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2024, Hawaii:

HSM Hawaii 2024: Day 6

Our last day on site was a recreation day to rest, debrief, and enjoy Maui as a team before going home. In the morning, our team split into two groups. One went into town to do some souvenir shopping while the other group did the 4+ mile Waihee trail near camp. It was awesome to see a different piece of God’s creation than what we are used to, and it was cool to watch students continue to lean into conversations with one another.

After lunch, the team went to the more touristy side of the island, to Kaanapali. We closed the evening with a time of debriefing on the beach and sharing the ways we have seen God work this week. As we watched the sunset, we had a beautiful time of worship, praising God for who He is and what He has done. After awhile, some people had started to sit close by and listen in. A few students invited them to join and we got to worship with some brothers and sisters we had never met! We were even more blown away to learn that one of them had recently moved to West Michigan! As we drove back to camp, we stopped to look at the wild display of stars that were out. It was a beautiful moment when one van of students cheered at the hour long car ride ahead of them because they knew they could continue worshipping in the car. And they did. As they did, we looked out across the miles of land to the mountain on the other side of the island. Even from where we were, miles away, we could see the lights of houses on the side of the mountain…a “city on a hill”. It was a cool picture of why we had come and the purpose to which we return when we go back home.

Back at camp, the students stayed up and once again pulled out the guitar to worship some more and talk as a group.

Today we are on our way back with a wild mix of emotions. Many of us are ready to see friends and family and to not see geckos and spiders as we fall asleep. Many of us are also feeling sadness at the end of a powerful week. There were some really amazing moments this week and some really hard moments this week. But at the end of it, I can testify that through both the hard and the amazing, God answered one of our big prayers which was unity on the team. These students have worked hard and loved each other well through it all. New friendships were formed and old ones were strengthened. We also got to see the work God has been doing in Maui and will continue to do through our brothers and sisters there. I am grateful for the countless ways God moved this week and provided for us and I look forward to seeing how He continues to do this in our group and on Maui.