Legacy

 This week has flown by.  By the number of concerned messages I've been getting, I know you all are watching the news and know that the islands of Maui and the Big Island, Hawaii, have had devastating fires.  Our island sits a little to the north, and while we had strong enough winds to knock our electricity off for a while, we weathered the storm without much drama. I am happy to report that the relief efforts are going well and we’re all rejoicing that one of our churches, in the very city of Lahaina, where the fires were most devastating, was untouched.

Today let me tell you the story of the BAPTISTS here in the islands.  As I mentioned last week, by the mid 1800's, missionaries were beginning to arrive and Christianity was growing.  

However, it wasn't till the early/mid 1900's that a Baptist came along.  His name was Joseph P Tyssowski, an attorney from Texas and an ordained Baptist preacher. When he arrived, he was happy to find one small church, located a little bit inland. It had been started by a guy named Charles J McDonald in 1926.  Unfortunately, it was not very near where so many people lived, and so Tyssowski wanted to start another one closer in.

He and his wife began a little mission church in the neighbourhood that is the downtown of Honolulu today (where we're currently living in the guest house). It was built on the principles and theology that the Tyssowskis had grown up with, and it did quite well.

However in 1935, Tyssowski died of a heart attack while preaching to a group of convicts in prison.  His wife took up the work and a young couple, the Oyers, came aboard. They were not ordained, but were Bible school trained and were a great help. 

About this time, China and Japan were building up to WWII, and Hawaii became a place for “missionary refugees” who had been expelled from their work in East Asia. Not ones to lay back on the beach, they immediately set to work to see what God was doing in Hawaii. They did surveys of the population and were surprised to find that after being called a "Christian Nation" in 1845, 100 years later only about 6% were described as "Nominal Christians".

So, Mrs Tyssowski and the young couple banded together with the missionaries, and by 1941, Olivet Baptist Church was launched. It met in a house with several outbuildings.   They called Victor Koon, a missionary who had served in China and Manchuria for 15 years before having to flee, to be their pastor.  

Years passed and Hawaii flourished. Hawaii had been annexed to the USA in 1898, but it was only finally granted full statehood in 1959. I like to tease them, saying it took that long for them to embrace that wonderful American invention, Spam!  Much to our dismay, I haven’t met many that don’t just love it and it is a feature on a lot of menus.        

It’s so encouraging to see that the Gospel in Hawaii has never lagged or even plateaued over the years. By the early 1940'a there were several new church plants across Oahu as well as several islands.  Some of the church plants were even done by new believers, which is the dream of good discipleship.

The Hawaii Baptist Convention was started in 1943 and currently consists of 138 churches and 6 Baptist associations covering 11 islands.  It also can boast of a K-12 renowned Baptist Academy, a conference centre/camp, numerous preschools, countless home Bible study groups, student centers and several guest houses across the islands for both ministry housing as well as relief housing for many. Wayland Baptist University also has a campus here, as well as the Oahu Bible Institute, where Tony is currently teaching. 

Olivet Baptist, founded as I said above by the Tyssoski’s, was the first Baptist church in what is called Honolulu and now consists of several buildings, all acquired thru faithful stewardship over the years. But not wishing to be a 'wealthy church', they have reproduced themselves into at least 10 church plants, most of them are concurrently thriving and planting churches themselves. In addition, they (and other churches), support several language churches, with appropriate pastors, meeting the needs of the very diverse population.

The verse that is so appropriate for Hawaii Baptists and which creates their motto is this:

“Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise in the islands.” 

Isaiah 42:12.

Mahalo (Thanks) 

Marsha