ke koa o ka’āina— my ho’olohe pono experience

“Listen well, intently, rightly and carefully — I will tell you who you are”. A story of a kānaka returning back to his āina.

Prologue: I was born and raised in a simple suburban area outside of Los Angeles which we call Cerritos — A city once full of farmlands and cows, but eventually overtaken by homes and shopping centers. I was your average everyday citizen who went to class about 5 hours per day on weekday and about 5 hours working in the college cafeteria washing dishes. But my view on life would change after a missions trip with InterVarsity’s Hawai’i chapter.

January 11–13, 2018

Returning home from a wedding in Maui and then a Big Bear trip, I quickly rushed home for InterVarsity’s Ambition conference — It happens about every 5 years to equip students with tools to reach “Every corner of every campus”. I was already in the mode of discovering who I am as a kānaka or native Hawaiian. I learned my kūpuna was in the Kūʻē petition not even knowing much about what it mean. While at the conference I felt a desire to want to plant something, a small group focused around Pacific Islanders… And I began asking myself, “How can I even do it if I don’t even have the knowledge of what being that a kānaka really means?” That changed suddenly changed, I was introduced to Auntie Moani — InterVarsity Staff for InterVarsity Hawai’i and Hui Poly.

What a gift, God put an amazing Auntie before me to talk stories and be able to guide me down God’s plan. After a chunk of my roots, I was invited to consider joining their chapters for Ho’olohe Pono 2018 — a two week mission focused around learning about the history of Hawai’i and how God is working then and now amongst the native people of Hawai’i.

Word could not come out of my mouth as I was shocked and still trying to process everything I learned. And I felt a voice speak, “Kekoa, you are where you should be. Take a step and I will be with you on this journey.”

And at Spring Conference with my campus I made the decision to accept the invitation and go to Ho’olohe Pono 2018 not knowing what to expect of the Lord.

May 27, 2018

I can remember feeling the jitters that ran through my body as I realized I’m going to Hawai’i to work under Hurley, go on a mission trip mid-way, and overall vacation with the ocean in mind — oh yea, to fix that pale skin I get from being inside studying so much. With all the excitement, I hopped into the car, went off to LAX, and boarded the plane taking the window seat to look at LA one last time until August. The engines started and the plane began to ascend into the air.

I was crying.

There was a tear rolling down my face as the plane took off — Tears? Why?

It’s hard for one to say goodbye to their place in the mainland — the food, the shops, the people, convenience of things — But is this really where I come from or is this just a blanket this country uses to cover up who I really am? And I started to wonder… where exactly am I going?

July 6, 2018

Yet another back to pack and trying to figure out how many bags I needed to bring. I crammed a load of shirts and shorts into my bag and threw a small duffel bag for sending to Kalaupapa after being informed we were hiking to this small town. As soon as I finished stuffing my bag I began to figure out how to inform friends and family of my departure for missions. Fundraising was successful and I ended up raising 101% of my goal for the mission trip.

It was very crumby, I know. You could see the dog’s head sticking out on the left of the clip and I filmed it right in front of the surfboards (and I actually don’t even surf). It was hilarious, but I did what I could to get my thank yous out to everyone that supported me. And even now, I still want to thank you for supporting me on this journey. So, Thank you. Back to the topic though… I flew out from Kapalua, Maui to Honolulu, O’ahu…

These tears, they’re more abundant now… why? I haven’t even been on Maui for a long time. (About one month)

Was this some sort of connection I felt from my kūpunas? I could hear some voices saying goodbye to me as the plane soared over what is Kaanapali. The plane flew past Moloka’i and entered a cloud. As soon as the plane exited the clouds I saw O’ahu — An island surrounded by deep blue water and waves crashing beyond the shore… and in the midst of all this beautiful there were skyscrappers and houses and docks and boats. The echos of LA running across the āina reminding me that this is who I am(?).