Chinaman's Hat Adventure
Okay, so it wasn't much of an adventure, but folks, it was in Hawaii! I just love being a missionary for all the small adventures. Anyway, we have a supporting church there so we just had to stop off for four days. We had an uneventful flight from Sapporo to Tokyo Narita, then again from Narita to Honolulu. Uneventful is good in international travel.
We arrived Monday morning jetlagged of course, but were invited to their Labor Day picnic starting at 11:00. This was special since we've done the touristy things before, and we looked forward to a normal Hawaiian church picnic. We went to a lovely park some distance from the church, where they had canopies set up. We sat under a canopy out of the sun, and just enjoyed the good, American Christian fellowship.
They had volleyball and a horseshoe tournament going, but I declined to participate due to my bum knee. Just sat there feeling old, but enjoying watching the young folk. It was good to get to know the new pastor, a wonderful man who had been a missionary in Indonesia, and so he "got it!" We also got to know a sweet Japanese lady in their church.
After awhile came the invitation for a little adventure. One of the men had a small motorboat, so did we want to go out to the island. Chinaman's Hat Island is just what it sounds like, a small island off the coast of Oahu that looks just like a coolie's hat. The trip there was refreshing, getting splashed by the ocean and fellowshipping with the good Christian folk of the church.
On the island we waded, we climbed, took photos, and hiked over the rocks. There is a tiny little beach on the island, only about 8 feet wide, and just forgetting about everything we waded deep and had tons of fun. And I forgot about my knee and my foot and guess what--I was just fine.
If you're ever on Oahu, visit Koolau Baptist Church and fellowship with Pastor and Mrs. Skip Woodfin and the good folk there. You'll be blessed!