Young Adults of the Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry (EAM) met for a retreat from October 25-27, 2024 at Camp Sloggett in the mountains of Kōke‘e, Kaua‘i. Although our numbers were smaller than anticipated, we had a wonderful, uplifting time!

We were led by Rev. Keleawe Hee from Good Samaritan Church in Honolulu, HI, and the logistics and meals were handled by EAM Young Adult coordinator Carolyn Morinishi. Our participants included Young Adults from Kaua‘i, Honolulu, Northern California and New York. Being from different parts of the country, we learned so much from each other!

Our time in the mountains was filled with many planned activities. An icebreaker activity had the participants partner up and learn at least six facts about their partner and share them with the group. We also played a game of “EAM Twister” in which participants were asked to remember what parts of the world their ancestors came from, and combined this with the physical game of Twister.

Fr. Keleawe held a workshop where we shared our personal journeys of faith and “wove” these stories together, as we helped each other weave lei (garlands) made out of ti leaves. He also had a “Rule of Life” exercise which got the Young Adults thinking of ways to keep balance in their lives.

We also talked about the situations of houseless people, which is a big problem on Kaua‘i. The coordinator’s home church (All Saints Kapa‘a) hosts a weekly hot lunch for local houseless people, so we made gift bags to be given to people experiencing homelessness which included toothbrush, toothpaste, Nutrigrain bars and other snacks. The participants wrote encouraging notes and stapled them to the tops of each bag.

“Team building” games were also a part of the weekend. One of the Young Adult Design Team members created an intricate Bible-based (and Halloweenthemed) Escape Room, where participants had to solve complex puzzles and put the solutions together to crack the code and allow them to escape the “room.” Another “team building” game had the participants order a series of picture cards which told a story. The catch – two of the team members were blindfolded and allowed to touch the pictures, while the two “sighted” team members were not allowed to touch. Both games were a lot of fun and helped us realize the importance of contributions of each team member with their own unique talents.

Learning about the local Hawaiian culture helped us appreciate the beautiful surroundings we were blessed with. On the way up, we stopped at Waimea Beach and picked up Kukui nuts which had washed down the river and tumbled in the surf, breaking them into halves. We were able to make bracelets with these beautiful nuts.

Another Design Team member brought groceries and taught the participants how to make laulau, a traditional Hawaiian dish. One of our Young Adult Design Team members had planned a hike for us, but unfortunately rain came at an inopportune time. Instead, we drove up to see the beautiful Kalalau Lookout at sunset.

On Saturday night, we built a campfire. Fr. Keleawe had us each think of a burden on our hearts. We wrote these burdens on a piece of paper an threw the papers in the campfire, burning them and symbolically giving our burdens to God as Fr. Keleawe prayed with us. Several people agreed that this was a powerful experience for them. (And afterwards, we roasted marshmallows!) We also sang songs together later that evening.

On Sunday, we woke early, ate breakfast, cleaned up the camp, and drove down to St. John’s Episcopal Church in ‘Ele‘ele. They had been expecting us and gave us a nice welcome and overview of their church. We learned that they had a growing Sunday School and Youth Choir program, with about 80- 90% of their kids experiencing homelessness. At that point, we made the decision to give our gift bags to the Sunday School kids. The Youth Choir performed during the service and warmed our hearts with their beautiful voices. We were so happy that we could give our gifts to these sweet kids!

After church, we drove back to Līhu‘e, and took the Young Adults to the airport to catch their flights home. We were all so excited about our new friends, and were already talking about planning another retreat, possibly in September 2025.