On April 21, HBA Ministry Team students from the middle and high school headed to Camp Pu‘ukahea in Waianae for the Christian Ministries’ Ministry Team Camp.
During this camp, student small group leaders and future leaders were able to get away from the stress of school and learn about how to better lead their in-school bible study small groups. According Christian Ministries Associate John Kaneshiro, the Ministry Team was formed to allow students to take “a break from the busyness of life by reconnecting with God and each other via small groups.”
The campers started their weekend by walking to the beach for a sunset worship session. There, students met with other Ministry Team members to share their testimonies with each other.
The next day started with students breaking up into small group seminars led by HBA staff members Lynne Nakano, John Kaneshiro and Christina Yasutomi. The main purpose of these seminars was to give eighth through eleventh grade students the tools to lead their own seminars in school next year, while providing seniors with the tools to lead groups after they leave HBA.
After the seminars, students gathered in front of the Big House to hear the rules to a post apocalyptic themed game that was created by junior Makenzie Cammack and sophomores Jalen Sur and Blythe Yoshikane. Sur said that his favorite part of the game was designing the cardboard bases. “My team and I made a Donald Trump themed base in which we built the strongest wall we possibly could’ve. #BuildAWall,” said Sur.
After the game, students helped clean up the damage that was created by a windstorm that hit the campsite in March. The winds knocked over ten kiawe trees and damaged a couple of the dorm room buildings and surrounding areas. According Camp Director Jimmy Tucker, the storm resulted in about $25,000 in damages. Sixty-four students split up into groups to clean up different parts of the camp. Juniors and seniors helped the Pu’ukahea staff load tree trunks into trucks, while eighth through tenth graders waited at the entrance gate to help to unload the tree trunks, which were to be chopped up into firewood. Students also assisted Pu’ukahea staff in cleaning up piles of debris containing twigs and roof shingles. Middle school principal George Honzaki arrived at Ministry Team Camp on Friday afternoon and said he was impressed to see everyone working so hard on cleaning up the camp. “It was really nice to see students focusing on serving others,” he said.
That evening, to cap off a busy work day, students played a knockerball tournament hosted by Knockerball Hawaii. Students broke up into teams of eight and took turns in the tournament. Players faced off against each other until there was one person standing.
Before their departure on Saturday morning, students gathered in the attic of the Big House for a recap of the camp and to present seniors with their send off gifts: bibles with a few final words. Senior Kailee Liu said that Ministry Team Camp was a great way to end her high school career. “Ministry team is one of the only places where boundaries of grades are broken down and it’s a really honest community of believers,” she said.
