A Year in Waipahu

Last Saturday night was Dance Hawaii's 17th Annual Christmas Gala.  There was open dancing, lots of good Filipino and local food, and dance exhibitions of ballroom, line, and Zumba styles.  The ballroom exhibitions were quite varied themselves. Dance Hawaii was founded with the intention to provide quality dance instruction an accessible cost, with a focus on ballroom and line dancing.  It is affiliated with my church, and meets there. Dance Hawaii's president and vice-president, Maurice and Remy, gave the final exhibition of the night, a tango-salsa. Dancing is a central part of Filipino culture in Waipahu.  I am told this goes back to the home country.  This seems to be true for the young and the old, though the preferred styles of dance might be a little different between the generations.   There are numerous social dances put on by groups.  A local Filipino restaurant chain, Golden Coin , offers banquet halls and programming for dance parties....

Each year, the Filipino Community Center celebrates the holidays with a Pasko.  This included games, crafts, holistic Filipino traditional health, food, music, and dancing.  And of course, a karaoke contest.   The energy was electric, fun.  Everyone was having a good time, from all different ages. I learned the parol (star) is a central part of a Filipino Christmas, and is a notable and beautiful craft.  They had a contest for making parol out of recycled materials.  Here is a post from the contest.  Here is the song from that post. Since most Filipinos in Waipahu are descended from people who speak Ilocano (from the northern part of the Philippines), I stopped by the Ilocano language table.  Most of the Filipinos in my church are such descendants. This year, they invited me to coordinate the interfaith service.  So, I invited some friends to help lead it.  We had a great time, including readings in English, Tagalog, and Ilocano....

Delegates from the Rhode Island Conference.  I still wear the same alb in Waipahu. Today, I am thankful for two special events that happened on December 3, 2000.  Both took place at Barrington Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Barrington, Rhode Island. In the morning, my oldest daughter, Haley Joy, was baptized.  Ever since that time, I've tried to repeat the way Rev. Hamilton Coe Throckmorton did the sacrament.  It was a celebration for everyone, even Haley (I think). Hamilton and Haley In the afternoon, I was ordained by the Rhode Island Conference of the United Church of Christ.  There were many joys in this service, including interfaith blessings (with lots of laughter) from friends.  Rev. Al Miles, Chaplain of The Queen's Medical Center (Honolulu) brought a fresh lei and gave the charge. Rabbi Andrea Chaplain Al I am thankful to God for fidelity to my call.  I have been blessed and transformed by this work.  And I continue to...