first week back on oahu

After waiting on a plane at Denver International Airport for 3 hours due to a broken piece in the plane, wrong directions, losing too much gas during 30 minutes of taxiing and a tornado I arrived on the beautiful island of Oahu. I have been welcomed back to the Surfing the Nations community that now resides in Wahiawa (the middle of the island). I will be here for two months. We live on Ohai street which is known as the most dangerous street on this side of the island (known for its drug dealing). In fact one of my friends from the lagoon used to deal drugs on this street back in the day! The morning after my first night here I walked this “dangerous” street in prayer as a sign to Satan that I would not be afraid of any plans of my destruction through fear. The Holy Spirit was ever present during my walk and has been so thickly present throughout so much of my day.
I am apart of the “Summer Challenge” which is the summer team for STN as well as being in charge of picnics with people (who are or will become my friends) who live in cars, parks, forests and under bridges. Already I’ve met such wise and wonderful people living in these areas. On Thursday we had our weekly distribution of food from the Foodbank in Kalihi. Since I have been gone my friends from the Lagoon have stopped coming to our distribution, so Troy and I went down with a van full of food to give out. I first stopped by to see Uncle Tony in hopes that he could take us into the paintball field and lagoon so I could see all the rest of my friends. Uncle Tony lives under the bridge still. The entrance to his home is about one and a half feet tall, but once you get under the freeway his home is 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 15 feet long (I’m just guessing). But he also has an area under the bridge that isn’t inside his house. He was fixing up a bicycle but was so kind to walk around with us to meet people.
As we walked over a bridge to get to the field/lagoon that everyone lives in I immediately saw the development that had gone on while I was gone. The homes used to be restricted to the bushes and spots that are not so obvious, but now the houses are right out in the open. There is a plethora of home styles from tents and tree houses to houses on the water. The Filipino mastermind of it all lives in a house on the water, has a netted in area to keep fish that have been caught and a boat made of a BIG piece of Styrofoam (its just one block with a sheet of wood on top). Most houses are about the size of a typical room in the suburbs. Inside the homes are TV’s, sound systems, couches, beds, kitchens-everything. One home is set out on the water and to get to it you walk through the brush of the lagoon on a little bridge, walk through a little door with a welcoming circle in it onto the house. It is so impressive. As I walked into the home my boyfriend’s friend welcomed us with a big smile to what he proudly called a home, Swiss Family Robinson style.
My closest friend greeted me with a loud scream and big hug. She was so happy to see Troy and I (I was just as happy, if not more, to see her). Entering her home was not such a joy though. Her boyfriend lay on the bed out of his mind. He caught pneumonia while spending time for a warrant on a “traffic ticket”. It was so hard to see them like this. They’ve been my friends since the beginning of my journey with the bridge. If you think about it, pray for him, and pray for wisdom for me to know what I should do (if I can do anything).
That was the only sad part about being back at the lagoon. I’ve never been so welcomed in the community. As we walked through the tall grass Tony would call out to each home and say “Eh! Whitney’s here, you know from Surfing da Nations!” People would come out and greet me and welcome me into their homes. It gives me such joy and peace to know that these people trust me and love me. It’s been all the prayers prayed for them and 8 months of trying my hardest to get to know them and care for them individually, being consistent with them. Everyone was so excited to get some food. I saw the deep thankfulness in their faces. Although they all do meth, abuse each other, do lots of “bad” things and are a different community when I’m not there, my vision of them is not tainted at all. God has given me His eyes for them. When I look at them and think about them, I know it is the way he looks at the most “awful” (in earthly terms) of people. I believe in the spiritual world so much more after going down to the lagoon. I see the traps that Satan has each of them in and the stronghold he has on that area, but I see the light of Christ in Troy and I and I see what it does to that area. Some of my friends were strung out on drugs, but in conversing with Troy and I they were fighting for sobriety to maintain a conversation. It makes me so happy to know that in the moments I’m down there they are fighting to defeat Satan, even if all the other hours of the day they allow Satan to rule. I believe that even one hour with the light of Christ ruins so much of the evil that goes on in the Lagoon.
It is such a joy to me to love the people living in parks, lagoons, cars, forests and under bridges. I’m not “saving souls” or anything like that but I know this is EXACTLY where my God wants me. It’s hard sometimes living and working in community while eating food bank food but there is no place I’d rather be than hanging out with these friends. I was created to love the rebellious drug addicts and I am thoroughly glad to know my place in life.
Please pray for continual energy to love all these friends I have mentioned as well as my family I am living in community with. Pray against Satan’s grasp on my friends through drugs and violence. I am going to Bangladesh in August and would love your prayers in advance for this trip. I won’t mention much about it now, but in another letter I will give you more details. Be praying for the finances to come in so everything can go smoothly.

Thank you so much for your prayers, support and love

Whitney