time to bond over Puddle. We shared how singing in Living Water related to God and to our faith, sang praise songs together, and went over the tour schedule. We talked about what our songs mean, and what our songs can do in such a short amount of time as on tour gigs.

Day 4 March 13, 2007 - by Amy Chiu

Today we woke up to a change in weather- the skies were grayer, the temperature was cooler, and the rain drizzled on our heads as we embarked on our first gig of the day. We started off the morning at Iolani Chapel for their 8 AM service. We spiced up our repertoire for the 9 & 10th graders by singing “The Answer” (after a full morning of practice yesterday!) and “Just As I Am.” The service went smoothly, and we rushed off to our next gig at Iolani’s rival school- Punahou. We arrived a bit early, and spent a few moments touring the campus and admiring the idyllic pond and landscape of the beautiful school. At 10:15 PM, the chapel service for the sixth graders at Punahou began. First, one of the sixth grade classes performed a skit (including a movie and several songs) about wisdom and making right choices. The students in the audience were very responsive and supportive of their friends. The kids were incredibly cute, and one of the students who sang the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be” (whisper the words of wisdom…) captured the hearts of peers and droplet members alike ? After their presentation, we sang the same two songs for the sixth graders at Punahou that we sang at Iolani earlier. The students there were pretty surprised at Lucas’s beat-boxing, and the audience was really supportive. The service concluded with a prayer by Chaplain Scott. But before then, Chaplain Scott pointed out Annika’s old teachers, and gave the old shpeel about “if you study hard, one day you could end up like Annika at Yale, and come back to visit our campus!” It was kind of humorous, and reminded us of last year’s “Karen Lehman’s A Capella Choir” stint at Karen’s church in Seattle.

By God’s great timing, a former droplet Andrew Hongo (TC ’00 and former LW pitch) stopped in our performance at Punahou and invited us to sing at an afterschool out reach program run by the Kalihi Union Church. So we went back to the Wesley Foundation to eat some fancy made-to-order Ramen (with spam, beef, chicken, eggs, you name it!) and rehearsed a bit before heading off to our impromptu gig that afternoon. We got a little lost, but with some luck, we finally arrived at the church. When we walked in, Andrew immediately asked the kids to find “one of his buddies in a blue shirt” and find out 3 facts about them. I personally got to meet two very loquacious girls, JC and Chanel. We were introduced to the class by our new friends, and spent some time getting to know our kids. The after school program is for young underprivileged children in Hawaii who go to get help with their schoolwork and boost their self-esteem. Despite Hawaii’s great private school education, many of the other public school students actually need that extra encouragement to get through school. It was such a joy to be able to work one-on-one with the kids there and get to talk to them before our performance. To start off our gig, Lucas gave an introduction about what “Living Water” means and recapped the story of the Samaritan Woman. We then sang a few songs for them including: Just As I Am, The Answer, Nothing But The Blood, and TLBY. The kids couldn’t stop laughing at Lucas once he opened up his mouth to start beat-boxing. After our singing, Andrew opened up the floor to any questions the kids had. One of the workers at the program asked us what our majors were. Andrew then asked the kids if they knew what a major was. This must have been the most memorable moment of the day when the kid responded with, “That’s where Jesus lived!!!” It took us a few moments before we realized that he thought Andrew had asked, “What is a manger?” We had a lot of laughs, and Andrew ended the gig with a few words of wisdom- that with God’s help and some hard work, every one of those children could end up like us and go to college ? Yay for our inspirational moment of the day. Then, the kids split up, and we stayed around for a hiphop workshop. Let me just say that those kids have some serious talent when it comes to dancing!

After the program, we were invited to a super special Hawaiian dinner with Andrew Hongo and his parents. They treated us to a dinner of Kalua pig, poki, a salmon dish, coconut and squid, ribs, and coconut jello at Helena’s Hawaiian food. We sang the doxology for grace, and had a truly special night of fellowship. It was great to go swap Living Water stories from years past, and get a taste of the rich history of our group. We realized how much our repertoire has changed, and how much God has been faithful to our group through times of trial. We sang TLBY before we left, and even sold a CD to one of the other customers in the restaurant! In the parking lot, we started reminiscing about old LW tunes again, and broke out singing “Easter Song,” “Psalm 139,” and “Yahweh” with Andrew Hongo. It was awesome to spontaneously worship God and fellowship together through music in the middle of the Kalihi parking lot. We finally parted ways and headed back home for a time of Puddle where we prayed for the students we met that day, for our group, and for the Hongos, our dinner hosts. The spontaneous gig we had today was probably one of our most touching ones thus far in terms of truly realizing how real of an impact our ministry has on those we sing to during Spring Tour. We were personally encouraged by the time we spent with the kids at the Kalihi Union Church, and their light-heartedness and innocence. I hope that we can continue to be as blessed as we were today through our fellowship together, and remember how unexpectedly God can work through our ministry.

Day 6 March 15, 2007 - by Amy Jones

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. - Deuteronomy 31: 6-8

Today started with another 6:15 am rise and shine for our last Iolani School Chapel. We were determined to sing the hymn of the week and the "Kyrie eleison" song correct this time. I mean, we are musically inclined :) The chapel went like clockwork, but this one was special since Annika soloed "Nothing But The Blood" at her alma mater. After having a break and a rehearsal between gigs, we headed to River of Life Mission to sing and serve. We were first treated to lunch by the staff and we were able to talk with them about their lives. One lady had just moved out here 6 months ago from Chicago where she was previously a pastry chef for 13 years. She just decided this was what she wanted to do and that God would bless her. Over and over again people we talk to just have a different outlook on life here-everything happens in it's own time and no one seems rushed. It really is the "aloha spirit". The River of Life Mission offers Hawaiian citizens three meals a day, showers, free clothing, a life skills class and a new prison rehabilitation service for women. Many of the volunteers had been there for years, including the lady who led worship. The songs she picked were just right and they truly led us into the spirit of God before we ministered through our songs. I realized and I think the group realized our need to come transparent before God in worship before we could bring others into worship with us. After our set, we split up to work organizing the pantry, serving in the dining hall, or, my job, acting as an itinerate lunch lady scooping rice balls! Amy Chiu Janice and I had a great time serving up trays and talking with our partner in staving hunger, Phyllis. Phyllis was from the island of Samoa. She was very impressed that I knew who the Katinas were (they are a Christian band of brothers from Samoa :) She was also very interested in finding out about Texas from Amy Chiu for some reason. When she asked about the price of airplane tickets Janice said, "Why does she just take a Greyhound? That's always cheap." I'll let you interject the laughter that ensued. After serving around 200 trays of food and washing and drying the dishes we were collectively tired. Tonight we were treated to a Chinese dinner by the Twans (a family at Annika's church) and then we had "Boy's and Girl's Night". We got ice cream from a gourmet ice cream shop and drove to a scenic lookout overlooking the city of Honolulu to enjoy nature and to just enjoy each other's company as sisters in Living Water. We are still not really sure what the guys did, but it did include hanging out with alum Andrew Hongo and hiking. Oh, and they went to Burger King.

God really blessed today and we look forward to tomorrow's outreach at Waikiki, although we will be losing Bevin as she leaves to compete with the track team.